Chapter Summaries

Ron entered the Crystal Labyrinth’s Golden Portals with the Changeling Physician and Baru, bypassed their riddles through favoritism, and recruited Zaraphiston by offering him access to the Library. Ron led the group onward toward the Library, hoping to take some of its knowledge with him.

• The Grand Sorcerer entered the Golden Portals, solved riddles over thousands of years, and reached the sixth gate while wondering whether Ron had passed the earlier ones.
• Baru arrived with Ron and his entourage, and the Grand Sorcerer realized Ron was being treated like an honored guest in Tzeentch’s domain.
• Baru persuaded the Golden Face to let Ron answer an easier riddle, and the guardian accepted Ron’s answer of “3” and opened the portal.
• The Grand Sorcerer protested the unfair answer, but Ron intervened to stop his expulsion and offered him a chance to follow a powerful Primarch to the Library.
• Zaraphiston accepted Ron’s offer, pledged loyalty through a sorcerous ritual, and shared secrets about the Black Legion and the Chaos Warmaster.
• The Golden Face opened the sixth portal for Zaraphiston, and Ron led him and the Changeling Physician onward with Baru’s guidance.

Ron and his companions entered Tzeentch’s Secret Library, where Ron investigated the library’s records and used the Well of Eternity to search for a way to stop the plague in his territory. The well reacted violently when Ron asked whether it knew GW.

• Ron urged Zaraphiston to loot a lost Skaven seer, and Zaraphiston took its knowledge, flesh, and other valuables without triggering the guardian’s punishment.
• Ron and his companions encountered Ahriman at the ninth gate, and Zaraphiston solved the final riddle and entered the Secret Library.
• Ron sent Ahriman a message about Magnus, then explored the library and found that its records contained little information about him but detailed the thoughts of ordinary people.
• Ron reached the Well of Eternity and saw Matila in a vision of the future, identifying the planet as a possible key to curing the plague.
• Ron asked the Well whether it knew GW, and the Well began to shake as the observing Weaver Great Ravens shrieked.

Guilliman questioned a bound shard of the Lord of Change and learned that Mortarion would confront him on Iax, while the daemon was destroyed when Ron nearly destabilized the Well of Eternity. Ron interrupted a conspiracy in the Crystal Labyrinth, then left for Realspace with the Changeling Physician and the Grand Sorcerer as the Changer of Ways rushed back.

• Guilliman used a Grey Knight’s binding ritual to force the daemon prisoner to answer questions, learning that Mortarion awaited him on Iax and planned to kill him with disease.
• Guilliman asked whether Lion could awaken and where Rogal Dorn was, then began asking how Sanguinius could be resurrected before the Lord of Change destroyed the contract and the daemon prisoner turned to ash.
• Ron nearly caused the Well of Eternity to erupt, but stopped before completing his question and left the area once the turmoil subsided.
• Ron entered the Hall of Conspiracies and declared that the Lords of Change’s plot against a planet in Savior’s Territory would fail.
• Baru arrived with greater daemons, escorted Ron through the Hall, and Ron left the Crystal Labyrinth with the Changeling Physician and the Grand Sorcerer.
• The Changer of Ways rushed back to the Crystal Labyrinth and demanded to know what had happened.

The Lord of Change cut off contact with Ron, while Ron’s Purification Serum successfully destroyed the Plague Herald and gave him a weapon for a larger counteroffensive. As war preparations advanced, Ron headed to Matila to uncover a plague trap, while Nurgle and Khorne sent powerful daemons toward the conflict.

• The Lord of Change found no clues at the Well of Eternity, canceled plans involving Ron, and severed their connection after receiving Ron’s message of thanks.
• Ron and the Inquisitors used the Emperor’s Electro-Hymn to suppress the Plague Herald while the Changeling Physician prepared the Purification Serum.
• Ron ordered the serum’s concentration increased until it purified the Plague Herald, then commanded full-scale serum production for the counterattack against Nurgle’s Garden and to rescue the Goddess of Life.
• Ron reviewed the completed war preparations at Star Tower Spaceport and ordered Carter to take him to Matila to remove a corrupted network planted by Nurgle.
• The Great Unclean One Sithilas departed Nurgle’s Garden to activate the corrupted network in Savior’s Territory.
• Ka’bandha declared his willingness to go to war and face his destined foe, then marched from the Brass Fortress amid the daemons’ cheers.

