Chapter Summaries

Lion El'Jonson planned the Imperium’s defense of Cadia against the united daemon armies, assigning Legions and fortresses to layered battle lines. He ordered the forces into position while humanity awaited more Blackstone, C'tan shards, and Vulkan’s attempt to bring Gork and Mork into the war.

• Lion and Luther discussed the sacrifices of the agents and warriors who had gathered intelligence on the daemons.
• Lion devised a forward defense: the Dark Angels would hold the center, the Iron Hands the left, and the Space Wolves the right, while battle planets and white dwarfs formed a second line and Dorn and Perturabo defended Cadia.
• Lion told Luther that Guilliman was producing Blackstone obelisks and that Trazyn would seek C'tan shards and reinforcements from the Silent King.
• Lion explained that Vulkan had gathered Orks and was trying to persuade Gork and Mork to join the battle.
• Lion and Luther reaffirmed their resolve to defend humanity, and Lion ordered every Legion to take its assigned position.

Garad led the Dark Angels fleet against the Chaos daemon host near Cadia, while Orks fought the daemons at the front and space hulks advanced toward the Imperial defenses. Daemons teleported aboard Garad’s flagship, the Oath of Glory, where mortal troops suffered catastrophic losses and Marcus faced a Lord of Change alone.

• Garad and Sigismund exchanged a final battle greeting as the Chaos daemon host appeared near Cadia.
• Greenskin Orks attacked the largest space hulk with their Battle Moon, destroying both in a collision before continuing to fight the daemons.
• Garad ordered the Dark Angels fleet to fire on the advancing space hulks, but the daemon host continued toward the Imperial defenses.
• Nine Lords of Change opened a psychic passage into the Oath of Glory, allowing Chaos daemons to invade the battleship and overwhelm its defenses.
• Marcus watched his auxiliary troops and comrades fall until he was left alone before a Lord of Change, which urged him to abandon his faith.

Marcus resisted the Lord of Change’s illusion, and Galad led the Dark Angels and Iron Men in a desperate fight against Chaos daemons aboard the warship. After killing four Greater Daemons, Galad succumbed to his wounds and died standing beside the dying Marcus.

• Marcus rejected the Lord of Change’s vision of humanity’s defeat and fired at the daemon, prompting Galad and the Primaris Dark Angels to join the battle.
• Galad killed a Lord of Change, while Iron Men protected by Blackstone resisted Warp attacks and tore apart another Greater Daemon.
• Galad and the Dark Angels defeated a Bloodthirster, but a Keeper of Secrets ambushed Galad, poisoned him, and was killed by his counterattack.
• A Great Unclean One attacked Galad and two Dark Angels, killing them with its plague curse before Iron Men arrived and destroyed it.
• Badly wounded and poisoned, Galad spoke with the dying Marcus, reflected on fulfilling his promise to Sigismund, and died standing with his sword.

After the Dark Angels’ first defensive line was destroyed, Lion ordered an elastic withdrawal while Leman Russ searched for the commander of the Chaos daemon host. The Spirit of Fenris and the Emperor both identified Lorgar Aurelian, and Russ ordered the Space Wolves to launch a hunt for him.

• Lion confirmed that all thirteen forward Dark Angels battle groups had been lost and ordered the second echelon to take over with an elastic defense.
• Russ rejected Bjorn’s request for an immediate attack and concluded that Lorgar Aurelian was likely commanding the daemon host.
• Russ summoned the Rune Priests to seek the enemy’s location and entered a dream to ask the Emperor for guidance.
• The Spirit of Fenris infiltrated the daemon tide, found Lorgar’s location, and sent the coordinates to the Rune Priests.
• The Emperor confirmed Lorgar as the target and gave Russ a sense of his location.
• Russ ordered the Space Wolves fleet to advance on the coordinates and called for a final hunt to kill Lorgar.

Leman Russ led the Space Wolves in a surprise assault toward Lorgar’s headquarters while the Iron Hands drew the Chaos daemons’ fire to open a path. Aboard Medusa's Forge, Iron Father Stunus defeated the Sapphire King, a daemon feeding on the Iron Hands’ grief over Ferrus Manus, and the Legion continued its interception mission.

