The Hollow Court greeted them like a living cathedral of bone and rot.
Kael stepped into the corrupted domain first, light from his boots casting shadows that bent the wrong way. The Hive structure stretched out before them, its twisted architecture rising like the ribs of a massive, buried god. The air was thick—not just with scent, but sensation. Every breath clung to the skin like silk soaked in blood.
Behind him, Mina scanned the area with her rifle ready, while Seraya summoned a faint psionic ward around them—a shimmer barely visible to the eye.
"I hate this already," Mina muttered.
"Try thinking about it like foreplay," Kael said, smirking. "That usually helps."
Seraya didn't even flinch. "Then remember—some foreplay ends in dismemberment."
---
> [Area Debuff – Hollow Court Influence Active]
Mental Interference: Moderate
Illusion Field: Light to Medium
Lust Compulsion: Growing (Resisted: Kael, Mina, Seraya)
Starflame Whisper: Defensive State – "Do not let them touch you."
You are now being watched by Crimson Hive seers.
Reality within this space may shift unpredictably.
---
The walls pulsed. Veins of Voidlight ran through the bone-marble, occasionally twitching in response to movement. Kael's HUD flickered once, then re-synced.
Mina paused to peer into a narrow alcove. "Movement up ahead. Looks humanoid."
"Crimson Hive?" Seraya asked, voice low.
"More like… a reflection. But it moved."
Kael gripped Whisper tightly. "Could be a mind trap. Stay close."
They entered a circular chamber ahead, where curved thrones sat in rows like an audience hall. The ceiling arched high above them, encrusted with writhing red fungus.
A single altar stood at the center.
Upon it—a relic.
Pulsing. Waiting.
---
Kael stepped forward cautiously. The moment his boot hit the central rune—
A shriek tore the chamber in half.
The thrones twitched. Then burst open—revealing half-formed Hive constructs, some with humanoid features, others clearly mutated Guardians now lost to Lustbond.
"Contact!" Mina shouted.
---
Combat Engaged – Hive Sub-Champions: Lustbound Wretches
Kael leapt forward, releasing Starflame Whisper in a spinning draw. His first arrow ignited the lead Wretch in mid-air, bursting it into flame and shadow.
Mina covered his flank, her shots snapping down another drone-like creature that crawled along the ceiling. Seraya surged forward, glaive arcing with blue light as she spun through a pair of heavily armored brutes, using her psionic burst to shatter their skulls with a telekinetic pulse.
"Focus fire!" Kael barked.
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Mina shot a Hive twin-blade unit mid-leap, flipping it backwards into a spike pillar.
---
> [System Alert – Hive Lust Aura increasing…]
Companions vulnerable to mild hallucinations.
Combat Success countering effects. Emotional exposure… probable.
---
Kael turned—just in time to see a shimmer behind Mina.
He moved instinctively.
A Hive priest cloaked in mist appeared, reaching toward her with a claw glowing with Desire Sigils. Kael tackled her, taking the claw to his shoulder instead. Void energy ripped through him, stealing breath and balance.
"Kael!" Mina cried, catching him before he could hit the ground.
He winced as the pain receded. "Damn… wasn't ready for that."
"You idiot," she snapped. "Why'd you take the hit for me?!"
He grinned through the ache. "You're not expendable."
Her cheeks flushed—half from anger, half from something else.
"You'd better not die on me," she muttered.
---
> [Catalyst Progress – Starflame Whisper: +1 Emotional Link Scene]
Whisper Reaction: [Jealous Flare] – "You bled for her. I… I felt that."
Emotional Sync: 68%
Passive Trait Gained: Flame-Link – Whisper will now auto-defend Kael's bonded companions when injured.
---
The chamber cleared.
Only silence and scorched Hive remains remained.
Kael slowly stood, rolling his shoulder. "Still functional."
Mina shook her head, eyes softer now. "Next time? Duck."
Seraya approached, tossing a Hive core into a pouch. "You're lucky that spell didn't melt your soul."
"Wouldn't be the first time someone tried."
---
As they pressed deeper, the Hive began to whisper.
Not words.
Fantasies.
Kael passed a mirror-like wall—his reflection smiled back, then morphed into a woman. Golden skin. Familiar curves. Starflame Whisper, smiling.
"You want me, don't you?"
He blinked. The vision vanished.
Mina passed a Hive mural depicting a Guardian kissing what looked like a Vex unit—only it shimmered into Kael as she stared too long.
