The border of the Tau Empire, the Kru'hi system.

The quiet starry sky was suddenly torn apart.

Warp cracks expanded like festering wounds on the outskirts of the galaxy. Scarlet lightning leaped in the void, burning all the deep space probes deployed by the Tau Empire.

Alarms rang throughout the Tau fleet, and the communication channels were filled with reports from breathless Fire Caste warriors.

"An unknown fleet has emerged! The number - my god, the number is incalculable!"

“It’s a human warship! But this model has never been seen before!”

"They're breaking through orbital defenses—"

The next second, the communication was interrupted.

Not disrupted, not cut off, but the entire Border Patrol fleet was physically wiped out.

The wreckage of three hundred Tau warships floated in space. Their hulls were not destroyed, but torn apart as if by the claws of some giant beast.

The metal at the cross section melted and solidified, forming a hideous claw-like structure. In the surviving escape pod, the Tau pilot looked at the monitor in horror.

A "meteor" is hurtling toward the core of the galaxy.

That's not a meteorite.

It is Lion El'Jonson's flagship, the Unyielding Truth.

The main fleet of the Tau Empire hastily assembled in the orbit of the third planet. The Ether leaders stood on the bridge and tried to calm the panicked crew with the theory of "the greater good".

But when they saw the attacker in full view, all the sounds got stuck in their throats.

To these Tau soldiers, it was not a fleet but a moving mountain of steel.

The Dark Angels' capital ships advanced in a wedge formation, each battleship's armor engraved with Caliban's ancient hunting runes.

On the bow of the leading ship, the "Indomitable Truth", was a hundred-meter-high lion head statue, its eyes emitting a terrifying red light.

"Open fire! Fire across the fleet!" the Tau Admiral gave a desperate order.

The blue light of the pulse cannon cut through the darkness, and ion torpedoes swarmed towards the human fleet. Then -

Hit an invisible wall.

Several think tanks stood on the bridge with one hand extended forward.

His psychic field formed a translucent golden barrier in front of the fleet, and all Tau firepower was annihilated into harmless particles of light the moment it came into contact with the barrier.

The Lion King's pupils were fixed on the Titanium flagship "Light of Supreme Goodness", and a cold arc appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Get ready for boarding."

Ryan's voice fell like a death sentence.

The bridge of a Tau Empire ship named "Light of the Greater Good" suddenly shook violently.

"What's going on?" The Tau Navy commander grabbed the handrail, "Were we hit?"

“No…” the sensor operator’s voice changed tone. “They went right through our shields! Something is—”

The ceiling collapsed.

It was not caused by artillery fire or explosion, but was torn apart by five armored fingers.

The metal was torn apart like tissue paper, revealing a tall figure in a lion's mane cloak behind it.

Lion El'Jonson jumped down from the hole, and the entire battleship sank when he landed.

The Fire Caste warriors' pulse rifles immediately opened fire, and blue energy beams formed a web of death around the Lion King - and then all stopped half a meter in front of him, suspended in mid-air and solidified.

"That's it?"

Ryan raised his hand and waved it, and all the pulse energy rolled back, burning the shooters into charcoal.

His power sword popped out and swept across, cutting the three XV8 Crisis Combat Suits that were rushing up into six pieces along with their mechas and drivers.

Lubricant and blood splattered on the observation windows of the bridge, forming a strange abstract painting.

The T'au Navy commander drew his ceremonial pulse pistol, but before he could take aim he saw the Lion King suddenly appear before him.

It was neither a sprint nor a jump, but a literal "appearance", as if space had lost its meaning in front of him.

Fast, too fast.

"wait--"

Ryan's left hand grabbed the admiral's throat and lifted him into the air.

His right hand was placed on the chest of the Titanium man, and his five fingers slowly tightened.

The composite metal breastplate dented, cracked, and finally shattered like an eggshell.

“You shouldn’t mess with humans.”

Following this whisper, Ryan's right hand completely sank into the body of the Tau man, grabbed the spine and pulled violently -

The entire spine and some of the internal organs were pulled out alive.

The Tau Navy commander's body slumped like a rag doll, and the Lion King had already turned to his next target.

The entire massacre lasted only seventeen minutes.

The Dark Angels' Death Company followed their Primarch through the entire flagship, from the bridge to the engine room, and the path was littered with the mangled bodies of the Tau.

Some of the cabin doors were kicked open, while others were torn open by the Primarch's brute force. Ryan was too lazy to even look for the airlock switch and simply made holes in the battleship's hull with his hands.

In the reactor chamber, the last thirty Fire Caste warriors formed a desperate defense. They leaned against the plasma core, fighting in close combat with their ritual swords when their pulse rifles overheated. Such courage was admirable, but meaningless.

Lion walked towards the barrage, the explosives sparking on his armor but unable to stop him. He grabbed the helmet of the first Tau warrior and crushed his skull; the second was torn in half; the third tried to attack from behind, but was kicked back 20 meters by the Primarch and embedded in the reactor shell.

When the last Fire Caste fell, Lion stood in the center of the pool of blood, stepping over the mutilated body of the Tau Admiral.

He looked out the porthole and saw that the entire Tau fleet in the Kru'hi system was fleeing - or rather, trying to flee.

The Dark Angels' strike cruisers have sealed off all jump routes, and the hunt has only just begun.

"Notice to the entire fleet." Ryan wiped the blue blood off the power claws, "No surrender will be accepted, and no one will be left alive."

He turned and walked toward the airlock, his lion's mane cloak fluttering behind him.

"Next stop, the capital of the Tau Empire."

………………

Deep within the territory of the Tau Empire, inside the core tactical room of the Tau Empire's command ship, the Eye of the Aether.

Yingyang's fingertips gently slid across the holographic projection, and the fluorescent blue light reflected on her calm face.

On the monitor, Lion El'Jonson's fleet was tearing through the border defenses of the Tau Empire like a raging beast, and one spaceship after another was reduced to burning wreckage under the Dark Angels' artillery fire.

"Commander, the Third Patrol Fleet has been completely wiped out." The communications officer's voice was tense, "The human fleet is advancing towards Kru'hi Prime."

Yingyang did not respond immediately. Her eyes were fixed on the tactical star map.

Ryan's fleet was like a sharp knife, piercing straight into the territory of the Tau Empire, destroying all resistance along the way.

This is exactly what she wants.

"Very good." She said softly, with a hint of cold smile on her lips, "Let them go deeper."