Chapter Summaries

Tzeentch pondered the mysterious Well of Eternity, which had formed from the shattered essence of his Staff of Change and resisted his attempts to understand it. Hidden beyond his gaze, a human soul crossed through the well with a system that promised arrival in a world of elves, dwarves, orcs, and magic.

• The chapter described how the Sea of Souls became corrupted by the emotions of a galactic war and gave rise to the Chaos Gods, including Khorne and Tzeentch.
• Tzeentch recalled how the other Chaos Gods forced him to surrender power, leading him to shatter his Staff of Change and create the Well of Eternity.
• Tzeentch sent Lords of Change into the well to investigate, and the sole survivor returned mutated as Fateweaver Carlos, able to see the past and future.
• Tzeentch continued to ponder the well's secrets while a human soul drifted through a hidden void within it.
• The human soul asked its system whether the destination world had elves, dwarves, orcs, and magic, and the system confirmed that arrival was imminent.

Du Mu learned that the system had sent him to Warhammer 40K and tried to flee, so he bargained for help surviving there. The system agreed to stop uninstalling, split his memories to hide them from the Chaos Gods, and give him the Essence of Destruction, which Du Mu recognized as the Doom Slayer’s power.

• Du Mu discovered that the system had taken him to Warhammer 40K and despaired at the dangers awaiting him.
• The system began uninstalling itself, but Du Mu begged it to leave him something that could help him survive.
• The system halted the uninstall and explained that the Four Chaos Gods would sense Du Mu and seek the knowledge in his memories.
• The system said it would split Du Mu’s memories and leave him with a pure soul, then revealed a sphere of red energy called the Essence of Destruction.
• Du Mu recognized the Essence of Destruction as the Doom Slayer’s power and believed it could help him survive.

The system fused the Essence of Destruction with Du Mu’s soul, sealed away his memories, and sent him toward the Warhammer universe. Tzeentch caught the arriving red orb and was wounded by it, drawing the attention of the other Chaos Gods.

• The system explained its plan to fuse Doom Slayer’s essence with Du Mu’s soul, seal his memories, and leave him with knowledge to help him survive in the 40K universe.
• Du Mu thanked the system before falling asleep as the Essence of Destruction fused with his soul and formed a red orb.
• The red orb emerged from the Well of Eternity and struck Tzeentch’s hand, while Du Mu’s sealed memories drifted unnoticed into the Warp.
• Tzeentch’s wound caused Carlos’s Eye of the Past to burst, and Tzeentch discovered that the red orb absorbed Warp power and grew stronger.
• Khorne and Nurgle’s powers appeared at the borders of Tzeentch’s domain, with Nurgle mocking Tzeentch’s injury.

The Four Chaos Gods discovered that Du Mu’s red soul could absorb Warp energy without being tainted, and they placed it at the border of their domains to study it. Du Mu remained unaware as his soul continued to grow, and neither he nor the system knew that they had not yet arrived in 40K.

• Nurgle, Khorne, and Slaanesh gathered in Tzeentch’s domain and learned that the red soul had injured Tzeentch.
• Tzeentch released the soul, and the three gods were hurt when their wills touched it.
• The gods watched the soul absorb Warp energy and grow to the strength of a lesser daemon.
• Tzeentch proposed placing the soul where the four divine realms met, and the gods agreed.
• Khorne carried the soul to the border, where the gods stationed daemons to watch it.
• Du Mu remained unaware as his soul absorbed more Warp energy, while he and the system had still not arrived in 40K.

The chapter recounts the Aeldari Empire’s fall and Slaanesh’s birth, then follows a powerful human psyker entering the Warp to negotiate a new bargain with the Four Chaos Gods. The gods accept his terms, though Tzeentch proposes adding a condition.

• The Aeldari’s indulgence and corruption stirred the Warp, giving birth to Slaanesh, who devoured the Aeldari gods and shattered their empire.
• A golden human soul entered the Warp and called on the Four Chaos Gods to negotiate terms.
• A Greater Daemon of Khorne attacked the Golden Sun, but its body and axes were erased by his radiance.
• The Four Chaos Gods descended, and the human offered them a bargain combining his knowledge with theirs to create a powerful existence joining reality and the Warp.
• The Four Chaos Gods accepted the bargain, and Tzeentch proposed adding another condition.

