"Lion, we're going too deep!"
Luther had lost count of how many times he had warned Lion, and he knew Lion wouldn't listen.
But he had to remonstrate. It was his duty.
Lion stopped, his back to the group, his gaze fixed on the forest ahead without turning.
He could smell the Great Beast pack. There were at least a dozen ahead. He didn't want to miss this opportunity.
Not all Great Beasts were social. Many were solitary.
A lone Great Beast was often stronger than a social one. Its danger wasn't diminished by being alone.
But whichever type of Great Beast it was, Lion killed them just as easily.
So he preferred the social ones. They were more convenient to kill.
But Luther's concerns were not unfounded.
Their squad had only six knights. Though Lion feared no danger, if the other five mortal knights were surrounded by Great Beasts, there could be casualties.
They were knights. They did not fear sacrifice.
Even if they didn't have to take the risk, they would still enter the forest without hesitation.
Even if they died in the forest, they would accept it gladly.
No one would blame Lion for his stubbornness. But Lion wouldn't let them die in vain.
He could have Luther take the others back to camp. He could hunt the pack alone and return before nightfall.
This seemed to solve the dilemma.
But what if Luther and the others encountered danger on their way back? He would also be responsible.
What made matters worse was their deployment.
The Order had only a few hundred knights. Defending their territory was already a stretch.
When these knights were scattered in small squads across Caliban's vast, primeval forest, they were like fishing nets cast into the ocean.
Each squad was a knot where warp and weft met. The mesh size depended on the maximum effective coverage of their communication devices.
This ensured that when any squad encountered Great Beasts, the surrounding squads could respond in the shortest possible time.
But their squad had gone too deep. It was like one of the net's knots breaking.
This would not only disrupt intelligence transmission in the surrounding area, but also create a fatal gap in the net, endangering the three adjacent squads.
Lion took a deep breath, forcing himself to loosen his grip on his sword hilt. "Return to camp. Regroup with the other squads."
Luther was stunned. Over the past three years, he had often followed Lion deep into the forest to hunt.
He had always urged Lion to turn back. But Lion had never listened.
Lion seemed to have an almost obsessive fixation on exterminating Great Beasts. No one could talk him out of it.
He had thought it would be the same this time. But now Lion's choice completely surprised him.
Lion stared into the forest. The pack was at most a few kilometres away.
Giving up now left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Reason told him he didn't need to accommodate mortals.
The Great Beasts in this area had long been cleared by him. There should be no stragglers. In theory, there was no danger.
Just a few kilometres. He could slaughter the pack in ten minutes and return to camp calmly.
But he still restrained his reason.
If he despised those who disobeyed orders and deserted their posts...
Then he should lead by example, be strict with himself, and avoid becoming the person he despised.
Reason couldn't fully explain the world. A king shouldn't rely only on reason.
On the way back, Lion reined in his horse and gave a low command. "Luther, order all squads to return to camp. Today's hunt is over. Don't go deeper into the forest."
Luther nodded in acknowledgment, using the communication device built into his power armour to contact the other squads.
Though Lion was the squad leader, he didn't wear power armour and therefore lacked the corresponding communication equipment.
This wasn't because the Order was unwilling to provide a set. Caelan and Lion had actively refused.
Lion's height was changing rapidly. He couldn't fit into the Order's power armour now. A custom set would have to be made from scratch.
But the Order's power armour production was very low. A set of masterwork armour took at least several years to complete.
Lion was still a minor. Preparing armour for him now would be pointless.
When he reached four metres, Caelan would consider having the Order customise a set for him.
But even without power armour, Lion slaughtered Great Beasts like pigs.
And even if he wore it, the boost would be negligible.
Caliban only had incomplete STCs. The power armour produced here was technologically poor, far inferior to Astartes power armour in protection and power. For a Primarch, it was practically useless.
A Primarch wouldn't want such armour anyway. It was neither satisfying nor worth discarding.
He was a Primarch. He needed no protection. Power armour would only get in the way!
Luther suddenly tore off his helmet, his face changing. "Lion, something's wrong. Beta Squad just lost contact with us!"
"What about the other squads?"
"They've also lost contact with Beta Squad, but communications between squads are normal."
Lion gave orders calmly. "Have them rally at Beta Squad's last known coordinates. We'll go ahead."
Lion led Alpha Squad. It wasn't that he had to be first. He just preferred being first.
Just as he never craved honour, he just didn't want to lose.
King Arthur probably didn't particularly want to be Warmaster either. He just didn't want anyone else to be, so he took the position.
There were a total of five knight squads under Lion's command in this area. Three belonged to the Order. The other two were from other orders.
Though the Order had once faced a united crackdown from other orders, nearly being destroyed...
Times had changed as the Order grew.
When you are weak, everyone wants to take advantage.
But once you show enough strength, your former enemies will rush to flatter you.
The Star Cup Order and the Flame Haze Order were among them.
Decades ago, the territories of five orders bordered the Order's.
The most powerful was the Crimson Saint Order. Two others were its vassals.
Because they actively suppressed the Order, they were erased from Caliban.
The Star Cup Order and the Flame Haze Order had also covertly targeted the Order, even causing knight casualties. But they had shown restraint during the Crimson Saint's attack, never making their conflict overt.
As the Order grew over the decades, the Star Cup and Flame Haze Orders worried about being suppressed.
But the Order, though it had annexed the territories of the other three orders, had always left these two alone.
