The Collector looked at Ying with surprise.
"Did you see my notes? Yes, this is the culmination of my wisdom, Hollow Knight."
"A killing weapon created by combining the advantages of both the Beheaded and Void creatures."
"But clearly, I can't control this guy."
"Although he could only act on instinct, the source of that instinct was the King's instinct."
So... take care of yourself.
While the Collector was explaining to Ying, the Hollow Knight on the other side made his move first.
The Hollow Knight slammed his palms on the ground, Void Tentacles burst forth, piercing towards Albeflower behind him.
Albeflower ripped its roots out, leaped into the air, and unleashed a rain of ice rain, launching it at the Hollow Knight.
The Void Tentacles pierced straight towards the Albeflower in the air, completely disregarding the icy rain that was about to hit it.
The Collector raised his hand, gathered several fireballs, and threw them at the Hollow Knight.
The Hollow Knight stood up, Void Tentacles instantly went berserk, launching an indiscriminate attack on the five people and the flower. The Hollow Knight's figure vanished in an instant, appearing in front of the Collector!
The Collector watched as the Hollow Knight approached him, extended his hand, and began to flick the syringe.
The Hollow Knight's figure blurred for a moment, as if the Hollow Knight had passed right through his body without causing any harm.
The Hollow Knight leisurely reached out and pressed his hand against the Collector's stomach.
"..."
The Collector froze in place.
Just then, a Starfell Sword appeared behind the Collector, knocking both the Collector and the Hollow Knight away!
The Collector leaped back to his side. "Thanks, Ying."
If Luminous hadn't interrupted Hollow Knight's actions, the Collector would probably have been split in two by now.
"Never engage in close-range attacks; getting close means certain death!"
Seeing the Hollow Knight charging again, the Collector quickly gave a warning.
"Whoosh--"
The giant scythe came crashing down, Albeless leaped into the air, creating a fire shield to block the attack... No! It didn't!
Albeless made a snap decision and threw out the Void Eye.
"Boom!"
The Void Eye detached from the body, and Albeless and the Hollow Knight had struck the Void Eye were blasted away together.
Albeless the opportunity to retrieve the Void Eye, which was completely undamaged.
"Haha! I've wanted to try this for ages!"
Although he was badly injured in the explosion, Albeless felt no pain at all; on the contrary, he was very happy.
On the other side, the Hollow Knight had a huge hole blasted out from his side down to his left arm.
Looking at the damage on the Hollow Knight's body, Ying asked, "Is this considered a serious injury to this guy?"
The Collector shook his head.
"Far from enough."
The Hollow Knight seemed to be reborn; his previously shaky upper body was stitched back together by Void Tentacles, and his left arm grew back intact.
" Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma."
The Hollow Knight had just recovered when Albedo's voice floated out.
All eight Solar Isotoma, inside and out, flew up together and were detonated by Albedo using the Void Power, transforming them into Electro and Pyro!
" The Tectonic Tide."
At the moment Solar Isotoma exploded, Albedo snapped his fingers.
Several rock crystals burst forth from the ground, surrounding the Hollow Knight, before suddenly exploding and releasing a large number of Fatal Blossom.
With a gentle twist of his wrist, Albedo transformed the Fatal Blossom into Pyro, Electro, Anemo, and Cryo.
The Elemental Reaction instantly blew up the Hollow Knight.
Albedo quickly retreated.
Was this attack effective?
Ying looked at the smoke-filled open space and said somewhat uncertainly.
"Almost none."
"I'm just delaying his attack."
"After all, if the Hollow Knight goes all out, we can't hold out for more than a few rounds."
Ying asked incredulously, "Why did you create such an uncontrollable monster?"
The Collector remained silent.
Albeless spoke first, "He wants to create a new kind of creature, one that can freely travel between Teyvat and the Abyss without the King's protection, and that he can take with him to study the Abyss."
"However, the experiment went wrong; not only did it fail, it created a monster."
The Collector sighed.
"If all else fails, we'll have to ask the King."
Ying seemed to remember something and asked, "If we find Jiang Xiaofeng, will we be able to deal with this monster?"
The Collector nodded. "Although I don't know what method the King has to control this monster, it seems that the only solution right now is to contact the King. You mean...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Ying charged straight at the Hollow Knight who had just appeared.
"!"
What are you doing?!
The Collector clearly hadn't expected Ying to rush out on her own initiative; she didn't even have time to swing the grappling hook.
Before the Hollow Knight, Luminous raised the Blood Sword, and a giant sword formed from Electro appeared above Blood Sword.
"Drink it!"
Just as Ying was about to swing the greatsword, the Hollow Knight moved.
"Click--"
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle..."
Hollow Knight punched through Luminous's chest, dodged the spurting blood, and walked towards the Collector's group.
Ying collapsed weakly to the ground, feeling her body begin to go numb, weak, and slowly grow cold...
"Well!"
Ying suddenly sat up on a chair in the square.
"They've really come back to life!"
Before Ying could even rejoice, she quickly found the Teleport Waypoint and teleported to Inazuma.
Grand Narukami Shrine.
Jiang Xiaofeng had just gotten up from Mikoshi Chiyo and released Hydro to cleanse himself and Mikoshi Chiyo.
"Are you hungry? I'll go cook."
Jiang Xiaofeng touched Mikoshi Chiyo's faces and walked towards the small kitchen outside.
After a while, Jiang Xiaofeng brought several rice balls, some tuna sushi, and a bottle of dango milk to Mikoshi Chiyo in the room.
"Get up and eat if you're hungry."
Jiang Xiaofeng was patting Mikoshi Chiyo the blanket, when he heard a knock on the door. Just as he was about to pull the blanket off, he heard a knock on the door.
Who is it?
Jiang Xiaofeng spoke up, clearly annoyed.
" Jiang Xiaofeng, it's me, Ying. I need your help with something."
After a while, Jiang Xiaofeng teleported Ying to the snow mountain.
The Collector continuously used Void Power to unleash Golem and Speed Demon to restrain the Void Knight, who flashed like a ghost. The Albeflower had already been split in two, and the power of the Ley Line was being absorbed by the earth.
Albedo is holding Albeless, using Hydro to heal Albeless has been blasted to pieces again.
Jiang Xiaofeng watched the farce unfold, shook his head, and simply raised his hand.
The whole world seemed to freeze in that instant.
"I never expected that this thing the Collector created would actually be quite capable."
"Even if we were to get the Pale King to deal with this guy, it would still take some effort..."
Jiang Xiaofeng raised his hands, and a flash of black light appeared.
The Hollow Knight's time was rapidly reversed, and he quickly transformed into a clump of moss and a small black ghost.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the Collector's experiment must continue."
The moss was swallowed by Jiang Xiaofeng's black hole, and the little ghost was returned to the Void.
Then, time began to flow...