Chapter Summaries

Slaanesh slaughtered and tormented the Eldar evil gods, but the other four Chaos Gods appeared and took several of his intended victims. Slaanesh then turned toward the Eldar Orthodox Gods, while Asuryan prepared Xilegao for the fate awaiting them.

• Slaanesh enchanted the Eldar evil gods, killed several, and overpowered their god king before feasting on him as the others watched helplessly.
• Four Chaos Gods arrived and seized the God of Sadism, the God of Torment, the Eldar God of Conspiracy, the God of Knowledge, the God of Strife, the God of Riots, the God of Plague, and the God of Bacteria from Slaanesh.
• After the four Chaos Gods left, Slaanesh took out his anger on the remaining Eldar evil gods for several days.
• Slaanesh searched for the Eldar Orthodox Gods and found that Aisha and Kain had vanished, so he went to confront Asuryan.
• Asuryan told Xilegao to leave and protect the Eldar's final survivors because their fate was near.

Xilegao fled through the Warp Network toward the Black Library as Slaanesh approached, while Asuryan and Hera prepared to face the Chaos God. Asuryan sacrificed himself in a final attack that failed to stop Slaanesh, and the blood-red vortex left where the Eldar Empire had stood became known as the Eye of Terror.

• Xilegao sensed an approaching threat, escaped into the Warp Network, and headed for the Black Library.
• Asuryan apologized to Hera, who joined her power with his as they prepared to die together.
• Slaanesh arrived in the Physical Universe and confronted Asuryan, who unleashed his full power and a star map formed from tens of millions of stars.
• Asuryan cursed Slaanesh, then vanished as his power fueled a colossal golden beam aimed at the Chaos God.
• Slaanesh countered with purple power that twisted the Eldar Empire into a blood-red vortex, destroying Asuryan's attack.
• After the Eldar Empire fell, the vortex left behind was named the Eye of Terror.

After the Eldar Empire’s destruction and the Warp Storms began to subside, the Emperor ordered the Imperium of Man to prepare for an expedition to find the Primarchs. Across the galaxy, the Eldar fractured, ancient Necrons awakened, and other races and Warp Demons emerged, leaving the Milky Way in chaos.

• The Emperor told Makado to prepare the Imperium’s forces for an expedition to find the Primarchs and begin the Great Crusade.
• The Emperor sensed that the Primarchs were alive and considered whether their upbringing might have made them dangerous or uncontrollable.
• The surviving Eldar learned that their souls would be claimed by Slaanesh after death, and they split into factions with different plans for survival.
• The Necrons began awakening as the Eldar lost the power to suppress them.
• Orks escaped their confinement and raided nearby planets as the galaxy’s Warp Storms calmed and Warp travel resumed.
• Across the Milky Way, races, demons, and other forces fought for power, causing some civilizations to be destroyed while others temporarily grew stronger.

Cress, a cruel boy who resented being compared to Erebus, murdered him and took his identity, eventually becoming a priest in the Korchis Covenant Church. Years later, the Bloody King appeared to him in a mirror, and Erebus was overwhelmed by its presence.

• Cress left home after overhearing his parents praise Erebus and compare him unfavorably to their son.
• Cress stabbed Erebus from behind, stole his identity, copied his scripture tattoos, and disposed of the body.
• Over a decade later, the impostor served as a priest in the Korchis Covenant Church in Van Rydes and dismissed its teachings about the five deities as false.
• The Bloody King appeared as a blurry red figure in a mirror, and Erebus collapsed to his knees in fear.
• Erebus recognized the Bloody King and realized the covenant scriptures had understated its terrifying nature.

Orsaga ordered Erebus to infiltrate Rogal Dorn’s new monotheistic religion, and Erebus rose to become its Chief Pastor as Rogal unified the planet. When the Emperor finally arrived, Rogal and his followers wept with joy, leaving the Emperor confused about their reaction.

• Orsaga brainwashed Erebus and ordered him to complete a task.
• Erebus infiltrated Rogal Dorn’s sect and became its Chief Pastor while Rogal worked to replace the planet’s many religions with worship of a golden god.
• Rogal unified the planet through conversion and force, then built a powerful religion and compiled its Sacred Text.
• Rogal sensed that his creator was about to arrive and gathered a crowd of believers to welcome him.
• The Emperor landed in golden armor, and Rogal and the believers cried at the sight of him, while the Emperor wondered why.

