Hollows

Ezra Veyne was just an ordinary reader. A fan of Chronicles of the Eternal Throne, a novel where fate is absolute, heroes rise, and villains fall. Then he died. And woke up as Calveros Nacht, the novel’s greatest villain—a warlord fated to die at the hands of the so-called hero, Aurelian Veris. At first, Ezra thinks he can use his knowledge of the story to survive. He has a status window, just like every noble in this world. His system is normal. Or at least, it should be. Then he notices it. A hidden stat that flickers in and out of existence. [Sanity: ???] A system warning that appears when no one else is watching. [Correction Pending…] And worst of all—Aurelian Veris isn’t acting like the hero he remembers. Their paths were never supposed to cross this early. The academy was never supposed to summon them for an emergency. And a student was never supposed to die before the story even began. Ezra thought he had time. Now, fate itself is breaking. The world isn’t just resisting his existence—it’s trying to erase him. But if he is going to be erased, he refuses to go down as a forgotten mistake. If the world wants a villain, he’ll give it one. Even if it means tearing reality apart with him.

Cassian Vale was a hero—celebrated, trusted, and utterly betrayed. Accused of treason against the empire he once swore to protect, he was sentenced to death by fire, his body reduced to embers before the eyes of thousands. But death does not claim him. Buried beneath the ashes of his own execution, Cassian wakes in a ruined husk of a body, alive but forever burned. The world has moved on, his name whispered only in curses, his memory fading like smoke. Yet, something else lingers within him—a presence, a hunger, a power that should not exist. As he returns to the empire’s capital in search of answers, Cassian uncovers a horrifying truth: he is not the first to suffer this fate. Every emperor before him met the same fiery end, only to vanish without a trace. Their souls, twisted and bound to the empire, whisper to him in the dark, guiding him toward a destiny steeped in blood and ruin. But the deeper he digs, the less human he becomes. His body no longer obeys mortal laws, his reflection moves when he does not, and the world itself seems to bend around his will. He is evolving—but into what? Now, Cassian stands at a crossroads: Unravel the ancient curse binding the empire’s rulers to a fate worse than death. Burn the throne that betrayed him and forge a new path, no matter the cost. Succumb to the monstrous power rising within him and take his place as the true god of the fallen. In a world where history is written in fire and blood, Cassian Vale will either be its final ruler… or its executioner.