Chapter Summaries

On Vengeance, He Shenyan learned that Konrad Curze was trapped in the Warp, tormented by visions and convinced he deserved suffering. He proposed isolating Curze from the Warp to weaken his prophetic ability, while Curze encountered a vision of a peaceful city.

• Edwin heard Cohen describe Vengeance’s captain and learned that Priad Cathedral honored Sergeant Priad, whom Cohen had fought beside on Bandar Planet.
• He Shenyan reconnected with Vengeance and discussed with The Emperor the many things he had done in the past forty-eight hours, including killing hundreds of Fabius Bile’s clones.
• The Emperor told He Shenyan that Konrad Curze had refused his efforts to persuade him to return and had continued cursing himself.
• He Shenyan explained that Curze’s visions came from Tzeentch and proposed keeping Curze away from the Warp so his prophetic ability might weaken.
• Curze continued wandering the Warp, seeking battle and enduring visions, until the scene before him changed into a peaceful city and he howled in fury.

Konrad Curze realized he had been resurrected in a real world under demonic attack and began saving its survivors. Aboard the Vengeance, He Shenyan discussed how environment could shape the Emperor’s sons and reviewed the ship’s population and forces before deciding to meet the newly arrived Mechanicus sage Dominus Belisarius Cawl.

• Curze surrendered to the police, but a blood-red shockwave transformed people into monsters and plunged the city into chaos.
• Curze killed the monsters attacking a woman and her infant, then saw a vision of demons overrunning Earth and tore himself free of it.
• Curze recognized that he had been resurrected and began evacuating the woman and other survivors.
• He Shenyan told the Emperor two contrasting stories about how the same person named John could become a killer or a self-sacrificing police officer in different environments.
• He Shenyan reviewed the Vengeance’s hundreds of millions of civilians, ten Astra Militarum Legions, and thousands of Astartes, including forces sent by Guilliman.
• He Shenyan noticed that Dominus Belisarius Cawl and a group of Mechanicus Priests had boarded the Vengeance and decided to meet them.

He Shenyan allowed Archmagos Cawl to study the Glyph Array and offered to teach him magic before turning to the Iron Snakes' recruitment aboard the Vengeance. Chapter Master Insel prepared to recruit two hundred candidates, while He Shenyan proposed a new approach to their augmentation and recruitment.

• Cawl tried to test the Vengeance's floor with his plasma staff, but He Shenyan stopped him and swallowed the plasma, then invited him to study the Glyph Array and learn magic.
• Insel learned that the Magic Array Hub had selected two hundred promising candidates for the Iron Snakes' recruitment aboard the Vengeance.
• He Shenyan met Insel, reassured him about the recruitment, and told him that Priad's armor and Givadoron had been sacrificed.
• He Shenyan outlined a new idea for the Iron Snakes' recruitment and augmentation, and Insel reacted with excitement and asked him to attend the recruitment.
• Ezekiel waited among the candidates and encouraged the nervous Dumas to calm down as the Iron Snakes arrived; the noble's son Xavier introduced himself.

Insel and He Shenyan tested two hundred children in simulation pods to select recruits for the Iron Snakes, while Ezekiel adapted to a city overrun by Walking Corpses. After praising the children’s performance, He Shenyan left the ship and wrestled with whether returning home could still mean anything.

• Insel ordered the Magic Array Hub to place the two hundred children into simulation pods, and He Shenyan watched from the observation room.
• Ezekiel woke in a bloodstained shop, recognized the danger of the Walking Corpses, and gathered food, water, and a metal weapon before setting out to find survivors and shelter.
• Insel and He Shenyan watched the children fight, evade, and shoot the Walking Corpses, and Insel praised their suitability for the Iron Snakes.
• He Shenyan explained that the children were exceptional martial prodigies and that the Vengeance’s technology could remove the usual risks of Astartes modification.
• He Shenyan left the middle deck, appeared outside the ship with a black gemstone, and wondered whether returning to his original home would still have meaning.

Jaghatai Khan asked Guilliman to direct him to the commander of a planned expedition, while Frank held off Khorne’s daemons and rebels until reinforcements arrived. The arriving force was led by the captain Frank knew, and Frank met Pedro Kantor, whose Bolter caught his attention.

• Jaghatai Khan asked Guilliman to let him and his Scions join the planned expedition, and Guilliman told him to seek the Vengeance’s captain through Terra Space Station.
• Frank fought off Bloodletters and killed a towering Khorne daemon with Sin of Humanity while defending the valley’s exit.
• Bonavia urged Frank to rest after four days of fighting and told him the civilians had been evacuated.
• Bonavia spotted an ambush by rebels and destroyed them with her nanomachine energy cannon.
• Four Thunderhawk Gunships arrived with Astartes led by the captain Frank knew, who introduced Pedro Kantor to Frank.
• Frank admired Pedro Kantor’s Bolter, and Pedro identified it as the Fist of Dorn.

