The storm struck first.Rain hissed over black stone. Lightning cracked like a war drum across the Hollow sky. But it wasn't thunder that shook Goblin's Hollow. It was steel.
Hadren's retaliation had come.
And it didn't come with ceremony.
It came with fire.
Scouts from the Fang Unit returned just before dawn—soaked in blood and fear.
"Knights," one rasped. "Forty. Maybe more. Banner of the White Stag. Horses with steel hooves. Marching straight for the Hollow. Flanking from three angles."
Reed stood at the War Altar, unmoved.
"They think they're hunting dogs," he said. "We're the pit."
He turned to his generals.
"Let them enter."
The terrain of Goblin's Hollow had become a weapon.
The Maw Unit dug false paths filled with spike-pits soaked in Umberglass oil.The Spine Unit laced narrow passes with nerve toxin and tripwire glyphs.The Fang Unit disappeared into the trees, instructed to bleed the enemy one limb at a time.
Reed stood on the ridge, Thornblade on his back, the Hollowspawn twitching at his side.
"They wanted a war," he whispered. "Now they drown in it."
The knights entered with clean armor and high morale.
They left with neither.
The first squad to reach the inner Hollow was greeted with silence—no resistance, no arrows. Just fog.
Then howls.
From below.
From behind.
From inside their own formation.
A Hollowspawn leapt from a tree, crushing a horse and its rider in a single impact. Another emerged from a blood-soaked burrow, eviscerating a footman before dragging his corpse underground.
By the time the knights regrouped, the trees were burning, and the bodies were stacked waist-high.
While Reed commanded, Shia moved like death.
She activated Wraithstep mid-battle, slipping between reality. Six seconds of invincibility. Six seconds to slaughter.
She reappeared behind an officer, tore his throat with her daggers, then vanished again before his men could scream.
One knight caught a glimpse of her—a flicker, a green flash, eyes like cracked emeralds.
He dropped his sword and tried to run.
He didn't get far.
Reed joined the fray only once the knights breached the Hollow's inner ring.
He leapt from the ridge with a bellowing roar, Bonecraft bursting from his arms, forming twin spears of ivory that he drove into a mounted commander's chest, pinning him to the mud.
The horse reared, then fell onto its master's corpse.
Reed stood atop the broken beast, blood coating his face, and screamed.
It wasn't just anger.
It was command.
[Skill Triggered: Devourer's Mark]Nearby enemies suffer Willpower degradationHollowspawn enter FrenzyGoblin units gain temporary immunity to fear
The battlefield turned.It became a feeding pit.
By nightfall, the ground was soaked with knight's blood. Goblin corpses were few. Hollowspawn gorged on horsemeat and shredded armor.
Only seven knights survived the ambush. Four were too wounded to stand. Three dropped their weapons and fell to their knees.
Reed approached the prisoners personally.
One looked up, blood in his mouth.
"Mercy…"
Reed tilted his head.
"Spell that."
The knight trembled. "W… what?"
"Spell it."
He couldn't.
Reed stepped back. "Didn't think so."
He walked away.
The goblins descended.
The Spine Unit recovered more than just corpses.
They pulled enchanted saddlebags from the commander's mount—filled with documents, sealed orders, coded maps, and one obsidian tablet etched with Feyroot runes.
Shia held the tablet in the firelight.
"This is Hadren's battle plan."
Reed nodded. "Crack it."
[INTEL GAINED: LORD HADREN'S WAR TIMETABLE]
Reinforcements inbound in 2 days
Ritual circle being prepared at southern glade
Sacrifice planned for magical amplification
Target: You.
Reed grinned. "So he bleeds magic now."
Shia didn't smile.
"They're going to try to summon something. Something that isn't part of the System."
At the southern edge of the Hollow, where roots grow in spirals and the air burns with static, goblin scouts returned with news.
"There's a tree," one muttered. "Twisted. Wrong. Glowing red. They're building altars around it."
Shia's hand gripped her dagger.
Reed's eyes glowed faint green.
"Then we burn the forest before they finish the prayer."
He turned to his army—blood-drenched, loyal, mad with faith.
"Feyroot dies tonight."