The Ashen Wastes groaned beneath them —
cracked open like the chest of a dying world.
Above its broken spine,
two Sovereigns stood locked in a dance no god dared witness.
Kaelen Aurelius Drayce,
Sovereign of Heartland.
Bearer of the EX-tier Talent.
The Dream-Forged King.
And before him —
Zar'kaan, the Void-Eater,
a weapon of annihilation crafted by the deepest Cosmic Courts.
A thing that did not dream.
A thing that unmade.
The First Blow
Kaelen moved like lightning,
Sovereignblade Astryn singing with Dreamfire and class-forged might:
The Thief's swiftness,
The Warrior's power,
The Mage's depth,
The Priest's soul,
The Berserker's wrath,
The Tank's will.
All his paths converged into a single slash of Sovereign fury.
Zar'kaan caught it with a single clawed hand.
And laughed.
The recoil cracked the sky.
Heartland Watches Helplessly
Far across the wastes,
Aria fell to her knees as the first shockwave reached the camp.
The other companions were thrown back,
their sovereign protections shattered by a wave of anti-light.
Lyanna screamed — her arrays breaking mid-cast.
Selina clutched her chest —
feeling the soul-tether between her and Kaelen flicker.
"No.
Not him.
Not now."
At the Heartstone,
Elena Drayce collapsed, hands over her womb,
tears running silently as Auriana's pulse flickered faintly in her soul.
"He's breaking…"
The Battle Deepens
Kaelen roared and unleashed the Sovereign Core Overdrive:
His soul flared open,
burning every drop of his power,
every ounce of System energy,
every reserve his body had ever held.
Astryn ignited in Sovereign Starfire.
His very bones shimmered with Sovereign Runes.
His blood turned golden-red.
And he struck again.
Again.
Again.
Until the void bled.
Zar'kaan staggered —
his armor cracked.
His body burned.
But he did not fall.
He smiled.
And then unleashed his true form.
The Unmaking
Zar'kaan's body twisted into a mass of devouring star-black tendrils,
each one screaming with the memories of collapsed realities.
His voice was the ending of light:
"You are not ready.
You never were.
Dreams…
are for breaking."
And he drove a black spear of annihilation through Kaelen's chest.
The Collapse
Kaelen gasped —
Astryn falling from his hand.
His Sovereign Core flaring — and then—
Cracking.
The light dimmed.
The sky shattered.
And the ground opened,
a chasm of pure void ripping the Wastes apart.
Kaelen fell.
His body tumbling into the rift —
dragging Zar'kaan with him —
their battle vanishing into the screaming dark.
Silence
A long, long silence fell over the world.
No message from the System.
No pulse from the Heartstone.
No whisper from Kaelen's soul.
Nothing.
Only wind.
Only ash.
Only the sound of thousands screaming his name —
but hearing nothing in return.
System Notification: Global Broadcast
[System Emergency Broadcast: Sovereign Death Detected]
[Name: Kaelen Aurelius Drayce]
[Status: Unknown — Confirmed Core Collapse]
[System Lockdown Initiated.]
[Legacy Thread Preserved (Condition: ???)]
Aria Breaks
Aria stood unmoving as the message appeared before her.
Her hands trembled.
Her silverfire died.
Tears streamed down her face —
and she screamed.
A Sovereign scream that split the clouds.
"NO!"
Mira dropped her daggers and fell to her knees.
Riven punched the earth until his hands bled flame.
Selina sobbed openly.
Damon, Eren, Lyanna, Lyra —
silent, broken, uncomprehending.
The Sovereign Family of Heartland
was shattered in an instant.
At Heartland
Elena held her stomach, sobbing.
"You promised me you'd come back… Kaelen…"
"Auriana… your brother…"
"Come back…"
The Holy Land itself dimmed.
Spirit Trees wilted.
The Spirit Rivers stilled.
A nation fell silent.
The Star Sovereign was gone.
The Void Realm
Far beyond known existence,
a broken body floated through cosmic fog.
Kaelen's spirit flickered — barely a spark.
Astryn drifted beside him, cracked.
The System — silent.
Only the faintest thread of light still tethered him.
And far away,
in the shape of a golden star not yet born,
Auriana's soul flared once —
and the thread held.
Just enough.
For now.