Chapter Summaries

Leman Russ secured the portal and prepared to conquer the world while trying to honor The Emperor’s wish to preserve it. He led a rapid reconnaissance force toward a devastated city, unaware that Ainz had hidden the Great Tomb and left a fake one as a decoy.

• Leman Russ reflected on the ravaged land and on The Emperor’s cryptic words about his Warp essence and the world beyond the gate.
• Leman Russ ordered the Titan Legion to guard the portal and limit its destructive firepower so the world would not be ruined.
• The Adeptus Mechanicus installed a powerful Void Shield around the portal, and Leman Russ left a trusted commander in charge of its defense.
• Leman Russ assembled Space Wolves on combat bikes and running Warhound Titans for a quick reconnaissance mission.
• Leman Russ’s force crossed the grasslands and spotted a devastated city whose architecture resembled that of a human feudal era.

Leman Russ entered a ruined city where Demiurge had gathered millions of people to summon thousands of Dark Young and crush the Imperium’s forces. Russ slaughtered the monsters, tracked down and killed Demiurge, then forced open a portal back to the city.

• Leman Russ ordered the Space Wolves to burn the dying people in the city, then confronted Jaldabaoth’s phantom as Demiurge began his ritual.
• Demiurge cast “Tribute to the Black Goat Mother Goddess,” summoning thousands of Dark Young by sacrificing the city’s inhabitants.
• Leman Russ destroyed the Dark Young with the Wolf Blade while the Space Wolves and Warhound Titans fought the remaining monsters.
• Leman Russ warned Jaldabaoth’s phantom that he had found Demiurge, then pursued him through a portal after Demiurge teleported away.
• Leman Russ killed Demiurge with the Wolf Blade and pried open a narrow portal to return to the city.

Leman Russ questioned Slane Theocracy survivors about magic and the political history of the world. After learning that the Sorcerer Kingdom had only begun its conquest and that the Empire had aided the Great Tomb, he decided how the Imperium of Man should deal with the human nations and demi-humans.

• Leman Russ corrected the priests who called him a god and asked about the magic left in their damaged library.
• A priest explained the tiers of magic and said the Slane Theocracy had once possessed more powerful spells.
• The priest recounted how the Six Great Gods founded the Slane Theocracy and described the surrounding human and demi-human nations.
• Leman Russ compared the priest's fears of heteromorphs with past human exploitation he had witnessed during the Great Crusade.
• Leman Russ decided to show mercy to the Kingdom, massacre the Empire for aiding the Great Tomb, and examine demi-humans before judging them.

Leman Russ led the Imperium’s campaign through the Slane Theocracy, sent troops to bombard the undead-infested Katze Plains, and prepared to attack the Sorcerer Kingdom. At the survivors’ camp, a gene priest announced that forest elves had been classified as acceptable demi-humans, shocking the humans who had expected them to be treated as enemies.

• Leman Russ sent the Slane Theocracy priests toward Imperium positions and asked the Space Wolves about their magic practice.
• Leman Russ gathered an army, left troops to guard the gate, and planned to march north against the Sorcerer Kingdom.
• Leman Russ left five thousand men and eight Knight mechs to clear the Katze Plains of undead.
• Slane Theocracy survivors watched the artillery bombardment and speculated that the Imperium’s positions were magic circles.
• A gene priest brought forest elves to Squad 22133 and gave the squad leader a document classifying them as demi-humans permitted to live under the Imperium of Man’s system.

Leman Russ prepared to conquer the Sorcerer Kingdom and arrived at E-Rantel, where his army breached the city wall. The nobles mistook his surrender demand for a test from Lord Ainz and chose to resist as the Imperium approached.

• Leman Russ reviewed the many xenos and demi-human species in the world and planned to destroy the Sorcerer Kingdom before advancing east.
• The nobles in E-Rantel noticed the Sorcerer Kingdom's inhuman residents had disappeared and speculated about why they had left.
• A Thunderhawk gunship bombarded E-Rantel's wall, then dropped leaflets demanding that the city's defenders surrender to the Imperium of Man.
• The nobles dismissed Leman Russ's warning as a test from Lord Ainz and ordered the soldiers to defend E-Rantel against the approaching army.

The Imperium of Man seized E-Rantel, while Ainz tried to persuade the Platinum Dragon Lord that the Imperium posed a greater threat to the world. He showed the dragon a vision of Carne Village, where Space Wolves were preparing to attack.

