Chapter Summaries

A Chaos Sorcerer revealed her plan to change St. Garus and tried to claim Lynn, while Slaanesh and Tzeentch forces fought around him. The Ecclesiarchy arrived in a blaze of holy light, and its fanatics burst into the restaurant.

• A Chaos Sorcerer led Tzeentchian creatures into the restaurant, where they clashed with the Slaanesh worshippers and Callum.
• The Chaos Sorcerer said she wanted to change St. Garus and accused Callum of failing his family.
• The Chaos Sorcerer recognized Lynn as Lynn and reached for him, but Loya intercepted her with his whip.
• Loya fought the Chaos Sorcerer while Callum battled other Tzeentchian sorcerers, leaving Lynn trapped between the factions.
• Golden light and prayers from the arriving Ecclesiarchy weakened the Warp corruption and alarmed the cultists.
• The restaurant doors were smashed open, and Ecclesiarchy fanatics flooded inside.

The Ecclesiarchy’s forces arrived at the dining hall and attacked the Chaos Cultists and daemons, rescuing Lynn from immediate danger. Canoness Valenia’s Sisters of Battle repelled Callum’s charge, while Lynn spotted Isolde amid the battle.

• Zealots and Ministorum Priests poured into the dining hall, driving back Warp corruption with their faith.
• Penitent Engines smashed through the western wall and charged the lesser daemons.
• Canoness Valenia led the Sisters of Battle into the hall and addressed Lynn as the Chosen of the Emperor.
• The Sisters and priests formed a defensive line and unleashed a sanctified barrage against the forces of Chaos.
• Callum charged the Sisters, but their golden barrier threw him back and a Power Halberd burned his shoulder.
• Lynn spotted Isolde amid the fighting.

Rena used Isolde's identity to organize a rescue for Lynn at Saint Garus Castle, while Leo was ambushed by Aiden on the Brevis Ice Plain. The chapter left Leo fleeing across the snow, wounded and pursued by the Knight suit.

• Rena realized Lynn was in danger, alerted Carter and Archbishop Goodwin, and entered the Ecclesiarchy's forces as Isolde to reach him.
• Isolde fought among the Sisters of Battle, and Lynn recognized Rena's relief when she confirmed he was safe.
• Leo finished wiping out an Ork remnant band and prepared to report the victory to Lynn.
• Aiden attacked Leo with a laser strike and Gatling cannons, destroying his tank and killing his guards.
• Leo escaped into the ice plain as Aiden pursued him, determined to survive and learn why Aiden had betrayed him.

The Noble Council accused Lynn of serving Chaos and ordered his forces purged, igniting a civil war at the Forbidden Wall. As Vanguard units sought Leo in the ice fields, he and his last guards made a stand in a narrow valley while he tried to identify the rebellion’s mastermind.

• The Noble Council of Brevis issued a notice declaring Lynn a traitor, and noble-born Vanguard commanders attacked troops loyal to him.
• Vanguard junior officers recognized the purge as a conspiracy and organized resistance, with some holding the Forbidden Wall and others heading into the ice fields to find Leo.
• Leo fled through the ice fields as his personal guard dwindled to fifty, then led them into a narrow valley and ordered them to hold the entrance.
• Leo and his guards repelled repeated rebel attacks, and Leo killed a young corporal who had once served under him.
• During a lull, Leo suspected Great Bear St. Garus was behind the rebellion but could not determine whether Callum, Luna, or someone else had planned it.

Leo held the valley entrance against overwhelming rebel forces until Vanguard soldiers, Ice Fang Clan riders, and tens of thousands of Frost Soldiers turned the battle against them. Aiden broke through in his Knight mech and aimed at Leo, but Quinn St. Garus arrived between them.

• Leo fought alone after his bodyguards fell, and more than a thousand Vanguard soldiers charged the rebels to buy him two minutes before they were overwhelmed.
• Thousands of Ice Striders carrying wildling warriors from the Ice Fang Clan attacked the rebels, while a rider told Leo they had come because Lynn's divine emissary said a friend of the Ice Lord was in trouble.
• More than a dozen Ice Lotuses erupted from the frozen ground and released tens of thousands of Frost Soldiers, who swept through the rebel ranks.
• A Trygon delayed Aiden's Knight mech long enough for the Frost Soldiers to overwhelm the rebels, but Aiden killed it and drove into the valley to reach Leo.
• Aiden aimed his Gatling cannon at Leo, but Quinn St. Garus landed between them in a silver-blue Knight mech.

