Karna chose daylight.
Not secrecy.
Not shadows.
If lines were to be drawn, they would be drawn where everyone could see them.
The Kaurava court was already tense when he arrived. Bhishma stood silent near a pillar, Vidura unreadable, Duryodhana restless upon the throne as if the seat itself rejected him.
Karna stepped forward.
"Before another order is issued," Karna said clearly, "I will speak."
Duryodhana's eyes narrowed. "You speak when I allow—"
"I speak," Karna interrupted, "because silence has begun to rot."
The court gasped.
Karna had never challenged Duryodhana publicly before.
Bhishma's gaze sharpened.
Karna turned, addressing the hall.
"We have crossed a line," Karna said. "Not tactically. Not politically. Morally."
Duryodhana stood abruptly. "You dare echo *his* judgment now?"
Karna faced him fully.
"I echo nothing," he replied. "I observed."
Duryodhana laughed harshly. "Observed what? That power answers power?"
"No," Karna said. "That power answers accountability."
Silence crushed the hall.
Karna continued, voice steady.
"The caravan was unarmed. The intent was provocation through suffering. That is not strategy. That is desperation."
Duryodhana's voice trembled with fury. "You question my right to protect my throne?"
"I question," Karna said evenly, "your right to call this protection."
The system registered the fracture.
—
[Alliance Integrity: Kaurava Camp]
[Status: Publicly Compromised]
—
Duryodhana pointed accusingly.
"You forget who gave you a crown!"
Karna did not flinch.
"I remember," he said. "That is why I stand here instead of walking away."
Bhishma stepped forward then.
"Enough," the old warrior said.
The room obeyed instinctively.
Bhishma turned to Karna. "You have spoken truth without malice. That is not treason."
Then he faced Duryodhana.
"And you," Bhishma said, voice heavy, "have mistaken defiance for strength."
Duryodhana's face drained of color.
The throne creaked again.
---
At that exact moment, the sky darkened across Bharata-varsha.
Not with storm clouds.
With attention.
From forests to kingdoms, from hermitages to palaces, every sacred flame flickered in the same instant.
The system activated globally.
—
[Domain Expansion: Continental]
[Source: Rudra of Aryavarta]
—
Rudra's voice did not thunder.
It *arrived*.
In every court.
Every battlefield.
Every prayer.
"Let this be known," the voice said calmly.
"War may come."
"But deception will not be allowed to wear its crown."
Kings fell to their knees without knowing why.
Rudra continued.
"No harm to noncombatants will be tolerated."
"No lies will be protected by tradition."
"No throne will hide behind inevitability."
The decree was absolute.
—
[World Decree: Registered]
[Compliance: Enforced]
—
"In war," Rudra concluded, "you may choose sides."
"But when you cross into cruelty, you choose me."
The presence withdrew.
The sky returned to normal.
Nothing had burned.
Nothing had shattered.
Yet the world was irrevocably altered.
---
In Dwarka, Krishna laughed softly, shaking his head.
"He didn't forbid the war," Krishna said. "He forbade excuses."
In Hastinapura, Duryodhana collapsed back into his seat.
For the first time—
The throne felt small.
Karna stepped back, expression unreadable.
He had not abandoned Duryodhana.
But he had made his choice visible.
---
In Aryavarta, Anaya looked up at Rudra with wide eyes.
"Did everyone hear you?"
Rudra nodded.
"And if they don't listen?" she asked.
Rudra smiled gently.
"Then the lesson will be shorter."
The system finalized the arc's first seal.
—
[Declaration Arc: Established]
[Next Phase: Forced Choices]
—
From this moment onward, no one could claim ignorance.
The world had been informed.
And history would not accept excuses.
-- chapter 33 ended --