Chapter Summaries

Abaddon saw a disastrous version of the battle and agreed to let Carlos use a soul for the ritual, while the real battlefield remained chaotic but less dire. Carlos extracted Izara’s soul from the Vengeful Spirit’s memory core and sealed it with an ancient parchment in an envelope that vanished.

• Abaddon watched the Dark Mechanicum fleet pass the Mountain Array, then saw the Orks attack and the Iron Warriors turn on one another as the Planet Killer broke apart.
• The narration revealed that Tzeentch’s daemons had shown Abaddon fragments of truth to manipulate him, while the Mountain Array fired on all ships and the Iron Warriors were divided by civil war.
• Carlos urged Abaddon to provide one soul for the ritual, and Abaddon agreed after persuading himself that Khayon would accept the sacrifice.
• Carlos reached Izara’s tank in the Vengeful Spirit, evaded her automated turrets, and told her it was time to collect payment.
• Carlos extracted Izara’s soul, sealed it with an ancient piece of parchment in an envelope, and made the envelope disappear.

Carlos used the Observer’s historical fragment to transform the Vengeful Spirit into its horrifying Warp form, trapping Abaddon and his forces inside. He broke Abaddon’s reason with taunts and a revelation about Drach’nyen, then hurled him out of the ship as he set out to drive him further into madness.

• Carlos revealed the Vengeful Spirit’s true Warp form, and the living ship spread terror across the battlefield.
• Abaddon realized Carlos had deceived him, called for Izara, and ordered his warriors to retreat toward the escape pods.
• Monsters overwhelmed Abaddon’s forces as he watched his warriors die, and Carlos named him the Great Failure.
• Abaddon charged at Carlos, but Carlos pinned him with psychic power and mocked him while his subordinates were devoured.
• Carlos claimed the Emperor had guided Abaddon to Drach’nyen because Abaddon’s destined failure delayed the Imperium’s destruction.
• Carlos sent Abaddon flying out of the Vengeful Spirit, intent on driving him further into madness.

Carlos used the Emperor’s tear to weaken Drach'nyen’s seal, but the sword broke into fragments and escaped into the Warp. Lin Fan hunted the fragments through warped battlefields and a sea of filth, while the hilt remained in the grasp of a mysterious yellow-green presence.

• Carlos fired the Emperor’s tear at Drach'nyen, and its psychic energy began stripping away the sword’s seal.
• Lin Fan swallowed Drach'nyen, but the sword split into fragments that scattered through the Warp.
• Lin Fan fought the Cadia dead transformed into armies, defeated a Warlord Titan, and devoured the largest sword fragment.
• Lin Fan recovered more than a dozen blade fragments while chasing them through bizarre Warp spaces.
• Lin Fan sank into a sea of filth while pursuing the golden hilt, which a yellow-green presence picked up from the earth.

Mortarion redirected the Death Guard toward Cadia after a dream revealed that Jaghatai Khan had returned. The chapter described the Legion’s vast forces, its conflicts with the Purifiers, and its grotesque farming practices for cultivating new warriors, leaving the Death Guard advancing toward the battle near the Eye of Terror.

• Nurgle gave Mortarion a sword hilt fitted into a withering flower bud as Mortarion prepared to lead the Death Guard toward the Eye of Terror.
• Mortarion dreamed that Jaghatai Khan had returned and changed his destination to Cadia.
• The chapter detailed the Death Guard’s seven Plague Companies, its 77,777 Space Marines, and Mortarion’s wish to expand the Legion to seven million.
• The Purifiers pursued mass extinction and repeatedly clashed with the Death Guard over their opposing visions for plague-ravaged worlds.
• As Nurgle’s power grew, the Death Guard expanded through fertile swamps and used grotesque agricultural methods to cultivate new warriors.

Mortarion rejected the daemon sword Drach'nyen, which Nurgle had sent him as a gift, and hung it on a wall aboard the Endurance. Meanwhile, Nurgle discovered Lin Fan in his broth and revealed his colossal true form to him.

• The Death Guard celebrated a newly transformed Space Marine as one of their own, while their growing numbers made Mortarion's ambition to raise millions of warriors seem possible.
• Mortarion received Drach'nyen from Nurgle, disliked its appearance and voice, and hung the sword hilt on the wall after failing to refurbish it.
• Nurgle noticed that his broth tasted too fresh, added dead skin and other substances, and stirred it before tasting a spoonful.
• Nurgle spotted Lin Fan in the ladle and called to him, while Lin Fan tried to locate the voice amid the Warp's filthy landscape.
• Lin Fan climbed onto Nurgle's finger and marveled at the god's immense true body, comparing it with the forms of the other gods he had encountered.

