Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest Chapter 2005: Elayne VS The Fused Hollow

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Hollows.

Strange beings that possessed little intelligence yet harbored an endless, insatiable drive to consume and grow. These were bizarre lifeforms, eerie and unnatural creatures uniquely born from the accumulation and materialization of the emotional spectrum when it came into contact with a supernatural source.

When a large number of intelligent minds suffered together, they released far stronger mental waves than when they were alive. If those waves then touched mana, they produced what most people referred to as "dark energy" or "negative energy." On its own, this energy could do little and would usually dissipate harmlessly. But when accumulated from many people over time, it grew denser and more concentrated, eventually giving birth to a new lifeform.

These lifeforms, known as Hollows, existed only to consume and grow. They were driven by the very dark emotions that had created them. In a sense, they could be considered the living embodiment of all intelligent beings and their deepest, darkest desires.

Few had ever truly considered it, but some scholars had. Hollows were arguably worse than demons and represented the true "heart demons" of humanity. In the past, when people suddenly went mad and were consumed by their own dark emotions, the hidden truth was that Hollows had taken possession of their bodies. Those were the so-called "Heart Demons" of ancient times. In the Netherworld, Hollows were often nothing more than prey to stronger monsters. Most of the time.

But if raised properly, carefully incubated, and given suitable new vessels, Hollows could evolve into truly terrifying and bizarre creatures.

And right now, Elayne faced exactly such a being. This abomination had been born from the fusion of three strange entities into one. Through a desperate evolution triggered by the need for survival, it had grown exponentially more powerful.

The monster’s massive claws dug deeply into the ground as it advanced toward her. With every step, the entire world around them trembled violently. Yaga gripped her grimoire tightly, quickly rising to her feet and deciding to stand and fight. She remained firmly by Elayne’s side, ready to face the threat together.

"It is an evolved Hollow. It will not be easy to defeat!" Yaga warned, her grimoire pages flickering rapidly as new phantasmal constructs began to manifest. Four Goblin God’s Hands appeared, each holding a massive weapon formed of blinding holy light. "But we have to give it our best!"

"I know. Let’s fight together, Yaga!" Elayne replied, her aura surging powerfully. The combination of Life and Death energies within her body had grown even stronger after her last two evolutions.

"Of course. I will put my life on the line for you, girl!" Yaga said with a determined smile, giving her a quick wink.

The giant creature reached them in an instant. Its massive claws came rushing down, shattering the ground and sending boulders flying in every direction. Its jaws opened wide, gathering dark energy before firing two devastating beams of deathly force straight toward them.

A brilliant barrier of sunlight blocked both beams as Elayne channeled the power of Amaterasu’s divinity from deep within her Soul Trait. A moment later, she moved at lightning speed. She vanished through Abyssal Shroud and pushed the power of Sword Obsession to its limits, causing her strength to swell dramatically.

Her sword came striking down.

The mutated Hollow screamed in agony, completely unable to see the attack coming. Elayne had appeared behind it and delivered a powerful blow to its back using Asteria. She channeled both her Heroic Swordsmanship and the strange skill known as [ERROR_INPUT Arts].

This unusual, glitched skill had appeared during her first days as an Undead. It channeled a power she once possessed, though now twisted by something else. The System seemed unable to fix or properly classify it, leaving the skill’s tier unknown and preventing it from leveling up. Yet the more Elayne explored its true nature, the more she understood how valuable it could become.

Its power felt akin to a strange type of Decay.

The Hollow let out another piercing scream as a large portion of its back decayed rapidly. The area turned into flickering black and blue glitching pixels that consumed a significant chunk of its body before vanishing completely.

The two remaining heads panicked and attacked Elayne with furious claw strikes and beams of deadly energy. She intercepted every blow with precise swings of her sword.

Claws and blade collided repeatedly, causing explosions of death energy and holy energy to erupt and clash violently in the air. Elayne could not use [ERROR_INPUT Arts] indefinitely. The more she channeled its power, the stronger the headaches and soul pain became. It was not a force meant for her, yet she wielded it anyway.

Meanwhile, Yaga unleashed her magic. Three massive Goblin God’s Hands struck without warning, impaling the giant with lances formed from solidified Soul Liberation Spells.

The pain was overwhelming. Dozens of trapped souls began escaping from the creature’s wounded body, fading away and rapidly weakening the mutated and evolved Hollow.

But the Hollow proved incredibly stubborn. Its claws ignited with new flames, red and black in color, overflowing with the potent power of death and destruction born from the deep resentment and hatred within the negative energy that had forged its wicked soul.

Its two giant jaws opened wide, attempting to bite both Elayne and Yaga’s constructs. At the same time, its blazing claws spun furiously, unleashing tornadoes of soul-destroying fire.

Elayne kicked off the air and spun gracefully in midair. She swung Asteria while channeling her power, unsealing only a small portion of what she was permitted. A nebula of dark and death energies converged with radiant sunlight.

She combined everything she had learned in this world with the sword techniques from BNLO and her knowledge from Earth. This fusion created a new style of swordsmanship that employed Asteria and her Dual Aura of Life and Death. At the same time, she activated Harvest of Duality to absorb her foe’s Death Energy, weakening the creature temporarily while empowering herself.

However, the giant laughed maniacally and caught her sword between its claws, stopping her before she could finish the strike.

Elayne continued pressing forward as Yaga poured everything into her magic. More spears impaled the giant’s body, forcing it to groan in annoyance. Although it was not weakening as quickly as before, it was rapidly developing resistances.

Even so, Elayne still had one more trick up her sleeve. She had already dealt enough damage and created enough wounds.

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