I Can Purify Corruption Through Intimacy in the Apocalypse

At Lucien's question, Isolde shook her head without the slightest hesitation.

"I can't hit it while it's moving like that."

"What if I have something that can make it stop?"

"Even then..." Her gaze remained fixed on the Hollow Knight, studying the contours of its helmet with narrowed eyes. After a brief pause, she added, "Its head is almost completely enclosed by plate armor. There's a good chance Water Lash would simply glance off before reaching anything vital."

Lucien frowned.

"What about Frost Bind?"

"It might restrain it for a few seconds at best."

She considered the possibility for another moment before slowly shaking her head again.

"...Actually, no. If I had to guess, it probably wouldn't affect it at all."

Silence settled briefly between them.

Isolde still had other spells she could contribute.

Mist Veil could flood the battlefield with dense fog, obscuring sight and disrupting an opponent's awareness, while Azure Shield created a barrier of condensed water capable of absorbing tremendous punishment. In practice, she often layered the latter with Sylphie's Divine Shield and Thane's Bulwark, the three defensive techniques reinforcing one another into an exceptionally resilient line.

The problem wasn't effectiveness.

It was time.

Those kinds of preparations demanded several uninterrupted seconds to execute properly, something the Hollow Knight simply wasn't willing to grant in the middle of a fast-moving fight.

Granted, there were moments when those spells could become invaluable. Lucien had already identified a few of the Hollow Knight's attack patterns where they might fit perfectly.

But they had discussed all of that before the battle.

There was no point repeating it now.

Isolde continued watching the fight in silence, her eyes following every movement of the armored giant. After another thoughtful pause, she finally spoke.

"...Perhaps you should focus on breaking its helmet first."

She lifted her staff slightly, using its tip to indicate the knight's head.

"If you can expose the flesh beneath, I may be able to land Water Lash after you use whatever it is you're planning to stop it with."

Lucien stared at the Hollow Knight for a moment before letting out a quiet, humorless laugh.

"...That sounds a lot easier than actually pulling it off."

For all practical purposes, the Hollow Knight and its armor were one and the same.

Separating one from the other simply wasn't an option.

To their credit, Ava and Kira were managing the fight remarkably well. Neither allowed the knight to dictate the pace. They flowed around its relentless offense with practiced coordination, slipping past crushing swings by the narrowest of margins as Fwoom! after Fwoom! echoed across the courtyard. Gusts from the passing greatsword tugged at their clothes and hair, yet neither of them so much as faltered.

The Hollow Knight had begun adapting as well.

After Ava found the gaps between its plates several times with precise thrusts, Shhk! Shhk!, it stopped treating her like just another opponent. Its heater shield subtly shifted whenever she moved, never straying far from the vulnerable seams around its torso and shoulders, while the greatsword remained almost exclusively reserved for Kira, whose relentless mobility made him the more immediate threat.

On all three, the Wolfkin bounded across the courtyard with the fluid grace of a hunting beast. His claws scraped briefly against the cobblestones—Skrrt!—before he launched himself in another direction, never remaining in front of the Hollow Knight long enough for it to commit to a clean strike. One moment he was at its left flank; the next he had already vanished behind it, only to reappear somewhere else a second later.

Lucien noticed the knight's helmet constantly dipping and turning after him.

Every abrupt change in Kira's direction forced the Hollow Knight to readjust its posture, keeping its attention fragmented and preventing it from focusing entirely on anyone else.

Despite all of that, each clash reminded Lucien just how monstrous the thing truly was.

Its greatsword wasn't a weapon an ordinary person could even lift comfortably, let alone swing with such speed. A blade that massive demanded both hands to wield effectively.

Kira's bastard sword, by comparison, was more versatile. It could be used with either one hand or both, but that versatility came at the cost of weight and raw stopping power.

Whenever the greatsword descended—

CLANG!

—or swept sideways with enough force to split a man in half—

FWOOM!

—Kira never attempted to stop it outright.

Instead, Kira relied more on instinct than technique. When the timing was right, he could angle the blade aside and let its momentum carry past him. More often than not, however, the redirection fell short, forcing him to stumble away or simply dodge outright rather than contest the Hollow Knight's overwhelming strength.

Lucien's expression gradually tightened.

How long can they keep this up?

That was the problem.

The Hollow Knight had no reason to rush.

Stage 4 Hollows possessed endurance that surpassed nearly every humanoid race. As long as it continued fighting at this pace, it could simply outlast them. If the battle dragged on for only a few more minutes, there was every chance Ava and Kira would begin slowing down long before the knight showed the first sign of fatigue.

The longer the fight dragged on...

The worse their chances became.

