Chapter Summaries

Guilliman sent Sanguinius, Horus, Liang Bing, and Pandora to investigate the missing fleet in the Nephilim Sector, where evidence pointed to a hostile Necron dynasty. Before the Apocalypse departed, Sanguinius and Horus witnessed Mortarion being brutally tortured during a purification experiment and left without speaking to him.

• Guilliman received an indecipherable distress message from the missing Unyielding Will fleet, and Luke, Sanguinius, and Horus identified its energy as belonging to a chaotic Necron force distinct from the Silent King.
• Guilliman assigned Sanguinius, Horus, Liang Bing, and Pandora to investigate the Nephilim Sector while he and the others continued the plan to travel to Mars.
• Liang Bing used her Mind Cube and teleported the group to the Apocalypse near The Rock.
• Sanguinius and Horus saw Mortarion restrained in a laboratory while a Greater Daemon of Khorne sprayed him with purifying liquid and struck him when he struggled.
• The Greater Daemon used a charged device on Mortarion, leaving him collapsed and sobbing, while Sanguinius and Horus watched in shock.
• Sanguinius and Horus declined to speak with Mortarion, then left the observation area as the Apocalypse set course for the Nephilim Sector.

The Apocalypse found Imperial Fists fighting Necrons around a Blackstone Spire, and Sanguinius and Horus descended to aid them. After Horus destroyed a Scorpion Overlord, the Illuminator invited the Primarchs into the spire, and they set out to meet it.

• Liang Bing ordered the Apocalypse to investigate the wrecked Imperium ships and trace energy readings to an ongoing Imperial Fists battle near a Blackstone Spire.
• Sanguinius and Horus teleported to the battlefield, where Sanguinius killed a Deathmark and Horus tore through the Necron line.
• The Imperial Fists rallied as Horus destroyed the Scorpion Overlord and disabled its weapons and core.
• The Illuminator projected a message through a Canoptek Scarab, invited Sanguinius and Horus to find it underground, and ordered the Necrons to withdraw.
• Sanguinius told the Imperial Fists sergeant to tend to the wounded, then she and Horus walked toward the Blackstone Spire.

Sanguinius and Horus discovered Salas the Illuminator’s Soul Forge, where Necrons were harvesting human souls and experimenting on captives, and fought back against its forces. As Salas tried to capture them for study, Pandora and Liang Bing arrived at the pyramid.

• Sanguinius and Horus entered the Blackstone Spire and were escorted by Necrons through its underground passages to a pyramid.
• Sanguinius and Horus found thousands of captives being drained and dissected in Salas the Illuminator’s Soul Forge.
• Horus attacked the Necron technicians and freed a Space Marine while Sanguinius released survivors and found that most had already lost their souls.
• Salas revealed that he wanted to capture Sanguinius and Horus for their unusual souls, and he sent more Necron forces to overwhelm them.
• Horus fought through the Necron army while Sanguinius prepared to strike Salas’s projection, but Necron Overlords appeared to confront them.
• Pandora crashed through the pyramid’s dome, and Liang Bing arrived above the battlefield and addressed Salas.

Pandora overwhelmed Illuminator Salas's Necron forces inside the pyramid, forcing Salas to abandon the Blackstone Spire and flee with data about her. The chapter left Pandora hauling away the pyramid's core device while Salas joined the Storm King's camp and began planning another attempt to capture her.

• Pandora ignored the Necron Overlords' attacks, destroyed one with her bare hands, and tore through the warriors and machines throughout the pyramid.
• Illuminator Salas ordered a tactical retreat and initiated the destruction of the pyramid's energy pool and experimental data while his forces tried to delay the group.
• Liang Bing told Horus that Salas was not physically present, and Salas's projection vanished after recording the group as valuable targets.
• Pandora ripped the core device from the pyramid and damaged a supporting blackstone pillar, while Liang Bing let her keep the loot.
• Salas left with his greed for Pandora's power intact, betrayed the Silent King, and joined the Storm King's camp to plot another capture operation.

