Recaps

Leman Russ and Magnus arrived in Siracusa with Rhodes Island Operators and learned that Red was looking for her grandmother in the wilderness. Their thoughts turned to Red’s brutal upbringing and the Imperium’s Schola Progenium as they began investigating Siracusa for the Warhammer universe’s expansion.

• The Primarchs took control of Terra’s nations, and the chapter described Siracusa as a country ruled by twelve powerful mafia families rather than its ineffective government.
• Leman Russ asked Red whether her grandmother was nearby after the group landed in Siracusa’s wilderness, and Red said her grandmother was there.
• The chapter recounted how Red’s childhood training had left her with weak language skills and made her a powerful killer.
• Magnus and Leman Russ compared Red’s upbringing to the harsh treatment of orphans in the Schola Progenium.
• Leman Russ disliked Red’s codename and imagined giving her a more intimidating name based on her combat record.

Magnus and Leman Russ discussed Red’s past and intervened when Lappland tried to provoke her into a fight. Magnus then outlined a plan to attack the Twelve Families’ businesses, leaving Provence asking what they would do afterward.

• Magnus and Leman Russ reflected on Red’s transformation and privately criticized her grandmother’s leadership.
• Lappland teased Red by offering her tail only if Red could defeat her, but Leman Russ stopped the confrontation.
• Magnus explained that they would smash the Twelve Families’ businesses and beat their loyal gang members.
• Lappland welcomed the chance for violence, and Provence asked what would happen after the attacks.

Little Tommy struggled to feed and protect his sister in the impoverished new city of Vrasas, where gangsters began demanding protection fees. After their shelter was destroyed, the siblings found refuge near a stray dog, but several Lupo confronted them for refusing to pay.

• Little Tommy bought two pieces of black bread and water with his construction wages and brought them to his hungry sister.
• Tommy's sister told him that strangers had demanded protection fees and threatened to drive them from Vrasas.
• Tommy comforted his sister and suggested she stay near a yellow dog he had once saved.
• The next evening, Tommy found their shelter smashed and went with his sister to an abandoned construction site where the yellow dog lived.
• Several Lupo emerged from the darkness and accused Tommy and his sister of disrespecting Siracusa's traditions by refusing to pay protection fees.

Tommy killed the thugs who attacked him and his sister after their yellow dog was slain, then left Vrasas with the dog’s body. Meanwhile, Leman Russ and Magnus sensed the Warp’s corruption spreading through Siracusa and continued their separate missions.

• A group of thugs cornered Tommy and his sister, and the yellow dog attacked them to protect the siblings.
• The thugs killed the yellow dog, triggering Tommy’s sudden surge of murderous strength as he fought back with two loaves of bread and killed them.
• Tommy comforted his sister, took money from the dead thugs, and carried the yellow dog’s body into Vrasas’s darkness.
• Leman Russ sensed corrupted thoughts spreading through Siracusa and discussed the rapidly evolving Warp with Magnus through psychic communication.
• Red told Leman Russ that she did not know what her grandmother looked like, and he stroked her head.
• Magnus led the operators into a mobile city controlled by mafia families, where Lappland kicked open a tavern door and demanded its best liquor.

Lappland and Magnus attacked a Family tavern in Siracusa, killing and injuring its enforcers before Magnus confronted their foreman. The chapter ended with Felod questioning the few survivors, who identified a caster as the attacker.

• Lappland fought the guards at the tavern, and the bartender summoned Family enforcers with an alarm.
• Magnus gave Lappland her hidden blade, and she killed or wounded the enforcers while he stopped and returned their crossbow bolts.
• The foreman asked Magnus which Family had sent them, and Magnus declared they intended to humiliate more than one Family before unleashing a dazzling light.
• Felod arrived at the sealed-off tavern and found Anjiesi's mangled corpse and the remains of the other enforcers.
• Felod questioned the surviving enforcers, who screamed that a caster had killed many people.

Felod sent Infected attackers to wear down Magnus, but Magnus and the Rhodes Island operators stayed inside the bar and refused to yield. As the assault began, Magnus turned the rushing attackers to ash, while Felod watched from afar.

