"Do it, now!" She saw herself shout.
Hornet was only a spectator in these visions of the Knight. She couldn't speak, move, or interact with anything. So she could only stare on in shock as she saw another Hornet fly into the Hollow Knight's chamber, impaling their mask with her needle.
Orange particles flew out of the crack in their mask at a rapid pace, and at first, Hornet thought that it was the infection.
But it wasn't. They were strange patterned circles that vaguely resembled snowflakes. They flew out of their mask quickly, before vanishing into the air. The strange stream of sigils didn't last long however; The Knight began attacking the Hollow Knight from behind, and they broke out of her string with a roar. She saw herself get knocked out, her body falling to the floor limply, like a ragdoll.
She pulled her hand away from the Knight's. Cold tremors filled her body and her heart suddenly felt as heavy as lead.
'Did I just watch myself… die?'
Her body reflexively stiffened as something cold is wrapped around her. But she knew it was just the Knight hugging her again, so she left her muscles relax. Even though they were cold, their hug did well to calm her nerves.
It was like there was an earthquake happening right below her feet. The town of Dirtmouth was spinning. She felt terrible, but it was nothing compared to the first few times she did this.
"Ghost… When I attacked the Hollow Knight, did I… Well, did I survive?" Hornet asked hoarsely, pulling away from their embrace.
They appeared to think for a few moments before shrugging.
"I hope that I wouldn't be so easily defeated, even if I were being weakened by the power of the temple." Hornet muttered. "Anyway... Did you happen to notice those orange symbols that came out of their mask? When I attacked them, that is."
…
They shook their head. The Knight brought out their map and turned it onto the blank side. With a sense of urgency, they brought out their quill and practically shoved it into her hands.
"You want me to draw the symbol?"
They nodded frantically.
"I suppose I could do that." Hornet said. The circles she saw had a relatively simple design, mainly consisting of elliptical shapes that jutted out from the center. After a minute, she finished drawing and looked at the Knight, who was staring at it intently.
...
Hornet stared at them incredulously as they slapped their hand onto their face.
"W-What did you do that for?" She sputters.
The Knight jumped down from the bench and motioned for her to follow them. Before she could say another word, a bright pink aura formed around their body, and small crystals shot out from the ground around their feet. No more than a second later, the crystals shattered, and their body was sent flying forward at an incredible speed, towards the well.
"Since when could you…" Hornet shook her head and sighed. "Alright then, I guess I better follow…"
"You want me to go in there with you?"
They shook their head and pointed at the ground.
"Then, you just want me to stand here."
They shrugged and pointed at the ground again. Then, they brought out their nail and held it up like a lance before throwing it into the temple. It flew for a few meters before falling to the ground and clattering.
"Um… Wait, do you want me to throw my needle at the Hollow Knight?" Hollow asks. "Like how I did in that vision of yours?"
They jumped and nodded excitedly.
"Wait, but the last time I did that, I-"
The Knight didn't stay around to listen. Instead, their body began to glow again. Hornet instinctively jumped back as the crystals formed at their feet and exploded, sending pink shards everywhere. As they flew further into the heart of the temple, they grabbed their nail from the ground with one hand.
"... This vessel's going to be the death of me." Hornet grumbled. "Literally."
She winced as an extremely loud shriek fills the entire room. She peeked into the dark hallway of the temple, and saw the dark silhouettes of both Ghost and the Hollow Knight, being projected from the orange mist. The Knight moved quickly, slashing their nail at the Hollow Knight's battered body whenever they could. In stark contrast, the Hollow Knight moved sluggishly, carrying out their attacks without vigor. They looked like a puppet being dragged around on strings. The Knight dodged their lazy attacks with ease, jumping over their slashes and shadow dashing through their lunges.
She grabbed her needle and prepares to lunge in, trying to calm her pounding heart. Any moment now, there would be an opening.
Their fight dragged on, with the Knight tacking on more and more hits. She had to force herself to not look away when the Hollow Knight began to stab himself. Her heart wrenched when she saw the dark cysts on their exposed body, and the steaming infection that poured out of them. She couldn't look away though - she might miss her opportunity.
Then it came. The Hollow Knight landed a hit, parrying one of the Knight's slashes and counter-attacking. They struck the Knight with so much force that for a moment, Hollow thought it was over, over in just one hit. But from the Knight's body, what looked like thorny vines of void shot out piercing through the Hollow Knight's body.