Sanguinius, Horus, Liang Bing, and Pandora traveled to the Tredica System, where Liang Bing’s ship shattered a Necron fleet’s attack and the group descended to Adacis. There, Inquisitor Dracus’s elite force struggled through a Necron stronghold while Salas the Illuminator waited behind the enemy lines.

• A wounded Imperial Fists sergeant told Sanguinius that the Nephilim Sector was trapped in a Pariah Nexus field that suppressed the Warp and left many soldiers in stasis.
• After learning the fleet was fighting in the Tredica System, Liang Bing transported the group and Pandora’s blackstone prize aboard the Apocalypse.
• The Apocalypse arrived amid the void battle, withstood attacks from both fleets, and used spatial vortices to turn the Necron fleet’s firepower against it.
• Liang Bing left Angel Windchaser and Flowing Cloud in command of the Apocalypse and took Pandora, Sanguinius, and Horus down to Adacis.
• Inquisitor Dracus’s elite force fought through Necron defenders and the blackstone field as Salas the Illuminator watched from behind the enemy army.

Inquisitor Dracus and his surviving warriors completed their data download, then followed his intuition to a Necron energy nexus and discovered a C'tan shard imprisoned at its heart. Liang Bing stopped their attempt to break the prison, while Sanguinius, Horus, and Pandora arrived and overwhelmed Salas the Illuminator’s forces.

• Hades VIII Tech-Priests completed the data download as the Necrons surrounded Dracus and his warriors.
• Dracus sensed a force drawing him toward the tomb’s depths, and the survivors fought their way to the energy nexus.
• Dracus ordered the warriors to attack the blackstone prison holding a C'tan shard, but Liang Bing effortlessly blocked their assault.
• Sanguinius and Horus arrived and cut through the Necron army, while Pandora casually played with Canoptek scarabs.
• Salas the Illuminator watched Pandora and struggled to understand how the Imperial reinforcements had reached the tomb.

Pandora effortlessly battered Salas the Illuminator, stole his Dimensional Cube, and stopped him from self-destructing. She then mistook his imprisoned C'tan fragment for a playmate and freed it, leaving Salas helpless as the enraged being lunged at him and Pandora eagerly welcomed a new toy.

• Pandora struck Salas, swung his body around like a flail, and destroyed his weapons and core generator.
• Salas activated his Dimensional Cube, but Pandora plucked it from the air and claimed it as her own.
• Salas initiated his self-destruct protocol, but Pandora restrained him and carried him to the C'tan fragment's prison.
• Pandora mistook Salas's intentions and shattered the blackstone cage, releasing the C'tan fragment.
• The C'tan fragment targeted Salas, whom Pandora tossed toward it as she excitedly declared the being more fun.

The C'tan shard escaped its Necron prison and began destroying Adacis, but Pandora stopped its attack with a weapon capable of erasing it. Liang Bing negotiated a contract with the shard, and she and the others teleported away as the planet fell apart.

• Sanguinius Salas disintegrated in the C'tan shard's energy, which then destroyed the tomb and devastated Adacis while sparing Dracus's group.
• The C'tan shard failed to teleport Dracus, Sanguinius, Horus, Pandora, and Liang Bing off the planet, then focused on Pandora and Liang Bing.
• Pandora approached the shard and threatened it with a cannon that could erase it, forcing it to abandon its attack.
• Liang Bing offered the C'tan shard a contract promising to recover its fragments and provide a body in exchange for research, protection, and service as Pandora's toy.
• The C'tan shard accepted the contract, and Liang Bing teleported the group away while Pandora petted it and Adacis disintegrated.

Hua Wei opened the C'tan Gift Pack, gaining the complete Heavenly Blade Legion and summoning the seven-star C'tan The Hunt as the Hilling Empire's Arbitrator. He chose Void Evolution, advanced to Four-Star Void Prototype, and discovered he could slightly interfere with the universe's laws, leaving him eager to see how the Silent King would respond.

