The rest of the day passed in a strange blur. There were so many things to figure out. Whenever I felt like I had dealt with something, yet another little issue popped up that I needed to find a solution to.

For instance, the very first thing was how to deal with the problem of the Scarthralls. Specifically, the case that some of them were clearly innocent, and some quite the opposite, yet they were all saying they deserved mercy and kindness and all that. A headache for certain, and one I of all people needed to deal with because I was the one who had stood up for the Thralls.

The actually innocent ones, of course. The rest of them could go die in a ditch.

“We can only use truth serums to ascertain just which ones are telling the truth,” Revayne said, surveying the crowded hall full of Scarthralls. “And which ones are liars.”

“We do not have enough truth serum for so many of them,” the guard commander said next. “Nor do we have the requisite money to commission as much as we would need. Nor, if I might add—” She gave me a short glare. “—can we easily hold this many Thralls until we do get that much truth serum, even if we could.”

“Not easily.” I was going to take every advantage I could find. “But not impossible.”

“Your precious Thralls will be grouped up like matchsticks in their packet.”

“As long as they remain safe until we can determine who’s lying and who isn’t, it doesn’t matter.” I had to think of the practicality of things too. “And wouldn’t the Council provide enough funds for you to get the amount of truth serum you need? I mean, it’s part of your job. You’re not asking for a raise.”

“And who will convince the Council that such a thing is necessary?” The Ogre continued to glare down at me. “You? The same way you convinced us?”

“If needed, I will.”

The guard commander actually laughed. “I’d like to see you punch one of them.”

“…if needed, I will.”

Belligerent and unwilling though the guards were to comply with the simple if physically taxing idea of just imprisoning the Thralls till we could sort the innocent from the guilty, they eventually complied. Well, eventually as in after the Ritual sun ran out.

There were protests about it, mostly from the side of the loved ones of the innocent Scarthralls. They didn’t want their fathers and mothers, their husbands and wives, and their children and siblings to be wrongfully imprisoned for the simple “crime” of being betrayed by someone they had trusted.

I could see the unfairness from their perspective, but there wasn’t much we could do. Once more, I needed to think of it practically.

Before the guards left with the captured Scarthralls, however, I had to entertain the other cults. They too had arrived after seeing the gigantic ball of light turning night into day.

I wasn’t in a mood to deal with them, of course. But with Escinca gone, I had to step up, because Hamsik wasn’t exactly someone I could rely on to reliably handle whatever issues the other cultists were no doubt going to bring up.

The first bit of course involved just me explaining everything that had happened, with them confirming that they had been out in their neighbourhoods to ensure everything was safe and orderly. Both the Earth and the Fire Cults, the ones closest to Sun Cult, reported altercations with Thralls, though they hadn’t had too many issues keeping everything under control.

With the guards arriving before long to capture and take away the Thralls, the issue was soon fully taken care of.

“We are ever so sorry for your loss,” said the old liver-spotted head of the Wind Cult leader. What was his name? Durica?

The rest of them echoed the same sentiment in their own ways. Hamsik and I just nodded back at them.

It was the Fire Cult who posed the real question.

“Now that Elder Escinca has left us—may his soul be Blessed in the Beyond, just as he Blessed us all—who among you will step up to lead the cult?” the flame-robed cult leader asked. Their bright orange hood was, as ever, so low over their face that I could make nothing under it.

I didn’t have to, because I could focus on being mad. “I don’t think that’s the most important thing we have to determine, right now.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless of how you intend to run your cult, you will need a new head. That is merely the reality of running such an organization. Someone who will be the point of contact when others seek your cult, someone who will be the one others go to, someone who will—”

“We get it. We will consider the matter and let you know when a suitable candidate steps forward.”

“We will not be considering the matter,” Hamsik said.

I frowned at him. “What?”

“Ross will be in charge of the cult.”

“What?”

No one else seemed to share my surprise. They just nodded along. Durica and the Fire Cult leader both hummed in acceptance, while the problem-girl from the Earth Cult and her leader, Kanis, looked at me with shrewd but not disapproving looks. Well, the former certainly had a challenging, almost disdainful look about her, but that was her natural state of being.

The young Sea Cult leader smiled at me warmly, completely ignoring the gawking look I returned. “The Thrall-hunter is a good choice.”

“I too am in favour of the Wyrm-killer taking charge of the Sun Cult,” Durica said. “If we must have the youth take control, then let it be the stormiest soul we can muster.”

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“Young blood.” The Fire Cult leader nodded approvingly. “Fiery blood.”

“Hello?” I stared at them all. “Stop acting like it’s a done deal.”

“What?” Kanis’s dark eyes locked onto mine. “Don’t tell me you decline? After how much Escinca kept singing your praises.”

I glared right back. “I don’t think Elder Escinca has a statement in his will saying Ross Moreland is the new leader of the Cult of the Sun.”

Despite my response, I couldn’t deny the things that Escinca had said at the end. I couldn’t deny the times he had asked me to lead prayers, to take charge of initiation ceremonies, to speak to those who had come to the cult for guidance. More than with any other cultist, he had been helping me grow in a way that I could take his place one day.

It was almost silly to think of it like that. I wasn’t even from this world, for crying out loud. Generally speaking, trusting a newcomer, a foreigner, with the work of one’s whole life was foolhardy at best.

Yet, Elder Escinca had undeniably believed in me. Put his faith in me.

I sighed. “The point is, regardless of your approval or disapproval, it’s a matter for the entire Cult of the Sun to consider together and then come to a decision. Nothing is settled yet.”