After meeting the Emperor, Lorgar joined the Imperium while remaining devoted to religion, leading the Word Bearers to spread faith across conquered worlds. Erebus planned to intensify their preaching to provoke the Emperor and create an opportunity to turn Lorgar toward the Bloody King.

• Erebus regarded the Emperor as a False God and secretly considered him doomed to fall.
• The Emperor explained his vision of a united human empire and urged Lorgar to reject religion, but Lorgar privately remained committed to faith.
• Lorgar joined the Imperium, took command of his Space Marine Legion, and renamed it the Word Bearers.
• The Word Bearers transformed their ships into cathedral-like vessels and preached the Emperor's divinity on every world they contacted, slowing the expedition but keeping rebellion rare.
• Erebus learned that Lorgar planned to build Perfect City and decided to intensify the Legion's preaching to worsen the conflict between Lorgar and the Emperor.

The Emperor found Angron on Nuceria, where the Primarch led a doomed rebellion against the Thark Family while suffering from the Butcher’s Nail. After Angron refused to leave his companions, the Emperor teleported him away as they were slaughtered, leaving Angron enraged and calling himself a vengeful spirit.

• Angron remembered how the nobles forced the Butcher’s Nail into him after he refused to fight his adoptive father Onomastus, whom he later killed in a frenzy.
• With his rebel followers starving and wounded, Angron carved flesh from his own arm and fed it to them before preparing to face the approaching forces of the Thark Family.
• The Emperor arrived, claimed Angron as his creation, and offered him a legion, but Angron refused and insisted on dying alongside his companions.
• As Angron’s rebels were about to be overwhelmed, the Emperor teleported him to his warship, where Angron watched his followers die and attacked the Custodes in rage.
• The Emperor subdued Angron and placed him in a recovery pod after Angron condemned him for destroying his honor.

The Imperium launched a major campaign against the Randan after they captured the Eleventh Legion and its Primarch, while the Chaos Gods agreed to a contest over who could destroy the Emperor’s country first. The chapter left the five gods preparing to pursue their goals without acting directly.

• The Randan captured the Eleventh Legion and its Primarch after annihilating an Imperial expeditionary force, and brainwashed them into becoming a slave legion.
• The Emperor sent several Space Marine Legions, including the First Legion, against the Randan and moved to command the campaign himself.
• The Chaos Gods confronted Orsaga for trying to claim Lorgar Aurelian, but Orsaga argued that they could seize Lorgar themselves.
• Orsaga proposed that the five Chaos Gods compete to destroy the Emperor’s country without acting directly, with the winner taking all their stakes.
• Tzeentch and the other Chaos Gods accepted the contest and agreed on its rules.

Orsaga sent the Void Legion and Shi Tiankong to drive enemies toward the Milky Way, setting up a future conflict there. Meanwhile, the Emperor reviewed the Randan Empire’s technological advantage and ordered Lorgar Aurelian to abandon his plans for a city of worship and conquer more planets.

• After the Chaos Gods agreed on the Game Rules, Orsaga ordered the Void Legion to stir up trouble while pretending to care about the game.
• Imokku gathered the Void Legion and drove the retreating Zerg toward the Milky Way Galaxy.
• Shi Tiankong released selected powerful races he had partly eaten, forcing them to flee toward the Milky Way Galaxy as well.
• The Emperor judged the Randan Empire’s technology to be roughly two thousand years ahead of the Imperium of Man’s, though he knew the Imperium could draw on relics from the Human Federation’s Golden Age.
• After learning that Lorgar Aurelian planned to build a city devoted to worshipping him, the Emperor ordered him to abandon the project and conquer more planets.

The Emperor tolerated Angron Thal'k’s destructive conduct because he regarded Angron as a useful but expendable tool in his plan to keep the Primarchs divided. After the Imperium crushed the Randan Empire, Lorgar and the Word Bearers completed their forbidden Perfect City, and Lorgar prepared to tell the Emperor about it.

• The Emperor considered Angron’s intelligence wasted by the Butcher’s Nail and allowed the World Eaters’ brutality to help keep the Primarchs and Legions divided.
• The Imperium suffered serious setbacks against the Randan Empire until the Emperor personally breached its War Fortress, killed senior leaders, and led an invasion of its heartland.
• The Imperium exterminated the Randans, including destroying resource planets, and its people celebrated the victory with renewed confidence.
• Over more than a decade, Lorgar and the Word Bearers secretly built Perfect City and filled it with devoted believers and monuments to the Emperor.
• Erebus urged Lorgar to present Perfect City to the Emperor, and Lorgar began sending him a long-distance psychic message.

