Shape of Hornet

The instant he heard her voice, Shen Yu instinctively leaped left, dodging the thrust.

But with a sweep of Hornet's left hand, the Stinger traced an arc and slashed at Shen Yu just as he landed.

Holy crap! Shen Yu hurriedly rolled out of the way and fired his rust-covered revolver, the EGO Solitude, at Hornet.

Amid a string of gunshots, bullets like black dust shot out and struck her.

When the bullets hit, they passed straight through her mask and burst inside, leaving a blank emptiness of solitude.

Hornet felt momentarily dazed, but shook it off in an instant. With a cry of "Haah!", she leaped into the air and thrust down at Shen Yu.

Warned by her voice, Shen Yu immediately used Backstep to evade her, then fired a few more bullets ahead.

Seeing her draw back and shout "Shaw!", Shen Yu immediately rolled left to dodge her Dash. The revolver in his right hand kept firing.

By listening, he could anticipate her attacks. His E.G.O. also gave all his physical capabilities an enormous boost.

But Hornet had physics-defying high-speed dashes and versatile control over Spider Silk.

Against her, even his E.G.O.-enhanced stamina could not withstand the drain. With his E.G.O. weapon doing so little damage, he could only conserve his strength as best he could and keep fighting.

(Uls) "This is much more entertaining than the earlier matches," a masked beetle cackled, slapping his armrest.

(Dos, Rale) "Didst thou hear it? The resonance coming from that worm's weapon." The elongated golden cicada from earlier watched Shen Yu and questioned the one beside him.

(Wodoply) "Yes, we heard it. It is a woman's voice, but incomplete. Never have we heard such noise." The squat golden cicada searched desperately for a similar resonance, but found none.

(Kara) "Care to place some bets?" asked a six-eyed beetle near the Fool King.

The words instantly stirred up a storm among the bugs. Their shouts in all sorts of Bug Language gave Shen Yu a headache.

"I bet 500 Geo on Hornet! (Hollow Knight currency.)"

"900 Geo, Hornet!"

"1,000 Geo on Hornet!"

"I bet on Hornet, 2,000 Geo!"

The amounts varied from dozens to thousands, but almost everyone bet on Hornet, apart from a few who put five Geo on Shen Yu for a laugh.

When Hornet drove the Stinger through Shen Yu's left arm, the entire Arena erupted in excited cheers.

"Noisy, lowly creatures." The elongated golden cicada frowned at the crowd. Their chaotic shouting made the already faint EGO Resonance even harder to distinguish.

He descended into the wooden spectator stands, no longer caring about the stench that had bothered him before, and moved closer to Shen Yu below. The other squat golden cicada followed closely.

Shen Yu glanced at his injured left arm without paying it much mind. He calmly kept attacking with the E.G.O. in his right hand, listening for the sounds preceding Hornet's attacks so he could anticipate and dodge them.

(Calodar) "I wager twenty thousand Geo on the outsider."

A hoarse, low voice suddenly rang out from the center of the wooden stands, drowning out the surrounding clamor. The Fools turned in surprise toward the wooden throne bearing a six-eyed mask.

At some point, the long-dead Fool King had opened his pale eyes. Propping his head on his upper right limb, he watched the two combatants in the Arena.

(Ulas) "King of Fools, the God of Gods wielded great power to rescue thy soul from the void. Why dost thou blaspheme against our lord in this manner?" Godseeker looked at him unhappily and reproached him.

(Wapla!) "Your brain is as full of shit as the crap coming out of your mouth! What the void wants is none of your fucking business!" The Fool King shot her a contemptuous glare, then turned to Shen Yu.

(Os, Walamai) "Outsider, I have faith in you. If you lose, I'll cut off your head and make it into a mask."

Then please don't have faith in me. Shen Yu was speechless. He shook his right hand, sore from firing, and looked at the panting Hornet before him.

I can do this. Even if this crappy little gun only deals one point of damage, I'll just pull the trigger nine hundred times.

"Xikali!" Hornet's voice rang out again. A Needle Throw shot toward Shen Yu, forcing him to dodge hastily.

But as Hornet manipulated the Spider Silk attached to its end, the Stinger abruptly changed direction and pursued him.

Seeing the Stinger about to catch him, Shen Yu rolled out of the way again.

I may not have Little Knight's Shadow Dash and its temporary invulnerability, but I can roll.

Shen Yu got to his feet, amused by the thought, and pulled the trigger at Hornet.

Although she was incredibly fast, her attack patterns thankfully differed little from those in the game, and she gave audible warnings before attacking.

Most importantly, the pistol in his hand was a ranged weapon, allowing him to attack while keeping his distance.

What he needed to consider now was how to preserve the last of his stamina.

As the battle continued, excitement in the stands climbed higher and higher.

The weak little worm they had looked down on had actually held out this long. With the Fool King's endorsement, a large number of bugs had begun cheering for Shen Yu.

Shen Yu, however, felt deeply strained. Although he had practiced sanda before, combat this intense was enormously draining.

He gasped for breath. His legs felt as though they had been filled with lead, and the right hand pulling the trigger had begun to twitch.

