Woah, thank you so much for detailed comment.
Using molt was more tenuous for sure. If I did a revision, I'd make it more clear that shedding the mask to become death knight was a more explicit metaphor for metamorphosis. Follow the project, I'll see what feels right.
The stress thing is a good point, cumulative would basically be a softlock lmao. Reset on new loops for sure.
Again, thank you for the pointers! Good luck on your game!