Forty-five minutes...

One hour...

The fight turned into a blur of desperate defense and more and more creative ways to stay alive. Greg couldn't remember how many times his shield had saved his life or someone else's.

His arm was more than numb right now because it was in a state of detached pain where he could feel the damage happening, but his brain wouldn't let him process it. Marina was now fighting on pure instinct, and her frying pan movements were wild and out of control, but they still worked.

Greg's pocket crystal for communication started to vibrate. He didn't have time to respond and didn't even have the breath. The person who was calling would have to wait.

One hour and thirty minutes...

Bork fell when a spear construct got past his guard and stabbed him in the shoulder. He screamed in pain, but he was able to break the weapon with his bare hands before Lylia could pull him behind cover.

"I'm fine!" he said through gritted teeth, but the blood coming from the wound said otherwise.

"You're on the bench!" Lylia told Bork to do something, and for once he didn't argue. He couldn't lift his hammer anymore because one of his shoulders was hurt.

Two hours...

Greg, Marina, Lylia, Seraphine, Elwen, and Felix were all that was left. Half of their soldiers are gone.

The Calamity didn't seem to be slowing down, and it looked like it was getting bigger as it picked up more weapons and debris from the area around it. Four hundred feet had turned into four hundred and fifty.

Greg's legs were shaking. His sight kept getting blurry.

The Guardian's Oath shield flickered because it was running out of energy faster than it could get more. They couldn't keep doing this because soon enough, they were about to break, and worse of all, die.

Then Tunner showed up, and his huge body blocked out the sun as he ran into the fight. "Greg! Veldway is done with his creation! He wants you to come to the cathedral! NOW!"

"I can't go!" Greg blocked another strike, which hurt his arm. "If I leave, they'll be overrun!"

"They'll be fine for five minutes!"

"Veldway says that only you can use the Resonance Hammer!! Tunner's own warhammer hit an attacking construct and smashed it into pieces. "GO! We'll hold it here!"

Marina put her hand on Greg's shoulder. "Go, Greg! We have come too far to fail now! Just believe us!"

Greg looked at his family, who had been with him through thick and thin, and he saw only determination in their eyes. He said, "Five minutes! I'll be back in five minutes."

"Make it count," Marina said, and then she turned back to the Calamity.

Greg ran as fast as he could. The cathedral wasn't far, but every step felt like it was in mud.

His body was past its limits, and he was only able to keep going because of his willpower and the need to finish this. He pushed open the doors to the cathedral and saw Veldway standing next to something that made him gasp.

The Resonance Hammer was both beautiful and scary at the same time. It was fifty feet tall, and its head was the size of a small house.

There were rings of different metals that fit together to make the shaft. Each one turned slowly, making a low harmonic hum.

The hammerhead itself looked like it was made of compressed kinetic energy that had taken on a physical form. It crackled with barely contained power, with runes all over the place, glowing in time with each other like a heartbeat.

Greg said, "It's beautiful."

Veldway corrected, "It's functional," but his voice was full of pride. "It's yours."

"What?"

"Only you can use it! To use the Resonance Hammer, you need to be completely sure of what you want to do and why."

"You have the strongest belief of everyone here. You turned down the gods themselves. You broke your word and lived with the guilt!"

"Through everyday things, you've made peace and turned rebellion into a way of life." Veldway took the Thoughtforged Hammer off his belt and held it out. "The System knows who you are. It has been waiting for this."

It was as if Greg's vision was filled with golden text.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN FOUND]

[The Warhammer Saint (Redeemed) has been presented with a tool of ultimate crafting: The Thoughtforged Hammer]

[Skill Transfer Available: MENTAL FORGING]

[Rank: LEGENDARY]

[Description: Craft and control items through pure mental discipline and willpower. Physical tools become optional. Creation is limited only by imagination and mental fortitude.]

[WARNING: This skill requires extreme mental discipline. Misuse can result in severe mental damage or death.]

[Accept Transfer? YES / NO]

Greg didn't think twice. "Yes."

Veldway's hand sent the Thoughtforged Hammer flying to Greg's. As soon as Greg's fingers touched it, everything changed.

He could feel the hammer's essence, its purpose, and the fact that it was an extension of his own will. He could feel the Resonance Hammer, with its fifty feet of divine engineering, as clearly as if it were a part of his body.

The System filled his head with information.

How to shape metal with your mind.

How to make it matter: Do what you want.

How to turn belief into reality with just focused intention.

It was both overwhelming and easy to understand, like remembering a skill he'd forgotten instead of learning something new.

"How much time do I have?" Greg asked, his voice distant as he thought about the new skill.

"The Resonance Hammer is all charged up. Just one hit to that bastard, and that's all you get."

"Miss it, and the energy goes away. We don't have time to charge it." Veldway had a serious look on his face. "Hit the heart of the Calamity directly. The ore matrix is in the middle of the combined ore. If you do anything else, you'll just hurt it."

This time, Greg forced the words out when he turned on his communication crystal. "Everyone. Get away from the Calamity. I'm done with this now, I'm going to end it all!"

Marina's voice came back right away, out of breath but alive. "About damn time."

"We'll make a way in. Make it count!"

Greg left the cathedral with the Thoughtforged Hammer in one hand and the Resonance Hammer in the other, trying to control it with his mind. The giant structure shook and then rose from the ground as if it were weightless.

It wasn't like using a real weapon to move it. It was like moving his arm, even though it was silly to think he could control a fifty-foot siege engine with his mind.

The Calamity saw it right away. It stopped paying attention to the Brotherhood members who were all over the place and focused on Greg and his impossible weapon. For a moment, even the apocalyptic structure seemed to pause, as if it knew it was in danger.

"Let's FUCKING go...!" Greg yelled, putting all of his anger, determination, and desperate hope into his voice.

"Let's get this over with!"

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