Chapter Summaries

Vect freed the final Cronesword from Biel-Tan’s wraithbone spine, setting the five swords on the path to unite as Yvraine failed to stop him and Konrad Curze refused to help. As Ynnead awakened to the gathering power of the dead, Biel-Tan began to break apart and the god declared that Slaanesh’s end was near.

• Vect overwhelmed Yvraine, cast her aside, and approached the final Cronesword embedded in Biel-Tan’s wraithbone spine.
• Yvraine asked Konrad Curze for help, but he refused and returned to the shadows to watch Vect.
• Vect pulled the final Cronesword free, cracking Biel-Tan’s supporting spine as the five Croneswords gathered and began to fuse.
• Vect absorbed the power of the dead while Fulgrim sensed his growing strength and Orikan begged Angron to intervene; Angron refused.
• Ynnead awakened within Slaanesh’s toy chest, praised Vect’s actions, and began breaking free as he vowed that Slaanesh’s end was near.

The God-Emperor tried to stop Ynnead from reaching Slaanesh, but the Harlequins and damage to the Golden Throne distracted him while Cegorach helped Ynnead escape. Meanwhile, the recovering Slaanesh fantasized about eating the other gods and wondered how she would taste.

• The God-Emperor confronted Ynnead as he broke into the Palace of Pleasure and stopped his death-blade with his palm.
• The God-Emperor suppressed Ynnead, but Ynnead struggled to escape because Slaanesh's survival tormented him.
• Harlequins led by Cegorach invaded the Imperial Palace, forcing the God-Emperor to divide his attention between them and the failing Golden Throne.
• The God-Emperor threw a golden spear at Ynnead, but Cegorach revealed that Ynnead had escaped behind a painted cloth.
• Slaanesh rested amid the wreckage of Agripinaa Forge World, savored her own bitten-off finger, and imagined cooking the other gods.

Ynnead killed the Aeldari-linked part of Slaanesh and planned to turn the Aeldari toward death, but Tzeentch attacked him to advance his own scheme. Tzeentch’s spell exposed Slaanesh’s source of desire, only for him to discover he had grabbed a piece of cloth instead.

• Slaanesh welcomed Ynnead and urged him to attack her, while he angrily struck her with his death-forged sword.
• Ynnead killed the part of Slaanesh tied to the Aeldari, leaving her scattered and unable to take physical form for a long time.
• Ynnead planned to make the Aeldari follow him and then spread death throughout the universe.
• Tzeentch attacked Ynnead with a crystal containing tens of thousands of spells, evaporating much of Slaanesh’s blood sea.
• Tzeentch reached for what he thought was Slaanesh’s source of desire, but found only a slick piece of cloth.

Cegorach escaped Tzeentch with the source of Slaanesh’s indulgence while The Deceiver stalled Tzeentch and pursued his own plans. At the Milky Way’s edge, The Deceiver manipulated an isolated planet into mass suicide and collected its people’s souls as provisions for a dangerous journey.

• Cegorach fled with the source of Slaanesh’s indulgence as The Deceiver distracted Tzeentch with Degraded Ones and warned him that the Subjective One was coming.
• The Deceiver explained that Slaanesh’s death had left too few Aeldari gods to maintain the veil between the Warp and the material universe, and that Cegorach’s Ultimate Joke could keep the Subjective One from overturning the game.
• The Deceiver traveled to an isolated planet at the edge of the Milky Way, where its people worshipped him as the Machine God and believed he would lead them to paradise.
• The Deceiver persuaded the planet’s population to sacrifice themselves, and their souls became provisions for his journey toward the ring made from the corpses of the C’tan and the Old Ones.

The Deceiver used the True Word "Death" to break the ring belt and unleash pure white nothingness, driving the Tyranids to flee into the Milky Way and attack the Necrontyr in desperation. As the Galaxy Collapse Index rose and the veil began to shatter elsewhere, Cegorach escaped a breach with Slaanesh’s Origin of Desire in his arms.

• The Deceiver reached the ring belt and embedded the True Word "Death" in it, causing pure white nothingness to emerge.
• The Hive Mind ordered the Tyranids to abandon the ring belt and swarm into the Milky Way, while the Deceiver helped them escape using the Degraded Ones.
• The Tyranids launched a desperate assault on the Necrontyr, overwhelming their defenses with a surging mass of creatures.
• Necrontyr technicians and sorcerers watched the Galaxy Collapse Index rise and called for the Silent King and the current Subjective One to intervene.
• The God-Emperor heard a faint sound of glass breaking as he focused on the Void Dragon, while Cegorach fled Tzeentch’s daemons carrying Slaanesh’s Origin of Desire.
• A section of the veil shattered near Cegorach, who dodged the breach as the exposed star system faced a raging tide of the Warp.

