Chapter Summaries

Mortarion led the Death Guard through the false Imperial Palace’s outer defenses, using poison and underground assaults to weaken its walls. His sector’s defenders dwindled, while the other Primarchs argued over the battle channel.

• Mortarion’s seven detachments advanced under heavy fire, and the Death Guard broke through the first defensive lines.
• A wounded Death Guard warrior relied on the Life Vaccine and pressed forward with his comrades.
• Mortarion sent assault squads underground to pump poison gas into ventilation ducts beneath the palace walls.
• After several months, the walls in Mortarion’s sector became poisonous death zones, and Degraded One activity fell to a low point.
• Mortarion checked on the other fronts and heard Perturabo, Lion, Leman Russ, and Magnus argue before Roboute Guilliman reminded them to report battle conditions.

Mortarion was summoned to a meeting where Magnus and the others urged him to ascend to daemonhood for the sake of the war effort. He refused, but Leman Russ kicked him into a ritual array as Lorgar began the incantation to channel Warp power.

• Mortarion heard reports of bizarre battlefield victories and accepted that the Subjective One's power was influencing the war.
• Magnus summoned Mortarion to a church ruin, where Lorgar, Fulgrim, and Leman Russ had gathered.
• Magnus argued that Mortarion should ascend to daemonhood because his transformed strength could reduce casualties and help the army advance.
• Mortarion rejected the proposal and accused his brothers of taking dangerous shortcuts.
• Leman Russ kicked Mortarion into the ritual array, and Lorgar began chanting to guide Warp power into him.

Magnus, Fulgrim, and Lorgar forced Mortarion to ascend to Nurgle’s service, and Mortarion was transported to the Throne Room, where he discovered his formidable new power. Lin Fan explained that Mortarion’s exceptional tabletop durability came from his 490-point unit profile.

• Magnus, Fulgrim, and Lorgar summoned Nurgle’s corruption and sealed Mortarion inside it while Leman Russ fought off daemons emerging from the Warp rift.
• Mortarion emerged as a Daemon Primarch, protested that his brothers had undone his cleansing, and eventually asked what they wanted him to do.
• The Subjective One transported Mortarion to the Throne Room, where Mortarion shot through multiple degraded Adeptus Custodes with Lantern and cut down Custodes and Dreadnoughts with his scythe.
• Tzeentch accused Lin Fan of cheating because Mortarion survived repeated attacks, and Lin Fan explained Mortarion’s high Toughness, 4+ invulnerable save, 18 Wounds, and resilience abilities.

Lin Fan exploited Tzeentch’s inexperience in their tabletop battle as Mortarion opened a breach in the Throne Room. The Primarchs pushed through the weakened Custodes defenses while The Emperor and Oedmeir discussed the Custodes’ place in his affections, and Lion El'Jonson led the final assault.

• Lin Fan continued dominating Tzeentch at the game, and Tzeentch insisted they play on until they reached the core zone.
• Mortarion cleared a path through tens of thousands of degraded Adeptus Custodes, allowing the Primarchs and their armies to advance.
• The Emperor asked Valdor why the Primarchs were so brutal toward the Custodes, and Oedmeir explained that they resented the Custodes’ closeness to him.
• The Emperor proposed rotating the Legions through palace duty, but Oedmeir reassured Valdor that he could visit the God-Emperor beneath the Webway.
• Lion El'Jonson charged into the Throne Room with the Dark Angels, while he and his sons skinned Tyranid bugs as entertainment.

The Primarchs discussed Roboute Guilliman’s refusal to use his Warp essence, and Guilliman finally confronted the despairing memory behind it. The chapter left him relaxing in a bath on Macragge as an attendant approached with fruit and wine.

• Magnus accidentally knocked the fake Emperor’s skull from its skeleton in the Throne Room.
• Jaghatai asked Guilliman whether he had learned to use his Warp essence, and Guilliman denied sensing any such power before leaving for the next assault.
• Corax worried that Guilliman and the Ultramarines were struggling while their brothers relied on their Warp essences.
• Calgar gave Guilliman a casualty report showing that the Throne Room assault had cost more than a thousand lives.
• Guilliman meditated on his despairing memory and found himself in a flourishing palace on Macragge, where he entered a bath and sensed an attendant setting down fruit and wine.

Guilliman dreamed of an intimate encounter with Yvraine interrupted by The Emperor and his brothers, then awoke to find he had badly injured Cato Sicarius while holding him in his sleep. He concealed the dream by claiming he was grieving the Ultramarines' casualties, and his warriors reassured him of their loyalty.