They brought their mask up to the ceiling and roared again, so loudly that debris fell from the ceiling. Hornet, without even thinking, charged straight in and tossed her needle. It flew straight and dug into its target. Hornet's body followed soon after, and as she pressed her weight against her needle, she willed for her string to restrain the Hollow Knight.
A massive snap sounded out from below her. She looked down at them, and felt her heart sink into her stomach. She had managed to make a crack in their mask, but nothing else. Those strange symbols that she saw in the Knight's vision didn't appear. Did this mean that all of this would be for nothing?
The Knight dashed forward and brought something out from their cloak; It looked like the hilt of a nail, but there was no blade.
"What are you doing?!" Hornet yelled. She could feel the strings weakening, ready to snap under the Hollow Knight's strength. "Those symbols aren't appearing! We have to get out of here!"
They ignored her completely, instead opting to draw their arm back. It looked like they were about to strike at the Hollow Knight with the empty hilt.
But there was no way that they would do something so dumb, right? Their other hand still grasped their pure nail. Surely they were charging some sort of nail art technique, and were about to deliver a fatal blow to them?
Nope. They swung at the Hollow Knight's mask with the empty handle. They didn't even hit them with the hilt itself. They just swiped at the empty space in front of them, as if there was a blade. Like an idiot.
'They missed.' Hornet screamed internally. ' They swung at them with a useless weapon, and they mi-'
It was so bright.
The Knight took a deep breath and looked around. Aside from the platform they were standing on, and the three other smaller platforms that were floating above them, there was nothing but an endless drop and view. Before the golden clouds in front of him, there was a radiant sun.
They climbed up to the highest platform and stared at the sun. It was bright, so bright. It was like staring directly into the crystals from Crystal Peak, with their precious energy. The sight of it was almost enough to overwhelm them. Almost.
Before they could second guess themselves, they brought out their nail.
The golden ball of light began to change into something else. Something with wings, something with a crown, something with form. Massive, translucent particles of dream essence floated around them.
Every bit of void that made their tiny body up felt like it was vibrating. Sharp energy flowed through them, and it felt like they were about to explode from sheer anxiety. Their head was spinning and their hand trembled so much that they almost lost grip of their nail.
And they loved it.
A giant explosion of light filled their vision, and as it faded, they saw it. They saw the infection. It was glorious. It was disgusting. It was everything that the Knight was created to counter. It was emitting an aura of pure hatred. It was -
'The Radiance.' The Knight thought as they stared at her. They didn't know how, but they knew that that was their name.
They also knew that this thing had to die.
The Knight felt something twisting and turning inside of them. No more than a minute ago, the skies were filled with bright, golden clouds that looked as glorious as the Radiance herself. Now, there was only a dark fog that threatened to completely envelop the both of them. The Radiance, once so blindingly bright, was now only a flicker that barely held back the void of the abyss.
The Knight's body flew up into the air, and they felt something snap inside of them. The searing wounds that they had received from their battle seemed to have vanished completely. They felt no pain. No worry. No joy.
Just satisfaction for a job well done.
Dark, spiked tentacles shot up from the clouds of void and gripped the wings of the Radiance, restraining her. The shade of the Hollow Knight rose up, eyes glowing a deadly pale yellow. Arms shot out from underneath their cloak, and they grabbed at the space where her eyes were. They pulled and tore it open, causing her to scream in agony. An ungodly glow shone out from her, but it was still nothing compared to the consuming fog surrounding them.
The Knight watched all of this unfold as they felt more cracks within themselves. Something was breaking.
Then, their mask shattered.
Then, their cloak was shredded.
And all that was left was their shade, empowered by the Void Heart within them.
They began striking at the Radiance, every hit as strong as a thousand nail slashes. Dream essence flew out of her with every blow, and as they hit her again and again, more and more of it poured out, until finally, with one more great strike, an explosion of the stuff gushed out of her.
A literal fountain of essence gushed out of the gaping hole where her face used to be. She shrieked with such agony and volume that the Knight wouldn't have been surprised if Hornet would have managed to hear it, from an entire reality and dimension away.
The Abyss creeped closer and closer, growing darker and darker until finally, even the Knight themselves couldn't see anything, except for the pure and absolute darkness of the void.
They heard the Radiance scream once more before her voice gradually faded away as her body and mind was claimed by the Abyss.
After that, there was nothing.