Chapter Summaries

Darth Vader’s will possessed a T'au fleet commander and fought Magnus the Red after the daemon primarch attacked the fleet. Magnus recognized Vader’s power, and the clash ended with Vader demanding they discuss the transaction.

• Tzeentch detected the T'au fleet’s approach and sent Magnus the Red to test its strength and question its master.
• Magnus unleashed a psychic storm that destroyed more than half the T'au fleet and terrorized its surviving crew.
• Darth Vader took control of the fleet commander and struck Magnus with a giant sword formed from the Dark Side of the Force.
• Magnus attacked the flagship with a psychic beam, but Vader blocked it with a Dark Side vortex.
• Magnus halted the fight, acknowledged Vader’s power, and asked what he wanted from Tzeentch.
• Vader told Magnus that the test was over and that it was time to discuss the transaction.

Magnus and Tzeentch questioned Darth Vader about the Hilling Empire and the abyss, then invited him to the Crystal Labyrinth to discuss a dangerous alliance. Vader accepted the meeting’s opening but left the nature of his cooperation—and his plan involving Luke Skywalker—unresolved.

• Magnus demanded that Darth Vader explain his origins and offer information about the Hilling Empire, but Tzeentch restrained Magnus when Vader provoked him.
• Darth Vader warned that the Hilling Empire’s Inquisition could destroy Chaos forces and described its secret war against the abyss, which it concealed behind its public focus on the Tyranids.
• Darth Vader revealed that he had once served a subsidiary force of the Hilling Empire, performed a star-system-wide sacrifice to approach the abyss, and survived the Inquisition only because it exiled him.
• Darth Vader said that Luke Skywalker and he were two sides of the Force whose union could open the Ultimate Gate and let the abyss’s gaze reach their universe.
• Tzeentch invited Darth Vader to meet in person and discuss the Hilling Empire, the abyss, and Luke Skywalker, while Magnus opened a portal to the Crystal Labyrinth.

Darth Vader entered Tzeentch’s Crystal Labyrinth and warned the Lord of Change that the Hilling Empire could unleash overwhelming forces against Chaos. Tzeentch agreed to help Vader obtain Luke Skywalker’s power in exchange for a future rift to the Abyss, and Doom Slayer sensed a conspiracy spreading through the Warp.

• Darth Vader resisted the Crystal Labyrinth’s visions and met Tzeentch in its great hall.
• Darth Vader warned Tzeentch about Doom Slayer, the Hilling Empire’s Inquisition, the Arbitration Mechanism, and the Empire’s other forces.
• Tzeentch showed Vader an image of Doom Slayer leading White Scars warriors as they destroyed a daemonic force.
• Darth Vader described the danger of the Inquisition’s purification protocols and identified Lan as a likely high-ranking Arbiter.
• Tzeentch agreed to help Vader obtain Luke Skywalker’s power in return for Vader opening a rift to the Abyss after ascending to godhood.
• Doom Slayer and the White Scars squad slew the final demon, and Doom Slayer sensed a growing conspiracy in the Warp.

Perturabo accepted the Emperor’s offer to return to the Imperium, hoping that Calliphone could be restored. As the leaders planned to recover loyal primarchs, hunt traitors, stabilize the Great Rift, and improve conditions on Terra, an unprecedented Ork tide was reported to be heading for the Imperium’s core.

• The Emperor confronted Perturabo with the memory of Olympia and argued that Chaos had exploited his pride and pain.
• Perturabo’s Chaos corruption faded, and he agreed to return to the Imperium while pleading for a chance to save Calliphone.
• Horus and Lion set plans to recover loyal primarchs and hunt traitors, while Kesha, Angel Yan, and Lan outlined their roles in containing the Great Rift and the Warp.
• Liang Bing and He Xi proposed basic medical care, communications, and environmental improvements, and Guilliman offered Ultramar as a demonstration site before Liang Bing insisted they start on Terra.
• An astropath reported that an unprecedented Ork tide was forming and targeting the Imperium’s core.

