Chapter Summaries

Liu Zhipeng restored the wounded, Astropaths, and Space Marines aboard the fleet while the Tech-Priests installed Short-Jump Engines. He led the fleet toward the Khalifa System to strike a key Necron network node.

• Marcus-018 and the Tech-Priests replaced the Hammer of God's Warp Engines with Short-Jump Engines.
• Liu Zhipeng's divine flame soothed wounded soldiers and restored the Astropaths' souls.
• Liu Zhipeng's presence revived the Space Marines' fighting strength.
• Marcus-018 reported that the Hammer of God's new engine was installed and that the other capital ships would be refitted within two days.
• Liu Zhipeng recommended concentrating the fleet to attack Necron core nodes, and he selected the Khalifa System as the first target.
• Lord Commander Maran ordered the fleet to Khalifa, and the ships activated their Short-Jump Engines and vanished.

The Imperial Fleet entered the Khalifa System and fought through a Necron ambush, with Liu Zhipeng destroying several cruisers to open a path to Khalifa Prime. The fleet reached the dead planet, where Liu Zhipeng warned that the real battle was still ahead.

• The Calixis Battle Group arrived safely in the Khalifa System, where Commander Marlan discovered hundreds of Necron ships waiting in ambush.
• Liu Zhipeng ordered the fleet to charge toward Khalifa Prime instead of getting bogged down, and Marlan formed the ships into a spearhead.
• The Necrons attacked with Gauss Beams, while the Imperial ships pressed forward and destroyed a Jackal-class cruiser with concentrated fire.
• Liu Zhipeng flew into the enemy formation, resisted its weapons, and punched through four Necron cruisers to open a gap.
• Maran led the Imperial Fleet through the breach, and the ships broke through the outer defenses into the inner system.
• The fleet reached Khalifa Prime, where Liu Zhipeng saw the planet's Blackstone Obelisks and warned Marlan that the real battle had only just begun.

Liu Zhipeng attacked the central Obelisk on Kalifa, but Necron Master Artisan Zerath trapped him in a Transdimensional Folding Matrix and unleashed reinforcements. With Liu gone, Pheros and Sister Evreel rallied the Imperial forces to hold their ground and fight.

• Liu Zhipeng led the assault on the Obelisk while Pheros, Maran, Evreel, and the Imperial forces battled the emerging Necron Warriors.
• Liu blasted a breach into the Obelisk, but its Transdimensional Folding Matrix activated and compressed him out of sight.
• Zerath appeared and revealed that he had prepared the Obelisk as a trap, then summoned Necron Praetorians and Ghost Arks to attack the Imperials.
• Pheros rejected a retreat order and rallied the Imperial forces to defend their position until Liu returned.
• Evreel urged the Sisters of Battle to keep fighting, declaring that the Saint's divine flame still burned within them.

Liu Zhipeng escaped Zerath’s dimensional prison, destroyed the Necron commander and his army, and Zerath was resurrected with a warning for Szarekh. The Silent King ordered Zerath to explain his discovery of a self-aware C’tan with Warp powers.

• Liu Zhipeng emerged unharmed from the collapsed singularity and crushed Zerath’s skull, then burned him to ash.
• Liu Zhipeng engulfed the battlefield in golden flames and annihilated the Necron army as the Imperials cheered.
• Zerath resurrected in a Necron crypt and decided to report the powerful new C’tan to the Silent King.
• Zerath reached Szarekh’s throne world and urgently claimed that Liu Zhipeng was a self-aware C’tan with Warp powers.
• Szarekh silenced the other Phaerons and ordered Zerath to explain in detail.

After learning that a golden figure destroyed the Obelisk and burned Zerath to ashes, Szarekh ordered three World Engines awakened and set out for Khalifa. Liu Zhipeng prepared to hold the system against the Necrons, using a fabricated Emperor’s mission to rally his allies and keep the Silent King occupied while Ghazghk’s force moved toward the Necron home base.

• Zerath reported the golden figure’s actions in the Khalifa System, and Szarekh ordered his fleet mobilized and three World Engines awakened.
• Szarekh declared that he would travel to Khalifa and destroy the being if it was truly a C’tan.
• Liu Zhipeng told the commanders that the Necrons had been testing their strength and would counterattack to reclaim Khalifa.
• Liu Zhipeng claimed that the Emperor had sent a secret team to find the Soul Isolation Network’s control hub and asked the gathered forces to hold Khalifa as a diversion.
• Pheros, the Sons of Sorrow captain, Evreel, Marlan, and Kalia pledged their forces, and Liu Zhipeng assigned defenses across the system.
• After the others left to carry out his orders, Liu Zhipeng looked toward Khalifa and said it was Ghazghk’s turn.

