Chapter Summaries

Lion fought Magnus aboard the Ark of Will, but Magnus’s psychic power and regeneration kept him at a disadvantage. As Magnus prepared a devastating attack, Angron burst into the corridor and charged at him, turning the confrontation into a three-way battle.

• Lion confronted Magnus over his betrayal and attacked him with the Fealty Greatsword and Emperor’s Shield.
• Magnus used psychic attacks, restraints, and regeneration to suppress Lion and taunted him to surrender.
• Lion felt powerless and heard a Chaos god tempt him with greater power, but he resisted the whisper and refocused on the fight.
• Magnus gathered enough psychic power to destroy the corridor as Lion’s defenses weakened.
• Angron smashed through the starship’s defenses, entered the corridor, and charged at Magnus while also locking onto Lion.

Magnus broke through Lion's defenses and attacked the medical sector, where the Hilling mechs and Dark Angels slowed him until the Doom Slayer emerged from a Warp rift and struck him down. As the Doom Slayer and the White Scars engaged Magnus and the daemons, Angron charged toward the new battle, leaving Lion with a moment of relief.

• Angron overwhelmed Lion with his chainaxe and daemon sword while Magnus used the distraction to rush toward the medical sector.
• Magnus attacked the Hilling mech warriors, Dark Angels, and corridor defenses, then opened a Warp rift to summon daemons.
• Terrified daemons fled the rift as the Doom Slayer and a company of White Scars emerged from it.
• The Doom Slayer blasted through Magnus's psychic defenses and hurled him into a corridor wall.
• The Doom Slayer attacked the injured Magnus while the White Scars cut through the daemons.
• Angron abandoned his fight with Lion and charged toward the Doom Slayer and Magnus, easing the pressure on Lion.

Luke ordered the Hilling heavy armored mech warriors to hold position while Doom Slayer joined the battle against Magnus and Angron aboard the Forerunner flagship. The chapter ended with Doom Slayer and Angron clashing as Lion El'Jonson kept Magnus from casting, while the passage and ship defenses buckled around them.

• Luke saw the battle worsening and ordered the Hilling heavy armored mech warriors not to interfere while they guarded him.
• Doom Slayer blasted Magnus away and relentlessly suppressed him with close-range attacks.
• Angron charged Doom Slayer and accidentally struck Magnus with Samni'arius before turning his attack on Doom Slayer.
• Doom Slayer met Angron's Spinegrinder with his warhammer, and their collision overloaded defenses and damaged the passage.
• Doom Slayer and Angron resumed their brutal fight as Magnus tried to attack Doom Slayer from behind.
• Lion El'Jonson interrupted Magnus's spell and forced him back into close combat while the flagship's structure trembled.

As Lion fell to Magnus and the Dark Angels charged to defend him, Angron was hurled into Magnus by Doom Slayer. Magnus saw Angron as his only chance to keep Doom Slayer occupied and launched a psychic spear at him as Angron charged again.

• Luke ordered the flagship to isolate the battle zone and activate its spatial stabilization field.
• Magnus changed tactics against Lion, wounded him with a psychic lightning strike, and sent the Dark Angels and Ezekiel flying when they attacked.
• Angron crashed into Magnus after Doom Slayer battered him, then rose and charged Doom Slayer with his broken weapons.
• Magnus concluded that Angron was the only obstacle preventing Doom Slayer from turning on him and hurled a psychic spear at Doom Slayer.

Magnus’s psychic spear helped Angron break Doom Slayer’s armor, but the armor’s destruction unleashed Doom Slayer’s Annihilation Mode. After crushing Angron and striking down Magnus, Doom Slayer turned toward Lion, Luke, and the Dark Angels, leaving them frozen in fear.

• Magnus pierced Doom Slayer’s armor with a psychic spear, allowing Angron to smash him down and batter his helmet apart.
• Luke ordered the Dark Angels to retreat, lower their weapons, and suppress all hostility while Lion obeyed.
• Doom Slayer awakened in Annihilation Mode, crushed Angron’s hands, tore off his arms, and battered him into the wreckage.
• Luke told Lion that Doom Slayer’s armor restrained his destructive will and that the Crystal Cross badges marked allies as friendly.
• Doom Slayer struck Magnus through the chest and sent him crashing into the wreckage.
• Doom Slayer faced Lion, Luke, and the Dark Angels, who stood paralyzed by fear as daemons moaned beneath the rubble.