Horus tried to dissuade Lorgar from presenting the religious Perfect City to the Emperor, but Lorgar remained determined. The Emperor ordered the city destroyed and Lorgar and the Word Bearers punished, leaving Horus worried about his brother’s fate.

• Horus delayed passing Lorgar’s message to the Emperor and tried to persuade Lorgar to abandon his plan, but Lorgar insisted on reporting it.
• Sanguinius discussed the Perfect City with Horus and learned that Horus would soon take command of the front lines.
• The Emperor learned that Lorgar wanted him to acknowledge the Perfect City and ordered Roboute Guilliman and the Ultramarines to destroy it.
• The Emperor ordered Lorgar and every Word Bearer to kneel and repent, and sent the Imperial Guard, Makado, and himself to ensure the punishment was carried out.
• Horus protested that destroying the city was too severe, but the Emperor refused to relent, and Horus fell silent, worried about Lorgar’s future.

Lorgar expected praise but learned that the Emperor had ordered Perfect City burned and the Word Bearers to kneel in repentance for their religious worship. The Emperor’s presence forced Lorgar and his Legion to their knees, and Roboute began evacuating the city’s inhabitants.

• Lorgar prepared to welcome the Ultramarines and Adeptus Custodes, believing they had come to commend him.
• Roboute Guilliman arrived aboard the Glory of Macragge and told Lorgar that the Emperor had ordered Perfect City burned as punishment for the Word Bearers’ worship and slow expedition progress.
• An Imperial Guard Commander confirmed that the Emperor had personally issued the order.
• The Emperor and Makado appeared, and the Emperor’s immense pressure forced Lorgar and the Word Bearers to kneel.
• Roboute acknowledged the Emperor’s command and began arranging for the Ultramarines to evacuate Perfect City’s inhabitants.

After the Emperor ordered Perfect City destroyed, Lorgar and the Word Bearers watched their faith in him shatter. Lorgar rescued the sole survivor they found, Xylani Valancian, but her question about her dead family left them unable to answer.

• After three days of failed persuasion, Robert ordered the Ultramarines fleet to bombard Perfect City while Lorgar and the Word Bearers were held powerless.
• The bombardment reduced nearly all of Perfect City to rubble and ashes, leaving Lorgar and the Word Bearers confused about the Emperor they had worshipped.
• Erebus noticed that the destruction had cracked the Word Bearers' faith and realized his chance to turn against them was near.
• Days later, Lorgar ordered the highest standard of care for a severely wounded survivor found in the ruins.
• Lorgar recognized the survivor as Xylani Valancian and used his psychic power to revive her.
• Xylani Valancian asked whether the Emperor had ordered Perfect City's destruction after telling Lorgar that her husband and children were dead, and Lorgar and the Word Bearers fell silent.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lorgar falls into a deep depression after the Perfect City's destruction.
• Cole, Lorgar's adoptive father, discovers documents suggesting a common ancient deity, the 'Bloody King', across different civilizations.
• Lorgar, Cole, Erebus, and a squad of Word Bearers embark on a journey to the Eye of Terror, where they believe this deity might reside.

Character Developments

• Lorgar's despair deepens due to the Emperor's actions, leading him to seek alternative divine figures.
• Cole, initially uninterested in religion, becomes intrigued by the possibility of a real god and sees it as a means to help Lorgar.

Significant Themes

• The search for divine purpose and meaning in the face of despair and loss.
• The influence of belief and faith on one's actions and motivations.

Character Interactions

• Cole, despite his questionable methods, shows concern for Lorgar's well-being and tries to help him.
• Erebus, aware of Lorgar's state, seeks Cole's help to pass on important documents.
• Lorgar, Erebus, and Cole work together to investigate the potential existence of an ancient deity.

Lorgar and the Word Bearers crossed the Eye of Terror without encountering any demons or living things, until he performed a ritual that brought them before the Bloody King. Lorgar recognized the figure as a true god and knelt to ask for his teachings.

• Lorgar noticed that Warp Space and the Physical Universe seemed unusually close together inside the Eye of Terror.
• After more than two months of finding no life, Lorgar suspected a spatial labyrinth and decided to try a ritual meant to draw the Bloody King's gaze.
• The ritual caused the ship's spacetime coordinates to change drastically and revealed a colossal mountain on the screen.
• A gate of light appeared beside Lorgar, and he and his companions entered it to reach a vast hall.
• Lorgar saw the figure seated on the divine throne, recognized him as a true god, and knelt to ask for his teachings.

