Echoes of Hollow

'Show them your coldness and then, after a deed worthy of reward, grant them something in return... good, very good. But... taking care of the child... not everyone will remain here to do that, and I’m not sure if that alone will make them see this as an act of mercy, however small. Yet still, despite... the cruelty in the eyes of your kind, using the fact that they are different was also... wise, I suppose.'

'Perhaps, even after all this, doubt may still linger within them. But at this moment, I cannot afford to reduce their numbers as much as I believe necessary... not when I don’t know how many of them there truly are. It could be a small organization, or it could be the opposite—something with global influence. Unlike you, I have no way of knowing.'

'Hmm... And what makes you think I have access to such information?'

"...," Hye stood before the gate, placing one hand behind his back while calmly using the other to open it. 'Nothing specific... it was just a guess.'

"Please!" Her tears showed no sign of stopping. Miserably, while holding one child in her arms and the other, a bit older, trembling by her side, the woman fell to her knees and pleaded desperately. "Please, I... no, my children! Let them stay here, at least. I beg you, please..."

A glow emerged behind Hye, and as he withdrew his hand, the response to the woman’s desperate pleas could only be a simple sigh. He gazed at the small boy for a moment, causing a deep chill to run through the child, who quickly looked away.

"...Go back to—"

Hearing the sound of something tearing nearby, Hye flinched. His reaction was so instinctive, so natural, that even as his foot moved toward the child and his hands reached out for the woman, all he truly did by his own will was widen his eyes and raise his eyebrows.

'Interesting... or perhaps I should say, terrifying...?'

'What is this...?'

The space before his eyes opened, allowing something to emerge that he had seen a few times before. Something so dark and terrifying that, as it came through the growing rift, it brought with it a familiar sensation... a primal, intense fear—something he had only experienced once before.

'Contracts have rules and agreements, and when they’re broken, there are consequences. Your idea of making them obey you was interesting, but... before coming up with it, you should have first considered what would happen if the contract was broken.'

'It’s not a portal, so they won’t be sent back to the dungeon...'

'Back...? Back where? What place is there for them to return to?'

'Erasure...'

'Yes. Being the one who allowed them to escape the fate of being erased along with the dimension they inhabited, the broken agreement will now demand an equivalent price from them. Normally, that would be the case, but... to think that, despite being different in its conception, your agreement is no different in this regard.'

The tear widened, reaching the ground and opening up, creating a suction force strong enough to pull anyone in, no matter how hard they resisted. However, even though it was right in front of him, Hye's clothes didn’t even flutter.

'So, what will you do now? If they’re even a little smart, if you help them now, the werewolves might come to realize just how important they are to you. But if you do nothing, aside from those who will be lost forever, 74 children and 229 adults will be subtracted from your numbers. Quite the considerable amount, isn’t it?'

Gripping the gate, the woman struggled not to be pulled in, mainly trying to keep the baby in her arms safe. Her fingers slipped more with each passing moment, but with her attention split between that and holding onto the child, she looked at the force dragging her in. Beside her, she saw her older son clinging desperately to the bars.

"Don’t let go, my child! Don’t let go!" she cried. Her tears fell, and inevitably, even they were not allowed to escape the fate that awaited them. "Please... do something, please!"

Hye turned to look at her, his eyes cold and expression emotionless. No fear or surprise apparent—after all, if he wasn’t being affected, why should he care?

'This is... from the beginning...' she wondered, feeling her grip on safety slipping faster and faster, '...he already knew...? When he gave us that choice..., even though he didn’t say it..., he already knew this would happen...? So it was just a test? A test that many of us, including me... failed... And now, because of this, the children will...'

The dark dust spread out, emerging from the tear and wrapping around her feet. On the other side of the gate, not only were there those still fighting, clinging to trees for survival, but there were also some unaffected by the pull, using that advantage to try to help those nearby.

"Don’t let me go, please! Don’t let me go!"

"Help!" one man clinging to a tree shouted. "Someone help me! I’m slipping, please!"

"No, no, no! Hold me! Someone come, hold me! Please!"

With no more handholds or help, trying to hold on as they were dragged across the ground was futile. There was no more hope for escape.

And standing still, not just hearing but also seeing the entire scene unfold deep into the forest, Hye continued watching even the child in front of him, tenaciously holding onto the bars that were slowly bending and pulling him toward the tear that would be his end.

'Those two... besides the children and their own daughter, did they take Hilary up the mountain with them as well?'

His eyes wandered momentarily before returning, unexpectedly, to the path of the boy's gaze.

'Huh...?'

Without fear or despair, or rather, observing those eyes, Hye couldn’t decipher a single emotion he had studied before. After all, how could someone born both privileged and cursed at the same time understand the pain of someone who continues to fight relentlessly for their life and the desire of a person who just wants to be stronger?

'...61... That should be enough...'

Amid the desperation, once again, a sight they had seen before appeared before their eyes, stirring a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. However, this time, unlike before, when all they had was an empty promise from completely unknown people, with death gripping their feet, time wasn’t even a luxury they had. If they wanted to continue living, they had no choice.

[Warning!]

[You have been presented with a proposal]

[Offer your soul and gain authorization to become a Servant of the Void]

[Yes] [No]