Recaps

Master Qin redirected Biji’s knights to clear undead from Marlowe and sent Domestic 013 to deliver supplies to Banks City. Biji’s forces began their assault while Liwen’s psychics entered the ruins to destroy the necromantic rituals, where Liwen sensed something underground.

• Master Qin ordered Biji to clear Marlowe for the People’s Army and arranged dragon cavalry support, while he sent Domestic 013 with a forty-two-vehicle convoy of supplies for Banks City.
• Domestic 013 flew to the Andmar Hills as a halfling pilot described his decision to enlist and his coming bombing mission against the Chaos forces.
• Biji led the knights against Marlowe’s Shadow Bones while Liwen prepared to enter the town with psychics and destroy the active necromantic rituals.
• Biji’s charge and the knights’ mortar and dragon-cavalry support broke through the undead line, drawing the horde’s attention.
• Liwen led the psychics toward the ruins’ central tomb passage and sensed something underground.

The Holy Light Knights reclaimed Marlowe Town after Liwen's squad destroyed the undead ritual site, but the battle left them too exhausted to continue toward Banks City. In the catacombs, Liwen and Piqi discovered ratfolk resisting the Lord of Darkness and learned they could help locate his true body, prompting Liwen to call for an immediate report to Murphy.

• Piqi held the Holy Light Knights on high ground with explosives until Liwen's squad destroyed the undead ritual, then led a charge that broke the Shadowbone ranks and reclaimed Marlowe Town.
• The knights organized the town's defenses and supplies, while Piqi searched for Liwen and learned she was investigating something underground.
• Piqi joined Liwen in the catacombs, where they questioned captured ratfolk scouts led by Squeak-squeak.
• Squeak-squeak revealed that his chief planned to rebel against the Lord of Darkness, seek Murphy's help, and use the ratfolk's ability to hear the dark voice to find the Lord of Darkness's true body.
• Liwen ordered an immediate report to Murphy and told Piqi to contact the team's super hacker for a communication ritual.

Murphy agreed to help Black Servant Sen’s ratmen challenge the Lord of Darkness by locating and destroying its hidden core. After learning that other ratmen were tunneling into towns and advancing on Banks City, Murphy recruited Heather to command the mission.

• A ratman scout named Chichi asked Murphy for help with Black Servant Sen’s plan to resist the Lord of Darkness and create a god for the ratmen.
• Murphy promised warriors and instructed the ratmen to find the Lord of Darkness’s hidden core while his forces handled the final strike.
• Chichi led Biji and Liwen through the tunnels to Black Servant Sen, who revealed that more than thirty-three ratman clans were moving to break through Banks City.
• Black Servant Sen said it had gathered clans for an expedition west to find the source of the Lord of Darkness’s power, and asked Murphy’s followers to eliminate rival chieftains.
• Murphy contacted Heather and told her that ratmen were preparing to shatter the Lord of Darkness’s core, and Heather agreed to join the mission.

As Banks City came under attack from Skaven and Chaos, Marshal Loren struggled to keep the city and its nearly million refugees safe while reinforcements remained distant. Kudel revealed that Murphy was in Xico City and challenged Loren to choose between his pride and seeking help before nightfall.

• An earth priest warned Loren that Skaven tunnels were bringing Chaos abominations into Banks City and that East Prussia faced a full-scale invasion.
• Loren rejected calls to retreat, stripped an officer of his rank for urging a breakout, and vowed to hold Banks City.
• The earth priest advised Loren to evacuate the civilians into Transia, but Loren refused as Skaven erupted beneath a residential district.
• General Kudel and Transian reinforcements helped drive back the Skaven, prompting Loren to wonder whether Murphy had an army that could save East Prussia.
• Kudel confirmed Murphy was in Xico City and urged Loren to seek him there, asking whether a million lives mattered more than Loren’s pride and shame.

Marshal Loren sent General Maxim to rescue General Soros, then left Banks City to seek Murphy’s aid from Westco’s Netherworld Army. He arrived at the ruins and told Murphy he had come as a sinner to face judgment.

