Chapter Summaries

Guilliman sent Sicarius to intercept Eldar ships near the Solar System, and Sicarius rescued Yvraine from a Drukhari assault. Yvraine was brought to Terra, where she was stunned by the Imperium’s advanced technology and the planet’s transformation.

• Guilliman ordered Sicarius to intercept the Eldar vessels and bring any Reaper Host survivors to him.
• Sicarius led three Ultramarines rapid strike vessels to the edge of the Solar System, where Yvraine and her guards were fighting Drukhari boarders.
• Sicarius and his Honor Guard defeated the Drukhari aboard Yvraine’s vessel, while the Ultramarines warships destroyed the three Drukhari raiders.
• Yvraine told Sicarius she needed to see Guilliman with important intelligence, and he captured her damaged vessel and took her toward Terra.
• Yvraine saw Terra’s clear skies, restored oceans, and expanses of greenery, and followed Sicarius toward the Imperial Palace in shock.

Yvraine asked Guilliman and the primarchs for help against Slaanesh’s campaign to sacrifice the Eldar, but they refused to commit the Imperium. Liang Bing directed her to someone on Mars, hinting he would join her if she mentioned Fulgrim.

• Yvraine reached the Imperial Palace boundary with Sicarius, where the Adeptus Custodes demanded she surrender the Crone Sword until Sanguinius intervened.
• Yvraine told Guilliman and the primarchs that Slaanesh was driving the Drukhari of Commorragh to sacrifice Eldar across the galaxy.
• Lion opposed helping the Eldar, while Sanguinius urged caution and Horus proposed blocking the threat with a legion; Yvraine warned that Slaanesh’s actions could endanger the whole galaxy.
• Yvraine asked to see Glory or another Valkyrie, so Guilliman contacted Liang Bing, who appeared before the group.
• Liang Bing declined to destroy Slaanesh’s plan but told Yvraine to find someone on Mars and mention that she might encounter Fulgrim, saying he would risk his life to hunt the fallen Emperor’s Children.

On Mars, He Xi and Carl debated how to augment Fulgrim Clone, who chose Carl’s dangerous accelerated plan to gain power and destroy the original Fulgrim. Yvraine’s warning about Slaanesh’s hunt for Eldar triggered the procedure, while Luke suspected the crisis might be connected to Darth Vader.

• He Xi and Carl argued over whether Fulgrim Clone should undergo phased augmentation or Carl’s riskier plan to install an experimental Void Engine, and Fulgrim Clone chose the faster option.
• Luke continued suppressing the Abyssal power within him as Doom Slayer watched, while Perturabo recovered from corruption and Mortarion considered returning to the Imperium.
• Yvraine arrived on Mars and warned He Xi that Slaanesh was driving the Drukhari to hunt Eldar for an unprecedented soul sacrifice.
• Fulgrim Clone became convinced the original Fulgrim would appear at Slaanesh’s ritual and demanded that Carl begin the augmentation immediately.
• He Xi approved the procedure, and Carl began transforming Fulgrim Clone into a Void Divine Body as Luke sensed the operation might be connected to Darth Vader.

Darth Vader used the Abyss to tear open a narrow rift in Slaanesh’s realm, but the sacrifices were insufficient to make it a stable gateway. After Deep Ones emerged and the Chaos Gods questioned the Abyss’s power, an ancient presence beyond the rift turned its gaze toward them.

• Darth Vader drained the bound Eldar through the ritual array and opened a narrow rift with the Abyss’s power.
• Vader told Slaanesh that more sacrifices were needed, and Slaanesh ordered Fulgrim to gather more Eldar and Drukhari.
• Fulgrim began another round of collection as the Chaos Gods urged their followers to seize more captives.
• Several Deep Ones emerged from the rift, and Khorne crushed them while mocking Vader’s claim about the Abyss.
• The Chaos Gods sensed an ancient presence beyond the rift looking through the newly opened gateway.

Darth Vader’s ritual opened an Abyssal fissure that began overwriting the Warp, alarming the four Chaos Gods. On Mars, Luke Skywalker’s hidden Abyssal power reacted to the opening, and the chapter ended with him confirming that Vader had forced the gate open.

• The Abyssal fissure spread its influence through Slaanesh’s realm, weakening the Chaos Gods’ control over the Warp and prompting Tzeentch, Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh to react with alarm, interest, or fear.
• Darth Vader tried to withdraw his power and stop the ritual, but the fissure stayed open; he told the Chaos Gods that closing it was no longer under his control.
• On Mars, Luke Skywalker convulsed as his Abyssal power answered the distant summons, and Doom Slayer restrained him and used the Crystal Cross’s orderly power to suppress it.
• He Xi scanned Luke while Doom Slayer said the Void had been summoned; Luke confirmed that Vader had obtained some of his power and could force open the gate.

