Chapter Summaries

Titus defeated and beheaded Highfather after suppressing his stellar power, and the Imperium announced New Genesis’s destruction as a victory. In Gotham City, Constantine watched the Imperium’s propaganda and met Lucifer, while rumors suggested Constantine’s career was rapidly advancing.

• Highfather refused to surrender and fought Titus, but Titus’s defenses let him withstand the god-king’s attacks.
• Titus activated countermeasures that weakened Highfather, then shattered his shoulder and beheaded him.
• Imperium news reported that its forces had annihilated New Genesis’s defenders and claimed the campaign had protected civilization.
• Constantine watched the broadcast in Lucifer’s bar, where Lucifer charged him 135 Imperium Credits for his drinks.
• Lucifer reflected that Constantine had become an Imperial consultant and had reportedly earned an opportunity to study in the Imperium.

Constantine and Zatanna traveled to the interdimensional station through a transformed Gotham, while the story shifted to the Imperium as Middenheim’s new rulers challenged the nobles and provoked a gathering of Elector Counts. The Elector Count of Nockland warned that their reforms threatened the nobility and called the crisis as dreadful as Vlad.

• Constantine told Lucifer that he had witnessed Jehovah’s execution and insisted the Empire had ushered in an age without gods.
• Constantine and Zatanna admired Gotham’s prosperity before boarding an authorized route to the sacred imperial territories.
• Middenheim’s mysterious conquerors rejected the Elector Count family and Sigma’s authority, proclaimed a new Imperium of Man, and called for reforms that drew refugees and ambitious supporters.
• The Elector Counts gathered in Reikland as conscripted farmers, including Gessler, trudged through the rain toward the conflict.
• At a banquet in Altdorf, the Elector Count of Nockland urged the nobles to act against Middenheim’s invaders, calling their reforms a terrifying crisis on par with Vlad.

The Elector Counts debated how to respond to the mysterious rulers of Middenland, while Louis II proposed seeking powerful magic, ancient artifacts, and High Elf aid before positioning himself to lead them. In Middenheim, Fisher saw the city thriving under reconstruction and heard merchants discuss plans to trade its improved steam machinery.

• The nobles argued over whether they could resist the people who had defeated Vlad, while Count Andre warned that a campaign against Middenheim would bring needless deaths.
• Crecy urged the nobles to stop quarrelling, but backed down after a noble threatened him.
• Louis II persuaded the nobles that powerful artifacts or High Elf aid could defeat their enemies, then proposed choosing a leader to unite their forces.
• Fisher saw workers rebuilding Middenheim and heard them discuss the new rules and changes under its new rulers.
• Fisher observed the city's rapid recovery and growing population, then overheard merchants discussing the sale of Middenheim's steam machinery for ore and coal.

Fisher defended Middenheim’s reforms against merchants who despised commoners, while Valerian’s expedition team planned to exploit local resources and crush the nobles preparing to attack. Elsewhere, Lion recounted how his pride and mistakes led to Sanguinius choosing death, as Guilliman advanced his effort to control WAAAAAAAGH and empower an Ork Warlord.

• Fisher challenged two merchants for condemning Middenheim’s land reforms, and Udi drove them away after confronting their exploitation of the poor.
• Valerian discussed Middenheim’s lack of oil, plans to build an outpost using local resources and Vampires as test subjects, and his intention to confront the nobles gathering in Reikland.
• Lion told Kakar how he mistreated Luther, nearly endangered Guilliman while hunting Night Haunter, and later learned that Sanguinius chose to die at Davin to save the Imperium.
• Guilliman used the Celestial-class Warship Sovereign Supreme and the God-Brain array to analyze WAAAAAAAGH, aiming to empower an Ork Warlord within a month.

Guilliman oversaw experiments that amplified the Orks’ WAAAGH Field and planned to breed and genetically control vast Ork armies in the Micro-universe. The Watchers revealed that the Gods were competing for the Interuniversal Gate, whose power could let them project their influence across universes, though even supposedly omniscient and omnipotent beings had limits.

• Guilliman considered whether humanity could develop a protective field like the Orks’ WAAAGH Field, then added the risky idea to his tasks.
• Tech-Priests injected WAAAGH energy into Orks, transforming Boyz into Nobz, while Guilliman questioned Cegorach and the Mini Void Dragon about the field.
• Guilliman told Eldrad and Cegorach that the Imperium planned to use the Micro-universe to breed Orks and help an Ork Warlord become the Ork Emperor.
• Guilliman explained that the Imperium was altering Ork genetics so the Orks would obey human commands, despite the risks of creating a vast and dangerous army.
• Guilliman shared the Watchers’ warning that the Gods were fighting over the Interuniversal Gate, then explained that omniscience and omnipotence were relative and did not give the Gods the ability to build such a project themselves.

