Post-Battle Summary

With the Archon of this raiding fleet captured, victory was already assured.

They were nothing more than scattered stragglers struggling uselessly beneath gazes that could pierce straight through them. After the Archon's flight and probing attacks had exhausted the powerful individuals, the ordinary Kabal warriors had no way to contend with the Carcharodons, who had already gained a numerical advantage.

The Xenos' only remaining struggle was to gather their remnants into a single group and attempt to break through the blockade along the main corridors, hoping to return to their cruisers.

Unfortunately, the moment they gathered, they were hemmed in from both directions by an unending barrage of Bolter fire and Lasgun shots.

Karna listened to the ceaseless roar of gunfire and chainsaws, watching one enraged Shark after another charge forward and tear the last enemies to pieces. He had no intention of competing for glory, merely planting his spear—half its blade already missing—into the floor.

He looked at Arthur enviously. Arthur had taken quite a few Disintegrator Cannon shots while cornering the Archon earlier, yet even the paint on that shield had not been scratched.

"Want to take a look?"

Seeing Karna staring fixedly at the sword and shield in his hands, Arthur gripped the sword hilt in reverse.

"Let me see."

Karna's eyes lit up. Just looking at this ridiculously cool set of signature weapons was enough to awaken his collector's itch.

"Then look."

Arthur locked the sword and shield together, planted them on the ground, and struck an extremely cool pose.

"...Do you think you're funny?"

"Shouldn't we relax after the battle?"

"Not a bad joke. Don't tell it again."

Karna pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

"Uh—"

Arthur dropped the pose and held out the sword hilt.

"For you?"

Arthur genuinely did not mind.

"No, no. I was just a little envious after seeing Old Man Gold enchant equipment. I'll try to get one myself if I get the chance."

Karna waved it off casually. He was not about to mooch equipment from a good brother. If he really wanted one, he could simply replicate a set through Soul Materialization; it just would not have the enchantments.

"But clearly, there won't be a chance this time."

"No chance is a good thing."

Arthur nodded sincerely. It was obvious that he was in an excellent mood.

"Yeah. No chance is a good thing."

Karna raised his head.

Around them were chambers that had remained relatively intact. Hundreds of corpses of all kinds lay piled together, blood continuously seeping outward under the weight of the bodies.

The remaining corpses could no longer be gathered up, especially in the chambers Tyberos and Karna had passed through. They could only wait for the Servitors sent by Archmagos Cawl to clean them up slowly.

The Carcharodons' Apothecaries and Librarians counted the spoils taken from the Xenos.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been collecting the bodies of his brothers, recovering their Gene-seed, and tending to the wounded—not standing here like a miser calculating the gains.

But he truly could only calculate the gains here.

Because not a single battle-brother had died.

"We won."

They had won, completely and utterly.

Every enemy had been eliminated, while their own losses stood at zero.

"Thank you for your command, Lord Romulus."

After counting the troops, Tyberos spoke with admiration in his voice. He had never fought such an easy battle.

"Whether it was your command skill or the rich battlefield experience of the lords, I—I am fortunate to fight alongside warriors like you."

Though words of praise like these had never once formed in his mind since he could remember, Tyberos still spoke with complete sincerity.

Not one person had died.

Without the help of these Ancient Warriors, let alone a hundred men, even if the entire Chapter had been thrown into the fight, they could never have achieved such results.

A mere thirty-odd Ancient Warriors had led one hundred and thirty men to such a glorious victory. If there had been ten thousand warriors like them—no, back in the era when the Astartes still belonged to Legions, warriors like them must have been countless.

Longing could not help but fill Tyberos' eyes. In that era when the Emperor still walked among men, what kind of era-defying tidal waves had forged warriors such as these?

Romulus saw that yearning, but he did not respond.

Because he knew his own situation. If he still lost to the enemy in an RTS even with map hacks on, he might as well find somewhere to bury himself.

A poet who lost even with cheats enabled?

"You flatter us,"

Romulus replied modestly.

"The Carcharodons' courage has also left a deep impression on us."

"Compared to you, we are far more immature."

Tyberos' gaze swept across the Imperial Fists warriors. Their once-pristine Power Armor bore varying degrees of damage, and some even had severe penetrating wounds stained with blood.

Meeting their Chapter Master's gaze, the Sharks standing beside them could not help but feel shame from the depths of their hearts.

Especially the three Sharks who had been ambushed while surrounding the Incubus earlier. Looking at the wounds on the Elder's faceplate, even their joy at victory vanished.

They had clearly entered the battlefield of glory alongside the Elder, yet the Elder had been injured protecting them, even risking death on that dangerous battlefield.

They were warriors tempered by countless wars, yet on the battlefield they had been like children sheltered in swaddling clothes.

"The Carcharodons are clear in reward and punishment," Tyberos said coldly.

Every Shark who heard him nodded solemnly. Once they returned to the Chapter, they would undergo new trials to prove that they were still qualified to remain and fight in their companies.

Romulus moved his lips, unsure how to defuse the situation. After all, he could not gauge the significance of a Chapter's internal culture to its members. Making a rash decision would likely produce an outcome that made everyone unhappy.

Of course, he had studied Shark culture. For special reasons, they cherished the Chapter's established fighting strength.

Even Chief Librarian Kahurangi, the brother who had lost the Void Glass, had been allowed to live after offering a reasonable explanation and had set out to recover the Emperor's Relic. There was no need to worry about them doing something absurd, like a ten-draw, one-kill stunt.

At least no one had died.

Romulus shook his head and thought optimistically, then continued with his post-battle summary.

This battle had basically allowed him to judge his ability to handle a real battlefield. The only shortcoming was that he had used map hacks to some extent, so its reference value was somewhat lacking.

Of course, cheating was also part of one's strength. Even the Chaos Gods cheated, so there was no reason they could not.

No matter how outrageous he was, he would not keep hiding things while a group of people were risking their lives alongside him. That would truly make him unworthy of the trust the Sharks had placed in him by entrusting their lives to him.

The second matter was the battlefield data recorded this time.

Romulus consolidated the combat data of each participant, packaged it together, and entered it into the interface he had already altered beyond recognition.