He Xi and the Hilling Empire warned the Imperium of Man that a void rift had opened in the Warp, and Kesha explained that the Imperium had time to assess and contain the threat. Guilliman arranged a joint expedition to Commorragh to stop the Eldar sacrifice, with Yvraine guiding the force through the Webway.

• He Xi sent news of the void rift to Hilling members and the Imperium's leaders, prompting an emergency conference with Guilliman, Liang Bing, Kesha, and others.
• Liang Bing explained that repairing the rift would be difficult, while Kesha reasoned that its location in the Warp would delay its impact on the real universe.
• After the conference, Guilliman and the Primarchs agreed to stop the Eldar sacrifice and chose Horus to lead the covert operation.
• Guilliman offered the Eldar aid in exchange for Webway access, and Yvraine agreed to guide the expedition through several routes to Commorragh.
• Sanguinius and Fulgrim's clone joined Horus's mission, and Sanguinius summoned Dante to Mars as the expedition began preparing.

The four Chaos Gods’ projections were severed from the Warp when Yog-Sothoth appeared before them, and Darth Vader identified it as the Key of the Gate leading to the Abyss. After Yog-Sothoth flooded Tzeentch with immense knowledge, Tzeentch asked whether he could transcend the Warp.

• Khorne tried to leave the Warp ritual ground, while Tzeentch warned the others not to approach or contact the Abyss.
• A whisper from the rift trapped the four Chaos Gods’ projections in a distorted space beyond time and severed their connection to the Warp.
• Yog-Sothoth appeared as a vast aggregate of radiant spheres, overwhelming the gods with its mere existence.
• Darth Vader knelt before Yog-Sothoth and told Tzeentch that it was the Key of the Gate to the true Abyss.
• Yog-Sothoth called the gods pitiful and twisted, then flooded Tzeentch with knowledge from countless universes and timelines.
• Tzeentch asked Yog-Sothoth whether he could obtain knowledge and transcend the restraints of the Warp.

Tzeentch endured a torrent of knowledge from Yog-Sothoth and glimpsed a path beyond the Warp, while the other Chaos Gods were shaken by their contact with the Abyss. The Chaos Gods and Darth Vader departed, leaving the black rift behind.

• Yog-Sothoth overwhelmed Tzeentch with primordial knowledge, and Tzeentch endured the madness to absorb it.
• Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh struggled against the contaminating whispers but were not directly targeted by Yog-Sothoth.
• The four Chaos Gods returned to the ritual site, where Tzeentch kept his new knowledge to himself and looked down on the others.
• Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh returned to their realms, while Tzeentch departed after glimpsing a path beyond the Warp.
• Darth Vader followed Tzeentch away, and Yog-Sothoth vanished beyond the rift, which remained quietly in the Abyss-shrouded region.

The Abyss began physically invading the Warp through the rift opened by Darth Vader’s ritual. In Slaanesh’s realm, Slaanesh caught Aha disguised as a daemon and then sought information from him after he detected the trace of the Abyss on her.

• The rift’s edges cracked and spread, allowing pale tentacles from the Abyss to force their way into the Warp and drain color and vitality from its energies.
• Slaanesh returned to her realm, weighed the danger and temptation of the Abyss, and considered playing both sides between it and the Hilling Empire.
• Slaanesh recognized that a fawning daemon was actually Aha, exposed him by stabbing him, and watched him reveal himself.
• Aha detected a strange trace on Slaanesh and asked whether she had encountered something unclean.
• Slaanesh questioned Aha about the trace and the Abyss, hoping to learn what he knew.

Aha showed Slaanesh an opera depicting the Hilling Empire’s cyclical war against the Abyss and its dangerous plans for the sealed threat. When Slaanesh told him she had seen Yog-Sothoth, Aha panicked and then left without explaining what role it played, leaving her alone with her fears about the coming conflict.

• Aha transformed Slaanesh’s hall into an opera house and used an abstract performance to reveal the Hilling Empire’s repeated wars against the Abyss and its study of the sealed door.
• Slaanesh realized the conflict might return to her domain and asked Aha what role Yog-Sothoth played.
• Aha reacted with shock when Slaanesh said she had seen Yog-Sothoth, also called the Key of the Gate, and had remained sane.
• Aha decided to keep the news secret so he could make a dramatic rescue later, then vanished without giving Slaanesh more information.
• Slaanesh watched the opera house disappear and complained that Aha had left without telling her anything.

Hua Wei upgraded the system, gained psionics, a militarized Imperial template, and the Seventh Expeditionary Fleet, then advanced to six-star demigod. Meanwhile, Fulgrim began slaughtering Commorragh’s Drukhari under orders to capture all Eldar.

