Chapter Summaries

Leman Russ and Magnus returned to Rhodes Island with Blaze and told Kal'tsit that the demons in the far north had ascended. Kal'tsit revealed how the demons threatened Terra, and the chapter ended with her realizing the danger had worsened.

• Leman Russ and Magnus arrived at Rhodes Island with Blaze, prompting Kal'tsit to confront them and demand to know what had happened to the missing Franka, Liskarm, and Jessica.
• Blaze reassured Kal'tsit that the others were safe but could not return with them, and Leman Russ asked to speak privately.
• Leman Russ questioned Kal'tsit about Rhodes Island's hidden knowledge of threats in the far north, and Kal'tsit confirmed that the organization knew about them.
• Kal'tsit explained that the demons came from beyond Terra, contaminated the world and those who learned about them, and grew stronger through knowledge.
• Leman Russ told Kal'tsit that the demons had ascended, and Kal'tsit's hope faded when he confirmed he was serious.

Leman Russ used a fabricated account of ancient demon wars to gain Kal'tsit's trust and explain the strange Scourges, Originium Slugs, and his blood. Kal'tsit then revealed that the Seaborn were preparing for a final struggle against an approaching danger, leaving Leman Russ demanding an explanation.

• Leman Russ claimed that he and Magnus had fought demons alongside their father, and Kal'tsit guessed they had fought in the Foehn Hotlands.
• Leman Russ attributed the abnormal Scourges and Originium Slugs to the demons, describing their return as a rising tide and their influence as corruption.
• Kal'tsit told Leman Russ that his blood could disperse Originium Crystals and was being studied as a possible basis for an Oripathy vaccine.
• After Leman Russ asked why the landship was on alert, Kal'tsit said the Seaborn sensed an approaching danger and were preparing for a final desperate struggle.
• Kal'tsit explained that the Seaborn were an oceanic threat with vast numbers and an efficient evolutionary mechanism, while Leman Russ listened and compared them to Tyranids.

The Doctor and Rhodes Island prepared to use Skadi to learn the Seaborn’s intentions, despite the danger to her humanity. As the battle worsened and Skadi’s communication was still being prepared, Magnus and Leman Russ arrived to join the fight.

• The Doctor brought Rhodes Island’s combat operators and the Abyssal Hunters to face the Seaborn threat spreading through Iberia.
• The Doctor told Amiya that Skadi had to make contact with the Seaborn collective so they could learn what it wanted.
• The Doctor embraced Skadi, and she agreed to proceed with the dangerous plan.
• Magnus and Leman Russ discussed the experimental serum made from their blood that had suppressed Skadi’s Seaborn cells, then flew toward the battle.
• The Doctor’s forces struggled to hold the Seaborn back while Skadi’s communication was being prepared, knowing direct contact could erase her humanity and merge her with Ishar-mla.

The Doctor directed Rhodes Island’s operators as they held their defensive line against an overwhelming Seaborn legion, while Skadi’s communication remained unresolved. Gladiia protected the Doctor from an ambush, and the battle continued as Specter fell back on his order.

• Cuora retreated from the Seaborn after Rosmontis’s shields cleared a path, and Hellagur and Mudrock reinforced the defensive line.
• The Doctor worried that his decision might cost the operators their lives as he struggled to assess the seemingly endless Seaborn advance.
• Amiya spotted Seaborn diving toward the Doctor, but Gladiia intercepted and killed the attackers before they could reach him.
• W bombarded the Seaborn with Originium bombs while Specter fought wildly, anchored by the Doctor’s voice.
• The Doctor ordered Specter to fall back, and she slowly retreated while Gladiia stayed beside him on guard.

Skadi connected to the Seaborn hivemind to discover why they were advancing, but the Sea Gods became obsessed with the blood in her veins and overwhelmed her consciousness. As Amiya attacked the transformed Skadi, a mocking voice and two giants arrived on the battlefield.

• Gladiia threw the Doctor into Skadi's water sphere, and his embrace helped Skadi hold on to herself while she entered the hivemind.
• Skadi learned that the Sea Gods wanted to evolve using the blood in her veins, then watched them merge into a single force that overwhelmed her.
• The water sphere burst, and Skadi emerged as a vessel for the Sea Gods; Gladiia ordered her killed, and Specter attacked her.
• Skadi sent Specter flying and immobilized Gladiia, prompting Amiya to break the ring that sealed her power and unleash an Originium strike.
• Skadi blocked Amiya's attack with floating drops of blood and declared herself the endpoint of evolution, before a mocking voice announced the arrival of two giants.