The Four Chaos Gods agreed to revise their transaction with the Master of Mankind, planning to claim the mysterious soul once it gained humanity. After he signed the contract, the gods hunted Lesser Gods across the Warp and gathered twenty divinities for the trade.

• Tzeentch revealed his plan to exploit the soul's future humanity, and Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh agreed to the revised transaction.
• The Four Chaos Gods presented the contract to the Master of Mankind, who signed it with part of his essence before they departed to fulfill their side of the deal.
• The Four Chaos Gods swept through the Warp, forcing hidden Lesser Gods to flee and killing them to harvest their divinities.
• Tzeentch stopped Khorne from killing more Lesser Gods once enough had been gathered to meet the transaction's requirement.
• Khorne tossed in his share, and twenty pure divinities gathered before Tzeentch for the trade.

The Emperor collected twenty-one lesser divinities from Tzeentch and rejected the Chaos God’s invitation to join them. The chapter recounts humanity’s rise and collapse, then traces the Emperor’s ascent on Terra and ends with someone asking whether his venture into the Warp had succeeded.

• The Emperor took twenty-one lesser divinities from Tzeentch and declared that he would never stand alongside the Chaos Gods.
• Tzeentch recalled his daemonic legion and began plotting for the Dark King’s rise as the Great Game entered a new cycle.
• Humanity rose through technology and Warp travel, but the Iron Men rebelled and devastated human civilization before being defeated.
• After humanity’s empire fractured and Chaos spread across its worlds, the Emperor emerged on Terra and created the Thunder Warriors to unify the planet.
• The Emperor turned to the Warp for knowledge to prepare humanity’s reconquest of the galaxy, then returned to reality as a nearby voice asked whether he had succeeded.

The Emperor showed Malcador the twenty-one Lesser God godheads he had obtained through a pact with the Four Chaos Gods, including a mysterious red soul that had to be born in the material universe. With his allies gathered, he prepared to take the godheads to the laboratory and anchor them in reality as the first step of his plan to reunify humanity.

• The Emperor revealed the twenty-one godheads to Malcador and explained that the Four Chaos Gods had demanded the mysterious red soul be born in the material universe.
• Malcador prepared to destroy the red soul, but the Emperor stopped him because doing so would break their pact.
• The Emperor and Malcador left the sealed chamber, where Constantin Valdor and Erda greeted them.
• The Emperor showed Erda the fading godheads and ordered his servants to take them to the laboratory and anchor them in reality before they returned to the Warp.

The Emperor and Erda began creating the Primarchs in a hidden laboratory, combining Warp Lesser God souls with their genetic material through advanced technology and ritual. After preparing the incubation chambers and shielding them from the Chaos Gods, they infused the vessels with their blood and hopes for the Primarchs’ powers and human qualities.

• Valdor led the Emperor, Erda, and their companions to a secret underground laboratory, where Amar Astarte presented the Emperor with confirmation that preparations were complete.
• The Emperor dismissed the laboratory staff, then joined Erda in approaching the incubation chambers to begin the Primarch project.
• The Emperor placed the Warp Lesser God souls in the chambers and used psychic runes to anchor their power in reality and transform the machines into living vessels.
• The Emperor raised a psychic barrier to hide the laboratory from the Four Chaos Gods, while Erda and the Emperor contributed their genetic material.
• The Emperor mixed his blood with Erda’s genetic material and the Lesser God souls, imbuing the Primarchs with his hopes and human traits.

The Emperor and Erda created twenty-two Primarchs, and Erda felt an immediate maternal bond with them. After Chaos planted a vision of the Emperor abusing the Primarchs in her mind, Erda rejected the prophecy but began to wonder how he would treat their children.

• The Emperor gave the final red soul freedom, then completed the ritual that formed twenty-two Primarchs from his and Erda's genetic material, Warp power, and divine essence.
• Erda endured the extraction of her genetic factors and felt a powerful bond with the fetuses, while the Emperor and Malcador discussed using their Gene-seed to create superhuman soldiers.
• The Emperor, Erda, and Malcador left the sealed laboratory and appeared before Terra's gathered officials and soldiers; Erda then left to rest.
• A wisp of Chaos power entered Erda's weakened soul as she departed from the Emperor's protection, briefly leaving her dizzy and cold.
• In her study, Erda recalled a vision of the Emperor enslaving and discarding the Primarchs; she dismissed it as a Chaos scheme but questioned how he would treat their children.

