Chapter 631: Hollowed [1]

Advent of the Three Calamities

Lazarus dragged his finger across the water, the statues around him starting to move with his movement, forming a single line on each side of him.

An'as stared at the scene with a baffled expression.

He looked at a complete loss.

Lazarus merely gave him a cursory glance before smiling. He was rather satisfied at this very moment.

'This sort of power is not bad.'

His mind felt extremely clear, and looking around, he could see red threads connected to each of the statues before him. That wasn't all, he could also notice the threads stretch beyond the area he was in, and towards different areas.

As if everything was connected to his mind, he could perceive everything.

With just a single thought, he could 'see' what his other connections were seeing, and at this very moment, it was as if the entire city was under his eyes.

This sort of power...

But at the same time, it was also extremely draining to his mind.

Just connecting to one 'point' made his head throb.

The back of his head also hurt.

[There's not much time to waste, human. I can feel something sinister starting to build not far from here. If we don't hurry now, I'm afraid we might be too late.]

'...Alright.'

Lazarus snapped out of his drunken state and quickly sobered up.

Closing his eyes, several thousand red dots appeared in his mind. He expanded them individually, displaying different areas of the city.

Eventually, his gaze settled on a tall and imposing structure.

Constructed from dark stone and rising from the very heart of the city, the structure was encased in a crimson coral, which clung to it from all sides as if trying to pierce its surface. The result was a haunting, almost sinister appearance.

That coral...

It belongs to none other than the hive monster.

'I presume that's the structure I need to go to?'

[That's correct.]

'Okay.'

Lazarus didn't waste time and expanded even more visions. He saw through the entire structure of the city.

That was also when he noticed several abnormalities in certain areas.

'I can detect several powerful monsters lurking here. I should probably take this path...'

An ideal path appeared in Lazarus's mind shortly after.

By taking into account the monsters that were secretly lurking around, and looking at the fastest route that he could take without alerting them, he soon opened his eyes again and took a step forward.

At the same time, he nudged An'as with his head, who followed him after a brief moment of hesitation.

Lazarus could feel from his gaze that he was doubting something, but he paid An'as no mind.

He couldn't be bothered to explain since he couldn't talk.

Thankfully, the journey to the large pyramid-like structure was fairly easy. In just a matter of minutes, they managed to arrive before the structure, as Lazarus saw for the first time just how big the structure was.

The structure was extremely imposing, and when he turned his head, he could see the reverence in An'as's gaze as he looked at the place.

That was when something clicked in Lazarus's mind.

'Could this place be related to the Goddess of Light?'

He had only ever seen An'as make such expressions whenever he dealt with something that was related to that Goddess.

Lazarus's curiosity deepened as he gazed at the structure, his eyes inevitably drawn to the large opening that led inside. There was something unsettling about it... The way the darkness within seemed to consume every trace of light, as if the entrance itself were alive and waiting, made it especially unsettling.

[This is the point where you must exert caution. I had tried multiple times to enter this place, but without any success. The only thing I could do was try to break the entire structure, but even that is not good enough.]

'I can see.'

Lazarus looked at all the numerous corals that were attached to the pyramid. If that didn't make it clear, then he didn't know what would.

He proceeded forward shortly after, allowing for the darkness to swallow him.

An'as followed him shortly after.

Of course, Lazarus also brought several statues with him. He was sure they'd be handy further down the line.

An'as didn't look very averse to entering the structure. And it soon became very clear why, as the corals in their necks pulsed with a faint red light, illuminating the surroundings as a large tunnel appeared in their vision.

A couple of steps into the place, large murals and engravings appeared on the side of the walls.

The most eye-catching mural was that of a young woman in white and long yellow hair standing before a large crowd of people, their hands stretched in her direction as they revered her.

She looked holy. Pure in the mural.

...And as Lazarus turned his head, he could see An'as staring at the picture with a similar expression.

'Something about this doesn't feel right.'

Lazarus was well aware of these gods. He knew that they weren't really gods. They were merely people who had been granted powers that no normal human should've ever come into contact with.

The thing that made him curious, however, was the reason why they chose to allow people to revere them as gods.

