Hollow Knight: Hallownest

Sly has been a bit busy lately.

The plague and riots brought residents not only the gratitude for surviving the disaster, but also the preparation for the future.

In residential areas like Dirtmouth and Crossroads, there are usually many sentries stationed to maintain order, so there is not much unrest on weekdays and the area is harmonious.

But after this disaster, the bugs found that the power from the outside world could not always protect their safety at the critical moment. As the saying goes, a blacksmith must be strong himself, so the threshold of Sly Martial Arts School, the only martial arts school in Dirtmouth, has been left with many traces of bugs.

"Master, do you have any Kung Fu that can be learned quickly?"

This is the sentence Sly has heard the most recently and it also leaves him speechless.

Quick fix?

I don't know how long it took him to hone his bone nail skills to the current level. You just said you were a quick learner. Even if you don't respect me, you have to respect these moves.

Besides, the three brothers under his tutelage all of them have learned martial arts since childhood. If they want to learn skills quickly here, they may have come to the wrong place.

Even though Sly refused very clearly, saying that he didn't have that kind of kung fu, the bugs still insisted on coming to his house every day, as if to show him his determination to fight, which made him a little annoyed.

After the door of the martial arts gym was knocked again, Sly gave up. He was too lazy to waste any more words and simply took out a book and handed it to the bugs who came to study.

"I have the skills to learn quickly."

"However, not everyone can learn this skill. Only those who have completed the requirements in the book are qualified to be taught."

When these words reached the ears of the insects that came over, their eyes suddenly brightened and they looked at the book in their hands with great preciousness.

Sly's words did not make them feel dissatisfied, but instead gave him a reason to think of -

"That's right. How can you learn the skills of a master without some talent?"

Then......

There's no after that.

The entrance of the martial arts hall returned to its former tranquility, and the occasional visitors were sent away after he threw a few books at them.

In fact, there was nothing false in what Sly said. That book was indeed the entry-level foundation of bone nail skills. It contained methods to train the body and will, but the requirements were extremely strict. If there was really someone who could do it, he would certainly not hesitate to add a disciple.

The arrival of a peaceful life seemed so precious in comparison with the past and present, and Sly used this as an excuse to give the three brothers a long-awaited vacation.

It was a pity that the peaceful days did not last long before today's incident happened. He was dozing off when he was suddenly shaken off the bed and fell heavily to the ground.

Then I discovered this scene.

Ying did not lower his head, but simply glanced downward, with arrogance and disdain revealed in his demeanor without even having to deliberately reveal it.

"You are such a bad boy. Not only did you get into trouble, but you don't even have the most basic respect for an elder like me. You deserve to be punished!"

Sly's wrist trembled, and the bone nail in his hand immediately shifted its position and stopped behind Ying's neck.

The attack that should have hit the target felt extremely empty, causing Sly to frown slightly.

Perhaps because of Sly's offense, Ying temporarily shifted his target to him. His arm turned into a black shadow and swung out with the bone nails, quickly slashing towards Sly who was standing next to him.

"Strange, I should have hit him just now..."

Sly muttered softly, and the bone nail in his hand seemed to have self-awareness. He immediately raised it to block in front of him. With a slight sound, a black bone nail appeared in front of the nail blade that should have been empty.

Ying's footsteps paused for a moment, as if he was surprised that his attack was easily blocked.

Its arms swung again, and the hard bone nails left afterimages at an extremely fast speed, even bending to a certain extent, falling from all directions, bound to chop the enemy nailed down into pieces.

Ding--!

Ding—ding—ding—!

Sly's movements were not fast. Not to mention the four knights in the distance, if any insect stopped to watch at this moment, they would be able to capture the traces of the bone nails being swung. He was unhurried and leisurely, but with a unique charm. It was this huge difference in speed that allowed him to defend against every murderous attack beyond the insects' expectations.

Compared to Ying's large-scale attack, Sly's bone nails only traveled in a small range, no more, no less, just enough to cover his body.

