Chapter Summaries

Overlord Leo awoke in the Maynarkh Dynasty as its Tomb World activated and discovered that its Necron warriors were afflicted by the Flayed Ones curse. He remained immune, but realized he was the only sane being among an awakening army of deranged, armed Necrons.

• A powerful energy wave awakened Liu Zhipeng, whose repaired body emerged from its golden coffin as Overlord Leo.
• The Tomb World powered up, and millions of Necron Warriors awakened and connected to Leo’s command network.
• Leo watched a warrior tear apart a Canoptek Scarab and mutilate its own face, while other warriors attacked their companions.
• Leo recognized signs of Llandu'gor’s Flayed Ones curse and confirmed that he himself remained unaffected.
• Leo realized that being surrounded by a massive army of maddened Necrons might be more dangerous than facing Angron.

Leo answered Phaeron Xunbekel’s summons in the Maynarkh Dynasty’s throne hall and discovered that she was lucid and understood the threat of her Dynasty’s inevitable madness. After she ordered him to raise his head, Xunbekel studied him at close range.

• Leo received Xunbekel’s summons and went to the Highest Dome.
• Leo knelt before Xunbekel and waited in silence until she addressed him.
• Xunbekel said the Karakor Binary Stars had gone dark, and Leo reported that the Silent King’s alarm had sounded.
• Xunbekel questioned whether the Dynasty would be cleansed before its enemies cleansed it, revealing her awareness of its fate.
• Xunbekel ordered Leo to raise his head and stared closely into his eyes.

Xunbekel discovered that Liu Zhipeng possessed a real soul and declared him the antidote to Llandu'gor's curse. When she ordered her guards to capture him intact, Liu Zhipeng fought through them and raced for the throne room exit.

• Xunbekel sensed the flame of a soul inside Liu Zhipeng and realized he was alive.
• Xunbekel identified Liu Zhipeng as the antidote to the Necrons' lost souls and ordered her Immortal Guards to seize him intact.
• Liu Zhipeng blocked a War Scythe, shattered a guard's shield and body, and took the guard's weapon.
• Liu Zhipeng cut down guards as they attacked, broke free of their Stasis Field, and threw a War Scythe through three attackers' necks.
• Liu Zhipeng sprinted toward the throne room's only exit.

Liu Zhipeng escaped Xunbekel’s throne room by phasing through the floor, then used his remaining authority to turn the Third Legion against the Dynasty’s command network. The chapter ended as Xunbekel learned that key energy-grid nodes had been seized.

• Xunbekel trapped Liu Zhipeng with dimensional shackles and declared that he would become the Maynarkh Dynasty’s sacred relic.
• Liu Zhipeng used his Overlord authorization to phase through the throne room floor and escape.
• Xunbekel ordered the Dynasty locked down and commanded that Liu Zhipeng be captured alive.
• While fleeing through the phased dimension, Liu Zhipeng ordered the Third Legion to seize energy nodes and prevent other legions from awakening.
• Xunbekel deployed the Faceless Ones to hunt Liu Zhipeng, then learned that nodes A-2, B-4, and C-1 had been seized.

Xunbekel responded to Leo’s escape by ordering the First Legion to crush the Third Legion, plunging the Maynarkh Dynasty into civil war. Meanwhile, Liu Zhipeng hid elsewhere and lured Aeldari Corsairs and Orks toward the tomb world to worsen the chaos.

• Xunbekel learned that the Third Legion had attacked Canoptek Spyders and destroyed Overlord Ixtator-Tek’s stasis tomb, then ordered the First Legion to suppress the Third Legion while other forces hunted Leo.
• The First Legion and Third Legion began fighting near the energy nexus as Liu Zhipeng hid in an abandoned communications hub instead of going to Sector D-9.
• Liu Zhipeng sent the Blood Sails Corsair Band a message claiming Xunbekel had stolen a relic called Khaine’s Blood Tear and supplied coordinates to the tomb world.
• Liu Zhipeng broadcast a loud, insulting WAAAGH challenge to provoke nearby Orks into attacking the Maynarkh Dynasty.
• Liu Zhipeng shut down the array and went to find a hiding place while he waited for the Aeldari and Orks to arrive.

Liu Zhipeng hid in the Maynarkh Dynasty’s graveyard of discarded Necron Warriors and searched its ancient records for an escape route. As Aeldari pirates and Orks headed toward the civil-war-torn Tomb World, he found a dormant Webway gate whose corrupted activation data required living energy.