• Lion, Russ, Mel Aine, Dorn, and Perturabo agreed that Russ would attack Lorgar while the Iron Hands drew enemy fire and the other forces reinforced the defensive line.
• Russ ordered the Space Wolves fleet to charge through the Chaos daemon armies as Mel Aine unleashed the Iron Hands’ weapons to cover their advance.
• A Slaaneshi force breached Medusa's Forge, and Iron Father Stunus led Iron Hands against the invaders.
• The Sapphire King taunted Stunus with the Iron Hands’ pain over Ferrus Manus’s death, but Stunus’s living metal cells adapted and shielded him from its attacks.
• Stunus rejected the daemon’s attempt to exploit the Iron Hands’ regret, then smashed the Sapphire King and ordered his warriors to continue purging the daemons.

Lorgar Aurelian prepared a sacrifice using the bodies and gene-seed of fallen Imperial Astartes to unleash a Warp torrent against humanity’s celestial fortresses, while Leman Russ led the Space Wolves through the Eye of Terror to attack his daemon world. Russ and his elite warriors teleported onto Lorgar’s temple to confront him as the ritual neared completion.

• Lorgar ordered Faust and other Word Bearers to prepare a ritual with thousands of fallen Dark Angels, Iron Hands, and Space Wolves, hoping to gain power to destroy humanity’s celestial fortresses.
• Leman Russ led more than a hundred Space Wolves warships through the Eye of Terror and located the Word Bearers fleet guarding Lorgar’s planet.
• Russ’s fleet smashed through the Word Bearers’ defensive line and bombarded Lorgar’s dark temple, but Lorgar’s psychic shield protected it.
• Lorgar ordered Faust to keep the ritual running and summoned Be’lakor to stop Russ.
• Russ led Bjorn and more than a thousand elite Space Wolves in a teleport assault onto the dark temple to confront Lorgar.

Leman Russ led the Space Wolves to the Dark Temple, shattered Lorgar’s psychic barrier, and fought the daemon primarch. Russ gained the upper hand and drove the Spear of Dionysus through Lorgar’s chest, while Faust’s ritual remained nearly complete.

• Lorgar ordered Faust to continue the ritual while he prepared to hold Leman Russ back, confident that the Dark Temple’s barrier would protect him.
• Leman Russ and Bjorn led the Space Wolves through the Word Bearers and daemons, while the spirit of Fenris secretly strengthened the Rune Priests.
• The Rune Priests failed to break the barrier, but Russ unleashed his awakened Warp essence through the Spear of Dionysus and shattered it in one strike.
• Russ taunted Lorgar into leaving the temple, and the two primarchs clashed with their weapons and expanded into giant forms.
• Russ’s battle instincts and the Spear of Dionysus turned the fight in his favor; he knocked the Illuminator from Lorgar’s grasp and pierced his chest.

Leman Russ nearly killed Lorgar with the Spear of Dionysus, but Be'lakor arrived and betrayed Lorgar, revealing his plan to seize primarch essences and ascend to godhood. After consuming Lorgar's essence, Be'lakor turned his attention to Russ.

• Leman Russ pierced Lorgar with the Spear of Dionysus, awakening Lorgar's buried conscience and memories before Russ rejected his plea for mercy.
• Be'lakor appeared, pulled Lorgar away from Russ, and blocked the Spear of Dionysus from killing him.
• Lorgar urged Be'lakor to kill Russ, but Be'lakor instead tore Lorgar apart and seized his heart and body.
• Be'lakor explained that he planned to use Lorgar's and Russ's primarch essences to gain power and ascend to godhood.
• Be'lakor extracted and devoured Lorgar's essence, leaving Lorgar reduced to ash, then challenged Russ.

Leman Russ and the Space Wolves fought Be'lakor after he killed and devoured Lorgar, but the four-god-blessed daemon overwhelmed them. As Corax and Vulkan raced to reinforce him, Russ changed tactics to stall for time and ended the chapter taunting Be'lakor about having no reinforcements.

