Chapter Summaries

Calgar defeated Mar-Vell but was nearly killed by Horus, Yog-Sothoth’s incarnation, until Guilliman intervened through their bond and restored him. After the battle, Guilliman considered Horus’s origin and planned further exploration, while on Mars Dalia watched the Void Dragon devour captured Drukhari.

• Calgar’s armor deflected Mar-Vell’s attacks, and he wounded Mar-Vell and knocked him down before Horus arrived and struck him nearly to death.
• Yog-Sothoth tried to claim Calgar’s soul, but Guilliman drove the god’s influence away, revived Calgar, and restored his body and armor.
• Calgar overpowered Horus and killed Mar-Vell, while Horus escaped through tentacles and the remaining Cancerous Legion forces withdrew.
• Guilliman reflected that Horus was likely a vessel created from Fabius’s genetic work and ordered plans for exploring five galaxies.
• On Mars, Dalia watched captured Drukhari learn that they had been brought to feed the Void Dragon, while a mysterious figure carried a book titled [Legend of the Dragonslayer].

Omegon and Kelbor-Hal planned to expose the secret origins of the Adeptus Mechanicus and use a virus and the Void Dragon to fracture the Imperium. Guilliman kept the Void Dragon under control, while Cherubael escaped into distant universes and vowed to return for revenge.

• Omegon met Kelbor-Hal in a hidden Martian laboratory and urged him to finish a code capable of paralyzing the Imperium’s intelligence systems.
• Omegon gave Kelbor-Hal the book, whose memories revealed that the Emperor was not the Omnissiah and that a C’tan had helped create the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Omegon explained that they planned to spread the book’s contents, free the imprisoned C’tan, and use the Void Dragon’s appearance to divide the Imperium.
• Guilliman taunted the Void Dragon with a shard of The Burning One and forced it to reaffirm its loyalty.
• Cherubael escaped into distant universes after acquiring a new body, swearing that he would return to take revenge on Guilliman.

Cherubael entered a fantasy universe while the Imperium suppressed resistance to its Superhuman Registration Act and prepared to eliminate the native Gods. As the Justice League sought allies against the Imperium, Batman began secretly killing heroes to steal their powers, while Constantine and Zatanna were arrested and brought before Lex.

• Cherubael entered Universe 02, chose a world of swords and magic, and vowed to rebuild his strength and avenge his humiliation by Guilliman.
• Sanguinius's forces crushed resistance to the Superhuman Registration Act, while Titus proposed targeting the Olympian Gods and Sanguinius ordered him to proceed.
• The Imperium hunted the Justice League after destroying several superhero groups, and Sanguinius learned that the Justice League had moved its headquarters to Mars.
• Bruce killed Firebrand and absorbed her green flames, then accepted a voice's urging to gather more powers and target Green Lantern Hal's ring.
• Doctor Manhattan joined the Justice League, explained that the Imperium could not be found in the past, and offered to recruit heroes from parallel universes.
• The Imperium arrested Constantine and Zatanna after they investigated Daemons underground in Gotham, and Lex met them at headquarters as Constantine joked and pleaded for gentle treatment.

Lex recruited Constantine to help the Imperium wage war against the Olympian Gods, and Constantine accepted in exchange for magical knowledge and promises of greater discoveries. The Imperium invaded Themyscira, where Wonder Woman and Mera joined the defenders, and Titus faced them in battle.

• Lex told Constantine that the Imperium planned to slay the Gods and offered him a Warp Creature Bestiary and access to other universes' knowledge; Constantine agreed to serve the Imperium.
• Titus led an Imperium assault on Themyscira, and Hippolyta rejected his ultimatum as Mao Long's troops attacked the island.
• Mao Long's forces captured Aphrodite's temple while Hippolyta's warriors fell back under bombardment.
• Wonder Woman returned with Einherjar reinforcements, and Mera arrived with Atlantean forces to defend Themyscira.
• Titus and the Primaris Warriors descended onto the battlefield and slaughtered the defenders, while Titus fought Wonder Woman and drove her back.
• Mera used her Red Power Ring to save Wonder Woman, and Titus recognized its connection to the Blood God before preparing to attack them both.

