Cain released the two rulers and returned to his seat, a faint smile still on his face. Yet the coldness lingering in his eyes made the message unmistakably clear.
Kaizer and Markin both glanced toward the portal that led back to their home Empyrean Worlds. For a fleeting moment, the thought of retreat crossed their minds—but it vanished just as quickly.
They had already stepped into this hall.
Leaving now would not save them from the wrath—or the hunger—of the Scarlet King.
If they failed to play their cards correctly, things would turn disastrous.
A sharpened resolve appeared in their eyes as they finally took their seats. The number of moves available to them had been drastically reduced, but that did not mean they were out of options.
After all, while it was true that the Scarlet King could take them down and harvest the resources of their worlds to fuel the war against the Root, a purely militaristic approach would slow the main campaign significantly.