• Hua Wei upgraded the system to version 4.0, unlocking azure and crimson psionics and assigning psionic compatibility to his units.
• Hua Wei received the militarized Imperial template and a complete expeditionary fleet, naming it the Seventh Expeditionary Fleet and appointing Douglas MacArthur and Kent von Stirling to command.
• Hua Wei advanced to the six-star demigod realm, while Bubble began analyzing a blueprint for a psionic reactor.
• Fulgrim led his Slaaneshi daemon army into Commorragh and ordered every living thing sacrificed as they attacked the Drukhari.

Yvraine led Horus, Sanguinius, and their elite forces through the Webway to Commorragh, where Slaanesh’s forces had turned the city into a sacrifice-processing ground. Horus set the fleet to destroy the transport ships and disrupt the ritual before confronting Fulgrim.

• Yvraine warned Horus and Sanguinius that Commorragh was overwhelmed by Chaos as they neared the Webway exit.
• The force emerged into a devastated city filled with Slaaneshi daemons, and Chaos ships carried captured Eldar toward Slaanesh’s realm.
• Horus and Sanguinius saw Fulgrim leading Greater Daemons on a hunt for powerful Drukhari.
• Yvraine trembled with fury at the destruction of her kin while Horus assessed the battlefield.
• Horus ordered his forces to destroy the transport ships, purge nearby daemons, and then confront Fulgrim.
• Horus, Sanguinius, and their warriors charged into Commorragh.

Horus and Sanguinius led their forces through Commorragh, adjusting their attack to preserve the Drukhari resistance while pursuing the source of the disaster. They confronted Fulgrim with Clone Fulgrim, whose duel with the fallen Primarch pushed the city toward destruction as the human forces opened escape routes for Eldar survivors.

• Horus initially ordered the Chaos transports carrying Eldar sacrifices destroyed, but changed tactics after Yvraine and Sanguinius warned that the deaths could strengthen Slaanesh.
• Horus directed the Luna Wolves to attack the transports’ escorts and disable the ships, giving some Eldar a chance to escape.
• Horus, Sanguinius, and Yvraine pushed through Commorragh to a transportation plaza, where Fulgrim had defeated the last Drukhari nobles.
• Horus introduced Clone Fulgrim, provoking Fulgrim into attacking him in a violent duel that devastated the plaza.
• Horus and Sanguinius led their forces against the daemons and Emperor’s Children, while their advance opened escape routes for Eldar and Harlequin survivors.
• Yvraine gathered scattered members of her people as the Laughing God watched Commorragh near destruction.

Cthulhu’s arrival transformed part of the Warp into a spreading conceptual sea centered on the city of R'lyeh, drawing the alarm and resistance of nearby demon lords. After discovering the Revelations of Gla'aki, Vashtorr planned to summon Ghroth in hopes of uncovering a path to greater power.

• Cthulhu and countless Deep Ones entered the Warp, spreading whispers that corrupted demons and warped their thoughts.
• Cthulhu’s stillness anchored a conceptual sea, from which the city of R'lyeh rose and began amplifying his dreams.
• Nearby demon lords sent scouts, then mobilized armies and tried to contain the spreading region after learning of its alien corruption.
• Forbidden books including the Necronomicon, the Revelations of Gla'aki, and The King in Yellow appeared in the Warp, driving demons who read them toward madness and dangerous rituals.
• Vashtorr investigated the strange corruption and borrowed the Revelations of Gla'aki, where he learned about Ghroth.
• Vashtorr resolved to summon Ghroth to learn the secrets of the Great Old Ones and pursue a true divine throne.

Cthulhu’s dormant influence spread through the Warp as grimoires corrupted daemons and sparked a frenzy for their power. Vashtorr began a heavily fortified ritual to summon Ghroth, while the resulting turmoil further disturbed the Abyssal rift and drew the attention of Greater Daemons.

• Cthulhu’s surrounding conceptual sea continued to spread, while grimoires left in its wake drove daemons mad and transformed some into powerful mutants.
• Chaos Lords and other forces began hunting the grimoires, and their conflicts and greed further widened the Abyssal rift.
• Vashtorr prepared his Soul Furnace as a trap and used the Revelations of Gla'aki to begin summoning Ghroth.
• Greater Daemons sensed the growing unrest in their domains and tried to contact their absent patron gods for guidance.

The four Chaos Gods reacted differently to the spreading Abyssal corruption as Vashtorr’s summoning opened a vast passage and unleashed Great Old Ones into the Warp. The Emperor sent a special squad to investigate the disturbance and reached out to Guilliman to question the Hilling Empire.