• Felod ordered his men to gather Infected seeking entry to the city and promised them residency permits if they helped capture the caster in the bar.
• Magnus sampled the bar’s liquor while Lappland teased Angelina about Siracusa’s brutality and Provence worried about the operators outside.
• Magnus explained that staying in the bar would undermine the family’s prestige, and he dismissed Provence’s concerns about Russ and Red surviving in the wilderness.
• When Magnus heard the approaching attackers, he told Angelina that killing was the quickest way to stop future violence.
• At Felod’s order, Infected rushed toward the bar, and Magnus turned them to ash before they reached the steps.

The chapter mostly announced that the Arknights side story would be paused while the author worked on simpler material, then recounted Ciaphas Cain’s service and memoirs. Cain and his regiment had survived battles on Desolatia and later helped suppress Genestealer infiltrators on Kephia.

• The author announced that Arknights updates would slow down and that no side story would be posted that night.
• The Ordo Hereticus sealed Cain’s memoirs, and Amberley Vail edited and preserved them despite noting his talent for lying and agitation.
• Cain served with Valhallan aide Ferik Jurgen and General Janette Sura, after joining the 12th Valhallan Field Artillery Regiment in 919.M41.
• Cain led the regiment against Orks and a Zerg fleet on Desolatia until an Imperial fleet arrived.
• On Kephia, Cain helped local enforcers capture Genestealer infiltrators and defend their headquarters.

Three Space Wolves fell through a strange flash from a barren planet into a forested world, where they discovered fleeing citizens of the Slane Theocracy being hunted by undead. Meanwhile, Anz learned that a squad of Death Knights had vanished and summoned Nazarick’s Guardians to discuss it.

• Captain Anke, Dovell, and Rod lamented the barren planet they had conquered before the ground collapsed beneath them and a strange light engulfed them.
• Anz reflected on the Sorcerer Kingdom’s growing power and expected the Slane Theocracy to fall within three weeks, until he sensed a squad of Death Knights vanish.
• The three Space Wolves awoke in a vast forest, found their communicator useless, and prepared to investigate the unfamiliar world.
• Dovell spotted activity in the distance, and Captain Anke led his brothers toward it with their limited weapons ready.
• The Space Wolves found Slane Theocracy citizens fleeing Death Knights, which killed the exhausted and raised their corpses under Elder Liches’ control.

Captain Anke, Rod, and Dovell rescued Slane Theocracy survivors by destroying the Death Knights pursuing them, then learned they had arrived in a strange world. They sent a distress-signaling communicator through a narrow rift and continued toward the Holy Kingdom, unaware that Ainz was watching them.

• Harlan stopped running and was killed by a Death Knight, leaving Ham helpless beside his brother’s body.
• Captain Anke killed the Death Knight with his bolt pistol, and he, Rod, and Dovell swiftly destroyed the other three.
• Captain Anke questioned Ham and the survivors, learned about their world and the threat of the Xenos King, and decided to accompany them toward the Holy Kingdom.
• The Space Wolves discovered a narrow rift where they had first appeared, and Rod sent a distress-signaling communicator through it.
• Ainz watched the Space Wolves and wondered who they were.

Ainz suspected the three Space Wolves were a hidden Yggdrasil Easter egg and sent an Elder Lich and fifteen Death Knights to test them. The Wolves lured the pursuing undead into a grenade trap and launched an ambush, with Captain Anke charging the Elder Lich.

• Ainz watched the Space Wolves through a mirror and ordered an Elder Lich to pursue them with the remaining Death Knights.
• Captain Anke sent the refugees fleeing ahead while he, Rod, and Dovell prepared to face the approaching undead.
• The Elder Lich sent a Death Knight to investigate the Wolves’ trail, and the knight triggered a hidden fragmentation grenade that destroyed him.
• The three Wolves sprang from concealed pits and attacked the undead, with Captain Anke charging forward with his bolt pistol and chainsword.

Captain Anke and the Space Wolves defeated the Death Knights, but Ainz sent Albedo and Cocytus to capture them after Pandora's Actor tried to invite them to Nazarick. Elsewhere, Colonel Dofrank's regiment found the Space Wolves' communicator and a glowing fissure, then sent a reconnaissance team inside.