• Guilliman imagined Yvraine joining him in the bathhouse, where they nearly kissed before The Emperor and the other Primarchs burst in and condemned him.
• Guilliman woke to find Cato Sicarius crushed and gravely wounded in his arms after the commander had rushed in to check on him.
• Calgar explained that the officers had blasted open Guilliman's door because he had been shouting and would not respond.
• Guilliman told Tigurius that he was troubled by the Ultramarines' battlefield casualties and regretted not liberating the essence of the Warp sooner.
• The Ultramarines knelt and told Guilliman that dying alongside him was their greatest honor.

Jaghatai Khan reached the Necrontyr front and learned how badly the forces there were faring against Orks, Tyranids, and daemons. The Emperor arrived with reinforcements and opened the assault on the breached defensive line.

• Roboute Guilliman told Calgar to notify him before receiving Jaghatai Khan in the future.
• Jaghatai Khan and the White Scars reached the Necrontyr defensive position after more than ten days of riding.
• A Necrontyr technician reported that the Warp-linked core zone had stalled the battle and described the collapse of several dynasties’ defenses.
• Jaghatai Khan led his warriors deeper and relayed reconnaissance intelligence to the other legions.
• The Emperor, Valdor, the Adeptus Custodes, and the Sisters of Silence joined the gathered Primarchs and forces beside a breach in the Necrontyr line.
• The Emperor drew his flaming sword, shouted, “For peace! Attack!”, and led the forces into battle.

The Imperium’s forces and Primarchs unleashed overwhelming firepower and Warp powers against the swarm, Orks, and daemons. As the battle went smoothly, the Silent King struggled to accept how effective the allied forces were, while the Void Dragon reassured him.

• The Iron Warriors and Iron Hands opened fire, while the swarm sacrificed its defenses for greater speed and attack power, and the armored Orks endured the bombardment.
• The Emperor incinerated swathes of bugs, while the Sisters of Silence and Adeptus Custodes destroyed the approaching daemons.
• Leman Russ transformed into an ice-blue wolf and led the Space Wolves into battle, while Magnus and the Thousand Sons unleashed a psychic disintegration curse.
• Mortarion chanted a sequence of sevens, turning the battlefield into a swamp for the enemy and summoning decayed hands from beneath the ground.
• The Silent King wondered why the battle was going so smoothly, and the Void Dragon comforted him by saying their powerful allies made the fight easier.

Sanguinius led the Blood Angels into battle, reassuring Dante that they had no need for a Warp nature to keep fighting. Vulkan and Tu'Shan then prepared the Salamanders to attack the Orks with their flamers.

• Sanguinius told Roboute Guilliman that he should reveal his true nature, but Roboute denied having a Warp nature.
• Sanguinius explained to Dante that he had never despaired and reminded him that the Blood Angels had risen from their savage past; Dante rallied the Chapter to follow Sanguinius into battle.
• Vulkan stared at Sanguinius until Tu'Shan struck him with a hammer to bring his attention back to the battle.
• Vulkan embraced Tu'Shan, then ordered the Salamanders to bring out their flamers and attack the Orks.
• Vulkan shouldered his enormous flamer, Fire Dragon's Wow, which could unleash hundreds of liters of Promethium.

Vulkan and Waa’rgan bonded over their strength as Tzeentch unveiled a group of Ork Waaagh Bodies modeled after the Primarchs. The Primarchs and their legions faced their grotesque counterparts as the battlefield’s confrontations began.

• Vulkan and his sons used flamethrowers to barbecue Orks and Tyranids while Vulkan’s Fire Dragon’s Wow battled green flames.
• Tzeentch revealed Waa’rgan and the Fire Four-Legged Snakes, and Vulkan charged forward to clasp Waa’rgan’s hand in mutual admiration.
• Sanguinius challenged Shengji Liesi to a fight, and the Blood Angels called for the blasphemous Orks to be destroyed.
• The remaining Primarchs confronted their corresponding Waaagh Bodies, including Lion El’Jonson facing Lying Loaded and Roboute Guilliman facing Radish-head Muscleman.
• Konrad Curze, Rogal Dorn, Perturabo, Leman Russ, Fulgrim, and Ferrus Manus faced Scared to Death, Shao’en, Shoubo Latu, Liman Lusi, Fuge Ruimu, and Fei Lusi respectively.