• Liu Zhipeng used his last Phase Shift to hide in Zero Reclamation Station and left Xunbekel to deal with the arriving guests.
• Khael ignored his Prophet’s warning and ordered the Blood Sail to approach the Maynarkh Dynasty in search of its supposed blood-tears and Blanks.
• Skar-Eye took a provocation as a challenge and sent his Ork fleet racing toward the Tomb World.
• Liu Zhipeng shut down his systems, hid among the ruined Necron Warriors, and searched the reclamation station’s ancient database for a way out.
• Liu Zhipeng discovered Dolmen Gate-Number 077, a dormant Webway portal, and realized its living-energy requirement might be met by himself.

Liu Zhipeng’s decoy kept drawing Necron hunters into chaos while his forces disrupted the Dynasty’s energy nodes. When Aeldari Corsairs infiltrated the Highest Dome and Orks crashed into the starport, Xunbekel redirected her armies against them and decided to hunt Liu Zhipeng herself, giving him the distraction he had been waiting for.

• Liu Zhipeng’s ghost signal evaded the Faceless Ones and caused havoc in Sector D-9, while the Third Legion used dynastic law to fight the First Legion over an energy node.
• An Aeldari squad infiltrated the Tomb World through ventilation ducts, prompting Xunbekel to order her forces to defend the Highest Dome.
• Ork ships rammed the main starport, and Ork Boyz poured out to battle Necron Warriors and scavenge their weapons.
• Xunbekel assessed the Aeldari, Orks, and Third Legion, then ordered the First, Eighth, and IV Legions to eliminate the external attackers.
• Xunbekel ordered a lockdown and set out for Sector D-9 to find Liu Zhipeng, while the Dynasty’s mobilization created the distraction he had planned for.

Liu Zhipeng slipped through the chaos at Zero Reclamation Station and reached the ancient warships and Dolmen Gate in Dock Thirteen, 'Oblivion.' There, Hekaton, the gate’s guardian, identified him as corrupted and attacked, leaving Liu Zhipeng to confront him with a desperate question.

• Liu Zhipeng used the Phase Shifter to escape the wreckage while the Phaeron’s systems were overwhelmed, and he saw a Necron Warrior afflicted by the flayer curse.
• Liu Zhipeng evaded the fighting and infiltrated Dock Thirteen, 'Oblivion,' where he found a vast collection of ancient ships and the Dolmen Gate.
• Hekaton, a Phaeron’s Guard assigned to protect the gate, demanded Liu Zhipeng’s access key and cited the edict declaring Overlord Leo corrupted.
• Liu Zhipeng charged for the console, but Hekaton struck him into a wall and damaged his body.
• Liu Zhipeng shouted at Hekaton, demanding to know what he thought he was protecting.

Liu Zhipeng tricked Hekaton, escaped Maynarkh through the Dolmen Gate, and sabotaged the Dynasty on his way out. He celebrated aboard a Night Shroud as it tumbled through the Webway, leaving Xunbekel furious and the Dynasty in chaos.

• Liu Zhipeng confused Hekaton with claims that Xunbekel had gone mad, then phased into a Night Shroud and activated it.
• Liu Zhipeng opened the Void Dockyard gates, releasing ancient warships onto the battlefield, and ordered the Third Legion to take revenge against the Dynasty.
• Liu Zhipeng called Hekaton a “Dumbass” and plunged the Night Shroud through the Dolmen Gate into the Webway.
• Xunbekel received warnings that the dockyard and Dolmen Gate had activated, saw her fleet crash onto the battlefield, and heard the Third Legion's rebellion broadcast.
• Liu Zhipeng celebrated his escape from Maynarkh aboard the tumbling Night Shroud.

Leo was pulled into Commorragh and fled its pursuing Drukhari ships by using Phase Translocation, which sent his scout craft crashing into Asdrubael Vect’s private collection chamber. He emerged face-to-face with Vect, who reacted with curiosity rather than anger.

• Leo’s scout craft was dragged into Commorragh by a spatial anomaly, and the city’s defenses drew a swarm of Drukhari warships toward him.
• Leo activated Phase Translocation without choosing a destination, and the craft vanished just before the pursuing ships could strike it.
• Asdrubael Vect admired a shard of Khaine in his collection chamber when Leo’s damaged scout craft tore through the palace defenses and crashed nearby.
• Liu Zhipeng emerged from the craft, recognized Vect and his Incubi bodyguards, and realized he had landed in Vect’s private quarters.
• Vect studied Liu Zhipeng with curiosity and asked whether the Necron had come there to die.