• Be'lakor killed and devoured Lorgar, then turned his attention to Leman Russ.
• Russ charged Be'lakor with the Spear of Dionysus and ordered Bjorn and the Space Wolves to withdraw, but they stayed and fought beside him.
• Bjorn wounded Be'lakor's armor before the daemon hurled him away, and the Spirit of Fenris answered the Rune Priests' plea by empowering Russ and the surviving wolves.
• Be'lakor battered Russ with Chaos magic, leaving him grievously wounded, until Corax contacted him psychically and revealed that he and Vulkan were approaching.
• Russ learned that Corax and Vulkan were coming, shifted to delaying Be'lakor, and provoked him by mocking his reliance on the four gods.
• As Russ sensed his brothers nearing, he taunted Be'lakor by saying he was waiting for reinforcements and asking what Be'lakor was waiting for.

Leman Russ stalled Be'lakor until Corvus Corax and Vulkan arrived, and the three primarchs overwhelmed him. Be'lakor retreated after Vulkan’s Waaagh-charged spirit drove him from his mind, while Faust and the Word Bearers completed their ritual at the Dark Temple.

• Be'lakor realized Russ might be bluffing about reinforcements and hesitated to risk the Emperor’s intervention.
• Corvus Corax ambushed Be'lakor with shadow ravens, shadow claws, and a telekinetic strike as Vulkan charged in to aid Russ.
• Russ, Corax, and Vulkan attacked Be'lakor together, forcing him to defend against their coordinated assault.
• Be'lakor invaded Vulkan’s mind, where Gork and Mork battered his spiritual form and forced him to flee.
• Vulkan warned Be'lakor that the Four Gods might not fully support his ambitions, and Be'lakor decided to retreat.
• Faust and the Word Bearers completed their ritual at the blood pool and altar as a powerful psychic wave rose from the Dark Temple.

Faust completed Lorgar’s sacrificial ritual, unleashing Warp power that overwhelmed the Eye of Terror and forced Lion El’Jonson to order a retreat toward Cadia. After Be’lakor fled, Leman Russ joined Corax and Vulkan in trying to return to the main battlefield, where Chaos forces intercepted them and the Orks charged in to cover their withdrawal.

• Faust sacrificed the Word Bearers, their collected remains, and the psychic echo of Lorgar’s death to unleash a powerful force into the Warp.
• The Eye of Terror’s reality collapsed under the ritual’s effects, and Lion ordered the Iron Hands and Steel Reborn to withdraw while the Dark Angels covered them.
• Leman Russ despaired over failing to stop the ritual, but Corax and Vulkan urged him to return to Cadia and make amends through action.
• Be’lakor escaped after suspecting that the Four Gods had manipulated it into killing Lorgar and empowering the ritual.
• Russ, Corax, and Vulkan gathered their forces and set course for Cadia, but Chaos daemons emerged to block their fleets.
• Vulkan sent the Greenskin fleet against the daemon horde, and the Orks charged its flank to cover the Imperial retreat.

The Greenskin Orks bought time for Leman Russ, Corax, and Vulkan to retreat toward Cadia, while the primarchs strengthened the battle-planet defensive line and searched for more C'tan shards. The Empyrean then unleashed a devastating strike that shattered much of the line and left the remaining battle planets in grave danger.

• Skullcrusher led the Greenskin Orks in a savage counterattack, killing Greater Daemons and holding the daemon armies back as Orks multiplied amid the fighting.
• Leman Russ, Corax, and Vulkan escaped the Warp-swallowed expanse and withdrew toward Cadia, relying on the Orks' sacrifice to cover their retreat.
• Lion El'Jonson, Rogal Dorn, and Perturabo took command of the battle planets, while Mel Ayan revealed that the Adeptus Mechanicus had found C'tan shards on remote forge worlds.
• The Empyrean struck the defensive line with a torrent of aetheric energy, overwhelming the Blackstone arrays and destroying or crippling several battle planets.
• Perturabo ordered the surviving battle planets to withdraw behind the damaged ones, but more than half the defensive line was destroyed or left as collapsing wreckage.

After the Warp devastated humanity’s second defensive line, Lion returned to Cadia and learned from the Emperor and Lox that reinforcements and powerful allies were coming. He brought the news back to the front, where the Primarchs broadcast a renewed call to hold the Cadian line.

