Chapter 43: Outnumbered, Unbroken

The ground trembled under the march of thousands.

Dust filled the horizon like a storm cloud.

Black banners rose —

marked with the symbols of guilds, noble houses, and royal decrees.

The First Sovereign War had come.

And at the heart of it all, standing atop the eastern walls of Heartland Citadel,

Kaelen Drayce watched with cold, steady eyes.

The cracked-crown sigil on his chest blazed like a second sun.

The Sovereign Vanguard waited behind him —

swords sharpened, armor buckled, spirits burning brighter than steel.

They were outnumbered ten to one.

But none of them flinched.

Not today.

[System Notification]

[Incoming Hostile Forces:

Royal Hunter Corps (Elite Assassins)

Guild Mercenary Division (Battle Mages, Knight Companies)

Estimated Enemy Strength: 4,300.]

[Defender Strength: 400.]

[Defense Advantage Modifier: +25% (Sovereign Bastion Bonus Active).]

Kaelen smiled grimly.

"Ten to one."

"Perfect odds."

The Enemy

At the head of the enemy army rode a man draped in crimson armor —

the Royal Commander, a duke's second son,

sent to crush the "commoner rebellion" and return as a hero.

His eyes gleamed with arrogance as he surveyed the fortress.

"Pathetic," he spat.

"A pile of rocks and rats."

He raised his sword high.

"Break their walls."

"Burn their dreams."

The war horns howled across the broken plains.

The enemy charged.

The Defense

Kaelen didn't move.

He didn't shout.

He simply lifted his hand.

The Pathbreakers moved like wolves.

Eren led the vanguard gates, his axe carving blood into the dirt.

Mira's arrows rained from hidden towers, piercing mage shields and knight helms.

Selina's light wove barriers and healing pulses across the defenders.

Damon's shield squads absorbed the first brutal charges like stone breaking waves.

Lyra's winds turned enemy formations into scattered chaos.

And Kaelen —

Kaelen moved like a Sovereign.

Where the walls cracked, he stood.

Where lines faltered, he struck.

Where hope flickered, he reignited it with blade and will.

The First Clash

The enemy smashed against the walls in a brutal tide.

Scaling ladders rose.

Siege towers groaned forward.

Magic rained like falling stars.

But the Heartland Bastion held.

And for every enemy who set foot on the walls,

ten fell beneath Sovereignblade Astryn's silver arc.

Kaelen fought at the front —

every strike a declaration:

"This land is ours.

This dream is ours.

This future is ours."

Meanwhile — In the Royal Camps

Confusion spread.

The scouts returned battered and stunned.

"The walls… they're too strong!"

"Their soldiers fight like Sovereign Knights!"

"Their supplies… endless! They never tire!"

The Royal Commander snarled.

"They're nothing but peasants!"

But deep inside, fear coiled in his gut.

This was not a guild rebellion.

This was not a mere uprising.

This was something else.

Something ancient.

Something unstoppable.

Back at Heartland Citadel

Hours passed.

The fields around the fortress turned red.

The sun dipped low, bleeding into the horizon.

But still the Sovereign Vanguard stood.

Still the cracked-crown banners flew.

Still Kaelen fought —

unbroken, unyielding, unbent.

And in the heart of every Pathbreaker, a single truth burned brighter than any fear:

"We are the shield.

We are the sword.

We are the storm that will never bow."

The First Sovereign War had begun.

And the world would soon learn:

Even if they broke a hundred armies against these walls,

the dream would stand.

And Kaelen Drayce —

the First Sovereign —

would never fall.