• Hua Wei opened the C'tan Gift Pack and acquired Holy Kesha, Angel Yan, Angel Zhixin, the angel legions, the Sky Blade Battle Group, and the Sacred Knowledge Treasury.
• Hua Wei assigned Holy Kesha the role of War Apostle and supreme commander, with a mission that would bring her after her sister Liang Bing, then stored the angel forces in the system.
• Hua Wei used his accumulated emotion points to summon the seven-star C'tan The Hunt as the Hilling Empire's Arbitrator and protector.
• Hua Wei rejected the Faith Divinity and Law Controller paths and chose Void Evolution for his advancement from Three-Star to Four-Star.
• Hua Wei completed his transformation into a Void Prototype and found that he could sense and slightly alter the universe's underlying laws.
• Hua Wei considered the Empire's growing strength and anticipated the Silent King's response.

Sanguinius and Horus brought Inquisitor Dracus and the survivors aboard the Hilling Empire’s Apocalypse, where Liang Bing introduced herself to the captive C’tan shard Iglanias and Pandora treated it like a toy. Meanwhile, the Silent King arrived at the Tredica battlefield and struggled to contain his forces, but rebellious Necron Overlords attacked the Imperial fleet, reigniting the war.

• Sanguinius identified herself and Horus to Dracus and the surviving Imperial soldiers, who remained cautious until Terra or the Regent could confirm their identities.
• Sanguinius told Dracus and the others they were aboard the Hilling Empire warship Apocalypse and promised to return them to the expedition fleet’s flagship.
• Liang Bing introduced herself to Iglanias, who explained that the Necrontyr had betrayed and enslaved the C’tan.
• Pandora hugged Iglanias’s starlight like a pillow while Dracus, Sanguinius, and Horus watched in surprise.
• The Silent King, Szarekh, arrived at Tredica with a vast Necron fleet and learned that Illuminator Salas had been destroyed.
• Several Necron Overlords attacked an Imperial cruiser without Szarekh’s order, prompting both fleets to resume fighting.

The Adeptus Mechanicus fleet rescued the Imperial expedition fleet but unleashed forbidden weapons that pushed Tredica toward destruction. As Sanguinius failed to stop the fighting, the Storm King’s rebel fleet attacked Szarekh, plunging the Necrons into civil war while Liang Bing chose to watch.

• General Maran ordered the surviving Imperial ships to concentrate fire, but Adeptus Mechanicus reinforcements arrived and devastated the Necron overlord fleet with Dark Age weapons.
• The Necrons answered with annihilating weapons, and Sanguinius urged both Imperial fleets to cease fire, but the Adeptus Mechanicus flagship rejected her authority.
• Necron overlords rebelled against Szarekh, while the Silent King struggled to contain their rage and Liang Bing prepared to summon the Forerunner Fleet.
• The Storm King’s rebel fleet emerged from red spatial apertures and attacked Song of Oblivion, igniting a full-scale Necron civil war.
• As the Tredica System descended into a chaotic battle among Imperial and Necron forces, Liang Bing withdrew her plan to mobilize the Forerunner Fleet and invited her companions to watch.

The Stormlord’s surprise attack plunged the Silent King’s fleet into a Necron civil war, while the Imperium expedition tried to escape the battlefield. The arrival of Queen Kesha’s Heavenly Blade Legion left Liang Bing frantically hiding her experiments as Kesha called out to her.

• The Stormlord’s rebels betrayed the Silent King’s loyalists, and a defecting overlord tried to assassinate Szarekh before Szarekh erased him with the Sceptre of Eternal Glory.
• General Maran ordered the surviving Imperial ships to retreat, while the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet abandoned them and vanished through spatial rifts.
• A vast golden rift opened, and the Throne of the Heavenly Blade and the Heavenly Blade Legion emerged, halting fire across the battlefield.
• Liang Bing recognized Queen Kesha’s fleet and ordered Flowing Cloud to release Mortarion and the Greater Daemon of Khorne, then hurried to conceal her data and evidence.
• Flowing Cloud told Sanguinius and Horus that Kesha opposed Liang Bing’s experiments, as Kesha’s voice reached the Apocalypse and asked Liang Bing if she was prepared.