Tzeentch explained that she created unstable Waaagh beings by using the Waaagh field to imitate the Primarchs and their legions. The chapter ended with Ongron and his Orks settling peacefully beside Angron and the World Eaters, rejecting Mork’s command to fight.

• Tzeentch compared Orks to Space Marines to distract Lin Fan, then revealed that she had made the Waaagh beings imitate Warp essence through the Waaagh field.
• Lin Fan asked about the missing Primarchs and Angron’s Waaagh being, and Tzeentch said she had sent Ongron to Angron for amusement.
• Ongron and his Orks emerged through a rift near Angron’s cabin, where Angron and the World Eaters had been living peacefully.
• Angron and Ongron sensed one another but did not attack, and Ongron accepted an apple from a farm girl before deciding to plant mushrooms.
• Ongron told his boys to ignore Mork’s mission and built a camp across the stream modeled on Angron’s settlement.

Trazyn reminisced about an ancient war with the Orks, angering the Silent King, who teleported him into the battle between Lion El'Jonson and Lai En. After surviving the clash and being rescued by Ultramarines, Trazyn found himself facing Cato Sicarius's suspicion.

• Trazyn told an attendant that the ancient Necrontyr war against the Orks had lasted for ages and transformed Ork culture.
• The Silent King punished Trazyn for speaking carelessly by having Orikan teleport him to the battlefield.
• Trazyn landed amid Lion El'Jonson and Lai En's fierce duel and found that the Silent King had blocked his attempt to transfer his consciousness.
• Trazyn crawled out of the fog-shrouded forest while the Dark Angels and Dark Goblins fought, then an Ultramarine squad rescued him.
• Trazyn joined two more Ultramarine squads, where Cato Sicarius questioned which unit the Ultramarines beside Trazyn belonged to.

Trazyn was caught between Ultramarines and Ork infiltrators who repeatedly disguised themselves as allies, leaving the battlefield impossible to read. After Aurora revealed himself and sent Trazyn east for safety, Trazyn departed in confusion.

• Cato Sicarius recognized an ambush and fought Ork agents disguised as Ultramarines, while Trazyn realized his supposed escorts were infiltrators.
• Cato Sicarius threatened Trazyn until Roboute Guilliman arrived, but an Ork agent disguised as Calgar stabbed Guilliman and was killed.
• Guilliman attacked Cato Sicarius, who died and transformed into an Ork agent; Guilliman then wrongly concluded that the surviving Orks were disguised enemies.
• Guilliman's forces fought the returning Ork spies and won, but an Ork wearing Cato Sicarius's mask killed Guilliman and transformed into Aurora.
• Aurora told Trazyn to head east for safety, and Trazyn left, bewildered by the disguises and reversals.

Trazyn crossed a devastated battlefield and encountered Ke La Ke Si battling Corax near an Iron Hands mobile fortress. Ke La Ke Si’s darkness blinded and disoriented them until Trazyn drew his attention, allowing Corax to tear away half of the Ork’s body.

• Trazyn cautiously crossed an artillery trench and spotted living humans and Orks inside a silent Iron Hands mobile fortress.
• Ke La Ke Si emerged and challenged the ravens surrounding the fortress as Corax sent Raven Guard after him.
• Ke La Ke Si covered his eyes and spread supernatural darkness that disoriented Trazyn, Corax, and the Raven Guard.
• Trazyn charged Ke La Ke Si but was struck and thrown away, then repaired his damaged limbs.
• Trazyn shouted to draw Ke La Ke Si’s attention and was struck by throwing knives, giving Corax time to seize Ke La Ke Si and tear away half his body.
• Ke La Ke Si screamed and spat thick phlegm at Corax without uncovering his eyes.

Corax rescued Trazyn from Ke La Ke Si and agreed to take him to Vulkan, but dropped him into a blazing battlefield. Trazyn survived an Ork attack and Salamander flamethrowers, only to be teleported away by the Silent King.

• Corax killed Ke La Ke Si, checked on Trazyn, and agreed to protect him after Trazyn pleaded for help finding a way out.
• Corax carried Trazyn toward Vulkan’s position and dropped him into a battlefield engulfed in flames.
• Trazyn landed among Orks, fled their flamethrowers, and charged through fire toward the Salamanders.
• Lin Fan rolled for Trazyn’s survival, and Trazyn made it through the flames with his body intact before Salamanders carried him to safety.
• The Silent King spoke to Trazyn and teleported him away from the Salamanders.

