Chapter Summaries

Ron and the Lord Regent discovered Ku'gath’s hidden Plague Factory and launched a major assault before the God-Blight was complete. Ku'gath prepared the final ingredients as cannon fire signaled the attack had begun.

• Broken Horn’s Fear Warriors arrived as Ron killed a Great Unclean One, then rampaged across other battlefields while Ron let them earn experience and rewards.
• Ron received intelligence that hidden spaces might conceal the Plague Factory and ordered Lao Ba to send Tyranid Recon Units to investigate the marked regions.
• The recon units found the hidden spaces, identified the Corruption Cores, and located the Plague Factory, prompting Ron and the Lord Regent to mobilize their forces for an attack.
• Ron sent his armies toward the factory and prepared a Mutated Dig-Python to help destroy the God-Blight, with capturing it as a possible extra objective.
• At Ku'gath’s Plague Factory, Ku'gath protected himself from the toxic brew and guarded two Primarchs’ blood as the God-Blight neared completion.
• Ku'gath heard cannon fire as Imperium forces began their assault.

Mortarion unleashed the Corruption Network to devastate Guilliman’s forces, but the Savior’s reinforcements—including Lao Ba’s Tyranids—helped the allied armies break through toward the Plague Factory. As Mortarion prepared to confront Guilliman, Ron used a hidden opening to burrow toward the factory.

• Mortarion activated the Corruption Network, sacrificing billions of lives to empower himself and corrupt Imperial troops, weapons, and vehicles.
• Guilliman’s army became trapped behind the Toxic Swamp, but the Tyranids arrived, shielded the Ultramarines, fed on Nurgle’s forces, and built living bridges across the swamp.
• Guilliman led the Ultramarines across the bridges, and the combined force broke through Mortarion’s defenses as allied armies attacked across multiple fronts.
• Mortarion resolved to release the God-Blight if necessary and led elite Death Guard and daemons toward Guilliman for a final battle.
• Ron waited for the allied assault to expose a gap, then donned Blackstone armor and drove the Mutated Dig-Python underground toward the Plague Factory.

Ron stole Nurgle’s cauldron from beneath the Plague Factory while the Legion of Fear distracted Ku'gath, preventing the God-Blight’s completion. Ku'gath told Mortarion the cauldron was gone, while Ron escaped underground with his prize.

• Ron guided a Mutated Dig-Python beneath the Plague Factory and waited as the Legion of Fear attacked its defenses.
• Ku'gath sent out the Plague Guard, then left the factory to fight the Fear Warriors before he could add Primarch blood to the cauldron.
• Ron secretly stole Nurgle’s cauldron while Ku'gath battled the Fear Warriors, severing its connection to the Corruption Network.
• Ku'gath returned to an empty hall, realized his cauldron and God-Blight were gone, and told Mortarion that the thief had escaped his detection.
• Ron fled through the underground tunnel on the Mutated Dig-Python, pleased with his haul.

Ron brought Nurgle’s Cauldron and its unfinished God-Blight to Black Abyss Planet’s Chaos Network, where the Changeling Physician began refining it. As Ron prepared for Nurgle’s forces and Mortarion to strike, Guilliman faced Mortarion in a duel and fell into another sorcerous trap.

• Ron carried the leaking God-Blight cauldron inside the Mutated Dig-Python to a hidden Chaos Network world built by Black Abyss Planet.
• The Changeling Physician examined the plague and planned to concentrate it further, restart the cauldron, and use Primarch blood as a catalyst.
• Ron authorized the Dark Tech-priests to draw corrupt Fel Energy from Vester’s Corruption Network while allied armies guarded key nodes.
• The Changeling Physician began brewing God-Blight in the Black Plasma Ultra-High Temperature Furnace with blood from twelve Primarchs and genetic material from the Emperor.
• Ron kept watch for Nurgle’s forces and Mortarion as he hoped Guilliman could hold the Death Lord back.
• Guilliman confronted Mortarion, traded taunts with him, and was repeatedly caught in a sorcerous trap.

