Chapter Summaries

Celestine recovered her memories in the Warp, received the Emperor of Mankind’s gift of Primarch and Astartes research, and delivered it to Jaina. Raymond accepted the Emperor’s covert alignment while preparing to create Phyrexian Orks, and Jaina left Ultramar to expand the Undead Scourge as the Imperium’s internal corruption deepened.

• Celestine rebuilt her armor and personality in the Warp, renewed her bond with the Emperor, and received a case containing Primarch and Astartes knowledge and genetic samples.
• Celestine delivered the case to Jaina aboard the Undead Scourge flagship and conveyed the Emperor’s greeting to Raymond.
• Jaina teleported to Raymond’s laboratory, where he studied Orks and injected Phyrexian Oil into developing Orks to create a powerful new force.
• Raymond explained that he and the Emperor had already begun cooperating against the Chaos Gods, and he authorized Jaina to attack nonhuman races without restriction.
• Jaina returned to Ultramar and departed to seek new targets as the Plague Wars ended, while Grace expanded her covert network within the Imperium.

Raymond studied the Primarch gene samples and continued his experiments with Phyrexian Orks before a damaged T'au fleet arrived seeking repairs. As a Warp-born Electronic Daemon seized control of the spaceport’s weapons and the T'au ships, Shas'kael tried to warn the planet, while Raymond chose to let the crisis unfold so he could confront Tzeentch’s scheme.

• Raymond studied the Primarch genes, considered using them to enhance Orks, and observed that his Phyrexian Orks resisted mental assimilation through their belief power.
• A damaged T'au fleet emerged from the Warp and docked at Raymond’s spaceport, where its commander, Shas'kael, negotiated repairs and traded battlesuits and aircraft.
• Raymond secretly had Phyrexian Oil spread through the T'au ships, while Shas'kael planned to use the contact to pursue trade and bring the planet into the Greater Good.
• A T'au crewmember infected by a red-eyed presence sabotaged the communications system, triggering an Electronic Daemon that took control of the defenses and threatened the planet.
• Raymond identified the Electronic Daemon as a Warp corruption and told Skulltaker to prevent orbital bombardment while he waited to see what Tzeentch would do.
• The Electronic Daemon seized control of uninfected T'au ships and weapons, starting a deadly battle in which the T'au struggled against automated battlesuits and their own turrets.

Raymond captured and Compleated a Tzeentchian Electronic Daemon with experimental Number Forty Oil, then discovered that a T'au traitor was maneuvering to reach the planet's surface. He ordered Shas'kael to bring the traitor to the city's highest spire and prepared for the surprise he foresaw.

• Raymond watched the city's force field protect its residents while Phyrexian Oil dismantled the Electronic Daemon's invasion of the Spaceport's systems.
• Raymond used Number Forty Oil to Compleat the Electronic Daemon, confirmed it could control electronics and cybernetic limbs, and ordered it sealed away.
• Shas'kael landed on the city's force field and learned from Raymond's footage that a T'au subordinate had released the Electronic Daemon.
• Raymond gave Shas'kael ten hours to capture and question the traitor, while Tzeentch secretly urged the traitor to reach a laboratory on the planet's surface.
• The traitor surrendered to Shas'kael but demanded to be taken to the surface before revealing what he knew, and Raymond ordered him brought to the city's highest spire.
• Raymond told Praetor Skulltaker that Tzeentch's surprise was imminent and set out after glimpsing fragments of the future.

Raymond met the T'au envoy Shas'kael and tortured a Tzeentchian traitor for information while the Thousand Sons launched a raid on his underground laboratory. The assault failed, but the traitor revealed that Tzeentch had learned about Phyrexian Oil, and Raymond began preparing for further attacks and Warp corruption.

• Raymond told Shas'kael that his sector was independent from the Imperium and revealed his metal body before beginning to Compleat the T'au traitor with Phyrexian Oil.
• A Thousand Sons force teleported into the underground tunnels and blasted open the laboratory's defenses, but Skulltaker and New Phyrexian constructs met them at the breach.
• The Thousand Sons fought their way toward the laboratory, sacrificing most of their squad before the last warrior reached Raymond, who had already returned inside.
• The final Thousand Son detonated himself to create a Warp storm, but Raymond dispersed it and ordered Skulltaker to repair the damage and strengthen the laboratory's defenses.
• Raymond proposed creating half-flesh, half-mechanical Phyrexian Oil Astartes using Primarch gene samples, then questioned the T'au traitor on the surface.
• The traitor said Tzeentch had sent him to learn about Phyrexian Oil, and Raymond responded that he had created Number Forty Warp Oil as a safeguard against Warp corruption.

