Chapter Summaries

Leman Russ and Magnus interrupted the Kazimierz tournament to warn Grand Knight Russell to fight the Scourges, but Russell mistook Magnus for a Sarkaz invader and attacked him. The Silverlance Pegasi arrived to rescue her, and Magnus challenged Russell to obey them if he and Leman Russ defeated the knights.

• Leman Russ destroyed the drone swarm while Russell demanded an explanation from Rhodes Island for disrupting the tournament.
• Magnus appeared beside Russell and told her Kazimierz had to follow their orders and fight the Scourges.
• Russell mistook Magnus for a Sarkaz assassin, attacked him with her sword, and Magnus restrained her with psychic power.
• A Silverlance Pegasi knight attacked Magnus with a silver lance and demanded that he release Russell.
• Magnus summoned Leman Russ, and the brothers assessed the Silverlance Pegasi as more than a hundred knights gathered in formation.
• Magnus asked Russell whether she would obey them if they defeated the knights, prompting the Silverlance Pegasi to threaten the brothers.

Platinum watched Leman Russ and Magnus face the Silverlance Pegasi, whose coordinated Originium Arts turned the fight into a full-scale charge. As the knights attacked, the Primarchs prepared to defeat them decisively while Magnus promised to handle the aftermath.

• Platinum observed the Silverlance Pegasi and wondered whether their formation could challenge Leman Russ and Magnus.
• Three Silverlance Pegasi attacked the Primarchs, but Leman Russ evaded one knight while Magnus seized another with psychic power.
• A knight called for the Silverlance Pegasi to form a battle formation and rescue the Grand Knight Commander.
• The Silverlance Pegasi linked their Originium Arts and charged as Kazimierz’s citizens watched in fear.
• Magnus told Leman Russ to crush the knights and promised their deaths would not end their lives, and Leman Russ met the charge amid wind, frost, and cold.

Leman Russ and Magnus slaughtered the Silverlance Pegasi Knights as they tried to stop the Primarchs, until Margaret Nearl intervened and challenged them. Leman Russ defeated Nearl, Magnus restrained Blemishine, and the surviving knights were killed, leaving Russell despairing over Kazimierz’s fate.

• Leman Russ killed dozens of Silverlance Pegasi Knights while Magnus stood by and protected Russell from the flying debris.
• Margaret Nearl arrived and demanded to know why Leman Russ was slaughtering the knights, while Magnus argued that violence was the fastest way to unite Kazimierz against its threat.
• Nearl refused to let the Primarchs continue and declared that she acted on her own decision, so Leman Russ struck her and shattered Radiant Sunblade.
• Blemishine charged at the Primarchs after Nearl was thrown away, but Magnus restrained her and told Leman Russ to finish off the knights.
• Leman Russ killed the remaining Silverlance Pegasi Knights, and Russell watched in despair as she imagined Kazimierz’s doom.

Magnus forced Russell to submit by showing her the horror of the demons and making Leman Russ slaughter and restore Kazimierz’s knights. Nearl then asked what cooperation would mean, and Leman Russ explained that Kazimierz’s population would be mobilized for war until victory or death.

• Leman Russ slaughtered the Silverlance Pegasi and terrorized the people of Kazimierz until Russell begged him to stop.
• Magnus restored the street and the shattered knights with psychic power, but warned Russell that their bodies would collapse again if he withdrew it.
• Magnus demanded loyalty and obedience from Russell, then showed her memories of the demons and the devastation they caused.
• Nearl asked Leman Russ what work Kazimierz would do if it cooperated with the Primarchs.
• Leman Russ said Kazimierz’s people would be assigned to battle, factories, or logistics, and would not rest until the war was won.

Leman Russ warned Nearl about the horrors of the northern Demons, while Magnus forced Kazimierz into an alliance with Rhodes Island and began reshaping the nation for war. The chapter ended with Kazimierz subdued and neighboring city-states bound by similar defense alliances.

• Leman Russ described the Demons’ atrocities to Nearl, who returned to the Rhodes Island operators convinced that fewer than one in a hundred people across Terra would survive.
• Russell agreed to represent Kazimierz in an alliance, and Magnus brought her before the Commercial Union’s leaders to secure their cooperation.
• The Commercial Union and the Adeptus Sprawiedliwości suppressed protests and resistance, binding Kazimierz to the Rhodes Island–Kazimierz Mutual Defense Alliance.
• Leman Russ stopped Magnus from turning Kazimierzians into servitors, so Magnus used Chaos Spawn and psychic displays to terrorize the city while winning survivors’ worship.
• The Primarchs drafted conscription and resource plans, and fleeing Kazimierzians found that neighboring mobile city-states enforced similar laws and posted their own Rhodes Island mutual defense alliances.

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.