The Knight reached out, their clawed fingers brushing against the broken mask resting upon the stone altar. A faint, lingering warmth radiated from it—strange, given how long this place had been abandoned.
The Last Container stood motionless beside them, its hollow gaze fixed on the relic.
"It was meant to be me," it murmured.
The Knight turned to face it, waiting.
"I was forged with the others," the Container continued. "Raised in the dark. Tested in silence. But I was flawed."
It lifted one trembling hand to its cracked shell.
"Not hollow enough."
The Knight felt something stir deep within their being. An echo of memories not their own. Fragments of the past.
The Pale King's palace. The endless abyss. The line of silent, waiting Vessels.
They had all been created for one purpose.
To contain the Radiance.
To become the perfect, empty prison.
But not all had been chosen.
"I was discarded," the Container whispered, its voice barely audible. "Sealed away in this place. Left to wait. To be forgotten."
It turned to the Knight, golden light flickering in its empty eyes.
"But the Infection is gone now. The Hollow Knight fulfilled its purpose. So tell me... what am I supposed to be?"
The question lingered in the stale air.
The Knight had no answer.
--
The chamber trembled.
A low, distant hum reverberated through the stone, pulsing in time with the faint blue veins that ran along the walls.
The Last Container flinched.
"It's still here," it whispered. "I can feel it."
The Knight gripped their nail, ready.
From the cracks in the walls, from the depths of the ruins, something unseen shifted.
Then—
A surge of light erupted from the shattered mask.
The Knight staggered back as tendrils of golden energy coiled outward, writhing like living things. The Container let out a sharp, pained gasp, clutching its head as the light seeped into its cracked shell.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then—
It screamed.
A wave of force exploded outward, sending the Knight crashing into the far wall. Dust and debris rained down from above as the energy twisted and pulsed around the Container's body.
The golden light in its eyes blazed brighter, its form trembling.
"No... no, no, no—"
Its voice fractured, distorted, like echoes layered atop one another.
The Knight pushed themselves up, eyes narrowing.
The Radiance was gone. Defeated.
But something remained.
A fragment. An echo.
A lingering will.
And it had found a new vessel.
--
The Last Container's body convulsed as golden energy surged through its form. Its cracked shell pulsed with unnatural light, fractures widening as the remnants of something ancient clawed its way inside.
The Knight did not hesitate.
With a single step, they lunged.
Their nail flashed through the dim light, striking true—
But the blade never met its mark.
A wave of force sent the Knight hurtling backward, slamming into the cold stone floor. They rolled to their feet just in time to see the Container stagger forward, its form flickering like a dying ember.
It clutched its head, its voice raw with agony.
"I don't want this—"
A jagged pulse of golden light rippled outward.
"I don't want to disappear—"
The Knight steadied themselves, their nail at the ready.
The Last Container's form twisted, golden energy pouring from its fractures. Its once-hollow gaze flickered between two states—one of vacant emptiness, the other of desperate, struggling will.
Something inside was fighting back.
The Knight saw their chance.
They dashed forward.
And the battle began.
--
The chamber was filled with flickering light and shadow as the two figures clashed.
The Knight's nail struck in rapid succession, but the Container moved unnaturally, its body jerking and twisting with each pulse of golden energy. Every strike that landed sent cracks spiderwebbing across its shell, but still, it did not fall.
Instead, it lashed out with raw, unfocused power.
Golden arcs of energy carved into the stone, searing the ground with blistering heat. The Knight dodged and weaved through the onslaught, their movements honed by countless battles, but even they could feel it—
The sheer weight of what they were facing.
This was not just a Vessel.
Not just a fragment of the past.
It was something caught between existence and oblivion.
And if they did not end it soon—
It would consume everything.
--
The battle raged on.
The Knight's strikes grew sharper, more precise. They could see it now—the flaw in the Container's form, the place where the golden light pulsed most violently.
A weakness.
An opening.
The Last Container staggered, its movements becoming more erratic. It clutched its head, as if trying to hold itself together.
"Help me—"
For a brief moment, the golden light dimmed.
And the Knight struck.
A single, decisive blow.
The rusted nail plunged into the heart of the fracture.
A soundless scream echoed through the chamber.
The golden energy erupted outward, blinding in its intensity—
And then, silence.
The Last Container collapsed.
The light faded.
The lingering will of the Radiance was gone.
And in its place, only the empty husk of a Vessel remained.
--
The Knight stood over the fallen form, their breath slow and steady.
It was over.
The Last Container lay still, its cracked shell dark and lifeless. Whatever fragment of the Radiance had lingered within it had been extinguished.
But as the Knight gazed down at the broken Vessel, something stirred within them.
A feeling they did not quite understand.
They knelt, their fingers brushing against the remains of the mask.
And then—
A flicker.
Not of golden light.
Not of infection.
But of something else.
Something new.
The Last Container's hollow eyes blinked open.
And for the first time, they were truly empty.
But they were not gone.
Not yet.
The Knight stood, their expression unreadable.
And then, without a word, they extended a hand.
A choice.
The Last Container hesitated.
Then, slowly—
It took their hand.
And together, they stepped forward, into the unknown.
Into whatever future remained for the forgotten Vessels of Hallownest.
(END)