Yet Hornet's attacks remained fierce. With even a moment's rest, she could instantly recover her spent stamina.

Hornet was now charging rapidly toward her target, but Shen Yu no longer had the strength to dodge. Even if he forced himself to evade this attack, the next would catch him.

"Fuck it, all or nothing!" Shen Yu simply abandoned evasion, raised his E.G.O. revolver, and kept pulling the trigger at the approaching Hornet.

Bullets sank into Hornet's body one after another, but her offensive did not falter. The distance between them kept shrinking until, finally, she dashed straight at him.

"I'm screwed." Shen Yu gave a bitter laugh, closed his eyes, and numbly kept pulling the trigger. But the pain he expected never came.

He opened his eyes and found Hornet panting a few meters away, the Stinger in her hand only centimeters from piercing his throat.

(Dos One, Karimei) "Outsider, what is your weapon?" Hornet asked Shen Yu, holding the Stinger.

"EGO Solitude."

(Duoruo One, Karimei) "A strange name." Hornet withdrew the Stinger and nodded at Shen Yu. "Outsider, you won."

(Orah!) All the Fools cheered together, apart from those who had wagered too much money. They cheered only for the victors, for the strong.

"Unbelievable! That strange outsider actually defeated Hornet!"

(Shuos) "Did you see that? The guy I bet on won! I told you I had a good eye!" A beetle stood and shouted, slapping the head of the bug beside him.

(Kuoluo) "Leave me alone." The beetle beside him swatted his forelimb away, then slammed his head against the seat in front.

"My 2,000 Geo..."

Countless pieces of Geo rained down, clattering against the Arena floor.

The Godseeker Tribe above was less demonstrative, but shock surged through their hearts as well, and they hurried to confer with their fellows.

They had heard a resonance that did not belong to this world. It was faint and incomplete, yet entirely unlike anything they had heard before.

Stranger still, that sound had come from lifeless objects such as weapons and armor.

The Fool King hunched forward, looked down at Shen Yu, and laughed.

(Kuoluolas) "An interesting fellow. This is the first time I've seen such a strange weapon."

Amid the countless roaring cheers, a clear ding suddenly sounded, and brilliant light burst forth before Shen Yu.

Then a voice sounded in Shen Yu's mind:

Resonance ended. [1-10-12] Old Lady attunement rate increased: 1% → 18%

Attunement rate 20%, E.G.O. germination: E.G.O. template/custom appearance. (Locked)

Attunement rate 40%, E.G.O. manifestation: Lonesome Dust. (Locked)

When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying on the ground beside the statue, with Godseeker standing nearby. Once Shen Yu got up, she spoke impatiently.

(Wodoply, Balala) "Feeble creature, thou took so long to complete the attunement. Had we not restricted..."

"Hey," Shen Yu interrupted unhappily, then asked Godseeker,

"I've finished the attunement, so why don't I feel any different?"

(Lala, Mis) "Foolish creature, recall thy earlier battle."

Recall the battle? What's so special about that? Shen Yu tried recalling it, and a stream of information suddenly appeared in his mind:

Hornet attunement rate: 30%

[Shape of Hornet]

Combat techniques:

Thrust [Beginner]

Aerial Thrust [Beginner]: Leap into the air and thrust toward the target.

Thread Dance [Beginner]: Release silk threads around yourself, cutting through surrounding objects. Also grants the ability to control silk threads. (Requires silk thread.)

Needle Throw [Beginner]: Wrap silk thread around a weapon and use it to attack. (Requires silk thread.)

Movement:

Jump enhancement

Speed Boost

Acquired: Backstep [Beginner]

[Hornet's Protection]: The child of three queens will protect your mind, keeping it from being torn apart by that mad light.

"Holy crap," Shen Yu exclaimed. Doesn't that mean I can play a real-life version of Silksong as soon as I get some silk thread?

Shen Yu's eyes immediately lit up. He took the Godtuner from inside his clothes, intending to find Hornet right away and see if he could ask her for some silk thread.

(Karas) "What is thy weapon, and why can it emit the sound of resonance?" Godseeker suddenly asked, interrupting Shen Yu.

"You mean this?" Shen Yu drew the rust-covered revolver from his waist and explained,

"It's called E.G.O. It's made by transforming a core extracted from an entity called an Abnormality.

"As for Abnormalities, well... in your terms, they're false gods, though a few are real."

(Lala Bis, Kelaike) "E.G.O., a wondrous thing! Abnormalities, strange gods!" Godseeker looked up at Godhome's vaulted ceiling and marveled, then bowed directly to Shen Yu.

"Thank you for your efforts. Please bring other E.G.O. here, that we may hear their resonance and quench our yearning. We shall now return you to reality."

Tch. Now that she wants something, she's polite. Shen Yu snorted disdainfully, then suddenly thought of something and hurriedly spoke.

"Wait, let me ask Hornet for a batch of silk thread first."

But Shen Yu was a moment too late. As Godseeker began chanting, the floor beneath his feet abruptly vanished, and he plunged into the void with a thud.