Humanity had lived inside the cave called Terra for tens of millions of years.
From the moment mankind first timidly stepped out of that cave until its footprints spread across the entire world took tens of thousands of years.
Even after enduring countless millennia of hardship, with powerful enemies beyond and the rebellion of the Men of Iron within, human civilization had always stood at the pinnacle of the world.
Yet it took only an instant for humanity to be driven back into the cave.
When the Warp storms swept across the galaxy, human civilization shattered overnight, falling from the rulers of the stars back into primitive cave dwellers. That was the truth.
Lion said, "I have to admit, your understanding of the world has exceeded my expectations."
Sartana let out a cold snort, "And who do you think I am?"
Unlike the Order, which had existed for only a few decades, the Wolf Order was the oldest knightly order on Caliban, its history tracing back to humanity's first colonization of the world during the Golden Age.
Their preservation and inheritance of knowledge far surpassed that of any other knightly order.
Even after thousands of years, though they had long since lost the wings that once carried them through the stars, they still remembered that they had come from the galaxy beyond.
That alone was remarkable.
To the rest of Caliban, Terra was nothing more than an ancient legend.
No one truly cared.
But to Sartana, that was precisely the honor he took pride in and had devoted his life to preserving.
Lion's voice was as resolute as bedrock, "Humanity will never repeat that mistake."
"We will never retreat back into the cave."
"We will lead mankind toward a future more glorious than anything that has come before."
Sartana's voice carried a grave warning, "Perhaps humanity won't return to the cave."
"Because your reckless exploration will destroy the cave itself and mankind will reach a dead end."
Lion said, "If the cave is destined to collapse, if civilization is destined to fall, then cowering in its shadows in an attempt to escape the end is the greatest folly of all."
"Leaving the cave is precisely how humanity earns its final chance for survival before that inevitable destruction."
"It is burning our bridges."
"It is a battle with our backs against the river."
"But it is not a dead end."
Sartana smile, "It seems neither of us can convince the other."
"Though I still don't agree with you"
"I acknowledge you now Lion El'Jonson."
Sartana set down his quill and gently traced his fingers across the yellowed scroll.
"After I die, I wonder whether this library will be properly preserved."
Lion's gaze swept across the towering bookshelves.
"I'll personally examine every volume."
"Any texts related to corruption must be destroyed."
Sartana frowned, "They're merely knowledge that we've collected. Yet you call them corruption but if we know nothing about it. How are we supposed to fight it?"
Lion replied calmly. "But have you ever considered.... that when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back?"
"We've never fallen into the abyss!"
Lion said, "Perhaps you don't feel as though you've fallen, but the abyss is capable of climbing upward."
Sartana retorted, "Knowledge is not a crime. Ignorance is the greatest danger."
Lion nodded, "It seems we still can't persuade each other."
"I suppose not."
Sartana smiled as he calmly placed the scroll back onto the shelf.
Clang!
He slowly drew the sword at his waist.
Then, almost casually, he asked, "I'm already one foot in the grave."
"Will you grant this old man three free strikes?"
Lion answered without hesitation, "I wouldn't grant them even if you were a beast."
"I'll fight you with everything I have."
Sartana let out a disdainful laugh, "Young people these days truly have no manners."
"Didn't your father ever teach you to respect your elders?"
Lion's gaze sharpened into a blade, "If I had no manners, I wouldn't have waited for you this long."
"Take those words back."
Sartana shrugged.
Unexpectedly, he yielded immediately.
"Fair enough."
"I apologize to your father."
"I accept your apology on my father's behalf."
Sartana smiled, "Then let's begin."
"Would you like to count us down?"
"No."
The word had barely left Lion's lips
When Sartana exploded forward like lightning.
'All warfare is based on deception, boy!'
Sartana sneered inwardly.
His strike was as fast as lightning itself.
He was confident that even the most seasoned knight would never evade it.
Then his vision suddenly spun.
Within the remnants of his fading consciousness he saw Lion standing firm as a mountain.
Only the Primarch's cloak fluttered violently.
A headless body still maintained the posture of delivering its sword strike.
His own gaze finally settled upon the Lion's bloodstained boots.
'When had he drawn his sword?'
'Too fast, far too fast.'
'Impossible to follow.'
Sartana's life flickered out like a candle extinguished by the wind.