Lin Fan used pure old soup to cleanse Nurgle’s plague beasts and the land on his finger while Nurgle continued making soup. Nurgle noticed the spreading healthy growth and found Lin Fan standing inside a flower on his hand.

• Lin Fan vomited pure old soup onto Nurgle’s corrupted land, restoring patches of it and producing a refreshing fragrance.
• Nurgle spotted Lin Fan and sent hundreds of Beasts of Nurgle to attack him.
• Lin Fan fed the Beasts of Nurgle old soup, transforming them into clean pill bugs.
• Lin Fan ordered the pill bugs to restore the surrounding environment and spread plants across Nurgle’s finger.
• Nurgle noticed the healthy bugs and plants spreading across his hand, then saw Lin Fan emerge from a blooming flower.

Lin Fan faced Nurgle in his domain and weighed three ways to fight him, wary that the most certain method could erase souls on a vast scale. With The Emperor unable to help, Lin Fan purified a Great Unclean One and sent it into battle while searching for another solution.

• Nurgle questioned Lin Fan about the missing bone that held part of his power, while Lin Fan tried to locate him.
• Lin Fan considered devouring Nurgle's filth, using Old Tang to purify his daemons, or creating a pure-white subjective image, but feared the cost of the third method.
• Nurgle blamed Lin Fan and The Emperor, then intensified his assault on the Golden Throne and sent daemons toward Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan vomited Old Tang into the flower to strengthen it and control attacking daemons with its pollen.
• The Emperor told Lin Fan he could not help because The Deceiver was watching him, so Lin Fan purified a Great Unclean One and ordered it into battle.
• A jade-green crystalline tear floated before Lin Fan as he searched for a way to overcome Nurgle.

Lin Fan followed a tear through Nurgle’s domain to find Isha, who asked him to help her escape. After hearing that reinforcements were coming, Lin Fan broke the thorny shackle binding her ankle, and the injury began to darken.

• Lin Fan followed the tear’s guidance through Nurgle’s domain and reached Isha’s garden.
• Isha emerged from her tower, visibly afflicted by Nurgle’s plagues, and asked Lin Fan to take her out of the Garden of Nurgle.
• Lin Fan hesitated to break Isha’s shackle because it might alert Nurgle, while Isha said she had recovered much of her strength.
• The Emperor told Lin Fan that reinforcements would arrive soon.
• Lin Fan twisted apart Isha’s thorny shackle, piercing her ankle and causing her blood and wounds to darken.

Lin Fan freed Isha from her thorn shackles, and she prepared to leave Nurgle’s domain with him. Isha revealed that Old Tang’s purification power, the Tree of Life, and the Life Vaccine were connected to her, while fertilizer fell under both her and Nurgle’s authority.

• Lin Fan bit through Isha’s thorn shackles, and Nurgle sensed the pain and rushed toward them.
• Isha gave Lin Fan Wraithbone glasses so he could see Nurgle through the miasma, then blocked Nurgle’s corrosive droplets with a shield.
• Isha summoned a Wraithbone structure that purified the basin and made healthy plants grow as she prepared to leave with Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan asked whether Isha had caused Old Tang’s purification ability, and Isha admitted her power had recovered through him.
• Isha explained that planets with Trees of Life and people given the Life Vaccine were connected to her, while fertilizer was an area where her authority overlapped with Nurgle’s.

Nurgle tried to comfort the grieving Isha after rescuing her from Slaanesh, but his loving gestures and grotesque entertainments could not ease her sorrow over the Aeldari and Lileath. The chapter left Nurgle blaming himself as Isha remained silent.

• Isha reflected on how her acceptance of Nurgle's kindness differed from his understanding of life and decay.
• Nurgle drove back Slaanesh and brought Isha to his garden, where he arranged a grotesque room and offered her clothing.
• Isha repaired her torn clothes with materials gathered from the garden instead of accepting Nurgle's garments.
• Isha mourned the Aeldari consumed at Slaanesh's birth and grieved that she could no longer sense her daughter Lileath.
• Nurgle and his children offered Isha food, performances, and a requiem of poisonous plants, but she remained silent.
• Nurgle felt pained by Isha's silence and blamed himself for failing to comfort her.

Nurgle made poisonous yogurt from Isha’s milk, and Isha drank it to keep him from spreading it, leaving her gravely ill. As Nurgle began making soup for her, Isha continued quietly countering his diseases and grew interested in Lin Fan and the mysterious Subjective One.

