Emperor's Bane

Chapter 929 Tooth for Tooth

Chapter 929 Tooth for Tooth
"boom!"

The sound of someone's fist pounding on the wall awakened the sleeping Lemanrus.

King Fenris blinked, and in the next moment he regained his senses. Then, he spent a second recalling what had happened.

Gathering, setting out on an expedition, encountering the enemy, fighting, fighting to the death, and failing at the last minute.

Well, to say that he failed at the last minute is a bit of self-deception on the part of the person involved: in reality, he was still a long way from actually reaching Horus, and judging from the development of the situation, it was also a distance that was almost impossible to cross.

Even if it meant risking his entire army.

Lemanrus sat up straight. The pain from the battle and the sluggish feeling from the forced jump only belatedly began to assault his brain at this moment. He scratched his hair, which was already a tangled mess, and breathed in the cold air with his wolf-like canines: he needed to get over the previous battle as soon as possible.

No matter how devastating the failure, it doesn't matter.

He still has an army to command. He also has a group of offspring to take care of.

He still has a war to fight.

The Warlord may have defeated the Space Wolves, but he's still a long way from crushing Ruth's pack.

Moreover, behind him, the Imperial Fist and Holy Terra must have already received the message: the true power of the Highlord Council will soon be mobilized. In the face of the Imperial Fist and Terran army, which are armed to the teeth, Horus's current victory is nothing but a drop in the ocean. He has not even obtained one percent of the victory puzzle.

Even if he conquers Fenris tomorrow, he will only have barely obtained that one percent.

This is not Ruth belittling himself, but rather that he understands Rogdorn better than anyone else, or rather, the terror of the defensive line he built.

From the very first day that Rogdorn received the honor that the entire galaxy envied from the Emperor and officially took office as the Royal Guard of Terra, the Lord of the Imperial Fist has devoted the rest of his life to only one thing: to build Holy Terra and every region of space around it into an inescapable net that can withstand an attack from the entire galaxy.

That's right: the entire galaxy.

Even though he didn't believe all his brothers could become enemies of the Emperor and the Empire, when he actually began to construct the defenses, Dorne's hypothetical enemy was always the most powerful one he envisioned: the entire Empire had been swept up by a wave of traitors, and Terra had to hold on by its own and wait for a turning point.

And he did indeed work towards this goal.

Although Lemanrus, a Primarch who greatly admired large-scale offensive warfare, was completely ignorant of prolonged defensive operations, the Fenris still came to a firm conclusion after Dorne allowed him to inspect several fortresses that served as nodes.

Dorn was not lying.

His defenses can indeed do this: block malice from all over the galaxy.

Terra's defenses are perfect, but there is one shortcoming.

That means it wasn't finished being repaired.

Even Ruth could see this: although Dorn had tried his best to make up for it, the joints and details of many defensive lines were still not perfect. After Holy Terra invested a huge amount of resources into that unspeakable project, the Lord of the Fist of the Emperor did not have enough resources to fulfill his ambitions. His defensive lines could not extend to the positions he had envisioned, which greatly weakened Terra's strategic depth.

Rogdorn's grand ambitions were ultimately only about 70% complete.

The defenses around Terra are impeccable, and the three major directions of northeast, east, and south, which are used to counter Horus and the main forces of the allies, are almost perfect. Although the western defense line used to defend against Rhoga has many flaws, it is still generally reassuring. The real problem lies in the northern defense line facing the Dark Angels, and the area between the two most important strategic strongholds, Holy Terra and Betangamon, which is so open that it is almost impossible to defend it completely.

This area is heavily exploited by Terra, and Horus has countless potential supporters. The number of fortress locations that Dorne can trust is dwindling, and the few heavily guarded areas do not form a cohesive network. Warmasters can easily send fleets to infiltrate these areas at will.

However, Betangamon, located on the other side of this disaster zone, is a strategic priority that cannot be easily abandoned. Maintaining the supply line between Holy Terra and Betangamon is one of Dorn's most important military tasks: the Lord of the Fist can only place his hopes on his fleet, hoping that they can at least retain control of part of the sea.