Leo stole the Khaine Shard from Vect’s collection chamber and escaped with it, provoking Vect into mobilizing Commorragh’s forces against him. With the Drukhari fleet pursuing him through the Webway, Leo headed for the Dolmen Gate leading to the Maynarkh Dynasty.

• Leo seized the Khaine Shard and taunted Vect by claiming Phaeron Xunbekel had sent him to take it.
• Leo used the Phase Shifter to escape Vect’s collection chamber with the shard.
• Vect ordered his fleets and forces to pursue Leo and vowed to attack Xunbekel and her Dynasty.
• Leo raced through the Webway as the Drukhari fleet attacked and his scout ship’s systems began to overheat.
• Leo steered toward the Dolmen Gate route to the Maynarkh Dynasty, carrying the Khaine Shard with him.

Leo escaped through the Dolmen Gate as a massive Drukhari fleet poured into the Maynarkh Dynasty, leading Hekaton to brand him the Dynasty’s greatest traitor. Hekaton’s forces devastated the invading fleet, but Vect’s flagship overwhelmed him, and he destroyed himself and nearby attackers in a final blast.

• Leo used his Phase Shifter to evade Hekaton’s Gauss Cannon as he emerged from the Dolmen Gate.
• Thousands of Drukhari warships surged through the gate, forcing Hekaton to abandon his attempt to seal it and activate the Cataclysm protocol.
• Hekaton and the dock’s batteries erased the leading Drukhari frigates, but more ships swarmed the defenses and attacked him.
• Vect arrived aboard the Eternal Torture and sent grappling hooks to capture Hekaton alive.
• Hekaton triggered his self-destruct protocol, destroying himself, nearby defenses, and several Drukhari warships as Leo watched from a distance.

Phaeron Xunbekel learned that Leo had brought Asdrubael Vect’s Drukhari fleet to Maynarkh, and she unleashed the Dynasty against the invaders. As Vect’s forces began losing ground, Leo realized Xunbekel might turn her fury on him if Vect retreated, and searched for a way to escalate the war.

• Xunbekel prepared to order the Orks and Aeldari destroyed, but learned that Hekaton had self-destructed and Void Dock had fallen.
• Asdrubael Vect contacted Xunbekel, revealed that he had come for his stolen property, and threatened to make her palace his collection room.
• Xunbekel awakened the Maynarkh Dynasty’s legions, Exterminators, and Eternal Vanguard to attack Vect’s fleet.
• Leo hid in a scrap heap and watched the Necrons and Drukhari clash, pleased that he had set them against each other.
• Leo saw Vect’s fleet losing ground and feared that Vect would retreat, leaving Xunbekel to hunt him, so he decided to bring in more backup.
• Leo’s sensors suddenly went off again.

Leo discovered that the Imperial fleet had arrived under the Emperor’s orders to rescue him, and he sent it intelligence about the Necrons and Drukhari. Sanguinius used Leo’s information to direct the fleet’s attack as the Blood Angels prepared to reach the planet.

• Leo identified the incoming ships as an Imperial fleet and found its mission briefing, which named the rescue of Tech-Sage Kastor Alpha as its objective.
• Leo realized the fleet had come for him and sent the Red Tear detailed intelligence about the Maynarkh dynasty and the Drukhari.
• Sanguinius received Leo’s data and recognized that Castor was trapped at the center of the conflict.
• Sanguinius ordered the fleet to target the Necrons’ exposed vulnerabilities, while the Iron Hands and Ultramarines engaged the Drukhari and the Blood Angels prepared to land.
• The Imperial Fleet used Leo’s targeting information to destroy a Necron warship by striking its main reactor.

As Sanguinius led the Blood Angels assault on the Maynarkh Dynasty’s Highest Dome, Leo slipped into its Core Database and discovered he could not destroy it through conventional means. He plunged the Khaine Shard into the Dynasty’s Hall of Souls, where its divine rage began to overwhelm the Necrons’ data lake.

• Vect’s fleet retreated under precise bombardment, while Phaeron Xunbekel discovered the Blood Angels were landing at the Highest Dome and ordered her forces back to defend it.
• Sanguinius led thousands of Blood Angels toward the Throne Room, drawing the Dynasty’s guards away from Leo.
• Leo phased through the Dome’s defenses and entered the Maynarkh Dynasty’s Hall of Souls, where he found the Core Database holding the consciousness data of its Necrons.
• Leo failed to delete or physically damage the Core Database because its defenses required the Silent King’s decree and rewound his attack.
• Leo brought out the Khaine Shard and drove it into the data lake, causing its green light to turn blood red and the lake to boil.