Titus's forces conquered Themyscira, killing Mera and Wonder Woman and capturing Queen Hippolyta as they prepared to enter the God Realm and attack the Olympian Gods. Meanwhile, Clone Fulgrim was brought to the Sol System and escorted to the Emperor of Mankind.

• Titus killed Mera and Wonder Woman as the Imperium defeated the Amazon and Atlantis forces on Themyscira.
• The Atlantis survivors retreated, and Titus captured Queen Hippolyta after Imperial troops breached the Temple of Zeus and destroyed it.
• Constantine and Zatanna watched Themyscira fall, then Constantine led Titus and the Imperial forces through a discovered passage toward the God Realm.
• Valano received Clone Fulgrim in the Sol System and had the Adeptus Custodes restrain and humiliate him during the escort to the Emperor of Mankind.

Guilliman condemned Fulgrim’s clone to die for the original’s betrayal but offered him a chance to prove his loyalty by hunting five hundred individuals blessed by the gods. The clone accepted and was sent with Valano to see the original, while Guilliman turned his attention back to the Imperium’s expanding horizons and the parallel universes controlled by unknown creators.

• Valano brought Fulgrim’s clone before Guilliman in chains, and Guilliman declared that the clone would be executed as a warning for the original’s crimes.
• Guilliman accused the clone of sharing the original’s corrupt nature and planned to use him to hunt traitors, especially Lucius.
• The clone charged Valano, who wounded his face and destroyed one eye before Guilliman stopped him from killing the clone.
• Guilliman offered to consider clearing the clone’s name if he brought back the heads of five hundred individuals blessed by the gods, and the clone accepted.
• Guilliman marked the clone with a Gold-Blue Flame Sigil and ordered Valano to take him to see the original on Terra.
• Guilliman returned to his throne as reports described creators who shaped parallel universes, harvested their inhabitants through scripted events, and destroyed universes that failed their requirements.

Guilliman planned to end the Indomitus Crusade by closing the Eye of Terror while the Imperium prepared for intergalactic expansion, and Ziller secured major funding for exploration and Mechanical Wombs before delivering his farewell. On Nahali II, Andy held back her regiments while searching for the missing Ork leader, who turned out to be Ufthak, a boss repeatedly driven off by the Imperium.

• Guilliman decided to accelerate preparations to attack the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom, aiming to end the Indomitus Crusade and weaken the Warp's influence.
• Ziller persuaded Imperial officials and merchant guild representatives to fund intergalactic exploration and support Mechanical Wombs, then bade them farewell as he neared the end of his life.
• On Nahali II, Andy denied the 53rd Regiment permission to attack and ordered her forces to wait for the Ork leader before deciding whether to abandon their decapitation strategy.
• Ufthak hid behind a Stompa and complained that the Imperium kept disrupting his attempts to become a boss and launch a WAAAGH.

Ufthak retreated from the Imperium’s assault, but Andy’s forces exterminated the Orks on the planet without finding him. As the Imperium prepared for the coming Battle of Armageddon, Khaine was appointed commander and Yarrick deputy; on Mars, a secret prison riot began as Tech-priests set out to reveal the truth.

• Ufthak ordered the Ork Boyz to charge while he and his Big Meks prepared to retreat, hoping to become a great warlord or even an Ork Emperor.
• Andy ordered a full attack and planetary bombardment; after several days, her forces found clues to Ufthak’s whereabouts, but he had already escaped.
• As the Battle of Armageddon approached, Imperial commanders debated who should lead the Astra Militarum, and Yarrick supported Khaine for the role.
• Khaine accepted command of the Astra Militarum, with Yarrick appointed deputy commander.
• Inquisitors on Mars sealed evidence about forbidden books and carried out a purge, while a group hijacked a train carrying Xenos prisoners into the Void Dragon’s prison.
• A Tech-priest urged his comrades to reveal the truth and attacked the guards with a Rad-gun.