Lucien let out a quiet breath through his nose, his eyes never leaving the battlefield. Ava was still dancing just outside the knight's reach, drawing its shield toward every narrow opening she threatened, while Kira's constant circling forced its helmet to dip and turn after him over and over again. The rhythm repeated itself so consistently that, before he realized it, Lucien found himself anticipating where the knight would look next.

His gaze naturally followed.

From the shield...

To the visor...

And finally to the narrow slit between the visor and the gorget.

It was hardly more than a crack—barely wide enough for the tip of a dagger.

His eyes lingered there.

With Kira continually dragging the knight's attention downward and Ava keeping it occupied from the opposite side, the Hollow Knight had become almost completely fixated on the space directly in front of it.

His lips pressed into a thin line as a somewhat reckless idea slowly took shape.

Let's hope this works.

He drew a slow breath, cupped both hands around his mouth, and raised his voice over the ringing steel.

"You two! Can you keep its attention exactly like that for another few dozen seconds?!"

"I can keep this up for a few minutes!" Ava called back without missing a beat, her voice light despite the circumstances as she slipped beneath another sweeping slash.

"I can do even longer!" Kira barked almost at the same time with an eager grin that looked feral.

Good.

The corner of Lucien's mouth lifted.

That was all he needed to hear.

"Just don't bring it over to our side," Thane remarked in his usual dry tone, his tower shield resting against one shoulder as though they weren't standing in the middle of a life-and-death battle.

Sylphie looked considerably less amused.

"Please don't be too reckless. I can only cast Mend eight more times... or Restore four, before my Divine Energy runs dry."

"I'll be fine."

His reply came with an easy smile, though it did little to ease the worry on her face.

A faint scoff escaped Isolde.

"Don't get overconfident."

Lucien answered only with a wry smile before turning away.

A ripple of darkness flowed over his body as Void Cloak settled into place, quietly swallowing his presence. At the same time, he drew both daggers and let Corruption seep into their edges. Black veins spread across the steel with a faint hiss.

Without another word, he slipped into motion.

The Hollow Knight's attention remained exactly where he wanted it.

Ava continued dancing around its left to front, drawing the shield after every feint and thrust, while Kira's relentless hit-and-run attacks kept the greatsword occupied. Their constant pressure prevented the knight from sparing even a moment's attention for anything behind it.

Hollows of this stage relied on predictable game-like techniques. Disrupt those routines, and instinct took over.

Lucien closed the distance one careful step at a time.

The knight's broad back filled more and more of his vision as he approached, the overlapping plates revealing shallow ridges and recessed joints where the armor had been forged together. They weren't meant to be footholds, but they would have to do.

Lucien didn't hesitate.

The moment he reached the knight, he drove a boot into the back of one greave and hauled himself upward, his free hand catching the raised lip of a cuirass plate before climbing again. The overlapping armor offered only the shallowest purchase, but it was enough. By the time the Hollow Knight seemed to sense the faint weight behind it, Lucien had already reached its shoulders.

Both daggers flashed downward in unison.

SHHKK!

The blades slipped cleanly through the narrow slits of the visor, Corruption Strike erupting the instant they pierced flesh.

The Hollow Knight lurched.

A guttural, inhuman roar burst from somewhere beneath the helmet as its entire body convulsed with terrifying force.

Lucien ripped both daggers free and immediately kicked off the knight's back, throwing himself away before the inevitable retaliation arrived.

He had barely landed in a rough roll across the cobblestones when the Hollow Knight exploded into a frenzy.

Its greatsword screamed through the air in a full, savage arc.

FWOOOM!

"Move!" Lucien shouted.

Ava and Kira reacted the instant the warning left his mouth, yet even their reflexes weren't enough to escape unscathed.

Ava leaned back at the last possible moment, but the tip of the greatsword still kissed her shoulder as it swept past, slicing through cloth and flesh alike. A thin ribbon of crimson followed in its wake before the force of her own evasive step sent her tumbling across the cobblestones.

Kira fared little better.

Already airborne, he had nowhere to redirect himself when the shockwave caught him.

"Kh—!"

The blast threw him sideways, sending him skidding several meters across the courtyard before one clawed hand finally caught the stone. Pebbles scattered beneath his fingers as he slid to one knee, coughing once as he forced himself upright.

The Hollow Knight didn't pursue either of them.

Instead, it staggered forward another heavy step.

CLANG!

Its movements had lost every trace of discipline.

Both armored arms jerked violently as though seized by invisible spasms, sending the greatsword and heater shield whipping through broad, unpredictable arcs that carved furrows into the courtyard whenever they struck stone. The helmet snapped sharply from side to side, while distorted, inhuman roars reverberated from deep within the visor, each one more ragged than the last.

Lucien slowly straightened, his fingers tightening around the bloodstained hilts of his daggers as he watched the towering figure convulse.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The battle had finally shifted.