"You are a good candidate, and you are qualified to be my apprentice. It's a pity that your character is too bad. If I recruit you, you will probably be a traitor to your teacher and ancestors."

Sly's voice was calm, but inside he was brimming with uncontrollable anger.

He originally thought that the fallen insects beside him were just knocked unconscious by the black guy in front of him. Until he distractedly took a look just now, he found that the vitality of those insects had been completely lost, and they turned into corpses lying on the ground.

The scene at Dirtmouth Cemetery had not yet completely faded from his mind, and now faced with the same scene again, Sly was sure that he had the power to stop it this time.

Because of the battle between the two and the pervasive breath of death, the fanatical residents who had previously only seen the Four Horsemen also reacted. They immediately scattered in fear and ran in different directions, temporarily leaving a space for them.

"His bone nailing skills are very strong."

These words came from Zemore, who seldom spoke. She stared at Sly intently, as if she had found resonance with him.

Although the other knights were not users of bone nails, they all understood the significance of Zemor's initiative to speak up. They all nodded and their eyes fell on the short figure. They were surprised that with the strength of that body, he could easily withstand Shadow's attack.

However, given the current situation, Sly was clearly on the same front with them, which made them feel a lot more at ease.

"Don't make any moves yet, let me, an old man, meet him first."

Sly spoke with his back to the knight, then suddenly raised his head and met Shadow's cold and ruthless eyes. The moment the latter's gaze met his, he seemed to have sensed something and suddenly increased the speed of swinging his arms.

As the crisp sounds continued to be heard, the position where the black bone nail was stationary began to change slowly, moving from in front of Sly towards Shadow's position little by little, and the sparks that burst out had already splashed onto the latter's body.

The situation changed in just a thought. Now Ying was no longer facing an old man holding a bone nail, but a warrior who was closest to the top of the bone nail line.

The nail is holy.

Sly's bone nails were fast, accurate, and unpredictable, and every move showed the sophistication of a grandmaster. Although Shadow's speed was equally fast, it had been at a disadvantage since the former began its official main attack, and could not gain any advantage.

The four knights were completely stunned.

"This old gentleman's strength is described as very strong... Is that a bit too modest?"

Isma spoke in a daze, Zemor said nothing, but stared at Sly with eyes that became brighter and brighter.

When it comes to her understanding of the art of bone nailing, she believes that she is not inferior to any other warrior. She often practiced with Delia before she followed the queen out of the palace. Although the former is faster than her, she can always narrow the gap with her understanding of the art of bone nailing. It can even be said that her tolerance rate is higher than the former.

But perhaps it was a problem caused by environmental factors. Her bone nailing skills had reached a bottleneck and had not been able to make a breakthrough for a long time. It was probably because she could not find an equally powerful opponent in this area, and also because she could not get the corresponding inspiration.

But just after Sly made his move, the feeling of depression that was blocking his heart began to gradually melt away like ice and snow. After just observing for a moment, the confusions that had been accumulating in his heart were answered one by one. What does this mean?

Zemor clenched his fists, and his eyes began to show great admiration.

The old gentleman in front of me is fully qualified to be my master!

Hagrid remained silent, secretly pondering whether he should invite Sly into the palace after this incident. With his abilities, if he were to be stationed in the palace as a technical instructor, the overall strength of the guards would definitely increase to a certain extent, and it might not be an exaggeration to say that it would be a leap forward.

Every insect has its own concerns, and at this moment, Ying also has his own concerns.

Even though it was very reluctant to admit it, facts kept telling it that if it only relied on bone nails as a means of attack, it would be no match for this short insect.

Looking at the nimble figure that kept pushing the ground or the wall to move around, Ying's parry was becoming increasingly difficult. It couldn't figure out Sly's attack pattern, and it was only a matter of time before it got hurt.

puff--

The bone nail scratched across the surface of the black liquid, splashing onto the ground. Sly retracted the bone nail and swung it to his side, shaking off the black attachment on the tip of the nail and breathing a sigh of relief.

"I have to admit that I am old. It took me so long to deal with a young man..."

