Hollows are corrupted creatures born from living beings or spirits that have lost their souls or succumbed to Hollow Energy. They are dangerous, emotionless, and feed on life force or spiritual energy. These beasts don’t have souls, so any Soul Skills are useless, but they can be dealt physical damage.

However, dealing with physical damage is not easy. One must possess terrifying strength or means, otherwise, they would be devoured by Hollows instead of being able to kill it.

These creatures exist only to destroy and spread corruption.

Moreover, Hollows are creatures of Eternity. They can invade a Cosmic Field but are never born inside it.

Emrys learned many things about Hollows and how terrifying even newborn Hollows actually are.

The Hollow sealed deep under the village was actually only a newborn Hollow, about a year or two old. But it was already terrifying enough to destroy the entire Spiritarium. If not for Long Xiao, this Cosmic Field would have long since been corrupted and corroded by Hollow Energy, becoming lifeless and barren.

Currently, two figures were hovering mid-air above a desolate village cloaked in eerie silence.

As soon as they came, Emrys and Long Xiao could feel a very strong heartbeat coming from somewhere inside the silent village.

This village used to bustle with life and cheers, but now, there was not a single sign of living here.

At this moment, Long Xiao opened his mouth and spoke in a calm but low voice: "The seal is already broken, and it seems that creature knew we were coming, so it has been waiting for us."

Emrys nodded silently. He could clearly tell that the seal had already been broken. After all, he can feel a powerful life force rising from deep beneath the temple, the same temple where he had once found clues about the Key and about Long Xiao. That place was now pulsing with dark energy and extremely strong vitality, and it was impossible to ignore.

He didn’t want to waste time. So, without hesitation, Emrys activated his Three-Dimensional World.

The sky around him twisted slightly as layers of space peeled away before his eyes. Everything became clear. Every house, stone, and hidden path of the village appeared in a glowing web of energy.

His gaze locked onto a small, dark figure standing quietly at the very heart of the temple ruins.

Although this figure was small, Emrys knew this was not its original size. This is a humongous beast, and it must have shrunk to this small size for some reason.

As for the said reason, Emrys was not interested in knowing them.

The dark figure inside the temple was obscure and completely shrouded in darkness. Even with the Three-Dimensional World active, Emrys couldn’t clearly see its shape. It was like a blur of shadows wrapped in layers of void.

But Emrys could feel its dense and suffocating aura.

This Hollow was really strong, and its presence alone matched that of a First Level World Master.

"A newborn Hollow reached this level in only two years?" Emrys muttered inwardly in surprise.

It is no wonder that even a mere incarnation of this creature wasn’t easy to deal with.

At the same time, Emrys could not help but admire Long Xiao. He not only fought such a creature while still inside a Cosmic Field, but even sealed it. Although he lost and sacrificed a lot, the fact that he succeeded in sealing the Hollow was a truly commendable feat.

Long Xiao stood beside Emrys while sensing the same dark aura. An expression of hatred flashed on his face, but he quickly suppressed it. He knew he must take away the Key before going to fight the Hollow.

Otherwise, the battle at their level can easily destroy the entire Spiritarium, and even create a chaotic spatial fracture everywhere. If the Key fell in any of those fractures, finding it would become extremely difficult.

"Keep the Hollow busy. Remember to avoid getting hit by Hollow Energy, otherwise, you’ll be infected. There is no cure to Hollow Energy."

Long Xiao advised Emrys before disappearing.

The Key is bound in such a way that only Long Xiao can move it. No one else, not even Emrys, can touch or retrieve it unless Long Xiao personally hands it over. If that weren’t the case, Emrys would have already taken it using his ability to shift nodes.

"Roar!"

BOOM!

As if sensing Long Xiao, a furious roar erupted and the temple exploded into pieces, scattering everywhere. At the same time, a dark smoke rose from the temple, wanting to stop Long Xiao.

However, before the smoke can reach Long Xiao, air fluctuates intensely, and space shifts. Immediately, the dark smoke found itself imprisoned inside a cylindrical prison. This was a spatial prison that Emrys built using his authority over space.

By now, Long Xiao had already escaped underground, going straight to the Key.

"Disintegrate!"

Emrys was too strong to deal with this Hollow. Instead of going for a fight, he decided to end this troublesome creature instantly.

On the other hand, realizing that it had been imprisoned, the dark smoke materialized into a giant creature. But before it could glare Emrys intently or roar furiously, its entire existence was wiped out.

It died just like that.

Emrys killed a terrifying creature like this Hollow, who was comparable to a First Level World Master, that easily.

"Where is the Hollow?"

Minutes later, Long Xiao emerged from the ground and the first thing he did was to observe the village, but he didn’t find any sign of the Hollow which confused him greatly.

Emrys smiled but didn’t explain. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Long Xiao realized Emrys didn’t want to explain things. Moreover, looking at his casual expression, he could not have but doubt. Many random thoughts appeared in his mind, but he feared taking them for truth.

He feared accepting that Emrys might be much stronger than him already.

In the end, he only sighed and gave Emrys the key before speaking, "My master entrusted me the job of handing over this Key to you. Now that I’ve completed my mission, I’m free. Let’s part our ways here."

Long Xiao never forgot what his master had told him.

She had warned him clearly to never get entangled with Emrys or anything related to him. In fact, the best choice would be to stay as far away from Emrys as possible.

As for the reason, Long Xiao never understood.

But now, no longer sensing the Hollow’s presence, he could vaguely guess a few things. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Some truths were better left untouched.