Quinn sacrificed himself to save Leo by detonating his Knight mech alongside Aiden’s, while the Ecclesiarchy crushed Callum’s forces. Callum escaped Valenia’s trap and seized Lynn, but Loya ambushed him as the Sisters of Battle closed in.

• Quinn overcame the Machine Spirit’s rejection long enough to grapple Aiden’s Knight mech and overload his core, destroying both mechs in an explosion that killed Quinn and Aiden.
• Leo emerged from an Ice Lotus and found the wreckage, while Frost Soldiers finished off the rebels and he mourned Quinn’s sacrifice.
• The Ecclesiarchy’s fanatics and Sisters of Battle brought down the Helbrute and cornered Callum, while Loya and the Tzeentch sorcerer fled.
• Callum escaped the Sisters of Battle by leaving behind a shriveled husk, then grabbed Lynn and rushed toward a hidden escape door.
• Loya restrained Callum with psychic spider silk and stabbed through his chest with a daemonic claw as the Sisters of Battle pursued them.
• Realizing he could not escape and could no longer hold Lynn, Callum resolved to make everyone die with him.

Callum’s blasphemous prayer summoned a Keeper of Secrets through a rift, whose seductive mist began corrupting the defenders. Canoness Valenia rallied the Sisters of Battle to attack before the daemon fully manifested.

• Callum transformed as Slaanesh cultists sacrificed themselves to him, and his body exploded to open a rift.
• A Keeper of Secrets began emerging from the rift, while its laughter and pink mist overwhelmed cultists and weakened the defenders.
• The Keeper of Secrets tempted the zealots and Sisters of Battle by awakening their secret desires, but Canoness Valenia used a holy tome to clear the mist and restore the sisters’ resolve.
• Valenia rallied the Sisters of Battle, and the zealots charged the daemon as priests sacrificed themselves to clear a path.
• The Sisters split into three squads: one fired holy bolts at the Keeper of Secrets, one fought its protectors, and Valenia led the last toward the rift.

Valenia sacrificed herself to banish the Keeper of Secrets, but as Lynn reunited with Rena, a Tzeentch sorcerer unleashed a spell that accelerated time throughout the dining hall. The sorcerer then opened a rift and sent a Chariot of Change and Chaos Spawn toward the Ecclesiarchy's lines.

• Valenia pinned the Keeper of Secrets with her holy sword while the priests and Sisters performed an exorcism, forcing the daemon back into the Warp.
• The Keeper of Secrets poisoned Valenia with its ritual blade, and she burned herself and the poison away in prayer, leaving only her charred sword.
• Lynn found Rena among the Sisters, but a blue flash brought the missing Tzeentch sorcerer into the dining hall.
• The sorcerer declared that time would speed up, and her blue shock wave rapidly aged everyone in the hall.
• The sorcerer opened a rift and summoned a Chariot of Change and more than a dozen Chaos Spawn, which charged the Ecclesiarchy's lines.

The Tzeentch forces overwhelmed the Ecclesiarchy in the dining hall, leaving Lynn aged and fallen. Isolde revealed her power, and Lynn rose with Valenia’s sword, restored and ready to fight Luna.

• The Sisters of Battle and zealots fought the Chaos Spawn, but Flamers emerged from rifts and set the dining hall ablaze.
• The aged Ecclesiarchy forces lost their priests, and Luna’s stronger shock waves brought the remaining Sisters and zealots down.
• Luna approached Lynn, but Isolde stood up and shielded herself from the shock waves with purple light.
• Isolde revealed her chitinous armor and pointed at Luna as Lynn rose using Valenia’s sword.
• Valenia’s final will ignited the sword, purifying Lynn, restoring his strength, and allowing him and Isolde to declare that the battle was only just beginning.

Lynn and "Isolde" fought through the Tzeentch forces, destroying daemons with golden flames and psychic power. After they defeated the Exalted Flamer and destroyed the Chariot of Change, the Tzeentch sorceress escaped, leaving behind a taunting phantom.

• Lynn and "Isolde" coordinated their attacks, killing Chaos Spawn and Flamers as Loya watched with excitement.
• The Tzeentch sorceress empowered her forces from the Chariot of Change and summoned an Exalted Flamer.
• The Flamers engulfed Lynn and "Isolde" in a prolonged barrage, but the pair survived behind layered shields.
• Lynn launched "Isolde" at the Chariot of Change, and her psychic punch destroyed it along with the Spellcasting Necrontyr.
• The Tzeentch sorceress revealed that the figure left behind was only a phantom and escaped the restaurant.

