Hollow

He glanced around the room.

The audience was still going crazy, a lot of them were placing bets on the fight, some were talking, while others were waiting for the next match.

The whole atmosphere made it feel more like a casino or a sports arena than an illegal underground fight club.

If he had to say anything about this place, it looked like low budget vegas. A really fucked up version of the casinos from vegas but something like it nonetheless.

Walking down the stairs, making his way down to the bottom of the room, where the cage was didn't take a lot of time. Passing by the rows of the people, eagerly awaiting the next bloodbath.

Once down, he walked by and made his way towards the large table where the referee was taking bets from the audience.

When he reached there, the man seemed to have noticed him, and looked up with a smile.

"You seem to be dressed finely, how much you betting?"

"I want to fight in the cage."

The referee paused.

A look of slight surprise showed on his face, and he looked Lucifer up and down.

"You want to do what now?" The guy asked, clearly having not heard Lucifer correctly.

"I said that I want to fight in the cage."

Lucifer repeated himself, the same expressionless face.

The referee's expression was now perplexed, he thought for a moment before replying back.

"You gotta be joking, right? Ain't no way you're going in there."

The referee eyed Lucifer's body again, his extremely tall height, his high quality armour, the broadsword on his back. It could be a interesting fight.

After a bit of internal contemplation, he agreed.

"You know what? I'll humour you."

He replied, a small smile creeping up on his face.

"Name?"

"Sato."

"Just Sato?" "Yeah."

The referee made a little note down in the book that he had on the table.

"Well then, Sato, you better start saying your prayers."

"I'll pray if you give me the time to do that."

Lucifer replied dry heartedly.

A chuckle escaped from the referee's mouth, it was obvious that the man got a kick out of Sato's reply,

"What can I say, I'm a generous man."

"I'll give you a minute. Collect yourself, and then we'll began the match."

While talking to the referee, from the corner of his eyes, he could see the dead body of the vet being dragged out from the cage, leaving a trail of blood on the ground which no one brothered to clean, even if it was a safety hazard.

"Alright."

Sato said in response, nodding.

Walking away from the table, he walked past some of the audience.

A couple of them glanced at him, giving him side glances, probably thinking he'll get killed in a few minutes. That didn't bother Sato, he was sure he could win.

"Because of this, my popularity will increase once I get the audience fired up."

While his objective was not to boost his popularity, it was better to have it than not. Plus, if it ended up raising the general opinion about him, it would probably improve the opinion of any future organization he may open.

Lucifer took out his broadsword and gripped it tightly.

As a pure magic caster, Lucifer's selection in weapons was very limited, largely to staves, daggers and the like, most of the times they were made by his own magic.

However, because of the outfit he was wearing — the white righteous armour — he couldn't use them and only this sword.

It was not very strong. Lucifer as he was now could probably make a better weapon. That said, Lucifer had not made such preparations. After considering the difference in strength between himself and the enemy he was up against, Lucifer had decided to fight him with his present weapon, to see how it ― and the fight ― turned out.

This was the ultimate in fooliness to Hayate Sato, the Hollow player, and if his friends were here, they would most likely chid him by saying, "this won't do," or "are you a idiot?"

While he could use all of his strength to kill his enemy in one blow, he did not want to show them a one-sided slaughter. Lucifer's objective was an overwhelming victory of just the right amount.

On a battlefield, there was no need nor space to care about how the enemy felt as you mercilessly killed them. However, in the underground world, where it was all about showmanship, that was a different story.

To have a dull fight would make the opponent feel that he had not given his all, thus, making your ratings fall, or atleast that's how he imagined it was from the limited information he knew, his source being the small talk with Luna while they were coming here.

Lucifer turned his head around, making a thumbs up to show the referee that he was ready.

"Good, cause I'm more than ready!"

The referee smirked as he spoke into the microphone.

"Our next match is gonna be between our newest participant, Sato the newbie mercenary and the famous fighter, Big Frank, so everyone cheer them on!"

On the other side, the crowd was going wild.

Frank was popular among the people of the fight club, for good reason.

Oh his side however, nobody cheered or even said a few words of encouragement. That was understandable, they thought that he would either fight well or get turned into red dust after the first ten seconds of the match.

"They're gonna be so surprised when I win."

A massive shadow appeared from the opposite entrance.

The cheering he thought could not get any louder went up another level, and

now it sounded like an explosion.

In all honesty, he wanted a part of that cheering for himself, but he would simply have to claim it with his own strength.