Guilliman overcame Mortarion with Ron’s anti-plague weapons and drove the Nurgle forces from Ultramar, but a Chaos god’s gaze fell on Vester. In the hidden space, Ron completed the God-Blight and openly challenged Nurgle, drawing the attention of Chaos beings.

• Mortarion overwhelmed Guilliman with sorcery and venom, but Guilliman broke free after learning the God-Blight had been destroyed and used the Purification Serum, Panacea, and Holy Ash Bombs to counterattack.
• Guilliman cut off Mortarion’s arm and drove him into the Warp, then led his forces to defeat another Great Unclean One as Nurgle’s armies retreated from Ultramar.
• The victorious warriors sensed a terrifying Chaos god watching Vester, while Guilliman wondered who had destroyed the God-Blight.
• Ron oversaw the final brewing of the God-Blight in the hidden space, where Nurgle discovered the stolen cauldron and artifact and identified Ron as the culprit.
• Ron invoked Diablo’s protection, broadcast the confrontation to Chaos entities, and dared Nurgle to come and strike him.

Ka'bandha charged into the Garden of Nurgle after learning that the Dark Prince had provoked Nurgle, while Ron used multiple disguises and the Grey Knights to disrupt Nurgle's attempt to reclaim his artifact. When the Blood God and the Lord of Change attacked Nurgle, Ron prepared a multi-pronged assault on the Garden and carried the newly created explosive God-Blight into the Warp.

• Ka'bandha grew jealous of the Dark Prince's daring taunts, cursed Nurgle without being heard, and led his army into the Garden of Nurgle.
• Nurgle's giant hand failed to break through the Veil, and his swarms were burned back by Diablo's Hellfire as Ron struggled to sustain the illusion.
• The Savior, Grand Master Kovan, and the Grey Knights attacked Nurgle with Holy Ash Bombs, allowing the Dark Prince to escape with Nurgle's Cauldron and the artifact.
• The Blood God and the Lord of Change attacked Nurgle, and Ron seized the opening to begin Operation Minotaur with Guilliman and the Emperor's forces.
• Ron completed an explosive version of God-Blight, then led the Dark Prince and his troops into the Warp to test it in the Garden of Nurgle.

Ron’s Dark Prince persona led his forces into the Garden of Nurgle while Khorne and Tzeentch attacked Nurgle’s realm. After reaching the Black House, Ron used God-Blight to restore Nurgle’s strength, then fled as Nurgle turned on the Lord of Change.

• Ron arrived in the Garden of Nurgle with the Legion of Fear, Orks, and Tyranids, including Lao Ba and the poisoned Mutated Dig-Python.
• Ka'bandha sent Bael and half his army to slaughter Nurgle’s forces, then raced ahead to deny Ron victories.
• Ron ordered his troops to clear a route near the Garden of the Goddess of Life and approached Nurgle’s Black House alone.
• The Lord of Change noticed Ron’s Blackstone Test Tube but turned away, so Ron hurled it into the gods’ battle and released God-Blight.
• God-Blight restored the Lord of Pestilence, who seized and battered the Lord of Change while Ron escaped the battlefield.

Ron released the God-Blight across Nurgle’s Garden, then led the Imperium’s forces toward the Goddess of Life’s domain while relying on allies and planted moles to clear their path. Just as he reassured himself that everyone involved was on his side, a powerful corrupt presence appeared.

• The God-Blight spread through Nurgle’s Garden, killing daemons and destroying vast regions as Ron fled its reach.
• Bala the Glutton led fleeing Nurgle daemons away from the plague, but they scattered when Ron appeared; Ka’bandha then confronted Ron and left to continue their wager after Ron refused a duel.
• Grey Knights Grand Master Kovan and Guilliman joined Ron at the Garden’s outer perimeter, where the Imperium brought recording equipment, a giant Holy Ash Bomb, and a Blackstone Holy High Tower core.
• Ron led the Imperial force toward the Goddess of Life’s garden and explained the empty route by saying other armies had cleared it, concealing that many of the combatants were his allies or moles.
• Ron privately concluded that the expedition could not lose because everyone was connected to him, but a dense aura of corruption descended.