At first, Lazarus assumed it was because of their deeds, but it now appeared to be deeper than that.

The Gods..

They were trying to get the people to revere them.

But why? Why would they try to do that?

Would he be able to find a reason within this strange structure?...And was the series of events perhaps connected with that?

Lazarus's eyes sharpened as he moved forward, the pulse around him growing dimmer and dimmer.

At the same time, he activated [Lament of Lies] and masked his presence, alongside that of An'as.

The deeper he went into the corridor, the colder the water became, and as his steps started to slow down, he noticed a faint opening in the distance.

Lazarus didn't move in immediately.

He instead controlled one of the statues behind him and urged them forward, his mind connecting to the coral attached to the statue, granting him a vision of what was happening.

The statue gradually moved towards the opening.

In order not to attract much attention, Lazarus made sure to dim the light coming from the coral attached to the statue, and eventually, moving past the opening, a large empty hall appeared.

The world was silent as the surroundings appeared dark, with the faint outlines of a large statue in the distance, and several long rows of benches lined up to face the statue that most likely depicted the Goddess of Light.

'This must be where they used to pray.'

Lazarus more or less had an idea of what this area represented.

Looking at how empty it was, his mind started to relax, but then—

[Someone is watching.]

The monster's voice echoed in his mind, and his entire body tensed as he flicked the head of the statue to look around.

Watching? Who was...

And then he saw it.

The numerous silhouettes that sat by the benches, all staring in the direction of the statues. Gradually, their heads turned to display hollow and empty eyes, and Lazarus felt his heart skip a beat.

"!"

He lost connection right after that.

It all happened so fast that he hardly had any time to react.

By the time he realized what had happened, a sharp pain invaded his mind as his face changed subtly.

He held onto the pain before calming down.

'What happened?'

[...The same thing that happened to me every time I tried to enter the place. It appears as though they have some sort of way to completely sever my connection with my bodies.]

'I got that, but who are they? Who exactly is doing this?'

[Humans.]

'Humans...?'

Lazarus thought back to what he had witnessed just a moment prior and shook his head.

'That's not possible.'

The things that he saw... they looked anything but human.

[They were humans who are now dead but have taken over the bodies of humans.]

'Eh?'

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Lazarus was at a complete loss.

[Your companion over here should have a good idea. You can try asking him.]

'Hm?'

Lazarus slowly turned his attention towards An'as, who was looking at the murals around with a certain glint in his eyes. Thinking about the monster's words, a thought crossed Lazarus's mind, and his face twitched.

Why didn't he think about it before?

The coral attached to An'as's body pulsed faintly, and Lazarus spoke.

'I need your help.'

'Huh?'

An'as's head flicked around, completely caught off-guard by Lazarus's words before finally settling his gaze towards him.

'Wait, you can speak?'

'...Yes.'

'But—'

'That's not important right now. I need your help in figuring something out.'

Lazarus closed his eyes and followed the thread that connected to An'as's coral before pressing his finger forward, right into his forehead.

'Wow..."

An'as's eyes opened slightly at the unexpected action, but soon enough, a memory floated in his mind, and his expression quickly changed.

Lazarus watched as An'as's face slowly turned completely pale as he took a step back, a certain fear latched onto his face when he stared in the direction of where the situation had occurred.

'We have to leave.'

He said, his voice strained.

Lazarus frowned upon hearing An'as's words.

'Why?'

'That's... I understand what is going on. We have to leave immediately!'

Lazarus's frown deepened, staring at An'as with a pensive expression. He could see from the clear fear in his eyes that he knew what was going on the side.

'Tell me exactly why you're acting like this.'

'That's...'

An'as looked towards the opening, his step moving back.

'Those things... They... are not things that we should get involved with. They are hollows!"

'Hollows?'

Lazarus's brow raised. He had a vague understanding of what a Hollowed was. They were the bodies that had been taken over by the voices.

And if those were truly hollowed, then...

'This is bad.'

His gaze turned away from the opening in the distance, but just as he did, his movements stopped as he felt something from above him.

He froze, slowly turning his head to look up.

A pair of white eyes met his gaze.