Steve and Frank discussed the sacrifices behind humanity’s survival, while He Shenyan prepared the Vengeance and welcomed Jaghatai Khan aboard. After touring First City, the Khan met He Shenyan and asked to join the expedition with his Legion.

• Steve learned from Frank that only a small portion of Fulgrim’s Legion had returned because the Chaos gods had bound their souls to Isstvan III, where most had eventually shattered.
• Steve reflected that humanity needed time and sacrifice to escape its darkness, and Frank agreed that this time they would fight together with others behind them.
• He Shenyan ordered upgrades and production work aboard the Vengeance, then arranged for Jaghatai Khan to arrive under the code name Hawk of Chogoris and joked that he was away playing a match with Slaanesh.
• Jaghatai Khan explored First City, questioned the Magic Array Hub about the ship’s cities and volunteer farmers, and learned that its citizens received most of the crops they produced.
• He Shenyan appeared after the Hub told the Khan he was in the Warp, apologized for the joke, and introduced himself as the Mage and captain of the Vengeance.
• Jaghatai Khan told He Shenyan that his Legion wanted to join the expedition, and He Shenyan invited him to discuss the details over milk tea.

Jaghatai Khan joined the Vengeance Expedition after He Shenyan showed him the Warp’s endless chorus of human suffering and explained his own desire for vengeance. Back aboard Macragge's Honour, Marneus Calgar and Cato Sicarius were summoned by the Primarch.

• Jaghatai Khan thanked He Shenyan for bringing him milk tea from Chogoris and asked about joining the Vengeance Expedition.
• He Shenyan brought Jaghatai Khan into the Warp, where the Khan heard the ceaseless screams of the dead and understood that the Warp threatened all humanity.
• He Shenyan explained that he remained human by choice and wanted vengeance for humanity’s suffering, and Jaghatai Khan agreed to join the expedition.
• Cato Sicarius and Marneus Calgar struggled through a game of gomoku that they called chess while aboard Macragge's Honour.
• A Victrix Guard told Marneus Calgar and Cato Sicarius that the Primarch had business with them.

Guilliman reprimanded Marius and Sicarius over the Ultramarines’ poetry wager, reflected on the fear he inspired across the Imperium, and ordered Titus’s review expedited. On a besieged world, Sergeant Cito was killed by traitor Astartes, but his soul joined others in a golden manifestation of vengeance that destroyed one of them.

• Guilliman scolded Marius and Sicarius for the Ultramarines’ poetry contest losses and asked Marius whether Ultramar had suffered further incidents.
• Sicarius reported that Titus had arrived at Lion Gate Starport, and Guilliman ordered the Departmento Munitorum to speed up his review.
• Guilliman admitted that the Imperium and even Ultramar feared him, then stood at the porthole and said vengeance was about to begin.
• Cito left his wounded sergeant and crossed the trench to deliver Corporal Torikasa’s request for support, but found traitor Astartes torturing a prisoner at the command center.
• A traitor Astartes killed Cito, whose soul joined other dead loyalists as golden flames formed an idol of vengeance that crushed the attacker.

He Shenyan watched the Vengeance’s dangerous new Divinity take shape and sent Jaghatai Khan a metal warhorse to ride. Meanwhile, Titus returned to Terra after decades away, passed his review, and was about to learn how much the Imperium had changed.

• He Shenyan noted that the Vengeance’s Divinity still held dangerous personality fragments, then reviewed the ship’s lengthy report with the Magic Array Hub.
• Jaghatai Khan received He Shenyan’s metal warhorse and asked for a field where he could test it.
• Titus underwent a Departmento Munitorum review, answered questions about his battles and Warp exposure, and was approved to return to his brothers.
• Titus saw Terra’s changed sky and ruins, then met the Adeptus Custodes Lictor, who told him Guilliman was waiting aboard the Macragge's Honour.
• Lictor warned Titus to remain calm around xenos who might now be cooperative partners, then prepared to teleport him to Terra Space Station.

Titus arrived at Terra Space Station, where he learned that he had to wait thirty hours before teleporting to Macragge's Honour. He went to see Aeonid Thiel and discovered that the legendary Dreadnought had been cured and was recovering, leaving Titus stunned by the station’s technology.

