Liam found Lilith in the war room, surrounded by maps and reports that painted a picture of an empire preparing for something it didn't fully understand yet.

She looked tired.

Not physically - demons didn't fatigue the way humans did - but mentally. The kind of exhaustion that came from calculating impossible odds and finding them all ending in variations of catastrophe.

Her golden eyes flicked up as he entered, and something in her expression shifted.

Relief? Concern? Maybe both.

"The Cathedral is still celebrating," she said, setting down a report about troop movements. "I'm receiving messages every ten minutes about the miracles you performed. Restored sight. Healed crippled legs. The faithful are calling it divine providence."

"It was." Liam moved to study the maps, his posture more relaxed than it had been in weeks. "They had absolute faith. I had the power to answer it. Seemed like a waste not to."

Lilith watched him carefully. "You sound different."

"Different how?"

"Less..." She searched for the word. "Less like you're reciting lines. More like you're actually here. Present. Whatever changed at Vor'esh made you rigid. Mechanical. Like every word was calculated three moves ahead."

She stood, circling the table to face him directly.

"But now you sound almost... casual. Like we're actually having a conversation instead of executing a diplomatic protocol."

Liam smiled slightly. The expression felt natural rather than performed. "Is that a complaint or an observation?"

"An observation. And honestly, a relief." Lilith's golden eyes studied his face. "What changed? Between leaving for the Cathedral this morning and returning now, something fundamental shifted. I can see it in how you move. How you speak. How you're standing there looking at deployment maps like you're interested rather than just processing information."

He was quiet for a moment, organizing thoughts that had felt scattered for weeks into something approaching clarity.

"I found something at the Cathedral," he said finally. "Something I didn't know I was missing."

"Faith? You've had their worship for weeks."

"Not just their faith. Belonging in it." He turned from the maps to face her fully. "The Nameless Litany doesn't worship me because I'm useful. They don't follow me because I win battles or make politically sound decisions. They believe in me absolutely. Without reservation. Without calculation."

His grey eyes held her golden ones.

"And standing in that chamber, feeling hundreds of demons whose entire existence revolves around serving me—not using me, not manipulating me, just genuinely worshipping—I felt something I haven't felt since..." He paused. "Ever, maybe. In either life."

"What?"

"Like I mattered for existing, not just for performing." His voice was soft. Honest in ways he hadn't allowed himself to be.

"Liam Cross was an actor who needed an audience. Lord Azra was a role I played to survive. But standing there, healing the blind demon, watching the crippled boy walk—that wasn't performance. That was me being what they needed because their devotion made me want to be worthy of it."

Lilith absorbed this. "And that changed you."

"That reminded me I'm not just pretending to be a god or empty vessel playing demon. I'm becoming something. Something that exists in the space between human memory and demon reality." He gestured vaguely to himself. "I call it Synchronization. The integration of what I was with what I'm becoming."

"And what are you becoming?"

"Myself." The answer was simple. Profound. "My new self. Not Liam Cross. Not just Lord Azra. Something synthesized from both. Something that can feel genuine devotion to the faithful because their devotion to me feels genuine."

He smiled again, and this time it reached his eyes.

"I'm finding myself again. Just not the self I expected to find."

Lilith was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, she returned the smile.

"Good. Because the mechanical demon god was getting concerning. This—" She gestured to him. "This I can work with. This feels like a partner who actually wants to participate in saving the empire rather than just calculating the most efficient path to survival."

"Don't get too excited. I'm still probably going to make decisions you hate."

"I'd be shocked if you didn't." She moved back to the maps. "Speaking of which, what's your assessment of our offensive capability? Gorath told you about the prophecy. About the heroes. About the necessity of striking before they're fully summoned."

Liam studied the deployment markers. Red for demon forces. Blue for Radiant Empire positions. The board looked like a chess game interrupted mid-play.

"We need unified command," he said. "The Nine Houses control too many independent forces. You said legion commanders answer to House leadership first, crown second. That fragmentation is one reason why your initial assault failed—everyone was fighting their own war instead of coordinating."