• The revived players drove ratmen underground, helped seal their tunnel, and prepared to escort General Kuder’s force to meet Sister Guochan013’s supply convoy.
• Loren ordered General Maxim to rescue Soros and the Dorod Fortress Legion, despite the delay this would cause for Banks City.
• Loren refused to pull troops from Pioneer Fortress and told his officers he would seek reinforcements in Westco, where Murphy and the Netherworld Army waited.
• Loren explained that he considered his use of plague weapons against Westco a shameful crime and was prepared to face execution to spare Banks City and East Prussia.
• Loren and an Earth Priest traveled to Westco, where they were met by ten dragon cavalry machines and Murphy.
• Loren told Murphy he had come as a sinner to face his judgment.

Loren came to Xico seeking the Underworld Army’s help against the Lord of Darkness, and the city’s dead judged him for the Pioneer Legion’s crimes. Rather than execute him immediately, Count Xicomel conscripted Loren to lead a penal battalion in the army’s expedition to East Prussia, which began as Loren resolved to see his wife only after the war.

• Loren entered Xico and accepted the plague-barrel lid, prisoner shackles, and restraints as symbols of the suffering the Pioneer Legion had inflicted.
• Before Count Xicomel and the assembled witnesses, Loren asked for help defending Banks and offered his life in exchange for the Underworld Army’s intervention.
• Count Xicomel condemned the souls of the fallen Pioneer Legion to eternal service in the Underworld Army and named Loren and Soros as the first two to be punished.
• Murphy declared that the Pioneer Legion’s aggression and its members’ obedience were crimes, and the undead demanded eternal death for Loren and his legion.
• Count Xicomel gave Loren weapons and ordered him to lead a penal battalion as the Underworld Army’s vanguard in East Prussia.
• Loren boarded an airship with the advancing army and told Murphy he would visit his wife after the war.

Banks City’s defenders faced a citywide assault by Chaos abominations and ratmen as the Radiant Artifact continued to shelter the area. With the walls breached and the dead rising under the Underworld King’s command, reinforcements arrived and the fallen joined the battle.

• Holy Light followers preached beneath the Radiant Artifact as desperate civilians and officials gathered to pray.
• Chaos abominations overwhelmed the outer defenses, while ratmen ambushed Giant Shark’s position from underground; he stayed behind as the Pioneer Legion soldiers retreated.
• Ratmen and Chaos creatures broke through a section of Banks City’s wall, threatening to spark panic among the refugees.
• Corpses across Banks City rose at the Underworld King’s command and attacked nearby enemies, forming a new defensive line at the breach.
• Airships carrying Pioneer Legion reinforcements arrived, and Marshal Loren appeared as heavy black dragoons descended into the battle.
• A flesh-ripper killed the officer, but he rose again moments later as an undead soldier, beginning his eternal service.

Murphy and Count Leon negotiated the future of East Prussia, the planned Grand Duchy of Capet, and the New World as Banks City faced an invasion. Murphy then sensed a god’s imminent birth in the warp and left to witness it, while Leon prepared to lead Capet into a new era.

• Murphy discussed renaming the Pioneer's Fortress with Count Leon, who proposed calling it Fort Stephanie after his late wife.
• Murphy offered to ease Lady Juna’s oath to the Tower of Rings, and he and Leon turned to the political future of Capet and King Louis.
• Leon proposed making Princess Bridget the nominal Grand Duchess, but Murphy instead suggested Prince William become the nominal ruler; Leon accepted the idea.
• Leon sought permission to offer the Holy Spirit Plains to King Louis, and Murphy outlined how the New World could be divided among the Plantagenet Kingdom, the Wolfsbane Clan, and other powers.
• Leon declared he would accept Murphy’s demands and wanted to join the Vampire Dynasty to take over Mirian’s responsibilities.
• Murphy sensed the warp stirring and announced that a god was about to be born, then departed to witness the event as Leon vowed to guide East Prussia’s new history.

Murphy watched from the Astral Realm as Ao fought through a brutal siege in subspace, and explained why he believed the Eastern Sacred Spirit could ascend. Ao reached the end of his Paths of Purification and Immortality, became a complete dragon and a cosmic god, and chose to remain in subspace to fight Chaos.

