Hollow

[06:00, 20th November. 2109 AC.]

The Supreme leader of the Angels of hell had a luxurious room. Said room was filled with tasteful and exotic furniture, every single piece being of exquisite design and decoration. The crimson carpet upon the floor was thick and soft, swallowing the footsteps of those who trod upon it. A Flag bearing the insignia of the clan hung upon the walls in the depths of the room.

An imposing mahogany desk sat in the center of the room. Its owner sat behind it, upon a black leather chair.

If one were to describe that man in one phrase — dressed as he was in a long, black robe which seemed to absorb the light — then he would have to be an

"A fallen angel."

His exposed head was the epitome of beauty for a man. The pupils of crimson within its eye sockets were blended with faint traces of darkness.

This was the man once known as Hayate Sato, who had now taken on the name of his in-game avatar, Lucifer The Light-bringer.

Lucifer meshed his fingers together. The five rings on those fingers glittered as they reflected the magical radiance of the [Mini sun] spell.

"Good grief… where shall I go from here?"

Hollow was a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, which allowed its players to immerse themselves in its fictional reality and experience their adventures within the game world. It had been six hours since — when Lucifer had been mysteriously transferred to the future in the form of his character from the game.

Lucifer looked down at his hands. "At least I'm used to this body, I guess..."

He flexed his fingers and rolled his wrists.

His new form was strong and lean, an ideal body for battle, something he didn't want.

During this time, Lucifer had studied the conditions people of this world and learned about the various differences between this place and the game world.

After what happened a few hours ago, he just needed something to calm his mind and take it off the grief of his parents death's. So, what did he do?

He transformed his room.

All of his previous possessions had been put away. Now, his room was furnished with decorative items from Hollow.

All of it was made using his mana.

Lucifer's previous room had been a simple one. A bed, a desk, and a closet.

Now, the room had been changed into something one would find in the bedroom of a raid boss.

Flags hung on the walls imbued with the logo of the Angels of hell — a humanoid angel with wings coming out of its back holding a sword down with both its hands thrusting it into the ground from where demons were sprouting out of.

There was a large bed with a black and golden bedspread, placed on a luxurious crimson carpet. The bedspread gold pattern's printed on it.

Large, black curtains covered the windows.

And next to the bed, there was a chest of drawers with a mirror on top of it.

His desk was also changed to a more majestic one, one that looked like it had to be made from expensive wood — mahogany, painted black with a black chair in front of it.

A massive, crimson-black bookshelf stood in the corner.

His closet had been replaced with a huge wardrobe that would be-fit a high-ranking commander. He had also re-done the paint on the walls and thoroughly cleaned the place.

It looked brand new and he had fixed the windows.

Why go through all this trouble?

Well, because he was homeless.

Not really, this house in Tokyo was technically illegal so he couldn't registered it anywhere. He would need to buy an actual house sometime soon but that's for later, until then he would need to stay here and he couldn't have stayed here for a day in its former condition.

To top it all off, a mini-sun had been imbedded into the ceiling, glowing brightly and providing light. It was a bright white.

Lucifer sighed as he looked around his room. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

"This is better..." he mumbled to himself.

He looked at his hands again and tried to move and stretch his fingers, a bit of magic sparking at the tips of his fingertips.

There was a knock on the door.

He groaned and got up from his bed to answer it.

"Come in." He said in a calm tone.

"I'm back, My lord."

The person...well not exactly a person, the creation who said this was a [Blood knight].

It was a tier 4 being so it originally had a level of 40 but with lucifer's skills it was boosted to 60. It was wearing black armour, it seemed like it was made up of some sort of unknown metal, it was black in colour but with a slight shiny glint to it, it seemed to absorb all the light around it.

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The armour covered the whole body, starting with the shoulders that had metal plates covering them and moving down to it's arms, covering them in armour that were both practical and stylish, the gauntlets on its hands making its fingers longer. The body was covered by a chest plate that was held together by leather straps. The plates of the armour were also sharp and it looked like it could tear someone's skin off if it came in contact.

It's face was obscured with a red cloak so you couldn't it's race or gender, and even if you tried to look at it's body, the heavy armour made it impossible. It also wore a red cape which flowed down till it's knee's. In its left hand, it held a metal sword, however this sword was nothing ordinary. It emitted a strong aura, it was a magic sword.

It was a type of undead which was immune to a variety of status effects. It was immune to [blinded] , [dominated] , [exhaustion] , [fear], [poisoned] and [paralyzed] and also possessed the skills [lesser magic resistance] and [immutable form] which rendered it immune to any attempt to change it's form. It also had the skill [unknown] which allowed it to use [true invisibility] without any mana cost and many other's.

According to the lore of the official hollow lore book which Lucifer had a copy of in his inventory, each blood knight is the bound spirit of a knight who died in battle and is now trapped in the armour he passed away wearing, drenched in the blood of the innocent. And if the armour of a blood knight takes a human life, the victim's soul will be taken into the armour and be trapped forever, suffering for an eternity.

Lucifer looked at the blood knight who was kneeling in front of him and after a bit of contemplation, he finally spoke. The biggest problem was the sheer lack of information about this new world he currently inhabited.

"…Then, how about the report?"