Every secret he had failed to reveal was buried alongside him.
Not long after the battle ended, Luther strode into the library.
The fighting outside had already ceased.
Sartana had been the last Wolf Knight.
"How were the casualties?"
Lion casually pulled a book from the shelf and began flipping through it.
Luther removed his bloodstained helmet, weariness visible in his eyes.
"Eighteen casualties in total."
"Twelve were killed."
"Their remains have all been recovered."
"The transport teams are waiting to escort them back to the Great Stone."
"According to the Order's traditions, they'll be buried in the catacombs alongside the heroes of Caliban."
The Wolf Order had possessed barely over a hundred knights.
Caelan had already crushed their defensive walls beforehand.
They should never have suffered losses this severe and at first they hadn't.
The siege itself caused very few casualties but the Wolf Knights hiding within the fortress knew every brick and every corridor.
Again and again they emerged from impossible angles, forcing one-on-one duels and repeatedly catching the attackers off guard.
They had also long harbored hatred toward the Order.
Like buried landmines, they deliberately sought out Order knights to die alongside.
Caelan entered the library.
Lion's expression immediately softened.
"Father are these books dangerous?"
Caelan's gaze rested upon the ancient tomes lining the shelves, "From what I can sense, there's no obvious corruption clinging to the books themselves."
"But the knowledge inside them may conceal hidden dangers."
Chaos corruption rarely announced itself.
Its true nature was terrifying.
Yet it always disguised itself perfectly by the time it revealed its true face it had usually already accomplished its goal.
It was much like a pyramid scheme.
It always began with vague, appealing promises that sounded reasonable.
Once someone accepted those ideas the hidden poison became increasingly obvious.
By the time someone had been completely brainwashed nothing anyone else said could save them.
Ordinary people could manipulate others with words alone.
Chaos was ten thousand times worse.
Caelan turned to Luther, "Luther."
"This is a slide you must never even touch. Chaos corruption is addictive. You can never quit."
"The moment you're contaminated it stays with you for life."
Caelan's unusually serious expression left Luther utterly bewildered.
'Why was he telling me all this?'
'I wasn't some reckless fool.'
'Why would I knowingly walk into an obvious trap?'
Those who believed they could harness Chaos were all naïve, arrogant fools.
Even those who appeared to toy with Chaos were merely trapped within an illusion carefully crafted by Chaos itself.
The illusion of control was part of the trap.
Luther frowned, "I've lived my life without regrets."
"Why would I deliberately seek out something so dangerous?"
Caelan answered, "But Chaos excels at helping people when they're most desperate."
"If your life is filled with sunshine it will first give you a snowstorm."
"For example it lets your wife and daughter die unexpectedly."
"Then it whispers: I can bring them back. Tell me wouldn't your heart waver?"
Luther froze.
If such a tragedy truly befell his family could he honestly resist?
Cold sweat trickled down his spine beneath his tunic.
No one could guarantee it.
Even a Primarch might not.
If Caelan himself were to die someda even Lion might not remain unmoved and Luther was only human.
His voice became hoarse, "Will something like that really happen in the future?"
Because of his close relationship with Caelan and Lion, Luther occasionally listened to Caelan's lectures.
His understanding of Chaos far exceeded that of ordinary people and the more he understood the more he feared it.
Caelan added, "The whispers of Chaos aren't bait invented to lure prey. They're the genuine desires already hidden within people's hearts."
"Chaos cannot create desires out of nothing. It merely pours fuel onto the desires that already exist."
"Those desires are born from human nature."
"They're not implanted by Chaos."
"So long as humanity exists Chaos will always have an opportunity."
"Honor, wealth, status, beauty, power, strength, whatever you desire that's what it will offer and even if you desire nothing it will go to every possible length to create a desire."
"If you're a warrior it will subtly weave the threads of fate. People will begin to admire you."
"They'll sing songs about your exploits."
"Unless you truly care nothing for honor even the most humble soul possesses a measure of vanity."
"And once vanity exists the threshold continues rising. At first the admiration of ordinary people fills you with satisfaction but gradually you begin finding that admiration too cheap."
"There simply aren't enough admirers."
"When enough ordinary people admire you."
"You begin looking down upon them. You start craving recognition from your peers."