Soros gave the T'au information about the Warp and upgraded their fleet, then explained to Roboute Guilliman that he planned to support the T'au as a buffer against the galaxy’s threats. Guilliman agreed to expand production with Soros, while Grey Knights investigating the laboratory attack identified Ahriman’s Thousand Sons and met its guardian, Skulltaker.

• Soros warned Shas'kael about the dangers facing the T'au and gave her information about the Warp, along with Warp-protection systems and upgraded engines for the fleet.
• Roboute Guilliman arrived with an Imperial fleet, met Soros, and questioned him about the T'au and Tzeentch’s attack on the laboratory.
• Soros urged Guilliman to accept the power of faith and support the T'au as a buffer against the Warp, Necrons, and Tyranids; Guilliman then discussed expanding weapons and ship production.
• Grey Knights examined the laboratory wreckage and concluded that Ahriman’s Exalted Sorcerers had led the Thousand Sons raid.
• Skulltaker appeared before the Grey Knights and confirmed that he had guarded the laboratory and defeated the attackers.

Raymond traded enchanted weapons to the Grey Knights for their records on Chaos, while secretly preparing a legion of compleated psychic warriors and exploring Phyrexian Oil Orcs. As the T’au leadership considered an alliance with Soros and Guilliman learned that the Emperor planned to sacrifice the Imperium to remake humanity, Yvraine approached Raymond before the expedition fleet departed.

• Raymond’s alliance with the Grey Knights provided them enchanted weapons, while they agreed to share their Warp and Chaos archives.
• Raymond’s Praetor reported that one million Magnus-gene clones were growing in the underground laboratory, and she described progress with Phyrexian Oil Orcs.
• The T’au Supreme Ethers questioned Shas’kael, concluded that Soros was godlike, and planned to send her back with an offering and seek an alliance.
• Raymond told Roboute Guilliman that the Emperor intended to let the Imperium collapse so humanity could escape its oppressive culture and weaken Chaos.
• Yvraine approached Raymond in the corridor and introduced herself as the leader of the Reaper Army.

Yvraine’s offer to ally with Raymond failed, and he ordered Skulltaker to strengthen the sector’s defenses as the Imperium fleet departed. Meanwhile, Jaina’s Undead Scourge devastated T’au border worlds, raising their dead as an army and driving the T’au Empire to mobilize its fleets and deploy Phyrexian Oil.

• Yvraine invited Raymond to ally with her, the Reaper Army, and Ynnead, but Raymond rejected the offer and threatened to destroy the Eldar if they became his enemies.
• Raymond assigned Skulltaker to build defenses across the sector, then watched Roboute Guilliman’s fleet leave while the local population turned toward study and training.
• Jaina ordered Typhus to seize a T’au outpost; the Undead Scourge bombarded the planet, killed its inhabitants, and raised more than ten billion T’au as Undead.
• Jaina sent the surviving Ethereal back to declare war on the T’au Empire, while her forces attacked other border planets and spread the Scourge Plague.
• The Ethereal Supremes assembled fleets to confront Jaina and considered using Phyrexian Oil against the infected worlds; Jaina recognized the deployment as Raymond’s scheme.

Moskat’s fleet crossed into Imperium Nihilus and rescued Irons VI from an Ork invasion, presenting itself as loyal reinforcements while laying the groundwork for his secret plans. After Moskat stirred the planet’s people with news of Roboute Guilliman’s return, Kro and his sister weighed the family’s ambitions against the dangers surrounding their father’s mysterious pact.

• Raymond planned to drive the T'au toward madness through prolonged crises, while Moskat crossed the Warp rift and arrived in Imperium Nihilus with his fleet.
• Moskat sent Kro to attack the Orks besieging Irons VI, and the fleet’s Planet-Killer Cannon and Fel Reavers broke the Greenskin assault.
• Moskat met the planetary governor, claimed to be an envoy authorized by Roboute Guilliman, and used news of the Primarch’s return to inflame the Hive City’s people.
• The governor invited Moskat to a lavish victory banquet and offered a deal involving the planet’s mineral resources in exchange for supplies.
• Kro predicted that the family would soon dominate Imperium Nihilus, but his sister warned him that an Inquisition branch, an Ecclesiarchy bishop, and their father’s mysterious pact posed serious threats.