Lorgar asked Orsaga what his existence meant, and Orsaga revealed that the Chaos Gods had created the Physical Universe as a game. He explained that its unusual ability to renew itself set it apart from other worlds, though the Gods had yet to uncover the secret behind it.

• Lorgar asked Orsaga to explain the meaning of his existence after doubts about his devotion to his creator arose.
• Orsaga told Lorgar and the others that they were toys for him and the other four Chaos Gods.
• Orsaga showed Lorgar and the others a vision of the five Gods creating and shaping the Physical Universe for amusement.
• Orsaga explained that the Physical Universe occupied the central region of all worlds and could begin a new cycle after its destruction.
• Orsaga said the Gods called other worlds Sub-Universes and believed the Physical Universe concealed a secret they had not discovered.

After learning that the Emperor had made a bargain with Warp Space entities over the Primarchs, Lorgar agreed to surrender to Orsaga and help destroy the Imperium of Man. As Chaos Gods began targeting other Primarchs, the Emperor returned to Terra to secure the Warp Network, a key part of his plan for humanity.

• Orsaga told Lorgar that the Primarchs’ bodies and souls were tied to Warp Space and that half of them had been promised to the entities who helped the Emperor create them.
• Lorgar recalled the Emperor’s battle with Rick Taranis and his purge of the Thunder Warriors, then feared the Emperor would eventually turn against the Primarchs.
• Lorgar asked to surrender with his subordinates, and Orsaga accepted, ordering him to destroy the Imperium of Man in the future.
• The other Chaos Gods began tempting and scheming against their chosen Primarchs, while strange rumors and incidents spread through the Imperium.
• The Emperor sensed trouble, put Horus in command of the Great Crusade, and returned to Terra to pursue control of the Warp Network.

An unknown voice tempted Sanguinius to embrace the Blood Angels’ bloodlust, but he refused and fell silent. The voice then challenged Konrad Curze’s acceptance of his prophesied death, leaving him confronted with his own unwillingness to die.

• Sanguinius heard visions of his possible deaths and rejected the unknown voice’s offer of power.
• The voice urged Sanguinius to indulge the Bloodthirst within himself and his descendants, but he closed his eyes and stopped responding.
• Konrad Curze awoke from visions of the Imperium’s destruction and recalled how Nostramo’s cruelty shaped his uncompromising justice.
• Curze smashed a statue of the Emperor, whom he hated for treating the Primarchs and their Legions as sacrifices.
• A mocking voice told Curze he was unwilling to accept his death, and he answered that he did not care as long as his goal was achieved.

Fulgrim conquered the Snake People’s world and claimed a beautiful rapier that concealed a Slaanesh Demon. Meanwhile, Mortarion heard an unseen voice offering him greater status and power, and demanded proof of its promises.

• Fulgrim led the Emperor’s Children against the Snake People, then personally joined the assault as their defenses collapsed.
• Fulgrim discovered a grand temple on a floating island and entered it with an elite force to explore.
• After killing a giant snake monster, Fulgrim pulled a jeweled rapier from black stone, unaware that a Slaanesh Demon was hidden inside it.
• Mortarion heard an unseen voice while researching plague viruses and searched his laboratory for its source.
• Mortarion asked the voice how it could prove its offer of greater status and power, and it began to answer.

After returning to Terra, the Emperor delegated the Imperium’s day-to-day government to a special council and withdrew to work on the Warp Network, leaving the Primarchs and Space Marine Legions uneasy about their exclusion. Meanwhile, Lorgar gave Erebus a Chaos-tainted blade and tasked him with wounding Horus, unaware that Erebus intended to use the assignment to advance his own position.

• The Emperor convened Terra’s high-ranking officials, created a temporary governing institution, and withdrew from public affairs to focus on the Warp Network.
• The Space Marine Legions and Primarchs were excluded from the new institution, stirring fears that the Emperor might eventually discard them.
• Horus received veiled information about the Emperor’s arrangements and worried that the Primarchs’ future might be worse than simply losing their status after the Great Crusade.
• Lorgar examined the Chaos-blessed blade Orsaga had given him and considered how to use it to turn Horus against the Emperor.
• Erebus volunteered to wound Horus, and Lorgar entrusted him with the blade despite his doubts.
• Erebus concealed his contempt for Lorgar and planned to use the mission to curry favor with the Crimson King and manipulate the Word Bearers Legion.