Ghazghk and his Gretchin set out to rob the Necron ruler’s stronghold while Liu Zhipeng prepared the Khalifa System’s defenses against the Silent King’s overwhelming fleet. As the Necrons began charging the World Engines, Liu sent Ghazghk toward the Szarekh Dynasty’s central Crownworld.

• Ghazghk led hundreds of Gretchin in a battered asteroid and prepared to jump to the Necron ruler’s supposedly unguarded lair.
• Seventy-two hours later, Maran detected more than three thousand Necron warships entering the Khalifa System, including three World Engines and the Silent King’s flagship.
• Liu Zhipeng rallied the Imperial Fleet and ordered its forces to maximum combat readiness, concealing that he had expected the Silent King to bring his full force.
• The Silent King ordered the Necrons to blockade the system and charge the World Engines’ weapons to erase the Khalifa System.
• Liu Zhipeng psychically told Ghazghk that the main Necron force had been drawn away, and Ghazghk jumped toward the Szarekh Dynasty’s central Crownworld to steal its treasures.

Magos Maran split the Imperial Fleet into twelve battle groups and used short jumps to launch guerrilla strikes against the Necron forces in the Khalifa System. The Silent King adapted by disrupting their spatial jumps and deploying Flayed Ones, leaving Imperial ships facing boarders.

• Maran divided the fleet into twelve independent battle groups, and the Imperial ships escaped the World Engines’ first salvo with short jumps.
• The Hammer of God ambushed Necron ships near Khalifa Prime and the moon’s debris belt before jumping away from return fire.
• The twelve Imperial battle groups carried out repeated strikes, damaging or destroying nearly a hundred Necron ships while keeping most of their own fleet intact.
• Illuminor Zerath identified the Imperials’ short-jump technology as an unusual spatial reconstruction algorithm, and the Silent King ordered a grid-based encirclement and the capture of the high-energy entity alive.
• Necron interference ships reduced short-jump accuracy, and Flayed Ones boarded Imperial vessels through phase-shifting metal coffins.

Liu Zhipeng defended the Imperial Fleet’s warships from Flayed Ones boarding attacks, helping the twelve battle groups hold formation. After the Necrons saw him destroy the attackers, Szarekh rose from the Blackstone Throne.

• Maran ordered the Glory’s crew and Space Marines to defend the ship’s engines from Flayed Ones that had teleported aboard.
• Liu Zhipeng asked for the coordinates of the fleet’s most threatened positions, then vanished from the bridge in golden flames.
• Liu Zhipeng appeared aboard the Indomitable, destroyed Flayed Ones attacking its engine compartment, and healed a wounded Space Marine.
• Liu Zhipeng cleared threatened areas across the fleet, and the battle groups reported that their boarders had been eliminated and their ships remained operational.
• Zerath showed Szarekh a recording of Liu Zhipeng destroying the Flayed Ones, and Szarekh rose from the Blackstone Throne.

Liu Zhipeng battled Szarekh and the Necrons’ Ruling Throne, revealing a power that combined psychic force with C’tan-like reality manipulation. After Ghazghk told him he had gathered all the glowing blocks, Liu transformed into a golden supernova to shield the Imperial Fleet’s retreat from the Khalifa System.

• Liu Zhipeng ordered the Imperial fleet to withdraw and flew out to confront Szarekh at the Ruling Throne.
• Liu fought off Szarekh’s death ray and the throne’s weapons, then broke through its defenses with powers that the Necrons recognized as resembling those of the C’tan.
• Ghazghk told Liu Zhipeng that he had stuffed all the little glowing blocks into the big bag.
• Liu Zhipeng transformed into an expanding golden supernova and ordered the Imperial ships to evacuate the Khalifa System.
• Magos Maran led the fleet’s short jump to the edge of the Naphil Sector as Liu Zhipeng held back the Necron death fleet.

Liu Zhipeng unleashed a supernova to cover the Imperial Fleet’s escape, while Gretchin raided the Necron Crownworld and stole every C’tan Shard and Tesseract Labyrinth. Szarekh realized the battle had been a diversion and split his forces, sending part of the fleet home while he continued the pursuit.