Lin Fan and the others emerged from Corax’s collapsing Dark Walk beside a shattered veil between reality and the Warp, and Isha revealed that the gods had died. As Cegorach arrived to celebrate his joke, Isha swallowed a mass linked to Slaanesh, leaving Lin Fan furious at the gods’ schemes.

• Corax fell from the Dark Walk with a painful back injury, and Lin Fan saw a vast breach pouring the Warp into the real universe.
• Magnus explained that the veil had shattered, and Isha weakened before recovering some strength from Lin Fan’s Old Tang.
• Isha announced that the gods were dead, and Lin Fan grew enraged at Tzeentch and The Deceiver.
• Cegorach’s laughter made Isha struggle to suppress an urge to grin, while Leman Russ feared she was becoming a Chaos God.
• A pink mass flew toward Isha; Corax raised a misplaced shield, and Isha swallowed it after Lin Fan heard Slaanesh plead with him not to interfere.
• Cegorach emerged from the breach and declared the prologue to his ultimate joke complete, while Lin Fan cursed the gods for their schemes.

Lin Fan and the Primarchs faced a Tzeentch daemon army that had been armed with daemon-possessed Men of Iron. Cegorach turned the battle into a staged performance, leaving Lin Fan under the spotlight as the daemons charged.

• Isha clung to Lin Fan while sleeping, and Cegorach revealed that she had swallowed Slaanesh's essence.
• Cegorach warned the group about approaching daemons, and Magnus recognized the scent of Tzeentch's forces.
• Lin Fan saw that Tzeentch's army included Men of Iron transformed into terrifying daemon-possessed machines.
• Cegorach arranged the space like a stage, placed Lin Fan in the spotlight, and sent the daemon army charging at him.
• Lin Fan impaled a confused daemon with his indestructible bayonet.

Lin Fan slaughtered Tzeentch’s daemon forces while Tzeentch imprisoned Ynnead and planned how to survive the Subjective One. After sensing changes caused by The Deceiver, Tzeentch went to Nurgle and claimed he could defeat their enemy by playing the Great Game.

• Lin Fan tore through the daemon army, and a daemon inside a Man of Iron escaped into the Warp, leaving the machine to collapse into scrap.
• Tzeentch imprisoned Ynnead in a cage and transformed his insides into crystal.
• Tzeentch planned to delay the Subjective One and absorb the essences of Nurgle and Khorne so that destroying him would mean destroying all life in the Milky Way.
• Tzeentch sensed the Warp changing amid the veil’s destruction, celebrated The Deceiver’s intervention, and ordered Carlos to begin the operation.
• Tzeentch traveled to Nurgle’s realm and told the despairing god that he could defeat their enemy through the Great Game.

Tzeentch explained to Nurgle that Lin Fan’s interference had accelerated and disrupted the events of a third End Times, which he believed would pit Lin Fan’s multi-species alliance against the Chaos Gods and the C’tan. Nurgle agreed to help Tzeentch but kept the damaged source of life and insisted they find Khorne together.

• Tzeentch told Nurgle that the End Times were still progressing and described the three great crises he believed had reshaped their fate thread.
• Tzeentch blamed Lin Fan for advancing alliances and changing the order of events, including Jaghatai’s indirect return to the Imperium.
• Nurgle called farewell to his withering garden and drew the damaged source of life from his body.
• Tzeentch reached for the source of life, but Nurgle stopped him and said they were going to find Khorne.
• Nurgle warned Tzeentch that fighting him would waste time and leave them both with regrets.

Tzeentch and Nurgle sought to recruit Mork and ally with Khorne against the Subjective One. Mork followed them to Khorne's realm, knocked Khorne unconscious, and left without admitting he wanted to join them.

• Mork played with his toy war machines and lamented that Gork was not there to join him.
• Tzeentch proposed that Mork join forces with him, but Mork rejected the offer before curiosity drove him to follow Tzeentch and Nurgle.
• Tzeentch and Nurgle reached Khorne's ruined realm and asked him to ally against the Subjective One.
• Khorne demanded that they prove themselves and charged at Tzeentch and Nurgle.
• Mork ambushed Khorne with a club, knocked him unconscious, and stomped on him before leaving.
• Tzeentch laughed and stripped the armor from Khorne.

