“Primarch, thank you for your guidance.”
The magnificent corridor aboard Invincible Reason, packed with Space Marines, fell silent for a moment before one of the warriors at the front stepped forward.
“Name.”
“I am the Captain of the First Company of the First Legion—”
Bang!
Before the proud captain could even finish introducing himself, Lion El’Jonson’s uppercut slammed into the underside of his helmet.
Caught completely off guard, he stiffened and collapsed to the deck, unconscious.
“Next.”
Lion El’Jonson’s expression remained cold, as though nothing had happened.
A sneak attack!
The First Legion immediately erupted in outrage.
This was outrageous!
Attacking someone while he was still introducing himself—what kind of duel was that?
Weren’t duels supposed to take place in the training cages?
Seriously?
What kind of skill was there in a sneak attack?
“My Lady!
You may not yet be familiar with the Legion’s regulations.”
Another Space Marine hurried forward to explain.
“Our duels are normally held in—”
Bang!
He received a punch as well.
“I can understand why he was knocked down by my punch.”
Lion El’Jonson looked disdainfully at the two warriors lying on the floor.
“But you knew I might attack without warning.
Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
“Next.”
After seeing what had happened to the first two, the warriors of the First Legion suddenly became very quiet.
Their Primarch’s style of dueling was simply too strange.
If this had been a normal duel, the proud warriors of the First Legion would have eagerly stepped forward to test themselves against her.
But Lion El’Jonson’s methods were clearly anything but normal.
No one had expected such shameless tactics from their own Primarch.
She was already stronger than any Space Marine, yet she still fought like this?
“What?”
Lion looked across the silent formation.
“Are you afraid to step forward?”
“Name.”
“Astelan.
Chapter Master Astelan of the First Legion, my Lady.”
As he spoke, Astelan deliberately lowered his center of gravity, clearly prepared to avoid the same fate as the previous two.
“Good, Astelan.
Lead the way.”
“Yes.”
The instant he turned to walk toward the training area, Lion El’Jonson’s fist was already flying toward his back.
—You actually turned your back just because I told you to?
Snap!
This time, however, the prepared Chapter Master spun around and raised both arms to block.
Then he staggered backward. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Even though Lion hadn’t used her full strength, the force behind her punch was still far beyond what a single Space Marine could comfortably withstand.
“Better.”
Lion gave him a flat evaluation.
Then her other hand struck the exposed side of his shoulder.
Crack.
Even his heavy armour couldn’t fully absorb the impact.
A moment later, Astelan was sent flying.
“But not good enough.”
“Next.”
…
“Primarch, please instruct me!”
“Next.”
“I’ll do it!”
“Next.”
“Is it my turn—”
“Next.”
…
Their first real meeting with the Primarch aboard Invincible Reason…
Was exhausting.
She was monstrously strong.
And no matter how hard they fought, they couldn’t win.
After a series of not particularly long fights, Lion El’Jonson had beaten nearly every notable warrior present—from senior officers and Chapter Masters to captains and company champions.
No one escaped.
Even when she stopped relying on surprise attacks, she could still knock down heavily armoured Space Marines with ease.
What should you do if your Legion refuses to listen?
Beat them.
One thorough beating would make the entire Legion understand her strength, curb their arrogance, and establish the Primarch’s authority.
Surely that was why Lion El’Jonson had decided to challenge so many of them at once.
—No.
Actually, that wasn’t it.
She simply wanted to hit something.
Merlin watched Lion El’Jonson from a short distance away.
Judging from her calm expression, she was definitely enjoying herself.
And that was indeed the truth.
Lion quietly exhaled.
So satisfying.
Ever since the campaign against the Knights of Lupus ended, followed by the Emperor arriving on Caliban and getting involved with her Wizard, she hadn’t felt this refreshed in a long time.
Of course, she could normally hit Merlin whenever he annoyed her…
But Merlin was simply too weak.
She had to use almost no strength at all.
Otherwise, his head really might go flying.
Whenever they roughhoused, she had to be careful.
Then even more careful.
These Space Marines were different.
They were tough, heavily armoured, and could actually survive being hit properly.
Lion could finally let herself enjoy the fight.
And so what if the warriors of the First Legion were her genetic offspring?
That only made it easier to hit them without feeling guilty.
forgive my bluntness, but this isn’t fair.”
Naturally, the people being beaten were considerably less happy about the situation.
One of the Space Marines spoke from among the groaning warriors.
From the perspective of the First Legion, being beaten so thoroughly by such a small Primarch was humiliating.
“Fair?”
Lion raised an eyebrow.
“What exactly do you expect?”
“Do you think your enemies will prepare an arena for you, wait politely for you to arrive, and arrange the finest dueling cage before the battle begins?”
“And then, once you defeat them, they’ll conveniently kill themselves for you?”
“Is that your understanding of war?”
“No, my Lady…
we only meant that the duel itself could be somewhat fair.”
“There is no fairness.”
Lion El’Jonson cut him off.
“There never has been.”
“What holds you back isn’t weakness.”
“It’s arrogance.”
“From the moment I arrived in the forests of Caliban, I had to fight Great Beasts simply to survive.”
“The Great Beasts never politely challenged me to fair duels.”
“And the enemies we face during the Great Crusade will be no different.
They will fight to kill you.”
Lion El’Jonson’s fighting style had never been designed for honorable contests.
Every movement she knew had been learned through years of life-or-death combat.
“If you become Space Marines and still cling to childish fantasies about fair combat, then in real wars you will be ambushed again and again.”
“And every time, you’ll complain that your enemy didn’t follow the rules.”
Even the previously dissatisfied Space Marine became quieter after hearing that.
“I could feel it from the moment you first saw me.”
Lion’s gaze swept across the assembled Legionaries.
“The arrogance and prejudice in your hearts had already reduced me to some useless figurehead before I even spoke.”
She understood what they had thought when they first saw her.
Disappointment.
Lion El’Jonson was nothing like the Primarch they had imagined.
Even if their Primarch was a woman, they had probably expected some towering, massively built warrior.
Instead, they had been presented with someone small enough that many of them had to look down just to meet her eyes.
And now they were expected to call this woman their Primarch—the source of their own gene-seed.
Many of the Terran veterans clearly weren’t pleased with that idea.
“I understand your distrust.”
“If you dislike my height, my behavior, or the way I command, I don’t care.”
Lion’s eyes moved slowly across the warriors before her.
“But there is one thing you must understand.”
“The First Legion has no secrets.”
“If you have a grievance…”
She rested a hand on her sword.
“Settle it with a duel.”
It really helps the fic grow!