Chapter Forty-Six– The Sultan's Blade
The skies above Verthas burned.
Ash and smoke choked the horizon as the final stronghold of Alex's kingdom stood at the edge of collapse. Zephyron's warships continued their bombardment, their enchanted cannons splitting the ancient walls as thousands of soldiers stormed through the breach with savage efficiency.
Magic clashed with steel, and cries of pain drowned in the thunder of war.
Kael gritted his teeth as he parried another spear. His blade was slick with blood—some his, some not. Beside him, Lira launched a wave of searing light from her staff, incinerating a cluster of invaders as they crept up the wall.
"We're being overrun!" she shouted.
"I know!" Kael deflected a bolt of fire, then ducked beneath a war axe aimed for his throat. "Where's Alex?!"
Lira's face twisted with worry. "He went to the frontline!"
Kael's heart dropped.
"No—he shouldn't have!"
On the Ground
Amid the chaos of the battlefield, Alex was a blur of steel. His enchanted sword, Aetherfang, cut through man and magic alike. With his remaining elite guard beside him, he led a desperate charge to hold the central gate.
But they had not expected him.
From the enemy ranks, adorned in emeralds, obsidian silk, and a crown forged from volcanic steel, stepped the most feared sovereign of the southern continent:
Sultan Mohamed I.
He was a legend, a tyrant to some and a liberator to others. Wielding a curved blade named Vaahl's Wrath, blessed by the desert gods of fire and death, he moved with grace that betrayed his size.
He raised his blade.
"Bring me the traitor king," the Sultan said, his voice cold, imperial, and final.
Alex didn't wait. He knew the stories. If this man broke their front, Verthas would fall within the hour.
He ran to meet the Sultan alone.
Their blades collided—sparks, magic, fury. The two leaders battled between the bodies of their men, each strike echoing across the war-scarred courtyard.
But Alex was already worn down. He had been fighting since dawn, and the poison of fatigue crawled through his veins.
The Sultan was unrelenting.
With a sudden twist, Mohamed spun beneath Alex's guard and slashed Aetherfang from his grip. Then came the searing pain—a silver arc of death.
Alex screamed as his left hand was severed at the wrist, falling to the ground in a pool of blood and steel.
The Sultan grinned. "You're not him. You're nothing like Andrew."
He lifted his blade again, ready to finish the job—swinging toward Alex's neck.
But the blow never landed.
Kael's Intervention
At the final second, Kael landed between them, his blade raised, catching Vaahl's Wrath mid-swing. The force of the impact drove Kael to his knees, the sheer weight of the Sultan's blow threatening to break his arms.
Alex collapsed behind him, blood pouring from his wrist, gasping in pain.
"You have no honor," Kael snarled, pushing upward with a surge of aura. "Fighting a wounded man? Is that what your empire stands for?"
Mohamed stared at him, intrigued. "You're strong… but foolish."
Kael didn't respond with words. He reached down and heaved Alex onto his shoulder, sprinting through the courtyard toward the nearest breach in the wall, with arrows and spells raining all around him.
"Coward!" the Sultan roared, giving chase, but a firestorm conjured by Lira erupted behind Kael, forcing the Sultan back.
Escape
Kael ran like a madman through the ruins of Verthas, ducking and dodging the burning stones, injured soldiers, and collapsing towers. Lira joined him mid-way, casting protective wards and healing charms, her eyes darting from Alex's limp form to Kael's blood-smeared face.
"He's alive," she breathed. "Barely. We need to get him to the fortress."
Kael didn't speak. He just kept running, feeling the burden of more than just Alex's weight.
He could hear the Sultan's blade echoing behind them like a promise.
Hours Later – David's Fortress
The gates of David's mountain stronghold creaked open as Kael and Lira arrived, dragging Alex's unconscious body through the mud.
David was already waiting at the entrance, cloaked in white and blue, face stone-cold.
"Get him inside," he ordered. "Prepare the medical hall. Mario! Take his arm and seal the wound."
Alex was rushed away.
Kael collapsed to one knee, chest heaving. "We couldn't stop them. They landed."
David didn't speak. He walked over, placed a hand on Kael's shoulder.
"You saved him," he said. "That matters."
Kael looked up, expression hollow. "But for how long? They've taken half the coastline. And now… Andrei and Andrew stand together. The world is burning, and we're running out of heroes."
David's eyes narrowed.
"Then we make more."