Ron and the Imperial Regent's forces reached the lightly corrupted Garden of Life, where Ron reunited with Isha as Nurgle sensed an intruder in his Forbidden Land. Elsewhere, a host of rival forces overwhelmed Tigros's army, leaving the Grey Knights with little to do but march, eat, and follow Ron.

• Kovan identified the approaching daemon as Rotigus Rainmaker, and Ron left the Grey Knights to hold off the Nurgle vanguard while the main force advanced.
• The Legion of Fear swarmed the Great Unclean Ones before the Grey Knights could strike, and Kovan prepared to target Tigros until the battle erupted around him.
• Tyranids, Orks, Khorne's forces, and Tzeentch's forces attacked Tigros's army, so Ron ordered Kovan and the Grey Knights to withdraw and rejoin the main force.
• Ron reached the Garden of Life, left Guilliman's troops on guard, and entered alone to meet Isha.
• The Grey Knights ate food prepared by Datong and learned that their meat sausages were made from a mutated Beast of Nurgle Great Unclean One.
• Isha embraced Ron and sobbed with relief, while Nurgle sensed someone had entered his Forbidden Land.

Nurgle discovered Ron had entered the Garden of Life and was furious when Isha welcomed him, while Ron rescued her and escaped Nurgle’s grasp with the Holy Ash Bomb “Tsar.” Ron and Isha joined Guilliman’s forces, but their escape from Nurgle’s domain remained ahead, with the Lord of Pleasure also watching them.

• Nurgle saw Ron enter the Garden of Life and watched Isha embrace him, then lost focus in the divine war as the Blood God and the Lord of Change attacked him.
• Ron promised Isha he would free her, stopped her attempted kiss, and hurried her to gather Tear Crystals, divine artifacts, and plant seeds.
• Nurgle reached into the garden with his rotting hand as his daemons surrounded Ron, Isha, Guilliman, and the human forces.
• Ron fired the Holy Ash Bomb “Tsar,” which destroyed Nurgle’s hand, purified the surrounding area, and wiped out the nearby Nurgle daemons.
• The Blood God and the Lord of Change dragged Nurgle back into battle, allowing Ron to leave the garden with Isha and rejoin Guilliman’s forces.

Ron led the Imperial army through Nurgle’s garden with Isha as Guilliman faced Mortarion, who had gained power from Nurgle. As the Emperor empowered Guilliman and the army neared escape, Slaanesh fixed its attention on Ron, while the Holy Core failed to activate.

• The Lord of Change mocked Nurgle over Isha’s escape until Nurgle struck him with the Foul-smelling Wooden Spoon, while the Blood God renewed his attack.
• Ron gave Guilliman a healing potion from the Goddess of Life, and Isha pleaded with Ron to save the Eldar; he promised to help and accepted her Artifacts of Life.
• Mortarion ambushed the retreating Imperial army, overwhelmed Guilliman, and demanded that Ron surrender Isha and submit to Nurgle.
• Ron warned Mortarion that the Emperor could hear his insults, and Guilliman received the Emperor’s blessing, empowered his armor and sword, and drove Mortarion back.
• Ron escorted Isha and the army toward the garden’s exit, but Slaanesh turned its gaze toward Ron, and the Holy Core failed to activate when he ordered it.
• Ron looked up and saw the Emperor’s naked, muscular body in midair.

Ron rescued Isha from the Garden of Nurgle, resisted Slaanesh’s attempt to corrupt him, and helped free the warriors from its illusions. As Slaanesh’s true body invaded, the repaired Holy Core began summoning the Emperor’s authority to confront it.

• Ron discovered that Slaanesh’s illusions had trapped the warriors in personalized fantasies and found Isha immersed in an illusion of her own desires.
• Slaanesh’s phantom restrained Ron and tried to corrupt him, but Ron drained Little Sun’s stored faith energy and punched the phantom away.
• Ron returned to the Garden of Nurgle, where Isha secretly helped restore him, and he used Psyker Power and Holy Ash Bombs to dispel the warriors’ illusions and corruption.
• When the Holy Core would not start, Ron summoned Steel-Tooth, whose hammer blow made the machine spirit activate it.
• Slaanesh’s true body descended amid the Noise Marines, while beams from the Holy Core reached into the Void and the Emperor’s sacred presence began to arrive.

