Hollow

Lucifer found himself heading back to the hotel provided but the mercenary company where he and his teammate, Ox, were staying at. He was exhausted, his mind filled with a mix of thoughts from the events that had just played out.

Mentally, not physically, he couldn't be, ever.

As he ascended the stairs inside the hotel, he could hear faint music coming from Oxy's room, the cheerful tune of a circus melody.

It seemed like Oxy was in a carefree mood, as usual.

He had really take a liking to such music after he had heard it once on a advertisement.

When he reached their room, he knocked on the door.

A moment later, it swung open with a dramatic flourish — revealing Oxy standing there in his usual cloths.

"Ah, Lord Lucifer, you're back. How did the mission go with that human women, did she annoy you, Can I kill her if she did so?"

Lucifer sighed behind his mask. "You're insufferable."

"No, you've no need to do such things."

The room was cluttered — not dirty exactly, but chaotic. Maps pinned to walls with pins; holsters dangling from the only ceiling fan; half-empty cans of synthetic cola stacked like Jenga blocks.

Lucifer stepped inside and removed his helmet once more.

"I see you've made yourself comfortable."

"Oh? This?"

Oxy gestured grandly to the mess around him.

"This is not chaos—this is art. Even though it should be punishable by death for me to say this, I got bored while staying here all alone for the past few hour's."

Just then, a voice called out to Lucifer, interrupting the action he was about to do.

"Say, would you be the people who went to save my grandfather?"

The voice was an hoarse one. When he turned to look, he found an young women.

"…And who might you be?"

He said that, but Lucifer could guess at the answer. If this girls words were

genuine, then there could be only one answer to that question.

"My name is Megumi Matsunaga, the one you saved is my grandfather."

"Ah! So it really was you? That's right, I'm one of the mercenaries who saved your grandfather. My name is Sato, and this is ox."

Megumi smiled to the bowing Ox:

"She's an unbelievably beautiful girl."

"I'm a boy.."

After a moment of surprise, Megumi quickly apologized.

"S-Sorry for mistaking you for a girl earlier."

She quickly turned back to Lucifer, a look of relief and gratitude on her face.

"I can't thank you enough. Without your help, my grandfather might've…" She shuddered at the thought, not even wanting to finish her sentence.

"I'm so sorry, but we need your help. Again."

Megumi looked up at Lucifer, desperation visible in her eyes, Lucifer could tell that it was real.

He raised a brow under his mask, his curiosity piqued.

"Help with what?"

Megumi let out a shaky breath, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"I… We…," Her voice trembled slightly, "There's an ongoing crisis that we need help with."

He could sense the urgency in her voice, but he still felt hesitant.

"Tell me all the details first."

"There's this cyborg killer, someone, who calls himself Zero, he attacked our home, jumping through the ceiling and landing on nomi.."

She couldn't finished her sentence yet again, the scene engrained into her brain, how nomi had been crushed under his feet.

She took in a deep breath, trying to steady her voice.

"After he killed Nomi, he was going to kill the rest of us but Saul stayed behind, giving us time to escape. However, after killing Saul, he chased after us, and then I don't remember what happened. But, everyone is missing. Taguchi, Aoi, my grandpa!"

Her voice cracked with emotion, her eyes beginning to water.

"I don't know if they're still alive… but I can't just do nothing. I need help—you helped save my grandfather once, please… help me find them!"

Lucifer stood in silence for a moment, absorbing every word she said. His expression remained unreadable behind the mask.

Nomi, Saul.

Two people he had came to slowly, like.

Dead.

"This is a little... upsetting."

He muttered to himself.

Megumi saw the troubled look in his eyes through his eyeslits and mistook it for something else, thinking she'd made a mistake.

She quickly apologized, her voice shaky, "I-I'm sorry, I'm asking too much, huh? It's not your problem, you don't have to…"

Lucifer cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"No, it's alright."

He reassured her, his voice back to its usual emotionless state.

He could see the relief wash over her face, some of the tension in her body dissipating.

Megumi took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.

"Thank you."

He nodded in acknowledgment.

"I'll help you look for them. Let's go."