In Hollow, the voices of the supporters would slowly turn toward the

challenger if they did well. In other words if Lucifer fought well against Big Frank, more and more people would start to support him.

"So it seems conditions like these where I hardly have any support are pretty good for advertising myself, no?"

"Let's begin!" The referee declared loudly.

The referee was enjoying all of this a bit too much.

In the ring, one could still see the blood on the spikes, with no attempt at tidying it away.

If anything, that just made it all the more interesting to the crowd.

As big Frank came out from the other entrance, Lucifer analysed him.

His movements were a bit slow when he was walking because of his size and armour, but in terms of pure strength, he was probably the strongest here.

Big Frank made his way to the centre of the cage, not taking his eyes off of Lucifer, the new challenger. He took a fighting stance, waiting for his opponent to do the same.

Lucifer pulled out his sword and held it facing downwards, and then, raised it, aiming the blade at Frank.

The distance between him and his opponent shrank.

"I am the boosterganger Frank lindsay, known as Big Frank."

"I am ―" here Lucifer puffed out his chest. "The rising mercenary, the warrior Sato."

"Is that so. Then let us fight with all our strength."

"No, I'll fight with a handicap."

This caused the entire place to fall into complete silence.

The crowd was shocked, as was Frank, hearing the declaration.

Did that newbie mercenary just say that he was going to fight while handicapping himself? What an act of foolishness.

Although, his curiosity was also piqued.

"What did you say?" Big Frank said, clearly not believing it.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I'm handicapping myself."

Lucifer repeated with an indifferent voice, causing the crowd to let out gasps of disbelief, some of them were also confused by the young mercenary's actions.

"I'll only use one hand of mine, the one which is welding this sword. I'll also start with a distance of ten meters between us. If that violates any rules, I'd like to know."

This was a great tactic to get the attention of the people, fighting someone who's basically decked out while being handicapped.

The referee was also speechless.

However, he managed to gain some composure to reply back to Sato.

"Uhhh, well."

The referee rubbed his temples, "It doesn't violate any rules."

"Good."

Lucifer let out a sigh of relief. The fact that such an idea which he simply came up with on a whim is accepted by the referee is a bit ridiculous.

Big Frank however, was extremely surprised.

"You are quite foolish."

"Perhaps."

Sato replied simply.

Frank couldn't believe it — an opponent was actually willing to handicap himself in a battle against him.

It was so ridiculous that he could not help but chuckle.

"I can already tell who's going to win this."

Frank had his arms crossed, and his expression seemed almost condescending as he spoke to his opponent, as if he was speaking to an ignorant child.

While they were eyeing and chattering with each other, the referee started the match with:

"Begin!"

This was the starting signal.

Big Frank was still in his same position, not moving an inch from where he stood and just looking at Lucifer with the same expression as before, like he was just a weakling before him.

Frank was overconfident.

That was exactly what would cost him the match.

Lucifer however, was not going to waste this opportunity.

He dashed forward with unnatural speed, the audience and even Frank were shocked at this.

Big Frank then got over his initial shock and prepared himself, and his expression turned from surprised to smug as he saw the distance between them closing.

Lucifer raised up his sword, slamming it down on frank's right arm, and as soon as he did so, he felt something, like a small tingle run up his spine. Usually, he would've completely nullified something like a low shock, however, since he was capped at the stats and resistances of a level 50 warrior, he couldn't completely negate it, due to the effects of his equipment being temporarily unavailable.

"Tch."

Frank grunted in annoyance, his cyberware did little damage to him and the fact that the new challenger closed the distance so fast irritated him.

He didn't really think of Lucifer as anything special, just an arrogant fool who wanted to prove how good he is by fighting a someone like him.

"Why did I get shocked...is it some sort of a implant, something that shocks you whenever you hit the person which has it.."

Lucifer mused to himself, he didn't really want to use any magic or skills, however, if it worked like he imagined, it would be a bit of a bother — like an ant biting you — just enough damage to cause him a inconvenience.

"[Infinity protection]"

It was a skill that players who chose the warrior class had, it wasn't something specific nor was it locked behind a specific skill set.

It offered temporary protection from any elemental attacks of low level, and allowed you to not get affected by things like [minor paralysis] for thirty seconds or so.

Now, since that was out of the way, Lucifer struck again, this time in between the small opening in frank's armour which was there for flexibility, however, since it was protected too, the attack didn't do anything.

The two were now locked in a short lock of blades and punches, and Frank was a bit confused how his opponent was even strong enough to hold against his strength.

Frank tried to push away his opponent, his muscles straining, but this newcomer was somehow holding on.