Ka'bandha led Khorne’s forces toward the Savior’s Territory while Ron inspected plague response on Matila and discovered Mortarion’s hidden Corruption Machine. When Ron’s attack appeared to open a passage for Nurgle’s forces, he learned Ka'bandha was also approaching and ordered a full mobilization.

• Ka'bandha accepted the Blood God’s campaign order, gathered Khorne’s elite daemons, and marched toward the Savior’s Territory.
• Ron inspected Matila’s quarantine efforts, praised Brown, and blessed a critically ill child, briefly driving back the plague.
• Ron ordered Brown and Carter to deploy troops and search for the Corruption Machine after learning it was the source of Matila’s severe plague.
• Ron and the Void Angels found the hidden Corruption Machine inside a factory and attacked it, but its shield resisted their weapons.
• Ron tore open the factory roof, and the Corruption Machine’s temporal effects revealed a passage forming toward the Garden of Nurgle as Ka'bandha’s army approached.
• Ron ordered full-scale combat mobilization, sent for reinforcements on Matila, and urgently requested the Super Tsar Bomb.

Ron repelled Sithilas’s Nurgle invasion of Matila by activating the Holy Wall, destroying the Corruption Machine, and unleashing Purification Serum rain, then killed Sithilas. In the Warp, Ka'bandha decided to redirect his forces toward Ultramar, but Khorne’s Greater Daemons resisted his order, leaving a clash seemingly inevitable.

• Ron ordered reinforcements and defensive lines as the Corruption Machine opened a rift to the Garden of Nurgle and Sithilas led an army of daemons onto Matila.
• Sithilas’s forces overwhelmed the defenses and resisted Holy Ash Bombs, but Ron held his ground until the Holy Wall activated and surrounded the battlefield with sacred energy.
• Ron had the Magos destroy the Corruption Machine and close the rift, then ordered the Weather Control Machine to rain Purification Serum over the trapped Nurgle daemons.
• The rain and Holy Ash Bombs wiped out the invading army, and Ron killed the surviving Sithilas with a small Holy Ash Bomb.
• Ka'bandha watched the defeat, feared Ron had prepared weapons against him, and ordered his forces to redirect toward Ultramar.
• Bael supported Ka'bandha’s retreat, but Khorne’s Greater Daemons opposed the order, making a battle seem unavoidable.

Ka'bandha subdued dissent among Khorne's daemons, redirected them to Ultramar, and won the Blood God's approval after they struck a Nurgle force. Ron assembled an unprecedented alliance of Imperial, Chaos, and xenos forces and prepared to take his army to Ultramar for the Plague War.

• Ka'bandha killed and intimidated Greater Daemons who opposed his change of plans, then persuaded the Khorne army to march toward Ultramar and attack a Nurgle army along the way.
• Greater Daemons loyal to Ang'grath reported Ka'bandha to the Blood God, who punished them and rewarded Ka'bandha for acting in line with a new pact with the Lord of Change.
• On Matila, purified rain helped patients recover, and Ron ordered his forces to stop building defenses and prepare to leave for Ultramar.
• Ron reviewed the forces gathering against Nurgle and learned from Tako that the Ulthwé Craftworld Eldar and Necron Zarathusa had agreed to join the alliance.
• Ron ordered supplies and transport routes prepared, then boarded a Shuttle bound for the orbital shipyard to depart aboard the Dreamer for Ultramar.

Nurgle’s forces prepared to seize Iax and use it to create God-Blight, while Mortarion dismissed warnings about the growing threats around Ultramar. On Iax, Ron secretly met Guilliman and proposed a major undertaking.