• Slaanesh teased Nurgle about Isha, prompting Nurgle to ask Isha for milk so he could brew yogurt.
• Nurgle made toxin-filled yogurt, and Isha drank the entire pot to prevent him from scattering it among the Aeldari.
• Isha suffered severe illness, which Nurgle mistook for praise and took as inspiration to make her hearty soups.
• Nurgle continued making soup for Isha while she secretly sent antidotes into reality, and he used their effects to improve his diseases.
• Isha observed Lin Fan through the eyes of Yilafren and other Aeldari, then recognized that Bai Huan, called the Subjective One by the Necrontyr, was no C'tan and could not be underestimated.

Isha revealed that she had supported Lin Fan in hopes of escaping Nurgle's Garden, then summoned the dead Aeldari and led an attack on Nurgle. The battle left her intentions and the limits of her strength clear, while she hoped spreading the Tree of Life and Life Vaccine would help her recover enough power to challenge Nurgle.

• Isha recalled her failed attempt to ally with The Emperor and explained that she had used life force from Lin Fan's soup to create the Gold Kela and Tree of Life.
• Isha formed Wraithbone armor and a weapon, then summoned and prepared the buried Aeldari dead for battle.
• Isha ordered the Aeldari and Tree of Life to attack Nurgle, while Lin Fan fought the largest daemons.
• Nurgle treated the attack as play, and Lin Fan saw that his daemons were trying to trap Isha rather than seriously harm her.
• Isha fought through Nurgle's daemons with skill but remained far weaker than a god, and she hoped spreading the Tree of Life and Life Vaccine across the Imperium would restore her strength.

As Nurgle’s daemons overwhelmed the battlefield, Leman Russ and Kaldor Draigo arrived with the chained Magnus and helped Lin Fan escape. Lin Fan and Isha reached Magnus after breaking through Nurgle’s grasp, leaving Isha’s army behind in the battle.

• Isha and her summoned army developed beastly traits as they fought Nurgle’s daemons, whose corpses spawned more parasites and pests.
• Leman Russ and Kaldor Draigo arrived riding on the chained Magnus, and Nurgle tried to seize them.
• Leman Russ pressured Magnus to accelerate, and Magnus used a spell to carry them away from Nurgle’s attack.
• Lin Fan asked Isha to throw him toward Magnus, and Isha followed after arranging for the Tree of Life and Aeldari warriors to protect her.
• Lin Fan tore through Nurgle’s body and adjusted his flight with a spear of light, while Isha caught him with a vine and brought them both onto Magnus.

Lin Fan, Leman Russ, Magnus, Diego, and Isha fled Nurgle’s pursuit, with Diego proposing they escape through a gate into Gork and Mork’s territory. Isha used Lin Fan’s purified essence from Nurgle’s Cauldron to slow Nurgle, leaving Leman Russ asking why Slaanesh was involved.

• Magnus grew to more than ten meters tall as Leman Russ and Lin Fan caught up and talked.
• Nurgle pursued the group through his ruined garden, and Leman Russ dodged an attack by yanking Magnus’s armor ornament.
• Diego told Lin Fan that a blocked gate led toward Gork and Mork’s territory, and Magnus raged when Diego revealed he had burned Magnus’s library.
• Isha asked Lin Fan to produce purified essence, and Lin Fan vomited into her hands while Diego, Leman Russ, and Magnus watched in shock.
• Isha scattered the essence to raise shrubs that briefly obstructed Nurgle, and Lin Fan explained that Slaanesh had poured the material into him.
• Leman Russ asked why Slaanesh was involved, and Lin Fan asked whether the Emperor had told him about Slaanesh.

Lin Fan told Leman Russ about the Primarchs and the Imperium’s current situation as the group approached Nurgle’s Sphincter Gate. Isha offered them veils to block the gate’s stench, but Leman Russ refused to let her give one to Magnus, prompting her to remind him that Magnus was his brother.

• Lin Fan explained the state of the Imperium and the other Primarchs to Leman Russ, who accepted that the Emperor must have his reasons for keeping him uninformed.
• Lin Fan revealed that Slaanesh had built her palace beside the Golden Throne, shocking Diego and Magnus, while Isha laughed at his description.
• The group reached Nurgle’s Sphincter Gate and endured its foul stench until Isha created fragrant veils for them.
• Isha offered Magnus a veil, but Leman Russ snatched it away and called Magnus a traitor.
• Isha challenged Leman Russ by reminding him that Magnus was his brother.

Leman Russ led the group through Gork and Mork's toilet after Lin Fan broke open the Sphincter Gate, then explained how he had captured Magnus. The group remained in the strange, lifeless region as Leman Russ recounted the hunt that led him to Magnus.

