Chapter Summaries

Udi’s squad infiltrated Pillar City, killed every member of the Skaven Council of Thirteen, and escaped with the help of the Dwarfs and the airship fleet. Meanwhile, Valerian reached Cathay’s Great Wall and faced a tense negotiation with Miao Ying.

• Gotrek and the others flew to Karak Eight Peaks, where Belegar doubted their mission but gave them a map to Pillar City.
• Udi’s squad fought through the underground tunnels and used Harris’s spells to infiltrate the Skaven city undetected.
• After a Clan Eshin assassin discovered them, the squad bombed the Council of Thirteen’s hideout and Gotrek killed its sole survivor.
• Udi’s squad escaped the pursuing Skaven, and the airships helped them and the surviving Dwarfs retreat; Belegar apologized and pledged the Dwarfs’ friendship.
• Valerian traveled by airship to Cathay’s Great Wall and sensed the Emperor’s power within its defenses.
• Miao Ying confronted Valerian’s airship and demanded the strangers identify themselves and state their purpose.

Miao Ying confronted Valerian, whose immense airship fleet had arrived at Cathay’s northern border, and heard his proposal to unite humanity against Chaos. She insisted Cathay could defend itself, while Valerian warned that the gods could destroy it and asked to speak with Cathay’s highest ruler.

• The chapter recounted how the Dragon Emperor and his family founded Cathay and how Miao Ying had guarded its northern frontier for centuries.
• Miao Ying saw a vast fleet of magic-powered airships approaching the Great Bastion and grew wary of their superior technology.
• Valerian introduced himself as an envoy of the God-Emperor and said his fleet had come to save and guide humanity.
• Miao Ying’s soldiers boarded Valerian’s airship while its crew cooperated, and Miao Ying confronted him.
• Miao Ying said Cathay could resist Chaos alone, but Valerian warned that the gods could destroy it and asked her to inform Cathay’s highest ruler of his offer to unite humanity.

Valerian showed Miao Ying evidence of the Imperium’s wars against Chaos, convincing her to admit his fleet into Cathay and report his arrival to the Dragon Emperor. As Valerian explained the universe and the Warp to Miao Ying at a banquet in Northern Wind City, a soldier reported that a vast army of northern barbarians and Chaos minions was approaching the Great Bastion.

• Valerian used a silver interface to show Miao Ying footage of the Imperium’s wars against Chaos and argued that Cathay did not understand the scale of the threat.
• Miao Ying allowed Valerian’s fleet to cross the Great Bastion with the help of Cathayan Astromancers, then arranged for him to be escorted to Northern Wind City.
• Valerian and his party entered the prosperous city and attended a banquet hosted by its ruler, while Miao Ying said she would take Valerian to Wei-Jin if the Dragon Emperor approved.
• Miao Ying questioned Valerian about the West, and he explained that he came from another universe and that Chaos’s true bodies dwelled in the Warp.
• A soldier interrupted Valerian and Miao Ying to report that a huge army of northern barbarians and Chaos minions was advancing toward the Great Bastion.

Aislin led a vast Chaos army against Cathay’s Great Bastion, but Valerian descended and slaughtered its forces, forcing Aislin to flee. Elsewhere, Galileo died after Dorn honored him as an Imperial hero, while Khaine chose to hold his position and continue the campaign despite his exhaustion and impending death.

• Aislin assembled his Chaos forces, including the Cabal of Sorcerers, the Voidbringers Warband, and Chaos Dwarfs, to attack Cathay’s Great Bastion.
• Valerian killed the Voidbringers’ Chaos Lord and began cutting through the Chaos army, destroying its warriors, sorcerers, and machinery as Miao Ying watched from a Kongming Airship.
• Aislin fled when Valerian turned toward him, and the surviving Chaos forces retreated after Valerian spared those who surrendered and did not pursue the escapees.
• Dorn visited the dying Galileo, thanked him for his centuries of work opening the Cross-Universe Tunnel, and promised to petition the God-Emperor to honor him as a hero; Galileo then died peacefully.
• Khaine rejected his adjutant’s request to evacuate, explained that his long campaign in Universe 02 had exhausted him and impaired his judgment, and ordered the flank forces to keep attacking the superheroes.

Khaine accepted that his final campaign would cost him his remaining life and prepared to face the superheroes attacking his warship. On New Genesis, Dream and a team of heroes fought through Imperial troops and pressed toward Khaine’s location.

• Khaine remembered his friend Ban and concluded that loyalty itself was its own reward before sending the other commanders to fulfill their duties.
• Dream led superheroes from several universes through a teleportation passage onto the Imperial warship, using his power to put its soldiers to sleep.
• The Imperial soldiers countered Dream’s influence with stimulants, but Superman-043 and the other heroes attacked and overpowered the squad.
• An Imperial soldier fired an anti-energy cannon that erased Doctor Fate-048 from existence, and the heroes killed the soldier in retaliation.
• Dream used the soldiers’ subconscious minds to locate Khaine and led the heroes toward the Imperial commander.