They all nodded back, though the Sea Cult leader did lean towards the Fire Cult leader before loudly whispering, “Yes, I think he’ll be a good one.”

I glared at him.

“You are all invited to the remembrance ceremony, of course,” Hamsik said, with significantly more grace than I was really willing to give him credit for. “We’ll inform you when we have settled on the date.”

We spoke a bit more afterwards, especially regarding the state of the Thralls and what would happen to them. Things were still in quite a bit of flux, unfortunately, so we couldn’t really settle on any one thing for the time being.

Before they left, Durica gave me a long, searching look. “I know you also killed the Scarseeker responsible, but that’s not the end of this, is it?”

I was tempted to glance at Hamsik for a second, but I resisted the urge to do so. At the same time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to reveal what I had seen through Soul Sight. Nevertheless, hiding it wasn’t exactly an option as the old Wind Cult leader had clearly intimated it somehow.

“It isn’t,” I said. “There are people who still need to be held responsible. But that’s beyond any of us here, for now.”

Durica was satisfied with that. The same couldn’t be said for Earth Cult’s problem-girl but she didn’t say anything after a harsh look from her leader, Kanis.

It wasn’t long afterwards that everyone began departing. The guards went in groups, grumpily transporting the captured Thralls. The other cultists left as well, asking us to call on them if we needed anything. For all the sense of competition and turf-war vibes I had received, it was nice to see that we could all come together in times of real crisis.

Honestly, it was surprising none of them had had looked even a smidge glad at the fact they wouldn’t have to contend against Escinca any longer. Not even the Earth Cult.

Before Revayne left, she drew me outside for a moment. Above us, the sky had returned to its habitual darkness now that the artificial sun was gone.

“I do not regret supporting you against the Commander’s initial intention, Ross,” she said. “And I will continue to do so, because it is the right thing to do. However, that is only the beginning. Have you thought about what comes next?”

“You know this is still the same exact day, right?” I said. I could feel the sensation of burning energy, the one that had come from my last Sacrifice, slowly dissipating. “Barely two hours since it all ended.”

“I apologize. I don’t intend to push you about it, but it’s something that needs some thought.”

I sighed. “You’re not wrong. I’ll think about it, when I’ve cleared my head.”

“I understand, and I am sorry.”

“Thank you.”

She looked up from her book for once, offering me a short smile of sorrowful commiseration, before heading off after the last of the guards.

All that was left was addressing the last of the people of Ring Four. The non-Scarthralls, who had been attracted by the glowing ball of light far over their heads. I had seen many of them trying to take a peek at it when it had still been active, though of course, they had been forced to look away when their eyes burned.

I wasn’t in any real mood to address them, which was obviously what they were waiting for, now that the threat of the Thralls was mostly gone. The man who should have been talking to them would never be speaking again. To any of us. I didn’t feel like any sort of leader.

Yet, I couldn’t deny the tug. I couldn’t just walk away.

“You should all be careful when you return home,” I said. All eyes turned to me as I started talking, all eyes drinking in my expression and mannerisms, hanging on my every word. I felt a certain headiness I wasn’t sure what to do with just then. “The guards may have captured most of the Scarthralls, but there may be some malicious ones out there still.”

“And the ones who aren’t malicious?” asked a middle-aged man with a cleft lip. “What do we with ‘em?”

It was, in essence, not that different a question from what Revayne had posed. She had been right. I needed to think up a proper solution.

“Send them here,” Hamsik said. Or maybe, I needed to remember that I didn’t need to think up every single thing. “If they really aren’t malicious, then tell them to come to the Cult of the Sun. Tell them to stop acting like criminals. Tell them to stop hiding and truly prove they mean no ill will to any of us.”

I nodded but didn’t add anything further. The people around us would need to be satisfied with that. Well, except for one small thing.

“And if they are malicious,” I said. My voice came out darker than I had been expecting. “Then we will end them.”

That seemed to satisfy the gathered people. The resolute looks they returned to me felt like a mirror of my own expression.

“Lastly, before you go,” I said. “I would like to invite you all to the remembrance ceremony for… for Elder Escinca. He passed away, during the… well, you understand.” I cleared my throat. “We will let you know once we’ve figured out a date. Till then, stay safe, everyone. This was a night of loss. Of horror. But it’s not going to keep us down. Not for long.”

Some of them had expressed shock and dismay at my words, but most just looked heavily sad. No doubt they had had been thinking along those lines since the Elder wasn’t present, and all I had really done was confirm their suspicions.

By the time most of them were gone or leaving, the rest of the cultists arrived from putting Escinca’s body to rest.

We all kind of looked at each other awkwardly. Aurier’s face was ashen, Sreketh’s eyes were red and splotchy, and the Guille and Santoire clung to each other like they were trying to not to drown. I blinked a few times, feeling my face grow warm. Maybe the emotions I had been forcing back were finally starting to make their presence felt, regardless of how I felt about it.

“All of you,” Hamsik said, his voice hard. “Before we go anywhere or do anything further, before we… deal with things on our own, I want to clear up one thing. Do any of you have a problem with Ross being the new leader of the Cult of the Sun?”

I glared at the half-vampire. Really? Now of all times? Before I could tell him off though, the others responded.

“I thought that was a given,” Aurier said, his voice a little shaky, but his words sure all the same.

“Ross deserves it,” Sreketh said.

Guille and Santoire just nodded vigorously too.

I grumbled to myself. But I didn’t get time to protest because a new blue screen had appeared before me.

[ Rank Up!

Your Fervour Attribute has risen by one Rank.

Your Path of the Acolyte has risen by one Rank.

Fervour: Silver I

Path of the Acolyte is evolving…]