• Murphy joined the gathered colossi and demigods at the Astral Colossus, where they awaited news of Ao’s attempt to ascend.
• Murphy told the onlookers that Ao’s body and mastery of Purification were exceptional, and urged them to give Ao their blessing.
• Ao endured repeated destruction and rebirth while fighting Taotie and the other subspace shadows, growing stronger with each return.
• Ao declared that the primordial chaos held the source of supernatural power, while Taotie revealed that Ao had been assimilated by subspace and become a god of the cosmos.
• The subspace shadows withdrew, leaving Ao as the first stable land of Order within subspace.
• Ao accepted that he could not return to the worlds he had protected, chose to continue the eternal war, and became a foundation of all things.

After Ao ascended as a Cosmic Foundation, Murphy learned how his power could reshape subspace and prepare Order for renewed war against Chaos. Ao also advised Murphy on possible future ascensions and revealed that Holy Light was about to be born through his purifying power.

• Murphy celebrated Ao's ascension and received Order's Grace—Immortal Dragon along with those who had basked in Ao's light.
• Ao told Ze that he could no longer enter lower-dimensional worlds and explained that Ze would need to master his Origin Life Path and defeat the Primordial Sin to pursue transcendence.
• Murphy entered Ao's Dao Domain, saw his wounded, jade-repaired form, and heard his explanation of subspace as the universe's driving force and the Creator's true blueprint.
• Ao warned Murphy that the war between Order and Chaos would resume, urged him to help Mantis pursue ascension without faith, and agreed that Wam could begin again in mortal form.
• Ao told Murphy that Holy Light was about to be born, and Murphy agreed to let Ao grant it the power of purification.

Ship One completed its maiden voyage launch from the Sangha Empire shipyard and was named Shadowchaser before heading to East Prussia for Operation Sword of Dawn. Old Ma agreed to join Big Shot Pill’s proposed combat-mech project, while Yincha revealed that Ship One’s escort squadron included six advanced 35-chan units.

• Big Shot Pill urged Old Ma to hurry to Ship One’s maiden voyage, and they discussed its weapons tests, payload, and the proposed construction of a medium-sized combat mech.
• Old Ma agreed to join Pill’s mech project, while Pill revealed that Yincha had received a request from Transia to adapt Ship Two for Astral Realm travel.
• Old Ma and Pill joined the gathered representatives at the hangar, where Yincha said the professional flight and gunnery crews were ready and disclosed that six 35-chan units would escort Ship One.
• Fleur watched Ship One take off and reflected that the Sangha Empire would eventually have five Sun Ships.
• Governor Murphy named Ship One Shadowchaser, renamed the Origin Vanguard Lightchaser, and ordered Shadowchaser to East Prussia for Operation Sword of Dawn.

Heather Hoffman’s team reached the Treet Mine to destroy one of the Lord of Darkness’s power cores, while Peachy and Liven went to intercept another in a nearby town. The team confronted a giant ratman incarnation underground, and Peachy found her childhood friend among the town’s ruins, asking her to avenge its dead.

• Black Servantson told Heather Hoffman’s team that several cores concealed the Lord of Darkness and led them toward the Treet Mine.
• Black Servantson sensed a core in the mine and a larger one in a nearby town, so Liven carried Peachy there to intercept it.
• Liven’s purifying mist drove back the Lord of Darkness’s servants as Heather’s team fought through the Skaven tunnels.
• The team found a giant ratman incarnation of the Lord of Darkness, and Heather attacked it after it knocked Marcus aside.
• Peachy arrived at the devastated town and found her wounded childhood friend, who refused treatment and begged Peachy to avenge her family and neighbors.

Piqi mourned her childhood friend and awakened a fierce purifying fire, becoming powerful enough to wound the Dark Lord’s giant rat avatar. After Taipal sacrificed himself to return Peacemaker to her, Piqi reshaped the sword into a Blade of Light and rose to face the enemy again.

• Piqi laid her dead childhood friend to rest and recited the Elegy for the Dead, drawing on her grief and anger to ignite golden flames.
• Piqi charged the ratmen and struck down many with a massive blade of light, while her fire burned the Dark Lord’s avatar and revealed a new power of purification.
• The Dark Lord drew power from its other avatars, caught Peacemaker, and struck Piqi down; Liven caught her but was badly hurt.
• Players arrived and fought to delay the Dark Lord, while Fuding used his stored Victory Brews and Lord Heather joined the battle.
• Taipal brought Peacemaker to Piqi and sacrificed himself to put the sword within her reach, urging her to shape her legend.
• Piqi kissed the injured Liven, gripped the melted Peacemaker, and reshaped it into a Blade of Light as she called on the Holy Light to fight the Dark Lord.

