As the side of the building collapsed into the street, the remaining side began to crumble as well. The cracks on the floor connected and broke into pieces. Before the Shade lord could realize what it had done—and who they did it to—the floor beneath it fell away and they instinctively clung to the other wall that stubbornly remained intact. The sudden surprise brought the giant beast to their senses only to watch in horror as the floor crumbled under Lemm and Quirrel. The Grimmchild, trying to take flight, scrambled in Lemm's grip but the terror clouded the old bug's mind as he clung to the child and Quirrel for dear life.

The floor gave way and all three of the bugs fell. Without a thought or a plan in mind the large beast lunged forward and successfully grabbed the trio in the palm of one of their lower set of hands, but it cost them their place on the sturdy wall. They immediately clung to the other wall, their sudden weight making it groan and crack as their upper set of claws dug into the steel-like material.

They heard a scream from below and looked down to find the Godseeker miraculously still holding onto their tail. The momentum from the jump caused their tail to slam into the wall, narrowly missing their passenger by a few inches, but the blow weakened her grip greatly and she started to slip.

Allowing their instincts to take control, the shade lord flicked their tail upwards and the godseeker flew into the air just high enough for her to reach the same height as the shade lord's horn before she fell into the waiting palm of their other hand. Under normal circumstances they would be awestruck by their new trick, but now was not the time. It won't be long until the entire building collapsed onto them. They needed to get out and fast.

They eyed the window that they used to break into the room when they first arrived here and climbed their way towards it. They hugged the walls, avoiding the constant falling debris and chandeliers. A few times they had to stop and protect their lower hands as rocks struck them from above, but luckily it didn't give the behemoth too much damage.

When they reached the window, however, they froze in horror. This building wasn't the only one collapsing; most of the city was collapsing. The most dreadful of all being the small waterfalls scattered all over. They gazed up at the cavern to find the cracks to have covered most of it, and the cracks were beginning to widen and break apart. It won't be long before the entire city was washed away in the coming flood.

They were stricken with fear.

What have they done?

They didn't know what to do.

They did this. They caused this.

The heavy feeling in their chest wouldn't go away.

It's all their fault.

It's all their fault!

"My shade lord!" A voice brought them out of their destructive thoughts and they opened the hand that contained the godseeker. She gazed up at them. "We must escape this place! Now is not the time for shame and self-doubt!"

They remained still, unsure of what to do anymore. They gave her a helpless look. "I know things look grave but you are underestimating your power O great god of gods!" The godseeker rubbed the tip of its thumb in reassurance. "You have proved it many times."

While that did make them feel a little better, they still don't understand what she's trying to imply. "You are void incarnate—you are Void given focus—you can manipulate the void to do whatever you want; you allowed it to heal yourself and your follower, you allowed it to change your size, and you can infect anything, living or non-living."

They thought back to the time when they arrived back into the real world from godhome after slaying the radiance, how their nature corrupted the water and the junk pit. If she was right, couldn't they infect the water and manipulate it the void from it? Given how there wasn't anywhere they could go without a building falling on them, or an exit too small to enter, or worse; make one and risk the entire, vulnerable cavern to collapse in on itself from the force and dooming the rest of Hallownest, there was no escape. This looked to be the only way without sacrificing themselves or others in the process.

They gave the godseeker one last look. She nodded, "You can do this." The shade lord gave them a nervous smile and closed the palm of their hand once more. They looked to the nearest body of water and leapt.

Hornet stayed like that for a long time, her claws gripping the dirt when there was a sudden shockwave. The ground shook menacingly and managed to dislodge her nail from the dirt. She caught her needle before it could fall and held onto it dearly. From how bad the earth quaked, she thought the floor beneath her would collapse. Luckily it did not, but it did nothing to soothe the child of the beast as twigs and remnants of the prickly vines rained from the ceiling.

This was worse than the earthquake from before, how could something like this happen so quickly after the destruction of the radiant one? Did most of her infection create columns or supports for the weak and brittle structures before her demise? Is that why so much of Hallownest is experiencing these tremors? Hornet didn't know, but made it her new mission to figure that out.

A distraction for her inner turmoil, she reasoned.

When the earthquake stopped, there was a voice from above."Agh not again!"

Hornet lifted her head to the sound and gazed up at the small entrance above her. Was there another bug here as well?

"Damn these tremors, our hard work…all for naught!"

"Now, now," Another bug answered, "we can make more. We have all the time in the world."

