Across the server, inside their isolated Void instances, panic was beginning to fracture the enemy alliance channel.
"My treasury is in freefall," the Rank 11 Forgecaster transmitted, his digital avatar glitching with systemic warnings. "The total loss of the Mechanical Titan just triggered a catastrophic penalty. If my frontline collapses, I'll de-rank back to Rank 10 by nightfall."
"We severely miscalculated," the Glacial Sovereign muttered, his hands trembling over his keyboard. "He isn't just an Ascendant Lord anymore. He's a Rank 11 Continental Architect with administrative terrain privileges. We can't break his walls. Our siege engines are gone." The Sovereign swallowed hard, staring at his plummeting Faith ticker. "Do we initialize the white flag protocol? He accepted the absolute surrender of the western marches. If we offer a Vassalage Contract now, we might survive the DP drain."