Not only did the Order not suppress them, but when their territories were threatened by beast-tides, they didn't take advantage. Instead, they offered help. This gradually changed their relationship.
The Star Cup and Flame Haze Orders were both hereditary noble orders. But they upheld the knightly code and always remembered the Order's kindness.
Now, both orders had transformed from former enemies into allies of the Order.
Though not staunchly loyal, as long as the Order kept winning, they would firmly support it.
When the Order called on all Calibanites to unite and exterminate the Great Beasts, they were the first to respond.
Because their territories bordered the Order's, exterminating Great Beasts would delay beast-tides, and they would benefit too.
Though their scale was far smaller than the Order's, each having only a hundred or so knights, they only sent a few squads.
But since they had come, the Order had to treat them equally.
These knight squads were mixed into each company, commanded respectively by Lion, Amadis, and other senior knights.
Beta Squad was from the Star Cup Order. Having inexplicably lost contact with them, Lion had to find them and give the Star Cup Order an explanation, both morally and practically.
Otherwise, who would trust the Order?
While searching for Beta Squad, one critical question kept circling in Lion's mind.
What kind of force could make a fully armed knight squad lose contact without warning?
This was the Caliban forest. Most would assume Great Beasts attacked Beta Squad.
These Great Beasts lurking in the forest were indeed Caliban's greatest danger. But the dangers of Caliban weren't just Great Beasts. There were also people.
With a little thought, the possibility of a Great Beast attack seemed low.
Though powerful and fierce, Great Beasts were generally unintelligent.
A pack couldn't conceal itself.
Experienced knights could detect a pack from kilometres away and warn the others.
Even Great Beasts good at hiding and ambushing were usually solitary. They couldn't precisely identify and prioritise the squad leader carrying the communication device, let alone make a trained knight squad lose contact instantly.
As long as one survived, they would find a way to warn the other squads.
Besides, Beta Squad's leader was a rigorously selected senior knight.
By normal combat experience, even if the leader was attacked by a Great Beast, he should have been able to give a warning.
But since it wasn't Great Beasts, it had to be people.
"They've finally shown their hand."
Lion sneered.
In the beast-tide three years ago, Amadis had ventured deep into the forest and personally killed a remnant of the Crimson Saint Order.
Since then, these rats had gone to ground, vanishing completely.
Now, someone suddenly attacks the Order. There was likely a connection!
Bang!
Luther's head snapped up, pinpointing the source of the sound. "Gunfire! It's coming from Beta Squad's last known coordinates!"
"I'll go ahead. You follow as fast as you can!"
Lion's form darted into the forest like a hunting lion. His agile figure disappeared among the dappled shadows after a few bounds, leaving only the rustle of leaves.
As he expected.
Whoever attacked Beta Squad, their numbers couldn't be large, or they couldn't have hidden their tracks.
If they were few, unless they were Primarchs like him, they couldn't eliminate a trained knight squad quickly.
They had cut Beta Squad's communications, probably using some ancient, advanced technology.
But Beta Squad hadn't stopped resisting. Hence the gunfire.
This proved Beta Squad was still holding out. He couldn't waste time.
Bang! Bang!
The dull roar of boltguns echoed through the forest. When Lion rushed towards the sound, he saw three knights in crimson power armour cross-firing on a fleeing knight. His blue armour identified him as a Star Cup knight.
The blue-armoured knight's chainsword was long gone. He occasionally returned fire with a bolt pistol, to little effect.
When Lion saw him, he was just rolling to evade a shot.
The moment Lion appeared, the three red-armoured knights' visors locked onto him.
But their bolt pistols had barely risen an inch, hadn't even turned, before the gleam of a power sword was in their sights.
The disruption field chewed through the knight's ceramite gorget, shredding the armour like paper.
The sound of the blade severing vertebrae was drowned by the gush of blood. Before the headless body could fall, Lion had spun and kicked the second knight's chestplate.
The chestplate caved in, covered in cracks. Ribs shattered, piercing his lungs.
His vision went black behind his helmet. He let out a pained grunt, losing all resistance, and doubled over.
When the last knight charged at Lion, chainsword in hand, Lion's longsword had already predicted his trajectory. It plunged down through the top of his helmet. The disruption field hummed, churning brain tissue into mush that sprayed from the cracks.
To the surviving Star Cup knight, it looked like the knight had impaled himself on Lion's sword.
When he fell, he was a corpse, cut in two messy halves.
A power sword cut through ceramite like mud. The disruption field didn't discriminate. Everything in its area of effect was destroyed.
The knight stood frozen, staring, barely breathing.
Were those knights just... dead?
They were knights!
They wore power armour, not cardboard!
Though a power sword could cut through power armour, a chainsword could also parry one.
These men were at least senior knights, or he wouldn't have been running for his life.
Yet before Lion, they just... died?
Lion turned to the knight. "How many are left?"
The knight finally snapped out of it. He looked up with difficulty. Blood seeped from the cracks in his broken chestplate. "Eight knights in total. All senior knights from the Iron Blood Order. They cut our communications."
His breath was like a bellows. He coughed up blood as he spoke, voice filled with rage. "Cough... Besides me and Brother Solan, the others are dead. Lion... cough... Sir, I'll take you to them."
Lion grabbed his pauldron. "Your wounds are too severe. Stay here. Reinforcements are coming."
"Don't die. The Star Cup Order needs your testimony."