• Titus recovered from teleportation vertigo as the Adeptus Custodes explained Terra Space Station and registered his identity.
• The station scheduled Titus’s next teleportation for the day after tomorrow because of his injuries and required observation.
• The Adeptus Custodes told Titus that Aeonid Thiel was receiving Dreadnought treatment in Area A, and Titus hurried there.
• Titus learned from the Mechanicus Priests that Aeonid Thiel had completed treatment and would soon recover outside his Dreadnought.
• Titus thanked the priests, overwhelmed that they had restored an elder who had spent centuries entombed in a Dreadnought.

The Emperor arranged for Sister Ankosa Clarice to chronicle the Vengeance Crusade and interview He Shenyan, who reluctantly accepted her assignment. After meeting He Shenyan, Ankosa proved her resolve by enduring the pressure of his power, and he invited her to see her new quarters.

• The Emperor told He Shenyan that a Sister would record the expedition and that her writings would help change the Ecclesiarchy, then left as she arrived.
• Sister Ankosa Clarice wrote in her notebook about the Vengeance and her curiosity about its captain, while reflecting on her unorthodox reputation and the Emperor's choice of her.
• He Shenyan approached Ankosa in the park in disguise and awkwardly asked her about her battles against Orks.
• He Shenyan's glowing blue eyes overwhelmed Ankosa with supernatural pressure, but she refused to look away until he relented and the pressure vanished.
• He Shenyan revealed his identity as the Vengeance's captain, and Ankosa admitted she had never considered submission an option.
• He Shenyan invited Ankosa to follow him so he could show her where she would live.

Sister Ankesha toured Vengeance with He Shenyan and learned why he named the expedition after vengeance against the universe itself. Meanwhile, Sanguinius, Fulgrim, and Angron investigated a massive Warp rift and suspected it had been deliberately created, possibly by Slaanesh, leaving them preparing for a potential battle.

• He Shenyan showed Sister Ankesha Vengeance’s ship cannons and explained that their Machine Spirits could only be handled by qualified soldiers.
• Sister Ankesha asked He Shenyan why he had named the expedition Vengeance, and he said its true target was the universe that forced humanity into endless sacrifice and conflict.
• Fulgrim questioned the Glyph Array’s route after a Warp rift disrupted its calculations, while Sanguinius and Angron argued that the Array could make mistakes.
• Sanguinius projected data showing a Warp rift half the size of a planet, and the brothers agreed that it could not have formed naturally.
• Angron proposed that Chaos had engineered the rift, and Sanguinius and Fulgrim suspected Slaanesh might be behind it and targeting Fulgrim.
• Sanguinius reassured Fulgrim that they could fight back and prepared the brothers for the danger ahead.

The Emperor reunited with Leman Russ, explained how his divinity had shaped his behavior, and sent him to join his brothers. Russ arrived on a ship, where Sanguinius freed him and revealed that Fulgrim and Angron from another universe were waiting.

• The Emperor appeared before Russ, confirmed the Thirteenth Company had returned, and offered him wine, a feast, and drinking companions.
• Russ learned that The Emperor had brought Horus back and heard that a friend had saved The Emperor and renewed hope for the Empire.
• Russ told The Emperor he had changed, and The Emperor explained that his divinity and humanity had caused his inconsistent treatment of his sons.
• The Emperor sent Russ to his brothers, and Russ was transported to a ship where a silver wall trapped his hand.
• Sanguinius freed Russ and led him toward Fulgrim and Angron from another universe, who had never received the Butcher's Nails.

Angron and Fulgrim’s tense conversation was interrupted when Leman Russ arrived and mistook them for traitors, but Angron quickly proved they could trust each other. After the misunderstanding was resolved, Russ proposed charging into the Warp rift to kill the Daemons inside, and the others accepted his blunt reasoning.

• Angron and Fulgrim traded insults while waiting in the conference room.
• Russ entered, accused Angron and Fulgrim of being traitors, and Angron struck him down before warning him not to judge him by the Angron he knew.
• Russ and Angron reconciled, and Sanguinius apologized for being unable to stop Russ from testing them.
• Russ explained that he had been alone in the Warp for nearly seven thousand years and offered to help deal with the rift.
• Russ proposed taking a ship and men into the rift to kill the Daemons, arguing that the Primarchs should act decisively against Chaos, and the others agreed with his reasoning.

Fulgrim, Angron, Leman Russ, and Sanguinius prepared to lead their forces into battle, while a Khorne-controlled monster was ordered to kill them. Slaanesh reclaimed Fulgrim from Trazyn’s gallery and challenged Trazyn to capture him again, setting the stage for war.

