High above, in a chamber that suddenly felt smaller than it ever had before, Ethan sagged back against his throne.
[Corruption threshold: falling]
[Host stabilizing]
[Apostle status: alive]
He should have felt relief. Some part of him did — a distant, exhausted gratitude that Kael's heart still beat, that the crimson tide had finally receded. But it arrived tangled with something far heavier, something that settled into his chest like stone.
He pulled up the tribe's registry without meaning to, some masochistic impulse driving him to see the full cost written out in cold, indifferent numbers.
[Faithful believers: 12]
He stared at the figures until they blurred.
In an instant, he had lost almost all he had accumulated till this point. The war with the Leo-kin was still looming like black clouds ready to burst over their heads. Yet right now, let alone repelling them, even keeping those limited numbers of believers felt like a struggle.