But Ruth believed that doing so would pose significant risks.

I'm afraid something bad will happen.

"..."

No, probably not.

If even Ruth could realize this problem, Dorn must have noticed it long ago as well.

He will definitely find a way.

The Fenris exhaled a breath of stale air, temporarily releasing the frustration and depression in his heart. He decided not to think about these headache-inducing things, and instead stood up and stepped off his stone bed. After casually dismissing the servant who was about to come up to check, the Primarch's attention was immediately drawn to the noise outside the door.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sound to pinpoint its location.

This is his lounge. Just outside the door is the main conference room on the entire Herakfin, where he and his Wolf Lords discuss the battle situation. And now, just by the roar of the power armor, he can tell that there are no fewer than twenty people in the conference room: the Mark IV power armor is never known for its quietness.

The Wolf King did not immediately push open the door and leave. Instead, he calmly discerned the various sounds of arguing and breathing that he heard. Apart from the dozen or so silent guards, Lemanrus quickly identified several wolf lords he knew: their numbers were different from those before the battle, but not by much. It seemed that only a small number of people were missing.

This made Yuan Chong breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Perhaps the others haven't made it back yet.

With the last lingering unease in his heart dissipating, Lemanrus immediately pushed open the door in front of him.

He spotted his wolf lords at a glance.

Although theoretically this is one of the most important locations on the Herakfin, the space wolves have never been interested in excessive decoration. The few decorations are nothing more than animal bones and wood and stone sculptures on the walls. The center of the hall is even more terrifyingly empty, except for a large planet projector that is comparable to the Fearless, and the wolf lords standing around a rough stone table.

No one was in good condition. The shame of defeat was still etched on their damaged armor. A strong smell of promethium fuel filled the room. Before the wolf guards at the door stood at attention and saluted, the wolf lords of Dalian had already spotted their original bodies. They suppressed their excitement at rushing over and greeted Russ.

The Primarch nodded and looked around.

Then, to his dismay, he discovered that among the missing voices was Company Commander Gonhild: the man he had envisioned taking over command of the legion from him.

No wonder the wolf lords are arguing endlessly.

"Where is Ganhild?"

Without time to think it through, Ruth asked the question directly.

He hoped he was just overthinking things: perhaps the Ragnarok simply hadn't had time to get there yet.

But the wolf lords' hesitation shattered his optimism.

After looking at each other in bewilderment, it was finally Homir, the wolf lord of the second largest city, who stepped forward.

"We have not yet received any information from the Ragnarok or its subordinate warships."

"Some of the warships from the First Dalian have successfully rejoined us in the past few days, but they did not fight alongside the Ragnarok in the previous battles, and..."

"And what?"

The Primarch walked to the table, and the Wolf Lord made room for him.

Next to answer was Wolf Lord Skarsen.

"Moreover, during the retreat, my escort ships observed the Ragnarok in Gonhildr: they discovered that the ship had not activated warp."

“Ganghild... may refuse to retreat.”

"It could also be to buy us time."

The wolf king nodded, surprised even himself at how calm he could remain.

"Someone always has to cover the rear."

After he finished speaking, a deathly silence fell around the entire round stone.

It was Ruth who broke the silence.

Tell me: how much more damage is still involved?

"An accurate estimate is not possible until the fleet is fully assembled."

Wolf Lord Skarsen pointed to the star map.

"But the confirmed losses are as follows: the Nidhogg was witnessed to have suffered a devastating destruction; the Frey Goddess was torn to pieces by an internal explosion; the Winter King and Fenrir's Fang had already lost their ability to continue operating in the initial battle, and they refused to retreat, sending their last words on the public channel. The Vanaheim Crown made the same choice as them."

They were all battleships.

Ruth nodded.

"Anymore?"

"I witnessed the Managarm being sunk by that unidentified giant warship."

"And then there's the Fafnir, which sank a battleship and three cruisers before it died."

"Ms. Fafner's ship, right?"

The wolf king clearly remembered this.

"We have lost our best mortal captain."

