Chapter 11: Into the Hollow's Den
"Quinn, be careful out there," his sister warned, her voice filled with concern.
Quinn gave a lazy wave as he stepped into the sleek black car. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."
The vehicle hummed to life as the driver pulled away from the curb, heading toward the Southwest District. The silence in the car was broken by Quinn's sigh.
"Man, I hope I get paid for this," he muttered, resting his head against the window.
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Sir Cedric said you could exchange the core for money. Since it'll be yours, you can sell it however you like."
Quinn scoffed. "Tch. What if it's just an E-Rank? The money wouldn't even be worth it."
The driver shrugged. "Well, nothing we can do about it. You took this job."
"What a pain," Quinn groaned, crossing his arms.
After a while, they reached the Southwest District, and the car came to a slowing down in front of a large, worn-out building, its windows shattered and its walls covered in cracks.
Quinn leaned forward, inspecting the structure. "If I had enough money, I'd buy this place and rebuild it. It'd be a perfect guild headquarters."
Just as he was about to step out, a chill ran down his spine. A surge of dark energy radiated from the building. His senses screamed danger.
"Stop the car," Quinn ordered.
Without waiting for a response, he lifted himself into the air, using gravity to propel himself toward the building. The moment he neared the top floor—
BOOM!
A girl with a sword was violently blasted out of the building, her body slamming into the ground with a sickening impact.
Quinn narrowed his eyes and swooped down. As he landed beside her, he took in her bruised and bloodied form. She had clearly been fighting for her life… and she had been poisoned.
"Tch." He didn't know what else to do but pick her up and fly her back to the car.
"This girl's poisoned. Do something about it," he said, practically dumping her near the driver.
The man looked at her, his face pale. "What do you expect me to do?!"
"Figure it out. I'm going back in," Quinn said before blasting off toward the building.
As the driver scrambled to call for help, Quinn reached the top-floor window and landed smoothly inside. "Looks like a civilian evacuation needs to be made"
What he saw made his stomach tighten.
The room was littered with bodies, blood soaking the floor. At the center stood two Hallows, feasting on their latest kills.
One of them, a hulking figure, had gaping wounds across its body—only for the flesh to instantly regenerate as if nothing had happened.
The other, a lanky, snake-like creature, turned toward Quinn, its mouth twisting into a sinister grin. A thick, purple mist seeped from its skin, the air already turning toxic.
Quinn exhaled, cracking his knuckles. "Great. This is gonna suck."
The Hallows turned to him, their eyes glowing with hunger.
A sharp ding echoed in Quinn's mind as a system notification flickered into his vision.
[Quest: Two A-Ranked Hallows spotted. Defeat them.]
[Reward: Unknown]
Quinn barely had time to register the message before both creatures turned their glowing, predatory eyes toward him.
The snake-like Hallow grinned, baring rows of serrated fangs. Its voice was a guttural whisper, laced with hunger.
"I hope you taste nice after we kill you, kid."
The hulking Hallow let out a guttural roar, its body surging forward like a raging bull, each step causing the floor to quake. The snake-like one slithered behind it, its toxic mist thickening, turning the air into a deadly, suffocating fog.
Quinn's eyes sharpened. "Tch, A-Rank? Just my luck."
He kicked off the ground, his body hovering mid-air as he twisted his palm. Gravity surged around him.
BAM!
The hulking Hallow lunged, its fist colliding with the air Quinn had occupied a second ago—a fraction of a second slower, and he would've been crushed.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact sent shockwaves through the building, shattering walls and sending debris flying. The entire top floor crumbled under the force, revealing the sky.
"Shit!" Quinn cursed, flipping midair.
He stretched out his hand—Gravity Pull!
Chunks of debris froze in midair as Quinn yanked them toward the hulking brute, sending a barrage of concrete and steel beams at it.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
But the monster shrugged it off, its wounds sealing as fast as they appeared.
Instant regeneration.
"Annoying bastard."
Before Quinn could react, the snake-like Hallow lunged, its body coiling like a spring before launching toward him at blinding speed.
HISSSSSSS!!!
A mist of poison exploded from its mouth.
Quinn twisted his gravity field, creating a vacuum around himself—Gravity Repel! The toxic mist dispersed before it could reach him, but the snake was already on him.
"DIE!"
The snake's claw slashed toward his throat, but Quinn shifted gravity mid-dodge, angling himself downward at an unnatural speed.
FWOOOOOSH!
The attack whizzed past his head, missing by inches. Quinn twisted in the air and—
BOOM!
A massive fist crashed into him from the side.
The hulking Hallow's punch connected, sending Quinn rocketing through multiple walls like a ragdoll.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
He slammed through a support beam before finally skidding to a stop in the wreckage of the lower floors, coughing up blood.
"Goddamn... that hurt," Quinn groaned, pulling himself up.
Above him, the snake Hallow slithered down the broken walls, while the hulking brute dropped from the destroyed floor, landing with an impact that cracked the earth.
Quinn wiped blood from his mouth. "Alright, let's play dirty."
He stomped his foot—
Gravity Shift!
The entire floor suddenly tilted at an unnatural angle, sending debris rushing toward the two Hallows like an avalanche.
"Tch!" The snake Hallow hissed as it was buried under rubble, while the hulking one braced itself—
Which was exactly what Quinn wanted.
Gravity Press!
An invisible force SLAMMED DOWN on the brute like a meteor, burying it deeper into the collapsing building.
Quinn dashed forward, his speed tripled by Gravity Acceleration, appearing in front of the snake Hallow before it could recover.
BAM!
A gravity-boosted fist caved in its face, sending it flying into a pillar.
Before it could even react, Quinn was already above it, twisting his fingers—
Gravity Cage!
The air around the snake collapsed in on itself, trapping it in a localized gravitational field so strong that the ground beneath it cracked.
"Let's see how you like being crushed, asshole."
The snake screeched, its bones snapping as the gravity intensified, making movement impossible.
"Now, for—"
BOOOOOOM!!!
Quinn barely had time to react before a fist the size of a car smashed into his side.
"GAH!"
He flew through the last intact part of the building, crashing into the streets outside.
His entire body ached, but he forced himself up.
The hulking Hallow stepped through the wreckage, its body fully healed.
Quinn clenched his teeth.
Regeneration… It's too damn fast. I need to break it all at once.
His aura surged, the gravity around him distorting as he focused every ounce of magic he had left.
The snake Hallow was still trapped, screeching in agony. The hulking one prepared for another charge.
Quinn smirked. "Alright… let's go big."
He lifted his hand—
And pulled the entire collapsed building into the air.
A massive storm of debris, steel, and concrete hovered above them, rotating like a miniature black hole.
The Hallows froze for the first time.
Quinn's eyes gleamed with power.
"Get crushed."
GRAVITY COLLAPSE!!!
The entire mass of debris compressed into a single point before—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
It slammed down on the Hallows with the force of a meteor, sending a shockwave that leveled the surrounding area.
A thick cloud of dust and smoke engulfed everything.
Quinn panted, dropping to one knee. "Damn… that took a lot."
As the dust settled, Quinn narrowed his eyes, and he could see them coming out of the dust still alive the hulk-like hallow body healed and the snake-like one was injured but still alive.