Chapter Forty:

“The Stand of the Grimmsborn”

Leo flexed his fingers, feeling strength surge through him. The last few hours had been a blur of brief rest, stale bread, and water, but it had been enough. His stamina was restored, his body ready. Whatever weariness had clung to him before was gone.

And now, she was back.

The Hollow Mother surged onto the battlefield once more, her monstrous form rising against the darkening sky.

The sun had begun to sink, casting long, jagged streaks of orange across the horizon, but her arrival swallowed it's light. Vortexes tore open across the warfront, devouring everything in their path. Soldiers screamed, their bodies twisting into nothingness as the Hollow Mother’s power spread.

Leo cracked his knuckles, inhaling through his nose. Around him, the remaining Players, those who had survived, those who had managed to recover, stood ready.

He turned his head, seeing their faces, the determination in their eyes, the hardened strength underneath them.

He lifted his voice above the chaos.

"Are you all ready to finally end this war for these people?! To help bring them so peace!"

"Damn right!" one of the Players called back, slamming his fists together.

"We got you, Leo!" another shouted.

More voices joined in, their resolve hardening even more. Weapons gripped, spells ready in the hands of Mage Players, their bodies braced for the fight ahead.

The weight of survival was gone, only the will to finish this once and for all remained.

Leo smiled, rolling his wrists as his Ring of the Fallen Guardian pulsed with power. The warmth of it spread through his limbs, steadying him, grounding him. His gaze snapped to the Hollow Mother, the embodiment of every nightmare that had plagued this battlefield.

"Los geht’s!"

Leo charged ahead, every motion driven by sheer determination.

The battlefield was chaos, vortexes split open the Realm, swallowing the unlucky whole, while shrieking horrors streaked through the sky, diving upon the overwhelmed defenders below. But Leo didn’t falter.

He smashed through the horde, bare fists breaking bodies like they were made of brittle glass, his Ring of the Fallen Guardian amplifying every strike, sending shockwaves through the earth. His every step was a declaration: Not one more inch. Not one more death.

The Players and the Grimmsborn defenders fought alongside him, magic flaring, blades swinging, abilities unleashed without hesitation. They gave everything, throwing spell after spell, pouring power into their weapons, pushing forward through the ever-respawning horrors.

And yet, it wasn’t enough.

For every monster they felled, two more emerged from the void. The dead rose where they had fallen, twisting back into the nightmares they were, their vacant eyes filled with an eerie, unnatural hunger.

The Hollow Mother watched from the heart of the battlefield, untouched, a grotesque smile stretching across her wretched form.

Leo launched himself forward, fists blazing, aiming for her, for the thing that had haunted this land for too long. But as he neared, a vortex tore through the air before him, a wound ripping open within the Realm itself, forcing him back. He gritted his teeth, slamming his fist into the earth in frustration.

A voice called through the madness, one of the Players, breathing heavily, bloodied but alive.

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"We can’t hold! We have to fall back!"

The words cut deep. Leo turned, seeing what they all saw, their line was breaking. Defenders were being torn apart, pulled into the abyss, the sky itself trembling with the weight of their failing battle.

"No! We push forward! We can’t-"

"Leo! It’s over!" Commander Aldric roared, his voice cutting through the chaos. The Grimmsborn leader was bloodied, his armor barely holding together, but his stance was unyielding. "We have to fall back! Now! You... you did your best!"

Leo’s heart hammered. His hands clenched into fists so tight they threatened to shatter.

"Then I have to do the best of somebody better!"

But even he could see it now. The tide wouldn’t turn. The Hollow Mother wasn’t even fighting them, she was just toying with them.

He sucked in a breath and did something that burned worse than any wound he’d taken.

"Fall back! Now!"

The retreat was called.

Leo turned back one last time, and the Hollow Mother met his gaze. She was laughing.

Leo wiped blood from his brow, but he didn’t stop. Couldn’t. The retreat had begun, but the battle wasn’t slowing. If anything, the enemy was pushing harder.