• Isha tried to persuade Leman Russ not to harm Magnus, but Leman Russ tore up the mask she had made and stuffed it into Magnus's nostrils.
• Lin Fan charged the Sphincter Gate and tore it open, allowing Leman Russ to carry Magnus through to Gork and Mork's toilet.
• The group regrouped in the quiet region, and Lin Fan asked Leman Russ how he had captured Magnus.
• Leman Russ described solving hundreds of mazes and puzzles in Tzeentch's domain before finding a false location and sensing Magnus elsewhere.
• Leman Russ said he found Magnus trying to drown Fenris in a Warp storm, then used Diego and a library as bait to draw Magnus out.

Lin Fan’s group captured Magnus and learned that Tzeentch’s weakening influence may have left him more mentally stable. Leman Russ revealed that the Wolftime could control temporal currents in the Warp, offering a way to reach Cadia without losing time, though it could not function in real space.

• Magnus attacked Diego, but Leman Russ ambushed him with a spinal strike and helped Diego bind him with a chain forged from Magnus’s wisdom.
• Lin Fan questioned Leman Russ and Diego about Magnus’s behavior, then suspected Tzeentch’s weakening control had affected Magnus.
• Concerned about the fighting on Cadia, Lin Fan urged the group to find a Warp rift there as quickly as possible.
• Leman Russ revealed the Wolftime artifact and explained that it could control time in the Warp, though it could not be used in real space.

Lin Fan learned that the Wolftime was a powerful time-manipulating artifact tied to the Necrons, and Leman Russ revealed that Cegorach had helped him obtain it. After hearing about Cegorach’s cryptic guidance and Harlequin performances, the discussion ended with Magnus and Leman Russ trading insults.

• Lin Fan examined the Wolftime and learned that it could greatly slow time, though it could not reliably find timelines from the past.
• Lin Fan realized the artifact was likely connected to the Silent King’s efforts to contain damaged timelines, and Leman Russ admitted he and Diego had taken it from a Necrontyr dynasty with help from Cegorach and the Harlequins.
• Isha said Cegorach had helped strengthen her resolve to leave Nurgle and had directed her toward the meeting in Nurgle’s Garden.
• Leman Russ recounted Cegorach’s guidance through Harlequin performances, leaving Lin Fan and the others overwhelmed by his wolf-filled descriptions.
• Magnus mocked Leman Russ for his obsession with wolves, and Leman Russ retaliated by insulting Magnus’s library.

Lin Fan, Leman Russ, and Isha discussed the Harlequins’ performance and the Emperor’s task for Leman Russ before Leman Russ set course to find Corax. Isha then asked about the books that had inspired Lin Fan, and he began recounting a story about her arrival on Terra during the Emperor’s early rise.

• Diego described the Harlequins’ performance as exceptionally fast and dangerous, while Isha admitted she knew little about Cegorach.
• Leman Russ slowed time with the Wolftime and told Lin Fan that the Emperor had sent them to learn from Corax how to liberate the essence of the Warp.
• Isha thanked Lin Fan for tolerating her children and explained how Asuryan’s decree severed the Aeldari gods from their people.
• Lin Fan said books from the Black Library had inspired him, prompting Isha to ask what he had read.
• Lin Fan began describing a story in which Isha escaped the four gods and arrived on Terra while the Emperor was still conquering its warlords.

Isha’s alliance with The Emperor transformed Terra and strengthened the Great Crusade through advances in agriculture, genetics, psychic technology, and the Webway, while Craftworld Iyanden joined the alliance despite initially suspecting Isha was enslaved. Lin Fan reflected on how his own work had similarly improved life under Big Canteen, whose expanding systems brought prosperity and safer colonization.

• Isha restored Terra’s ecology, revolutionized agriculture and genetics, repaired the Thunder Warriors, and led The Emperor to abandon the Astartes Project.
• Isha shared Aeldari knowledge of Wraithbone, Soul Stones, and the Webway with The Emperor, while asking surviving Craftworlds to meet her and avoid conflict with humanity.
• Craftworld Iyanden answered Isha’s call, became Big Canteen’s messenger, and later supported the Great Crusade alongside Mars and the Jupiter Shipyards.
• Iyanden initially accused The Emperor of exploiting Isha and insulted Terra, angering The Emperor, but the Aeldari then improved human psychic technology and helped protect psykers from Chaos.
• Lin Fan considered how Big Canteen’s agricultural system, Aeldari knowledge, New Psyker Department, Webway routes, Tree of Life, and Life Vaccine had reduced hardship and Chaos risks across its territory.