• The Lord of Pestilence celebrated Nurgle’s victories but felt uneasy, while the Nurgling on his head grew green after absorbing his poisonous fluid.
• Mortarion summoned Typhus, Ku’gath, and other plague lords; Ku’gath revealed that God-Blight required a planet and the blood of both Primarchs.
• Mortarion ordered the forces to seize Iax, where Karamah would open the passage and Ku’gath would cultivate God-Blight, while Typhus would confront Ron.
• Mortarion learned of the Legion of Fear and possible Khorne and Tyranid activity near Ultramar, but his divination showed no immediate danger, so he dismissed his unease.
• Ron and Guilliman secretly met on Iax, where Ron asked Guilliman to join him in doing something big.

Ron persuaded Guilliman that the Chaos and xenos forces gathering around Ultramar were allies preparing to attack Nurgle, so they planned to hold Iax and use its Corruption Network for a counteroffensive. As supplies and reinforcements arrived, the Primaris warriors met the towering Ogryn Space Marines and watched their Chapter Master, Big Smarty Gauss, study a book.

• Guilliman warned Ron that Ultramar was surrounded by Chaos and xenos threats, but Ron explained that the armies were allied against Nurgle.
• Ron and Guilliman agreed to hold Iax, locate its Corruption Machines and networks, and prepare for a later attack on Nurgle's domain.
• Fuli delivered supplies, medical personnel, and warriors to Iax aboard the Savior's transport fleet.
• Dovaro inspected Iax's defenses with Primaris warriors and encountered the enormous Ogryn Space Marines of the Titan Chapter.
• Big Smarty Gauss directed his troops in building defenses, then read the Savior's Codex of Redemption while the astonished Primaris watched.

Gauss and the Titan Chapter showed their growing intelligence and devotion to Ron, while Ron and Guilliman prepared Iax for an immense war against Nurgle. Mortarion launched his invasion, and Khorne's forces also moved toward the battle as Ka'bandha vowed to kill the Dark Prince for challenging Ron.

• Gauss impressed Dovaro with his learning, then attended painting class and completed a praised portrait and essay for Ron.
• Ron showed Guilliman Gauss's work and shared skewers made from a Beast of Nurgle before they surveyed Iax's completed defenses and discussed the seven Corruption Machines.
• Mortarion received greater favor and armies from Nurgle, then ordered a vast invasion of Ultramar aimed at Iax and the creation of God-Blight.
• Ku'gath and Kamala led Nurgle's forces aboard seven plague arks toward Iax.
• Ka'bandha's Khorne army set out for Ultramar, and Ka'bandha swore to kill the Dark Prince for declaring war on Ron.

Ron monitored the expanding wars across Ultramar and led the defense of Iax, where his forces destroyed Corruption Machines and deployed Holy Ash Bombs against Nurgle’s daemons. The Grey Knights adopted the weapons and sought Ron’s support, while the Titan Chapter prepared to defend its line as Nurgle’s forces arrived.

• Ron learned that the Chaos Gods had begun attacking Slaanesh’s forces and then focused on the battle for Iax.
• After a Corruption Machine was destroyed, Ron armed himself and flew with Carter toward Iax’s core node as Nurgle’s attacks intensified.
• The Grey Knights, led by Kovan, used seven Holy Ash Bombs to annihilate two Great Unclean Ones and the surrounding daemons.
• Kovan asked Ron for continued supplies, and the Grey Knights assembled to collect more holy weapons before heading to another battlefield.
• Gauss rallied the Ogryns of the Titan Chapter while Dovaro questioned their battle readiness, and Nurgle’s daemons appeared in their defense zone.

Dovaro’s Nova Warriors and Gauss’s Ogryns fought Nurgle’s forces on Iax, but the Ogryns’ berserk strength and a Holy Ash Bomb turned the battle against the Greater Daemons. After the Grey Knights arrived and moved to another front, Dovaro helped the Ogryns kill the last Great Unclean One, then found himself facing their still-frenzied stares.

• Dovaro led the Nova Warriors into battle against Nurgle’s Plague Heralds and ground forces while Gauss’s Ogryns advanced on the neighboring front.
• Greater Daemons overwhelmed the Nova Warriors’ weapons, forcing Dovaro to order a retreat and request Grey Knights support.
• Gauss and the Ogryns went berserk and charged the Greater Daemons, but Nurgle’s plague and corrupted terrain slowed them.
• The Ogryns used a Holy Ash Bomb to clear the battlefield’s corruption, then beat and killed the Great Unclean One and other Greater Daemons.
• Grand Master Kovan arrived with the Grey Knights, saw the Ogryns had the fight under control, and led his force to another battlefield.
• Dovaro coordinated with the Ogryns to kill the last Great Unclean One, then saw their still-frenzied gazes turn toward him.