With a sharp breath, he opened his palm, and in an instant, a vial materialized, a deep red elixir swirling with crackling energy.

He didn't hesitate.

Popping the cork off with his thumb, he downed it in one gulp. Heat exploded through his veins, a surge of power wiping away his fatigue.

His wounds sealed, his stamina surged, and for the first time since the battle began, his energy was fully restored.

He clenched his fists, rolling his shoulders back as his vision sharpened. He was ready.

The Mark had fully returned, its antlered form drifting lower, as if surveying the battlefield with quiet amusement. It did not speak, did not command, yet its presence alone evoked sheer terror.

The message was clear, this war was over.

But Leo refused to accept that.

"Hold the line!" he roared, voice hoarse but unwavering.

The Grimmsborn and Players fought with everything they had.

Leo saw them all, the fighters who had bled beside him for what felt like a lifetime. Renn, the dual-wielding rogue who had once laughed that this was just a game but now had nothing left to joke about. Even Juno, the towering Grimmsborn he had met, was starting to falter, his strikes slower, his breath ragged.

Leo fought beside them, his fists tearing through creatures like they were made of paper, his Ring of the Fallen Guardian burning with every strike. He had never felt stronger, but for every enemy he crushed, two more took its place.

"Fall back! NOW!" Aldric’s voice cut through the storm. The Grimmsborn commander was barely standing, blood seeping from his armor, but his gaze was locked ahead, at the tide of horrors pressing toward them.

"We can’t! We have to push! If we fall back it's over!" Leo shouted back, dodging a monstrous claw that nearly tore his shoulder apart. He countered with a devastating blow, sending the creature flying into orbit.

Aldric's eyes dropped, "Leo, look at them! They’re breaking through!"

Leo turned just in time to see it. The moment everything fell apart.

The horrors no longer fought to kill. They fought to advance.

Their bodies collapsed under attacks and reformed instantly, their movements single-minded, their target undeniable. This was their final push.

A hollow, sinking dread filled Leo’s gut. They weren’t fighting them anymore. They were moving past them.

The realization hit like a hammer. The Hollow Mother, still grinning at him from the heart of the battlefield.

She had won.

"No!" Leo bellowed, surging forward with everything he had, smashing through the endless bodies in his path. He had to stop them. He had to-

A deafening CRACK split the air.

Leo’s head snapped toward the Waystone.

A single fracture ran across its surface.

And it was only the beginning.

The fracture in the Waystone deepened, a jagged scar splitting through its surface.

Leo moved before he could think, pushing forward with everything he had left. His fists tore through the creatures blocking his path.

He could still stop this. He could-

Another crack tore through the stone, a deafening snap that sent a pulse of energy across the battlefield.

The retreat had turned into a full collapse.

Grimmsborn warriors and Players alike were being overrun, pulled into the endless tide of horrors. There was no line to hold anymore.

"No, no, no!" Leo roared, lunging toward the Waystone.

Aldric was ahead of him, the Grimmsborn commander standing his ground at the base of the great stone. Blood ran down his face, one arm hanging useless at his side, but his stance was unyielding. He wasn’t running. He was making his last stand.

"Aldric! Move!" Leo shouted.

The commander turned his head slightly, just enough to meet Leo’s eyes. And he smiled.

"We were never meant to win this war, Leo."

The last crack shattered the Waystone.

A blinding explosion of white light erupted from its core, washing over the battlefield like a tidal wave. Leo barely had time to shield his eyes before the blast struck him, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him skidding backward.

A deep, unnatural silence followed. No screams, no roars of monsters, just the ringing in his ears as the dust settled.

Leo pushed himself up, coughing, vision swimming. And then, as the haze cleared, he saw it.

The battlefield was empty.

The Hollow Mother was gone. The horrors had vanished. The siege of Kolnheim had ended.

The ruins of the shattered Waystone lay before him, its fragments scattered like bones across the dirt.

Above it all, lowering from the sky with an eerie grace, the antlered figure watched Leo in silence.

It had seen everything.

And it was very pleased.