"In addition, we also lost two sister ships, the Frost Giant and the Flame Giant. The Thor's Hammer has not been able to send any communications. The last message from the Kraken Calamity was that it was resisting the boarding of the Shadowmoon Wolves. These are only the battleships that can be confirmed to have been sunk so far. As for cruisers and smaller ships, there are many more."

"But the worst thing is..."

Lord Homir paused.

"Before the Tom warped away, it was certain that it saw the Eisrumnil, the Bloodhowl Wolf Lord of Jorin, and the other ships of the Thirteenth Company, entering the Giant System through Mandeville Point. They almost collided head-on with the Shadowmoon Wolf Fleet, which was ten times their size, and Jorin did not seem to have any intention of retreating."

"..."

Upon hearing this news, Lemanrus unconsciously clenched his fists behind his back.

He breathed heavily, and deep blue veins bulged on his ten rough fingers. The wolf lord and his slaves dared not even breathe, waiting in awe for Fenris, the lord who had just lost his best brother, to emerge from his grief.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long.

A few seconds later, all the anger in Lemanrus's chest dissipated into the cold air of the Herakfin with a smile or a sigh.

"Ok."

“At least I should be thankful that my brother Horus will grant them a glorious death.”

"Their remains will be properly disposed of."

“I know him: he will do it.”

The wolf king lowered his eyelids, and no one knew what he was thinking during those few silent minutes.

Until the Primarch spoke again.

"Anything else: Are there any further losses?"

Just as the wolf lords around him were hesitating over this ambiguous question, Lemanrus waved his hand somewhat irritably.

"never mind."

"Just tell me: how many ships do we have left?"

"Three hundred ships are currently gathering in the galaxy."

"In addition, there are more than 100 other ships that have established stable contact with us, but they will need time to arrive."

"The rest... we can't contact them anymore."

The wolf king nodded.

"I remember I brought more than a thousand warships with me in total."

"In other words, we suffered more than 60% losses in the battle against the Shadowmoon Wolves?"

"Maybe not that many."

Scarin Wolf Lord's voice sounded very weak.

"They just haven't had a chance to contact me yet."

"You don't need to comfort me."

Ruth shook his head.

"We lost at least two hundred warships in the very first battle, and we paid a similar price to get me to Horus. In addition, there were more than a hundred ships in Jorin Bloodhowl's fleet. I believe you know the nature of those werewolves; they will not retreat. And there are those who are willing to stay behind to cover the rear: six hundred ships is just a conservative estimate."

"In any case, this is a crushing defeat."

The Primarch's confidants fell silent: as they processed the grief, they pondered the same question: what should they do next?
Revenge, retreat, or hold out?

The Sixth Army Corps is running out of resources, and the road ahead for them will not be wide.

"What about the other companies?"

A few minutes later, Ruth spoke again.

"Blackmane, Son of Mokai, and Dragon Slayer: Have these Dalians made contact with us?"

This is the issue that the Primarch is most concerned about right now.

From the day it was founded, the Sixth Legion has maintained a structure of thirteen companies without change, and it remains so to this day. Among them, the Fenris Champion Company is stationed in Betangamon and is basically unable to participate in the Legion's battles. Therefore, Lemanrus can only mobilize a maximum of twelve Fenris warriors.

King Fenris originally intended to lead all twelve of the Great Companies into the war against the Warlords, but due to a series of coincidences and unforeseen events, only nine of the Great Companies ultimately participated in the battle in the Giants Galaxy. Now, they have lost their thirteenth Great Company forever in that damned place, and the remaining eight Great Companies have all suffered more than half their losses, severely weakened: neither the number of warriors nor the number of warships will be able to recover to their full strength in the short term.

In this context, the condition of the three Dalians that missed the war becomes particularly important. If they still maintain their intact organization, then Lemanrus is not without the confidence to fight another war: considering that only a few days have passed since the battle in the Giant Galaxy, they can definitely catch the War General off guard.

Here, King Fenris turned his gaze eagerly to his wolf lords, and soon he received a definite answer from Lord Homir: No words were needed; simply seeing the joy in Homir's eyes, Lemanrus couldn't help but grin. Excellent.

