A Cardinal of the Spiritual Church

The emperor was not as hasty as some of his generals there in that throne hall, who were commenting as if their victory was in his hands.

He knew that even with Vogel's fall, it would not be easy to eliminate resistance to him in those other three states. After all, the state now under Church control represented only a fraction of the enemy forces.

Vogel had only over 27% of the alliance forces opposed to the Flaming Empire, the second smallest state in the alliance.

But a previously balanced 4-on-1 fight would not change significantly by becoming a 3-on-1 fight.

That was a significant loss of power which would make a victory for the Flaming Empire side much more straightforward. But it was not synonymous with an easy victory or extraordinary imbalance.

That was the difference between a fight where everyone involved could die in conflict and one where one side would suffer losses for an 'acceptable' victory.