The four knights held their breath, looking at the figure in the distance with his back bent and his hands covering his neck. Their hearts were filled with thunder and disbelief.

Is this...solved?

They saw with their own eyes that Sly's bone nails blew across Shadow's neck. The ignoring collision technique that had once troubled the Knights was actually ineffective under the latter's attack, or perhaps the latter had completely mastered the corresponding restraint method.

Sly didn't know what the knights were thinking, but he was only surprised for a moment when he encountered Ying's strange method of ignoring physical collisions.

In the confrontation between bone nails, although you can use that method to evade your own attack and achieve the effect of surprise, the opponent will also lose the opportunity to attack. On the contrary, as long as you seize the opponent's desire to attack and counterattack, all problems will be solved.

This idea is very simple to describe, but to achieve it requires an extremely strong foundation of strength. In other words, if any other warrior, even Zemor, were to implement this methodology, there is a high possibility of failure.

Not everyone can control the enemy's attack rhythm like Sly does, while fully mastering his own rhythm.

This is the fighting art that belongs only to a grandmaster.

"Orgrim, you stay here to protect Isma, Zemor, let's go."

Seeing that the situation was improving, Hegemo called Zemor to move towards Shadow's position. However, after taking a few steps, his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted to Sly as if he noticed something:

"Master, watch your step!"

The deep black light that had appeared under Orgrim's feet before spread out again, but this time it fell under Sly's feet.

As soon as he finished speaking, the black pool surged up madly, like the mouth of a giant beast, biting towards Sly above with a breath of death.

Void magic is not like bone nail skills. For ordinary people, the former is as rare as the plague this time. Sly naturally did not know about it, but his instinctive consciousness told him -

That black thing under his feet could kill him.

His feet seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, unable to push off the ground, but Sly remained expressionless. In the blink of an eye, he used the potential energy of the whirlwind to break away from his original position and distanced himself from Shadow.

"He's still alive?"

Sly's gaze fell on Shadow who was gradually straightening up. The latter let go of his hand, and the neck that was scratched by the bone nail had long since recovered without any trace, but the latter's changes were visible to the naked eye.

The violent aura was so strong that it almost materialized. If the shadow just now was still a warrior who followed the rules, then at this moment it was a beast that had liberated its nature and would kill any enemy that posed a threat to it no matter what method it used.

Hegmer's face looked grim. Compared to the bone nails, it was obvious that the void spell posed a greater threat to them.

Those gushing black pools reminded him for a moment of the giant beast at the bottom of the abyss.

"Well, strictly speaking it is not a living being, so we cannot use common sense to judge its vitals."

"Then do you know where the weakness lies?"

"We... don't know."

After hearing Hegmer's answer, Sly's expression gradually darkened.

If you don't know the vital points, it means that even if the next attack can hit, it will most likely cause ineffective damage, and it is also very likely that the opponent will seize the opportunity to counterattack.

All in all, it's bad news.

"Old man, please go first. It's very dangerous here. Its target is only us."

Hegemer didn't want to fight for the time being. He knew that Shadow had no intention of harming civilians, or it was completely following the orders of the mysterious insect that came out of the Black Egg Temple.

Therefore, the fighting between the two sides must at least be kept away from where the residents of Dirtmouth gather to minimize the impact on civilians.

Sly turned his gaze and looked up at Hegmer beside him, with admiration in his eyes.

The knight's majesty is well-known, and he is no exception. Now he sees that there is indeed an aura that makes the insect feel at ease.

But he was not going to agree and shook his head: "It hurt the residents of Dirtmouth and they have to pay the price."

"But......"

Hegemer was about to speak to persuade him, but suddenly found that the shadow that was still there had disappeared. Zemor behind him turned around anxiously and ran backwards with all his strength, but he was still a step too late.

Isma opened her eyes wide, looked down at the black bone nail that pierced her chest, then turned her gaze to Orgrim beside her, her lips opened and closed, and her pupils gradually lost their luster.

"Walk......"

"Hurry...go..."