Chapter Summaries

Lin Jin agreed to take Radiance to the Flame Capital after she promised to resolve the Infection and not overstep, leaving him anxious about the danger she posed. In her dream domain, Radiance was visited by a red moth who questioned her intentions toward the Burner, and she began changing her appearance before the journey.

• Radiance asked Lin Jin to take her to the Flame Capital, and he agreed after she promised to resolve the Infection and not overstep as long as she could continue to exist.
• Radiance returned to her dream domain, while Lin Jin sat overwhelmed and worried about bringing a powerful Higher Being to the Flame Capital.
• Grimm stayed behind to speak privately with his kin as Wyrm, the Hollow Knight, Ogrim, and Lin Jin left the Nightmare's Heart.
• A red moth entered Radiance's dream domain and questioned whether she was serious about the Burner and whether she thought they had anything in common.
• After the red moth departed, Radiance decided to draw closer to the Burner and began reconstructing her body with a new appearance.

The Pale King and Isara formally established an alliance between Hallownest and the Flame Capital, agreeing to cooperate against the Void. The chapter ended with both rulers signing the pact and the gathered bugs celebrating their nations’ new partnership.

• Grimm left Hallownest after the troupe presented a crimson weapon that could carry its wielder into nightmares, and Lin Jin accepted it despite his concerns.
• Three days later, the Pale King welcomed Isara’s delegation to the Pale Court, where the two nations presented themselves as equals.
• Isara asked Hallownest for help dealing with the Void, and the Pale King agreed to share his research and work with the Flame Capital to find a solution.
• The Pale King and Isara signed identical alliance scrolls, and the assembled bugs celebrated the pact.

Hallownest celebrated its survival with a banquet, where Hornet tried to invite Nox to Deepnest before Helia interrupted them. Radiance then appeared in a new moth form and asked Nox when they would marry.

• Marissa performed an epic song at the banquet as bugs across Hallownest celebrated their survival.
• Wyrm attended to nobles while Nox drank alone, and Hornet approached him to discuss the King's Seal and invite him to Deepnest.
• Helia interrupted Hornet and Nox, flirted with Nox, and provoked Hornet into chasing her through the banquet.
• Nox returned to the window and found Radiance there in the form of a young moth.
• Radiance asked Nox when they were having their wedding.

Isara and the Flame Capital delegation left Hallownest aboard the Sky Explorer, carrying gifts and Radiance’s statue with them. As the airship headed home, Radiance found comfort in Lin Jin, and Hornet unexpectedly joined them, choosing to stay by his side.

• The Wyrm bid farewell to Isara and Lin Jin’s party, giving them precious goods and white flowers as gifts.
• Nox arrived at the last moment with a massive chained crate, which the Hollow Knight helped load onto the Sky Explorer.
• The Sky Explorer departed for the Flame Capital, carrying Radiance’s statue from the Crown of Hallownest to be recast.
• Radiance mourned leaving Hallownest, and Lin Jin comforted her as she worried about the future.
• Lin Jin explained that he had returned the rescued Vessels to their mother, and Radiance accepted his choice.
• Hornet emerged from a small box aboard the airship and chose to stay with Lin Jin and Radiance.

After the first Mantis Lord Mortas died, the mantises gathered to choose a successor, but a wounded guard challenged their tradition of deciding leadership through combat. The guard became the second Mantis Lord and took Mortas’s name, while Quyin left the gathering in defeat.

• The mantises honored the fallen Mortas and prepared to choose a new lord through their customary combat ritual.
• A wounded member of Mortas’s personal guard argued that the clan’s rules should change, prompting Quyin to challenge him.
• Quyin attacked, but the guard dodged every blow and refused to counterattack because he did not want to maim another mantis in front of the children.
• The mantises recognized the guard’s strength and compassion, knelt before him, and accepted him as their new lord.
• The guard took Mortas’s name and was acclaimed as the second Mantis Lord, while Quyin walked alone into the forest.

Lin Jin comforted Radiance as she explained her loneliness and desire for someone she could trust. He agreed to pretend they were partners while taking time to build their relationship, then returned to carefully dismantling her statue so he could bring it with them.

• Lin Jin planned to take Radiance's statue with them, and Radiance came to speak with him about leaving Hallownest.
• Radiance recalled how the Moths had abandoned her and admitted that the memories in Hallownest filled her with sorrow.
• Lin Jin embraced Radiance and comforted her, and she took on her moth form in his arms.
• Radiance explained that she wanted a partner she could trust, comparing her wish to the Pale King's bond with his root.
• Lin Jin proposed that they pretend to be partners while getting to know each other, and promised to accept if Radiance proposed again after understanding the ceremony.
• Radiance returned to the statue, and Lin Jin resumed his work more gently, determined to keep his promise.