• Fulgrim criticized Leman Russ’s plan, and Angron provoked him until Sanguinius quieted the argument and ordered the Guard to gather in the Lower Hangar.
• Fulgrim insisted that all sixty-three Emperor’s Children Scions would join the fight, and Leman Russ eagerly agreed to begin the assault.
• Khorne commanded a monstrous, corrupted warrior to kill the approaching Reborn, Foolish Wolf, Mirror Image, and angel, then summoned an army of daemons for war.
• Trazyn discovered that Fulgrim had vanished from his gallery and questioned Slaanesh about the theft.
• Slaanesh reclaimed Fulgrim, urged Trazyn to capture him again, and promised he could keep Fulgrim permanently if he succeeded.

Saul Tarvitz and the Emperor’s Children reconnoitered the Warp as Angron descended to face a massive demon in single combat. The demon revealed its painful past and fury at the Emperor, leaving Angron poised to continue their battle.

• Saul Tarvitz led the sixty-two remaining Emperor’s Children as they identified the demon and held position while awaiting Blood Angels reinforcements.
• Fulgrim ordered his sons to stay safe, while Angron decided to jump from the ship and confront the demon himself.
• Angron crashed into the demon’s formation, and the two began a fierce duel as Khorne declared it a battle no one could disturb.
• The demon taunted Angron as a counterfeit, describing The Pit on Nuceria and insisting Angron had never endured its suffering.
• Angron wounded the demon and reminded it of his promise to avenge Givadoron, Kharn, and Arianto.
• The demon blamed the Emperor for saving it from death and treating it and its siblings as disposable tools, then attacked with renewed hatred.

Angron defeated the daemon version of himself by exposing its dependence on Khorne and forcing it to recognize that it had become the god’s slave. After the Nucerian briefly regained control and helped Angron strike, Angron collapsed, leaving the battle’s outcome with Sanguinius and the Blood Angels still unresolved.

• Angron trapped the daemon with lightning, wounded it, and taunted it for accepting Khorne’s control instead of rebelling.
• The daemon drew power from its brass armor and the souls of its victims, overpowered Angron, and nearly killed him.
• Angron pointed out the daemon’s past cruelty toward the World Eaters, Theseus, and Mago, and the daemon’s Nucerian self regained control briefly.
• The Nucerian acknowledged Angron’s account and asked him to kill him, but the daemon’s hand stopped Angron’s axe before the Nucerian forced it to strike his own neck.
• Angron collapsed as the Blood Angels fought above The Pit, and he told the Nucerian that neither of them was a fake or a coward.

Sanguinius fought through Khorne’s forces and descended into The Pit to find Angron, while He Shenyan and the Emperor demanded Angron’s soul from Khorne under the terms of their wager. On the battlefield, Russ and Fulgrim helped secure victory, and Fulgrim began considering how the survivors could escape the Warp as a familiar musky scent reached him.

• Sanguinius destroyed Khorne’s heavy weapons from the air, then entered The Pit and pushed through the blood mist to search for Angron.
• Khorne revealed Angron’s shattered soul and claimed it, but He Shenyan insisted their wager meant Angron belonged to no one.
• The Emperor arrived in Khorne’s realm and demanded Angron’s soul, threatening war alongside He Shenyan if Khorne refused.
• Russ and Fulgrim killed the last Bloodletter lord and watched the Emperor’s Children’s artillery melt the charging Steel Bulls.
• Fulgrim arranged an ammunition resupply and considered how the force could leave the Warp, then caught a familiar musky scent.

Leman Russ and Fulgrim confronted demons that embodied their pasts and desires. Russ charged into battle against the first creature, while Fulgrim rejected his demon’s claim that they were alike and prepared to fight it to the death.

• Saul Tarvitz tried to reach Fulgrim, but Russ stopped him and told him to fall back as a cyan, faceless creature emerged from gray mist.
• Russ questioned the creature, then attacked it with Mjolnir, beginning their battle.
• Fulgrim faced a demonic version of himself, which claimed he desired it and shared its nature.
• Fulgrim struggled against the demon’s four swords and rejected its claim that killing it would satisfy his deepest desire.
• Fulgrim ignited his Psionic fire, cursed the demon, and declared that it deserved to die before advancing to end the fight.

Fulgrim confronted his Daemon self, exposing its yearning for Ferrus Manus’s love before stabbing it and inviting it to die with him. Russ killed his mysterious opponent, then met He Shenyan, who introduced himself as Sly Marbo.

• Fulgrim described the Daemon’s craving for love and perfection, prompting it to claim it loved the world and everyone who loved it.
• Fulgrim told the Daemon that Ferrus Manus would never love or acknowledge it, and that both of them were unworthy.
• The Daemon charged Fulgrim, who blocked its attack with a golden arm and stabbed it in the abdomen.
• Russ struggled against a faster monster until it became distracted by its inability to see the truth, allowing him to split its skull with Mjolnir.
• He Shenyan appeared before Russ, told him it was good he could not see the truth, and claimed his name was Sly Marbo.