Moskat manipulated Governor Herlk into supporting his plans to consolidate Volker Sector, while Raymond warned Shas'kael about the dangers facing the T'au and explained the costs of using Phyrexian Oil. After a Grey Knight attacked Shas'kael, Raymond killed him and defended his guest, then left her to await the Ethereal Supremes' reply.

• Moskat won Governor Herlk's loyalty by offering supplies, weapons, drugs, and industrial equipment in exchange for human resources and help recruiting the other planetary governors.
• Raymond told Shas'kael that the T'au faced threats from the Necrons, Chaos, Tyranids, and Orcs, and explained that Phyrexian Oil could resist the Warp in Realspace but would make those Compleated his servants.
• Raymond promised to protect the T'au if they ever had to use Phyrexian Oil to survive, then teleported away as Shas'kael sent three warships home and remained behind.
• A Grey Knight threatened Shas'kael and choked her, so Raymond crushed him to death and warned the other Grey Knights not to interfere with his guests again.
• Raymond explained to Shas'kael that his society was a social experiment and told her to stay cautious while she awaited the Ethereal Supremes' reply.

The Ordo Xenos’s attempt to intimidate Raymond triggered a purge on Terra after Roboute Guilliman authorized Violetta Roskavler to act against the conspirators. Meanwhile, the T'au chose mechanical enhancement with Phyrexian Oil to survive the Undead Scourge, while Tzeentch swallowed the oil and began plotting to unleash it in Realspace.

• A Puritan Ordo Xenos Grand Master learned that Raymond had killed the Grey Knights sent to warn him, and he and his agent suspected Roboute Guilliman was cooperating with Raymond and the T'au.
• The Throne Agent secretly reported the incident to Grace, who prepared to exploit a coming purge and told him to alert their people in the Officio Assassinorum.
• Soros refused Grace’s offer to retaliate against the Ordo Xenos, while Roboute Guilliman ordered Violetta Roskavler to act without restraint after learning the Inquisitors had tried to provoke a war between him and Raymond.
• Violetta Roskavler and the Officio Assassinorum killed everyone involved in the Ordo Xenos operation, leaving a third of its senior positions vacant and causing upheaval on Terra.
• After reviewing Shas'kael’s intelligence, the T'au Ethereal Supremes unanimously agreed to reshape the Greater Good and use Phyrexian Oil to enhance their armies against the Undead Scourge.
• Raymond’s power grew as the T'au embraced Phyrexian Oil, while Tzeentch tasted the substance, recognized its potential, and drank the entire bowl.

Raymond emerged from two weeks of merging with the Abyss Fragment, expanded New Phyrexia’s forces, and assigned the Diary to coordinate missions across hundreds of worlds. Balthazar arrived in New York, killed gang members who attacked him, and was approached by Phil Coulson after the police yielded to the FBI.

• Raymond awakened at the Trans-Spacetime Beacon Tower and explained that evil gathering across countless planes was merging with his soul.
• Raymond used Phyrexian Oil to upgrade his forces with technology from the Warhammer Universe, then showed the Diary a Compleated Electronic Daemon, Number Forty Warp Oil, and a genetic Primarch sample.
• Raymond punished the Diary by temporarily removing its desire for lust, then gave it command of Compleated Planeswalkers and powerful allies tasked with infiltrating more than three hundred worlds.
• Jin-Gitaxias admitted his unauthorized experiments, gave Raymond forty-three preserved Sparks and research files, and promised not to conduct dangerous research behind his back again.
• The Diary organized teams and dispatched them across more than a hundred worlds, while Balthazar arrived in an unfamiliar city and killed gang members who attacked him.
• Police surrounded Balthazar, but Phil Coulson and the FBI took over the incident and began questioning him.

Balthazar revealed that the sudden spread of powers and technology on Earth came from his master's Trans-Spacetime Beacon Tower, then brought a human delegation to see the forces behind it. The Diary offered Earth protection in exchange for souls of the dead and showed the delegation a city in Baator where those souls could live.

• Nick Fury reviewed reports on Balthazar's abilities and arranged to meet him, while Balthazar agreed to explain his arrival.
• Balthazar told Nick Fury that the Beacon Tower had broadcast knowledge across the Multiverse and invited Earth's leaders to visit his master's domain.
• Nick Fury gathered representatives from the Security Council member states, and a delegation of 150 traveled through a portal with Balthazar and the Stone Giant Planeswalker.
• The delegation saw Gloriana-class Battleships and a vast space fortress, and Balthazar described weapons capable of destroying planets and stars.
• The Diary told the delegation that the Tower's broadcasts risked spawning fiends and offered Earth protection in exchange for souls that had left their bodies after death.
• The Diary opened a portal to the Ninth Layer of Baator and showed the delegation a Cyberpunk City where the dead could live freely.

