Selûne drove the Hellrider out with a scolding, leaving him steeped in shame. Faced with the most ancient goddess's accusations, Wittelsbach had no defense.
Just as Selûne had said, they had repeatedly covered old lies with new ones. To preserve Elturel's legitimacy, the Hellriders had rewritten history again and again, until even they believed that "it wasn't that we didn't try hard enough, but that the solar Zariel's plan was so reckless it put everyone in danger."
"Zariel meant well. She just botched the execution."
"We distanced ourselves on righteous grounds to preserve the Hellriders' legacy."
As the lies were repeated over and over, the Hellriders who had taken part in that expedition into Hell gradually came to believe that Zariel's recklessness had brought them to the brink of defeat.
Had Mama Selûne not personally revealed that the Hellriders had closed the portal early to save themselves, cutting off Zariel's retreat, Wittelsbach himself would have forgotten it had happened.
That was precisely why the old Hellrider was so ashamed. He bowed down and touched his forehead to the floor, with nothing left to say in his defense.
Those who had shut the portal were only a tiny minority, Wittelsbach had not been among those who advocated closing it, and those Hellriders were now called "Fallen Knights" and "The Fallen." Whenever Elturel's City Council discovered them, it pursued them relentlessly, sparing neither effort nor expense.
But he had escaped, while Zariel had been captured. That was enough.
Wittelsbach left the Tears of Selûne behind, and Mama Selûne's avatar told him to leave the room. Feeling as though he had been granted a pardon, the old Hellrider hurried out without daring to look back.
Only Aaron, Eleanor, Vanessa, Kafka, and Barrel remained in the room, along with the soundly sleeping young lady,