"Agreed. But breaking House authority is politically messy, that's why i suggested you reach out to the legionaries themselves first—"

"I will, but those in command need to understand they too must fall in line." His voice carried quiet authority. "That's what needs to happen. The Houses can object. They can threaten. They can do whatever political maneuvering makes them feel important. But when I march on the Radiant Empire, every legion answers to me directly."

Lilith's eyebrows rose. "That's ambitious. Bordering on problematic if the Houses decide you're overstepping."

"Let them decide." His grey eyes held absolute certainty. "I've earned the right to command. If the Houses want to challenge that, they're welcome to try."

"You're serious."

"Completely."

Lilith stared at him, and something in her expression shifted from concern to calculation.

"This is going to destabilize the entire political structure. They'll resist, probably violently."

"That's fine too." Liam's smile was sharp. "Resistance identifies which House leaders I will need gone. Compliance identifies which ones understand the reality of our situation. Either way, we get clarity about who's actually committed to survival versus who's just protecting their own power."

"You want to force a political crisis."

"I want to eliminate inefficiency before we march into battle that requires absolute coordination." He gestured to the maps.

"Every House commander who prioritizes their bloodline over the empire's survival is a weakness the Radiant Empire will exploit. Better to identify and remove those weaknesses now rather than discover them when we're already committed."

Lilith processed this. "You're talking about potentially executing House leaders. Starting a civil war inside the empire while simultaneously preparing for external war."

"I'm talking about making our hierarchy clear. The Primordial commands. Everyone else obeys or gets replaced." His voice was calm. Matter-of-fact. "If that causes political instability, we stabilize through demonstrating that resistance is fatal."

"That's insane."

"That's necessary."

He looked at her directly.

"You've spent ten years navigating impossible politics. Balancing House interests. Compromising to maintain stability. And where has it gotten us? An empire that was hours from collapse before I arrived. An empire where legion commanders check with House leaders before following crown orders. An empire that lost a war because everyone was fighting separately."

He stepped closer.

"I'm not interested in maintaining that structure. I'm interested in building one that works. And that requires breaking what exists first."

Lilith was silent, her golden eyes searching his face for something.

Whatever she found seemed to satisfy her.

"Alright," she said finally. "We force the issue. But we do it smart. Public declaration. Summon all House leaders and legion commanders to the throne room. Make your command explicit. Anyone who refuses to comply reveals themselves as problem that needs solving."

"Exactly."

"When?"

"Three days," Liam decided. "Gives them time to arrive from their territories. Gives us time to prepare for whatever resistance manifests. Gives word time to spread so everyone knows this is happening."

"Three days is fast."

"We need to be. The Radiant Empire is preparing their next move. We need to be ready to counter before they complete whatever they're planning."

Lilith nodded, already calculating logistics.

"I'll send the summons tonight. Emergency Council session. Attendance mandatory. Anyone who refuses or delays gets marked as enemy of the crown."

"Perfect."

She moved toward the door, then paused. "Liam?"

"Yes?"

"This new self you're finding—the one that can be laid back while simultaneously planning political purges—I like it." Her smile was genuine.

"That's a relief. Because it's the only self I've got now."

She left to begin preparations, and Liam returned to studying the maps.

Three days until every House leader and legion commander arrived.

Three days until he forced the political crisis that would either unify the empire or tear it apart.

Three days until the performance became policy.

He should have felt anxious. Concerned about the risk. Worried about potential backlash.

But the Synchronization Index had burned away that kind of uncertainty. Replaced it with something more fundamental.

Purpose.

He knew what needed to happen. Knew the risks were necessary. Knew that hesitation would cost more than boldness.

The faithful believed in him absolutely. Now he needed the military to follow with the same certainty.

And if that required making examples of House leaders who prioritized bloodline over survival?

So be it.

Gods didn't compromise.

And he was done pretending to be anything less than what six hundred demons believed him to be.

[New Objective: Consolidate Military Authority]

[Timeline: 3 days until confrontation]

[Estimated Resistance: High]

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