Hollow Knight: Hallownest

It's like a drop of water falling into the calm water, but also like a meteorite falling into the turbulent ocean.

The wind from Kingdom's Edge cannot reach Howling Cliffs, but an invisible storm has begun to sweep across the entire Hallownest with it as its eye, and even -

The whole world.

The first place to discover the abnormality was not the beehive just a stone's throw away from the edge of the kingdom, nor the City of Tears swarming with insects, but the royal sewers that most insects were unwilling to set foot in. There was acid that made all sewer workers palpitate and terrified, and it was this acid that heralded the beginning of the mutation.

Something terrible has happened... Something terrible has happened!

The bug wearing a safety helmet hurried towards the place where he gathered in his memory, with wrinkles on his face and a very ugly expression.

Damn it! The acid erupted again, for no apparent reason!

The puddles that had just recovered for a while were once again stained like acid!

The gaps that were missed had been blocked by the construction pipes long ago, and there were no problems during yesterday's inspection, not even the slightest bit of damage...

Could it be that it was deliberately destroyed by other bugs? !

But I really miss this taste...

The insect ran a few steps before it felt out of breath and felt as if it was losing strength all over. It was extremely tired. However, it did not focus on this at the moment. Instead, it instinctively slowed down its pace with blurred vision.

Really... miss it?

Why should I feel... nostalgic?

His breathing was heavy, rapid and irregular, and he kept falling forward as he staggered. He half-knelt on the shore of a puddle of water that had been soaked in acid, supporting himself with his hands and leaning forward.

He could see his own reflection on the surface of the bubbling green liquid.

It was a strange, old face, but if you looked carefully, you could see a familiar face from the wrinkles between the eyebrows and the general outline.

"How come I'm... so old?"

The voice was like sand and stones blown by the edge of a cliff, scraping across a decayed body, worn out by time and becoming hoarse and harsh.

The moment he uttered this sentence, a flood of memories rushed into his mind like a dam bursting, instantly destroying his mental defenses, and he fell to the ground with a thump.

At the dividing line between blurred consciousness and coma, he saw everything clearly.

"So...it's been so long?"

"Why...why did I only realize it now..."

The same thing is not spreading like a virus, but more like a foggy night sky with stars flickering and disappearing, making it difficult to tell where they are.

The City of Tears once again saw the street scenes after the plague, with empty streets for ten miles and not a single insect to be seen.

Almost all of the magnificent buildings and sculptures that the insects used to be proud of were violently destroyed and smashed on the roadside. The spire where the city's former watchmen once lived was much shorter, and the upper part was nowhere to be found. Only a rough oblique cross-section was left, quietly telling passers-by that a great power had once cut it off.

The gray-blue floor tiles had long been stained black, and the gaps were filled with some kind of black substance that had been dried and cracked by the wind. If you take a few more steps, it is not difficult to know where this substance came from -

It was a sticky liquid flowing in every river in the City of Tears. It was darker than the night sky and seemed to swallow up all light. If you stared at it for too long, even your soul would be pulled into it.

The signpost drooped listlessly on the ground, remaining in a broken position for who knows how long. The stag beetle bell a little further away had long lost its core, and no matter how it was shaken, it could no longer make the clear sound it once made, making it difficult to call out the travelers in the cave.

Everything has changed.

It changed in an instant, and it also changed over the course of nearly a hundred years.

The stone statue on the top of the mountain that has been overlooking this land for a long time has become a ruin at some point. Only the wind blowing across it remains unchanged, still carrying tiny white particles as it sweeps towards the distance.

Except for the green areas covered with thorns and mosses, there is almost no place full of life in most of the Holy Nest. Occasionally, a few black shadows pass through it, and then suddenly disappear.

There are still living things on this land, but they no longer yearn for light.

Walking across the long dark bridge and into the open square, the scenery before your eyes will be filled by the towering ink-black palace in the distance in the blink of an eye. This place is just like the white palace a hundred years ago, solemn and dignified. The guards patrolling in front of the palace seem to be shrouded in black veil, revealing only a pair of aggressive eyes, patrolling this area like bloodthirsty beasts.

Going deeper and higher, following the rough castle stone wall, through the dim light, one can see the shadow throne made of obsidian, and five figures standing upright beside the throne -

Shadow, Dageno, and the three knights who turned evil.

They half-circled the throne, standing silently in place, emitting an aura powerful enough to make all living beings' hearts palpitate all the time. However, the five powerful auras emitted by these five powerful warriors disappeared completely as they floated towards the throne, leaving no power to resist at all.

And at a certain moment, the five figures beside the throne trembled together, the expressions in their pupils changed, and gradually calmed down.

"You actually resorted to such means, is it because we have already pushed you into a desperate situation......"

The Void God slowly opened his eyes and sighed imperceptibly.

"With such courage, you can be the best in any field, but you choose to be a despicable person who occupies the magpie's nest."

"It's sad and lamentable."

Although he still called Worm a despicable person, he had already elevated the former's status in his heart. In this sense, he had never evaluated the gods before, and even his old rival Radiance had never evaluated him so seriously.

It has come to this, can you still take away something from me...

The figure on the throne became increasingly vague, as if blending into the surrounding darkness, and then disappeared into the palace, leaving behind only a low murmur.

"This is the new world that belongs to the void."