<h4>Chapter 684: The Great War (IV)</h4>


    <strong><i>[Third Person].</i></strong>


    At the same time, a new presence entered the battlefield.


    It did not arrive loudly or tear through the chaos with force. But those closest to it felt the shift immediately—a familiarity that did not belong to the war.


    Rosalie stepped onto the battlefield. She moved without urgency, yet nothing obstructed her path.


    The chaos seemed to part around her out of instinct. Her gaze was fixed ahead, unwavering, as though everything else around her simply did not matter.


    And then, she called out, "Este." Her voice carried weight, enough to cut through the noise, through the fighting, and through everything.


    Este stilled. Her body went rigid for a brief moment. Then, slowly, she turned. For the first time since the war began, something unguarded—shock—flickered across her face.


    "...Mother?"


    The word came out quieter than anything she had spoken that day.


    Around them, the battlefield did not fully slow, the tension shifting as attention began to pull toward the two figures now facing each other.


    Confusion crossed both Meredith’s and Draven’s faces as they saw the woman who was supposed to be at home, crying her eyes out.


    <i>Wasn’t that what the olddy had told them?</i>


    "How did she—" Meredith began, her voice low.


    On the other side, Draven was also curious as his gaze followed his mother.


    Rosalie calmly stepped closer, her gaze steady despite everything surrounding them. "That’s enough," she said. "End this."


    Este stared at her, something unreadable moving beneath her expression. "You are alive."


    "I am, daughter, so this war has to end now," Rosalie replied.


    A faint, almost disbelievingugh escaped Este, and she shook her head slowly. "Do you even know why I started this?"


    "I do. You wanted revenge for me... for what I endured in Randall’s hands," Rosalie said gently.


    Este’s expression flickered as silence stretched between them for a brief moment.


    Then Este spoke. "He is dead." Her tone grew colder as she continued. "My men found him outside Stormveil’s borders and brought him to me. I killed him myself."


    The words settled heavily in the air.


    Meredith’s eyes widened slightly while Draven’s expression hardened before shifting to indifference.


    Rosalie closed her eyes briefly, as though absorbing the weight of it, then opened them again.


    "Then it’s over. There is nothing left to fight for," she said quietly.


    Este’s gaze darkened. "No, it isn’t," she said.


    Her eyes shifted briefly to Meredith, then back to her mother. "This doesn’t end until they’re gone. Everyst one of them," she added, her voice sharp with finality.


    "Este, please stop this," Rosalie said, a warning now threading through her tone.


    "Then,e with me," Este said suddenly. "Leave this ce ande back home with me. That’s all I want."


    Rosalie’s expression softened slightly, but only for a moment. "No. Stormveil is my home now," she said. "I must enjoy everything Randall took from me for years."


    Something in Este’s expression snapped. Her face hardened, all softness vanishing in an instant.


    "Then you leave me no choice... mother."


    Then, she turned sharply andmanded, "Continue the attack!"


    ---


    The battlefield surged back to life the moment Este’smand rang out, carrying a more personal weight this time.


    Vampires advanced with renewed aggression, their movements sharper, more deliberate, driven not just bymand but by fury.


    The Human soldiers who were disarmed fell on the field, one after the other, as the battle caught up with them.


    Meanwhile, attention continued snapping toward Meredith from all directions. The shield formed instinctively this time as the first wave reached her.


    Draven saw this and wanted to rush towards her, but Este didn’t let him. How could she?


    "You think this ends with you?" Este said, her voice edged with something darker as she drove forward.


    "You are just aplete waste of breath," Draven replied, his tone steady as he forced her back a step.


    Her gaze darkened. The next second, they shed again.


    All these unfolded before Rosalie’s very eyes as her gaze remained fixed on Este.


    Even as the war raged around her, even as bodies fell and power surged, she did not intervene yet.


    There was hesitation in the space between what she knew had to be done and what it would cost.


    Her fingers curled slightly at her sides. Then, slowly, she moved.


    ---


    The battle between Draven and Este reached its peak.


    They moved too fast for most to follow, their strikes colliding again and again, neither yielding ground for long.


    Este’s attacks grew sharper, more desperate, her frustration beginning to show as Draven matched her at every turn.


    And more than anything, that infuriated her the most.


    Just then, she broke away briefly, her gaze flicking past him towards Meredith. Her intention shifted, but she never made it.


    Because in that moment, her mother appeared behind her without warning, only precision.


    Her hand moved with deadly uracy, striking where it needed to, ending what had begun long before this war ever started.


    Este’s body went still. And the war stopped.


    For a brief second, the battlefield seemed to fall silent. Then Este staggered. Her strength faltered, her bnce giving way as she fell forward, but she never hit the ground.


    Rosalie caught her carefully, as if she had not just ended her life, as if she were cradling something fragile and precious.


    Meredith and Draven stilled.


    Around them, the war faltered as the shift rippled outward. Vampires hesitated, their movements breaking, their focus lost as the reality of what had just happened began to settle.


    Este’s breathing was shallow and fading. Her eyes, once sharp and unyielding, softened as they rose towards Rosalie.


    "...Mother..."


    Rosalie held her closer as herposure broke.


    Tears slipped freely now, falling onto Este’s face as she struggled to hold onto what was already slipping away.


    "I’m here," she whispered.


    Este’s lips parted slightly, as though she wanted to say something more. But nothing came.


    Just then, her body stilledpletely.


    Rosalie didn’t move. She remained there, holding her, her shoulders trembling as the weight of it finally crashed over her.


    —


    Around them, the battlefield quieted.


    The vampires began to retreat, their formation broken, their purpose gone. Without Este, the war had lost its centre, itsmand, its reason to continue.


    On the other hand, the werewolves held, but no one cheered or celebrated.


    Draven stood where he was, his chest rising steadily, his gaze fixed on the scene before him. Meredith moved to stand beside him, her presence calm but heavy, her eyes reflecting the same understanding.


    The war was over. They had won, but not without cost and consequences.


    Ahead of them, Rosalie still knelt on the battlefield, her arms wrapped around Este, her grief unrestrained, her voice breaking in quiet, uneven breaths.