The scene was chaos—flames licked the night sky, painting everything in flickering orange and black. Sirens wailed in the background, red lights flashing against the soot-covered walls of what used to be Megumi's home. Firefighters moved quickly, hoses spraying water at the collapsing structure, but it was too late. The house was beyond saving.

Lucifer stood motionless, his dark eyes scanning the scene with cold precision.

Megumi froze.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the burning wreckage. The place where she had grown up, where her grandfather once sipped tea on the porch every morning, where Nomi had joked about retirement just days ago.

Now it was gone.

And then she saw it—a body bag on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. A single tag dangled from its foot: IDENTITY PENDING.

"No…"

She whispered at first—then louder:

"NO!"

She bolted forward before Lucifer could stop her, shoving past a firefighter blocking her path. "That's my home! Who died?! Who was inside?!"

A paramedic grabbed her gently but firmly by the arm. "Miss… I'm sorry," he said softly. "We found two bodies inside when we arrived—one crushed near what used to be the living room… another shot multiple times near a back window."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Lucifer approached slowly behind her as Megumi fell to her knees on the asphalt driveway—her fists clenched so tight they bled slightly from broken skin splitting over nails digging into flesh.

"Saul…"

"Nomi…"

She choked out their names like prayers spat back from heaven.

Her voice was thick with heartbreak, tears streaming freely down her soot-stained face now.

The paramedic looked at her sadly, releasing her arm.

He seemed like he wanted to say something, but what could he say? An apology wouldn't bring Saul back, and it wouldn't bring Nomi back.

There was no making this okay.

So, he stayed silent.

Lucifer knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder in a small attempt to offer some comfort. Even though his expression remained unreadable, the gesture was kind.

"We'll bring your grandfather and everyone else back."

Over in the distance he could see a few officer's from the NTPD speaking, and due to his hearing, he could overhear:

"Any valuables are still on these people and in the house, so this wasn't a robbery. But, their neurochips are missing."

He turned his head back towards the scene, watching from the corner of his eyes as the ambulance drove off.

"This was targeted."

He mused to himself, the victims so far were two people from the blood wolf's with Taguchi, Hirata seemingly being kidnapped.

This made a pattern, and if he followed it, wouldn't the next target be, "Luna?"

His eyes widened slightly behind his mask.

Luna—the girl who had just invited him out, the one whose life he had helped save earlier today.

If Zero was hunting Blood Wolf members one by one… she might already be in danger.

And worse, she's alone.

"Megumi," Lucifer said suddenly, his voice sharp and urgent. "You can stay with ox for your safety, I'll be going.

She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes, confused by the sudden question.

"W-what? But—"

"Don't worry, he can handle his own against anyone."

She frowned, looking like she wanted to argue but then she stopped, realizing there really wasn't much argument to give.

Ox was more than capable of defending himself and Megumi, especially right now since they were in the presence of police so that would have some backup, atleast.

"Okay…"

She nodded, wiping at her eyes stubbornly.

With that settled, Lucifer turned on his heel and took off running—fast.

Not bothering to hide his speed, he blurred through the streets of Neo-Tokyo like a shadow given motion.

His cape streamed behind him like a banner of night.

It didn't take long for him to hide in a dirty alleyway, behind a few buildings, he couldn't use magic in front of any camera's after all.

"Both bodies still had all their valuables on them except for the neurochip in their brain. They're—"

Suddenly, Lucifer was cut off from his thoughts as a voice spoke in Lucifer's mind.

It was the [Greater sending] spell.

"「Lucifer-sama.」"

The voice was somewhat high-pitched, and there was something like rustling in the background.

"Is that you, Hilda ?"

"「Yes, it is me.」"

It was Hilda Kefalí ypiretrias. She was going to the be the head of a group of maids which were yet to be made. So, she was currently serving under Dark.

"「I have a report to deliver.」"

"—I'm busy now. I'll contact you again when I'm free."

"「Understood. Please contact Dark-sama as soon as possible.」"

The spell ended, and Lucifer got back to his internal speech, talking to himself.

"the neurochips stolen from their brains must be trophies take by the killer. And, that will be his undoing."