Tormented by Warp visions of the Emperor betraying the Primarchs, Erda went to the laboratory and watched them suffer during Gene-seed extraction, becoming convinced she had to free them from the Emperor. Tzeentch celebrated her growing distrust and turned his attention to Primarch Twenty-One, anticipating the changes to fate.

• Warp visions convinced Erda that the Emperor would enslave the Primarchs and later turn against them, and she resolved to make them leave him.
• After days of nightmares, Erda went to the laboratory to discover whether her visions were true.
• Valdor led Erda into the laboratory, where the Emperor prepared to extract genetic material from the infant Primarchs.
• The Emperor restrained the struggling Primarchs with psychic chains while Valdor operated the extraction machine, and Erda interpreted the scene through the Warp's suggestions as proof of future malice.
• Erda decided to free the Primarchs from the Emperor, and Tzeentch rejoiced at having altered the course of fate.
• Tzeentch watched Primarch Twenty-One sleeping in his tank and wondered what surprise he would bring.

Erda concealed her growing hatred and left the laboratory under Custodes surveillance, while the Emperor examined the untainted genetic material of the Twenty-First Primarch. The Emperor oversaw plans to cultivate Primarch-based Gene-seeds and named the future augmented warriors Angels of Death, leaving open the possibility of later naming them Astartes.

• Erda hid her intentions from Malcador, apologized, and left the laboratory escorted by two Custodes, whom Malcador secretly ordered to keep watching her.
• The Emperor examined the Twenty-First Primarch's genetic material and found that it contained Warp essence without showing signs of Warp corruption.
• Malcador questioned whether the genetic material was safe and stable, and the Emperor admitted he did not know what it might contain.
• The Emperor, Malcador, and Valdor visited a vast Gene-seed cultivation chamber, where scientists began developing artificial organs from Primarch genetic information.
• Valdor suggested calling the new warriors Star Crusade, but the Emperor named them Angels of Death and considered Astartes as a possible later name.

Erda killed herself to restore her strength, then returned from rebirth and left the Emperor’s domain with two Custodes to reach her private base. There, Achilles began carrying a box containing the things she needed.

• Erda dismissed her maids, stabbed herself with a hidden dagger, and died to trigger her regeneration.
• The Custodes detected the smell of blood and rushed to Erda’s room, where she appeared alive and fully recovered.
• Erda changed into Dark Age of Technology combat gear and asked the Custodes to escort her on a trip.
• Achilles and Claudius Ptolemy accompanied Erda by hoverbike to her secret underground base on Terra.
• At the base, Achilles stepped ahead of Erda and lifted a box she needed.

Erda used an ancient Bible as a decoy to retrieve a Dark Age brooch, a Golden Ring, and a dagger, then went to the Emperor’s laboratory with a hidden plan. When Malcador’s guards blocked her entry, she activated the Ring’s temporal weapon and trapped the Custodes in a slowing field.

• Erda presented the Bible to Achilles and Ptolemy, concealing her interest in the rose brooch on its cover.
• After the three left, Erda retrieved the brooch, used it to open a dimensional rift, and took out a dagger and Golden Ring.
• Erda equipped the relics and went to the Emperor’s laboratory, where a Thunder Warrior barred her way under Malcador’s orders.
• Achilles, Ptolemy, and another Custodes pinned Erda with their halberds when she challenged them.
• Erda activated the Golden Ring, creating a temporal field that slowed the Custodes and trapped everything within thirty meters.

Erda used a temporal weapon and summoned Iron Men and Extermination Automata to break into the laboratory, betraying the Emperor and killing or crippling the defenders. One Iron Man fought the Custodes while another escorted Erda onward, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Erda activated the Golden Ring’s time field, immobilizing Achilles and slowing the Custodes as mortal troops bombarded the field.
• Erda signaled with her Rose Brooch, summoning two Iron Men and Extermination Automata, then ordered them to destroy the defenders and clear her way to the laboratory.
• Achilles accused Erda of betraying the Emperor, but the Iron Men and Extermination Automata killed Achilles, Ptolemy, and other defenders.
• Erda expanded the unstable time field, inflicting temporal distortions on mortal soldiers and Thunder Warriors, then hurried toward the laboratory under Iron Man protection.
• The Extermination Automata and a second Iron Man attacked the remaining Custodes, while one Custodian charged an Iron Man and it argued that humanity had begun the betrayal.