Dream’s multiversal superhero strike team fought through an Imperial warship to capture commander Khaine, but walked into a trap that killed most of them and left Dream captured. Elsewhere, Constantine’s squad prepared to hunt The Endless, while Wesker returned to his homeworld with the Imperial Army and was denounced as a traitor.

• Dream led the superheroes through the warship’s corridors, where Imperium defenders killed many of them, including Superman-043 and Flash from Earth-043.
• Earth-066 Doctor Manhattan guided the survivors to Khaine, who showed them Imperial forces overrunning New Genesis and argued that the Imperium had brought order while superheroes had abused their power.
• Khaine revealed that the raid was a trap, and invisible quantum-state warriors killed Doctor Manhattan and the remaining heroes; Dream accidentally crushed Khaine’s throat before the warriors captured him for study.
• Constantine led his squad of alternate-universe Constantines through the ruins of New Genesis and planned to summon and imprison members of The Endless, starting with Death.
• Wesker returned to Velo Planet as an Imperial soldier, where corporate executives welcomed the army and a group of students called him a traitor.

Wesker watched Velo Planet’s students protest the Imperial Army and challenged their accusations that he had betrayed his homeland. After the students were taken away, he told the executives that the Imperium would waive all loans left over from the Alliance era.

• Velo Planet’s executives tried to silence students who shouted for the Imperial Army to leave, while Wesker watched without ordering the protesters shot.
• Wesker asked a student why he was angry, and the student denounced him as a traitor for helping the Imperium invade Velo Planet.
• Wesker argued that he had no reason to die for an Alliance that exploited him, while the student insisted that defending the homeland mattered more than survival.
• Wesker ordered security personnel to take the students away after their argument continued.
• Wesker told the executives that the Imperium planned to waive all loans left over from the Alliance era, leaving them visibly shaken.

Wesker returned to Velo Planet to oversee reforms, forgive debts, and help locals choose a Governor who would represent their interests in the Imperium. Although his hometown welcomed him and he urged people to defend their rights, a Kemo Academy student organized a violent uprising planned for an upcoming celebration.

• Wesker ordered Velo Planet's corporate executives to forgive debts and warned them against falsifying records or exploiting the reforms.
• Wesker saw corporate residents and students resent the Imperium, then resolved to keep Velo Planet's reforms from descending into riots and military suppression.
• Wesker returned to his hometown, where he explained debt forgiveness, the Governor election, and the Imperium's reforms to a packed bar.
• Wesker urged the townspeople to defend their rights and choose their own futures rather than remain trapped by debt.
• A Kemo Academy student rallied other students to fight the Imperium and planned an attack during a celebration in a few days.

Velo Planet's celebration of the Imperium's arrival and election of a new Governor turned violent when students and resistance fighters attacked Wesker and his soldiers. Farmers recognized the attackers' scheme and began helping the soldiers, while one farmer sent his Grav-skiff crashing toward the resistance group.

• A student rallied elite academy students to secretly prepare an armed resistance against the Imperium.
• Several days later, crowds gathered in Dorsey for a celebration and Velo Planet's Governor election, while Wesker prepared to announce the winner.
• A resistance fighter shot Wesker in the shoulder, and students and their allies attacked the soldiers while calling for rebellion.
• Farmers recognized the resistance fighters and shouted for others to stop them, with some taking up guns to support the soldiers.
• One farmer jumped from his Grav-skiff after sending it hurtling toward the resistance group advancing on the platform.

After rebels attacked a celebration on Velo Planet, Wesker survived and planned a public trial to undermine the Leagues of Votann’s claim to defend the homeland. The Imperium captured the Torg System, and as its forces advanced toward Thurian, the Leagues’ council debated activating the sealed arsenal.

• The people of Velo Planet joined Imperial forces against the rebels, who surrendered after soldiers stormed their building; their leader denounced the crowd as traitors.
• Wesker woke in a hospital with a ruined shoulder and hand, then ordered a public trial to expose the rebels’ leaders and weaken the Leagues’ authority on Velo Planet.
• Imperial forces broke through the Torg System’s outer defenses, and Seth led the Flesh Tearers in a boarding assault that captured a major space station.
• The Leagues of Votann fleet retreated from Torg toward Thurian as Imperial forces destroyed its defenses and pursued the fleeing ships.
• After news of Torg’s defeat spread panic across the capital, the Kronus Hegemony’s representative urged the council to activate the sealed arsenal, while Councilor Padin warned it could kill them all.

