Long ago, when the kingdom of Hallownest was at its zenith, the Pale King was protected by five champions known as the Great Knights. Among them was the stout, boisterous figure known as Ogrim.
He wasn't the sharpest, nor the most graceful, but Ogrim possessed a heart of boundless loyalty and an inexhaustible, if eccentric, power: he was a master of dung. While others fought with sharp blades and elegant spells, Ogrim fought with giant, rolling spheres of purified refuse, believing his unconventional art was a vital defense of the realm. His comrades—Isma, Dryya, Hegemol, and Ze'mer—were legendary figures, and Ogrim adored them. He was, in his time, a beloved and magnificent knight.
When the kingdom fell, consumed by the madness of the Radiance's plague, the Great Knights either died, fled, or were sealed away. Ogrim, unable to save his king or his friends, retreated deep beneath the city into the Royal Waterways.
He built his own lonely sanctuary there. It was a cavern of his own making, filled with pristine, snow-white dung, a personal monument to his lost glory. He didn't build it to escape the Infection; he built it to escape the memory.
When I found him, he had become consumed by nostalgia. He believes his duty is to defend his cavern from any intruder. He was fighting me fiercely with his characteristic dung balls and powerful slams. He doesn't see me as a hero, but as a distraction from his perfect, painful memory.
This battle is less an attempt to kill me and more a desperate re-enactment of the glorious days. He is one of the few bosses in Hallownest who remains uninfected—his mind is shielded by the very obsession that defines him.
He is the personification of unyielding, but misplaced, devotion. He is a giant heart in a stinky shell, forever standing guard over a kingdom that is already gone, hoping to one day reunite with his lost comrades.
I feel very bad for him, and I hope he finds what he wants.
We went inside the dungeon, feeling memories from the Hollow Knight world.
How I got lost in seconds without the compass charm. Haa memories.
"First, we must test your strength, so we're going to stop on the 9th floor."
"Can we change it to 10?"
"Well, if you want, then go for it."
"Really?"
"No."
"..."
It seems I have to find a way without her noticing.
"Enemies ahead."
I looked ahead and saw three goblins and a dog-headed monster.
"What's that?"
"That's a kobold."
Ok, let's try my new skill.
I used the void tendril on four of them.
'Splash'
They didn't have time to react to the attack as a sharp tentacle went through their body, killing them instantly.
"That's your skill, it looks out of this world."
"..."
"Riveria."
"Yes?"
"It is out of this world. Did you forget that I'm not from this world?"
"...Let's continue."
"Ok"
Wait, now that I think about it, the system said that my strength was equal to level five, but I think it should be more.
[Host, let me be honest with you. You managed to win because all of them were looking down on you.]
...
'Elaborate'
[All the enemies that the knight fought knew about his strength, so they didn't underestimate him, but you Host...They saw you as no one worth killing.]
But they died fast, if I remember.
[That's because you were spamming spells three times in 2 seconds, even I don't know how you did.]
...
[And don't get me started about how every time you win, you come out with one mask, Host that's called plot armor, and Tanjiro from Demon Slayer is the king of it, but you my host...You're the god of it.]
'Ok, stop, I understand.'
I feel terrible for knowing that.
"That's weird."
Riveria said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"What's wrong?
"We're on the 6th floor, but until now, there's no monster around."
"Did someone kill all of them or something?"
"No, we're the only ones on this floor, and even if someone managed to kill all of them, the monsters would respawn after a few minutes."
"I see."
"Is this the work of evilus?"
"Evilus? Is that a dark familia or something?"
"Evilus is not a single, unified Familia but rather a loose network of various dark Familias, merchants, and other individuals united by their sinister motives, which included gods claiming to be "evil. Their primary goals were to sow chaos, overthrow the Guild's control over the Dungeon, and use its resources (like Magic Stones) and secrets for their own malevolent purposes, which in some cases involved accelerating the arrival of the next great calamity or causing widespread death."
...
'Ok, what the fuck is wrong with these guys?'
We continued walking, but still no monsters, heck, even the 9th floor doesn't have one.
"Can we see the 10th floor, please?"
"Haa, fine."
Yay.
We went to the 10th floor, and finally we saw a monster.
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[Main quest completed: Reach 10th floor.]
[Rewards]
Dung defender powers.
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'there's something different in this one.'
[yes, after you became a human, we knew that you can't use some of the abilities. Like turning into a ball and bouncing around.]
'So, what does this one do?'
[their unused abilities would increase your stats.]
'By how much?'
[Depends on the boss host.]
[The dung defender would give 500 stats in each accept magic while the white defender gives you around 800 to 1000 stats.]
'But isn't that too little for their original strength?'
[Host, this is the power of their abilities not themselves.]
Oh, ok I understand it now.
I then started to focus on the monster that in front of us.
"Is that a monster?"
"Yeah, but don't underestimate it."
"Oh, I know, after all, I saw a rabbit with a horn before."
"I see, so you have this kind of monster in your world."
I mean, I watch Re: zero, and because of that, I began to run whenever I see a rabbit with a horn.
'shing'
I swinged my Nail at it killing it instantly.
"Ok that's easy."
"Because that's a needle rabbit it's only relies on its speed to kill."
"Oh so they are weak in strength and durability but strong in speed."
"That's right."
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[Side quest: kill 500 monsters in the dungeon.]
[Rewards]
Monster scream.
Effect: Makes the weaker enemies paralyzed and fear while the strong one loses about 10% of their strength.
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I need it.
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new chapter is here tell me what you think of it.