The Kurus struck at dawn.
Not with fire.
Not with cavalry.
With timing.
---
Three horns sounded across the plains surrounding Mahismati—north, east, and south—so close together they blurred into a single warning that fractured into terror as it echoed off stone and water.
Arya was awake before the second horn finished.
He felt it immediately.
This was not an assault.
It was a division.
---
> [System Advisory – Conditional]
> Multi-Front Engagement Detected
> Strategic Pattern:
> Forced Allocation Conflict
> Note:
> Simultaneous full defense impossible
Arya closed his eyes for half a breath.
Bhishma had finally revealed the blade.
---
Reports arrived in a rush.
"Northern ridge—infantry push!"
"Eastern quarter—fire arrows, civilian proximity!"
"Southern road—heavy units, coordinated advance!"
The war table filled with markers.
Too many.
Too fast.
---
Karna stood beside Arya, already issuing orders to runners.
"They're splitting us," Karna said grimly. "If we concentrate anywhere, the others break."
Arya nodded.
"They know our limits."
"And they're exploiting them," Karna said. "We can't be everywhere."
Arya's gaze fixed on the eastern marker.
Too close to homes.
Too many who had refused evacuation.
---
> [Judgment Scenario – Priority Conflict]
> Option A:
> Reinforce Eastern Quarter
> Result:
> Civilian Casualties Reduced
> Southern Breach Probability: High
> Option B:
> Hold Southern Road
> Result:
> Military Integrity Preserved
> Eastern Civilian Losses: Severe
> Option C:
> Divide Forces
> Result:
> High Failure Probability (All Fronts)
The system did not recommend.
It never did anymore.
It only showed the cost.
---
Karna looked at Arya.
"Give me one front," he said. "Just one."
Arya turned to him slowly.
"The south," Arya said.
Karna stiffened.
"And the east?"
Arya's jaw tightened.
"I'll handle it."
---
Karna grabbed his arm.
"You're still injured."
Arya met his gaze steadily.
"I'm not fighting," he said. "I'm choosing."
Karna released him reluctantly.
Then bowed his head.
"As you command."
---
The city erupted into motion.
Troops surged south under Karna's command, banners snapping, discipline hardening fear into function.
Arya moved east.
Not with an army.
With what he could spare.
---
The eastern quarter was already burning.
Fire arrows arced overhead, embedding into roofs and wooden supports. Smoke choked the air. Civilians screamed as they fled narrow alleys that turned chaos into stampede.
Arya arrived to see soldiers struggling to maintain order.
Not losing.
But not winning either.
---
"They're not pushing in," a captain shouted over the din. "They're burning and retreating!"
Arya scanned the rooftops.
Harassment.
Terror.
Pressure.
Bhishma was forcing his hand.
---
> [System Warning]
> Moral Debt Threshold Approaching
> Current Action:
> Reactive Containment
> Outcome:
> Insufficient
Arya swallowed.
He could not save everyone.
But he could decide who would be lost.
---
He climbed onto a broken cart and raised his voice.
"Listen to me!" Arya shouted.
Some turned.
Many did not.
Fear drowned authority faster than fire.
---
A child tripped and fell.
Arya moved without thinking.
He lifted her, passed her to a soldier.
"Get her out," he ordered.
The soldier obeyed.
That soldier died moments later when a roof collapsed.
Arya saw it.
Felt it.
Counted it.
---
> [Moral Debt – Increment]
> Civilian Survival Achieved
> Military Loss Incurred
The system did not judge.
It tallied.
---
A messenger arrived, breathless and bleeding.
"Southern road—heavy pressure!" he gasped. "Karna is holding, but—"
"But?" Arya demanded.
"They're committing reserves."
Arya closed his eyes.
Bhishma was pushing Karna hard.
Too hard.
---
Arya looked around the eastern quarter.
The fires were spreading—but the enemy was thinning.
They had achieved what they came for.
Fear.
Division.
Delay.
---
He made his choice.
---
"Fall back," Arya ordered the eastern commanders. "Contain fires. Evacuate who you can. Do not pursue."
The captains stared.
"Prince, if we don't push now—"
"We lose the south," Arya said. "Move."
They obeyed.
---
Arya turned and ran.
Every step sent pain lancing through his side.
He ignored it.
---
The southern road was a wall of steel and blood.
Karna stood at its heart.
Armor cracked.
Blade red.
Men rallied around him like gravity had a center.
But they were bending.
---
Arya arrived just in time to see a Kuru standard break through the outer line.
Too close.
Too deep.
---
> [System Emergency Notice]
> Authority Override Available
> Cost:
> Severe Physical Damage
> Moral Debt Reset Unavailable
Arya hesitated for exactly one breath.
Then—
"No," he whispered.
---
He did not invoke power.
He invoked presence.
---
Arya climbed onto the forward barricade, pain screaming through his body, and raised his voice—not in command, but in declaration.
"I am here," he said.
That was all.
---
The men saw him.
Wounded.
Standing.
Refusing to retreat.
Something hardened.
Lines stabilized.
Karna turned—and for a moment, fear flickered across his face.
Then fury.
Then resolve.
---
"You idiot!" Karna roared, charging back to Arya's side. "I told you not to—"
Arya smiled thinly.
"Hold," he said.
Karna did.
---
The Kurus pushed.
And broke.
Not routed.
But stalled.
Momentum lost.
Bhishma's timing fractured.
---
The horns sounded again.
Retreat.
Measured.
Controlled.
---
The field fell silent except for the wounded.
Arya collapsed the moment it ended.
Karna caught him.
Held him.
"You chose me," Karna said hoarsely.
Arya's vision blurred.
"I chose the line that would break forever," he whispered.
---
> [System Assessment]
> Choice Executed:
> Prioritize Strategic Integrity
> Result:
> Eastern Casualties: High
> Southern Breach: Prevented
> Moral Debt:
> Significant Increase
> Status:
> Deferred – Unpaid
Arya closed his eyes.
He felt it.
A pressure building behind the weight.
Like interest compounding.
---
That night, Mahismati mourned again.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
Names spoken in whispers.
Homes blackened.
Hope scarred.
---
Karna sat beside Arya's bed long into the night.
"You saved the city," Karna said.
Arya did not answer.
"You sacrificed the east," Karna continued.
Arya opened his eyes.
"Yes."
Karna's voice trembled.
"How do you live with that?"
Arya stared at the ceiling.
"I don't," he said. "I carry it."
---
Far away, Bhishma listened to the outcome.
"He chose the army," Bhishma said.
Krishna nodded slowly.
"And the army will remember."
Bhishma's gaze sharpened.
"And the people?"
Krishna's smile was faint and sad.
"They will remember too," he said. "Just not kindly."
---
Back in Mahismati, the system recorded one final line before falling silent again.
---
> [Moral Debt Update]
> Status: Critical
> Nature:
> Cannot be paid through sacrifice alone
> Resolution requires:
> Transformation
Arya did not see the message.
He slept.
Not in peace.
But in exhaustion so deep it bordered on surrender.
---
End of Chapter 34