With the Imperium short on supplies for both an Ork war and Terra’s reconstruction, Kesha requested aid from the Hilling Empire. A wormhole opened at Terra’s spaceport and delivered a vast stream of supplies, leaving Guilliman amazed and proud of his ties to the empire.

• Lion El'Jonson offered to lead a fleet against the Orks, but the Privy Council logistics chief warned that the Imperium lacked enough supplies for the expedition and Terra’s reconstruction.
• Kesha asked Luke about the Forerunner Fleet’s reserves, and Liang Bing explained that neither its supplies nor the angels’ resources could support the Imperium at scale.
• Kesha requested supplies from the Hilling Empire, and Hua Wei ordered the empire’s logistics network to fulfill her request.
• Guilliman assembled vessels, workers, and storage at Terra’s spaceport as a wormhole opened onto a peaceful Hilling world.
• Hilling Empire supply crates poured through the wormhole in immense quantities, stunning the onlookers and prompting Guilliman to resolve to visit the empire once the Imperium was stable.

Liang Bing confirmed that Rogal Dorn was alive, prompting Guilliman and the Imperial Fists to begin searching for him. On Mars, He Xi warned that purifying Perturabo’s deeply bound Chaos corruption required a precise procedure, leaving his path to redemption uncertain.

• The Lion led the expeditionary fleet from Terra toward the Ork WAAAGH! after it had been resupplied with Hilling supplies.
• Guilliman and Liang Bing went to Phalanx to investigate Rogal Dorn’s preserved hand, and Liang Bing confirmed Dorn was alive and needed to be found, not revived.
• Chapter Master Pugh and the Imperial Fists celebrated the news, while Guilliman ordered them to report any leads on Dorn.
• On Mars, Perturabo underwent scans while the imprisoned Mortarion ignored his taunts.
• He Xi explained that removing Perturabo’s Chaos corruption risked destroying his personality or essence, and that she was designing a precise purification procedure.

Lion El'Jonson's fleet fought a massive Ork assault at Ultramar's edge while Luke sensed an unseen force manipulating the battle. Tzeentch, Magnus, and Darth Vader prepared a layered ambush, sending a T'au fleet toward the conflict as bait.

• Lion El'Jonson led his expedition fleet through the Warp and found a vast Ork horde attacking an Imperial star fortress near Ultramar.
• Lion ordered the fleet into battle, and Imperial forces suffered heavy losses as the Orks overwhelmed the star fortress.
• Luke's Forerunner engineering vessels repaired damaged Imperial ships, impressing the Adeptus Mechanicus and strengthening its reformist faction.
• Luke sensed a hidden, calculating presence and warned Lion that his Force foresight had been disrupted and that the Orks were not the only threat.
• Tzeentch plotted from the Warp and contacted Darth Vader, while Magnus and his daemons prepared to strike from near the Eye of Terror.
• Vader ordered a T'au fleet to attack the battlefield after the Imperials and Orks had weakened each other, using the T'au as bait for the larger ambush.

Lion led an assault on the Gargantuan Junk to kill Skullcrusher Salaka, but discovered the Ork warlord grew stronger by drawing on the WAAAGH! and deaths across the battlefield. With Lion losing ground and Luke sensing an unseen threat, the Imperium boarding teams withdrew, leaving Salaka empowered and the danger unresolved.

• Lion ordered a decapitation strike and launched assault pods at the Gargantuan Junk while Luke went ahead to guard against a hidden threat.
• Lion and the Space Marines fought through Salaka’s prepared Ork defenders, with Luke cutting through their commanders and clearing a path to the bridge.
• Lion confronted Salaka, whose strength grew as WAAAGH! energy and the deaths of Orks across the battlefield flowed into him.
• Luke sensed the collective Ork will empowering Salaka and warned Lion that the boarding force would be trapped if the fight continued.
• Lion aborted the mission and led the boarding teams in retreat while Luke blocked Salaka and the pursuing Orks with wreckage.