Guilliman explained that the gods’ endless war centered on the Interuniversal Gate and proposed an expedition into the Eye of Terror to repair the rift left by Slaanesh’s birth. He said the Imperium had plans to resist corruption and weaken Daemons, while preparing for a broader expansion across universes.

• Guilliman’s information about the Chaos gods and the Interuniversal Gate shocked the Void Dragon and Cegorach.
• Nathas, Yvraine, Eldrad, Thousand Faces, and Ynnead’s avatar asked why Guilliman had shared the information, and he explained that the gods’ continued war would weaken them.
• Guilliman proposed entering the Eye of Terror to repair the rift in time and space, which would make it harder for Daemons to enter the Material Universe.
• Guilliman described the Imperium’s plans for cross-universe trade, exploration, and expansion, including using discoveries from other universes to develop Imperial technology.
• Eldrad warned that corruption in the Eye of Terror grew gradually, and Guilliman said the expedition would use Firewall protection, specialized troops, and devices to expel Warp power and reshape reality.

Guilliman arranged for the Aeldari and Necrons to cooperate in repairing the Great Rift, promising to save Aeldari souls once the Eye of Terror was reclaimed. After reflecting on the Imperium’s future and the necessity of war, he planned new crusades, while Constantine and the others faced a terrifying sight aboard the Cross-Universe Train.

• Guilliman told Cegorach, Eldrad, Yvraine, and the other Aeldari that he expected a greater than ninety percent chance of reclaiming the Eye of Terror.
• Guilliman explained that the Phaeron of Sautekh was deploying Anti-Warp Devices and asked the Aeldari to help the Necrons locate breaches in the Great Rift.
• Cegorach agreed to the cooperation after Guilliman said the Phaeron of Sautekh had sworn not to mention the ancient grievances between their peoples.
• Guilliman promised to help rescue Aeldari souls and resolve their fate after the Great Rift was sealed and the Eye of Terror reclaimed.
• Alone in his Garden, Guilliman reflected on his power and concluded that the Imperium had to keep expanding and fighting, then identified three major future crusades.
• Constantine and the others aboard the Cross-Universe Train trembled at a terrifying sight in their private compartment.

Constantine and Zatanna survived a Warp possession aboard the Imperium’s train and learned how dangerous the journey was. In Altdorf, Louis II welcomed Elven allies and their dragons, while Valerian prepared a raid on the city with strict orders to spare civilians.

• A mage aboard the train drew on the dense magical energy, became a Warp monster, and was banished by the Inquisitors and Primaris Warriors before the warriors executed him.
• Constantine comforted Zatanna and warned that the train might be passing through the domain of monsters.
• Louis II welcomed the Elves into Altdorf, and their leader announced that three dragons had joined the war.
• Valerian gathered Udi, Fisher, and other civilians in Middenheim and ordered them to target nobles and military command while sparing civilians and forbidding looting.

Udi, Fisher, and Valerian’s force flew to Altdorf to overthrow the nobles, and the Grav-flyers began their attack by killing the three Dragons and destroying the city’s steam cannons. The Steel Giants descended on the terrified conscripted farmers, and Gessler begged them not to kill him.

• Udi and Fisher boarded a Grav-flyer with Valerian’s forces as they set out for Altdorf.
• The Grav-flyers reached Altdorf, where the nobles held a banquet and conscripted farmers such as Gessler camped outside the walls.
• The three Dragons spotted the approaching aircraft and attacked, but flashes of light killed them and sent their bodies crashing into the city.
• The Grav-flyers destroyed Altdorf’s steam cannons with accurate beams, terrifying Gessler and the other farmers.
• The aircraft deployed Steel Giants, and Gessler fell to his knees and begged them not to kill him.

Valerian’s forces conquered Altdorf, conscripted its people, and dismantled the nobles’ rule as Gessler found an unexpectedly better life under the new order. At the Salvation Society’s hidden Micro-universe headquarters, Qiu Chen and other Players were summoned as the Society prepared to act against the Reincarnation Game, while Su Xiao emerged from a realm of horrors vowing revenge.

• Valerian and the Primaris Warriors stormed Altdorf, defeated its defenders, and forced its nobles and Elves to surrender.
• Udi and Fisher organized the captured soldiers and farmers, while the Exploration Team seized Altdorf, confiscated noble wealth, and assigned the population to work.
• Gessler received food and fine clothes under the new rulers and laughed with the crowd as Louis II was paraded through the streets calling for resistance.
• Qiu Chen led Asagami Shion, Daven, and other Players to the Salvation Society’s headquarters in Universe 03, where he said the Society had made progress analyzing the Reincarnation Game and would soon act.
• A bloodied, cursed Su Xiao emerged from the Reincarnation Game’s ruins and vowed to escape Hell and take revenge on those who betrayed him.