• Kairos found Tzeentch’s Maze sealed while Tzeentch focused on knowledge from Yog-Sothoth, and Slaanesh considered how to survive the Abyss’s arrival.
• Nurgle ordered Typhus to investigate the Abyssal threat, while Khorne mobilized his legions to destroy corrupted daemons and grimoires.
• Vashtorr’s ritual succeeded, but the colossal crimson eye overwhelmed his defenses and transformed the Soul Furnace into its throne.
• The eye’s Celestial Voice expanded the Abyssal passage, releasing Great Old Ones and their worshippers into the Warp and causing many beings to mistake the invasion for a new god.
• The Emperor sent a special squad to investigate the disturbance and contacted Guilliman to learn what the Hilling Empire knew about it.

Tzeentch schemed to use Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker as fuel for his escape from the Warp, while the Abyssal invasion overwhelmed Khorne’s forces. At the Great Rift, Kesha and Lan monitored the escalating conflict, briefed the Emperor, and prepared to let the enemies weaken before launching a fleet and the Purification Protocol.

• Tzeentch decided to feed the investigators evidence against Darth Vader so their report would draw Luke Skywalker into a final confrontation with his father.
• Khorne’s daemons were overwhelmed as the Old Ones and their servants poured through the Abyssal passages, mutated wounded warriors, and forced Khorne’s army into retreat.
• Lan and Kesha tracked the spreading conflict at the Great Rift and confirmed that Abyssal power had not yet spilled into the real universe.
• Kesha told the Emperor that the new Warp entities were Old Ones corrupted by the void and warned him that their names could contaminate mortals.
• Lan cautioned Kesha that Aha might have discovered something without reporting it, but Kesha chose to let the Warp conflict continue until the fleet arrived.

Khorne entered the Warp battlefield in person to destroy the rift that Darth Vader had opened, but Yog-Sothoth manifested within it and overwhelmed him. Khorne was left struggling against madness as the Warp convulsed and the other three Chaos Gods finally took notice.

• Khorne descended onto the battlefield, destroyed lesser Old Ones' spawn with his divine presence, and rallied his surviving daemons.
• Khorne fought through the corrupted forces and reached the cavern where Darth Vader had performed the ritual to summon the Abyss.
• Khorne rejected his earlier fear and raised his axe to destroy the rift, but Yog-Sothoth manifested and erased his attack.
• Yog-Sothoth's presence flung Khorne away and filled his mind with madness, corrupting his divine nature and turning his urge to slaughter against his own daemons.
• As Khorne struggled with his growing madness, the Warp erupted in upheaval and Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh turned their attention toward it.

As Khorne’s madness and the Old Ones’ assault devastated the Warp, Slaanesh chose to seek refuge with the Hilling Empire by tearing away her corrupt essence. Aha sent the weakened goddess through an unstable portal, leaving her fate uncertain.

• Khorne’s madness spread through his daemons, turning his armies into an uncontrolled wave of destruction and causing bloody riots on psychically sensitive worlds.
• Ghroth’s manifestation intensified the Old Ones’ assault, and Cthulhu advanced toward Slaanesh’s domain as Khorne’s forces and the Deep Ones overwhelmed its defenses.
• Slaanesh asked Aha whether the Hilling Empire would protect her, then decided to split away most of her divine essence to make herself eligible for the Imperium’s review.
• Slaanesh tore out her corrupted essence, empowered her daemons with a command to fight without restraint, and transformed into a weakened elven woman.
• Aha opened an unstable portal and sent Slaanesh toward two Hilling Valkyries and an unknown presence that might be her kin, then stayed behind to enjoy the chaos.

The Binding Legion and Typhus’s Death Guard reached the ruins of Vashtorr’s forge realm, where Typhus recovered Vashtorr and the Revelations of Gla'aki as hidden forces followed them. In Commorragh, clone Fulgrim nearly defeated the fallen Fulgrim before Slaanesh’s blessing reversed the fight, and a weakened Eldar woman suddenly arrived and fainted.

• The Binding Legion followed guidance through the Warp toward the disturbance’s center, unaware that Tzeentch was leading them to a predetermined destination.
• Typhus found Vashtorr traumatized in the ruined forge realm and ordered his Death Guard to take Vashtorr and the Revelations of Gla'aki.
• Abyssal contaminants and lesser Old Ones began following Typhus’s fleet as Vashtorr secretly stirred aboard the ship.
• Clone Fulgrim activated the Void Engine’s overload, briefly severing the fallen Fulgrim’s connection to Slaanesh and wounding him.
• Slaanesh’s final blessing flooded the fallen Fulgrim, shut down the clone’s system, and left the clone unable to resist the coming attack.
• An unstable portal deposited a faint Eldar woman on the battlefield, and she fainted as both Fulgrims, Horus, and Sanguinius watched.