Chapter Summaries

Horus learned that the Emperor was pursuing a fate of destruction to counter an illusory fate, and Magnus returned to Terra with two Warp gods. The chapter ended as Magnus welcomed them to bring the Emperor the fate he desired.

• Xiulikas calibrated the Klein bottle, and the Primarchs left to clear the lingering effects of the fate of destruction and search for the Father of Night.
• The Night Haunter told Horus that the coming destruction was only an appetizer and explained that the Emperor planned to fight the illusory fate with a real fate of destruction.
• Xiulikas confirmed that the Emperor had wagered himself on this dangerous fate, and Horus asked Malcador for a catalogue of flower varieties from Barbarus.
• Magnus returned to Terra, recognized that Konrad Curze was the Night Haunter rather than the Grand Inquisitor, and brought a beautiful woman and a cheerful, fat old man with him.
• Magnus welcomed the two Warp gods and his companions to bring the Emperor the fate he desired, leaving Horus wary of what would follow.

The Night Haunter learned that Horus was fated to become the traitor who began the Horus Heresy, while Grandfather and Slaanesh arrived to stabilize events. Slaanesh gave the Night Haunter a letter from Han Mingxuan, and the chapter ended with him agreeing that his father had allowed cooperation with a Chaos God.

• Magnus and the Night Haunter confronted Horus with the possibility that he would become Warmaster and start the Horus Heresy.
• Grandfather explained that they had been sent by Mr. Han to stabilize the situation by clearing away the effects of the illusory fate.
• Slaanesh said she had already sent people to address the shortage of Psykers and gave the Night Haunter a letter from Mr. Han.
• The Night Haunter recognized his father's handwriting, read the letter urging him to remain calm and rational, and accepted the idea of cooperating with Slaanesh because Father had allowed it.

Slaanesh sent Xarathi to Commorragh to seize Drukhari and force them to worship the Emperor, then brought five hundred thousand to Terra as Psykers for the Golden Throne. As Malcador prepared to start the Throne, Slaanesh put Horus to sleep to spare him the pain.

• Malcador read Han Mingxuan’s letter, learned that Han was alive, and noted its demand that Huangpizi be made to sit on the toilet.
• Slaanesh ordered Xarathi to capture Drukhari in Commorragh and make them believe in the Emperor.
• Xarathi arrived in Commorragh, where the Haemonculus urged the Drukhari leaders to comply with her demand and produce believers through repeated soul infusions.
• Xarathi brought five hundred thousand brainwashed Drukhari to Terra, and the Night Haunter confirmed that their Psychic Power suited the task.
• Malcador agreed to start the Golden Throne, but Slaanesh put Horus to sleep when he tried to intervene.

The Night Haunter and Xiulikas prepared to use excess faith and the Power of Fate to locate the Father of Night without drawing the Tyranids' attention. After Slaanesh fused Fate's Pointer with the Klein bottle, they began charging it with Drukhari sacrifices, while Slaanesh and Grandfather departed on separate missions.

• Xiulikas warned that using Aeldari Psykers on the Golden Throne could make the Astronomican attract the Tyranids, and proposed fusing excess faith with the Power of Fate to find the Father of Night.
• Grandfather questioned whether the Klein bottle could withstand the faith, so Slaanesh fused Fate's Pointer with it to guide the search.
• The Night Haunter began burning the first batch of Drukhari as fuel, and the Emperor wailed as he felt the vast power of faith.
• The Night Haunter ordered the Shadowbat Guard to speed up the Klein bottle's charge, while Slaanesh and Grandfather discussed their next tasks.
• Slaanesh set out to deliver Han's letters to the Evernight Legion, and Grandfather went with others to find Xiao Mo; Magnus felt increasingly pressured by the Night Haunter.

Slaanesh visited Curze to deliver letters from Han Mingxuan and tried to use her authority over emotions to challenge Curze’s feelings for his father. Curze admitted he knew about his father complex but rejected Slaanesh’s attempt to manipulate him and demanded to know what she wanted.

• The Night Haunter worried over Slaanesh’s apparent holiness and unusual affection for Han Mingxuan.
• Slaanesh met Curze and said she had come to deliver Han Mingxuan’s letters to him and the others.
• Curze challenged Slaanesh’s claims, accepted the letters after confirming they were genuine, and ordered her to leave.
• Slaanesh refused to go and told Curze she could sense his deep attachment to Han Mingxuan.
• Curze had Sevatar escort Slaanesh, then allowed her to speak with the Thirteen-Person Group.
• Slaanesh called Curze’s feelings a father complex, and Curze acknowledged the issue while refusing to be led on.

Curze challenged Slaanesh’s hopes of winning Han Mingxuan’s affection, prompting her to accept that he did not share her intentions and to fuse with the rest of the Positive Authority. The God of War then visited Angron and offered him a proposal.