Liu Zhipeng destroyed the Maynarkh Dynasty’s Core Database with Khaine’s Wrath, ending the Necrons’ ability to reanimate and plunging their forces into fear and death. Xunbekel’s grief-stricken scream devastated the battlefield and gravely wounded Sanguinius, leaving her facing the surviving Blood Angels with blackened eyes.

• Liu Zhipeng escaped the collapsing spatial bubble as Khaine’s Wrath erased the Core Database and its soul records.
• The Maynarkh Necrons lost their Reanimation Protocols, became mortal, and began fleeing as the Imperial forces attacked them.
• Vect ordered the Drukhari to capture the helpless Necrons and bring them aboard the Eternal Torture as loot.
• Xunbekel felt her subjects and Dynasty vanish, then unleashed a scream that shattered nearby fighters and wounded Sanguinius.
• The surviving Blood Angels charged Xunbekel as her eyes turned pitch-black.

After Xunbekel became an embodiment of hunger and despair and nearly killed Sanguinius, Leo attacked her but was seized by Trazyn, who wanted to keep him as a museum exhibit. Leo detonated himself, destroying the Throne Room and Xunbekel, while Trazyn escaped; Leo received a new ability before beginning his sixth life.

• Xunbekel transformed into a monstrous embodiment of the Flayed Ones curse and threatened to devour Sanguinius and the surviving Blood Angels.
• Leo used his Phase Shifter to attack Xunbekel, but Trazyn appeared and grabbed Leo’s energy core.
• Trazyn declared Leo a perfect addition to his museum and offered to preserve him in stasis.
• Leo overloaded his core and held onto Trazyn as he detonated, vaporizing Xunbekel and destroying the Throne Room while Trazyn escaped by severing his arm.
• Leo’s fifth life ended, and he received the permanent passive ability Temporal Wraith before his sixth life began.

Liu Zhipeng awoke in the body of Horus Lupercal’s failed clone, H-02, in Fabius Bile’s ruined laboratory on Harmony. After discovering how he had survived Abaddon’s attack, he heard a faint sob coming from a sealed room and went to investigate.

• Liu Zhipeng broke out of his growth tank and found himself in the wreckage of a laboratory filled with shattered growth tanks.
• Liu Zhipeng recognized his reflection as Horus Lupercal and realized he was in Fabius Bile’s laboratory on Harmony.
• Liu Zhipeng searched the ruins and found Fabius’s logs identifying him as H-02, a soulless failed clone who had been hidden in an underground bunker.
• Liu Zhipeng concluded that he had survived Abaddon’s attack because Fabius had discarded him in the junk room.
• Liu Zhipeng heard faint sobbing beyond a rubble-blocked door, cleared the wreckage, and opened it.

Horus found a baby Fulgrim clone in an incubation pod and discovered that Fulgrim retained the memories and emotions of his loyal pre-fall self. Horus used his [Primordial Fire] to calm him, then began considering what to do with the tiny Phoenix.

• Horus opened the incubation pod and saw a baby with silvery-white hair and violet eyes.
• Horus recognized the baby as Fabius Bile's perfect Fulgrim clone, the one traded to Trazyn the Infinite.
• Baby Fulgrim recognized Horus as the traitor he blamed for his suffering and began to wail.
• Fulgrim struck Horus's finger, hurt his hand, and cried even louder as his infant needs overwhelmed him.
• Horus used [Primordial Fire] to soothe Fulgrim and lifted him gently from the pod.
• Fulgrim stopped crying in Horus's warm palm, while Horus began forming an audacious idea.

Horus refused to hand the infant Fulgrim over to Trazyn and instead claimed him as his brother, preparing to escape the ruined laboratory with him. The chapter ended as Horus passed Fulgrim’s former cultivation pod, making the baby shudder.

• Horus decided to save Fulgrim from Trazyn and told the infant that they were brothers.
• Horus found synthetic canvas in a storeroom and fashioned himself a crude covering.
• Horus made Fulgrim a diaper and harness, then carried him on his back despite his protests.
• Horus searched the ruined laboratory for weapons and noted the evidence of Abaddon’s past battle.
• Fulgrim shuddered when Horus passed the cultivation pod numbered III, where he had been created.