Leman Russ and Magnus defeated the Seaborn assault on Iberia, capturing Skadi and leaving the Doctor to explain that the sea god controlling the Seaborn had to be confronted at its source. Leman Russ agreed to pursue that solution rather than destroy the Seaborn outright.

• Skadi commanded the ocean to flood the city, but Magnus held the water aloft and Leman Russ charged her.
• Leman Russ struck Skadi and Magnus summoned lightning that destroyed the Seaborn attacking the city.
• The Doctor asked Leman Russ to spare Skadi, and Leman Russ subdued her and sealed her in ice.
• Leman Russ asked the Doctor how to resolve the crisis, and the Doctor said they needed to reach the sea god controlling the Seaborn in the ocean depths.
• The Doctor warned that killing the sea god could leave the Seaborn leaderless and disrupt Terra's marine ecosystems, and Leman Russ agreed to pursue the source instead.

Leman Russ and Magnus took the Doctor, Gladiia, and Skadi into the deep sea to find the Sea God, while Magnus slaughtered the Seaborn in their path. They reached the Sea God’s apparent lair, where Skadi began to emerge and asked them not to attack.

• Leman Russ urged Magnus and the Doctor to head for the Sea God immediately because a greater danger had appeared in the north.
• Gladiia volunteered to guide them, while Magnus restored Amiya’s shattered ring and teased her about the Doctor.
• Magnus carried Leman Russ, the Doctor, Gladiia, and Skadi into the ocean and crushed Seaborn that tried to stop them.
• Gladiia identified a glow in the depths as the Sea God’s dwelling, but the group could not tell which enormous jellyfish was its true body.
• Leman Russ prepared to attack every jellyfish and control their wills, but Skadi touched his armor and said she was coming out.

Leman Russ and Magnus accompanied Skadi through an ancient Seaborn laboratory, where the Doctor deciphered records about the Seaborn and the civilization that created them. The Doctor recognized his connection to that civilization and wondered whether the Primarchs were also contingencies against enemies beyond the stars.

• Leman Russ demanded to know what the Seaborn were, and Skadi led the group through ruins built by their creator.
• The Doctor opened a sealed laboratory door with facial recognition, revealing a colossal tree that Skadi identified as the Growth Sea God.
• The Doctor deciphered the laboratory records and explained that the Seaborn were created as a gift to survive the surveillance of enemies beyond the stars.
• The Doctor said he seemed to have belonged to the previous civilization and asked whether Leman Russ and Magnus were contingencies it had left behind.

The Doctor and the Primarchs arranged for the Seaborn to retreat and fight the fiends, then left Iberia to prepare Terra's nations for the coming threat. Magnus and Leman Russ planned to force the nations into unity, with destruction awaiting those who refused.

• The Doctor and Leman Russ concluded that the Seaborn could not be exterminated and might be sent to fight the fiends, then asked the sea gods to leave Skadi's body.
• Skadi regained control, embraced the Doctor, and expressed her love for him as a new Seaborn avatar formed to communicate with the Primarchs.
• The Seaborn withdrew toward the ocean, and Leman Russ and Magnus discussed the need to confront the fiends before addressing enemies beyond the sky.
• After returning to the coast, the Doctor ordered Rhodes Island to leave Iberia and explained that a greater disaster required their immediate attention.
• Magnus lifted the city's ruins with psychic power to demonstrate the Primarchs' strength, then took everyone aboard as they began traveling to unite Terra's nations by force.

After returning to Rhodes Island with the Doctor and Slippery, Leman Russ and Magnus asked Kal'tsit to explain Terra’s past and the demons. Kal'tsit revealed that the Seaborn were created by the previous civilization and that Terra’s present civilization relied on its remnants, leaving the Primarchs to question the Doctor’s connection to that civilization.

• Magnus brought the operators across Terra in less than an hour, and the Primarchs took the Doctor and Slippery to Rhodes Island.
• Leman Russ and Magnus confirmed to Kal'tsit that the Iberian crisis was resolved and the Seaborn threat was under control, then asked her to discuss the demons and Terra’s past.
• Kal'tsit and Slippery explained that the Seaborn had been created to prepare a habitat for another civilization and became hostile after Aegir researchers captured them and provoked conflict.
• Kal'tsit told the Primarchs that the previous civilization had left behind the Preservers, Star Gates, Paradise Pivot, and Originium, and suggested that they were its projects.
• Magnus suspected that the previous civilization had made the Primarchs to fight the Observers, while Kal'tsit described its goal as reviving that civilization and ensuring its survival.