There does look like there's some good news.

“We have successfully made contact with the three major cities: Blackmane, Son of Mokai, and Dragon Slayer: just a few hours ago.”

The wolf master even added a sentence.

"This time, to ensure safety, we had a direct conversation with the three 'wolf lords' from Dalian via projector."

"that's right."

The Primarch rubbed his forehead in frustration: his recklessness in the Bloodworm Vanguard incident, while not the direct cause of the Sixth Legion's defeat in the Werewolf War, was still a factor that could not be ignored.

However, reason told him that he couldn't possibly see through the deception. The person who stood on the other end of the communicator and spoke to him personally, and who let out that wolf howl that even he admired, could not have been anyone else but his brother, whom Alpharis called a traitor: the blood relative that Hydra had been hiding all along.

He would undoubtedly be the most skilled fraudster.

Ruth even had a thought: that the tragic development of the Terra crisis was also orchestrated by this person.

"How are they? Can they get here and join us now?"

Ruth looked at the star map, trying his best to ignore the areas that had already been annexed by the War Generals, and instead focused his attention on the dangerous areas that they could still influence. At the same time, he was calculating all sorts of data and units in his mind: the troops he could mobilize, the allies he could temporarily trust, the transportation hubs he could safely pass through, and the new goals he could achieve.

"The situation in Blackmane Dalian is pretty much what we initially expected. They did indeed clash with Shadowmoon Wolves right when the war broke out, and they were defeated. Company Commander Heimdall remembers that the Bloodworm Vanguard was captured alive by the enemy in that naval battle. It was directly landed by an opponent that was stronger than we could have imagined, and all the people on board were killed before they could destroy the ship themselves."

"Blackmane Dalian was forced to retreat, so they couldn't contact us in time, but they also escaped the pursuit of Shadowmoon Wolves and were able to keep tracking them: Heimdall Wolf Lord sent back accurate information that Horus's main force is still in the space region of the Giants system and has not had time to go deeper."

"Is this so..."

Ruth nodded.

He assessed the distance between the Giants Galaxy and the Wolf Pack's new rendezvous point on the star map: in the short term, the Warmaster's main fleet indeed posed no threat to them.

"And what about Mokai's son?"

"They also ran head-on into the Shadowmoon Wolves' fleet at the very beginning of the war, but unlike Blackmane Dalian, they did not encounter the Warmaster's main force, but rather a task force that attacked Fenris from the flank: the Sons of Mokai spotted the opportunity earlier than their opponents, and they successfully launched a surprise attack on the Shadowmoon Wolves' squadron. Although they failed to break through, the Shadowmoon Wolves had to retreat first, and there was no threat of them returning in the short term."

After speaking, the Wolf Lord marked the star system where the Sons of Mokai had achieved victory. The Primarch examined it closely and found that what his subordinates had said was true. This was indeed a very suitable route to directly attack the Fenris system. However, the only problem was that this place was far away from the Warmaster's main force, and it was destined that the main force could not be reinforced in time.

This is unreasonable. If Horus did not want his detachment to become a dead end, he would have advanced quickly after the victory, instead of gathering troops and reorganizing the army as he is now. The warlord would certainly have other cards to play in this move.

"They cannot be alone."

The Primarch made the decision.

"There's at least another fleet: what news have our reconnaissance teams sent out received?"

"This is what we have to say, sir."

Skarsen the Wolf Lord leaned forward.

"The last Dalian that contacted us, the Dragon Slayer Dalian, sent me a very shocking message: they were quite certain that the Belis naval base behind Fenris had sided with the rebels, Admiral Asir was missing, and the base's chief of staff, Pickman, had led at least six hundred ships of various sizes to join the Shepherd God's forces."

"That naval base directly under Terra's control?"

"Yes."

Skarsen nodded.