• Captain Anke, Rod, and Dovell killed the Death Knights and their Necromancer in seconds.
• Ainz, excited by the Space Wolves' strength, ordered Cocytus, Albedo, and Pandora's Actor to confront them.
• Dovell and Rod attacked the Guardians while Captain Anke tried to retreat, but Albedo and Cocytus incapacitated the Space Wolves and took them to the Great Tomb.
• Colonel Dofrank's regiment found a glowing fissure and a communicator marked with the Space Wolves Chapter insignia.
• Dofrank ordered the area sealed and a reconnaissance team sent into the fissure, and two hundred men entered it five hours later.

Ainz investigated the captured knights’ mysterious origins while Captain Rocky led a reconnaissance force through the rift. The soldiers secured the rift and began exploring the forest, leaving the Space Wolves’ fate unresolved.

• Ainz learned from Albedo that Shizu had been unable to dismantle the knights’ armor or weapons, and he continued wondering where they came from.
• Captain Rocky led two hundred soldiers through the rift, and a technical specialist confirmed that the forest’s environment was safe.
• Captain Rocky ordered Colonel Dofrank’s forces to study and guard the rift while a squad searched for the missing Space Wolves.
• Adjutant Hais led ten soldiers into the forest and reflected on the horrors he had survived during the Great Crusade.

Lieutenant Hais and his soldiers discovered an undead village and fought Cocytus, who killed most of them and offered Hais a chance to surrender. Hais pretended to accept, then detonated an explosive against Cocytus while declaring his Emperor greater.

• Hais and his soldiers found skeletons working in a village and were spotted by a Death Knight.
• Hais and three soldiers used mines and Volkite Guns to destroy pursuing Death Knights.
• Cocytus confronted the soldiers, killed three of them, and offered Hais a chance to serve Ainz.
• Hais feigned surrender, triggered an explosive, and taunted Cocytus about his Emperor.

Ainz tended to Cocytus’s grave injuries while weighing how to respond to the Imperium of Man and its powerful weapons. When Demiurge claimed to understand Ainz’s intentions, Ainz ordered him to explain the supposed plan to the other guardians.

• Cocytus apologized to Ainz for failing to capture prisoners and losing Death Knights, and asked to be punished.
• Ainz examined Cocytus’s wounds and felt anger toward the Imperium of Man, while Demiurge and Albedo discussed the attackers and a mysterious portal.
• Albedo proposed killing the attackers, and Shalltear asked to lead the force, but Ainz hesitated over the enemy’s weapons and the possibility of a trap.
• Demiurge declared that he understood Ainz’s arrangements, and Ainz ordered him to explain the plan to the guardians.

Captain Rocky’s small Imperial force defended the rift against waves of undead but was overwhelmed and killed. Ainz ordered the area fortified for further study, while Colonel Dofrank vowed revenge and requested armored reinforcements.

• Captain Rocky prepared the defenses after Hais and nearly the entire reconnaissance squad were killed by an ice worm.
• Ainz and the Guardians watched as Captain Rocky’s soldiers destroyed thousands of skeletons, then Demiurge sent faster undead and Death Knights against them.
• Captain Rocky and his soldiers were overwhelmed by the undead, and Captain Rocky died after fighting with one arm.
• Ainz ordered Demiurge, Cocytus, and Mare to secure the rift and build a fortress while he and Albedo returned to gather resources.
• Colonel Dofrank watched the Imperial soldiers die, vowed revenge, and ordered continued reinforcement requests, including for an armored regiment.

Colonel Dofrank received reinforcements and learned that expanding the portal might require sending more people through it, risking heavy casualties. He agreed to test the enemy’s anti-armor capabilities by sending Leman Russ tanks through first, with infantry following.