Omegon and Kelbor-Hal led a revolt on Mars, broke open the Void Dragon’s prison, and discovered that the creature served Guilliman, who had already turned it against them. While the Void Dragon captured Omegon and slaughtered the rebels, Imperial forces continued their assault on Olympus Mons, where the Olympian gods were nearing defeat.

• Omegon, Kelbor-Hal, and their collaborators attacked the Martian prison, killed its guards, and freed the captive Xenos during the chaos.
• Dalia warned Omegon that Guilliman would have prepared for the prison attack, but the rebels ignored her and broke the seal on the Void Dragon’s cell.
• The Void Dragon emerged, declared its loyalty to Roboute Guilliman, captured Omegon in a Dimensional Pocket, and attacked the remaining rebels.
• Dalia withdrew with her guards, and the Void Dragon was taken aboard the Supreme to lie beside Guilliman’s Throne Mechanicum.
• Valano was ordered to investigate the Martian infiltration and execute those who had aided the Alpha Legion and Kelbor-Hal.
• On Olympus Mons, Imperial forces and the Sisters of Silence continued destroying the Olympian Pantheon as Titus and Mao Long fought against Zeus and Ares.

Hera watched the Imperium destroy the Olympian Realm, kill several chief gods, and defeat Zeus before imprisoning the surviving goddesses for study. With Olympus fallen and sealed away, unrest spread across Earth, Shazam lost his powers, and the Imperium prepared to seal the Fourth Dimension.

• Hera watched Athena, Apollo, and Demeter fall to the Imperium's Primaris Warriors as the Olympian Realm burned.
• Titus used spatial coordinate modification to stab Zeus from behind, and the Primaris Warriors brought the god king to his knees.
• Titus defeated Zeus, and the Imperium captured the surviving gods, stripped them of their powers, and sent them toward laboratories.
• Mao Long saw Hera and other goddesses imprisoned in cages after the Imperium sealed the Olympian God Realm away from the mortal world.
• Followers of old religions protested the Imperium, Shazam lost his powers after Olympus fell, and the Imperium prepared to seal the Fourth Dimension.

The Imperium’s towers suppressed powers tied to the Fourth Dimension, leaving many superheroes helpless as Batman secretly drew strength from the Emotional Spectrum. The chapter ended with Imperium researchers examining the ring fused to Mera’s corpse while Aquaman Adam and Superman grieved.

• The Imperium erected towers across Earth and nearby space that blocked the Fourth Dimension and disabled many heroes’ powers.
• Shazam and other heroes who relied on the Gods’ blessings lost their abilities, while some self-taught mages remained unaffected.
• Batman revealed inwardly that he had taken Hal’s lantern ring and used it to draw power from the Emotional Spectrum.
• A strange voice urged Bruce to serve the Goddess of Love, and Bruce agreed to begin acting against the heroes.
• Aquaman Adam found Mera’s corpse, and Imperium researchers removed the ring fused to her finger for analysis.

Clark despaired in the Imperium’s vast research base as Tech-priests studied the captured heroes and their powers. After Constantine asked for help against Barbatos, Titus redirected his campaign to capture Bruce and eliminate the Justice League, whose entrance was on Mars.

• Clark realized the shifting passageways of the research base made escape nearly impossible.
• Tech-priests examined Mera’s cells and her removed ring, detecting purified Warp energy and preparing a report for Sanguinius.
• Constantine sought the Imperium’s support against Barbatos after seeing its victory over the Olympian Pantheon.
• Titus abandoned his plan to purge the Fourth Dimension and ordered an operation against the Justice League to capture Bruce and investigate Barbatos.
• Titus faced little opposition because Sanguinius was occupied elsewhere, and the Imperium prepared to reach the Justice League’s entrance on Mars.

Titus led the Imperium's assault on Mars, crushed the Justice League, and fought the corrupted Bruce, who escaped after being wounded. Meanwhile, Doctor Manhattan returned with reinforcements only to learn the Justice League had fallen, and Lion prepared to attack Imotekh for the Necron control core.