Lynn and "Isolde" defeated the Exalted Flamer, then destroyed the staff’s summoned Mutalith Vortex Beast and routed the remaining daemons. Lynn declared the battle over as the badly wounded Ecclesiarchy warriors stood amid the ruined dining hall, while Loya vanished into the shadows.

• "Isolde" weakened the Exalted Flamer with a shock wave, and Lynn killed it with the Sword of Valenia.
• Lynn destroyed the staff, which opened a rift and summoned a Mutalith Vortex Beast from the gathered remains.
• The Mutalith Vortex Beast blasted Lynn and "Isolde" aside, but "Isolde" redirected Lynn clear of its Psychic Power beam.
• Lynn broke the Beast’s magic barrier, and "Isolde" shattered the disk on its back with a barrage of punches.
• Lynn struck the Beast’s neck with the Sword of Valenia, burning it away completely and causing the remaining daemons to flee or turn on one another.
• Lynn told the grievously wounded Ecclesiarchy warriors that it was over, while Loya smiled and disappeared into the darkness.

Lynn survived the battle at Saint Garus Castle, but Caladogon remained missing and the Ecclesiarchy suffered devastating losses. As Luna St. Garus took control of the family, Lynn and Rena uncovered the danger posed by her ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus and the family’s Knight suits.

• Lynn left the dining hall with Isolde and found thousands of Ecclesiarchy and Planetary Defence Force troops surrounding Saint Garus Castle.
• Archbishop Goodwin ordered purification rites, while Carter organized a search for Caladogon that found no trace of the High King.
• Goodwin presided over a memorial service, and Carter told Lynn that Luna St. Garus had declared herself Lord Regent after accusing Callum and Leo St. Garus of treason.
• Rena explained that Luna had a legal path to power and close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus, while Lynn realized she might be involved in the conflict surrounding Leo and Knight Aiden.
• Rena revealed that the St. Garus Family had deployed twelve Knight suits in its first battle on Brevis, and Lynn worried Luna might use them but concluded she could not control them all.

Rena told Lynn how she had coordinated Leo’s rescue and the fight at the Forbidden Wall, while Goodwin explained the St. Garus Family’s ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus and the family’s connections to Chaos. The chapter ended with Goodwin believing Caladogon was still alive but not knowing where he was.

• Rena told Lynn that Quinn and Aiden had killed each other while rescuing Leo, and that fighting between the Noble Council’s rebels and the Vanguard continued at the Forbidden Wall.
• Lynn thanked Rena silently for her actions, and Isolde briefly smiled as she sensed his reaction.
• After the mourning ceremony, Lynn asked Goodwin why Leo had been accused of defecting to Chaos despite fighting at the Forbidden Wall.
• Goodwin explained that the Adeptus Mechanicus had returned to Brevis to study an STC and that St. Garus lords who liaised with them tended to seek power.
• Goodwin revealed that Alistair had gone mad during a battle on Dorito and that his Knight had begun growing flesh and blood, suggesting he had fallen to Khorne.
• Goodwin told Lynn that Caladogon was probably still alive, though he did not know where he was.

Leo returned to the Forbidden Wall after surviving a two-day flight across the ice fields, only to find the Vanguard fighting the St. Garus Knight Auxiliaries. His family’s soldiers accused him of treason, and the suspicion of both sides left him reeling.

• Goodwin advised Lynn to return to the governor’s residence and stabilize the situation, while warning him not to move against Luna without considering the consequences.
• Leo reached the Forbidden Wall with the tribespeople who had escorted him south and saw that the Vanguard and the St. Garus Knight Auxiliaries were fighting.
• Hammond halted his planned assault when soldiers announced Leo’s return, and both the Vanguard and the Knight Auxiliaries reacted with suspicion.
• A wounded Knight Auxiliary officer accused Leo of betraying his family, framing the High King, and causing Callum’s death.
• Leo saw that his comrades doubted him and remembered the notice declaring he had defected to Chaos, leaving him shaken by their distrust.

Leo watched the Vanguard destroy the Knight Auxiliaries, then was imprisoned while Hammond awaited the governor’s decision. After hearing that Callum had died, Lynn had survived, and High King Caladogon was missing, Leo pieced together the events and spotted a connection among the betrayal, the attack on him, and the civil war.