• Lion handed command of the damaged defensive line to Rogal Dorn and Perturabo, then went to Cadia to ask the Emperor and Lox for aid and answers.
• Lion learned that Russ, Vulkan, and Corax were returning, Guilliman was sending reinforcements, and the Aeldari, Necrons, and Greenskin Orks would support the fight against Chaos.
• Lion returned to the command center and told Dorn, Perturabo, Dantioch, and the other commanders about the coming aid.
• Lion, Rogal Dorn, and Perturabo broadcast the news and urged the warriors to hold their positions and fight for victory.
• Billions of humans along the Cadian line answered with renewed cheers and battle cries for the Emperor, humanity, and the future of the galaxy.

Eldrad Ulthran and Cegorach prepared the Aeldari’s greatest surviving forces to join the war for Cadia, including six Blackstone Fortresses and a plan to reunite Khaine’s fragments. The Craftworld fleet reached the Cadian line, where Lion El'Jonson welcomed the Aeldari cautiously as allies, and the six fortresses appeared as their first gift.

• Eldrad Ulthran told Cegorach that the Craftworld forces were insufficient to decide the war, and Cegorach revealed that he had gathered six intact Talismans of Vaul in the Black Library.
• Cegorach explained that he would fuse Khaine’s major fragments to awaken a near-complete God of War, and Ulthwé agreed to contribute its fragments and the power of its Infinity Circuit.
• Ulthwé and the other major Craftworlds emerged from the Webway into the Cadian system and formed a united fleet bound for the front.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Aeldari ships identified while keeping the human defenses alert, then exchanged communications with Eldrad Ulthran and acknowledged the Aeldari as allies.
• Eldrad promised the Aeldari’s first gift, and six Blackstone Fortresses appeared behind the human defense line.

The Blackstone Fortresses weakened the Warp and helped stabilize Cadia’s defenses, while Aeldari fleets struck the daemon host with swift attacks. Mortarion led her Aeldari allies toward the corrupted Endurance, determined to confront Typhus and grant the Death Guard aboard it peace, and used Asha’s aura to scatter Nurgle’s forces before launching an attack.

• Six Blackstone Fortresses suppressed Warp energy, annihilated daemon forces with a combined beam, and helped stabilize the second defensive line.
• Uthlan rallied the Aeldari, whose warships harassed Chaos fleets and eased pressure on the human defenders.
• Lion El'Jonson and Dorn recognized Mortarion as the commander of an unusually aggressive Aeldari fleet.
• Mortarion told Camille Neel that her former siblings had sensed her, while Camille affirmed the Aeldari’s loyalty to her as Asha’s child.
• Mortarion recognized Typhon’s corrupted Endurance and resolved to confront him and free the Death Guard from Nurgle’s control.
• Asha spread her aura to lure Nurgle’s daemons away from their formation, and Mortarion ordered her fleet to advance.

Mortarion led an Aeldari boarding force onto the Terminus Est, using Aisha’s power to cleanse its corruption and rallying Wraithknights, Phantom Titans, and Aspect Warriors against Typhus’s Death Guard. As her forces advanced through the ship, Typhus avoided her challenge and continued sending daemons to wear them down.

• Typhus suspected Aisha’s appearance was a trap, realized Mortarion was present, and incited the Death Guard to capture her and bring her to Nurgle.
• Typhus ordered the Terminus Est and the Death Guard fleet toward the Aeldari, weakening the flagship’s defenses to lure Mortarion into boarding.
• Mortarion brought the Breath of Life past the Terminus Est and opened a psychic portal, leading Aeldari warriors aboard herself.
• Mortarion used Aisha’s power to turn the ship’s rotting growths to ash, clearing space for the boarding force and its Wraithknights and Phantom Titans.
• The Aeldari machines and Aspect Warriors battled the Death Guard and daemons as Mortarion advanced, killed powerful enemies, and called Typhus out.
• Typhus refused to face Mortarion directly and sent more enemies against her forces, while the Aeldari grew impressed by her command.

Mortarion led the Aeldari through the Endurance, freeing corrupted Death Guard souls and confronting Typhus. She killed Typhus beyond Nurgle’s power to resurrect, but was left grieving rather than satisfied by her revenge.