Hornet decided to investigate, if there are bugs that survived the plague, it's her duty to help them in any way she can now that she is the closest thing to an ally and ruler of this forsaken kingdom.

Using her needle, she whipped through the small entrance in the grove and came upon a small house. It wasn't anything special regarding the architecture, but it was still a surprising find. In all the time she has been here, Hornet never knew this place existed in the kingdom of Unn.

She crept closer to the entrance, wary of whether or not these bugs were hostile or not despite the vacant infection—even if they were now in their right mind, it doesn't mean they are now kind and good-natured, they can still be agressive or wicked. An image of the pale king flashed in her mind before she angrily dismissed the thought as quick as it came, she can't afford to let her emotions get in the way right now.

When she was only a foot away from the entrance, she pressed her head against the frame and listened closer, in hopes of judging their motives and moral compass before deciding what to do next.

One bug sighed. "Y-you're right. I shouldn't get angry over something like this, I just hate it when I pour my hard work into something only for it to get destroyed, o-or let someone to just throw it away…or…or…"

"I understand. It hurts, but it's a pain that shouldn't linger, it'll only make you angry and negative. It is a lessoned I have learned…many times, but luckily this type of pain is easier to manage every time, unlike others."

The other companion let out a gruff sigh. "At least the tremors are gone."

Hornet listened and judged them to be morally well-off. One bug is obviously very knowledgeable and wise, perhaps humble. The other, not so much, but its voice seems to hold a lot of regret and trepidation; completely opposite of their friend.

Hornet took a deep breath and stepped out of the corner and into the entrance; she was greeted with a scene of a room entirely littered with all kinds of art pieces and art tools. Some were broken, some littered on the floor, and some were knocked over, but the damage didn't seem to be too bad. In the middle were two bugs sitting on the floor with their legs crossed, gazing down at broken miniatures of what she believed to be the once glorified five great knights.

The two noticed the shadow in the doorway and locked eyes with Hornet's. To her surprise, their expressions were void of fear or suspicion, unlike the many faces that had always graced her menacing vintage; it actually made her a little uncomfortable.

"Oh a guest." The bigger bug commented. He patted the next to him, "Welcome, have a seat if you like."

Hornet hesitated, wondering if she made a mistake in revealing herself when she noticed none of them had a weapon. The closest thing the bigger bug had to a weapon was a paintbrush, and she was confident that there was nothing he could do to harm her with it.

She relented and sheathed her needle. She walked up to the two bugs and reluctantly sat down in front of them. The bigger bug stared at her, as if expecting an answer while the other solemnly gazed down at the broken Ogrim figure in his claws. After an agonizing minute of silence, Hornet realized that she hasn't had a proper conversation in years, and now she has absolutely no idea how to start one without being threatening.

She could feel her shell flush in embarrassment. Crap, she cursed to herself.

They made sure to clasp their hands tightly together before hitting the water, making sure their friends would remain dry and out of harm's way. Fully submerged, they closed their eyes and focused, allowing themselves to meld with the water around them. It was hard at first, their form resisting the change, but the thought of losing any of their friends gave them the trigger for their form to slowly dissipate. The water began to be stained with black, the tendrils of darkness spreading across the canals and up the waterfalls to the blue lake above until all was void and only void.

They focused, allowing their consciousness to stretch to all the regions that the void touched. They focused on one thing:

FORM

At command the void rose from its confinements and filled the streets of the broken city. It waved through corridors and crawled up the cavern walls and the building structures all across the city until all was stained black and one with the void. It hardened and reformed the structures, the walls, and the décor, everything that made up the city of tears from the shade lord's memory until the last crack was erased from existence. The city was no longer a dark blue but a pale black as the void reshaped everything.

Whatever did not plague the city, flooded back up the cavern ceiling—mending the cracks and covering it with a thick layer for good measure—and into the lake that was no longer blue.

When they believed their work had been done, they shrank their influence back to one physical point and allowed their body to reform once again. Once their physical body was back, they ascended to the surface to find themselves clinging to the shores of the now black lake.

They heaved themselves sluggishly over the ledge and onto dry land, their energy spent and their body weak. Unfortunately, endurance is gained through constant practice and the shade lord had none of that.

They opened their lower hands to find their friends all safe and sound to their relief. But as much as they wanted to celebrate their victory, the shade lord's head became light and their eyes, heavy. They slipped into unconsciousness before any of them could say a word.