Chapter Summaries

Swain prepared to meet Darkwill while questioning the events surrounding the assassination attempt. In the Spirit Realm, Lacha witnessed visions of Ionia’s devastation and other possible worlds, then learned from his master that they were only prophecies among countless branches.

• Swain dressed to meet Darkwill and wondered how Katarina’s dagger had been involved in the attack at the barracks.
• Lacha touched the great tree and was shown Ionia from above, including its people and landscapes.
• The vision shifted to Noxus invading Ionia, where people died in the fighting and Noxian soldiers turned on one another.
• Lacha shut his eyes against the destruction, and the Spirit Realm left him blind until he opened them to hear cries of resistance.
• Lacha saw visions of the Void, the Mage, Swain, and events in their nation, then returned to the tree with his sight restored.
• Lacha told his master what he had seen, and the old man explained that the visions were one-sided prophecies among many possible worlds.

Swain learned that the Immortal Bastion had been locked down and its people transformed into undead under the influence of a powerful magical force. As purple energy engulfed the city, Kronos heard the Emperor’s call and set out for Noxus to fight the daemons.

• Katarina told Swain that Du Couteau, Talon, and her sister had become skeletons, and that a powerful magical presence surrounded the palace.
• Swain ordered the barracks secured, summoned Mars through Katarina, and discussed the situation with Sion before they went to Du Couteau’s estate.
• Swain and Sion confronted the undead Talon, who asked them to kill him while he still had control of his will, and Swain decapitated him.
• Sion demolished the Du Couteau estate, but Swain found no sign of Du Couteau, and purple energy erupted from the palace across the Immortal Bastion.
• The Emperor warned Kronos that daemons had invaded and urged him to help the mortals, so Kronos took his Chainsword and left for Noxus.

A purple corruption spread through the Immortal Bastion, driving its people into horrific violence while Swain and others tried to survive and summon help. Kronos reached Noxus with Shen and set out to hunt the source of the corruption, warning Shen that he would kill him if he showed signs of being tainted.

• Elton Ben Fernande fled his home after killing his transformed family and reached Swain's camp, where the guards refused him entry but lowered weapons for him.
• Katarina and Mars fought their way through the streets as the corrupted attacked people, while Darkwill served a mysterious woman who crushed his head and ordered the infection to spread.
• Swain resisted the purple light's influence, told Sion that he had sent a warning to Darius and Horeth, and proposed defending the city while help came.
• Kronos asked Zed how to reach Noxus quickly, and Shen used the Spirit Realm to take him there.
• Kronos and Shen found Noxus devastated by corruption, and Kronos warned Shen that he would kill him if he showed any signs of being tainted.

Nori Tris fought beside Darius as Noxus rallied and won a costly battle in the valley, while Nori died protecting his general. Darius received an intelligence scroll from one of Swain’s men, and Swain and Sion fled a horde of transformed Noxian civilians toward the military camp.

• Nori Tris regained his senses on the battlefield, took up a sword, and fought alongside Darius after Demacian weapons broke apart their formation.
• Darius gave Nori a shield, led him through the valley, and rallied scattered Noxian soldiers as Demacian elites surrounded them.
• Nori died defending Darius from the Demacians, and Noxus secured a temporary victory in the valley.
• Mirna told Darius that a man serving Swain had come to see him, and the messenger delivered a sealed intelligence scroll.
• Swain and Sion ran from a horde of mutated civilians toward the military camp, where Sion turned to face the monsters while Swain went inside.

Swain and Sion fought to hold the Immortal Bastion against the transformed civilians, while Darius uncovered a Black Rose assassination attempt and prepared to march on the city. Kronos and Shen reached the palace, where Kronos insisted that no civilians remained to save and advanced toward the corruption.

• Swain learned that the barracks were under attack and that the city's scouts and hidden sentries had been killed, then ordered Mars to seek a ship and warn Darius.
• Swain told Katarina to prepare for a difficult battle as Sion slaughtered the Walking Corpses and heard a bloodthirsty voice urge him to kill more.
• Darius caught and interrogated an assassin who claimed the Black Rose had his family, then ordered his soldiers to march for the Immortal Bastion the next morning.
• Kronos and Shen fought through the corrupted monsters toward the palace as Shen noted that their numbers were dwindling.
• Kronos told Shen that no civilians or survivors remained and continued toward the palace beneath the purple pillar of corruption.