Lin Fan learned Cegorach planned to merge Isha with Slaanesh so Isha could soften the Chaos god and shelter the Aeldari. Cegorach showed Lin Fan books from the Black Library, and Lin Fan was stunned to discover they described unfamiliar events and developments beyond the future he remembered.

• Cegorach explained that he wanted Isha to absorb Slaanesh's essence and balance her destructive nature with kindness.
• Lin Fan realized that Cegorach's Black Library might contain more reliable knowledge of the future than the Aeldari seers' prophecies.
• Cegorach gave Lin Fan a copy of Indomitus Crusade, which described the events after Cadia's destruction and the Imperium's split.
• Lin Fan passed the book to Leman Russ and the other Primarchs, who reacted strongly to what they read.
• Cegorach showed Lin Fan Omen Craftworld and The Son of the Forest, whose unfamiliar revelations left Lin Fan increasingly astonished.

Lin Fan learned that the Black Library’s account of the future no longer matched the current fate, but the Emperor had been crushed by darkness and the veil was collapsing. He chose to return to Terra to save the Emperor before confronting Tzeentch and the Deceiver, while daemons poured through breaches across the star systems.

• Lin Fan read that the Primarchs would return over millennia, the Milky Way’s races would form a fragile alliance, and the final war would end without a recorded victor.
• Cegorach explained that Tzeentch still planned to bring about the End Times, though his present schemes differed from the books, and described Isha’s transformation into the new Slaanesh.
• Cegorach revealed that the Emperor had been crushed by darkness, and Lin Fan chose to save him on Terra before settling accounts with Tzeentch and the Deceiver.
• On Terra, the God-Emperor heard Slaanesh’s scream stop, then saw the veil collapse around planets as daemons flooded through Warp breaches.

As the God-Emperor struggled to hold back Warp breaches, Carlos used an ancient contract to transfer the Golden Ark Core to him, causing the core to vanish from Big Canteen. Delia took control of the planet’s defenses and ordered Big Canteen to prepare for combat.

• The God-Emperor sealed some Warp breaches while the Golden Throne’s suffering and negative energy assailed him.
• Disguised as Khayon in Terra Prison, Carlos proclaimed Tzeentch’s surrender of his inheritance claim to the Golden Ark and was subdued by Sisters of Silence.
• The contract took effect, and the Golden Ark Core disappeared from Big Canteen as the surrounding space tore open and Warp Chaos surged through.
• Oedmeir ordered the Blackstone devices activated, but they could not prevent the core’s disappearance.
• Delia connected to Big Canteen’s control system, took command of its defenses, and ordered first-level combat readiness and preparations for Lord Guilliman.

Demons poured through the growing breach into the Big Canteen Galaxy, where fortress defenses and trained residents met the invasion. A middle-aged garrison officer faced an eye demon and discovered that the Life Vaccine protected him from its corrupting gaze.

• Void fortresses fired Disruption Arcs and Blackstone torpedoes at the demons as the breach widened and rifts opened across planets.
• A many-headed demon searched the streets for signs of frenzy and adoration, then watched the people sheltering in fortresses.
• Oedmeir's training system prepared civilian militias through neighborhood instruction, elite garrison officers, and the simulation grounds.
• A golden-medaled garrison officer reassured the residents and urged them to follow their training as demons approached.
• The officer turned toward an eye demon, resisted its corrupting gaze with the Life Vaccine, and shot several of its eyes.

The Big Canteen’s defenders repelled waves of demons with Blackstone technology, psychic support, and coordinated military forces, though Delia worried the endless Warp could outlast their supplies. Rebecca reassured her that the battle would not last for decades and destroyed an enormous asteroid-sized demon.

• A middle-aged militia fighter pierced an eye demon with a Blackstone-laced dagger and helped lead the counterattack at the Big Canteen.
• Workers, Battle Sisters, militia, and other defenders fought demons as Delia coordinated automated cannons and troop movements across the planet.
• Delia deployed Lamenters and other forces against Greater Daemons while New Psyker Department psykers and Aeldari used psychic lightning to banish demons.
• Delia worried that the Big Canteen’s supplies would eventually run out, but Rebecca argued that Lin Fan could arrive through the Webway within months.
• Rebecca rammed her Blackstone-prowed warship into an asteroid-sized demon and burst it apart.