The Sons of Humanity overwhelmed Slaanesh’s Noise Marines with Emperor’s Death Electro-Music while the Holy Core failed and the Lord of Pleasure cornered The Savior. The Emperor descended to save him and appeared before Mortarion and Guilliman.

• Gauss resisted a Keeper of Secrets’ temptations with questions about Savior’s Territory, then beat her down when she attacked.
• Datong and the Sons of Humanity assembled a mobile stage and used Emperor’s Death Electro-Music to overpower the Noise Marines, forcing Marius’s forces to rout.
• The Holy Core went dark as the Lord of Pleasure entered the corrupted domain and captured The Savior, broadcasting his exposure across the Galaxy and the Warp.
• The Emperor descended in a beam of golden light before the Lord of Pleasure could torture The Savior.
• Guilliman fought Mortarion and defended their father, then the Emperor appeared before them, leaving Mortarion trembling in shock.

The Emperor rescued Mortarion from Nurgle’s grasp and battered the Lord of Pleasure after Ron escaped his captivity. He then unleashed a vast purifying fire on Nurgle’s Garden, leaving the Chaos Gods shaken behind the Black Fortress’s gates.

• The Emperor confronted Mortarion, struck him for betraying humanity, and purified much of his corruption before severing Nurgle’s hand to prevent it from dragging Mortarion into the Black Fortress.
• The Emperor spared Mortarion, while Guilliman punched his fallen brother after their father departed; Fulgrim fled toward Slaanesh’s palace.
• The Lord of Pleasure tortured Ron and Isha, but Ron broke free and waited for the Emperor, who arrived and beat the Lord of Pleasure until he fled into the Black Fortress.
• The Emperor warned the Chaos Gods that they would die one day, then engulfed Nurgle’s Garden in sacred flames while the other gods restrained Nurgle from rushing outside.

The Savior and The Cursed devastated Nurgle’s garden, wounded the Lord of Pestilence, and rescued Isha as the Imperium’s forces withdrew with their spoils. Ron brought Isha into his care, while Rotigus schemed to win Nurgle’s favor and the chapter ended with Ron and Isha alone in her garden.

• The Lord of Pestilence attacked the Lord of Change after the two gods and the Blood God restrained him, while the Lord of Pleasure secretly left part of his essence in Isha’s soul.
• The Cursed’s flames ravaged Nurgle’s garden, burning daemons and wounding Ku'gath as Ka'bandha fled with his forces.
• The Legion of Fear withdrew toward the Stars of Calamity, while Mortarion was taken away by his father after Guilliman watched him disappear in the flames.
• The Savior left the garden with Isha as Ron judged that the Chaos Gods’ setback could give the Imperium time to develop; the Grey Knights departed with little battle to their credit.
• Rotigus boasted to Ku'gath that he had a plan to corrupt the Imperium, but Bala the Glutton’s summons to Nurgle’s bedchamber left him crestfallen.
• The Emperor awakened and struck Little Sun with a weakened psychic blow before Ron calmed him; Ron then sent Xiao Ling on vacation and went to meet Isha in her garden.

Ron defeated the Lord of Pleasure’s attempt to corrupt him, captured a fragment of Slaanesh’s authority, and left it with Isha before turning to the Imperium’s recovery. Five years later, after returning to Holy Terra, he discovered intelligence about an attack on the Webway of Savior’s Territory.

• Isha mistook Ron’s intentions, and Ron comforted her in the Garden of Life while Nurgle sensed his cauldron and fainted after seeing them together.
• Bala the Glutton became Nurgle’s First Favorite and decided to reshape the Garden of Corruption as Nurgle’s grief brought down filthy rain.
• The Lord of Pleasure trapped Ron in a mental realm, but Ron unleashed Diablo’s power, overpowered her soul-essence, and captured her authority.
• Ron gave Isha the captured authority and Nurgle’s cauldron, which he wanted her to purify and transform into the Well of Life, then considered using her to win Eldar faith and delay Ynnead’s birth.
• Five years later, Ron returned to Holy Terra as the Imperium celebrated its victories, reviewed the Imperium’s recovery, and noticed intelligence about an attack on the Webway of Savior’s Territory.