Swain prepared his last soldiers to defend the Immortal Bastion while Sion briefly overcame the voice driving him to slaughter and received transformed axes from a golden light. Kronos entered the Bastion alone as Shen stayed behind, and He Shenyan left Kratos to confront a new threat.

• Swain told the remaining Death Raven Legion soldiers they would receive no supplies or reinforcements, and they chose to hold their position despite certain defeat.
• Sion resisted the voice commanding him to kill, regained control, and saw a golden beam transform his axes as a fatherly voice told him to let the dead rest in peace.
• Kronos told Shen to return and entrusted him with his helmet before crossing the corrupted moat toward the Immortal Bastion alone.
• He Shenyan asked Kratos about his goddess while they fished, then sensed a threat and prepared to leave; Kratos offered to help.

Swain held the Noxian camp while Kronos entered the corrupted palace and confronted a Slaanesh servant. Outside the palace, Sion sent Shen toward Swain’s surviving troops and apologized for Noxus’s invasion of Ionia.

• Swain learned that General Sion had defeated the enemy and headed toward the palace, then told Katarina that Talon was dead as a soldier of Noxus.
• Kronos broke into the palace, discovered signs of a cultist summoning ritual, and followed a shifting corridor into the darkness.
• A seductive woman tried to tempt Kronos, but he insulted her, prompting her to summon blasphemous monsters against him.
• Shen met Sion, who recognized Kronos’s helmet and said Kronos pursued the ideal of unifying all humanity.
• Sion directed Shen to Swain’s army at the harbor and apologized for Noxus’s invasion of Ionia.

Kronos fought through corrupted monsters while Swain’s forces defended their camp and prepared a supply raid. Shen reached the port barracks to help the Noxian soldiers, and He Shenyan learned that Kronos had left a day earlier and went to find him.

• Kronos slaughtered the monsters attacking him, resisted The Pale Lady’s taunts, and vowed to kill the fiend in the Emperor’s name.
• Noxian soldiers defended their camp from waves of corrupted creatures while Swain disciplined a reckless soldier and ordered the gate reinforced.
• Swain sent Katarina to retrieve weapons and other supplies from a nearby warehouse using her teleportation technique.
• Shen returned to the port barracks and used Twilight Blade to cut down the monsters attacking its walls before vanishing.
• He Shenyan learned from Zed that Kronos had left a day earlier with Shen, then opened a portal to go after them.

He Shenyan purged Noxus's corrupted capital and captured LeBlanc, then entered the tower to rescue Kronos and Sion. He left the pair in safety as an ancient evil consciousness began to awaken beneath the palace.

• He Shenyan destroyed the monsters across the Immortal Bastion with golden lightning, silencing the city as Swain and his soldiers watched.
• Kronos defeated a corrupted creature in the darkness, while He Shenyan approached the purple pillar of light and resisted LeBlanc's attempt to seduce him.
• He Shenyan stripped LeBlanc of her ability to feel pleasure, pinned her to the tower, and imprisoned her to endure the suffering she had inflicted on others.
• Sion arrived to help Kronos, who became fixated on Sion's Emperor-blessed axes after the two reunited.
• He Shenyan entered the tower, snapped his fingers to send Kronos and Sion away, and saw an ancient evil consciousness awakening beneath the palace.

He Shenyan drove Mordekaiser back and confronted the threat of Slaanesh, then spoke with The Emperor about corruption, religion, and humanity’s future. The Emperor warned him that the Void had discovered him, while on Terra the suffering Emperor wept upon the Golden Throne.

• He Shenyan restored the victims in the hall and forced the restless dead underground back down.
• He Shenyan struck Mordekaiser’s consciousness with psychic tremors, then considered how to stop Slaanesh’s intrusion, which LeBlanc had summoned.
• The Emperor warned He Shenyan that Slaanesh’s corruption might already be spreading and said someone beautiful was prepared to help remove the purple pillar of light.
• The Emperor and He Shenyan discussed religion, humanity, and the Emperor’s dream of a peaceful future before the Emperor warned that the Void had discovered He Shenyan.
• On Terra, the rotting Emperor shed a tear as dark figures gathered beneath the Golden Throne, then continued enduring his pain to protect humanity.

