Nephis calmly released the man's head and walked around the chair to stand in front of him.
“Awakened Yutra, I presume?"
His eyes widened.
"L—lady Nephis?!"
Sunny felt a sense of deja vu.
Soon enough, a soothing white light ignited under Yutra's skin, healing his scrapes and bruises.
Having been stolen from the Longing Domain by the Dreamspawn, he was now healed and returned to the embrace of the Immortal Flame.
Even if he had been robbed of a vast swath of his memories, having lost a short span of his life forever.
...Not long after, Sunny, Nephis, Cassie, and Kai were gathered on the floor of the abandoned factory, standing in a small circle. A somber silence hung between them, interrupted only by the rustle of the old air filters.
Eventually, Sunny asked in a dark tone: "How many thralls can you cure in a day?" Cassie sighed, then lowered her head a little.
“It doesn't take a lot of time... but my reserves of essence are not endless. A few. possibly a dozen, if I exhaust myself."
‘A dozen...’
With the speed at which the infection was spreading and new thralls were being initiated into Asterion's Domain, a dozen was woefully not enough.
"We can't keep doing nothing”
Saying that, Sunny glanced at Nephis.
"I know that cracking down on small cults only makes them spread faster, but since our adversary is an idea, we have no choice but to engage in ideological warfare. Strict censorship, criminal persecution of dissidents, political repression... we'll have to engage in all of those, and more.’
He sighed.
“At the very least, we must isolate those who preach the name of the Dreamspawn to the masses. That won't stop him, but it will slow him down.
Nephis looked at him for a while, remaining silent.
Eventually, she asked:
“Are you suggesting that I start hunting down heretics? Those who denounce me in favor of a different god? What next, then... should I start burning them at the stake?" If she did, the words Immortal Flame would attain a much darker meaning.
Sunny frowned.
“Hey, there's no need to be that extreme. I am sure that we can build a comfortable camp or two for these people."
Nephis exhaled slowly.
"We are building camps now? Do you even hear yourself?"
Sunny studied her for a short while, then smiled.
"Nephis, we might have won the war against the Sovereigns, but now, we are facing a paranormal insurgency led by a Supreme who does not even consider himself to be human. There's no time for half-measures anymore. Things are going to start happening fast from now on, so we should forget the false assumption that we hold an advantage and start acting far more desperate."
Nephis lingered for a long while.
In the end, she sighed.
"Fine. Let's stop doing nothing, then."