Chapter 41: Preparing for the Storm
The Heartland Citadel breathed again.
The Nexus Core pulsed deep below the earth, flooding the ancient stones with faint golden light.
The ruined walls stood a little taller.
The broken towers hummed with the beginnings of forgotten power.
And at the center of it all,
Kaelen Drayce stood with the Pathbreakers gathered around him, Sovereignblade Astryn resting across his back.
The work had begun.
And so had the war.
[System Notification]
[First Siege Incoming: Royal Hunter Squads and Guild Mercenaries en route.]
[Estimated Time of Arrival: 7 days.]
[Warning: Heartland Defenses at 12% Strength.]
[Recommendation: Accelerated Resource Deployment Required.]
Kaelen read the warnings without fear.
He turned to his team — battered, tired, but burning with loyalty.
"Seven days," he said quietly.
"That's all we get."
Selina paled.
Mira's jaw tightened.
Eren cracked his knuckles, grinning savagely.
"Plenty," Kaelen said.
"Because we have something they don't."
He reached inside himself.
And awakened it.
[System Notification]
[Sovereign Multiplication Trait Activated.]
[Choose Resource to Multiply.]
Kaelen opened the hidden vault they had salvaged beneath the Heartland ruins —
a meager pile of supplies: a few thousand gold coins, a dozen basic healing potions, scraps of iron and stone.
Pathetic by any royal standard.
But to Kaelen?
It was a spark.
And Sovereigns built infernos from sparks.
"Multiply it all," he whispered.
The ground shook.
A faint silver light enveloped the supplies.
[System Notification]
[Base Multiplication: x100 Applied.]
[Result:
2,400 gold coins → 240,000 gold coins.
14 healing potions → 1,400 healing potions.
Basic materials increased accordingly.]
[Cooldown: 24 hours.]
The Pathbreakers Stared
Eren dropped his axe with a thud.
Mira nearly dropped her bow.
Selina covered her mouth in shock.
Lyra actually stumbled back two steps.
Even Damon, stoic as a fortress, blinked in stunned silence.
Kaelen smiled — slow, fierce.
"Welcome to the Sovereign's treasury."
The Real Work Begins
Within hours:
Gold was melted down and reforged into emergency weaponry and armor.
Healing potions were distributed to every Pathbreaker fighter.
Construction supplies flooded the broken fortress — walls rising stone by stone.
And Kaelen didn't stop.
Every day, as the cooldown ended,
he multiplied again.
More gold.
More potions.
More artifacts.
The Heartland Citadel — once dead — began to hum with life and purpose.
The Emotional Core
Late one night, as he stood atop the rising walls,
Kaelen looked eastward — beyond the ruined plains, beyond the distant mountains.
Toward home.
Toward the family waiting, praying, dreaming of a better life.
He clenched his fist.
Soon.
Very soon.
He would go back.
Not as a wandering boy.
Not as a forgotten son.
But as the First Sovereign of a new world.
And they — his family, his blood, his foundation —
they would rise with him.
The Primordial Sovereign Family was being born.
Stone by stone.
Dream by dream.
Strike by strike.
Meanwhile — In the Royal Capital
Reports flooded the war rooms:
"The Pathbreakers have fortified the ruins!"
"Their supplies are endless!"
"Their walls rise faster than we can mobilize!"
Panic.
Fear.
Envy.
The High Chancellor's face twisted in rage.
"Burn them to the ground."
"Before the world remembers what true Sovereignty looks like."
Armies were gathering.
Mercenaries were sharpening their blades.
Hunters were preparing their blood magic rituals.
The first true siege against the Heartland Fortress was coming.
Back at Heartland Citadel
Kaelen drew Sovereignblade Astryn from the earth.
He turned to the rising banners —
the cracked crown now stitched in silver and crimson across the fortress walls.
He turned to the Pathbreakers —
hardened, loyal, burning with new purpose.
He turned to the empty land —
soon to be filled with the blood of those too blind to see the future.
"Let them come," Kaelen said softly.
"We were born in the dirt."
"We rose from ashes."
"And we will not fall."
Not now.
Not ever.