The weakness struck so suddenly that Erend nearly fell forward on his face.

His hands immediately pressed against the stone beneath him while he struggled to steady his breathing, keeping him on his knees. A strange heaviness spread throughout his entire body. His muscles felt sluggish. Even circulating his Magic became noticeably more difficult than usual.

Confusion immediately filled his mind. He had fought powerful enemies before. He had suffered serious injuries before. Yet this felt different.

There was no wound or corruption, and no hostile Magic attacking him. And yet his entire body felt drained. The reaction from those around him was immediate.

"Dragonborn!"

Several knights rushed toward him at once.

The nearby mages abandoned their discussions and quickly gathered around him.

"What happened?"

"Are you injured?"

"Did something happen during the transport?"

"Was it the Void Architect?"

Questions came from every direction. Concern filled their voices as they stared at him.

After everything Erend had done for the expedition, seeing him suddenly collapse frightened them more than they wanted to admit.

Erend tried to answer but stopped himself. Because the truth was simple: he did not know what happened to him.

The weakness had appeared without warning and he could not immediately identify the cause.

Then another voice entered his mind. Veyrun’s voice.

The Administrator sounded unusually direct.

"You’re exhausted."

Erend blinked. "Exhausted?"

"You created clones and sent them across the other expeditions. You continuously supplied Dragon Magic to support that clone and the expedition members. Then you reinforced the containment operation here with even more Dragon Magic. Naturally your body is suffering from the strain."

The explanation immediately made sense. Only then did Erend realize how much power he had been spending.

He had been so focused on keeping everyone alive that he had ignored his own limits. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"That was reckless," Veyrun said.

Erend silently grimaced. The Administrator was right. However, if he had not done it, many members of the expedition might have died before reaching the fragments.

"What should I do now?" Erend asked.

"Fortunately this is simple exhaustion. Your body isn’t damaged. You merely pushed yourself too hard. Rest and your strength will recover."

"That’s all?"

"That’s all."

Relief immediately washed through him.

Erend slowly rose back to his feet while the surrounding knights and mages continued watching him anxiously.

"I’m fine," he said.

Nobody looked convinced.

One knight stepped forward and asked, "Are you really okay?"

"Yes," Erend answered firmly. "I overused my Magic. That’s all. I just need some rest."

The expedition members exchanged uncertain glances.

Erend continued before anyone could argue. "Don’t waste time worrying about me. The city needs help right now. Get moving."

The seriousness in his voice immediately reminded them of the situation around them.

The sounds of battle still echoed across Leonora. Smoke still rose beyond the palace walls. People were still fighting.

One by one, the knights nodded.

"Understood."

"We’ll reinforce the city defenses."

"We’ll help the wounded."

The group quickly dispersed.

At the same time, three senior mages carefully approached the contained fragment. Layers of silver and blue light continued surrounding the ancient shard as they guided it through the palace grounds.

An underground chamber had already been prepared beneath the royal palace to serve as a temporary storage site for the recovered Sky Anchor fragments until all expeditions returned.

The three mages escorted the floating fragment toward that secured location while additional guards accompanied them.

Meanwhile, Erend remained behind near the palace courtyard.

For the first time since the crisis had begun, he allowed himself to sit down and rest. His body desperately needed it.

As the knights and mages hurried away to carry out their responsibilities, Erend remained alone in the courtyard.

The sounds of battle echoed from distant parts of the capital while smoke drifted across the sky, yet for the moment he could do nothing except remain where he was.

The realization felt strange.

Ever since becoming a Dragonborn, exhaustion had become something almost foreign to him. His body possessed overwhelming vitality and his mind could endure burdens that would have broken ordinary people long ago. He had fought for days without sleep, crossed entire worlds, survived battles against enemies capable of destroying kingdoms and worlds, and repeatedly pushed himself beyond what should have been possible.

Yet now he felt tired. Truly tired. Not wounded, poisoned, or corrupted. Just exhausted.

As he sat there, Erend slowly began to understand why. The Void Architect and the endless battles. The constant pressure of being the one expected to solve impossible problems.

Creating even one clone and maintaining him across distant expeditions, continuously feeding Dragon Magic into the expedition members, and protecting entire groups of people while simultaneously leading his own expedition through a corrupted world. Then reinforcing the fragment containment process with even more power.

Each individual action might not have been enough to overwhelm him. Together, however, they had become a burden even a Dragonborn could not ignore forever.

Perhaps he had finally reached his limit. Erend released a long breath.

Then he slowly lowered himself onto the ground and stared up.

The sky above Leonora looked terrible. Dark smoke covered large portions of it. Ash drifted through the air. Occasionally flashes of distant Magic illuminated the clouds where battles still raged somewhere beyond the palace grounds.

Part of him wanted to stand up immediately. Part of him wanted to fly into the city and help.

People were still fighting. People were still dying.

But his reason prevailed. Pushing himself further right now would accomplish nothing except make his condition worse. If a larger battle awaited them later, he needed to recover as much strength as possible before it arrived.

With that thought in mind, Erend closed his eyes.

He slowed his breathing. His Dragon Magic gradually settled.

The chaos surrounding him faded into the background as he entered a meditative state and focused entirely on recovering his strength.

Several minutes passed.

Then space suddenly distorted nearby.

Erend immediately opened his eyes.

Various lights erupted across the courtyard and four more portals appeared. Four massive transport gateways materialized throughout the palace grounds.

The portals stabilized and a moment later, figures began emerging. They stepped out carrying their own fragment suspended inside a cage of brilliant light.

Expedition members poured from the portals while escorting their own contained fragments of the Sky Anchor.

Despite their exhaustion, all of them had succeeded. One by one, the fragments floated into the palace grounds, each surrounded by layers of containment barriers and accompanied by teams of mages maintaining the seals.

—