He Shenyan restored Immortal Bastion and revealed that he had spoken with a great man, while Swain’s forces faced the devastation left behind. The Mage then went to Mount Targon seeking Myisha, but learned she had left and killed the celestial beings he found there.

• He Shenyan told Kronos that another being had dispersed the corruption, then repaired Immortal Bastion with magic and urged Kronos and Sion to carry on for The Emperor.
• Swain ordered his soldiers to keep watch and search for survivors, but a torrent of bricks and stones restored the ruined city and left the camp speechless.
• He Shenyan reached a celestial space above Mount Targon and demanded that a Starlight Humanoid tell him where Myisha had gone.
• The Starlight Humanoid said Myisha had left and that no one knew her destination, so He Shenyan killed the celestial beings in the space and considered breeding some for study.

Jhin kidnapped Fenna to make her his first human art piece, but Zed found her and attacked him. Jhin transformed into a monstrous creature, and Zed faced the unnatural being as it spoke of a beautiful descent.

• Jhin chose Fenna as his model and planned to abduct her before the troupe left Placidium.
• Zed and Fenna spent the evening together, and Fenna asked him to visit her flower shop the next morning for a gift.
• Zed found Fenna’s shop damaged, used his psychic power to track her, and followed the trail to a warehouse despite severe backlash.
• Zed found Fenna bound and unconscious, then attacked Jhin and crushed his eyes underfoot.
• Jhin’s body regenerated and transformed into a monstrous creature, which mutilated itself and told Zed to witness its descent.

Zed awakened his reality-warping power while fighting the monster that had once been Jhin, and He Shenyan later explained the power to Kronos. After Zed erased the monster’s connection to its object of worship and sealed its mouth, He Shenyan intervened, erased Zed’s memory of the power, and destroyed Jhin for good.

• The monster that had once been Jhin wounded Zed and made the bones of his hand crawl out as part of its art.
• He Shenyan urged Zed to act despite his pain, and Zed used his power to rise and fight back.
• He Shenyan explained reality warpers to Kronos and wondered whether Zed could fully realize his ability.
• Zed tried many ways to kill the monster, but it repeatedly regenerated and grew stronger.
• Zed wished the monster could no longer perceive its object of worship, then made its mouth disappear, terrifying it.
• He Shenyan arrived, sent Zed away while blocking his memory of the power, and destroyed Jhin’s body and soul.

Darius learned that the capital at the Immortal Bastion appeared deserted, while Swain fielded inquiries about the crisis and Sion trained with Kronos. He Shenyan then implanted a newly created Gene Seed in Sion, as he and a mysterious man discussed sending a new Primarch to another universe.

• Darius learned from Irwin that scouts saw no one in the Immortal Bastion and received no responses from the capital.
• Swain answered communications from the Empire's legions while Sion trained with Kronos and asked about becoming an Astartes.
• He Shenyan brought Sion to a hidden room and began a surgery, implanting a new Gene Seed he had created with the Emperor.
• Kronos stayed beside Sion as he convulsed, while He Shenyan vanished to speak with a mysterious man about their plan to send a new Primarch to another universe.

Sion resisted Khorne’s attempt to claim him, and He Shenyan explained that responsibility had saved him during a trial tied to the Gene Seed taken from Khorne. The chapter ended with Khorne and The Emperor arguing over their wager and the fate of humanity.

• Sion drifted through Khorne’s realm and resisted the urge to join the endless battles, insisting that he was Noxus’s general and the witness to His radiance.
• Khorne invited Sion to join him, but Sion charged at the god with two Battle Axes and was struck down without releasing his weapons.
• He Shenyan returned to find Sion recovering and told Kronos that a sense of responsibility had saved him.
• He Shenyan reflected that The Emperor had borrowed power from the Four Chaos Gods to shape the Primarchs and had arranged with Khorne for a different source of Gene Seed for Sion, with a wager attached.
• Khorne admitted that he had lost the wager to The Emperor and criticized the Loyal Warriors for fighting under their sense of responsibility.
• The Emperor told Khorne that humans could go farther for one another than Khorne understood, while Khorne mocked him and laughed.

Lacha chose to begin life as a wandering monk, while Darius’s march toward the Immortal Bastion brought him face-to-face with the newly revived Sion. Sion tested Darius’s worth as Hand of Noxus, and their fight continued as Darius embraced the challenge.