Dovaro vowed that the Nova Warriors would surpass the Ogryns, while Ron and Guilliman destroyed Iax’s Corruption Machine and faced Karamah’s emergence from the Warp. The chapter ended with Ron’s hidden defenses surrounding Karamah and the invading Daemons in Holy Light.

• Dovaro urged the Nova Warriors to match and surpass the Ogryns after their battlefield victory embarrassed the Primaris.
• Ron met Guilliman at Iax Cathedral, where they examined the Corruption Machine and the desecrated altar connected to it.
• Guilliman cut the machine’s Runic Chains and damaged one of its legs, then Ron destroyed it with Holy Ash and melta missiles.
• A Warp rift opened in the wreckage, and Karamah emerged with more Nurgle Daemons as seven Plague Arks approached through the Garden of Nurgle.
• Ron activated the concealed Holy High Tower and Rhombus Mechanical Towers, trapping Karamah and the Daemons inside a shrinking ring of Holy Light.

Ron tried to wake the sleeping Emperor as Nurgle’s plague miasma overwhelmed the battlefield on Iax. After the Emperor awoke, his power surged through the Holy High Tower, and holy flames began pushing back the plague.

• Guilliman asked Ron whether the Emperor was a god, and Ron denied it before turning their attention to the Nurgle daemons.
• Karamah and the daemons were trapped by Ron’s Holy Walls until Nurgle opened a rift and unleashed plague miasma that corrupted the battlefield and threatened the human defenses.
• Ron entered the Warp and struck the Holy Sun with the Little Sun to wake the Emperor, while the projection of his blows horrified the bishops on Ers and Bishop Dony branded them as heretics.
• The Emperor awoke, and Ron returned to stand beside Guilliman as the Emperor’s power poured through the Holy High Tower and holy flames swept into the plague miasma.

The Emperor’s holy flames drove Nurgle’s forces from Iax and burned into the Garden of Nurgle before the overloaded Prism Towers collapsed. After Ron urged the Emperor to speak with Guilliman, the father and son finally connected, but a hidden threat remained among the battlefield ruins.

• The Emperor’s holy flames purified Iax’s poisonous fog and Daemons, then burned through a rift into the Garden of Nurgle as Nurgle tried to block the invasion.
• Ron warned the Emperor that the Prism Towers were failing, but the towers exploded after the Emperor’s final surge and forced him to withdraw.
• The Emperor silently acknowledged Guilliman before Ron urged him to show his sons more care, prompting him to approach Guilliman and speak with him privately.
• Guilliman thanked Ron after the Emperor departed, while the surviving defenders surveyed Iax’s purified battlefield and its sacred wreckage.
• Ron sensed danger in the ruins, exchanged Glory for the Sword of the Emperor with Guilliman, and prepared to confront the hidden enemy.

Ron and Guilliman defeated and captured Karamah on Iax, forcing Ku'gath’s Plague Arks to retreat and securing the world for humanity. Ron prepared a counteroffensive while arranging a staged clash with his Dark Prince disguise to gather faith.

• Karamah revived the Corruption Network and attacked the Imperial forces, but Ron and Guilliman weakened him with Purification Serum and the Sword of the Emperor before the Thunder Custodes sealed him.
• Ku'gath and the Plague Arks turned away from Iax, while Ron sent Karamah and Corruption Machine wreckage to Black Abyss Planet for study.
• Ron and Guilliman planned a two-pronged counteroffensive to reclaim Ultramar and nearby worlds, and Ron returned the Sword of the Emperor to Guilliman.
• At the Dreamer, Ron reviewed the campaign and decided to use his Dark Prince disguise against Typhus while promoting a rivalry between the disguise and the Savior.
• The Dreamer and the Heart of Fear exchanged cannon fire as Ka'bandha hurried toward the region, vowing to kill the Dark Prince.