Raymond received Asmodeus’s scepter of hellish authority and advanced his plans involving New Glistening Oil, Sylvanas, and Nathanos. Meanwhile, Nick Fury’s delegation returned to Earth, where S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Security Council provisionally accepted negotiating a soul-for-protection deal.

• Asmodeus praised Raymond’s influence in Baator, and Raymond explained that he planned to have the delegates return to their world and send sinful souls to Hell.
• Asmodeus rewarded Raymond with a scepter that amplified his power and sealed Kezef, then departed.
• Malcanthet reported that New Glistening Oil multiplied by consuming soul energy, and Raymond ordered her to cultivate it for his plans.
• Raymond resurrected Sylvanas and Nathanos, then turned them into a Dual Servant Card after they agreed to serve him.
• Nick Fury returned to Earth with his delegation, and Balthazar’s gold caused a financial commotion while S.H.I.E.L.D. arranged his legal identity and protection.
• Nick Fury recommended trading souls for protection, and the Security Council provisionally agreed to the proposal and scheduled another meeting for forty-eight hours later.

Coulson and Balthazar investigated a cult creating a Cursed Creature, while Hydra tried to seize the creature and Alexander Pierce embraced supernatural power. After it entered a city and killed thousands, Balthazar headed to confront it as Tony Stark followed, unaware of the full danger.

• Coulson's team found a corpse-built Tree of Life, and Balthazar identified the ritual as an attempt to create a soul-feeding Cursed Creature.
• Hydra's Winter Soldier attacked the cultists' motel, but a black-mist creature slaughtered the team and escaped; Alexander Pierce revealed his demonic mark and ordered Sitwell to monitor it.
• At the Stark Expo, Balthazar gave Tony Stark unfamiliar materials, then Coulson rushed Balthazar away as news broke that the creature was ravaging a city.
• Coulson told Balthazar that the creature had killed at least ten thousand people and was expanding, while Tony Stark flew after their Quinjet.
• Balthazar promised to handle the creature and prepared to fight as the Quinjet approached the expanding black zone.

Balthazar entered the black-mist-covered city and defeated the Cursed Creature born from a cult leader’s abuse of his daughter. After saving Tracie Hoffman, he left her in The Ancient One’s care at Kamar-Taj, promising to visit.

• Hawkeye and Coulson learned that civilians and agents were trapped inside the expanding black mist, while Tony Stark flew into it without knowing his armor would fail.
• The Cursed Creature nearly consumed Tony’s soul, but Balthazar arrived, drove it back with Solar Flame Stance, and healed Tony’s injuries.
• Balthazar tracked the creature to the corpse tree, protected Tracie from the cult leader, and destroyed the creature after it merged with the corpses to form a Giant.
• Balthazar discovered that the cursed fetus had been created through the cult leader’s abuse of his daughter, then burned the cult leader to ash.
• Balthazar comforted Tracie and told her that she could learn to control her necromantic magic, while The Ancient One explained that Dormammu was hunting magically awakened people like her.
• Balthazar agreed to let The Ancient One take Tracie to Kamar-Taj, provided he could visit or reclaim her, and promised Tracie he would return within two or three months.

Balthazar warned Raymond that Dormammu planned to invade the Trans-Spacetime Beacon Tower, and Raymond prepared his vast armies and a mysterious weapon for the coming war. On Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. considered training its own spellcasters while Tony Stark tested Balthazar’s gifts, as Kaecilius prepared a plot to abduct Tracie Hoffman from Kamar-Taj.

• Tony Stark asked Balthazar about gods, but arriving military forces and Coulson interrupted their conversation.
• Balthazar identified the Ancient One as Earth’s protector and told Coulson that Dormammu intended to attack the Trans-Spacetime Beacon Tower.
• Raymond dismissed Balthazar’s concerns about simultaneous wars, showed him his growing armies, and assigned Iggwilv and Sarevok to help him.
• Raymond told Jin-Gitaxias to continue building a weapon that he hoped to use against Dormammu and potentially the Chaos Gods.
• Nick Fury ordered Coulson to rest and planned to seek magical training materials, while Tony examined the rare metals Balthazar had given him.
• Kaecilius received Dormammu’s command to capture Tracie Hoffman alive and agreed to lure the Ancient One away while an envoy held her back.