Doom Slayer approached Lion, but the Crystal Cross badge on Lion's arm briefly disrupted his destructive intent and he turned toward Magnus instead. Magnus used Tzeentch's power to attack and escape through a Warp rift, but Doom Slayer seized his leg before Magnus severed it and vanished; Doom Slayer then turned his attention toward Angron.

• Luke stopped Lion and the Dark Angels from provoking Doom Slayer, who scanned Lion and briefly paused at the Crystal Cross badge.
• Doom Slayer turned toward the ruins, where Magnus, empowered by Tzeentch, unleashed a destructive torrent against him.
• Magnus forced open a Warp rift and tried to escape while Doom Slayer resisted the attack.
• Doom Slayer seized Magnus's ankle, but Magnus severed his own leg and escaped as the rift closed.
• Doom Slayer crushed Magnus's severed leg and looked toward Angron.

Luke stopped Doom Slayer from killing Angron and used the Crystal Cross badge to restore Doom Slayer’s control. Doom Slayer agreed to take Angron to Terra, then reassembled his armor and charged back into the battle aboard the flagship.

• Doom Slayer prepared to crush Angron’s head, while Angron closed his eye with a peaceful smile.
• Luke used the Force to halt Doom Slayer and argued that Angron should be taken to Terra for questioning.
• Luke placed the Crystal Cross badge in Doom Slayer’s hand, and its light calmed and restructured him.
• Doom Slayer agreed to spare Angron and take him back to Terra, then studied Lion El'Jonson before turning away.
• Doom Slayer summoned and reassembled his armor, then charged into the corridors to attack the Chaos forces.
• Lion supported the weakened Luke and looked down at the tranquil, shattered Angron as the flagship’s battle continued.

After Doom Slayer and the allied forces defeated the daemon armies, Lion ordered the battered fleet to seek repairs and return to Terra while Luke accepted treatment. At the Great Rift, Kieran trapped Khorne’s projection in a time loop until the Emperor’s warning drove the Blood God to withdraw.

• Doom Slayer rejoined the battle and efficiently eliminated the leaderless Chaos forces as Lion surveyed the devastation and heard that more than three-quarters of the fleet had been lost.
• The White Scars reported to Lion that they had found no trace of the Khan, and Lion then urged Luke to receive professional treatment for his condition.
• Lion ordered surviving vessels to tow damaged ships toward a Forge World and sent the rest of the fleet toward Terra.
• Kieran trapped Khorne’s projection in a repeating time loop when it descended on the Great Rift battlefield to challenge the strongest fighters.
• The Emperor’s golden radiance warned Khorne, who withdrew his projection and power from the battlefield.

After the battle at the Great Rift, Kieran revealed that he had been ordered to establish a Super God Academy in the star system and set out for Terra to negotiate its location. He arrived on Mars, where He Xi was advancing new technologies with the Adeptus Mechanicus and Belisarius Cawl arranged for Roboute Guilliman to meet him.

• After the Chaos threat ended, Kieran told Kesha that the Supreme Wisdom had ordered him to establish a Super God Academy in the star system near Holy Terra.
• Carl asked Kesha about Liang Bing, and Kesha said Liang Bing was on Terra and had fallen out with the Supreme Wisdom.
• Kieran opened a spatial gateway and led Carl and the Mighty Warriors to a Forge Temple on Mars.
• Kieran arrived during He Xi's experiments, startling the Adeptus Mechanicus magi, who welcomed him with reverence.
• He Xi reported progress on quantum communication and micro-wormhole technology, and Belisarius Cawl said Roboute Guilliman was coming to meet Kieran.

Kieran, Guilliman, Sanguinius, and Horus agreed to establish the Super God Academy’s branch campus on Ultramar’s Star of Knowledge Seekers, with Legion quotas and representatives. The meeting was interrupted by Lion arriving with the captured Angron and a badly corrupted Luke, whom He Xi took to her laboratory for urgent examination.

• Guilliman proposed the Star of Knowledge Seekers in Ultramar as the branch campus site, and Sanguinius accepted after securing guarantees against regional barriers and talent monopolization.
• Horus proposed priority trainee quotas and permanent Legion representatives, and Guilliman agreed to the initial framework.
• Lion El'Jonson burst into the conference area with Angron imprisoned in a force-field cage and said Angron’s fate would be decided before the Emperor.
• Lion asked He Xi to treat Luke Skywalker, whose worsening black markings showed severe corruption.
• He Xi scanned Luke, then took him to her private laboratory for a thorough examination.