• Space Wolves broke through E-Rantel’s defenses and took control of the Sorcerer Kingdom’s capital.
• Albedo told Ainz about the loss, and Ainz explained that the Imperium had been misled by his fake Great Tomb.
• Aura brought the Platinum Dragon Lord to the Throne Room, where Ainz asked to form an alliance against the Imperium.
• Ainz claimed the Imperium intended to kill every nonhuman and showed the Platinum Dragon Lord a crystal vision of Carne Village.
• A Space Wolves captain condemned the villagers for living alongside goblins and ordered his warriors to charge with their chainswords.

As the Space Wolves attacked Carne Village, Enri organized the villagers’ evacuation while the goblin defenders tried to stop the advancing Space Marines. The Space Wolves crushed the goblin cavalry, and the goblin strategist prepared a magical bombardment as the wooden wall’s fall seemed inevitable.

• The village alarm sounded, and Enri and Nfirea hurried outside as she ordered the villagers to shelter.
• Enri reassured herself that Ainz had a plan and that the goblins would hold off the attackers.
• Goblin longbowmen fired at the charging Space Wolves, but their arrows could not penetrate the power armor.
• The goblin wolf cavalry charged to intercept the Space Wolves, and their commander challenged the Space Wolves captain.
• The captain killed the goblin knight commander and the wolf cavalry without slowing the Space Wolves’ advance.
• The goblin strategist ordered the five-man magic bombardment squad to prepare, accepting that it might hit their own allies.

The Space Wolves crushed Carne Village’s goblin defenders and executed the villagers who remained loyal to Ainz. After witnessing the massacre, Platinum Dragon Lord joined hands with Ainz and asked to learn about primordial magic.

• The Space Wolves stormed Carne Village’s walls, and the goblin mages blasted them with a massive fireball.
• The Space Wolves defeated the goblin heavy infantry and fatally wounded the Goblin Paladin Captain, who defended Lord Ainz to the end.
• The Space Wolves executed the village’s demi-humans and burned Enri and the villagers after Enri condemned their slaughter.
• The Space Wolf captain led his squad away from Carne Village to hunt Ainz’s loyalists, leaving the village in ruins.
• Platinum Dragon Lord lowered his guard and clasped Ainz’s hand, then asked to learn the principles behind primordial magic.

Ainz tried to earn the Platinum Dragon Lord’s trust by giving him the Tear of the Light Goddess and revealing a captive Space Wolf, whose soul might help unlock Wild Magic. He began explaining how he deduced that Imperium soldiers had unusually strong souls, starting with Demiurge’s death at Leman Russ’s hands.

• Ainz gave the Platinum Dragon Lord the Tear of the Light Goddess and invited him to use it if he remained suspicious.
• Ainz led the Platinum Dragon Lord to Nazarick’s prison and showed him a mutilated but living Space Wolf captive.
• Ainz revealed that Nazarick had captured Imperium soldiers and Space Marines, including some trapped inside the Depiction of Nature and Society.
• Ainz told the Platinum Dragon Lord that Space Marines possessed unusually tough souls that could potentially help defeat the Imperium of Man.
• Ainz began explaining his deduction, describing how levels and class levels worked in the New World and how Lana’s levels had changed after she pledged Loyalty to him.

Ainz investigated how the Imperium’s forces used magic and concluded that their souls enabled it, then persuaded the Platinum Dragon Lord to help him gather souls through a world-spanning war. The Platinum Dragon Lord agreed to prepare for war, and Ainz learned that Princess Lana had been burned alive after E-Rantel fell.

• Ainz discovered that Imperium auxiliary soldiers could cast low-tier magic and that a Space Wolf could use fifth-tier magic, despite lacking the levels and mana that supported spellcasting in his world.
• Ainz and the Platinum Dragon Lord concluded that the Imperium’s soldiers drew their magical power from their souls, and the Platinum Dragon Lord extracted the Space Wolf’s soul to examine it.
• Ainz proposed provoking a war across the world to collect the fallen’s souls and use Wild Magic against the Imperium’s invasion.
• The Platinum Dragon Lord accepted Ainz’s plan and left to prepare his forces for war.
• Ainz asked Albedo about Princess Lana, and she told him that Leman Russ had burned Lana and her knight alive after capturing them.

Leman Russ completed the Imperium of Man’s takeover of the former Re-Estize Kingdom while searching for Ainz and purging threats. He exposed Princess Lana as a xenos, killed her and Climb, and left the conquered capital under the Imperium’s rule.