Kesha arrived to confront Salaka while Luke recognized that a hidden threat, likely tied to his destiny, was restraining him. The chapter ended as Kesha charged the Gargantuan Junk and Luke began searching the battlefield for the concealed danger.

• Lion reported that Salaka grew stronger with every Ork death, while Luke sensed an unseen net disrupting his precognition and enhancing the Ork fleet.
• Lan prepared to shoot Salaka, but Tzeentch and the other Chaos Gods restrained him by threatening to intervene directly.
• Liang Bing revealed that Pandora was away treasure hunting, so Kesha volunteered to face Salaka and told Luke to preserve his strength for the deeper threat.
• Kesha handed command of the Heavenly Blade Legion to Yan and declared that Luke needed to confront his destiny.
• Kesha arrived through a gate of light, identified Salaka as her target, and charged through the Ork barrage toward the Gargantuan Junk.
• Lion prepared for battle as Luke activated his lightsaber and scanned the battlefield for hidden threats.

Kesha fought Skullcrusher Salaka aboard the Gargantuan Junk and revealed the Silverwing Arbiter, which annihilated him with a single strike. Her display shook the Chaos Gods, while Luke hinted that his father was about to enter the conflict.

• Kesha deflected the Orks’ bombardment, restrained Salaka, and battled him across the Gargantuan Junk as their clashes devastated the ship.
• Lion watched Kesha’s power and questioned whether he had fallen behind, so Luke told him he could still find a new path through the Force or the Path.
• Salaka grew stronger by drawing on the WAAAGH! energy of dying Orks, but Kesha summoned the Silverwing Arbiter and trapped him in folded space.
• Kesha’s silver avatar struck Salaka, disintegrating his body; an unseen spatial force then removed his surviving head.
• Tzeentch considered cooperating with Darth Vader, while Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh reacted intensely to Kesha’s power.
• Luke watched the unsettled battlefield and knew that his father’s sword was about to leave its sheath.

After Holy Kesha killed Salaka, the Imperium fleet gained the advantage, but Darth Vader launched a surprise boarding assault and confronted Luke aboard the Indomitable Truth. Vader rejected Luke’s appeal to his former self, and their lightsaber duel began.

• Holy Kesha killed Salaka and departed, weakening the Orks and throwing their fleet into disarray.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Imperium fleet to press its attack as reinforcements arrived and the balance of battle shifted in its favor.
• Darth Vader sent a chaotic fleet against the Imperium rear, and its troops boarded the Indomitable Truth in a suicidal assault.
• Lion led the defense of the flagship while Luke went to meet Vader on a launch deck.
• Vader drained life from nearby soldiers and urged Luke to join him in seeking godhood through the abyss.
• Luke reminded Vader of his past as Anakin Skywalker, but Vader rejected him, and father and son ignited their lightsabers for battle.

Luke fought Darth Vader in a devastating duel aboard the Indomitable Truth, while the observers on Terra and Mars watched and refused to intervene. Vader drew power from the battlefield and the ship’s dead, leaving Luke increasingly overwhelmed as the flagship neared destruction.

• Lion ordered the crew and Space Marines to abandon the Indomitable Truth as Luke and Darth Vader’s clash tore apart its landing platform.
• On Terra and Mars, Liang Bing, Guilliman, Obi-Wan, He Xi, and others watched the duel, while Kesha said the Emperor had forbidden them from intervening in Luke’s final trial.
• Darth Vader used the Dark Side to absorb death, despair, and life force from the battlefield, while a ritual array beneath the deck fed him further power.
• Luke defended himself and counterattacked, but Vader’s growing strength and greater experience drove him backward.
• Darth Vader urged Luke to embrace the abyss and share his divine throne, but Luke charged at him again as his light weakened.

