Simon knew the final battle could happen at any moment, so he planned to travel throughout Hallownest to absorb souls.
The best places for him to devour souls were battlefields, where the lingering dreams of many warriors remained, which could increase his strength.
He actually knew that the Little Knight, having obtained the void heart, would undoubtedly defeat The Radiance, so he was much more relaxed now, and his mindset was not as urgent as before.
He first went to Dirtmouth, and by the time he arrived, the evacuation team had already set off. They had climbed ladders up King's Pass and begun their journey. The Mantis warriors walked on both sides of the procession, holding lanterns. Simon watched from afar; it looked like a long, shimmering river under the moonlight.
Everyone had left. Simon didn't get to say goodbye to any bugs, at most just waving to that long, dragon-like procession.
Now, very few intelligent beings remained in all of Hallownest.
Returning to the Crossroads, the infection here was even more severe. Nati and Paya were still undergoing their transformation. Simon was not in a hurry; he sat in front of the small house, lost in thought.
He had actually once considered having the White Lady contribute more root systems so that all the bugs in Hallownest could wear Vessel masks, but that was just a wild idea. Although Vessel masks were not difficult to make, the production efficiency of a single mask maker was too low, and it was hard to guarantee that no unnecessary emergencies would arise, so this plan was abandoned.
What was the Little Knight doing at this moment?
Simon followed a faint sensation in his heart and turned to gaze in the direction of the Resting Grounds.
...
The Resting Grounds were filled with sarcophagi. The Little Knight came to a cracked stone coffin. He stood on the cracked coffin lid, and with a Descending Dark, smashed it, revealing the passage below.
The Little Knight rushed into this secret passage hidden beneath the coffin, stirring up dust. On closer inspection, the interior was damp and cold, with some daily necessities and decorations scattered on the ground, covered with a thin layer of dirt, dirty and old. There were also many dried bug corpses.
This cave was narrow and cramped, but after the Little Knight probed the four walls, he found that one was a false wall. After breaking through it, he entered a secret passage.
Urgent panting came from the darkness, as if some crazed beast was suppressing its breath, waiting for its prey to appear. The Little Knight took a few steps forward, and the soft light from his Lightfly Lantern illuminated a brownish-yellow outline: a crimson eye embedded in a cloth-wrapped head, with thick orange-red fluid constantly seeping and dripping from the cloth.
A giant beast in the darkness, a Buried Husk.
It was the remains of a creature, its body twisted by infection, its heart filled with rage, even mummified.
Just as the Little Knight discovered it, it stared at the newcomer with mad eyes.
The Little Knight drew his Nail, raised his hand to block an incoming sharp claw, then used Shade Cloak, light as smoke, swift as black lightning, passing through the Buried Husk's body to its back.
His Nail slashed, cutting through its thick carapace.
The Little Knight's strength was somewhat weak, but he could compensate with external aids. His old Nail had been repaired and upgraded by the Nailsmith in the City of Tears. Although it had not yet reached its final level, it was already sharp enough. Coupled with the Fragile Strength Charm he wore, purchased from the Charm merchant in the Fungal Wastes, his striking power was greatly increased. Now, dealing with such unintelligent enemies only required simple slashes.
After three or two strikes, the wound on the Buried Husk's back ripped open, blood splattered, and it struggled, writhed, emitting a terrifying shriek, slowly dying.
The Little Knight retracted his Nail, not looking back again.
He encountered several more such enemies, killing them all without much fuss, and also encountered old friends, the Exploding Fungi, which were still somewhat threatening in narrow terrain.
Continuing deeper, there were a huge number of secret passages here. The Little Knight also rescued a grub trapped in a glass jar in one place. The little green bug chirped happily a few times and burrowed away from the area.
At some point, he passed through a trap-filled passage and killed a Buried Husk at the end of it. There was also a corpse wrapped in brown cloth here, but it was not twisted; it had the normal appearance of a Hallownest bug. After a strike with the Dream Nail, it uttered a dream word: "Such darkness."
After turning back, the Little Knight advanced to an upper platform and found a hidden panel in the cave ceiling. After breaking it, he entered a hidden grotto.
This grotto was snail-shell shaped, with many colorful snail shells scattered inside, and a Snail Shaman statue in the center. The Little Knight found a Charm on one of the snail shells; this was the Shaman tribe's lost artifact, the Soul Eater, used to absorb souls from living creatures, greatly increasing the amount of soul obtained when striking enemies with the Nail.
When he passed the Dream Nail over the Snail Shaman statue, it actually had a dream word: "...Let me rest..." This statue was transformed from a living being.
Presumably, it was another poor Snail Shaman.
Of this tribe, only the one in the Crossroads was still alive and well. The rest were either dissected, crystallized, or died mysteriously, and now there was one more made into a statue.
It was truly tragic.
Even more tragically, every time the Little Knight visited the surviving Shaman, the Shaman would marvel that the Little Knight had learned new spells from his relatives, completely unaware of their deaths.
Continuing to turn back, above a treasure chest, another false wall was discovered. After breaking through it and ascending, a pillar of light shone ahead.
Following the light, he jumped upwards, leaping out of the grotto, only to arrive in an area with the same style as the Resting Grounds.
Everywhere were blue, glowing, two-holed mask reliefs, looking very psychedelic.
This place was large but desolate and sparse. Streetlights were everywhere, but there was only one building.
A rather grand house.
Warm light emanated from the doors and windows, and there was a long bench in front of the door, seemingly welcoming guests.
But it was almost impossible for guests to come to this place.
The Little Knight walked to the door of the house and peered inside. The spacious front hall walls were filled with empty picture frames, and the lanterns on the ceiling were covered in black dust, as if they hadn't been wiped for many years. Leaning against the wall was a giant Nail, covered in cracks, long abandoned.
In the center of the main hall stood a slender white bug. She seemed to be wearing a gray robe that draped to the ground, and her full head of white hair was even thicker than the robe, also falling to the ground. Her body was leaning forward, as if in slumber, with four black antennae hanging low from her head. Her face was hidden beneath a blank, hole-less mask, making her look both strange and pitiful.
The Little Knight, however, vaguely recognized this person.
Once one of the Five Great Knights, now the Grey Mourner.
Ze'mer.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
If you want to see it, then why not?