• A Space Wolves captain reported that the Imperium had secured the former Kingdom’s territory but found no trace of Ainz, and Leman Russ ordered the nobles removed and order restored.
• Leman Russ reviewed his fruitless search for Ainz, including the destruction of Eight Fingers and his inquiries about the black-armored knight and Jaldabaoth.
• Leman Russ confronted Princess Lana at the royal palace, recognized her as a xenos, and rejected her attempts to delay the Imperium’s rule.
• Leman Russ exposed Lana’s demonic form and sentenced her to death, then killed Climb when he charged to defend her.
• Lana attacked Leman Russ after Climb died, and Leman Russ broke her limbs before soldiers burned her alive with Promethium flamethrowers.

Leman Russ sent Astrologer Thousand Miles to The Emperor as a gift, and her account of the Slane Theocracy revealed a stable, orderly form of magic that The Emperor hoped could help reshape the Warp. The chapter ended with The Emperor preparing to punish Magnus for his dangerous dealings with Warp creatures.

• Leman Russ said he would visit the Imperium to learn about its magic-users and confirmed that his gift had passed through the portal.
• Astrologer Thousand Miles met The Emperor but panicked until Magnus calmed her.
• The Emperor and Malcador discussed the risk of rebellion, with The Emperor suspecting Roboute Guilliman could lead it.
• Astrologer Thousand Miles described the Slane Theocracy, its invasion by the Sorcerer Kingdom, and its rescue by the Imperium.
• The Emperor examined Astrologer Thousand Miles's soul and spellbook, then ordered Valdor to take her away.
• The Emperor confronted Magnus over his Warp explorations and struck him as punishment.

Leman Russ interrogated Jircniv about Ainz and the Great Tomb of Nazarick, then spared him after deciding he could help govern the Empire. Jircniv gave Russ a ring from Ainz that revealed a familiar magical trace, providing a clue to the Sorcerer King’s whereabouts.

• Fluder worshiped Leman Russ after watching him learn and cast a seventh-tier spell, while Russ demanded that Jircniv explain what he knew about Ainz.
• Jircniv asked Russ to spare his subjects and offered to tell him everything, and Russ agreed to protect civilians who obeyed the Imperium of Man.
• Jircniv said Nazarick was hidden on the eastern plains of the Tob Forest, but Russ insisted nothing was there and suspected Ainz had fled east.
• Jircniv gave Russ a ring Ainz had gifted him, and Russ sensed a magical trace like the one from Jaldabaoth.
• Jircniv thought Russ was about to kill him, but Russ ordered a Tech-Priest to take him away.

Leman Russ consolidated the human nations of the western continent under the Imperium of Man and prepared to advance east. As ancient threats emerged from failing seals, he learned the dragonkind were deliberately unleashing them to slow the Imperium while Ainz gathered alien nations for war.

• Leman Russ had Jircniv taken away for conversion into a servitor and killed Fluder, whose soul belonged to Ainz.
• Leman Russ brought the Holy Kingdom and Draconic Kingdom under his control, executing Ainz-worshipping cultists and sending Dragon Queen Draudillon to the portal base.
• By the third week, Leman Russ had unified the western human nations, but the region could supply food rather than weapons and ammunition.
• Monstrosities and demons emerged as ancient seals failed, causing heavy casualties before local forces and Space Wolves contained them.
• The Slane Theocracy's survivors identified the dragonkind as responsible for the failing seals, and the Platinum Dragon Lord used the disasters to buy time for Ainz's forces to mobilize.
• The Platinum Dragon Lord heard the Dragon Emperor's voice.

The Platinum Dragon Lord tried to buy time for the True Dragon Lords to gather while the Imperium fought a vast enchanted tree. At the Emperor’s throne, Draudillon described her kingdom and revealed that her Wild Magic consumed souls, provoking the Emperor’s sudden response.

• The Platinum Dragon Lord flew to another sealed location to delay the Imperium until the True Dragon Lords and the Dragon Emperor arrived.
• Leman Russ destroyed the giant tree’s amber heart, killing it, and cursed the one who had broken the seals.
• Magnus questioned Draudillon before the Emperor, who judged her too weak to be a priority threat.
• Draudillon introduced herself as Queen of the Draconic Kingdom and mourned that her kingdom had become a provisional administrative zone.
• Magnus asked Draudillon about magic, and she began explaining that Wild Magic consumed souls.
• The Emperor flashed beside Draudillon and demanded to know whether her magic was cast by consuming souls.