• Magos Ohm's technical recovery team and Colonel Leithris's armored company arrived to reinforce Colonel Dofrank.
• Colonel Leithris said his company needed five days to rest and repair its tanks before combat.
• Magos Ohm's team found that the portal could not be expanded by altering its energy supply or surroundings.
• Magos Ohm theorized that sending larger groups through the portal would expand it, potentially at the cost of thousands of lives.
• Colonel Leithris condemned the proposal and suggested sending tanks through first, and Dofrank agreed to test the enemy's anti-armor capabilities.

Mare and Demiurge prepared Nazarick’s defenses around the portal, while Demiurge concealed a lethal underground trap and waited for the enemy. The Imperium’s Leman Russ tanks and soldiers emerged, shrugging off magic and destroying a Death Knight as Ainz watched from the rear to assess the Imperium’s strength.

• Mare built thick walls around the portal while Aura questioned Demiurge about Nazarick’s defensive plan.
• Demiurge explained the walls’ anti-divination treasures and decoy defenses, while hiding the deeper trap and world-class item beneath them.
• When the portal flickered, Demiurge ordered the undead to prepare and considered what he had learned about the Imperium of Man and the Yad 227th Regiment.
• Leman Russ tanks emerged from the portal and endured the Death Wizards’ fireballs with almost no damage.
• A Leman Russ tank fired a high-explosive shell that blasted a charging Death Knight apart as more tanks and Imperial soldiers advanced.
• Demiurge committed his forces against the Imperium’s troops while Ainz watched from the Golden Throne to gauge their strength.

Ainz watched Demiurge’s forces struggle against the Imperium’s Leman Russ tanks and reflected on Nazarick’s hidden military strength. Mare’s lightning spell temporarily disabled the tanks, but their crews began repairing them with incense and prepared to resume fighting.

• Ainz considered Nazarick’s thousands of undead, high-level beasts, and secret defenses while observing the battle.
• Demiurge asked Mare to test the Imperium army’s resistance to high-tier magic as the tanks advanced toward the city walls.
• Mare struck the four Leman Russ tanks with Heavenly Thunder, bringing them to a halt and relieving Ainz.
• The tank crews reported that the lightning had killed no one and began using a Mechanicus censer to restore their machines.

Mare and Demiurge fought the Imperium’s forces, using vines, defensive magic, and a repeatedly resurrecting phoenix as the soldiers breached their walls and bombarded their positions. After Ainz ordered them to end the engagement, Demiurge destroyed the tanks, but Ragnar and the Space Wolves emerged through a portal and attacked him.

• Mare sent massive vines against the Imperium soldiers while Leman Russ tanks and infantry fought back.
• An Imperium officer used the tanks’ breaching shells to open the earth-and-stone wall, then directed mortar fire at the detected spellcasters.
• Demiurge blocked the first mortar volley with Hell’s Wall, and Ainz ordered him to end the engagement.
• Mare unleashed a phoenix that repeatedly revived before crashing into the soldiers, while Demiurge flew to destroy four tanks.
• Ragnar led Space Wolves through a portal, declared Demiurge’s death, and lunged at him with his power axe.

As Imperial forces faltered against Nazarick’s guardians, Captain Ragnar and the Space Wolves arrived at the portal and learned that the missing 447th Reconnaissance Company had likely entered the world beyond it. Ragnar led a hundred Space Marines through the gate to confront the enemy, leaving the battle poised to shift.

• Colonel Dofrank ordered Colonel Leithris to send more troops and vehicles through the portal despite the disastrous losses.
• Captain Ragnar arrived with the Space Wolves and asked Colonel Dofrank what was happening at the portal.
• Colonel Dofrank and Priest Ohm explained that the missing reconnaissance company might have vanished into the world beyond the gate and that the Imperials’ attack was failing.
• Ragnar sent an encrypted report to Primarch Leman Russ, then led a hundred Space Marines through the portal.
• Ragnar emerged before Demiurge, raised his power axe, and roared that the xenos’ end had come.

Ragnar and the Space Wolves battled Demiurge and the undead legion, and Ragnar killed Demiurge with his power axe. Ainz was left shocked by the weapon as Leman Russ learned of a portal in the sub-sector.