Count Lyon used a mass prayer at the Frontier Fortress to help bring the Holy Light into being, as the shared faith of believers across the region formed a divine presence and raised a wall of light. With the fortress protected and worshipers newly emboldened, he ordered them to arm themselves and march to Banks City.

• Count Lyon led the fortress’s refugees and soldiers in prayer while priests from other faiths recognized that the Holy Light’s followers were burning with faith.
• The prayers united believers across the fortress and beyond, shaping their shared hopes into a supernatural being while Count Lyon struggled against the change in his mind.
• Count Lyon sensed the faith gathering at Banks City, Stormhold, and a plague-ridden border town as the Holy Light neared birth.
• The Holy Light opened His eyes, and golden fire spread from the shrine to form a radiant barrier around the Frontier Fortress.
• Count Lyon rallied the worshipers and ordered them to arm themselves, follow him through the night, and carry the Holy Light’s miracle to Banks City.

Holy Light was born in the Warp as the Ashen Valkyrie and Daughter of Dawn, then empowered Peachy to fight the Black Warden. Peachy transformed and surged toward demigod-level strength, leaving the Lord of Darkness convinced it was doomed.

• Old Su noticed the Seed of Holy Light growing unstable as the Chaos legion attacked, and he ordered his wolves to retreat before her birth transformed the region.
• Old Ao and Old Su transferred symbols of power to Holy Light, and her golden radiance burned the Chaos general and its followers to ash as she took shape.
• Holy Light formed an armored female incarnation resembling Peachy and called herself the Ashen Valkyrie and Daughter of Dawn, then sent power to Peachy.
• Strange voices spoke within Holy Light’s domain and muddled her memories before she could understand their conversation.
• Peachy received Holy Light’s power, transformed into Armored Peachy, and advanced toward the Black Warden as her strength rose beyond Gold Rank.

Biki defeated Old Black’s avatar with a concentrated strike of Holy Light, ending the eternal night over East Prussia. Old Black escaped through a fragment of Baphomet’s dream, but the dream’s new owner expelled it back into the darkness, where Murphy was waiting.

• The Dawn Maiden unlocked Holy Light powers for Uncle Fuding and Taipal, and Uncle Fuding resurrected Taipal on the battlefield.
• Taipal transformed through Lesser Divine Descent and charged Old Black, but Old Black knocked him aside.
• Biki used the Blood Eagle Clan’s fighting style to concentrate the Dawn Maiden’s power into one strike that destroyed Old Black’s avatar and brought back the dawn.
• Old Black fled through a fragment of Baphomet’s dream, but Baphomet’s daughter refused it passage because it had not reserved a way through.
• The dream sent Old Black back into the remaining eternal night, where Murphy waited for it.

Murphy watched the final battle for Banks City and questioned Old Black about who had orchestrated the Veil of Eternal Night. After Old Black named Vydia, King of Ten Thousand Curses, Murphy destroyed the Lord of Darkness and took a crystal as a keepsake, then left to attend a funeral.

• Murphy watched Loren and the allied forces fight the Chaos army as the Veil of Eternal Night weakened.
• Murphy told Old Black that the crisis had served as a rehearsal to warn the world about Chaos, then pressed it to identify the mastermind behind the plan.
• Old Black agreed that its power would be divided among the Night Singer, the Daughter of Dawn, and the ratmen, and named Vydia, King of Ten Thousand Curses, as the one who had set events in motion.
• The Shadowchaser's solar bombardment split the Veil of Eternal Night and restored sunlight to the ravaged land.
• Old Black attacked Murphy, but Murphy slowed time and used the divine artifact of Radiance to destroy it.
• Murphy collected a crystal from Old Black's remains and left the cliff to attend a funeral.

After the Curtain of Eternal Night lifted, Marshal Loren accepted Count Sikomel’s sentence and prepared to die rather than abandon his convictions. He said goodbye to his pregnant wife and entrusted the Pioneer Legion’s future to General Soros before setting out for the gallows.

