Zhen Liu didn't actually have experience with religious power plays, but he had consumed enough literature and media to recognize the beginnings of one.
Also, he could recognize when the leader of an organization was more or less powerless in the face of bureaucratic nonsense…or worse.
"Let me take a wild guess: a member of the Ember Council has made a deal with the Erupting Dawn Emperor and is planning to steal the [Sacred Flame] in order to secure their future as some kind of nobility? Or maybe leader of a state-mandated that's actually just a vague way for them to indulge in all of the world's vices while inventing new ones?" Zhen Liu asked.
"Close, but not exactly," Serena answered with a slightly impressed tone of voice. "A member of the council, possibly more than one, has actually used the [Sacred Flame] to force the Erupting Dawn Emperor into continuing a war that should've ended several years ago and I don't know who it is. Which is why I need your help."
