Orin was right.
He wasn't enough.
Not even close.
[Health: 58%]
[Essence: 7,847 EP]
[True Essence: 784 TE]
[Evolution Points Available: 60 EVP]
The numbers stared back at Liam like a judge's verdict. He had resources. He had power. But against the man standing across from him, it felt like showing up to a gunfight with a knife.
Orin wiped blood from the shallow cut on his knee, examined it with clinical interest, then looked at Liam with something between respect and pity.
"You made me bleed," the Grand Commander said. "That alone puts you above most demons I've killed. But bleeding me and killing me are separated by an ocean you can't cross."
He rolled his shoulders, the white armor gleaming despite the blood and ash coating the courtyard.
Around them, the fortress smoldered. Bodies lay where they'd fallen.
The survivors had pulled back to the western passage, watching with the hollow eyes of people who'd already accepted the outcome.