The Seer died after seeing Radiance release her anger, and Radiance gathered the last traces of her light into her heart. As Glimmer prepared to change her name and image, she noticed Lin Jin’s hidden sorrow and pressed him to share his past.

• The Seer watched Radiance let go of her hatred, forgave herself, and dissolved into light at the Crown of Hallownest.
• Lin Jin criticized the Seer for dying without speaking to Radiance, and Radiance gathered her scattered remains and welcomed her home.
• Lin Jin suggested Glimmer change her name and image before joining his side, and she agreed to try.
• Alone, Lin Jin reflected on his regrets from his previous life and wondered who would comfort him as he comforted others.
• Glimmer returned, confronted Lin Jin about hiding his troubles, and asked him to tell her stories from his past.

Lochy, a scholar and wanderer, traveled toward the kingdom of fire with Rose, a powerful Weaver who rode on his head. As they crossed the Wilderness, the unlikely companions found common ground in poetry and agreed to consider writing a hymn together.

• Rose rode on Lochy's head as they traveled through the Wilderness, and she revealed that she had killed and eaten the bandits they had left behind.
• Lochy explained his interest in the Flame visible across the Wilderness and hoped to study the kingdom of fire's books and historical records.
• Rose told Lochy that she was not traveling to the kingdom of fire for the reason he suspected, at least not this time.
• Lochy and Rose recited verses together, discovered their words and emotions were in tune, and discussed writing a book or hymn together.

A solitary wanderer became obsessed with the fire of Flame Capital after it drew him out of the Wilderness. After consuming the Soulfire from a lantern, he was found burned to ash, with a hole leading into the sewer system.

• A wanderer from the Wilderness followed a towering fire to Flame Capital and became a bug with intelligence.
• Unable to enter Ashen City, the wanderer received a lantern containing purified Soulfire from a soldier.
• The wanderer stayed home, staring at the lantern flame and muttering that it was his.
• The wanderer shattered the lantern and swallowed the Soulfire, glass, and parts of his fingers.
• A fire broke out in Iseldor Town the next day, leaving only ash and a hole into the sewer system.

Mantis pursued a suspected Flame-Gluttony Syndrome patient in Iseldor Town and fought him as he transformed into a raging fire monster. After killing him, she rejoined Iggs, who had followed her on Lord Mortas’s orders.

• Mantis caught a fleeing bug during curfew and identified him as a patient with Flame-Gluttony Syndrome.
• The patient’s symptoms worsened, and he transformed into a burning monster as Mantis fought him with her Curved Sword.
• Mantis revealed herself as a mantis Hunter, joined her blade to its shaft to form a scythe, and killed the monster.
• Iggs arrived after the fight and praised Mantis, who reminded him not to interfere with her hunting.
• Mantis watched the flames die around the patient’s remains, reassembled her weapon, and put her cloak back on.

Five years later, Iggs met Farena beneath Glimmer’s statue, where a mysterious six-eyed stranger bumped into them before Iggs hurried to work. In the Fungal Wastes, the same stranger mysteriously healed Mantis, who decided to seek out her father.

• Iggs woke exhausted after helping Mantis’s hunt and rushed to work, grumbling about his pay.
• Iggs met Farena beneath Glimmer’s statue, and she confided her worries about the Fire Moths fitting into the Flame Capital.
• A cloaked bug with a six-eyed mask bumped into Farena, then disappeared after Iggs helped her up and rushed off to work.
• Mantis inspected the white flower plantation and treated her injuries in a hidden herb patch after an all-night hunt.
• A six-eyed stranger appeared and healed Mantis’s wounds before vanishing, prompting her to go see her father.

Iggs collected a transforming sword cane commissioned by Lady Mantis and watched its artisan demonstrate its deadly forms. The artisan suspected the Hunter Clan was preparing for a hidden threat, though he returned to his work without pursuing the thought.

• Iggs traveled through the Royal Capital’s back streets to a secluded weapons workshop to collect Lady Mantis’s order.
• The artisan showed Iggs the elegant sword cane he had crafted for Lady Mantis and explained that it transformed into a long bladed weapon and a whip.
• Iggs admired the weapon’s sharp, thin blades and carried it away, pleased to have completed his task.
• The artisan worried that a surge of weapon orders, especially from the Hunter Clan, signaled a hidden threat rather than an impending war.
• The artisan decided not to dwell on his suspicions and returned to work on his next creation.

