Chapter 153: Enough

The council chamber fell completely silent.

?The man who had challenged Louis lowered his head, suddenly finding the holographic interface before him far more interesting than the Overseer’s sharp gaze.

?Louis leaned back in his high seat.

’?At least he knows when to shut his mouth.’

?He had grown accustomed to such posturing over the centuries. Whenever the Legacy Families realized they couldn’t challenge him through raw strength, they defaulted to political maneuvering, attempting to restrict his authority through regulations, grandstanding, and endless legislative debates.

?They were persistent, if nothing else.

?Unfortunately for them, Louis Ferdinand was every bit as shrewd as he was powerful.

?He understood their methods, anticipated their ambitions, and knew precisely how to navigate their carefully constructed webs of influence.

He had survived planetary wars, witnessed the rise and fall of ancient dynasties, and watched arrogant figures lose everything because they underestimated their opponents.

?The Legacy Families were hardly the most dangerous adversaries he had ever faced.

’?If not for the fundamental rules governing an anchor civilization, I would have wiped these families out centuries ago.’

?The thought surfaced without a trace of emotion.

?Louis had lived long enough to commit acts that would make ordinary citizens shudder.

He had commanded legions in wars that claimed billions of lives, ordered the orbital extermination of hostile civilizations, and personally slain entities whose strength could shatter star systems.

?Eradicating a handful of troublesome noble lines would barely register among his greatest sins.

?But the Astral Dominion wasn’t his private domain.

?It was an anchor civilization, and its long-term stability was essential to the survival and progression of every Lord tethered to it.

The rules governing such civilizations placed strict limitations on how internal affairs could be handled, particularly when the individuals involved held positions vital to the civilization’s infrastructure.

?The Legacy Families had spent generations embedding themselves into the Dominion’s core institutions.

Their descendants occupied critical military commands, administrative offices, research organizations, and commercial networks. Their reach extended into nearly every major sector of society.

?A purge would not simply eliminate a few arrogant politicians.

?It would cripple the very institutions running the state.

?In the resulting vacuum, the Astral Dominion would be left vulnerable to external predators eager to exploit the chaos.

The Arachnid Civilization, for instance, would not hesitate to strike a fractured neighbor.

?Louis was not foolish enough to weaken his own civilization simply because its internal politics irritated him.

’?Political maneuvering it is, then.’

?He would deal with the Legacy Families one calculated step at a time. As long as they operated within the boundaries of the Dominion’s laws, he would tolerate their posturing.

?For now.

?Louis shifted his attention back to the assembly. "Since we’ve settled that matter, I suggest we proceed with the actual purpose of this emergency session."

?No one raised an objection.

?The brief confrontation had made one thing clear: whatever grievances the council members harbored against Louis, challenging him openly in this hall would yield nothing.

?The meeting resumed.

?Louis began presenting the intelligence he had already shared with the press, supplementing the public report with sensitive details that had been withheld from the media.

?He outlined how the Crimson Reckoning had seized hundreds of thousands of civilian nodes across Planet Roca, using coordinated strikes to overwhelm planetary security.

He described the discovery of the Worldbreaker Core, its black-hole-level destruction mechanics, and the razor-thin margin by which global extinction had been averted.

?Then, he delivered the most alarming detail.

?"The operation was directed by the Arachnid Civilization."

?The reaction across the chamber was instantaneous.

?Several council members straightened in their seats. Others exchanged startled looks, while the central holographic displays shifted to present high-resolution schematics of the recovered alien weaponry and the subterranean facility uncovered beneath Planet Roca.

?Even the councilor who had previously challenged Louis snapped his head up, his earlier embarrassment swallowed by sheer disbelief.

?"The Arachnids?!" someone shouted from the upper tiers.

?Louis nodded coldly. "Our preliminary investigation confirms their direct involvement. Their covert operatives established a deep-underground facility on Roca, where they maintained and primed the Worldbreaker Core. The mercenaries were merely a front for a broader strategic operation designed to destabilize the planet and draw our military focus away from their true objective."

?The strategic implications were impossible to ignore.

?"What is their true objective?" a high councilor demanded.

?"That remains unconfirmed," Louis answered smoothly. "Which is precisely why we must gather intelligence before jumping to conclusions."

?Another council member slammed his fist onto his armrest. "Then there is no reason to hesitate! We should launch an immediate, full-scale military expedition against the Arachnid Empire! They attempted to vaporize one of our primary worlds and slaughter billions of our citizens! If we let this pass without a devastating response, they will read it as weakness!"

?"Agreed!" a voice echoed from the military bloc. "We should seize one of their border sectors immediately! Let them experience the same existential terror they forced upon Roca!"

?"Why stop at a single sector? We should destroy their forward facilities and cripple their border infrastructure before they have another chance to strike!"

?The chamber erupted into chaos.

?Council members began shouting over one another, proposing fleet mobilizations, orbital bombardments, and punitive incursions into Arachnid territory.

Factions demanded immediate war, insisting the Dominion strike hard and fast.

?Their emotional reactions were hardly surprising.

?Most of the individuals seated in this hall were Lords. They had built their careers conquering territories, crushing hostile forces, and surviving in a cosmos that swallowed the weak.

To many of them, overwhelming force was the cleanest solution to any problem.

?An enemy attacked? You strike back twice as hard.

?An enemy threatened your borders? You turn their vanguard to ash.

?It was a simple, brutal philosophy that had served many Lords well throughout their ascension.

?Unfortunately, interstellar statecraft was rarely that simple.

?Louis sat in silence, allowing the council members to vent their outrage before stepping in.

He understood their frustration, the Arachnids had crossed an existential red line, and the Dominion could not afford to project weakness.

?However, launching a full-scale war without understanding the enemy’s underlying objective was reckless.

?Louis had no intention of letting emotional outrage dictate the Dominion’s grand strategy.

?He raised a single hand.

?A faint pulse of spiritual pressure rippled through the hall, instantly smothering the overlapping shouts.

?"Enough."

?The word was spoken softly, yet the absolute authority behind it slammed through the chamber.

?The raised voices died out completely.