Su Xiao escaped the ruined world and returned to the human world as the Imperium gathered its forces to wage total war against the Reincarnation Game. As the Imperium began destroying game instances and liberating Players, the Reincarnation Game offered bounties for resistance, drawing powerful Players into the coming conflict.

• Su Xiao activated the Reincarnation Game markers with his blood, then used the Bronze Ancient Sword to cut open a spatial rift and return to his world.
• At Salvation Society Headquarters, Celestine announced the Imperium’s total war against the Reincarnation Game and assigned its forces to attack instances and their gods’ avatars.
• The Imperium invaded Zombie City, rescued the novice Players, and ended their participation in the game; an Inquisitor struck Yamamura Ippon after he cursed the Emperor.
• The Imperium destroyed Zombie City and more than a hundred other instances, while the Reincarnation Game issued resistance missions to Player organizations and Su Xiao.
• Su Xiao accepted that the war was an opportunity to earn resources and rise above being a pawn, while other Players pursued the Reincarnation Game’s lucrative bounties.

Asagami Shion attacked Asura Hall while its members prepared to fight the Imperium, slaughtering the faction and defeating its founder, Shura. After the Empire asserted control over the region, Shion was nominated to command a local legion.

• Shura ordered Asura Hall to mobilize after learning that Imperium forces had invaded Rule Zoo and attacked its guardian.
• Asagami Shion appeared at Asura Hall headquarters and killed the heaven-slaying king when he attacked her.
• Asagami Shion slaughtered Asura Hall’s members, including the Five Heavenly Kings and Nine War Gods, then killed Shura and displayed his head at the palace gates.
• Empire officials demanded that Players pledge loyalty to the holy Emperor of Mankind, and Asagami Shion killed a defiant Player to enforce their authority.
• Qiu Chen’s intelligence division absorbed surrendered factions into local legions, and Asagami Shion was nominated to command one.

Krowe led the Imperium’s fleet through a shattered world barrier and invaded a Vampire world, destroying Bloody Castle and slaughtering its defenders. He confronted Khorne in the god’s domain and declared that the false god would be exterminated.

• Krowe ordered the Vengeance to decode and destroy the world barrier, allowing the Imperial fleet to enter the Vampire world.
• Krowe and the Imperial forces attacked the Vampire world, while Grey Knights and Primaris Warriors stormed its instances and Krowe led an elite squad against Bloody Castle.
• Krowe’s squad killed the Vampire guards, Princes, Dukes, and ten Founding Fathers, then entered the space behind the castle’s stone door.
• Krowe and his squad faced Khorne amid a sea of blood, and Krowe rejected the Blood God’s threats and vowed to destroy him.

Krowe and his battle-brothers killed Khorne, while Grom said goodbye to the dying doctor who had been his closest friend. The chapter ended with Lucius battered and terrified as a massive figure approached him aboard a blasphemous warship.

• Krowe used the Heart of the Imperium to withstand Khorne's blood waves, then fought him with the Daemon Sword and his battle-brothers' support.
• Krowe and the other warriors hacked Khorne apart, and Krowe severed the god's head, leaving his body to burn into ash.
• Grom visited the dying doctor, who confessed that she loved him and had once considered keeping him from returning to war.
• The doctor died after blessing Grom, who told his battle-brothers that he had visited so he would remember why he fought and that he was human.
• Lucius was battered by an unseen opponent aboard a warship, and he cried out in terror when a massive figure approached.

Fulgrim's clone, the Redeemer, killed Lucius and the Emperor's Children who defended him, seeking to atone for Fulgrim's crimes. After a wounded companion died praying for forgiveness, the Redeemer's allies asked where they should go next.

• The Redeemer confronted Lucius over the massacre at Istvaan III and the countless atrocities he had committed.
• Chaos Warriors and Emperor's Children attacked the Redeemer, who fought alongside his allies and killed their attackers.
• The Redeemer severed Lucius's head and watched the remaining Emperor's Children fall.
• A wounded companion prayed for forgiveness and died, deepening the Redeemer's sorrow.
• One of the Redeemer's companions asked where they should go and who their next target should be.

The clone destroyed Lucius's warband and led his surviving brothers toward the Eye of Terror, while Guilliman secured Ufthak's loyalty before the Imperium's vast fleet. Guilliman began strengthening Ufthak and his Orks for a future campaign, as the Chaos gods raged and the Imperium prepared to unify the galaxy.