Nick Fury brought Tony Stark and an Earth delegation to Baator, where Raymond secured a contract exchanging souls for protection, technology, and knowledge. The delegation returned with Ceramite technology and magic books, while Hydra agents infiltrated the research effort and Alexander Pierce obtained the Cyclonic Torpedo and the supposedly secret books.

• Nick Fury recruited Tony Stark into the Avengers Initiative by revealing Howard Stark's Expo model, which led Tony to discover a new element and sign the authorization documents.
• Nick Fury took Tony and a Security Council delegation to Baator, where they met Raymond and signed a contract trading souls for Earth's protection and access to technology and knowledge.
• Raymond demonstrated the agreement by having countries send over ten thousand executed death-row inmates to the Cyberpunk City, then gave Nick Fury a Cyclonic Torpedo as a gift.
• The delegation chose to purchase Ceramite technology and several English-translated magic books, then returned to Earth with their acquisitions and the torpedo.
• Nick Fury ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to study magic, but Hydra agents made up most of the first group and passed the torpedo and books to Alexander Pierce.

Alexander Pierce used forbidden magic and demonic soul energy to strengthen Hydra, while Iggwilv and Balthazar confronted Dormammu’s attack on Kamar-Taj. The clash escalated into a Dimension War that threatened Earth, leaving Nick Fury considering the Seed Plan as Dormammu’s assault intensified.

• Alexander Pierce ordered Hydra to infiltrate magic training and political institutions, then received a spellbook from his mysterious Teacher in exchange for evil souls.
• Alexander Pierce absorbed corrupted soul energy, summoned a Babau, and controlled it using the mark of the Witch Queen Iggwilv.
• Iggwilv told Balthazar that Kaecilius’s followers were attacking Kamar-Taj, and she opened portals so their group could join the battle.
• Sarevok attacked Kaecilius’s Wizards while Balthazar joined The Ancient One in the Mirror Dimension and fought a Dark Servant.
• Dormammu appeared through a rift, threatened Earth, and retaliated after Balthazar slapped him, unleashing worldwide storms, meteors, and energy blasts.
• Nick Fury lost global communications and began considering the Seed Plan as Dormammu’s attack threatened civilization.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kamar-Taj struggled as Dormammu invaded Earth, but Raymond lured the Dark Dimension’s ruler through a passage into Baator, where a host of gods and Archdevils attacked him. Raymond trapped Dormammu outside his domain while his armies carved away territory and Warp Phyrexian Oil began contaminating Dormammu’s soul.

• Nick Fury told Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. could do nothing against Dormammu and went to guard the Cyclonic Torpedo as humanity’s last resort.
• Sarevok slaughtered Kaecilius’s followers at Kamar-Taj, while Kaecilius broke the barrier and escaped with a disguised Iggwilv posing as Tracie Hoffman.
• Balthazar held Dormammu back until Kaecilius brought the supposed Tracie to the rift, where Dormammu used her as a link to open a passage into another dimension.
• Raymond and a gathering of Baator’s Archdevils and gods confronted Dormammu, while Iggwilv widened the passage and Raymond’s armies entered the Dark Dimension.
• Raymond trapped Dormammu outside his domain as the expeditionary forces detached territory from the Dark Dimension, then revealed that Warp Phyrexian Oil was infecting Dormammu’s body and soul.

Raymond’s trap stripped half of the Dark Dimension from Dormammu, who escaped by rupturing the barrier to the Dark Void. As Raymond began transforming his prize, Alusair returned to Cormyr pregnant with his child, while Ayesha neared her own due date and Earth’s defenders learned that Raymond now surrounded Earth with the captured dimension.

• Raymond and his allies fought Dormammu as Warp Phyrexian Oil consumed much of the Dark Dimension and began Compleating the demon god.
• Dormammu opened a passage to the Dark Void and escaped through Iggwilv’s tunnel, severing the infected half of his dimension; Raymond claimed it and began reshaping it.
• Raymond told Asmodeus he would send Cormyr’s infant heir to another world, then entered the captured dimension to spread the Phyrexian Oil.
• Alusair returned to Cormyr after her father Azoun IV and sister died, and told Caladnei that Soros was the father of her unborn child.
• A cleric confirmed that Ayesha’s pregnancy was healthy and that she was due within two months, while Raymond remained occupied with the Dark Dimension.
• Balthazar told Ancient One that Raymond had taken half of the Dark Dimension and placed Earth within the territory he controlled; Iron Man then flew toward them during the communications blackout.