I Received System to Become Dragonborn Chapter 1399: No Choice

Eccar erged from one of the portals alongside the final mbers of his expedition and imdiately noticed sothing was wrong.

While knights and mages moved around the courtyard escorting the newly contained fragnts toward the palace, Erend remained lying on the stone ground where he had been resting. He did not rise to greet them. He did not even attempt to stand.

Concern imdiately crossed Eccar’s face. Without hesitation, he broke away from his expedition and hurried toward him.

"Erend!"

Aesa and Sylven noticed the situation almost at the sa ti. Both of them imdiately changed direction and approached as well.

Within monts, the three Dragonborn stood around him.

Aesa crossed her arms while studying him carefully. Sylven frowned. Eccar looked the most openly worried.

"What happened?" Eccar asked.

Erend opened his eyes and looked at them.

"I’m fine," he said, although his voice sounded noticeably weaker than usual. "I just feel a little tired from using too much power."

Eccar released a long breath.

"Yeah. That can happen," he said. "You were distributing your Dragon Magic to strengthen the expedition mbers, helping the containnt process, and then doing the sa thing through your clone at the sa ti. Honestly, I’m surprised you lasted this long before crashing."

Aesa’s brow furrowed. "But has this ever happened before?" she asked. Her voice remained as cold as always, yet the concern behind the question was obvious.

Erend slowly shook his head. "Never. But I think the Void Architect may also be affecting things sohow. Everything surrounding this crisis feels wrong. Being exposed to sothing like that could be causing strange effects even for Dragonborn like us."

Aesa considered his words before giving a slow nod. "Hm."

" I suppose you’re right," Sylven said.!The young-looking Dragonborn stood quietly beside them. Despite possessing the appearance of a fourteen-year-old boy, the maturity in his expression and voice felt completely unnatural for soone that age.

anwhile, behind them, the knights and mages quickly understood what needed to be done.

No orders were necessary.

The newly arrived expeditions imdiately coordinated with the first group. Teams of mages guided the four additional fragnts through the palace grounds while layers of containnt barriers surrounded them. Guards ford protective formations around each fragnt as they escorted them toward the underground storage chamber beneath the palace.

Then another change occurred.

The clone Erend had maintained throughout the expeditions suddenly began fading.

Its body dissolved into countless particles of crimson light that drifted through the air before shooting directly into Erend’s chest.

A faint pulse of Dragon Magic spread from him.

Imdiately, Erend felt a portion of his strength return. Not much but enough to notice. The burden of maintaining the clone finally disappeared.

Eccar glanced toward the city where flashes of Magic and rising smoke remained visible beyond the palace walls.

"We can’t stay here," he said while standing up. "There’s a war happening out there."

Golden and brown energy imdiately flowed across his body as Earth Magic gathered around him.

Aesa stepped forward as blue frost also began dancing across her arms. Sylven tightened his clenched fists.

Erend nodded. "Then go help them. All of you should head out now," he said. "Let rest a little longer. I’ll catch up after you."

The three Dragonborn exchanged brief looks. None of them liked leaving him behind. But they also knew he was right.

Thousands of people were still fighting across Leonora.

"Don’t take too long," Eccar said.

"I won’t," Erend replied.

Aesa gave a final nod.

Sylven offered a small smile and said, "We’ll kill them as fast as possible."

Then the three Dragonborn exploded into motion.

Their bodies shot across the palace grounds before launching into the sky beyond the courtyard walls, racing toward the battle consuming Leonora while Erend remained behind, watching them disappear into the horizon.

Erend remained seated for several monts after the others disappeared beyond the palace walls.

The courtyard felt strangely quiet now despite the distant sounds of war echoing throughout the capital. Explosions still rumbled across Leonora. Columns of smoke climbed into the sky. Sowhere beyond the palace grounds, soldiers continued fighting and civilians continued struggling to survive.

Yet Erend remained where he was.

His hands slowly tightened.

There was still too much left to do.

The thought repeated itself over and over inside his mind.

The Void Architect was still alive. The invasion was still spreading. Entire kingdoms were still under attack. The fragnts had been recovered successfully, but that had only been one part of the larger mission.

And right now he was sitting on the ground doing nothing.

The frustration gnawed at him.

Unfortunately, another part of him understood the truth.

His body had not fully recovered.

Even after the clone returned to him, the exhaustion remained. His Dragon Magic circulated sluggishly through his body. The heaviness inside his muscles had lessened slightly but had not disappeared. If he forced himself into another major battle imdiately, there was a real possibility that he would only worsen his condition.

Veyrun had already warned him. Rest now or pay a greater price later.

Erend sighed slowly. Then his thoughts drifted toward a different problem whichvwas the other kingdoms.

Leonora was not the only nation suffering under the Void Architect’s assault.

Drakenre, Seraphele, Elaris, and Valdros were also fighting. Every kingdom was facing the sa nightmare.

Which ant every Archmage was facing the sa problem as Velrion here. He knew he was struggling.

Their cities were under siege. Their armies were stretched thin. So their attention was divided between defending millions of lives and completing the formula necessary to rewrite the Sky Anchor.

A grim realization settled inside him.nIf the attacks continued, the Archmages would never receive the ti they needed.

The formula would take longer to finish. The rewriting process would be delayed.

The Void Architect would gain even more opportunities to spread corruption.

And during that delay, more people would die. More cities would burn and more families would disappear.

Erend slowly shook his head. No. He could not simply remain here and wait. Every instinct inside him rejected the idea. His body needed recovery. But the world needed action.

The balance between those two realities felt impossible.

After several monts of silence, Erend planted both hands against the ground and forced himself up.

Pain did not greet him, it was exhaustion. His legs felt heavier than usual and his Dragon Magic remained sluggish, but he stood nonetheless.

A small grimace crossed his face. "This is going to be unpleasant."

Even so, he remained standing. Because waiting no longer felt like an option. Whatever strength remained within him would have to be enough.

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