Hollow was matched up against the noble Nilfor Hydra who had barely managed to get through to the semifinals almost losing to a gladiator.
"Who are you, a mere peasant, to ever think about challenging me?!," Nilfor said as soon as the match between him and Hollow began.
"You even have a beautiful maiden as fair as snow with you, you don't deserve it! As soon as I kill you, win this competition and join the council I will take her as my concubine!," Nilfor said haughtily as if he was guaranteed to win the entire competition.
"Die," Hollow simply said before stretching his left arm forward and clenching his fist.
"Yes, that's exactly what you're about to d-AHHHHHH!," Nilfor said before he started screaming from the pain of his left arm dissolving into pure energy. The energy then swiftly got absorbed into Hollow's body and was stored as an incredibly dense material like the energy from the thug he saved Seraphina from earlier that day.
"Painfully," Hollow continued as if he couldn't hear Nilfor's screams and unclenched his fist before slashing at Nilfor sending a wave of energy at his chest.
"S-st-t-op…or my family will kill you!," Nilfor cried as blood poured out of his wounds and his mouth, hoping his background would allow his life to be spared.
"They can't be much stronger than you," Hollow explained simply.
"My family is under the Osborne family! They have connections to the council even if you win you won't get protected by the council then!" Nilfor said exasperated by how little his words affected Hollow.
"Ok then I'll heal you," Hollow said before the stored materials in his body turned back into energy and flowed onto Nilfor's chest wound and where his left arm used to be and replaced them.
Nilfor however wasn't glad about this as when the energy touched his wound some of it became salt since there was extra energy to use.
"AARRGH! What did you do you stupid peasant!," Nilfor said while clenching his teeth as he was in agonising pain.
"Since you want my friend so badly you need to be willing to pay the price in blood," Hollow said as he prepared to take off Nilfor's right arm.
This cycle of removing limbs before giving them back and causing even more pain repeated itself many times, so much so that Nilfor almost mistook this place as the deepest layer of the Abyss.
"P-please stop! I beg of you to stop it!" Nilfor screamed in agony as his arm was turned into energy once again.
In Nilfor's mind Hollow wasn't a normal person anymore he was the incarnation of death and destruction, the epitome of pain and misery, anything would be better than being there with him.
Hollow's crimson eyes seemed to glow as they looked like pools of blood with black fish swimming around freely within. Constant energy moving back and forth between them caused it to seem like stars were audience to this torture and execution as Hollow finally stabbed his arm through Nilfor's head.
-/-/-/-/-
With the semifinals over there was only one match left which was the three-way match between the paladin Dersi, the assassin in red and Hollow.
As they all walked into the arena, confidence swelled in their hearts as they were all sure that they would be the ones standing as the victor of this competition.
But as soon as Dersi's eyes glanced upon Hollow they started to gain a resplendent glow of amber as a seemingly holy presence seeped into the arena.
"Stop this insignificant competition at once in the name of I, your godfather Solaris!," a booming voice flooded the arena as gasps could be heard from the audience.
"I need everyone except Hollow and my paladin removed from this arena now! And no fighting is to occur no matter what!" the booming voice said before the holy light in the paladin's eyes dimmed slightly and he regained consciousness and control of his body.
-/-/-/-/-
"I need to tell Kygroxis about the sudden appearance of the Void Being failure who can now apparently think," Solaris who was currently travelling towards Kygroxis's lab in the void said worriedly.
Once he got to the lab Solaris burst through the entrance not even waiting for Kygroxis to know he was there.
"Kygroxis! Something has happened I think you will want to know about!," Solaris shouted hurriedly as there isn't a moment to lose.
"What is it? You know I am busy with my experiments," Kygroxis said grumpily but inwardly was shocked that something had happened that made Solaris like this who was usually one of the most composed of his siblings.
"Remember that failed experiment from a few solar cycles ago? I just saw it fighting in the arena in one of my mortal realms through the eyes of one of my paladins, the mortal realm with those heretics might I add," Solaris said.
"What! Ahem, well what are you doing then by talking to me, get your paladin to capture him!," Kygroxis said surprised before regaining his composure.
-/-/-/-/-
"You….Hollow I want you to join me in my immortal realm so that your talent can be fully realised as quickly as possible rather than waste time here on a mortal realm," Solaris said through the booming voice.
"I'm ok staying here, but thanks for the offer," Hollow said casually as if he wasn't talking to someone who could kill him as easily as swatting a fly.
"You would dare run the risk of me telling all my followers to kill you rather than accept my generous offer?" Solaris said.
"No one here is that strong anyway, the toughest one would be the paladin if you decided to use him as an avatar to use a fraction of your power with," Hollow explained while keeping his attitude towards Solaris the same.
"Sigh~ It seems I won't be able to convince you to come with me then, then there is no point in chasing after you while you're in that mortal realm, I'll just have to wait till you leave it then," Solaris said before the holy glow in the paladin's eyes fully dissipated.