• The clone gathered his fallen brothers, destroyed Lucius's ships, and ordered the Redeemer to travel toward the Eye of Terror.
• Ufthak planned to demand better terms from the Imperium until he saw its enormous fleet and declared himself utterly loyal to the Emperor.
• Guilliman summoned Ufthak and his Orks before his assembled armies, and Ufthak knelt and swore loyalty to him.
• Guilliman accepted Ufthak's allegiance and arranged to use Waaagh! energy and advanced machinery to strengthen the Orks for a challenge against Bonebreaker.
• The Chaos gods raged in the Warp as the Imperium prepared Ufthak's Orks for battle and Guilliman planned the coming war of unification.

Guilliman prepared the Imperium’s next cross-universe campaign and received Constantine, Zatanna, and their companions, whose awe at meeting him turned into devotion. Meanwhile, Asagami Shion endured memories of her family’s deaths before waking aboard an Imperium warship and preparing to attack a world controlled by the Celestial Temple faction.

• Guilliman judged the Reincarnation Game vulnerable and ordered Celestine, Krowe, and others to declare war on its forces in Universe 03.
• Valano brought Constantine, Zatanna, and the other cross-universe travelers to Guilliman’s Strategic Room, where they became overwhelmed by his presence and pledged their loyalty.
• Guilliman reassured the travelers that their courage and effort had shaped their own future, then arranged for them to rest before a later meeting.
• Asagami Shion relived memories of her father’s torture, her mother’s death, and her brother’s sacrifice, all caused by the Reincarnation Game and its Players.
• A subordinate informed Asagami Shion that the Imperium warship was nearing a world controlled by the Celestial Temple faction, and she ordered her forces to prepare for battle.

Asagami Shion led the Purifier Legion in a surprise assault on the Celestial Temple, using orbital bombardment to destroy its palace and most of its forces before a hidden native god trapped them in a separate space. Surrounded by Xiao Tian, Su Xiao, other powerful Players, and the god, she prepared to fight as the warship sought reinforcements.

• Asagami Shion learned that the Celestial Temple and two other Player factions were on the planet, then ordered the Purifier Legion to teleport to the Celestial Temple and commanded an orbital strike despite the danger to her own forces.
• Orbital bombardment devastated the Celestial Temple, killing Dragon Marshal, Phoenix Marshal, and most of its members, while tiger Marshal survived with an earth-traveling item.
• Asagami Shion killed tiger Marshal with her scythe and sent the Purifier Legion to hunt the remaining Celestial Temple Players as the warships bombarded other areas.
• A giant Warp creature emerged from the ocean and trapped Asagami Shion and her subordinates inside a strange city, while the warship captain requested reinforcements and tried to contact her.
• Xiao Tian, Su Xiao, and other top-tier Players confronted Asagami Shion alongside the native god, and Xiao Tian revealed the SS-grade Cursed Diary.

Asagami Shion fought off Xiao Tian and the Players who tried to seize the warship, but a sealed planet and a monstrous god left her mortally wounded. She sacrificed herself to mark the enemy for orbital bombardment, then resisted the abyss that tried to claim her soul.

• Xiao Tian threatened Asagami Shion with the Cursed Diary, but she killed him with her scythe and then attacked the other Players.
• The Players and the monster overwhelmed Asagami Shion, and she learned that rescue could not arrive for an hour.
• Asagami Shion refused to surrender and told the captain she would overload her implanted devices to mark her location for an orbital bombardment.
• Asagami Shion unleashed her Psyker powers, charged the monster, and was engulfed as the warship bombarded the battlefield.
• After her death, Asagami Shion found herself dragged toward an abyss by dead souls, but she invoked the God-Emperor and fought back as light broke through the darkness.

Asagami Shion returned from the Emperor’s realm as His messenger and destroyed the false god that had attacked the Imperium. Elsewhere, Lion recounted the journey to Terra and Sanguinius’s trial on Davin before preparing for a battle at Scott Strait, while the Silent King’s forces used Yog-Sothoth’s knowledge to build a star-powered pyramid.

• Asagami Shion escaped her nightmare, met the Emperor in a realm of light, and accepted His command to return and complete her mission.
• Asagami Shion revived amid the ruins and destroyed the false god and its domain with her radiant scythe, while Su Xiao fled and decided to seek a place in the Imperium.
• Lion told Kakar how he, Guilliman, and Sanguinius crossed the Ruinstorm, resisted Chaos on Davin, and divided their forces after learning of Horus’s rebellion.
• Lion learned that his fleet would soon reach Scott Strait, a Necron-defended chokepoint leading to Cadia, and ordered the other commanders to the bridge.
• The Silent King’s forces absorbed a dwarf star’s energy to build a pyramid using technology supplied by Yog-Sothoth through Horus.