Kal'tsit revealed the buried history of Terra to Magnus, Leman Russ, the Doctor, and Amiya, including the Doctor's origins and the nature of Originium. Magnus learned that Originium contained the souls of the previous civilization, while the Doctor remained unable to face Amiya or decide what to do with the current civilization.

• Magnus and Leman Russ watched as Amiya entered the room and pressed close to the Doctor, who recoiled from her.
• Kal'tsit recounted that the Doctor was the last surviving member of the previous civilization and that the current civilization had evolved from beasts through Originium.
• Magnus used his psychic power to push Kal'tsit and the others to reveal more of the past, distressing the Doctor and shocking Amiya.
• Kal'tsit revealed that Originium was the condensed consciousness and souls of the previous civilization, and that its use caused industrial pollution and Scourges.
• Magnus wondered whether the Doctor would destroy Terra's current civilization to preserve his own, but the Doctor struggled with his memories and could not meet Magnus's expectations.

After a secret meeting with the Doctor, Kal'tsit, and Amiya, Magnus and Leman Russ used psychic soul-searching to uncover the Doctor’s history and the ancient civilization’s surviving projects. They concluded that the sentimental Doctor was poorly suited to lead the Originium Project, while the operators were left waiting for answers.

• Operators outside the meeting room grew uneasy as they discussed Blaze’s account of Columbia and the Primarchs’ battle against the Seaborn.
• The Doctor, Kal'tsit, and Amiya emerged exhausted, and the Doctor asked the operators to wait until tomorrow before questioning them.
• Magnus and Leman Russ secretly discussed how their psychic search had nearly shattered the trio’s minds.
• Magnus and Leman Russ examined the ancient civilization’s failed Preserver and Deep Blue Tree Projects, and speculated about Heaven’s Fulcrum in Laterano.
• Magnus interpreted Originium as the compressed remnant of the ancient civilization and understood that the Doctor had tried to protect both its plan and Terra’s people.
• Magnus and Leman Russ judged the Doctor too sentimental to bear the burden of reviving the ancient civilization.

After Magnus and Leman Russ decided that overwhelming force would unite Terra against the evil spirits more quickly than diplomacy, they studied the nations’ conditions and prepared to visit them. Magnus created duplicates of the Primarchs, allowing them and Rhodes Island’s operators to set out for every nation at once.

• Magnus altered the Doctor’s, Kal'tsit’s, and Violence’s memories so they no longer recalled discussing the past.
• The Doctor proposed an international conference, but Magnus and Leman Russ chose to visit each nation and demand its cooperation.
• Magnus and Leman Russ reviewed the archives on Terra’s nations and discussed how they might bring each one into the alliance.
• The Doctor assembled a team of Rhodes Island operators to accompany the Primarchs on their visits.
• Magnus created enough Primarch duplicates to travel to every nation, and the groups departed with an ultimatum: obey or die.

Leman Russ and Magnus arrived at the edge of Kazimierz with Rhodes Island operators and learned how the nation was divided between its ruling organizations. They set out toward the mobile city, having identified Kazimierz as the next target to conquer.

• Leman Russ asked Magnus why his avatar felt so weak, and Magnus explained that he had divided their souls among psychic shells to conserve power.
• Leman Russ judged the Pinus Sylvestris knights as young and inexperienced, while recognizing their past efforts to help the Infected.
• Magnus said he needed time to recover after carrying the group through the air, and the operators continued toward the mobile city on foot.
• Blemishine excitedly questioned Magnus about his Originium Arts, and Nearl apologized for her sister's behavior.
• Nearl explained that the National Council governed Kazimierz through the Knights Association, the General Chamber of Commerce, and the Military Commission.
• Leman Russ and Magnus learned that the General Chamber of Commerce and the Military Commission were competing for power, and confirmed Kazimierz as their target.

Leman Russ entered the Grand Arena in Kazimierz and violently defeated the knights sent to arrest him. As Nearl worried about the injured men, Magnus told her Rhodes Island could treat them and said he and Russ would take on the role of villains.

• Magnus asked whether gaining the Commercial Union and Adeptus Sprawiedliwości's support could make all of Kazimierz a reliable ally, and Gravel warned that the country was deeply divided between prosperous cities and poor villages.
• Nearl and Gravel described the Major's unfair treatment of Infected competitors as the group approached the city hosting the knight competitions.
• Magnus suggested that Leman Russ enter the competition, and Russ decided to make a dramatic appearance by descending directly into the arena.
• Leman Russ landed in the Grand Arena, alarming the audience and prompting the Commercial Union's nobles to investigate his identity and contact the Adeptus Sprawiedliwości.
• The arena's knights surrounded Leman Russ and attacked after he ignored their orders, but he froze their crossbow strings and swiftly left them gravely injured.
• Nearl asked Magnus to help the wounded knights, and Magnus told her Rhodes Island could treat them while he and Russ took responsibility for being the bad guys.