Lin Jin’s growing power and the Flame Capital’s prosperity culminated in an overwhelming influx of faith during the Sunrise Festival. When the faith exceeded his capacity, it became Soulfire and began spilling out of the Sun Tower, leaving Lin Jin in danger of losing control.

• Lin Jin recalled how he had quieted the Void with the King's Seal and the Pale King's power, then built up his strength over several years while the Flame Capital prospered.
• On the Flame Capital’s fifth anniversary, Lin Jin attended the Sunrise Festival as the Valiant Warrior and fought in the arena as Nox.
• Glimmer joined Nox after the fights and introduced herself to the arena manager as his wife, prompting Lin Jin to hurry away with her.
• At the festival’s climax, bugs across the region prayed toward the Sunfire Temple, sending a vast surge of faith into Lin Jin.
• Lin Jin’s capacity failed to contain the incoming faith, which transformed into Soulfire and overflowed from the sun as Glimmer sensed the danger.

Mortas led the Mantis Hunters in a Great Hunt to wipe out the Flame-Gluttony outbreak at Ant Ox Farm, killing an Overflamed Ant Ox himself with his inherited Nail-Spear. After the operation succeeded, he wondered whether Flame-Gluttony Syndrome could ever be cured and whether the mantises could keep containing it.

• Mortas gathered the Mantis Hunters and led them to Ant Ox Farm, where infected livestock had killed the farmer and transformed into violent beasts.
• The hunters coordinated their attacks to pin down and kill the Ant Oxen, but one beast became Overflamed and forced the others to withdraw.
• Mortas fought the Overflamed Ant Ox, severed its limbs, and split its body open with his inherited Nail-Spear.
• The hunters finished the Great Hunt, and cleanup teams entered after every other living creature at the farm had been killed.
• As he rested after the victory, Mortas questioned whether Flame-Gluttony Syndrome could be cured and whether the mantises could contain it alone.

Mantis searched the Great Library for information about the six-eyed bug that had healed her, hoping its ability could help the Hunter Clan endure its increasingly costly hunts. A mysterious Firefly told her the books she needed were in the Forbidden Library and led her into the darkness.

• Mantis and Iggs searched piles of books for information about the six-eyed bug, but found nothing.
• Mantis reflected that the bug had healed her injuries and exhaustion instantly, and decided its ability could help protect the Hunter Clan from the toll of Flame-Gluttony Syndrome hunts.
• Iggs fell asleep from exhaustion while Mantis continued searching through the night.
• A tiny Firefly approached Mantis and said the relevant books were kept in the Forbidden Library.
• Mantis cautiously followed the Firefly as his glow led her into the darkness.

Mantis and Iggs followed a firefly through hidden passages beneath the Great Library and discovered that the fireflies used costly rune magic to fight. Their guide, Ilaid Pierce, brought them to the fireflies' Forbidden Library and introduced herself as its future director.

• A firefly led Mantis and Iggs through concealed doors in the Great Library, then triggered a mechanism that dropped them into a deep shaft.
• Mantis and Iggs fell toward the bottom, where a Soulfire-powered levitation rune slowed their descent and let them land safely.
• Iggs examined the expensive rune array as Mantis realized the fireflies had developed a way to fight using reusable, rune-inscribed papers.
• The firefly used a levitation seal to descend, then revealed how she had stored the rune paper inside her book.
• The guide identified herself as Ilaid Pierce, daughter of Aemon Pierce, and welcomed Mantis and Iggs to the fireflies' Forbidden Library.

Mantis and Iggs learned about Weavers from Ilaid and agreed to exchange their knowledge for access to her books. Meanwhile, Mortas returned from a brutal hunt, and a hidden Weaver clan settled near the Sacrificial Grounds under Chieftain Is, who forbade a Weaver from helping the mantises.

• Ilaid described the Weavers and their Spirit Thread, prompting Mantis to seek them out and offer Ilaid everything she knew in exchange for access to the books.
• Mantis began studying the books with Iggs, insisting they work through them before morning.
• Mortas returned to Mantis Village after a successful but exhausting hunt and reflected on his past, his daughter, and his hopes for the clan.
• A Weaver secretly returned to the hidden nest near the Sacrificial Grounds after narrowly avoiding the mantises.
• Chieftain Is scolded the Weaver for contacting outsiders and refused to let her help the mantises.