The forty-sixth afternoon blazed over Kael El's western plains, a violet-gold sky choked by ash as the battlefield—350 km from his major city—roared with chaos. The 5,406-square-kilometer empire trembled, its eighteen territories—forest, plains, mesa, desert, swamp, jungle, tundra, crypt, molten wastes, and steel flats—braced for the storm. The city's 110 buildings stood resolute, Mist Core walls pulsing as 1,768,000 subjects fueled the war—50,000 reinforcements surged west, steel clashing. Kael stood at the heart of the fray, the Stormforged Blade slick with ash, EX: Dragonflame Reaver a molten beacon, Stormhide Armor dented but defiant. His flirty smirk cut through the haze, a cool dominance radiating as he flexed EX: Iron Bastion, defense surging—Dorn emerged from the ash, and Kael met him head-on.