The Little Knight entered the Godseeker's dream to challenge Godhome and gained much.
Simon felt the power of the void heart growing stronger and immediately understood that the Little Knight's status had risen.
As the holder of the void heart, the Little Knight was the void's agent in the world.
Next was to completely break the seal, so the Little Knight came to the City of Tears, but was not in a hurry to find the Watcher Lurien.
He first went to the outskirts to find the Nailsmith, in his beetle-shaped house.
Inside the cramped house, a gourd-shaped furnace occupied a large space, with hot firelight emanating from it.
The Little Knight carried a huge bag full of geo and barely squeezed into the small house.
The Nailsmith was squinting and hammering on an anvil, completely focused; the Little Knight walked up to him, and only then did he stop his work and turn to look at his customer.
"Hm? Oh, you're back." The Nailsmith and the Little Knight were old acquaintances. "I see you have a few Pale Ore, three pieces? Good, give me another four thousand geo, and I'll upgrade your Nail."
The Little Knight took out three lovely silvery-white ores, like fragments of the moon, from under his cloak and handed them to the Nailsmith, then opened the geo bag, and the precious top-grade geo scattered with a rustle, filling half the room.
Most of this fine geo was collected by the Little Knight bit by bit from geo piles all over Hallownest, or exchanged for geo with the antiquarian in the City of Tears using collected antiques; a portion was also his reward for clearing the Colosseum of Fools. In short, it was all hard-earned money.
Because it was inconvenient to carry, he often stored this geo with a banker near the Queen's Station.
Not long ago, the banker absconded with the funds, and the Little Knight chased him all the way to the Pleasure House in the City of Tears, gave this unscrupulous capitalist a good beating, recovered all his geo, and also snatched an extra windfall from the banker.
Now, for the Little Knight, four thousand geo was just a drop in the bucket.
The Nailsmith put the three pieces of Pale Ore into a crucible and placed it in the furnace to melt.
When the ore had completely dissolved into a silver, clear spring-like molten metal, the Nailsmith began to drop geo, one by one, into the gourd-shaped opening of the furnace; this process was very long.
The melted geo turned into metal drippings, slowly melting into the Pale Ore's molten metal, like stars in a white night.
All four thousand geo were melted, but the crucible did not overflow; in fact, the molten metal looked even less, and its original bright white color became deeper and more subdued, emitting a noble silver-gray hue.
The Nailsmith used tongs to take out the crucible, then took the Little Knight's Nail, evenly poured a layer of molten metal, and after it slightly cooled, placed it on the anvil and hammered it until the molten metal was completely driven into the Nail's interior.
Repeating this process, one crucible of molten metal was used up.
The originally sharp Nail became beautifully patterned, like a work of art, rather than a tool of slaughter.
The Nailsmith stared blankly at the Nail in his hand, looking at this elegant creation, completely lost in thought.
After a long while, he sighed, turned and handed the Nail to the Little Knight, and softly said, "It's done, the modification is complete. Your Nail is now peerless; I've only seen this kind of potential in your Nail. I've finally witnessed the majesty of a Pure Nail. I didn't expect this moment to come so quickly... I... I need to get some fresh air..."
The Nailsmith hurried out the door, and the vigorously burning furnace suddenly extinguished, as if hinting at something.
The Little Knight followed him out, only to find the Nailsmith standing at the cliff edge next to the house, gazing in the direction of the City of Tears.
In the misty glow of fungal spores, the Nailsmith's body was tall and heavy, like a sculpted pillar.
The Little Knight walked behind the Nailsmith.
"Since I have forged a Pure Nail, my life's work has come to an end. Now I only wish to personally experience the sharpness of the Nail! Please end me. In the last moment of my life, I want to taste this Nail's exquisite blade. After this long and arduous labor... isn't this what I deserve?"
The Little Knight gently caressed the surface patterns of the Pure Nail in his hand, like flowing clouds, like water ripples, smooth and brilliant. Such a Nail would surely make killing simple; a gentle swing would take a life as if dusting, and then blood would gather from the blade to the tip, dripping to the ground, a sound that would surely be as beautiful as music.
But a warrior wielding a sword must have resolve; a sword not swung from a sense of inner righteousness cannot be wielded, for that would be to defile one's honor and overdraw one's weapon.
The Little Knight put away his Nail and turned to leave.
The Nailsmith watched the Little Knight walk into the City of Tears, his legs gave way, and he slumped to the ground.
He suddenly felt that the world was beautiful, and perhaps he should change his way of life, to truly appreciate this incredible nature.
...
The most majestic tower in the City of Tears, where the Watcher once overlooked the mortal world.
But now he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Guarding his resting place was the Watcher Knights.
The Little Knight passed through many obstacles to reach the Knights' position.
This was a grand ballroom, with many luxurious chandeliers overhead, and a large swarm of orange-red Infected lightflies hovered between the chandeliers, emitting a very unnatural light that illuminated the room and the numerous Watcher Knights on the floor.
These Knights were all empty shells, round like blue iron spheres, carrying huge Nails, their bodies tilted and askew, long dead.
The Little Knight slowly walked through the ballroom. He looked up at the lightflies on the ceiling; these unintelligent creatures were also infected by the plague, spreading an oppressive aura.
There was definitely something wrong here.
Sure enough, as he reached the center of the hall, the Fence Gate on both sides fell, closing them off.
The lightflies swarmed down from above, pouring into the bodies of the Watcher Knights.
One Knight after another revived; they tilted their heads back, letting out piercing screeches, grabbed their Nails, and charged at the Little Knight.
The Little Knight remained unhurried; with the Pure Nail swinging, he peeled off the Knights' carapaces like a skilled butcher, defeating a Knight in just a few strikes.
There were at least forty Watcher Knights in the ballroom; they curled into balls, rolled around, crashed into things, bounced up and down, making an astonishing rumbling sound, their Nails pointing outwards like rapidly spinning circular saws, instantly killing anyone in their path.
In this situation, the Little Knight could only dodge left and right, occasionally using Descending Dark to enter a soul state and become immune to attacks.
After a bitter struggle for a while, finally, the last Knight shattered.
Everything returned to dust, and the sky full of lightflies also vanished with the wind.
The Little Knight bowed his head in silent mourning, wishing all souls struggling in madness eternal peace.
Lurien's tower, at its top, had a telescope. Perhaps the former Lurien also stood on a small stool, looking at the city in the rain curtain through the telescope, with birds flying through the rain gracefully passing across the lens, and those towering spires, like rigid giants, washed by water until completely submerged in the long river of time.
A city without residents is a city without a soul, appearing particularly pathetic compared to the untamed wilderness of nature.
The Radiance must die.
Civilization must be rebuilt.
-----------------------
✨ Want early access to the latest chapters and exclusive content? Support me on Patreon and unlock special perks!
👉 [pat*eon*com/Greyhounds]