Lion challenged the decision to build the Super God Academy branch in Ultramar, then asked Kieran how he could grow stronger. Kieran revealed the Paths and their potential for ascension, leaving Lion newly determined and Guilliman pledging to prioritize the academy’s construction.

• Lion questioned Guilliman’s decision to establish the academy branch in Ultramar, but accepted it after Sanguinius and Horus supported the choice.
• Lion asked Kieran for guidance on overcoming his sense of inadequacy and improving his power.
• Kieran used the Great Clock to analyze Lion and advised him to develop his innate nature, while cautioning against grafting on the Force.
• Kieran explained that practicing a Path could grant its power, earn a C’tan’s recognition, and potentially lead to godhood; he said the Hilling Empire knew eighteen active Paths.
• Lion resolved to consider Kieran’s advice, and Guilliman ordered the Star of Knowledge Seekers to receive the highest construction priority.

He Xi explained that Luke’s pain came from a remnant of Void power and advised him to rest, but he refused to leave before his mission was complete. Guilliman then invited Kieran and Carl to Terra, where Perturabo arrived with Mortarion in chains, and the group prepared to meet the Emperor.

• He Xi said Luke was recovering as his Light and Dark Side of the Force merged, while a trace of Void power caused his symptoms and could become an opportunity for him.
• He Xi advised Luke to return to the Hilling Empire and rest in a hibernation pod, but Luke insisted on staying to finish his mission.
• Guilliman said Angron had to be taken to Terra to meet the Emperor, and Carl proposed that she and Kieran travel there to see Liang Bing and pay their respects.
• Perturabo entered with Mortarion in chains, examined Angron in the force-field cage, and expressed pity at his broken state.
• Perturabo revealed that he had used Mortarion as a punching bag and praised He Xi’s tactical insights, then said he wanted to test them against Dorn.
• Guilliman invited Kieran and Carl to accompany the group to meet the Emperor.

Kieran and his companions met the Emperor in a golden spiritual realm, where he approved Guilliman’s plans and urged him to seek help for Angron. The Emperor then revealed his decision to entrust humanity’s future to the Hilling Empire, which he believed was connected to ancient Huaxia.

• The Emperor drew Kieran, Carl, the Mighty Warriors, and the primarchs into his spiritual realm and welcomed them.
• The Emperor approved establishing a Super God Academy branch in Ultramar and told Guilliman to entrust Angron to Lady He Xi for help.
• Kieran led his companions out of the spiritual realm, leaving Guilliman and the other primarchs with the Emperor.
• Guilliman reported on the Primarch Collection Plan and the Imperium Reform Plan, and the Emperor authorized him to proceed.
• The Emperor proposed that the Imperium entrust its future to the Hilling Empire and join its Ascension Plan.
• The Emperor revealed that the Hilling Empire might continue ancient Huaxia, whose civilization had mysteriously vanished from Terra.

Liang Bing used Kieran’s Great Clock and Rena’s stellar energy to correct Terra’s corrupted physical laws and restore its oceans. The planet’s missing concepts were returned to baseline, leaving Guilliman and the Imperium’s leaders stunned by the transformation.

• Guilliman led Kieran and the others to Liang Bing’s laboratory, where she explained that Terra’s altered rules prevented oceans and other natural systems from functioning.
• Liang Bing asked Kieran to lend her the Great Clock so she could repair Terra’s underlying physical constants, and Carl shared the necessary permissions.
• The Great Clock began correcting Terra’s rules but faced intense resistance and a rapidly growing energy deficit.
• Liang Bing persuaded Rena to provide stellar energy, and Rena produced a miniature sun that powered the Great Clock.
• The Great Clock restored Terra’s fundamental constants, and water flowed into its dry basins to form new oceans.

Liang Bing restored Terra’s oceans and atmosphere, then warned the Imperium’s leaders that its corrupted gene pool remained a grave danger. Guilliman decided to have Angron reborn with a Mind Cube, and Carl secured approval for a new supply, though it still awaited review.

• Liang Bing repaired Terra’s basic rules, and its oceans, algae, and atmosphere began to recover.
• Liang Bing warned Guilliman and the other leaders that the Imperium’s genetic modifications and polluted hive populations threatened humanity.
• Liang Bing examined the captured Angron and proposed killing and reviving him with a Mind Cube so he could be freed from his implants and daemonization.
• Guilliman chose Liang Bing’s plan over sending Angron to He Xi, and Lion and Sanguinius supported the decision.
• Carl contacted Bubble, who approved a Mind Cube request and submitted it to the Imperium Strategic Treasury for review.
• Liang Bing asked Carl to send the Mind Cubes once approval came through, while Guilliman and the others wondered whether Angron would be reborn.