Erda destroyed the Emperor’s psychic barrier in the Imperial laboratory, sending the Primarchs’ incubation chambers into the Warp despite the Emperor’s attempt to stop her. The Emperor was left grieving, and Erda collapsed after making the choice with her own will.

• An Iron Man used a gravity weapon to kill a Custodes as the Extermination Automata slaughtered the defenders.
• Erda reached the incubation chambers, while an Iron Man warned her that a powerful psyker was approaching.
• Erda hesitated under the conflicting voices of the Warp, then regained her reason and chose to free the Primarchs.
• Erda drove the Emperor-infused dagger into the psychic barrier and whispered, “Freedom.”
• The Emperor arrived and tried to restore the barrier, but the Chaos Gods suppressed his power as a Warp storm carried the incubation chambers away.
• Erda collapsed as the Emperor watched the vanished chambers and heard the gods’ laughter.

Erda’s decision to scatter the Primarchs left Malcador grieving while the Emperor fought the Four Chaos Gods in the Warp to keep them from claiming his sons. After the Incubation Pods were scattered across the galaxy, the Emperor sensed that one Primarch was on Terra and hurried to find him.

• Malcador rebuked Erda for betraying the Emperor and warned that the gods would use her as a discarded pawn, but he let her leave.
• The Four Chaos Gods fought over the Incubation Pods, and the Emperor scattered them deeper into the Warp to thwart their plans.
• The gods each sent favored Pods toward prepared worlds, while the Emperor used their contract to restrain them and ensure the Pods escaped the Warp.
• The Emperor returned to the laboratory and sensed that all his lost sons were alive, with one close by on Terra.
• The Emperor and Malcador set out to find the Primarch on Terra, while the Emperor ordered the new genetically enhanced warriors into mass production.

As Guardian Domain faced imminent defeat after a three-year siege by the Greenskin Orks, King Norwick and High Priest Isaac prepared for a final battle while hoping for a miracle. Norwick joined his dwindling Night Watchers, and Primarch Twenty-First was falling toward Nul.

• Primarch Twenty-First emerged from the Warp near an unknown star system and fell toward the planet Nul.
• Greenskin Orks overwhelmed Nul’s settlements, and their Warboss used increasingly effective tactics to drive humanity into Guardian Domain.
• King Norwick and High Priest Isaac acknowledged that Guardian Domain was nearly lost, while Isaac insisted a savior would come and Norwick pointed to the Ring of Nul as humanity’s only possible miracle.
• King Norwick learned from Xilan that fewer than twenty thousand Night Watchers could still fight and ordered equipment so he could join them.

The Night Watchers and King Norwick led a desperate charge against the overwhelming Greenskin army outside Guardian Domain. As they were being overrun, a blazing object fell from the sky into the Ork ranks, leaving the battlefield shattered and the humans stunned.

• The Night Watchers marched out of Guardian Domain, and King Norwick led them in a charge against the Greenskins while the city’s youths and weapons fired from the walls.
• The Greenskin boss ordered his army to overwhelm the humans, and the Night Watchers fought until fatigue and the Orks’ numbers broke their formation.
• High Priest Isaac saw the prophesied arrival of the Child of the Gods and told the Night Watchers that their savior had descended from beyond the heavens.
• A fireball struck the Ork army near the Greenskin boss’s throne, unleashing a tremendous explosion and scattering the Orks.
• The Night Watchers and High Priest Isaac braced against the blast, then King Norwick and the others struggled to rise as the dust cleared and they saw the battlefield’s aftermath.

After the Orks were defeated, King Norwick claimed the mysterious infant, named him Doom, and declared him a prince destined to unite Nul. High Priest Isaac failed to take the child and withdrew, leaving the warrior and priestly classes on a path toward further conflict.

• King Norwick wrapped the infant in his cloak and resisted his instinctive fear, while the baby gripped him and then fell asleep.
• King Norwick named the child Doom, and the Night Watchers hailed him as the Doom Slayer as the Orks fled and turned on one another.
• High Priest Isaac demanded that King Norwick hand over the infant, but Norwick invoked Guardian Domain's law and offered him a duel instead.
• Isaac withdrew and left with his priests, while King Norwick rejected Xilan's suggestion to kill him because the priestly class remained part of humanity.
• King Norwick told Xilan that Doom would unite Nul and ascend the throne, and the Night Watchers swore loyalty before Norwick proclaimed Doom a prince.