As Chaos overwhelmed worlds across the Imperium, Guilliman learned that the Tree of Life in Ultramar had bloomed and was releasing pollen that repaired Warp rifts. The Farseer warned that the blossoms also showed the growing shadow of Slaanesh.

• Big Canteen’s forces and local defenders fought daemons across besieged planets, while a younger official rebuked a local official for urging them to flee.
• Guilliman assessed distress reports from Ultramar and weighed how long its planets could resist the daemonic assaults.
• An Ultramarines captain reported that the Tree of Life had bloomed, startling Guilliman, who ordered a view of it.
• A Craftworld Aeldari Farseer said the Tree of Life’s pollen was repairing Warp rifts, but its flowers revealed Slaanesh’s expanding shadow.

Guilliman planned defenses around the Trees of Life as daemons ravaged the Imperium, while the T'au and the forces in the Ghoul Stars faced simultaneous Tyranid invasions. On Terra, the God-Emperor struggled under the surge of faith and the Golden Throne’s growing instability as the Golden Ark’s core hurtled toward him.

• Guilliman saw that forty-seven Ultramar planets had been planted with Trees of Life and planned to establish defensive lines around them.
• Shadowsun and Farsight learned that the Tyranids had returned in greater numbers, so Shadowsun mobilized the T'au to hold the eastern frontier instead of sending aid to the Big Canteen.
• Tyberos and Nethanev surveyed a planet besieged by Tyranids and daemons and resolved to defend the Ghoul Stars together.
• The God-Emperor endured the overwhelming prayers and suffering of humanity while maintaining the Golden Throne and suppressing the Void Dragon.
• After Carlos preached the contract in Terra’s prison, the Golden Throne grew more active and the Golden Ark’s core hurtled through space and time toward Terra.

The God-Emperor spent his remaining power to strengthen the Astronomican and stop the Golden Ark Core, triggering his transformation into the Dark Emperor. As the Void Dragon seized control of the Ark Core and the Ascension Throne, the Dark Emperor began gathering the souls of the dead on Mars.

• The God-Emperor poured his remaining divine power into the Astronomican, shielding churches and rallying Imperial armies before leaving the Golden Throne to confront the Ark Core.
• The God-Emperor collided with the Ark Core beyond the Solar System and halted it, then succumbed to darkness as the Throne became the Ascension Throne.
• The Emperor transformed into the Dark Emperor, while Trajan and the Adeptus Custodes stood helpless outside the palace.
• The Dark Emperor called to the Void Dragon on Mars, and the Void Dragon broke free from its prison and took control of the Ark Core and the Ascension Throne.
• The Dark Emperor declared that he was tired of this and drew forth the souls of the humans who had died on Mars.

The Dark Emperor defeated the Void Dragon on Mars, then faced Aurora, Sanguinius, Constantin Valdor, and the Adeptus Custodes as they arrived to stop his destruction. Valdor briefly restored the Emperor’s humanity by speaking his true name, but Sanguinius ordered the group to attack and seal the darkness again.

• The Dark Emperor lashed the Void Dragon until his body split apart and a vast trench was carved into Mars.
• Carl Bohar rushed toward the trench, calling to the wounded Void Dragon, while the Dark Emperor contemplated erasing all life in the Milky Way.
• Aurora and Sanguinius crossed a bridge of golden light into the throne room, followed by the Adeptus Custodes led by Constantin Valdor.
• Valdor spoke the Emperor’s earliest name, Neoth, briefly restoring a trace of humanity to him.
• The Emperor asked Sanguinius to become Emperor if he died, but Sanguinius refused and ordered the others to attack and seal away the darkness.

Tzeentch interfered with Lion El'Jonson’s dreams to make him believe Sanguinius had become Emperor and Roboute Guilliman had claimed the Warmaster title. Lion woke in The Rock, sensed the Dark Emperor’s presence, and set out to rescue the Emperor and confront the rebels.

• Nurgle sensed the Dark Emperor’s ascension, while Mork pried at Khorne’s armor and Tzeentch planned to interfere with the Emperor’s schemes.
• Tzeentch sent illusions into The Rock to give Lion El'Jonson a vision of Sanguinius’s ascension and Roboute Guilliman claiming the Warmaster position.
• Lion El'Jonson woke in fury, sensed the Dark Emperor’s presence, and resolved to rescue the Emperor and deal with the rebels.
• Lion El'Jonson fastened on his shield and sword and released his Warp essence, surrounding himself with a dark forest.