Ron staged a battle between the Savior and the Dark Prince to build the Dark Prince’s reputation, but Ka'bandha mistook the spectacle for a real contest and fumed when the Galaxy focused on his rival. As the Plague War slowed and Ron worried about the Nurgle forces’ retreat, a hidden agent recovered the Savior’s blood, completing the final requirement for God-Blight to reach the Galaxy.

• Ron and the Thunder Custodes teleported into the Heart of Fear, where they fought the Dark Thunder Custodes and staged a spectacular battle between the Savior and the Dark Prince before withdrawing.
• Ka'bandha watched recordings of the battle, admired the Dark Prince’s strength, and ordered a search for him while declaring that he would defeat the Savior himself.
• After the Galaxy’s attention shifted to the Dark Prince and Diablo, Ka'bandha conquered a Great Plague Planet to reclaim his fame, but his challenge drew little notice.
• Ron grew suspicious as Nurgle’s forces withdrew and their leaders disappeared from the Plague War.
• A Black Giant Fly found the Savior’s blood at the old battlefield and carried it to the hidden power behind it, completing the final requirement for God-Blight to descend upon the Galaxy.

As the God-Blight neared completion, Ron resisted treatment for a severe plague, switched to a new clone body, and prepared to stop Nurgle’s plan. After provoking Ka'bandha into advancing an assault on the Garden of Nurgle, Ron learned the Plague Factory’s location and mobilized allied forces to attack it.

• Mortarion learned from Ku'gath that the God-Blight was nearly ready and ordered Typhus to stop The Savior from reaching the Plague Factory.
• Ron refused to use scarce Purification Serum, then burned his infected body and activated Savior Body No. 4.
• Ron reviewed the worsening threat of the God-Blight and ordered scouts to expand their search for the Plague Factory.
• Ron used the Dark Prince to challenge Ka'bandha to attack the Garden of Nurgle, and Ka'bandha assembled his forces and moved the assault forward.
• Ron received the Plague Factory’s location, contacted Guilliman, mobilized human and xenos allies, and ordered the Legion of Fear to attack as Nurgle’s forces also began mobilizing.

Mortarion’s defense of Vester collapsed under a vast coalition of Imperial, Chaos, and xenos forces, while Ron’s Legion of Fear prepared to invade the planet and stop the God-Blight. As Nurgle’s armies began their full assault on Vester, Major Ward faced an overwhelming attack at Heka Harbor.

• Mortarion learned that Guilliman and Ron had arrived with fleets and armies from across the Galaxy, and ordered his forces to hold their lines for three days until the God-Blight was ready.
• The Death Guard Chief Librarian reported that Typhus and Great Plague had been killed and that Ka’bandha had destroyed Mortarion’s reinforcements, prompting Mortarion to gather his remaining elite troops at Vester.
• Ron assembled his allies aboard the Heart of Fear and ordered them to prepare for ground combat after receiving a new request from the Daemon Research Institute’s Great Sage Mao.
• Major Ward watched the battle devastate Vester’s skies and coast, then saw Nurgle’s zombies, Astartes, and daemons launch a massive attack on Heka Harbor.

Major Ward and the Calth 97th Regiment survived a Death Guard assault when the Legion of Fear intervened, protecting humans while tearing through the plague forces. Across Vester, Ron directed Chaos and Tyranid forces to aid the battle and hunt for the hidden Plague Factory, while Guilliman fought Mortarion.

• Ward’s Calth 97th Regiment faced plague weapons and a devastating Death Guard attack until Drop Pods brought the Legion of Fear onto the battlefield.
• Broken Horn and the Fear Warriors attacked the Death Guard, protected endangered humans, and helped the Calth 97th Regiment hold Heka Harbor City.
• Ward saw Tyranids devour Nurgle forces, then fainted after a daemon discovered him watching from afar.
• Ron received word that Mortarion had deployed his armies and Guilliman was fighting him, then sent the Thunder Custodes and the Sons of Humanity to assist.
• Ron and Lao Ba directed Tyranid scouts to search Vester for the Plague Factory, while a Blackstone Mutated Dig-Python hunted beneath the planet’s surface.
• Ron vanished after ordering the search to continue, as a Great Unclean One wailed nearby.