The wind howled like a dying beast as Kael, Lyra, Valen, and the Celestial Legion arrived at the base of the Silverreach Mountains. What was once a peaceful range of silver-tipped peaks now loomed dark and cold, shadows pooling unnaturally in every crevice. The scent of old magic—bitter and burnt—filled the air.
"Here," muttered Valen, unslinging his spear, "is where miners vanished. No sound. No screams. They simply… stopped existing."
Kael knelt beside the mine's entrance. Symbols were carved into the rocks—old, jagged runes glowing with faint purple light. They pulsed with malice, like a heartbeat too deep and slow to be human.
"Language of the Old Ones," Lyra whispered, tracing the marks. "I've seen it before in the Abyss. But this… this is something worse."
Kael closed his eyes.
He let the Celestial Core flow through him—his divine half seeing beyond matter, beyond time.
For an instant he stood not in the Silverreach Mines, but in a vast subterranean vault, forgotten by time. Chains of obsidian thicker than mountains wrapped around a colossal stone sarcophagus, runes pulsing softly along its surface. Something inside—something monstrous—shifted, its breath shaking the prison walls.
A whisper crawled into his mind.
"Kael... god-child... release me..."
His eyes snapped open.
"No one goes in," Kael said firmly. "This place is a prison. An ancient one. Built before gods, before men. Its prisoner is waking."
"The Hollow King?" Valen asked, gripping his spear tighter.
Kael nodded slowly. "The Abyss feared him. The Old Abyss called him Devourer of Realities. A being that feeds on existence itself—not light, not darkness. Being. He was locked here for a reason... by powers long dead."
The earth trembled beneath their feet.
The mine's entrance yawned wider—as if inviting them in.
"The seal's breaking," Lyra warned, sword drawn. "Whatever's down there... it won't stay locked much longer."
Kael's eyes flashed with divine light.
"Then we stop it now. Before the Hollow King rises and devours the world I rebuilt."
He turned to his Legion.
"Prepare the rites of sealing. Summon the Twelve Star Pillars. Forge a circle strong enough to bind the Hollow King forever."
Valen frowned. "What if the creature's too strong? What if the seal fails again?"
Kael smiled darkly.
"Then I'll go into the Hollow Deep myself... and finish what the First Gods could not."
A low, rumbling laugh echoed from the mountain's depths, chilling every soul present.
"Come, little god. Let me show you the truth buried beneath your creation..."
The Hollow King was waking.
And Kael knew:
The true battle for his world had only just begun.