Having figured that out, there were only a few more things to do.

The night air shattered like glass.

One moment, the space before Luna's house was empty, silent under the pale glow of streetlights and distant sirens.

The next, a ripple tore through reality itself.

Lucifer materialized from thin air in front of her home, his form coalescing from shadows and unseen energy. Not a sound followed his arrival. No crack of thunder, no gust of wind—just silence. The [True Teleportation] spell had delivered him flawlessly across Neo-Tokyo in less than a second.

He paused for half a breath.

Then whispered into the dark:

"[True Invisibility]."

His body vanished, not cloaked, not hidden by illusion but truly absent to all senses and sensors. No thermal signature. No electromagnetic trace. Even direct physical contact would feel like brushing against empty air unless he willed otherwise.

As invisible as the air he breathed, he approached Luna's front door. He tested the knob. Open. Not that it mattered even if it was locked, he could simply use magic to go through.

However, that wasn't really needed now.

Still, it was a cause for concern since her door was open.

He entered quietly, shutting the door silently behind him.

A quick once over of her living room revealed that nothing was out of place. The windows were sealed tight, furniture unmoved.

No signs of a struggle. So either Luna left the front door open, or someone else had entered before him.

Both conclusions were concerning.

He moved to her kitchen, which was also untouched.

No broken dishes, no food or water spilled on the floor, not even a speck of dirt on the counter.

Her kitchen was spotless.

A quick glance in the fridge showed a handful of half-filled take out boxes, a few bottles of water, and two six packs of beer.

Next, he moved to her bedroom.

The bed was neatly made, her clothes were hung in her closet or tucked in her drawers.

If anything, the only thing out of place was a set of black leather gloves on her desk, resting next to a gun.

However, he had seen her use gloves sometimes so it wasn't anything suspicious.

Until, "what's that," he muttered to himself as he saw a few drops of a liquid on the ground.

Taking a closed look, it was, "blood."

His eyes narrowed.

Not much blood—just a few drops—but fresh. It had been spilled recently, within the last hour.

And then he noticed something else: the window on the other side of her bedroom was slightly cracked open.

Not enough to look suspicious at first glance… but enough for someone or something to slip through silently.

He moved toward it slowly, scanning the ledge outside through invisible eyes.

A smear of blood traced along the edge—tiny, almost invisible unless you were looking for it.

"Luna's gone too..."

A cold ripple crawled up his spine—an alien sensation, sharp and sudden.

For the first time since he had woken in this body, trapped inside a demon's form forged from code and forgotten data, something stirred.

Not rage. Not yet.

But the whisper of it, the first embers of anger flickering to life in a chest that had known only detachment since it came alive.

Those few crimson drops reflected nothing… but they screamed louder than any siren ever could.

Luna-sharp-tongued, guarded Luna—who flinched at her own past like it was still clawing at her heels…

She had offered him something tonight. Not just trust, but vulnerability. A fragile thread of connection woven between two broken people who didn't know how to be anything else but strong when they should've been weak together.

And now?

Gone. Taken. Or worse.

His fists clenched at his sides so hard the metal plates beneath his skin groaned faintly—a sound only magic could mask. The air around him warped imperceptibly; heat pulsed for a fraction of a second before vanishing as [True Invisibility] recalibrated to contain even thermal anomalies.

This wasn't just another mission anymore.

This wasn't about money or reputation among mercenaries who called themselves "Blood Wolves" like some outdated gang name from an old-school holo-drama.

No.

This was personal now, not because he cared for her (he shouldn't—he couldn't), but because someone had dared disrupt what little balance he'd built in this new world.

His voice cut through the silence like broken glass wrapped in velvet:

"Zero…"

Only one word.

But it carried fury strong enough to crack concrete floors.

"I'm coming for you."

No longer invisible, he let himself reappear slowly into existence there by that window as if darkness itself gathered breathlessly around him once more.

Then, vanished with another silent tear through space.

"you're back, Sato-san."

Oxy said to Lucifer as he saw him appear out of thin air, paying no mind to it.

"Luna's gone too. Where's megumi-san?"

"Oh, she went with the police since they wanted to ask her some questions."