• Mortarion commanded the Aeldari to crush Typhus's defenses while she purified Death Guard warriors with Isha's power.
• Mortarion recognized Bader Clarkson, who briefly regained his awareness, confessed his regret, and asked for release; she granted him a peaceful death.
• Mortarion destroyed the Greater Daemon Septicemia with her psychic power and reached the bridge of the Endurance.
• Typhus tried to persuade Mortarion to return to Nurgle, but she rejected his lies and cleaved him in two with the Silence Scythe.
• Mortarion destroyed Typhus's Destroyer Hive and annihilated his soul with Aisha's divine power, leaving him beyond resurrection.
• After killing Typhus, Mortarion felt sorrow instead of satisfaction and wondered whether ending the source of Chaos could prevent further tragedies.

After Mortarion destroyed the Endurance and returned with the Aeldari host, the Laughing God completed a ritual that sacrificed the greatest Exarchs to summon a Khaine close to his true power. Cegorach lured the enraged god of war toward the Chaos host, where Khaine unleashed his fury on everything before him.

• Mortarion destroyed the Endurance after killing Typhus, then declared that she would fight as Mortarion of the Aeldari and returned the surviving host to the Breath of Life.
• Camille Neil told Mortarion that Cegorach had gathered Khaine's fragments and Exarchs to summon the god of war.
• At Ulthwé, Cegorach led the Exarchs through a ritual that consumed their blood, souls, and wills to awaken Khaine.
• Cegorach provoked Khaine with memories of his humiliation by Aeldanish, and Khaine emerged in a fury after the Exarchs merged into Doom Howl.
• Cegorach fled through the Cadia sector while taunting Khaine, guiding him into a region dominated by Khorne's forces.
• After Cegorach vanished, Khaine turned his rage on the Chaos host and roared a declaration of indiscriminate slaughter.

The Avatar of Khaine destroyed a vast section of the Chaos daemon host, alarming Lion El'Jonson and stirring memories of Aeldari glory among Ulthwé's seers. Be'lakor pushed Ang'grath into a mission to lure Khaine toward the Brass Throne, while he searched for a way out of his own predicament.

• The Avatar of Khaine expanded to colossal size and erased daemons across several light-years with a single sword stroke.
• Lion El'Jonson, Rogal Dorn, and Perturabo reacted to Khaine's power, and Lion ordered stronger surveillance and a counterattack against the daemon forces.
• Uslan stopped the Aeldari seers from dwelling on their lost empire and urged them to continue fighting beside humanity.
• Be'lakor realized the Chaos Gods would not let him abandon the war, then asked the Greater Daemons for a way to deal with Khaine.
• Kairos redirected responsibility toward Khorne, and Be'lakor persuaded Ang'grath to lure Khaine toward the Blood God's domain in the Eye of Terror.
• Ang'grath set out with his Greater Daemons to draw Khaine toward the Brass Throne, while Be'lakor began searching for another way to escape the crisis.

Angrath the Unbound lured the Avatar of Khaine away from weaker targets, but Khaine killed his Bloodthirster escort and split Angrath in two. Khaine then attacked Leman Russ, Vulkan, and Corax’s arriving fleet, prompting Vulkan to summon Gork and Mork; the Ork gods fought Khaine while the Imperial fleet escaped, and Cegorach struggled to stop the battle.

• Angrath the Unbound taunted the Avatar of Khaine and fled toward the Eye of Terror, drawing Khaine away from the surrounding demons.
• Khaine annihilated Angrath’s eighty-eight Bloodthirsters, caught up with Angrath, and killed him with the Wailing Doom.
• Leman Russ, Vulkan, and Corax’s fleet emerged near Khaine, and Vulkan called on Gork and Mork to protect the Imperial reinforcements.
• Gork and Mork appeared and battered Khaine, while Cegorach warned Vulkan that the Avatar was an Aeldari weapon intended to fight Chaos.
• Vulkan ordered the fleet to withdraw, and Leman Russ and Corax led the ships toward Cadia while Gork and Mork continued fighting Khaine.
• Cegorach pleaded with Gork and Mork to stop, but they ignored him, and the battle changed suddenly.