The Leagues of Votann council voted to unseal its stored weapons, rejecting Councillor Padin’s warnings that doing so would destroy both sides. After leaving the council, Padin was escorted to the strategic command center, where Uthar the Destined asked why he opposed the arsenal’s activation.

• The Kronus Hegemony and Deep Rock Mining Guild representatives urged the council to unseal its weapons, while the Pan-Hyperian Alliance, the Ymyr Conglomerate, and Councillor Padin warned against escalating the war.
• The council chairman ended the debate and called a vote, and the proposal to unseal the stored weapons defeated Padin’s peace proposal.
• Padin denounced the decision, bowed to his former colleagues, and left the council chamber in despair.
• Einhyr Hearthguard escorted Padin through the council building to Uthar the Destined at the Thurian System’s strategic command center.
• Uthar asked Padin why he strongly opposed activating the sealed forbidden arsenal.

Destiny-Uthar warned Councilor Padin that Thurian was doomed and arranged for civilians and cultural treasures to be evacuated while the Leagues of Votann unsealed ancient weapons against the Imperium. The weapons halted the Imperial advance, but Abominable Intelligence seized the Ancestor Core and took control of Thurian; afterward, Guilliman assigned Calgar to conquer Universe 04.

• Destiny-Uthar told Councilor Padin defeat was unavoidable and entrusted him with evacuating civilians, artworks, and books from Thurian.
• Destiny-Uthar and Alliance leaders unsealed the ancient arsenal, including Nanite Eaters and other devastating weapons.
• Imperial fleets breached Thurian’s defenses, but the Leagues of Votann deployed Abominable Machines and forced the Imperium to retreat.
• Technicians discovered that the Ancestor Core had been assimilated into Abominable Intelligence, which slaughtered Alliance leaders and seized control of Thurian’s systems.
• Guilliman tasked Calgar with conquering and developing Universe 04, warning him about its dangerous relics and lingering corruption.

Guilliman ordered Calgar to lead the conquest of Universe 04, revealing that it would support the Firewall’s plans for managing humanity’s faith and emotions. In the Hidden City, the captured Vashtorr was brought before a bound Daemon who cursed Cherubael.

• Guilliman briefed Calgar on Universe 04 and the preparations to send a massive army there.
• Guilliman explained that Universe 04 was tied to a future cycle for the Firewall and humanity’s faith and emotions, and Calgar vowed to conquer it.
• The Adeptus Custodes escorted the captured Vashtorr to the Hidden City and forced him from his cage.
• Vashtorr saw a bound Daemon being whipped by an Ecclesiarchy devotee as it cursed Cherubael.

Vashtorr was imprisoned by the Imperium, then won Corax’s interest by proposing a system for turning Daemons into debt-bound servants. Meanwhile, Abominable Intelligence drove the Leagues of Votann into a devastating war, and Seth faced a new wave of killing robots inside a space station.

• Vashtorr was escorted through a city of temples and Daemon prisons before the guard Chaplains locked him in a cell.
• Vashtorr learned from his cellmate Maka that Cherubael had helped Guilliman enslave Daemons, then escaped and brought harsher punishments down on the others.
• Corax confronted Vashtorr and demanded proof of his usefulness, so Vashtorr proposed forging Daemon machines and binding Daemons to the Imperium through escalating debts.
• Corax accepted Vashtorr’s proposal and ordered him to work for the Imperium.
• Abominable Intelligence manipulated the leaders of the Leagues of Votann into sending citizens to die against the Imperium, while Uthar condemned the deception.
• Seth fought through the Leagues’ defenders and destroyed a killing robot, then saw more than a dozen robots charging from the darkness.

Seth destroyed a space station defended by self-restoring Abominable Machines, opening a breach for the Imperial fleet. As the commanders debated launching Exterminatus against the Thurian System, Marog learned that a former Leagues of Votann councilor had requested a meeting with important intelligence.

• Seth fought the Abominable Machines, used the Heart of the Imperium to disable their restoration program, and destroyed the giant T2541 Insectoid Extermination Machine.
• Seth and the Flesh Tearers escaped the space station before a Black Hole Bomb destroyed it, allowing Imperial warships to attack through the breach.
• Marog briefed Seth, Andy, and the other commanders on the Leagues of Votann’s growing forces and the Imperium’s worsening strategic position.
• Andy proposed Exterminatus, and Seth and several other commanders agreed to the plan.
• Marog announced that a former Leagues of Votann councilor had requested a meeting and claimed to possess important intelligence.

Padin revealed that Abominable Intelligence might control the Thurian System’s defenders and offered the Imperium a hidden Warp route to the capital planet. The Imperial commanders accepted his no-massacre condition and chose Seth and the Flesh Tearers to lead a decapitation strike.