The Emperor learned that Wild Magic could consume millions of souls and draw the Warp gods’ attention, and he chose Angron to help Leman Russ after discovering resurrection magic. Meanwhile, Leman Russ continued suppressing sealed monsters and organizing local forces in the occupied territory.

• Draudillon revealed that Wild Magic included an apocalyptic spell fueled by over a million souls, so the Emperor searched her soul for further information.
• The Emperor and Malcador decided to accelerate the campaign and summon Angron, after the Emperor found a spell that could resurrect the dead and hoped it might save his child.
• Leman Russ fought numerous sealed monsters, while a Reaver Titan destroyed the Dragon Lord of Destruction and its undead army near the portal.
• Leman Russ continued organizing local forces equipped with bulletproof armor and Lasguns as he prepared for the sealed monsters to run out.

Leman Russ trained hastily assembled militia while Angron’s fleet arrived in the star system, where Perturabo’s defenses guarded a valuable secret. Angron entered The Emperor’s chamber, and The Emperor warned Draudillon that she would pay if her resurrection magic failed to heal his son’s injuries.

• An Auxilia sergeant drilled adventurer militiamen by ordering them to shoot living targets loyal to Ainz, exposing tensions between recruits from different lands.
• Leman Russ received The Emperor’s message that a Primarch and his Legion would come to assist him, but he did not expect Angron.
• Angron’s fleet reached the star system, and he ordered Lotara to tell Perturabo to clear a path through the defenses.
• Perturabo let Angron’s fleet pass through his defensive line and watched it head toward the golden-glowing planet.
• The Emperor warned Draudillon that he would punish her world if her resurrection magic failed to heal Angron, who then entered the chamber with his honor guard.
• Angron stared at The Emperor without greeting him, while Valdor watched Angron with displeasure.

The Emperor killed Angron and sent his body and the World Eaters through the portal so Draudillon could attempt resurrection magic while he contained Angron’s Warp essence. Khârn arrived in the other world believing the Emperor had exiled them, then fainted after Leman Russ struck him for cursing the Emperor.

• The Emperor decided to kill Angron, restrain his Warp essence, and send his corpse through the portal for resurrection.
• The Emperor snapped Angron’s neck, seized his escaping Warp essence, removed the Butcher’s Nails, and placed a letter in Angron’s arms.
• Khârn and the World Eaters mourned Angron, and the Emperor pushed them through the portal after Khârn challenged him.
• Draudillon followed the World Eaters through the portal, hoping her resurrection magic would work on Angron.
• Khârn reached the other world, clung to Angron’s corpse, and mistook Leman Russ’s arrival as proof that the Emperor had also exiled the Space Wolves.
• Khârn cursed the Emperor, and Leman Russ struck him unconscious while scolding him.

Leman Russ learned that The Emperor had killed Angron, then discovered Draudillon had returned with Angron’s brain fragment to resurrect him. Angron revived without the Butcher’s Nails and mistook the afterlife for hell, leaving Leman Russ to reassure him.

• Leman Russ angrily questioned the World Eaters about Angron’s death and refused to believe that The Emperor had killed his brother.
• Draudillon returned with a fragment of Angron’s brain, and Leman Russ accused her of causing Angron’s death.
• Draudillon explained that The Emperor had sent her to resurrect Angron, and Leman Russ ordered her to cast the spell.
• Draudillon used resurrection magic to revive Angron, while Leman Russ and the World Eaters watched.
• Angron woke free of the Butcher’s Nails, cursed The Emperor, and asked Leman Russ whether they had both died and gone to hell.

After Draudillon resurrected Angron, Angron discovered he could move only his head and began reflecting on his past and his responsibility for his suffering. He ordered Jheus to remove the imitation Butcher’s Nails from the World Eaters and agreed to help Leman Russ manage the governed territories.

• Draudillon explained that his resurrection magic had revived only part of Angron’s body, and Angron asked Leman Russ to bring Khârn or another son to him.
• Angron recognized Jheus and instructed him to remove the imitation Butcher’s Nails from his head.
• Angron reflected on his life, blaming his own weakness and compromises alongside the Aeldari and the Butcher’s Nails for what had happened to him.
• Angron ordered Jheus to remove the imitation Butcher’s Nails from the other World Eaters, telling them they should not suffer because of his choices.
• Angron entrusted his sons to Leman Russ and agreed to handle administrative affairs while Leman Russ focused on battle.