"Strangely enough, Dragon Slayer Dalian was not initially aware of the rebellion in the Beliss Sector until a letter with its source completely erased was directly transmitted to the Wolf Lord's highest-level communication network, informing him of the rebellion in the entire naval base. At the same time, Dragon Slayer Dalian also received a very detailed route of advance: it was the reinforcements sent by the War Marshal to the rebellious naval base."

"It is understood that the actual leader of this reinforcement force is most likely Asimand, known as Little Horus. His fleet flagship is the Glory Queen-class Tyrant. Little Horus has now joined forces with the rebel fleet led by Pickman. They have more than a thousand warships and are planning to cut off our retreat from the Fenris system by attacking us while we are withdrawing to Fenris."

“Mark their whereabouts.”

Lemanrus's request was fulfilled, and when the thick red line representing the main force of Horus, the thin red line representing the fleet of Lesser Horus, the support fleet that was blocked by the Sons of Morkai, the Fenris system, and the system where the Wolf Pack was currently located were marked one by one on this meticulously detailed star map, the Primarch instantly understood the connection between them.

"Everything makes sense now."

Ruth nodded and pointed to the star map.

"look here."

He pointed to Fenris.

"If the timing is correct, when I lead all my troops to confront the Wolf God head-on, Horus's fleet will pass through the already betrayed Belis sector, join the traitors' fleet, and take the opportunity to attack Fenris from the rear, where the defenses are extremely weak."

"At that time, they will also receive support from the squadron that was repelled by the Son of Mokai, forming a large fleet capable of confronting us head-on. Just imagine, when we withdraw from the battlefield and hear that Fenris has fallen, rushing back to its rescue, they will hold us back and then attack us from both sides with the War General. That will be an even more thorough and devastating defeat than the previous defeat in the Giants Galaxy."

"Horus will solve our problem once and for all."

"But he hasn't done that yet."

Skarsen the Wolf Lord raised an objection.

"Of course not. The damage we caused in the Giant Galaxy was greater than he imagined. At least he certainly didn't intend to commit that giant warship at first. Moreover, the reinforcement fleet was also repelled by the Son of Mokai. That's why the War General's main force abandoned the plan to advance directly and chose to stop and rest after the war."

"But there's one more problem."

Lord Homir also pointed to Fenris.

"According to our observations, although the War General's main fleet and sub-fleets seem to have abandoned the plan, Horus's fleet has not retreated. They are still stationed very close to the Fenris system, and it seems they are planning to launch an attack on our home planet. I don't know if they are extremely confident in their own strength, or if they simply do not know that Horus's plan has failed?"

"It should be the former."

Skarsen put forward his idea.

"The source who informed us of the location of the Little Horus fleet's advance route later sent us several messages using Terra's official code: among them was that he had disrupted the Little Horus fleet's external communications to ensure they could not receive accurate intelligence, and he also reported a weakness of the Little Horus fleet."

"Due to an underestimation of the enemy's strength, about fourteen hours ago, Horus Jr. split his fleet in two to attack two targets simultaneously: he now has only about four hundred to five hundred warships with him, while the other fleet, even at the fastest speed, would need at least thirty hours to return to support him in time."

"An unknown source?"

Leman Russ stroked his chin.

Is it reliable?

“We tried to reply to them, but they just sent us a picture.”

"The content... is very strange."

"show me."

The wolf king stretched out his hand.

And then he got... a painting?

Confused, Lemanrus glanced at it casually, then froze on the spot.

The Fenris's first reaction was that the painting was poorly done, looking like a rough sketch made by a three-year-old child based on his imagination, with some adult-made spoofs. But when the Primarch saw the contents of the painting carefully, Lemanrus's mind went completely blank.

It's a very simple drawing.

The painter first drew a large gate, exaggerating its height and size. Although the lines were blurred to a certain extent, Rus could still tell at a glance that it was the gate of the Terra Palace. In front of the gate stood a statue, which, although also drawn hastily, was instantly identified by the haphazardly applied black paint and the wide, large winged helmet as a statue of a dark angel.

well.

In front of Terra Palace.

A statue of a dark angel?
"..."

"Ah!"

The Primarch grinned and laughed.

This was the first time Lemanrus had genuinely laughed since the previous battle ended.