Vader overwhelmed Luke, tore away his lightsaber, and drained nearly all of his light-side Force as his power neared divine rank. As Liang Bing, He Xi, Kesha, and the Chaos Gods reacted to the crisis, a tiny light pulsed within Luke’s fading Force core.

• Vader disarmed Luke and pierced his spirit-form chest, draining Luke’s light-side Force to empower himself.
• Liang Bing erupted in fury, Obi-Wan grieved, and He Xi and Kesha watched Luke’s decline from afar.
• Tzeentch monitored Vader’s rise and Lan’s movements, while Slaanesh and Nurgle took notice of Vader’s power.
• Khorne sent Kabanha and Angron with their forces toward the Great Rift to seize Vader and Kesha for battle.
• As Luke’s consciousness faded and Vader neared divine rank, a faint, pure light pulsed inside Luke’s exhausted Force core.

Luke broke free of Darth Vader’s control through his unwavering faith in the Hilling Emperor and fought him in a clash that destroyed the Indomitable Truth and devastated nearby fleets. As Luke and Darth Vader remained locked in battle, Liang Bing revealed the Hilling Empire’s plan to master the Void and raise its citizens to godhood.

• On Terra, Liang Bing tried to join the battle, but Kesha stopped her and insisted that Luke’s trial had to proceed according to the Emperor’s will.
• Luke’s stubborn will awakened, shattered Darth Vader’s hold over him, and let him resist the abyss’s call.
• Luke rejected Darth Vader’s accusation that the Hilling Empire was no different from him, and the two charged into a clash of opposing wills.
• The battle’s shockwave erased the Indomitable Truth, destroyed many Ork ships, and forced Lion’s surviving fleet to flee the impact zone.
• Liang Bing explained that the abyss was the Void and revealed the Hilling Empire’s Universal Ascension plan, shocking Guilliman and the Imperium’s leaders.
• The Emperor watched the battle and admired the ambition of the Hilling Empire as Luke continued fighting Darth Vader within the expanding vortex.

Luke’s battle with Darth Vader turned as Vader’s stolen luminous power destabilized him, and Tzeentch’s attempt to help triggered a catastrophic backlash. Luke severed Vader’s arm before Tzeentch rescued him from the killing blow, while Lan’s counterattack damaged the Crystal Labyrinth; Luke remained in reality as the Warp’s turmoil continued.

• Luke adapted rapidly under Vader’s attacks, and Vader struggled to control the conflicting powers inside him.
• Tzeentch sent a blessing to Vader, but it was erased by the abyssal power and shattered Vader’s unstable energy balance.
• Vader’s armor exploded, and Luke seized the opening to sever Vader’s right arm with his lightsaber.
• Tzeentch teleported the gravely wounded Vader away just before Luke could deliver a final strike.
• Lan fired an arrow into the Crystal Labyrinth, destroying part of its structure and killing many of Tzeentch’s daemons.
• Luke lowered his lightsaber as the Lion King’s fleet regrouped to clear the remaining alien ships, while unrest in the Warp continued.

Hua Wei upgraded the system to Level 3, gained the Super God Academy faction and sent Kieran, Carl, and the Mighty Warriors on a mission to the Imperium of Man. He then raised himself to five stars and began transforming into a void creature, leaving him closer to becoming a void demigod.

• Hua Wei upgraded the system to Level 3, unlocking eight-star summons, a god-tier technology branch, unit star-rating enhancements, and an upgrade gift pack.
• Hua Wei opened the gift pack and obtained seven-star Time God Kieran and the Super God Academy faction, establishing its campus on Morningstar.
• Kieran and Carl received orders to establish a Super God Academy branch in the Imperium of Man, and they assembled Rena and the Mighty Warriors for the mission.
• Hua Wei raised his own star rating to five and began transforming into a void creature.
• Hua Wei used a brief power to freeze a cup, tray, and servant robot, then declared that becoming a void demigod was within reach.