• Szarekh ordered the World Engines to fire on the fleeing Imperial Fleet, but Liu Zhipeng released a burst of power that interrupted their weapons and let the fleet escape.
• A Crownworld alert told Szarekh that hundreds of thousands of Gretchin had breached the central vault and stolen all its Tesseract Labyrinths and C’tan Shards.
• Szarekh calculated that the Gretchin raid had been timed to draw him away from the Crownworld and recognized Liu Zhipeng as the diversion.
• Szarekh divided the Necron fleet, sending the First through Fifth Hunter-Killer Cohorts and three World Engines back to the Crownworld while he pursued Liu Zhipeng with the remaining forces.

Liu Zhipeng reunited with Ghazghk and absorbed all thirty-seven C'tan Shards while the Gretchin prepared a fortress to protect him. As Liu Zhipeng entered a radiant cocoon, Szarekh's fleet continued tracking the fleeing Imperial fleet, and an alarm sounded.

• Liu Zhipeng tore open a spatial rift and reached Ghazghk and the Gretchin on an unnamed barren planet.
• Ghazghk gave Liu Zhipeng thirty-seven C'tan Shards and showed him the defenses the Gretchin had assembled.
• Liu Zhipeng absorbed the shards and used his primordial divine flame to refine their wills as his primordial quickening devoured their power.
• Ghazghk and Sharpfang watched Liu Zhipeng become enclosed in a sun-bright cocoon.
• Szarekh's fleet tracked the Imperial fleet's spatial-folding traces, then an alarm rang at the edge of the fleet.

Szarekh and Imotekh confronted each other as the Sautekh Dynasty fleet blocked the Silent King's route, and their opposing claims to rule escalated into war. The chapter left the fleets locked in battle, with Szarekh's forces repelling the opening barrage and striking back.

• The Sautekh Dynasty fleet, led by Imotekh aboard the Absolute Dominion, appeared in front of Szarekh's fleet and blocked its course.
• Imotekh denounced Szarekh as a coward and rejected his claim to authority, while the Punisher called Imotekh a usurper and traitor.
• Imotekh ordered the Sautekh fleet to fire thousands of gauss annihilation beams at the Szarekh Dynasty fleet.
• The Punisher ordered the Royal Bodyguard to deploy the Wall of Sighs and the other ships to return fire, and the barrier stopped the Sautekh barrage.
• Szarekh's ships destroyed three Jackal-class frigates with precise attacks and sent Canoptek Scarabs to swarm the Sautekh fleet.

Trazyn halted the Necron civil war by broadcasting footage of a golden being eating C'tan Shards. Szarekh and Imotekh agreed to cease fire after learning that all thirty-seven shards in Szarekh’s vault had been stolen, leaving the Necrons united against the greater threat.

• Trazyn ordered the Light of Solemnace broadcast protocol activated to stop Szarekh and Imotekh’s fleets from destroying each other.
• Trazyn’s projection showed the golden being devouring several C'tan Shards, including shards of the Deceiver and Nightbringer.
• Szarekh ordered both fleets to cease fire after the Voice of the Triarch revealed that all thirty-seven C'tan Shards in his command vault had been stolen.
• Imotekh lowered his Storm Scepter and agreed that the Sautekh Dynasty would cease fire for now.
• Trazyn piloted his ship between the fleets and urged the two rulers to settle their dispute through discussion.

Szarekh, Imotekh, and Trazyn formed a fragile alliance and tracked the golden entity to a barren planet, where they found a reality-warping singularity and a god being born. Unable to use weapons that might tear reality apart, the Necron fleet advanced into low orbit to attack with conventional firepower.

• Szarekh and Imotekh agreed to follow Trazyn and formed the Three Kings Alliance against the golden entity.
• Trazyn led the combined Necron fleets, numbering more than five thousand capital ships, to the barren planet.
• The fleet detected a massive singularity on the planet, and Szarekh identified it as a god being born.
• Imotekh called for the fleet to destroy the planet, but Szarekh's Phaeron warned that strategic weapons could trigger a universe-wide Big Rip.
• Szarekh issued the Absolute Prohibition against reality-destroying weapons and ordered the fleet into low orbit to attack with conventional firepower.

Ghazghk's hidden asteroid fortresses ambushed the Necron fleet as it entered orbit, destroying its vanguard with a sudden barrage. Imotekh ordered the surviving warships to fire back after Trazyn identified the fortresses' impossible stealth system.

• Szarekh's Royal Fleet, Imotekh's Sautekh fleet, and Trazyn's Collection Fleet advanced toward the planet in a trident formation, and their scans detected no threats.
• Ghazghk revealed 120 asteroid fortresses around the Necron fleet and announced a shooting game before opening fire.
• The fortresses destroyed the Necron vanguard of 150 warships in thirty seconds, using weapons assembled from multiple civilizations.
• Imotekh demanded to know how the platforms had evaded detection, and Trazyn explained they combined T'au stealth fields with Necron Phase Folding through ork logic.
• Imotekh ordered every surviving Necron warship to fire at the fortresses.

