The room was quiet, but not calm.
No one spoke immediately after the last report was delivered.
The silence carried weight, not hesitation.
Every person present already understood the situation before the words were finished.
The man at the center of the table leaned back slightly, his attention fixed on the one who had just spoken.
"Say it again," he said.
The hunter straightened. "We lost everyone inside the city."
A pause followed, not out of disbelief, but confirmation.
"All of them," the hunter added. "No survivors."
The man at the head of the table did not react in any visible way. His expression remained steady, his posture unchanged, but the atmosphere shifted around him.
"And the target?" he asked.
"Still with him."
That answer settled the last uncertainty in the room.
Another hunter spoke, more cautiously. "We underestimated the response."
"That was not a response," the man said. "That was a statement."