• Titus's fleet overwhelmed Mars's defenses, and he ordered a bombardment that devastated the cities and resistance forces.
• Titus and his honor guard stormed the Justice League Headquarters, fought its corrupted heroes, and found Bruce transformed by Barbatos.
• Titus wounded Bruce with Arcane Power, but Bruce escaped into a dark tunnel before Titus could catch him.
• The Imperium publicized the corruption at Justice League Headquarters, while Constantine narrowly escaped a monster's temptation with a Primaris Warrior's help.
• Doctor Manhattan returned from the Source Wall with Superboy-Prime, Doctor Fate, Silver Scarab, and other heroes, then learned the Justice League had been defeated.
• Lion confronted Imotekh over the Szotek Dynasty's control core and ordered an attack after Imotekh refused to surrender.

The Imperium destroyed the Szotek Dynasty after defeating its defenses and Lion killed Imotekh, leaving the Silent King as the last major Necron opponent. The story then shifted to the Mordo System, where Quimbis arrived to begin counterintelligence work related to the Imperium’s Other-Universe Project.

• Trazyn told Lion that Imotekh would never surrender, while the Imperium assembled its fleets around the Mandragora System.
• The Imperium broke through the Szotek Dynasty’s defenses, using temporal resets to restore destroyed warships and boarding forces to capture its pyramid fortresses.
• The Szotek Dynasty’s officials divided over whether to surrender or resist, and Imotekh allowed those who wanted to leave to do so.
• Imotekh and his loyalists made a final stand, but Lion led the assault into the dynasty’s core and killed Imotekh.
• Lion declared the Szotek Dynasty destroyed and turned his attention to the weakened Silent King.
• Quimbis arrived at the Mordo System, where the Imperium was preparing counterinfiltration efforts for its Other-Universe Project.

Quimbis traveled through the Imperium’s vulnerable tunnel network and began undercover work in Universe 02, where he learned the Injustice League planned to attack the colony. Meanwhile, Guilliman and Dorn reclaimed the Webway between Terra and the City of Miracles, and Guilliman assigned Dorn to retake Cadia before the Laughing God, Cegorach, appeared before him.

• Quimbis boarded the enormous tunnel train after reviewing its strict rules and learned that Warp corruption had threatened passengers and stations along the route.
• Quimbis reached Universe 02 under a false identity and discovered that the Injustice League was preparing to attack the planet where he was stationed.
• Guilliman opened the Webway gate while Valano, Dorn, and Imperial forces fought through the Daemons and reclaimed the passage between Terra and the City of Miracles.
• Guilliman ordered the recovery of the fallen warriors’ remains, then assigned Dorn to retake Cadia and prepare for a crusade against the Eye of Terror.
• Guilliman had the still-living Magnus removed from the Golden Throne and ordered the Imperium to accelerate construction of the Imperial Beacon.
• Cegorach arrived with Aeldari leaders, bowed before Guilliman, and introduced himself as the Laughing God.

Guilliman negotiated an alliance with Cegorach, agreeing to help recover the Cronesword and rescue Aisha in exchange for the Black Library’s knowledge. Meanwhile, the Imperium expanded its covert infiltration of the Reincarnation Game through the Salvation Society, and Qiu Chen received a new instance assignment.

• Cegorach asked Guilliman to help the Aeldari reclaim the Cronesword and rescue Aisha, and Guilliman demanded the Black Library’s knowledge in return.
• Cegorach agreed to share the Black Library’s knowledge, while Guilliman promised equal legal rights for Aeldari citizens and Imperial aid for their two gods.
• Cegorach explained the fall of the Aeldari Pantheon and revealed that the Old Ones had attempted to reshape the Warp, prompting Guilliman to ask for details of their project.
• Imperial officials reviewed intelligence about the Reincarnation Game and described how the Salvation Society recruited Players and gathered information for a future conquest.
• Qiu Chen returned from the Imperium’s meeting and received a notification ordering him to enter the Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital instance.