Rhodes Island members hurried toward the arena’s center while Leman Russ faced the reinforcements and two prominent knight orders. As Chika led their charge, Leman Russ watched the knights’ Originium Arts and judged their attack slow.

• Rhodes Island members moved toward the arena’s center as the knights surrounded Leman Russ and drones broadcast the confrontation.
• Reinforcements from the Red-Clad and Feathered Knight Orders arrived, prompting spectators to recognize Chika and Had.
• Chika warned Leman Russ to surrender, but Leman Russ beckoned the knights to attack.
• Had cast Rallying Banner while a Red-Clad Knight Order caster used Crimson Flame Garment to strengthen the knights.
• Chika charged at the head of the two knight orders, and Leman Russ considered his speed slow.

Leman Russ easily defeated the Red-Clad and Feathered Knight Orders in the arena while their leaders struggled to reach him. As the Commercial Union summoned more powerful opponents and assassins, Magnus entered its executives’ room to confront them.

• Chika missed his strike at Leman Russ and was kicked aside, while Had’s spear thrust fell short and Leman Russ threw the surrounding knights to the ground.
• Chika repeatedly charged Leman Russ and was knocked down each time, while spectators began to recognize the vast gap in their abilities.
• Leman Russ warned Chika and Had to use their full strength, and the two knight orders stacked Originium Arts buffs as he waited.
• Commercial Union executives discussed Leman Russ’s interference and summoned the Corrupted Knight, the Withered Knight, and Armorless Union assassins to deal with him.
• Magnus appeared in the executives’ room, immobilized the guards, introduced himself as Mag, the Red Knight Mag, and prepared to discuss the Union’s problems.

Magnus forced Kazimierz's merchants into obedience by killing a representative and his family, then ordered them to bring the Adeptus Sprawiedliwości to the arena. Meanwhile, Chika and Had charged Leman Russ, but the Primarch remained far stronger than the inexperienced knights.

• Magnus demanded that the merchants and their country obey him, then killed a representative and his entire family when the man challenged him.
• Magnus chose a frightened merchant as his agent and ordered the merchants to pressure the Adeptus Sprawiedliwości into meeting him within half a day.
• After Magnus vanished, he killed another merchant who spoke against him, and the rest mobilized their influence to make the knights come.
• Chika and Had charged Leman Russ after the knightly orders finished strengthening them, but their attacks could not match his power.

Leman Russ routed the knights who challenged him in the arena, prompting Campaign Knights to confront him. Meanwhile, Commercial Union representatives forced their way toward Ioletta Russell with a threat to sell their Kazimierz assets to Ursus, and Russell summoned the Silver Pegasus Knights as a precaution.

• Leman Russ defeated Chika, Hade, and the other knights in the arena, leaving them gravely injured.
• Campaign Knights leaped into the arena and challenged Leman Russ to defend Kazimierz's honor.
• Commercial Union representatives rushed to the Adeptus Sprawiedliwości castle and attacked a guard when he tried to stop them.
• Ioletta Russell learned that the Commercial Union threatened to sell its Kazimierz assets to Ursus if she refused to meet its representatives.
• Russell ordered a knight squad to summon the Silver Pegasus Knights while she prepared to question the representatives.

Russell learned that several major commercial families had been massacred and placed Kazimierz on wartime alert, suspecting Sarkaz involvement. At the arena, Leman Russ and Magnus awaited the arriving knights as they prepared to force Kazimierz to unite against the coming northern threat.

• Merchant representatives pleaded with Russell to hurry to the arena, and a trusted knight reported that the Kobos Family, the Deyilan Family, and the Hogg Family had been wiped out.
• After reviewing the gruesome reports, Russell ordered a citywide wartime alert and summoned expeditionary knight orders, while suspecting the Sarkaz might be responsible.
• Leman Russ defeated every knight who challenged him, and Rhodes Island operators treated the survivors as Nearl questioned how hard he had fought.
• Magnus told Leman Russ that he had contacted Kazimierz's highest leadership and expected their cooperation, while Leman Russ accepted that stubborn opponents might have to be executed.
• As alarms rang and the arena was surrounded by approaching forces, Leman Russ told Nearl that violence might be needed to unite Kazimierz against a disaster from the north.