Not only withstanding his strength, he was actually pushing down as well.

This kind of strength is something which most people without a cybernetic body wouldn't have, and that only lead to one conclusion in Frank's mind.

Frank grit his teeth in annoyance, grumbling.

"You're not human.."

"Well, I'm not an alien. Seems like all that iron is getting to your head."

Lucifer spoke back with a dry statement.

Frank kicked Lucifer's broadsword, and, immediately grabbed both of his hands together, forming a fist and swung them down at Lucifer, as if intending to crush him like a fly.

The two huge metal hands came down, and would've crushed Lucifer easily without any sort of resistance…

…if he hadn't gotten out of the way of the attack at the very last moment.

Bump

The metallic fist smashed into the floor, creating a dent in the concrete floor.

Frank quickly got up, grumbling in annoyance.

"Stop moving around, you god damn cockroach."

Frank grumbled in annoyance as he rose back up. He starting to get irritated, and just the fact that this newcomer was holding his own against someone as powerful as him had got on his nerves.

However, the crowd seemed to be enjoying this show.

There was no loyalty here, whoever was the better warrior, the better fighter, would have the public on his side.

"I can't believe this newbie is giving me so much trouble."

The crowd was still going wild, while the fight was going on. Big Frank, on the other hand — well, it was safe to say that this wasn't going how he wanted anymore.

It was as if the newcomer had known every trick, every technique to counter him.

Frank was getting more and more frustrated, which caused him to get sloppy with his moves, making his attacks more predictable.

Seeing this, Lucifer got a bit amused. He was still holding his sword, although, a bit loosely.

Casually.

"Maybe you're losing your touch."

"Shut the fuck up," Frank shouted.

Frank could feel his rage building inside of him.

Here he was, Big Frank – the champion of the fighting ring.

Every fight until now had been simple enough, he'd just walk in, walk out with a victory and collect his money. He wouldn't even need to raise a finger.

So, having a new challenger that didn't instantly give up, a challenger he couldn't beat, and had the gall to speak so casually?

That made his blood boil.

His thoughts filled with anger, Frank charged at Lucifer with a roar, the ground shaking with every step he took. He braced his body, intending to slam himself down onto his opponent and end this.

It was going to be a easy win, he was going to win this.

Except, it didn't go as Frank dreamed.

With a small shift of his legs, Lucifer had stepped out of Frank's reach, dodging his headlong attack.

Frank could only watch with wide open eyes as his attack landed on nothing, and he stumbled a bit from the momentum of the failed attack.

His attack missing, he could only hear the laughing of the people in the crowd, who were now finding joy is his failure.

Just then, he barely had time to move his head before Lucifer's broadsword stabbed the ground next to his ear, barely scratching it.

"Tch."

Frank got away just in time, but it was only a narrow avoid, if he had been a bit slower – his head would've been skewered through.

Frank gritted his teeth again, his fists were shaking in anger.

"You bastard!"

just then, he realised he was underestimating his opponent. Now, making sure not to do the same again, he used the BOOSTER implants in his feet, he flew up for just a little bit, his feet then latching onto the ground like a leech sucking blood.

With the force built up, Frank once again rushed at Lucifer, his fist coming down, trying to knock the other off guard.

Lucifer raised up his broadsword, using the flat side to block the attack. Frank, however, was only using one fist to attack Lucifer and the latter was the one which he blocked.

That meant his other one was free.

Lucifer turned his head to the side, ducking down to avoid being hit in the back.

Frank's fist went over Lucifer's head, the move was fast, but the attack only made a small guest of wind.

With the momentum from the missing punch, Frank stumbled a bit forward, and Lucifer, seeing this opportunity, quickly moved, the broadsword coming down on Frank, aiming to pierce through his arm.

Frank realised this too late, and could only widen his eyes as the pain shot through his arm. Even though they were made from synthetic muscles with 1:1 synaptic junctions that moved as fast as the user could think, they were pierced through like paper.

"GAAH!!"

Frank let out a scream of pain, the broadsword being pulled out of his arm and leaving a big cut across it, small tubes which worked like nerves and other machinery could be seen at the gap.

Frank stumbled back, holding his injured arm, he stared at it.

All that high tech machinery, and a single stab managed to completely pierce through that.

"Damn it!"

Frank gritted his teeth, frustration and disbelief filled him.

He had worked so hard to buy this equipment, and only with it can he feel any sense of enjoyment nowadays!

Yet now, it had been torn apart like paper.

The crowd had gone silent when they saw what had happened. No screams or cheers anymore, they all watched in silence as Big Frank stared at his arm.