"Here, Lord Lucifer."

Lucifer accepted a document from the blood knight 'and immediately began scanning through it. The paper was made from Lucifer's own mana alongside the ink which had been used to write on it, it was very low quality since he had made almost a thousand but it was of no worry. It did its job just fine.

It stated that they had not yet made contact with Hollow Players like Lucifer, nor had they found any trace of them. The blood knight' had done a search of the forest near Tokyo, and he had found a tribe of sorts among the foothills of the mountain range at the end of the forest.

Lucifer nodded. Relief flooded through him as he learned that they had not found the beings in this world of which he was most wary — other Players.

Even though Hiroshi had already told him, he could be lying so he wanted to be extra careful also he had only told him of the past, not the present and by present Lucifer meant the last few hour's.

"I understand. Tell BK – 2 and his people to continue carrying out my orders."

He had created eleven blood knight's excluding this one but only this one had been created using a corpse, it seemed undead created with corpses were stronger than ones who were created without it.

"Unders—"

A quiet knocking came from the door. Blood knight – 1 glanced at Lucifer's expression, then bowed deeply and headed to the door. After verifying the identity of the visitor, bk – 1 replied:

"Blood knight – 2 seeks an audience."

"BK -2 ? That's fine, let her in."

After receiving Lucifer's permission to enter, another blood knight, this one seemingly feminine entered the office.

"Greetings, Lord Lucifer."

"The same to you, BK – 2. Why have you come to my room today?"

"Naturally, it was to admire your handsome features, My Lord."

While there was obviously no expression on Lucifer's face, the crimson vertical pupils in his eyes dilated brightly. At first, he wanted to tell her to dispense with the pleasantries, but Lucifer swallowed those words.

This was an opportunity to learn how his subordinates viewed him.

BK-2 took a step away from the door, and stood with her back straight and her head down low, waiting to be spoken to. Her face was obscured by the hood of her black cloak, and the crimson cape flowing behind her added to her aura.

"Blood knight two...what do you think of me?"

BK – 2 looked somewhat taken back by the unexpected question but answered without hesitation:

"Of course...you are our leader, our lord. You are the most powerful, the most brilliant, and the most beautiful. There is no one as admirable as you."

He internally sighed, he wasn't used to this at all. After all, when he was a human, he barely got compliments once a month but it was enough to prove their loyalty to him.

"Umu. Now I'll ask once again, why are you here?"

BK – 2 answered his question immediately:

"Yes. I will be meeting dark afterward in order to fulfill the task set to me. Since I may not be able to return to you for some time, I came to bid farewell."

Lucifer remembered that he had given her such a task, and nodded.

"I see. Then, BK-2, take care when accomplishing your task and return home safely."

"Yes!" she replied in a bright and clear voice.

"Then, you may leave, BK-2. Also, as you go, tell Oxy to give me his report on the mercenary guild in Neo-Tokyo."

"Understood, Lord Lucifer."

With that said, both the blood knight's bowed once more and teleported away.

Aside from the blood knight's, he had created a level 60 Jester and a level 90 doppelganger. The name of the former was Oxy and the name of the latter was dark. While the blood knight's were busy scouting japan, oxy had been send to collection information on the mercenaries in Neo-Tokyo and he was back now.

Another knock on the door.

Lucifer looked towards the door and spoke:

"Enter."

A dark haired young man slowly opened the door and stepped inside. He wore a purple and gold jester outfit that had the feel of the finest silk. The fabric of his suit glistened under the light, almost causing the eyes to hurt. Upon his head, he wore the standard hat of a jester. It was a red and gold hat with a wide brim, along with two little bells tied to a small piece of cloth upon the front of it. The bells rang with every step, almost as if they were alive.

On his face, he wore a gold mask designed like a jester's face.

Despite the grotesque design, Oxy was strangely handsome. His skin was fair, as if he were someone who had never seen the sun in all his life. His features were well-proportioned. His thin lips were curled into a smile beneath his mask, and his eyes appeared like two little moons, peeking out from the eye-holes.

The jester bowed to Lucifer, his voice sounding as if it were a whisper.

"Lord Lucifer, I've returned."

Lucifer nodded in acknowledgment.

"Oxy, you've returned just in time. I was waiting for your report. Sit down."

Oxy obediently did so, crossing his gloved legs.

"How did your job go?" Lucifer asked.

Oxy responded quickly, saying:

"Of course. I'm half-way through my investigation of the "merc company." That's what it's called."

"I see..." said Lucifer. "And? What have you found out so far. Hand me your report."

Oxy's gold-gloved hands dug into the folds of his cloak before producing a sheet of paper, which he held out for Lucifer.

"Here is my report, my lord."

Lucifer accepted the paper and quickly read through its contents. The report was concise and orderly. The information was divided into sections and categories, making it easy to understand.

"Merc company."

That's what it was called.

"Interesting..."

The report contained a list of important figures in the company, the structure of the company and many other details. Lucifer's eyes flicked across the paper, absorbing the information.

"This report is very good. You did your job well, Oxy."

"I'm undeserving of your praise, My lord."

Lucifer nodded and continued to speak:

"So, you've only investigated half the company so far, correct?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Then I have a new request for you. I'll go here myself, your new task is.."