Everyone fell silent. Joyce Pierre was the current head of the Pierre Family, one of Shatla's founding Military Houses.
How could anyone who rose to lead such a Military House be a fool? Perhaps it was just as Joyce had said: the death of his daughter, Euphemia, the undefeated Valkyrie, had dealt a devastating blow to a father who had staked his family's future on her.
But there was no denying that this current head of a Military House had once been a god of war who swept across battlefields in his youth. Avenging his daughter was not his only reason for coming out of retirement to serve as supreme commander of Shatla's Expeditionary Force to Balchik.
There was another consideration: securing the Pierre Family's position.
Euphemia's brilliant battlefield exploits had brought the Pierre Family up the heights of power in Shatla. By the same token, her death had dealt a crushing blow to the family's prestige.
Joyce knew he would never see his family reach the pinnacle of glory. All he could do was secure its position.
And now, the failure of Shatla's expedition was a foregone conclusion. All he could do was preserve as much of Shatla's fighting strength as possible.
There were far too many promising future True Gods in this Expeditionary Force. Whether for public duty or private interests, he could not accept losing them here.
Seeing that no one spoke, Joyce gave a gentle wave of his hand. Everyone vanished from the Hall of Truth and was teleported aboard a flagship not far away.
After everyone had left, Joyce gave a bitter smile.
"I never thought this would be as far as I could go."
His weary gaze turned toward the Great Horned Rat, who was unleashing his terrifying might.
The streaks of gray at