Qiu Chen entered the Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital instance, where he used the Clearance Assistance System to survey the hospital and registered as a severely ill patient to investigate its restricted areas. Elsewhere, Bruce helped assemble the Injustice League while secretly pursuing Barbatos’s plan, and Guilliman unlocked the fourth-stage Database but learned that declaring full-scale war on a multiversal force could bring the Imperium’s destruction.

• Qiu Chen reviewed the hospital’s history of brutal instances, observed the cruelty of Player society, and entered the dungeon when its countdown ended.
• Qiu Chen read the hospital’s missions and rules, surveyed the grounds with the Proton Observer and Clearance Assistance System, and registered as a severely ill patient.
• Bruce and the heroes formed the Injustice League, while Bruce secretly discussed Barbatos’s plan to seize the Emotional Spectrum and use Superboy-Prime.
• Guilliman reviewed exploration reports describing Tyranid-ravaged galaxies and ruins of Golden Age humanity, then received notification that he had completed the fourth-stage certification task.
• Guilliman learned that the fifth-stage task required declaring full-scale war on a multiversal force, and the Assistant Spirit warned that Yog-Sothoth or the Chaos Gods could overwhelm the Imperium.

Guilliman planned to trade the rescue of Aisha and Ynnead for the Black Library’s knowledge and laid out a sweeping strategy to strengthen the Imperium. In Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital, Qiu Chen killed Elena after she tried to force him to help, read the Mad Director’s diary, and returned to his ward, where an eerie voice reminded him to take his medicine.

• Guilliman reviewed the Phase Four Database and outlined plans for the Imperium’s psychic network, military intranet, Beacon system, population growth, exploration, and wars against its enemies.
• Qiu Chen watched Elena flee a vicious ghost and offered to save her only if she followed the Lord of Salvation, but Elena refused and used an Eerie Concentric Lock to bind their lives.
• Qiu Chen took Elena’s heart, killed her, and crushed the Concentric Lock, while the vicious ghost retreated into Building 4.
• Qiu Chen read the Diary of the Mad Director and learned how Red Leaf’s director rose to power, covered up secret experiments, and opened a breach after the research brought monsters into their world.
• Qiu Chen put away the diary and his rooftop belongings, returned to his private ward, and heard an eerie voice tell him it was time to take his medicine.

Qiu Chen recruited the grieving Player Daven into the Salvation Society and used its cheats to clear Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital. Meanwhile, the Cancerous Legion sought an alliance with the Silent King as the Imperium pressed its campaign against them.

• Qiu Chen read the Dean's diary, deduced that Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital had opened a Warp rift, and received instructions to find the reporter and seal it.
• Daven survived a monster's attack with a Substitute Doll, then followed Qiu Chen's directions through the hospital and escaped the ghosts pursuing him.
• Qiu Chen persuaded Daven to join the Salvation Society, marked him with its Aquila, and gave him a Proton Detector.
• Qiu Chen and Daven followed the diary into the Underground Laboratory, found Mo Xiaoxiao, and sealed the rift after confronting the transformed Dean.
• Mar-Vell visited the Silent King to discuss an alliance as the Imperium's forces continued encircling the Cancerous Legion and reclaiming Cadia Fortress.

Mar-Vell secured an alliance between the Cancerous Legion and the Necrons against the Imperium, while Abaddon worked with Vashtorr to build a puppet army and seek a weapon that could defeat the omniscient and omnipotent being. Vashtorr revealed that nearby ancient ruins might contain the weapon Abaddon wanted.

• Mar-Vell refused to kneel before the Silent King and argued that the Necrons and Cancerous Legion needed to unite against the Imperium.
• The Silent King weighed the risks of empowering Chaos against the Imperium's advance, then agreed to an alliance with Mar-Vell.
• Abaddon recalled freeing Vashtorr from an ancient prison, and Vashtorr promised to build the Arks of Omen and find a weapon capable of defeating the omniscient and omnipotent one.
• Vashtorr used the Arks of Omen's Forge Factory to create a thinking puppet legion from Warp-forged metal.
• Abaddon praised the new army and asked Vashtorr about the promised weapon, and Vashtorr pointed him toward nearby ruins of an ancient civilization.