• Hammond ordered the Vanguard’s final assault, and the Knight Auxiliaries fought to the death while Leo watched and wept.
• After the battle, Hammond told Leo he believed him but would imprison him until the governor decided what to do.
• A young noncommissioned officer told Leo that Callum had trapped the governor, a Chaos Sorcerer had disrupted the scheme, and the battle at Saint Garus Castle had left Callum dead and High King Caladogon missing.
• Leo asked the officer to repeat every detail, then connected the events involving Callum, Luna, Aiden, the Knight Auxiliaries, and the Noble Council.
• Leo’s eyes lit up as he recognized a pattern in the events.

Leo realized that Callum and Luna had separately engineered the unrest that sparked the civil war, and he concluded that the conflict was not over. After five days in prison, he learned that Gus had come to see him and was met by Gus and the Vanguard troops.

• Leo connected Callum's conspiracy and Luna's control of the Knights, concluding their rival plans had jointly ignited the civil war.
• After five days in his cell, Leo heard that Gus and another important visitor had arrived from the main hive.
• Leo left the cell and faced a silent formation of Vanguard soldiers, lowering his head in shame.
• Gus walked past the others to Leo, touched his shoulder, and apologized for the wait.

Gus and Bishop Anthony publicly affirmed Leo St. Garus’s loyalty, and Anthony’s three tests found no trace of Chaos corruption. Leo was welcomed back as Grand General by the cheering crowd.

• Gus announced that Leo remained loyal, and Bishop Anthony offered to attest to his purity before the crowd.
• Leo agreed to undergo the public ceremony as soldiers, officials, clergy, Noble Council prisoners, and the Ice Lord’s envoy watched.
• Leo read from the Lectitio Divinitatus without showing signs of corruption, passed the Rosarius test, and showed no reaction to holy oil.
• Anthony declared Leo pure of soul and free of Chaos taint in the Emperor’s name.
• The crowd cheered Leo’s return as Grand General, and Leo held back tears while welcoming their support.

Leo accepted Gus's offer to challenge Luna for control of the St. Garus Family, while Lynn discovered that Rena's thoughts held a bond centered on him and confessed that he loved her. The chapter left Leo resolved to fight for his family and Rena newly satisfied by Lynn's words.

• Gus told Leo that Luna had taken control of the St. Garus Family, then offered him a chance to rally its remaining loyalists and challenge her at Saint Garus Castle.
• Leo chose to fight for his family and vowed to make every hero under heaven bow their head.
• Lynn's Frost Soldiers hunted down and slaughtered the remaining Orks on Brevis, and Rena's affection surpassed seventy.
• Lynn sensed that Rena's Tyranid instincts centered on devouring, but that her thoughts also held his name, Lynn Corvana.
• Lynn told Rena that he loved her, and her affection rose by one point.

Nine days after the attack at Saint Garus Castle, Lynn investigated Luna St. Garus’s invitation to reconvene the Upper City Council and decided to attend despite suspecting a trap. The meeting began with Lynn arriving fully armed and making a show of force, while Luna prepared to address the gathered leaders.

• Lynn saved his two skill points while the situation across the planet remained temporarily stable.
• Lynn received an invitation from Luna St. Garus to reconvene the Upper City Council and asked Rena to investigate her recent activities.
• Rena reported that Luna had been reclaiming her family’s authority with the Adeptus Mechanicus’s armed support, and Lynn decided to attend with Isolde.
• Lynn arrived at the council hall in full armor as leaders from across Brevis gathered, and Luna mocked his caution.
• Lynn drove the Sword of Valenia into the floor beside his seat, silencing the hall, before taking his place as Isolde stood guard.

At the Upper City Council meeting, Luna announced she had become Lord Regent of the St. Garus Family and sought command of the crusade against the Orks on Dorito. Chairman Trayn challenged her lack of military experience, but Luna argued that the planetary-scale war required more than honors, leaving the council and Lynn facing the scale of the threat.

• Lynn observed Luna gathering information about the Adeptus Mechanicus during the council's restrained discussion.
• Luna announced that the St. Garus Family had completed its reorganization and that she would serve as Lord Regent.
• Luna proposed becoming marshal of the Purification Crusade against the Orks on Dorito, with the Noble Council and Adeptus Mechanicus forming its main force.
• Chairman Trayn accused Luna of trying to claim Lynn's achievements and demanded that she prove her military qualifications.
• Luna acknowledged her lack of battlefield experience but argued that a war against a billion Orks and their war machines demanded more than honor and military achievements.