Hidden deep within the blighted woods of Therwynn lies the Bleeding Hollow, a forsaken chasm carved by ancient magic and time.
Twisted trees loom at its edge, their roots writhing down the jagged cliffs like skeletal claws.
The ground is lifeless, ashen soil cracked and dry, filled with bones and rusted weapons, long swallowed by decay. A thin mist clings low to the earth, carrying the stench of blood and burnt flesh.
At the heart of the Hollow, a ring of blackened stone forms a natural arena, circled by towering craggy walls.
Crimson moss grows between the cracks, weeping a thick sap that stains just like fresh blood. Faint whispers ride the wind, and the air groans like something ancient in pain.
Silence reigns, until it's broken by the rhythmic thud of boots.
Dozen armed men descend into the Hollow, their blades drawn, armor creaking under the weight of purpose. They hunt a single man. He was Wounded.
The lone man's name was Ethan. One of the S rank hunter in the world.
He was Cornered. Yet, he doesn't cower. He stands still, smirking faintly. Bloodied, battered, but unbowed. In his right hand, he grips a sword slick with blood.
A hatchet in other hand. His black hair hangs damp across his face, and though his breaths come heavy, his eyes burn with defiance. Then, he moves. With sudden ferocity, he lunges, sword flashing in a deadly arc that splits the nearest enemy's chest open.
Crush!
Blood splattered as the body hits the ground, four others charge. Steel clashes in the gloom. Sparks dance through the mist. Blades shriek, and blood sprays the stone. He fights like a demon.
Fluid, desperate, precise. A silver blur whirls through the air. The hatchet, it spins end over end before slamming into a man's skull with a sickening crunch.
"Ahhh!" The man screamed in pain. As he died.
The impact throws the corpse back against the rock wall like a ragdoll.
The battle rages on. Time loses meaning. Eventually, only three men remain.The black-haired warrior, and two of his pursuers.
The taller of the two, broad-shouldered, with dark red hair and tanned skin. Smirks confidently. "Looks like your time's up, freak." But the lone man only chuckles, coughing blood.
"Yeah... I guess it is." Then, without warning, Ethan flings the blood-slick hatchet straight at the red-haired man's head. The enemy barely manages to duck as the weapon grazes his cheek.
In that split-second, the lone warrior sprints at the other opponent. A short man with hollow eyes and dark circles beneath them. Around the man's neck, something glints, a glowing locket. Ethan's eyes widen. He recognized the necklace. It was Level Zero Artifact.
One of the strongest relics known to exist. He remembered seeing this artifact on news. Saying it got theft by some organization. To think that artifact was in possesion of this man.
'That thing...it might be my only chance to survive.'
Summoning the last of his strength, he dives forward, shattering the distance.
The short man tries to strike, but the black-haired warrior slips past his guard and snatches the locket from his neck.
But before he can retreat. A blade whistles through the air. The red-haired enemy, having parried the thrown hatchet, now strikes from behind.
With no time to defend, the wounded man clutches the artifact tightly. "I don't even know what this thing does," he mutters.
The use of artifact was unknown to him. But he had no choice but put his trust on it. If not...then death was the only option for him.
"But screw it... it's all I've got." The artifact hums in his hand. Soft at first, then rising in pitch. It glows, purple light flooding the Hollow. Both enemies stagger back, shielding their eyes.
A smile formed on Ethan's face. "It seems I still have chance to survive."
But he was totally wrong. Fate had another plans for him.
Tension coils in the air like a living thing. Then reality tears open. A portal forms beside Ethan. A swirling rift of shadows and light.
"No, no, no– shit!" he growls. His eyes widened in terror for the first time.
"Why now?! Why does a Hollow Gate appear now?!" Before he can react, the portal pulls him in with unnatural force.
"NOOO!"
The artifact, still humming, is sucked in with him. In the blink of an eye, the rift snaps shut. Silence. The two remaining men stare at where the portal vanished.
The short one is the first to speak, furious. "That bastard took my artifact! Damn it!" The red-haired man sighs and shakes his head.
"Well, at least he's dead now." "Still," the short man growls, "he escaped with a Level Zero Artifact."
The other man sigh. "So, what? Do you even know its use? We tried it so many times yet we got no reaction from it. That artifact was broken. And something that no one can fix. You just use it like some locket."
"Useless piece of junk or not, it's one of the rarest known." The short guy grumbled. But it was useless now. Who told him to roam around while wearing it in his neck.
-----
"No... no—damn it! I try to run, but it's too late." The Hollow Gate yanked him into its depths. It was a gate that randomly appeared in Bleeding Hollow.
It's said nothing living survives passage through one, and now he was learning why. Everything around him was dark, and in the darkness space twisted. Grey tendrils of energy writhing like worms in an endless void.
Just then the artifact started to hummed.
Ethan confused stare at the artifact in his last moment. Just then a blinding light shot out of the artifact. It was purple in color.
"What? What's happening?"Before he could understand his situation. His body started to feel hot. He felt unimaginable heat. A purple colored fire had caught on his body.
"Aarrgh!what this? WHAT?" He looked at his hand. The purple deadly fire was coming out of the necklace. Trying to burned his body.
"AAAAHHHH!" His screamed tore through the dead Hollow space.
The purple blazing fire burned his body to the core. He felt as it it was burning his soul.
He felt a pain that he had never felt before.
His body began to disintegrate, turning to dust from the edges inward.
He looked down at the artifact in his hand. He was still screaming in agony.
The artifact, tt had stopped glowing. Cracks spread across its surface as it, crumbled and turned into ashen dust. So this is it... He stared into the infinite dark, closed his eyes, and waited for the end.
His body turning it ash by the mysterious purple fire as he slowly disintegrate into ash.
His screamed came to stop.
Only silence. As he was vanished.
---
After what felt like eternity. He slowly started to wake up.
He had expected death. Complete erasure. Not… this. His eyes opened. His eyes were two orb of glowing purple. They were beautiful. Soon they stopped glowing and turned violet color.
At first, all he saw was light. Not harsh, but soft. His vision was blurred. But slowly he started to see clear. Like morning sunlight filtering through a thin veil. The twisting grey void was gone.
His body felt whole again, though strangely light, as if gravity itself had forgotten he existed. He pushed himself up from something soft. Not ash, not stone… not even grass.
But a bed.
Golden light poured in through parted curtains, illuminating a lavish chamber that looked like something out of a royal painting. The air was warm, scented faintly with lavender and old wood.
He was sitting on a four-poster bed, its sheets smooth and impossibly soft beneath him. "What the heck...? Am I still alive?" he muttered, rubbing his temples.
His head ached, his memories scattered. The last thing he remembered was being sucked into the Hollow Gate… and then, burning alive in fire.
But now, he found himself in differnt place.
What actually happened to him?