After an attack devastated a webway branch, Ron ordered an investigation and traveled to Holy Terra for victory ceremonies. In the City of Supplicants, exhausted clerk Naresen feared her accounting error might affect the war on Baal, unaware that the battle had ended years ago; Ron arrived resolved to renovate Holy Terra and eyeing the Sanctuary Library’s forbidden knowledge.

• Ron learned that an unknown attacker had destroyed Webway Branch D15764 and ordered the intelligence department to identify the culprit while alerting the garrison.
• After preparing for his public appearance, Ron traveled to Holy Terra, where nobles and officials awaited the chance to obtain access permits for his webway.
• Naresen worked through war-supply files in the City of Supplicants, reported a possible accounting error, and secretly kept a portrait of the Primarch of Hope.
• Naresen learned that Ron would appear at a victory celebration and wondered how he could be on Holy Terra while the Battle of Baal continued, unaware the battle had ended years earlier.
• Ron flew over the City of Supplicants, condemned Holy Terra’s poor condition, and considered using its renovation to investigate the Sanctuary Library’s ancient knowledge.

Ron and Guilliman arrived on Holy Terra, where Ron planned reforms and sought ancient technology while worrying about threats to his territory. After the ceremonial parade, Ron noticed women staring at him with unusual desire and sent investigators to find out why, but the result surprised him.

• Ron and Guilliman arrived at the Wall of Eternity and received greetings from Terra’s dignitaries, including the Astra Militarum Commander-in-Chief.
• Ron and Guilliman resolved to reform Holy Terra, while Ron considered recovering its Golden Age technologies and finding a way to counter suspected Dark Eldar attacks.
• Ron and Guilliman rode through Holy Terra’s poor districts, where suffering people chased the ceremonial transport ship hoping for salvation.
• Ron approached Saint Celestine after noticing her watching him, but she nervously denied looking for him and walked away.
• Ron noticed noblewomen staring at him with intense desire, so he sent Ers’s Inquisition to investigate and requested help from the Adeptus Custodes.
• Ron received an unexpected result from the investigation.

At a banquet on Holy Terra, Ron agreed to meet Rogue Trader Queen Dale and later uncovered a widespread cult centered on illicit images of him, which he chose not to suppress. After striking trade agreements with Dale, he left her ship unaware that she believed she was carrying his child.

• Ron avoided the banquet's nobles, then agreed to visit Dale's bedchamber after she proposed an intimate alliance to protect her failing Rogue Trader family.
• Ers's Inquisition summoned Ron to investigate forbidden images of him and a secret cult; he learned that the images and related beliefs had spread across the Galaxy.
• Ron ordered the Inquisition to release the arrested bureaucrat's daughter and leave the cult alone, judging that a purge would be impractical.
• Ron left the Victory Celebration preparations to meet Dale and her daughters aboard their merchant vessel, where they reached cooperation agreements.
• Dale watched Ron depart and touched her belly, believing that an ancient Dark Age relic had helped her conceive his child.

Ron rejected Dale's attempt to secure a child carrying his bloodline and sent her the Savior's emblem as a gesture of goodwill. After another assassination attempt, the silver-haired angel's Geminae Superia invited him to her Sanctuary, where he entered her private bedchamber to meet her.

• Ron used Psyker Power to destroy his genetic bodily fluids, deciding that a blood descendant would risk dividing his power and falling to Chaos.
• Ron sent Dale his dark-gold emblem, and she mistook it for a promise that her possible child would receive his favor.
• Thunder Custodian Champions destroyed a mechanically augmented assassin who had attacked Ron at the port.
• The silver-haired angel's Geminae Superia killed another assassin and invited Ron to their mistress's residence.
• Ron accepted the invitation, followed the Geminae Superia through the Sanctuary, and entered the silver-haired angel's private bedchamber.