Ghazghk’s Gretchin-held fortress platforms repelled the Necron fleet with stacked shields and waves of explosive drones, prompting Szarekh to intervene personally. The Silent King destroyed the platforms one by one, while Imotekh began his own attack.

• Ghazghk ordered the fortress platforms to stack their shields and concentrate fire, destroying or crippling several Necron ships.
• Szarekh ordered the Blackstone Disruption Matrix activated and sent Necron Warriors into the platforms, but Ghazghk’s explosive drone traps wiped out the invading troops.
• Szarekh decided to fight personally, and Trazyn and Imotekh also left their flagships to attack the fortresses.
• Szarekh disabled fortress thirty-seven’s shields, shattered it, and accelerated the Gretchin aboard until they crumbled to dust.
• Szarekh continued destroying the fortress platforms, while Imotekh attacked elsewhere with even greater violence.

Ghazghk destroyed much of the Necron fleet in a massive fortress self-destruct attack before Sharpfang and over a million Gretchin prepared to defend the Singularity on the planet. The ground battle began with the Gretchin firing a barrage of rockets at the descending Necron transports.

• Ghazghk activated the self-destruct sequences of the surviving fortress platforms, destroying nearly a quarter of the Necron ships and forcing Szarekh and Imotekh to retreat briefly.
• Szarekh ordered the Necron forces to land and stop the Singularity's apotheosis, while Sharpfang rallied more than a million Gretchin to defend the planet.
• Sharpfang reviewed the Gretchin's troops, weapons, and extensive trench defenses as the Necron transports descended.
• Sharpfang ordered the artillery to fire when the Tomb Scythes reached three thousand meters, and thirty thousand rocket launchers unleashed a huge barrage.
• The Gretchin rockets damaged several Tomb Scythes and brought one crashing to the ground, while Sharpfang ordered his troops to keep reloading.

Sharpfang’s Gretchin repelled the Necrons’ initial advance with concentrated rifle fire, then sent Vanguard Stitched Mechs into a brutal clash against the enemy’s heavy units. As the defenses faltered, underground mines activated beneath a hidden Praetorian squad approaching the command post.

• Sharpfang ordered nearly a million Gretchin to rise from the trenches and fire, wiping out the front ranks of the advancing Necrons.
• The Necrons deployed Phase Shields, Immortals, and Destroyers, whose heavy weapons blasted through sections of the trenches.
• Sharpfang sent forty-seven thousand Vanguard Stitched Mechs charging into the Necron heavy units, where both sides suffered severe losses.
• A report alerted Sharpfang that underground traps had activated beneath the Necron forces.
• A Praetorian captain led an elite squad underground toward the command post, and a mine clicked as the captain took another step.

Sharpfang and Ghazghk’s traps and giant mech challenged Imotekh as he joined the battle, but Imotekh crippled the mech. Sharpfang triggered a modified teleportation system, sending his cockpit directly in front of the Stormlord.

• Ghazghk’s smart mines detonated in the underground passages, destroying many Necron Praetorians.
• Imotekh entered the battle and struck down thousands of Gretchin with a lightning blast.
• Sharpfang ordered the activation of the Big Boss’s Fist and piloted the giant mech toward Imotekh.
• Sharpfang’s Railgun blast shattered Imotekh’s shield and wounded his shoulder.
• Imotekh sliced open the mech’s leg armor, making it collapse and leaving Sharpfang injured in the cockpit.
• Sharpfang activated the modified teleportation system, which placed his cockpit right in front of Imotekh.

Imotekh recoiled from a battered cockpit that teleported in front of him, only to discover it was packed with enormous Squig Bombs. The bombs detonated at point-blank range, engulfing him in a massive explosion whose mushroom cloud was visible from the Gretchin reserve position.

• Imotekh instinctively took half a step back as the battered cockpit appeared against his face.
• The cockpit hatch opened, and Imotekh detected 237 oversized Squig Bombs inside, including one with a flashing detonator.
• The detonator activated, and a voice wished Skullhead Boss good luck before the bombs exploded.
• The fusion and spore explosives melted Imotekh's faceplate and unleashed a chain reaction amplified by the Gretchins' belief.
• A huge mushroom cloud rose over the battlefield, and a Gretchin Technician remarked that the bombs had packed far more than a bit of a punch.