• Lacha asked whether he was Lee Sin or Lacha, then chose to leave the mountain as a wandering monk and help people.
• Darius’s drakalopses grew restless near the Immortal Bastion, and the beast tamer recalled they had behaved similarly when facing a dragon.
• A towering Sion arrived at Darius’s camp and recognized him as the newest Hand of Noxus.
• Kronos watched as Sion faced Darius in a test of the Hand’s fighting ability.
• Darius charged Sion, who caught his axe barehanded, then urged him to show his true strength.

Sion defeated Darius and told him of a war among the stars, asking him to help unite Runeterra and save humanity, leaving Darius troubled by his doubts about his role. Meanwhile, Lacha began his life as a wandering monk and met a mysterious woman, while Kronos praised mortals and Sion insisted they were equals.

• Sion praised Darius’s achievements, then told him a story about humanity’s struggle in a distant galaxy and asked him to join the cause.
• Lacha left the mountain as a wandering monk, discovered his new strength, and met a hooded woman who recognized someone’s scent on him.
• Darius returned to camp and accepted Sion’s proposal, but wondered whether he could matter in a war where even great warriors were expendable.
• Kronos told Sion that mortals had sacrificed greatly for the Empire and praised Darius, explaining that praise would not ease Darius’s self-doubt.
• Kronos knelt to Sion, who hauled him up and told him never to kneel because they were equals.
• The Mage interrupted Sion and Kronos with tea, then threatened to complain to It after Kronos silently judged him.

Swain struggled to govern Noxus after its political leaders were killed, while He Shenyan revealed plans to create a legion of Primarchs without Warp influence. In Ionia, Shen continued treating wounded soldiers and began diagnosing a Vastaya warrior's poisoned arrow wound.

• Swain asked Darius to help recruit new officials, and Darius warned that inexperienced recruits needed training and that transferring regional officials risked destabilizing the city-state union.
• He Shenyan told Kronos that he had fifteen viable Gene Seeds and envisioned a legion of Primarchs, leaving Kronos stunned with excitement.
• He Shenyan explained that his Gene Seeds did not use Warp power, which could protect their Primarchs from Chaos corruption, and considered giving them to Steve Rogers, Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent.
• Shen treated a wounded soldier and told Katarina that he helped because the invaders were hateful creatures threatening the mortal world, not because he expected gratitude.
• A Vastaya warrior came to Shen with a badly healed arrow wound, and he suspected the arrow had been poisoned before preparing to treat her.

He Shenyan found a young Bruce Wayne living under the name Klan Samps and discovered he was a short-lived clone created by the original Bruce to inherit the Batman identity. He offered to make the clone the real Batman, leaving his decision unresolved.

• Klan Samps woke from a nightmare, hid a suitcase, and went to a secret warehouse where he smashed a computer displaying the Joker’s photograph after seeing news that Batman was dead.
• He Shenyan investigated Gotham and found a death certificate for Bruce Wayne in Klan Samps’s apartment.
• Klan Samps revealed his identity as Bruce Wayne’s clone after He Shenyan confronted him and read his memories.
• He Shenyan learned that the original Bruce Wayne had died in an explosion and created successive clones to inherit his memories and fight crime.
• Klan Samps explained that his body was failing and described his plan to lure Gotham’s criminals together and kill them with bombs.
• He Shenyan offered to make Klan Samps the real Batman.

Klan Samps, Batman’s dying clone, accepted the responsibility of confronting Joker and fought him to the death, then rejected Martha Wayne’s invitation to die and woke after He Shenyan intervened. He accepted He Shenyan’s mysterious boon, while the Emperor and the Mage discussed other candidates and the Emperor’s failures as a father.

• He Shenyan offered Klan Samps a dangerous boon, and Klan rejected his pity before deciding to put on the Batsuit after Joker’s crimes pushed him to act.
• Joker lamented killing Batman and continued searching for him while Klan’s illness worsened and he discovered Joker had taken office workers hostage.
• Klan used Batman’s prepared suit and a lethal stimulant to reach Joker, freed the hostages, and killed Joker in a brutal fight before collapsing beside him.
• In a near-death vision, Martha Wayne urged Klan to rest, but he insisted he would wake and continue protecting Gotham.
• He Shenyan revived Klan and offered the boon again, and Klan accepted it as the Emperor watched and later asked the Mage to be honest with future candidates.