"Alright, she'll be safe with them."

Lucifer looked around, the burning building now extinguished, fire trucks taking their leave to go someplace else to save life's.

"let's start, now."

Lucifer pulled a scroll from his inventory and handed it to Oxy.

"This is a scroll of [Locate Object]. I trust I don't have to tell you what to look for?"

"Understood."

With that acknowledgment, oxy opened the scroll. Just as he was about to activate it, Lucifer grabbed his hand and coldly rebuked Oxy:

"…Idiot."

His shoulder shuddered as Lucifer scolded him.

"My, my apologies!"

"When using divination-type magic, you need to prepare yourself thoroughly

against the enemy's counter-detection spells before casting it. This is an ironclad rule. When considering that the opposition might use spells like:[Detect Scrying], [Magic Trap]."

He took a pause before continuing, "Casting a divination spell without proper safeguards is not just reckless, it's suicide."

Oxy swallowed hard, the usual playful glint in his eyes replaced by reluctant respect. "Right… sorry again."

Lucifer exhaled through his nose—the only sign of irritation beneath the mask.

"It's fine, even though we haven't come across anybody who can use magic in this world, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Lucifer gave a nod and then prepared about five more scrolls, and explained the function of each one to oxy like a teacher.

When using magic to collect information, one had to protect oneself.

This was basic knowledge.

When Angels of Hell killed player's, they gathered as much information on the opposition as possible and then launched an ambush to swiftly decide the matter. Simply put, "the battle is over before it begins."

Therefore, Lucifer was now teaching these skills to Oxy, so they would have the advantage if they encountered other Players in the future.

"—That's basically it. The fact is, you still need to use skills to improve the effectiveness of your spells and defend yourself, but I don't think we need to prepare so much against our enemy this time. Then, begin, Oxy."

A relieved Oxy carefully opened a scroll and recited the name of the spell inscribed upon it.

A heatless flame engulfed the scroll, consuming it within seconds and releasing the magic locked within.

He did the same with all the other scrolls, and only after sheathing himself in countless protective spells did he finally cast [Locate Object]. After that, he pointed to a location on the map:

"There."

Lucifer nodded, a small sense of pride for him.

The way he taught him and understood it quickly, even if not completely, made Lucifer glad.

His eyes turned to the location Oxy described, then back to him:

"Section M, huh? Isn't this the warehouse area."

Section M of Neo-tokyo, was an area entirely made up of warehouses, a very large place. It wasn't guarded that well and had plenty of space for someone to hide in without the risk of being found.

The spell pointed to the deepest reaches of the warehouse area.

"I see. Then, use [Clairvoyance] next. combine it with [See sharing] so I can see as well."

Oxy activated the scrolls once more, and the image floating in mid-air revealed a few hundred human shapes. However, their movements were oddly stiff. In addition, they were also carring some things in their hands, boxes.

There was a girl in their midst. She was dressed strangely, but there was no mistake about hee.

"So she's definitely there. And, what are these.."

There was a group of human's around Luna. They reminded him of the monsters, low tier loyalists. But, they were present in surprising numbers.

"…What do you plan to do? Teleport in and wipe them all out at once? Or perhaps use flight magic to attack them from above?"

"Don't be silly. Wouldn't either of those methods mean that the problem gets solved without anyone knowing about it?"

Seeing that Oxy had no idea of what he was talking about, Lucifer continued

his explanation:

"Whoever organized all these people must have done so in preparation for something of earthshaking proportions. Therefore, if we save Luna and the blood wolf's and deal with that matter at the same time, it will greatly boost our reputations."

That said, if they did not take care of the situation quickly, there was a high chance that Luna might die.

"I see you're thinking so far ahead as always, Lucifer-sama," Oxy said, his brows furrowed in a mix of awe and determination. In his opinion, Lucifer's foresight was almost frightening. It was like he was playing chess many moves ahead. "But how on earth do we plan to deal with such numbers? Even for you, that seems daunting."

Lucifer's eyes glowed faintly behind his mask, calculating before he looked quietly at oxy, and then pointed to the broadsword on his back.

"Don't you see it right here?"