• Sunlight returned to Banks City, and Count Sikomel gave Loren until midnight before his execution; Loren asked the underworld army to prepare his weapons and supplies.
• Loren asked the Earth Priest to bring his wife from Silverkeep, then told General Soros to lead the Pioneer Legion and hold Pioneer Fortress despite the soul pact binding its soldiers to Sikomel’s army after death.
• Ron argued that the Capet family’s new realm could not be stopped and accepted the prospect of serving in the underworld army, while Soros agreed to remain with the Pioneer Legion.
• Loren’s pregnant wife arrived, and he spent time with her before Soros departed to rejoin his soldiers; Ron gave his father advice about obtaining a prosthetic leg.
• At midnight, Loren gave his wife letters and asked her to tell their child the truth about him, then followed A Feng toward the gallows where Count Sikomel awaited.

Murphy rewarded Biji and recruited Black Servantson as a partner, entrusting him with a fragment to forge a holy relic that could help unite the ratmen. He directed Black Servantson toward Mejewa City to prepare for Murphy’s forces, while warning him not to name the ratmen’s future god the Great Horned Rat.

• Murphy gave Biji a fragment of the Dark Lord’s gloom for the Daughter of Dawn and learned that Liwen sensed a major change in the dragonkin bloodline linked to Venerable Celestial Yunlan.
• Murphy heard the Shadowstalker’s crew struggling with bugs in its main control system and left the bridge without interrupting their repairs.
• Black Servantson recounted how he helped the Frost Dwarves recover their holy spear, gathered ratmen and Jackalmen into an army, and resisted Darkness’s call to fight Transia.
• Murphy accepted Black Servantson as a partner and gave him a sealed fragment to take to the Silver Dwarves’ Temple of Gaia to forge a holy relic for the ratmen.
• Murphy instructed Black Servantson to claim territory in Mejewa City and wait for his warriors, warning him not to call the ratmen’s future god the Great Horned Rat.

Murphy returned to Crimson Castle with the last fragment of the Dark Lord’s power and offered it to the Midnight Twins, while assessing the political and environmental fallout from East Prussia’s endless night. The fate assimilation gave Murphy the Devourer of Light’s power and the divine art Midnight Falls, leaving him newly able to bring night over the Midnight Tower in broad daylight.

• Murphy and Black Servant Sen planned the ratmen’s next steps, and Sen left for Silverhold with his followers to have a holy relic forged.
• Murphy and Adele discussed East Prussia’s recovery, Count Leon’s precarious political position, Transia’s nonintervention, and the planned financial scam in Kafuhoka.
• Murphy returned to Crimson Castle and learned from Triss that Shani had refused to allow a Midnight Sanctuary in the Thorn Duchy, deepening the rift within the Thorn Clan.
• Murphy placed the Dark Lord’s final power fragment on the Midnight Twins’ altar, beginning the assimilation of their related fates.
• Murphy received the Devourer of Light’s power and the divine art Midnight Falls, then shrouded the Blood Vulture Gallery and Midnight Tower in night at noon.

King Louis learned that Plantagenet forces had lost control of three border provinces and that Marshal Loren had died saving East Prussia, while Loren’s final letter urged peace with Transia and warned of a rebellion within the kingdom. Queen Elizabeth and Margaret then revealed their dealings with Helms Island and the Capet family’s role in protecting Margaret and Princess Bridget, leaving Louis demanding to hear Count Lyon’s explanation.

• King Louis learned that communications with East Prussia were cut off, the Transians were blocking his troops, and armed hillfolk and elves had isolated other border provinces.
• Marshal Dunkins reported that the Pioneer Legion still held its fortresses but that Marshal Loren had died summoning the spirits of West Ke to save Banks City and clear Chaos corruption.
• King Louis read Loren’s final letter, which urged him not to wage war on Transia, warned of a possible rebellion within the kingdom, and proposed restoring the prewar borders.
• Marshal Dunkins told Major General Buck that he would command the defenses at Dorod Fortress under his father, who would take over the Pioneer Legion.
• Queen Elizabeth told King Louis that Helms Island had joined the Plantagenet Kingdom, and Margaret revealed that Count Lyon had saved her and Princess Bridget from the Lord of Darkness’s servants.
• King Louis asked Margaret what excuse Count Lyon had for supposedly planning to become a traitor.