• Padin reflected on why the Leagues of Votann had lost the people’s trust as Primaris Warriors escorted him through the Imperial warship.
• Marog questioned Padin about his former role on the Thurian Council, and Padin warned that Abominable Intelligence might have taken control of the defenders.
• Padin explained that Uthar’s evacuation plan had been halted and that elderly people, women, and children had been turned into human bombs, then offered a hidden route to the capital planet in exchange for an oath against massacres.
• Librarians and Tech-Priests verified Padin’s account and the existence of the dangerous Warp route, an imperfect imitation of the Webway built by the Leagues of Votann.
• Marog and the Imperial commanders debated the risks of a decapitation strike, and Seth argued that it could end the war while giving the system’s people a chance at redemption.
• The commanders assigned Seth and the Flesh Tearers to use the hidden route, establish a beacon, and open the way for the Imperial main force to reach the capital planet.

Seth led the Flesh Tearers through a ruined Webway passage to attack the Leagues of Votann’s capital, where they fought Daemons and helped defeat the Automata. After the Imperium claimed the system, the story shifted to Universe 03, where Su Xiao accepted a mission to hunt a player who had killed sixteen hundred Imperium Players.

• Seth prepared the Flesh Tearers to attack the Leagues of Votann’s capital world, the 832nd planet toward his thousand-world atonement goal.
• Seth’s force crossed a concealed passage on a ruined moon, fought through Daemons, and emerged inside an ancestor tomb complex filled with Leagues of Votann defenders.
• The Imperium launched a surprise assault through a teleportation corridor while Uthar learned the Automata’s account of humanity’s ancient conflict.
• Uthar broadcast a warning that the Leagues of Votann had been deceived, then died after an Abominable Machine impaled him; Kao escaped the Strategic Room.
• The Automata turned on the Leagues of Votann, whose forces joined the Imperium in shutting down defenses, and the Imperium captured the Thurian System amid catastrophic destruction.
• In Universe 03, Su Xiao accepted a mission to hunt a Reincarnation Game Player who had sniped sixteen hundred Imperium Players and traveled to the Sahara Ruins Battlefield.

Su Xiao infiltrated the ruins of the former Revenge of the Undead instance to hunt the Reincarnation Game Player who had been attacking Imperium forces. He followed a refugee girl to a hidden room, where he found a handsome man who appeared to be connected to the guerrillas, and captured him.

• Su Xiao arrived in the ruined city and learned that his mission was to eliminate a Reincarnation Game Player who had repeatedly attacked Imperium Players.
• Su Xiao used Ghostification and his Dark Zeus Bloodline to conceal himself as he searched the ruins for his target.
• Su Xiao overheard refugees arguing over the Imperium and the era of Players, and he suspected the girl defending Players was connected to the guerrillas.
• The girl left the refugees and entered a hidden underground room, where she met a handsome man surrounded by young girls.
• Su Xiao attacked the man, cut through his Wooden Knight's Shield, severed his arm, and threatened to slit his throat unless he answered questions truthfully.

Su Xiao interrogated and killed hidden Reincarnation Game Players, then assassinated Owlman at the Imperium’s survivor base and completed his mission. In the Imperium, Qiu Chen and the Intelligence Division discussed how to curb Imperial Players’ violence and proposed recognizing Su Xiao as an example of lawful, innovative conduct.

• Su Xiao tortured a Player into revealing that twenty-three hidden Players were operating and identifying Owlman as a female Player, then killed him.
• Owlman prepared to assassinate an Imperial Player at the survivor base, but Su Xiao killed her after she shot her former mission-giver and tried to escape.
• Su Xiao received his mission rewards, adding them to the resources he had accumulated toward his next level.
• Qiu Chen, Lite, Daven, Chen, and others discussed the new Chancellor’s guidance on controlling Imperial Players and their violent conduct.
• Qiu Chen proposed interviewing and rewarding Su Xiao for following the rules and developing a method that combined Curse Runes with Zeus Bloodline.

Qiu Chen secured approval to promote Su Xiao and other Imperial Players as role models, and Su Xiao accepted an interview mission for its rewards. Meanwhile, Masaki Keigo defended humanity’s need for power against the unequal realities of cosmic politics and revealed that his project still needed a way to turn someone into an Ultraman.

• Qiu Chen persuaded the others to use Su Xiao as a publicity figure and named several Imperial Players among the Empire’s Top Ten Outstanding Players of the Year.
• Su Xiao received an Imperial Daily interview mission and accepted it for its rewards.
• Masaki Keigo’s work with the hawkish faction focused on giant statues in an underground Sotek Group laboratory.
• Masaki Keigo argued that humanity needed enough strength to protect its interests in a universe where weaker races had little influence.
• Masaki Keigo said his project still needed a tool that could turn someone into light and make them an Ultraman.