Hua Wei authorized Bubble to approve resource requests, and Liang Bing used Mind Cubes and Lifeweave to resurrect Angron in a new female body. Horus demonstrated how Mind Cube power could create weapons, leaving Perturabo envious but unwilling to undergo gender transformation.

• Hua Wei granted Bubble autonomous authority to allocate resources costing up to one million emotion points without further reporting.
• Bubble approved Carl's Mind Cube request, and Liang Bing used the cubes to prepare Lifeweave for Angron's resurrection.
• Horus created a heavy bolter from Mind Cube power and fired repeatedly until Angron died completely.
• The Mind Cube captured Angron's soul, and Liang Bing used Lifeweave to reconstruct her as a woman.
• Sanguinius teased Perturabo about transforming to gain Horus's weapon-creating ability, but Perturabo refused despite his envy.

After Angron was reborn with a stable body and calm mind, she rejected war and chose a peaceful life on Terra. Meanwhile, Pandora and the Void Dragon traveled to a distant battlefield, where Pandora sent Iglanias ahead to investigate a clash between Tyranids and Necrons.

• Angron awoke from the Lifeweave platform, remembered her past, and accepted her rebirth without anger.
• Angron told the Primarchs she wanted to leave warfare behind and live quietly; Guilliman promised she could stay on Terra.
• Liang Bing, Kieran, and Carl left the laboratory, while Guilliman and the others explained the Imperium's state to Angron.
• Pandora and the Void Dragon reached the signal's source region and learned that Tyranids and Necrons were fighting nearby.
• Pandora ordered Iglanias to charge into the battle, and the Void Dragon followed with Pandora.

Pandora entered Trazyn’s tomb world during a Tyranid assault and discovered the Norn Queen imprisoned in his collection hall. She freed every captive, unleashing chaos that drew Trazyn into the battle as she watched delightedly.

• Pandora, Iglanias, and the Void Dragon slipped into the tomb world through a breach made by the Tyranids and followed the swarm toward the tomb’s depths.
• Pandora broke open a grand door and found Trazyn’s collection hall, where the imprisoned Norn Queen was drawing the Tyranids toward it.
• At Iglanias’s suggestion, Pandora agreed to free the collection, and Iglanias shattered the stasis fields.
• The released captives began fighting, while the Norn Queen summoned Tyranids into the hall and amplified the battle’s chaos.
• Trazyn received an alert, teleported to the collection hall, and charged the Norn Queen and the swarm in fury.
• Pandora watched the destruction from atop the Void Dragon and cheered for the combatants.

Fulgrim arrived to lead the humans against the Tyranids, but they remained wary of the traitor Primarch he resembled as the swarm overwhelmed the hall. Pandora and Iglanias then erased every Tyranid, leaving the survivors stunned.

• The remaining humans formed a wary defensive circle as the Tyranids killed the ancient Ork and consumed the C'tan shard.
• Trazyn charged the Norn Queen, killed thousands of Tyranids, and was overwhelmed, though his consciousness escaped through the tomb world's protocols.
• Fulgrim burst into the hall, identified himself as the Emperor's Children Primarch, and held the largest breach while the humans kept their distance.
• The Tyranids attacked from multiple breaches, casualties mounted, and the survivors prepared for a final charge.
• Pandora sent Iglanias's starlight through the hall, erasing every Tyranid while sparing Fulgrim and the humans.
• Pandora praised Iglanias from atop the Void Dragon as the survivors stared at them in shock.

Pandora offered the gathered Imperial survivors a choice between returning to Terra through a portal and finding their own way out of the Necron tomb, but no one trusted her enough to answer. As Pandora prepared to leave, Iglanias's C'tan energy drew the complete C'tan Sara Noga toward it, setting up a confrontation.

• Kalanti's Ultramarines and Contemptor Dreadnoughts entered the hall, followed by Salamanders, Catachan soldiers, and an Adeptus Mechanicus Magos.
• An ancient giant in scarred power armor arrived and reacted with intense, confused emotion upon seeing Fulgrim.
• Pandora offered the survivors a portal to Terra or the option to make their own escape, but they hesitated and did not choose.
• Pandora shrugged off the survivors' silence and prepared to leave with the Void Dragon.
• Iglanias hunted Tyranid ships outside the tomb, and its energy beacon caught the attention of Sara Noga, who began rushing toward it.