The laboratory surrounding you manages to be both dingy and unpleasantly clinical at the same time, the dim light from the sole Lumafly lantern a stark white against the dark stains covering nearly everything in the room. There are enormous stained vats with the symbol of Hallownest—the King's seal—on them. You recognize bits and pieces of the armor as what the guards you've been fighting have been wearing, and round bodies to match the Wingsmoulds patrolling the more aerial portions of the White Palace.

This... is where he worked. This is where he made those things— prototypes, maybe. Or maybe he just preferred having empty things to do what he wanted over asking real people to do it.

...Maybe at the end of this, you can find out which.

In the center of the room, illuminated by the only ray of light coming from the outside, is one of the tablets engraved by the king's hand. Like the others you've found, the words on it light up with a sound like a soft breath as you approach.

You trace the curves of the letters, and read:

"VOID, yours is the power opposed.
But yours is potential, eternity potential, force that could deny Time.
VOID, harness shall be placed upon you."



Something cold and full of serrated edges tightens in your chest.

You're not sure the anger is entirely "yours."