"When even that becomes commonplace, you'll begin seeking the admiration of those above you. You'll want to stand beside them or even surpass them."
"But you'll never surpass Lion."
"You know that better than anyone and at that moment Chaos extends an olive branch."
"It offers you the power to rival Lion or even defeat him."
"It paints a future where Lion lies beneath your feet and all creation kneels before you."
"Tell me could you truly resist that temptation?"
Tiny beads of sweat appeared on Luther's forehead.
He had never considered himself a vain man but neither could he honestly claim to regard honor as worthless.
Placed in that situation he truly couldn't guarantee he would resist.
Luther forced a bitter smile.
"If that's the case doesn't that mean we're all destined to fall?"
Caelan slowly shook his head, "Not at all."
"Chaos doesn't waste its bait."
"Very few people are truly worth targeting and even when it does target someone it always leaves traces."
"From the admiration of ordinary people, to recognition by your peers, to the favor of your superiors, the threshold of desire rises step by step."
"As long as you remain wary of Chaos, you'll notice the danger. So long as you stop before crossing the final line everything can still be saved."
"When the crown of glory dazzles your eyes remember that hidden beneath the golden olive wreath rests a burden weighing a lifetime of regret."
The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.
That sounded inspiring but to Caelan, it was only an empty slogan.
Responsibility wasn't an obligation imposed upon the strong.
It was a restraint the strong voluntarily accepted. If no law existed capable of restraining them whether the strong accepted responsibility depended entirely upon themselves.
A superhero accepted responsibility.
A tyrant did not.
The Astartes could become superheroes or they could become tyrants.
The difference often came down to how they had been raised.
The more Caelan educated the Primarchs, the more he came to appreciate the importance of parents during a child's upbringing.
It perfectly reflected two ancient sayings from Old Terra: A happy childhood heals a lifetime.
An unhappy childhood takes a lifetime to heal.
The person someone became at thirty was often nothing more than an extension of the child they had once been.
Caelan looked at the Primarch and sighed softly, "This is the greatest difference between me and your father."
Emotion was the window through which humanity viewed the world. Yet emotion could also become humanity's greatest burden.
The Emperor's deliberate suppression of the Astartes' humanity had not been an unnecessary mistake. Though crude and heavy-handed it was simple and effective.
Caelan had chosen the exact opposite path.
He sought to awaken the humanity within the Astartes.
Neoth trusted reason.
Caelan trusted emotion.
Chaos could never tempt the Neoth. Not because the Neoth desired nothing but because Chaos could never offer what He truly wanted.
Neoth desired humanity's rebirth. Chaos itself was the greatest obstacle to that dream. Therefore Chaos had to be destroyed or, at the very least, prevented from interfering with the material universe.
Chaos could never agree to that.
Neoth knew it, so He was never tempted.
Likewise Chaos rarely bothered trying to corrupt Him directly.
Nearly every scheme against Him worked through indirect means.
To Caelan, the Warp was a cesspit.
To Chaos, Neoth was probably nothing more than an immovable stone in a latrine. Foul and impossibly stubborn.
But Caelan and the Emperor were not opposed to one another.
So long as they both stood on humanity's side they were brothers, despite sharing neither blood nor parents.
Differences in methods would never change that. As long as they agreed upon the ultimate goal they could simply agree to disagree.
Besides Neoth's plan had ultimately failed. It had fallen just short of success.
Precisely because humanity had been suppressed too severely honor became the only emotional refuge left to the Astartes.
Ironically that became the seed from which Chaos corruption grew.
Likewise, many warriors remained loyal through the darkest hardships precisely because they still possessed their humanity.
Take Luther because he loved his wife and daughter their deaths might one day drag him into the abyss.
Had he lacked humanity, he truly might not have cared about their deaths.
But then his pride and pursuit of honor might instead have driven him to corruption.
Humanity was a double-edged sword.
The key was whether someone taught them how to wield it properly with the blade facing outward.
Caelan taught the Primarchs.
The Primarchs taught the Astartes.
The Astartes led ordinary humanity.
Thus forming a positive cycle.
As long as the roots remained healthy, the great tree would continue flourishing.
Even if a few branches withered, the gardener could simply prune them away.
Lion looked quietly at Caelan, "Even so-"
"You're still my father."
"I don't need two fathers who are exactly the same."