She hissed and looked away. "I hate this place."
Seraya passed unshaken—until a voice echoed in her mind.
"You could have him… if you kill her."
She froze.
Then growled, slamming her hand against her helmet.
"Try me," she whispered.
---
> [System Monitor – Corruption Level: Rising]
Lust Trap Threshold: 33%
Next trigger likely to cause a Group Emotional Event.
Optional Objective: Let the trap trigger for Catalyst Bonus.
"Sometimes… intimacy is the weapon."
---
They finally arrived at a bridge of black stone stretching across a chasm glowing with red mist. At the far side: twin Hive gate-guardians, fused with Void crystals and pulsing with pheromone clouds.
Kael raised his bow.
"I've had enough foreplay," he muttered.
Mina chuckled despite herself. "Finally something we agree on."
Seraya lifted her glaive. "You're lucky I didn't shove you off a cliff after that 'seduction fog' line."
Kael grinned. "I can't help it. Danger brings out my charm."
---
As they crossed the bridge, red light glinted from below. From the walls. From within.
Velmira's voice echoed faintly through the Hive tunnels.
"Kael… Kael… My sweet, burning star. I'm waiting…"
---
The bridge groaned beneath their boots, ancient and dark—formed of hardened Hive bone and glass fused from the remains of other failed incursions.
Kael's eyes scanned the far end of the chasm. The two Hive sentinels stood perfectly still, red mist curling around their armor like slow flame. No breath. No twitch. Just presence.
And yet… the deeper they went, the heavier the air became.
"Something's different here," Seraya murmured, pressing her fingers against a Hive rune carved into the wall. It pulsed under her touch. "These aren't just constructs. They're psychic anchors."
Mina knelt and brushed her glove across a split vein of Voidlight running beneath the floor. "Feels like a living circuit. Power's flowing into the next chamber."
Kael reached out with his hand, brushing the corrupted surface beside him—and instantly flinched.
A pulse surged through him.
For a moment, he saw another version of himself. Shirtless. Smiling. Holding a red-haired woman not of this world.
Then gone.
> [Psychic Interference Detected – Parallel Reality Glimpse: Randomized Event]
Stability Rating: 72% – Safe (for now)
---
Kael hissed softly, backing off.
"I saw… someone," he muttered. "Myself. But not. With someone else."
Mina's expression tensed. "Velmira?"
"No. Someone human."
"Even worse," Seraya said dryly. "The Court's already burrowing into your mind."
---
They continued on, the tunnel tightening. Roots pressed in from every angle—some twitching, some weeping a black fluid that shimmered with suggestion. Whispers echoed from further down the hall.
Voices layered over one another.
Some feminine, some monstrous, some… familiar.
"Kael…"
"…burn with us…"
"…so warm…"
"…let me in…"
---
Starflame Whisper flared suddenly on Kael's back, glowing with protective heat.
> [Catalyst Trait Activated – Heatflare Defense]
Effect: Lust-based psychic attacks nullified for 20 seconds
Bonus: Whisper Emotional Sync +2
---
"Thank you," he whispered to her, clutching the grip.
She responded in his mind, soft and protective. "I will always shield you. Even from yourself."
Mina turned to Kael, her brow furrowed. "She really talks to you?"
Kael nodded. "Yeah. She's jealous."
"…Of me?"
"And Seraya."
Seraya's eyebrow rose. "I'm flattered."
Whisper's pulse quickened.
---
Just ahead, a faint red glow bled through a veil of mist.
An archway stood—bone-carved, twisted, the air beyond humming with pressure and hidden intent.
Kael stepped toward it, but Seraya grabbed his arm.
"Don't," she said. "That's it. That's the entrance to the trap."
Mina's jaw tightened. "We go in, and this place stops playing tricks—it starts taking control."
Kael looked at the arch.
Then at his team.
Then smirked. "Then we go in together."
---
> WARNING – Lustbound Arena Detected
A Trial of Desire awaits beyond this point
Survive the illusions. Endure the temptations. Claim the truth.
Catalyst Progression Opportunity: HIGH
Lust Trap Trigger: Active
Emotional Fallout: Unpredictable
---
Velmira's voice coiled through the mist once more—intimate, present, seductive:
"Come, my star. You're already burning for me…"
Kael stepped through.
---
To Be Continued in Chapter 8.5 – Echoes of Temptation [+18]
(Non-Canon | Parallel Universe - Lust Trap Branch | Hollow Court Event)
---