King Louis accepted Count Leon’s proposal to make East Prussia a hereditary duchy under the crown prince, preserving the kingdom’s legal claim while avoiding a conflict with Transia. Margaret and Elizabeth discussed the political settlement, their choices, and Murphy’s motives, while Louis summoned Leon to Fog City for William’s crown prince ceremony.

• Margaret and Queen Elizabeth persuaded King Louis that Count Leon’s proposal was the best way to keep Transia from openly taking East Prussia and to preserve the crown’s legal claim.
• Margaret explained that Leon had offered Prince William the grand dukedom, making the Capet Grand Duchy a royal fief administered by the Capet family.
• Queen Elizabeth admitted she had deceived Louis to protect their son’s future, but refused to surrender her crown; Louis rejected her plan to enter a monastery.
• Louis told Margaret to write Leon an angry reply that also invited him to Fog City for William’s crown prince ceremony.
• After Louis left for the garden with his daughter, Margaret and Elizabeth discussed the kingdom’s losses, Margaret’s limited time to live, and Murphy’s apparent lack of interest in old grudges.

Mirian met Fraser in Scarlet Keep, where he explained that he had given up his claim to the Capet family’s power and become its acting ambassador to Transia. After lunch, Fraser received a remade Arbiter Holy Sword and learned from Dolores that it was Mirian’s birthday, prompting him to pursue her with a bouquet of roses.

• Mirian attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony and prepared for a meeting about aid and commercial projects in East Prussia.
• Fraser told Mirian that he had been appointed Acting Ambassador of the Capet Grand Duchy to Transia and had chosen to leave his family’s succession struggle.
• Mirian and Fraser ate at East Mountain House, where Fraser described King Louis’s plan to grant East Prussia, Saxony, and Cato to the Capet family.
• Fraser told Mirian he hoped to travel and write while remaining ready to fight for Order, and they parted as friends.
• Dolores gave Fraser the remade Arbiter Holy Sword on Lord Murphy’s orders and urged him to catch Mirian because it was her birthday.
• Fraser took the roses Dolores handed him and hurried after Mirian.

Crow declined Boss Huo’s invitation to a trade banquet so he could treat people suffering mental disorders in Rapids Fortress, then said goodbye to Sarif Shadowblade after a final confrontation about Sarif’s guilt, nihilism, and violent plans. Crow left for Rapids Fortress with Grand Archbishop Natalie, while Sarif vanished into the shadows, still headed toward self-destruction.

• Crow refused Boss Huo’s invitation to the merfolk merchants’ banquet and warned him to finish the financial scheme within a month.
• Sarif Shadowblade returned Crow’s borrowed books and announced he was leaving Transia for good.
• Crow confronted Sarif about his guilt over killing Truman and urged him to seek answers through knowledge rather than violence.
• Sarif mocked Crow as a quack and disappeared into the shadows without taking the book Crow offered him.
• Crow met Grand Archbishop Natalie and traveled with her to Rapids Fortress to help treat the patients.
• Crow told Natalie that Sarif would act on his own once he found an answer, though he had no chance of redemption.

Katerina and the merfolk envoys agreed to attend a Treasure Bay banquet after Boss Huo assured them it was part of an official operation overseen by the Goddess of Wealth. At the gathering, Ivankov prepared to draw Kavhoka’s wealthy investors into the Misty Sea Trading Company’s scheme, which Crow Brother called a divine trial that would end within a month.

• Boss Huo explained that the merfolk were invited to promote trade and reveal the Goddess of Wealth’s involvement, easing Katerina’s concerns about the banquet.
• Boss Huo told Katerina that the operation would punish greedy Northerners through the Goddess of Wealth’s trial, while innocent people would eventually recover their losses.
• Treasure Bay closed to host the Misty Sea Trading Company’s shareholders and prospective investors from Kavhoka, who arrived to lavish entertainment and generous investment promises.
• Marshal Heraclius encouraged wealthy acquaintances to invest in Ivankov’s company, citing large returns from weapons trading and his own platinum-client status.
• Crow Brother and Boss Huo prepared Ivankov to address the investors, and Crow Brother urged him to treat the scheme as a trial of reason, greed, and restraint before the operation concluded within a month.