The Heavenly Blade Legion arrived at the Necron battlefield, and Holy Kesha joined Liang Bing aboard Apocalypse. After Kesha discovered Liang Bing had analyzed the Primarchs, she took her sister to the training grounds to discipline her, leaving the others stunned by Kesha’s strength.

• The Silent King and the Storm King halted attacks near the Heavenly Blade Legion’s fleet and kept their forces from provoking it.
• Holy Kesha and her angelic warriors teleported onto Apocalypse’s bridge, where Kesha took Liang Bing’s throne and Pandora welcomed her.
• Kesha identified Sanguinius, Horus, Mortarion, and the others by examining them, then asked Liang Bing about her research.
• Liang Bing accidentally revealed that she had completed her analysis of the Primarchs, so Kesha ordered her to the training grounds for a discussion.
• Pandora and Flowing Cloud explained that Kesha was the Sacred Angel Legion’s commander and could overpower Liang Bing even when Apocalypse supported her; impacts from the training grounds shook the ship.

Liang Bing agreed to use her resurrection protocol on a soul fragment preserved by Silent King Szarekh, while Kesha left the decision to her. When Imotekh the Stormlord attacked the Heavenly Blade Legion, Angel Yan’s Skyblade Judgment devastated his fleet and forced it to retreat, leaving Szarekh to board the Apocalypse with the soul fragment.

• Silent King Szarekh contacted Kesha and Liang Bing to request the resurrection of a loyal subordinate using a preserved soul fragment.
• Liang Bing agreed to demonstrate the resurrection protocol with her single Mind Cube, and Kesha told her to decide how to proceed.
• Imotekh the Stormlord ordered his rebel fleet to bombard the Heavenly Blade Legion as Szarekh’s transport left for the Apocalypse.
• Angel Yan ordered the Heavenly Blade units to execute Skyblade Judgment, which silently split the firing rebel ships into fragments.
• Imotekh ordered his fleet to retreat, and Szarekh docked at the Apocalypse carrying the soul fragment.

The Silent King sought to resurrect a soul fragment with the Mind Cube, while Kesha revealed that the Flayer’s Curse threatened all Necrons and Liang Bing explained the cube’s capabilities. Szarekh decided to become a loyal ally of the Hilling Empire as the female figure’s resurrection neared completion.

• Szarekh explained that he had ordered the Pariah Nexus halted and warned that Chaos might be exploiting Blackstone Technology.
• Kesha revealed that the Flayer’s Curse had contaminated every Necron, and Liang Bing said returning Necrons to flesh could stop it.
• Liang Bing began fusing a soul fragment with the Mind Cube and warned Szarekh that the resurrected person would have a female form.
• Liang Bing explained that the Mind Cube could unlock immense energy and create objects, provided its user understood how they worked.
• Szarekh realized Necron technological knowledge could make Mind Cube users formidable creators and resolved to become the Hilling Empire’s loyal ally.
• The Mind Cube fused with the soul fragment, and the outline of a female figure appeared as the resurrection neared completion.

The Silent King witnessed Nehelon’s successful restoration to life and sought more Mind Cubes from the Hilling Empire. He pledged the Necron Dynasties to the Imperium of Man and offered Iglanias release and atonement, leaving the Necrons as a new vassal race of the Hilling Empire.

• Nehelon’s soul was restored to a living body, and Liang Bing placed her in a life-support pod to recover.
• The Silent King asked Liang Bing when he could obtain more Mind Cubes, and Kesha indicated that he would need to prove his value to the Empire.
• Silent King Szarekh declared that the Dynasties loyal to him would become allies of the Imperium of Man and offered to share the Necrons’ Blackstone Technology database.
• Szarekh apologized to Iglanias, promised to release it and help recover its scattered fragments, and vowed that the Necron lords responsible for its enslavement would atone.
• Iglanias’s anger subsided as it considered its elevated status in the Hilling Empire, and Liang Bing welcomed the Necrons as a new vassal race.

