The true strength of the "Shadow of Order" could not be concealed.

No One Knew How Much Longer It Could Be Maintained

979.M30.

Shadow of the Throne, Primarch's office.

Arsena Dunn held a data slate in his arms and reported to the Black Emperor, who leaned back against The Throne.

"My lord, I have compiled the losses of the four battalions that took part in the war. In the war against the Dacinta Smart Machines, the Legion lost a total of 5,249 dead."

"Among them, the 10th Battalion suffered the heaviest casualties, at 3,481."

Nimrod nodded slightly. Though he did not know what casualties the "Luna Wolves" had suffered in the war to destroy the Dacinta Smart Machines, when Garviel Loken mentioned it to the Remembrancer Mesati, the description he had used was:

"After a long and arduous struggle, all the Smart Machines were destroyed, thanks to the priceless skill of the Adeptus Mechanicus."

From this, Nimrod inferred that the "Luna Wolves" casualties would not have been lower than five thousand.

I won this war without help from the Tech-priests.

Because of that, I obtained a Great Machine Lord, thirty-two Overseers, and eleven thousand six hundred and fifty Smart Machines.

If the Tech-priests had participated, they would certainly have destroyed the abominable AI that violated the Crimson Protocol.

He gathered his thoughts and ordered, "Report to the War Council that we destroyed a Smart Machine civilization on Dacinta, with 30,840 dead."

"My lord..." The Primarch's Attendant hesitated slightly. "Will that number arouse suspicion?"

As the false reports continued to pile up, the "Shadow of Order" was visibly declining in the eyes of the various Imperial factions.

In the 900th year, the Legion had already been close to 280,000 strong, at least 100,000 more than the second-largest Legion at the time, the "Dark Angels," and 120,000 more than the 160,000-strong "Ultramarines," the third-largest