"Joderme. you're fucking dead!"

Frank's voice was low, his eye twitching.

Never in his life, had he been so angry.

He was going to make sure that this newcomer paid greatly for all of this, that newbie and everyone who was cheering for him.

He was going to rip them all apart.

He could feel his hands — Well, hand shaking.

With a loud shout, Frank charged at Lucifer again.

In the midst of his rage, he managed to completely forget about everything, even the pain and injury in his arm was ignored.

He had to win, if he lost — the reputation he worked so far would be ruined.

Lucifer jumped out of his way, stepping to the side to avoid being crushed under him and impaled on the spikes, which wasn't gonna happen anyways but a man has to keep up appearances, no?

Frank, however, didn't realise that Lucifer had moved out of the way, using the BOOSTER implant in his feet again, with a hiss, he increased his speed, turning his body around to make sure his titanium shoulder faced the cage, as he slammed into it.

The metal cage — which was made up of tough, high grade material, designed to hold up against all the different, abnormal fights that took place in this ring — groaned as the impact was applied by a big man travelling with such a high speed.

The entire cage felt the shock, with some dust and debris falling from the ceiling.

Still not having realised what was happening, Frank took a few steps back and with all of his strength slammed himself into the cage once more. And, with a thunderous noise, he broke through.

The audience was shocked, their eyes wide open. They watched as Big Frank charged and broke through the cage.

This was a first time for all of them, and they never once thought that there would be a day that something like this happened.

Lucifer, who had dodged at the last moment, had a blank expression on his face as he watched Frank crash into the concrete floor on the other side.

"Where am I?"

Frank muttered to himself, feeling the warm air hit him in his face, he blinked his eyes and stood up, looking down at his body, all he could see was organic flesh.

Flesh.

He hated it.

He hated how weak he had felt in such a body.

He hated it so much, that he made sure that at the very first chance he got, he gave up that weak fleshy body and replaced it with a synthetic one. Even if he had to pay a lot of money, it was still more than worth it.

But now, he had to deal with this thing, this goddamn flesh shell, and it felt disgusting.

He shook his head, glancing around him.

He was in a classroom, those metal chairs, those corporate bastards with their latest metal, those same old teachers who didn't speak against any of the bullying they did because their were busy worshipping the parents of those studies who made people like him suffer.

If only he could go back in time—

"I'll break every bone in their body and skin them alive."

His eyes landed on something, something small and insignificant, yet it seemed to pull him towards it.

The thing that he was looking at was, a clock, hanging on the wall.

5/7/2099.

"Wasn't this the date? No, I have to stop them."

Frank muttered to himself, he looked around, his eyes landing on the entrance/exit of the classroom, he dashed towards it with all of his speed.

Despite his situation being like this, his body which was now much more fragile felt like it could move much faster than when he had that synthethic body.

It only took him a few seconds to get across the entire classroom and out of the door.

In the hallways, he looked to his right and left, both corridors filled with people.

"Right..left.."

He didn't know which way to go, after all, it had been ten years since that day. So, he decided to trust his instincts, turning right and making a beeline for it.

No matter how many people he bumped or crashed into, he kept running.

"he's gone insane."

Lucifer stared at Frank as he went on a rampage in the fight club.

Frank's body was running around the hall, crashing into things, punching things, crushing people alive, stepping on them, he even tore a person in half.

"So, this is what happens when someone overuses their cyberware."

Cybersanity.

Mind crash.

Psycodeath.

All of these terms were used by the people of the current age to describe what happens to someone when they overuse their cyberware too much, to the point that it affects their mental state and sometimes, makes them go insane.

The effects that cyberware has on someone's psychology have been know for a long time, when people had first started to replace their parts with machinery after all, and that's why there were a lot of rules.

The laws to not overuse cyberware are well known to everyone.

And yet here was Big Frank, who had disobeyed them all.

Of course, this entire area in general was mostly abandoned by the government so it would make sense those rules weren't enforced here.

"Interesting.."

Ever since he had heard about this, he had been wanting to see it in person. If possible, Lucifer would've loved to capture him and take him back home, ask dark whenever he is free to perform experiments on him to learn more about whatever this is and if it could affect beings like him.

But, of course, since there were so many people here, he didn't want to run the risk of exposing himself.

"Speaking of experiments..I need to create some more NPC's, just some blood knights, oxy and dark won't cut it."

He sighed internally, there was so much work to do.

Although, for now, he had to be a hero and save these "innocent" people from this raging moster.