Amidst the somewhat surprised gazes of his offspring, the wolf king involuntarily cursed his brothers in his mind.

AlphaRice, you bastard.

It was somewhat useful after all.

If you don't produce some results soon, I'll think you've been ripped off by Omiru.

Ruth shook his head, no longer doubting the authenticity of the information in his hand.

Indeed, Omega is an intelligence master on par with Alpharis. Theoretically speaking, anything Alpharis can do, Omega can do too, and even better: just like now, at least in this round of struggle between Horus and Lemanrus, Omega has surpassed Alpharis in terms of intelligence.

The reason is also very simple.

For now, in the struggle between Holy Terra and Horus, Alpharis has chosen the former, while Omega has chosen the latter. However, because the interests of Holy Terra affect the entire galaxy, Alpharis has to devote most of his energy to major and minor affairs throughout the galaxy. Even though he later shifted his main focus to Horus, achieving results in a short period of time remains difficult.

Omeru, who supports the Warmaster, has a simpler reason: Horus's goal is only to overthrow Terra's rule, and Terra's controlled territory is, frankly, only so big. Omeru can invest similar experience and abilities as Alpharis in an object with a much smaller goal: this extreme inequality will naturally lead to a huge difference in results.

But now it seems that Alpharez is not without a fighting chance in this shadowy brotherly battle; he has successfully created an opportunity for Russ.

Ruth is exactly missing such an opportunity.

"This intelligence is true."

Carefully placing the painting down, Lemanrus looked around at the wolf lords surrounding him: the losses to the legion from the previous defeat were still fresh in his mind, and of the nine wolf lords who had recently followed King Fenris on his expedition to the Giants Galaxy, only five remained.

However, such a huge loss did not extinguish the fury in the wolves' eyes.

Before Russ regained consciousness, the Wolf Lords had already analyzed the intelligence. Anyone could see that it contained a golden opportunity: the main force of the Wolf God was too far away to reach them. Before they could launch a new round of attacks, the Space Wolves, which had already quickly assembled, could immediately rush to Fenris and crush the unsuspecting Little Horus fleet.

This is a victory that will make the Wolf God feel the pinch.

No one could remain unmoved by this. The Wolf Lords were only debating the veracity of this intelligence. Now that the Primarch had personally confirmed its authenticity, there was no need to say more: Lemanrus carefully looked into the eyes of each of his offspring and was pleased with what he saw.

It was anger, it was joy, it was the madness of wanting to take revenge and drink the blood of the enemy.

There was no fear or retreat.

The defeat did not break Russ's wolf pack; in fact, their morale is now higher than before the battle began.

That saved him a lot of trouble.

The wolf king chuckled and slammed his fist on the table.

"do you know?"

He spoke to his pack of wolves.

"I'm so glad I listened to Morgan and Dorn and didn't put all my hopes on one victory."

"Therefore, I made ample preparations."

“I designed a complex rune system and ordered that each large ship be equipped with at least one rune priest and a complete rune array: this allows us to evacuate our forces in time after a defeat, and because the purpose of the rune teleportation array is fixed, it also allows us to assemble the fleet more quickly.”

"This gives us an advantage."

"Our fleet has assembled, and the three scattered Dalian fleets will soon join us. Our enemies are unaware of our location and movements: they are planning to extend their claws into our home planet, but they do not know that the wolves trapped in their den are the most ferocious, because they know very well that they have nowhere to retreat."

"Victory or death."

A wild light burned in Ruth's eyes.

He paused deliberately for a moment, until the flames in each wolf lord's eyes were just right, before continuing.

"Now, my hunting pack."

"Go and notify all ship captains to mobilize the fleet."

"I don't want to hear about the difficulties, and I don't want to know how many more people they need to get them to full capacity."

"As long as they can still fight and want to fight, then let them bring their men and come with me."

“Let’s go back to Fenris.”

"We will go and destroy the warlord's army and his ships."

"Make Horus understand."

"War is not child's play."

"He could certainly harbor a naive fantasy and plunge the entire galaxy back into war."