Guilliman arrived on Mars with He Xi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Cawl to demand the Adeptus Mechanicus support Imperial reforms and share its technology. After He Xi and Obi-Wan sensed a powerful C'tan sealed beneath the planet, Guilliman confronted the hostile Fabricator-General, leaving Mars to choose between reform and losing its central authority.

• He Xi told Guilliman that Kesha's battle-sequence fleet had entered Imperium territory, and Guilliman asked her to convey his welcome.
• On Mars, He Xi sensed an ancient power beneath the planet, and she and Obi-Wan Kenobi identified it as a likely sealed C'tan.
• Guilliman demanded that the Fabricator-General open Mars's databases and cooperate with Imperial command and Hilling technology.
• The Fabricator-General rejected Guilliman's demands and threatened to resist, prompting the Ultramarines and Martian forces to prepare for conflict.
• Cawl denounced the Fabricator-General's dogma and warned that Guilliman could transfer Mars's authority to progressive Forge Worlds.
• Guilliman asserted his authority and demanded that the Fabricator-General choose between reform and the removal of Mars from the Imperium's core.

The Forge General ordered the Skitarii to seize Guilliman and Cawl, but Cawl’s hidden Primaris Legion overwhelmed them and shifted Mars’s leaders toward reform. Guilliman removed the Forge General and appointed Cawl to lead Mars as the ancient C'tan’s sealed presence stirred beneath the temple.

• The Forge General accused Cawl of heresy and ordered the Skitarii to surround and seize Guilliman’s group.
• Guilliman prepared to fight the Skitarii, but Cawl’s concealed Primaris Legion poured into the temple and counter-surrounded them.
• Cawl explained that the vast force had been prepared for the Luna Wolves Legion, while Archmagos arriving at the temple heard accounts of He Xi’s Hilling technology.
• Most of Mars’s core leaders sided with Cawl and the reformists, leaving the Forge General isolated.
• Guilliman stripped the Forge General of his position, ordered his arrest, and appointed Cawl the new Forge General of Mars.
• The Primaris Legion and reformist sages celebrated Mars’s change of power as the sealed C'tan’s presence stirred.

He Xi resisted the Void Dragon’s attempt to corrupt and recruit her, then warned Guilliman and Cawl that the C’tan fragment might have secretly influenced the Adeptus Mechanicus for ages. As Mars awaited Kesha’s arrival, He Xi began arranging research on ten thousand Primaris warriors, while the threat beneath the planet remained unresolved.

• Cawl announced Mars’s transition and arranged for He Xi to teach its Sages and chief researchers.
• The Void Dragon attacked He Xi mentally and offered her knowledge, power, and control, but she rejected its bargain and endured its assault.
• Obi-Wan warned the temple that He Xi was under attack, and Guilliman and Cawl secured the area until she recovered.
• He Xi told Guilliman and Cawl that the C’tan’s corruption might have shaped Adeptus Mechanicus dogma, and urged them to avoid provoking it until Kesha arrived.
• He Xi requested ten thousand Primaris warriors for examination and upgrades, and Cawl selected warriors with pure Luna Wolves gene-seed for the project.
• Guilliman approved Cawl’s plan and the gene-seed’s use, while Cawl agreed to assist He Xi with her experiments.

The Silent King departed to unite the Necron Dynasties and pledged their future loyalty to the Hilling Empire. After learning that He Xi was in trouble, Kesha sent her fleet, Liang Bing, Sanguinius, and Horus toward Mars, where they would reinforce He Xi and face an ancient threat.

• The newly awakened girl recognized the Silent King, who welcomed her and confirmed her condition was stable.
• The Silent King gave Kesha a Necron technology core and promised to unite the Necron Dynasties before leaving for Necron territory.
• Kesha learned that He Xi had run into trouble and ordered the fleet to change course for the Solar System.
• Horus and Sanguinius chose to go to Mars, while Inquisitor Dracus and her Space Marines continued their crusade.
• Kesha ordered Liang Bing to help He Xi, and Liang Bing reluctantly agreed to go to Mars.
• Yan opened a spatial passage, and the fleet departed the Tredica System for Mars.