The Silent King consulted Trazyn about how the Necrontyr should advance against the Gods’ Throne while humanity fought a mounting tide of enemies. The God-Emperor intervened through the holy relics in Trazyn’s collection, ordered the Necrontyr to execute an all-out assault, and the enemy unleashed colossal new horrors on the battlefield.

• Trazyn arrived before the Silent King’s throne, where Orikan and the Phaerons laughed at his panic.
• The Silent King showed Trazyn the battlefield and asked him to choose between an immediate Necrontyr assault and a slower advance supporting the Imperium of Man.
• Trazyn chose the slower plan to reduce human casualties, but the God-Emperor’s voice ordered the Silent King to execute the first plan.
• The Silent King mobilized the dynasties’ full military strength and went to unlock ancient weapons in the forbidden vaults.
• Tyranid Saints and enormous daemon amalgamations emerged on the main battlefield as the enemy’s assault intensified.

As the Imperium’s forces faced overwhelming Tyranid and daemon hordes, the God-Emperor and the Void Dragon arrived to reinforce them, drawing the other great powers into battle. The confrontation escalated into a clash among the gods, while Yvraine imagined the war’s place in history.

• Mar and Lanya prepared to die with the Astra Militarum, and Lanya asked to visit Mar’s flower shop if they survived.
• The God-Emperor appeared above the battlefield and summoned the Legion of the Damned, restoring the Imperium’s strength.
• The Void Dragon joined the God-Emperor in a disguised form, and Adeptus Mechanicus priests recognized him as the Omnissiah.
• Mork and Khorne rose to challenge the gold and silver gods, while Isha and then Nurgle entered the battle.
• Yvraine watched the gathered forces and imagined that future generations would remember the conflict as the War in Heaven.

Gods and mortals clashed in a battle above the Throne as the Silent King led his Necrontyr army through the last defenses. He reached the Throne and deployed the Reality-Void Inverter, leaving the relic’s effect to unfold.

• Yvraine and Roboute Guilliman shared an awkward glance while Jaghatai watched and speculated about Guilliman.
• Khorne attacked the God-Emperor, and the two fought an attritional battle with their divine weapons.
• Mork transformed his throne into Gorkamorka armor and battled the Void Dragon with Waaagh! energy, black holes, and a solar-wind sneeze.
• Isha and Nurgle politely discussed life while avoiding a direct fight.
• The Silent King led his Necrontyr forces through the Tyranid and daemon defenses and reached the area beneath the Throne.
• The Silent King hurled the Reality-Void Inverter, a relic developed to let the Necrontyr enter the Warp and destroy hidden Aeldari bases.

The Silent King’s Necrontyr fleet entered the Warp to confront a developing monstrosity, where Amalaga used the Creator’s True Words to devastate the fleet and help the creature awaken. The Silent King escaped to realspace, but the creature emerged from the gods’ empty throne, combining powers and remnants of other forces as Tzeentch addressed the stunned Lin Fan.

• The Silent King ordered the Necrontyr fleet to fire on the immense egg growing in the Warp, and Amalaga appeared to defend it.
• Amalaga used the True Words “Life” and “Death” to block the fleet’s weapons and annihilate forces from three dynasties.
• The Silent King used “Delete” to erase the incoming force of death, at the cost of Necrontyr technology and culture.
• Amalaga used “Possess” and entered the eggshell, which shattered and released a black wave of death alongside strange visions of streets, buildings, and the letters GW.
• The Silent King activated the Reality-Void Inverter and sent the fleet back to realspace as the gods’ empty throne crumbled and a rift opened.
• A monstrous being emerged, bearing Ynnead’s flames, the Hive Mind’s brain, the Degraded Ones’ matter, and Abaddon’s head, while Tzeentch spoke to Lin Fan.

Tzeentch awakened Horus with the Dark King essence, and Horus joined the battle against the God-Emperor. As Horus gained the upper hand, the Emperor asked the Primarchs to lend him their Warp essences so he could become strong enough to help.

• Tzeentch tore out the Dark King essence and hurled it at the abomination, awakening Horus, who announced that he had returned from hell.
• Khorne attacked the God-Emperor, while Isha aided her and the Void Dragon described how Mork had severed and oxidized her arm.
• Horus confronted the God-Emperor and mocked her, but Khorne blocked their path and was shattered when he tried to withstand their attacks.
• Khorne awoke inside Tzeentch and battered at his prison, making Tzeentch cough as the God-Emperor and Horus began fighting directly.
• The Emperor asked the Primarchs to inject their Warp essences into him so he could temporarily match the God-Emperor, and Fulgrim and Lorgar offered to bear the power instead.