• Ragnar rallied the Imperial soldiers and led a battle company of Space Wolves onto the battlefield, alarming Demiurge and Ainz.
• Ainz claimed he had prepared a magical trap beneath the portal, while the Space Wolves cut through the undead legion with bolters, flames, plasma, grenades, and melta weapons.
• Demiurge attacked Ragnar with Hellfire Wall, but Ragnar's power axe cut through the flames and resisted Demiurge's command to stop.
• Demiurge enlarged his fist and struck at Ragnar, but Ragnar's disintegration field turned the fist to dust before he killed Demiurge with an upward axe swing.
• Mare, Aura, and Ainz watched in shock as Demiurge fell, while Leman Russ heard that a portal had appeared in the sub-sector.

After Ragnar killed Demiurge with a devastating power axe, Ainz reassessed the Space Marines and mobilized Nazarick’s forces to stop their advance. Mare and Aura remained under heavy attack near the teleportation gate as the Space Wolves pushed through their defenses.

• Ragnar killed Demiurge with his power axe, leaving Ainz stunned by the weapon’s destructive power.
• Ainz ordered Pandora’s Actor to aid Mare and Aura, sent Albedo and Sebas with him, and took Shalltear to the front line.
• Ainz directed Cocytus and the maids to defend Nazarick, and ordered the Tomb to prepare its defenses and activate Gargantua if needed.
• The Space Wolves slaughtered Nazarick’s undead and repeatedly killed Mare’s phoenix, draining his mana.
• Aura joined Mare with her magical beasts and sent the Thorn Dragon to attack, but Ragnar and his battle-brothers forced their way through the incoming spikes.

Aura’s beasts and Ragnar’s Space Wolves suffered heavy losses as the battle escalated, and Albedo and Sebas joined the fight against Ragnar. With Mare weakening, Ainz decided to cast Fallen Down to clear the enemies near the portal.

• Aura petrified the Space Wolves, but Ragnar broke free, killed Ander, and cut down the Eyeless Tyrant before striking Aura with his thrown power axe.
• Albedo, Sebas, and Pandora’s Actor arrived to aid Aura, and Albedo attacked Ragnar while Pandora’s Actor ordered the Guardians to kill the Space Wolves.
• Ragnar used a grenade to force Albedo back, but Sebas struck through a gap in his armor and wounded him.
• The beasts and Pandora’s Actor’s forces killed many Space Wolves, who fought to their final breaths.
• Shalltear warned Ainz that Mare was losing the ability to draw the heavy weapons’ fire, so Ainz prepared to cast Fallen Down near the portal.

Ainz used Fallen Down against the Space Wolves while Albedo, Sebas, and Mare continued fighting Ragnar. The blast devastated the battlefield, and Mare’s vines left Ragnar immobilized as Albedo and Sebas prepared to finish him.

• Ainz prepared his hourglass and countermeasure sticks, then told Shalltear to guard him as Ragnar fought Albedo and Sebas.
• After the phoenix disintegrated, Ainz used the hourglass to hasten Fallen Down and unleashed the spell on the Space Wolves near the portal.
• The Space Wolves fled, but the descending light burned them and destroyed corpses, weapons, and undead across the battlefield.
• Ragnar watched his brothers die in the blast and charged Albedo, who mocked his fury while Sebas prepared to strike.
• Mare broke Ragnar’s leg with a staff and bound him in vines, surprising Albedo and Sebas.

Mare nearly killed Ragnar after Ragnar wounded his sister, but Albedo stopped him so Ainz could interrogate the prisoner. On the Imperium’s side, Leman Russ arrived, learned how the portal worked, and examined it after the destruction of the expeditionary force.

• Mare, enraged over his sister’s injuries, attacked Ragnar with his staff until Albedo intervened and kept him alive for interrogation.
• Pandora’s Actor relayed Ainz’s orders to imprison Ragnar and establish a more distant defensive line with magical traps and Gargantua.
• Colonels Dofrank and Leithris discussed the annihilation of their forces, while Priest Ohm reported that the Space Wolves’ deaths had expanded the portal.
• Leman Russ appeared at the command center and demanded a detailed account of the situation.
• Leman Russ inspected the portal and asked Priest Ohm whether people could pass through it in either direction.