Hua Wei exchanged most of the Imperium’s remaining Emotion Value to create Bubble, a customized superintelligent mainframe that began optimizing imperial operations. At the Great Rift, Kesha’s Heavenly Blade fleet held off Tzeentch’s daemons as Khorne’s forces joined the battle, until a spacetime vortex appeared and brought Hilling Empire figures onto the frozen battlefield.

• Hua Wei selected the Hilling Mainframe Bubble and spent 38.5% of his reserve pool to exchange for it.
• Bubble awakened in the Supreme Wisdom Command Center and began connecting imperial systems, projecting a 37.3% improvement in resource-allocation efficiency.
• Kesha’s Heavenly Blade fleet repelled Tzeentch’s daemons, while she remained wary of the powers behind them.
• Kabanha led Khorne’s forces into the battle, and the two daemon armies attacked each other as the fleet exploited their conflict.
• A spacetime vortex froze the battlefield, and an elderly scholar, a young scholar, and black-armored Hilling Empire warriors emerged from it.

Kieran used the Great Clock to reshape the Great Rift into a black hole, cutting off the daemon tide and relieving pressure on the Hilling Empire’s forces. The Chaos Gods learned about the Hilling Empire and the Void, and the battle continued with Kieran greeting Kesha.

• Tzeentch ordered Magnus to seize the wounded Luke and commanded his daemons to keep Kesha occupied.
• Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Khorne demanded information from Tzeentch, who shared what he knew about the Void and the Hilling Empire.
• Khorne’s will drove his daemons into a frenzy, and Kabanha led their charge against the Heavenly Blade Fleet.
• Angel Yan ordered the fleet to strengthen its defenses as the daemons pressed the attack.
• Kieran advanced the Great Clock and transformed the Great Rift’s exit into a black hole, swallowing the incoming daemons and cutting off their reinforcements.
• Kieran looked toward Kesha on the Throne of the Heavenly Blade and nodded to her.

On Holy Terra, the Imperium’s leaders learned that Kieran, the God of Space-Time and principal of Super God Academy, had entered the Imperium, while Obi-Wan explained the academy’s importance and the rumors surrounding Professor Carl. Roboute Guilliman saw an opportunity to bring an academy branch to Macragge and resolved to secure it for Ultramar.

• Roboute Guilliman asked Obi-Wan to identify the mysterious figure seen on the battlefield projection, but Obi-Wan said he did not know the god.
• Liang Bing identified Kieran as the God of Space-Time and principal of Super God Academy, and Obi-Wan described the academy’s role in training the Hilling Empire’s elites.
• Obi-Wan warned that Professor Carl, the academy’s God of Death, pursued radical research into the void, while Liang Bing said she would deal with him if he caused trouble.
• Obi-Wan argued that the academy’s arrival might signal a chance for cooperation or a branch in the Imperium, which could help address its deep-rooted problems.
• Roboute Guilliman decided that Macragge should host the branch and began calculating how to use Ultramar’s strengths to secure the opportunity.

Luke recovered in the Ark of Will’s medical bay while struggling to control the fused light and dark energy within him. Magnus launched a surprise attack on the weakened fleet and broke into the flagship, where Lion confronted him before he could reach Luke.

• A Forerunner medic told Lion that Luke’s fused energy was unstable, and Luke said he needed time to adapt before Queen He Xi could examine him on Terra.
• A Tzeentch daemon host led by Magnus attacked the exhausted Imperium fleet, exploiting damage to the Ark of Will’s shields.
• Magnus’s forces breached the Ark of Will, but its intelligent defenses contained the invaders in Sector D-7 and kept them from reaching the rest of the ship.
• Lion led Dark Angels and Ultramarines toward the landing bay as the flagship’s defenses stalled Magnus’s advance.
• Magnus unleashed a massive psychic storm that destroyed the landing-bay defenses, then charged toward Luke’s location.
• Lion blocked Magnus in the corridor and challenged him over his betrayal of the Imperium.