• Curze told Slaanesh that separating him from Han Mingxuan would not give her a chance with his father, and argued that Han was a mortal human who had treated her dealings with him as transactions.
• Slaanesh returned to her Palace and reflected that fusing with all of the Positive Authority would suppress her personal feelings for Han Mingxuan.
• Slaanesh decided to fuse with the other half of the Positive Authority so she could become a True God and bring positive influence to the universe.
• The God of War visited Angron aboard the World Eaters' flagship and explained that Angron’s history on Nuceria had helped him recover his Positive Authority.
• The God of War offered Angron a proposal, and Angron agreed to hear it.

Angron and the World Eaters agreed to wield the God of War’s positive authority, while Mortarion received Uncle’s Evernight Secret Edict directing him to cooperate with Grandfather. Grandfather then asked Mortarion to take up the authority of death and become the Lord of Death.

• The God of War told Angron that illusory fates were gathering into a terrifying enemy and asked him and the World Eaters to wield its positive authority; Angron agreed.
• Grandfather arrived aboard the Perseverance and sought Mortarion, but Mortarion paused their meeting to receive a message from Alpharius’s messenger.
• Mortarion read Uncle’s Evernight Secret Edict, which instructed him to work with Grandfather and tell Angron to work with the God of War.
• Mortarion returned to Grandfather and agreed to cooperate because he trusted Uncle’s judgment.
• Grandfather revealed the Red Spider Lily that Mr. Han had left him and asked Mortarion to take up the authority of death and become the Lord of Death.

Han Mingxuan set out for the 41st Millennium by walking through the eras of Warhammer 40K with the Will of Earth, witnessing the rise and tragedies of the Imperium. He chose to seek out the Lamenters rather than visit Dante again.

• Han Mingxuan asked the Will of Earth to let him choose where to arrive, and decided to walk across fate until he reached his destination.
• Han Mingxuan crossed Terra’s history, from the Unification Wars through the Great Crusade and the Siege of Terra, then watched events including Curze’s death.
• Han Mingxuan passed through the War of the Beast and the Age of Apostasy, seeing Vangorich, Koorland, Vandire, the Sisters of Battle, and a Living Saint.
• Han Mingxuan reached the 41st Millennium and told the Will of Earth he would not seek out Dante again.
• Han Mingxuan chose to go find the Lamenters and help them if he could.

Curze learned that the illusory fates had formed the Four-Armed Emperor near the Eye of Terror, bringing the Tyranids into the coming conflict, while Orks also surged onto the Great Crusade front. The Primarchs prepared the Peaceful Star System and arranged reinforcements as Magnus asked how to stop the apparition.

• Alpharius reported a four-armed figure resembling the Emperor near the Eye of Terror, and Curze identified it as the Four-Armed Emperor formed by the converging illusory fates.
• Curze warned the Silent King that Tyranids might join the threat, and the Silent King committed the Necrons to intercept them.
• Trazyn gave Sanguinius authority to activate the Peaceful Star System's war protocols, revealing its large Necron, Nostraman, and Legion forces.
• Lion El'Jonson reported that abnormal Orks led by dozens of Warbosses were attacking his front, and Curze arranged weapons and personnel from Aequus.
• Magnus asked how to make the Four-Armed Emperor disappear, and Mortarion said he and Angron would handle it.

The Primarchs organized reinforcements to confront the destructive fate, while the Emperor’s growing power stirred the Dark King and its phantom counterpart. The Black King unleashed a host of human and xenos forces, and Lion El'Jonson prepared the front lines to meet them.

• Mortarion, Angron, Lorgar, and the Khan committed forces to the fight, while Magnus and Malcador agreed that stopping the immediate threat came first.
• Aequus arrived with 130 Evernight Legion warriors and weapons for Lion El'Jonson, then helped Tu'en restore and coordinate the Evernight Network.
• Animus and Madian joined the Twelfth and XIV Legions; Madian insisted on fighting at the front, and Animus met Khârn and the God of War before the operation began.
• The Aeldari burning on Terra fed the Emperor’s power and revealed the Dark King’s nature, prompting the illusory Black King in the Eye of Terror to act.
• The Black King sent human legions and swarms of Tyranids, Genestealers, Orks, and other Abhumans toward the front, where Lion El'Jonson ordered blessed Exterminatus weapons deployed in batches.

Han Mingxuan destroyed an unstable rift in the 41st Millennium Warp with a War God Weapon, weakening the illusory fate attacking the 30k front lines. His brief appearance in the Klein bottle confirmed he was alive, though the Night Haunter still did not know where or when he was.

• Black spots spread across the Klein bottle as Xiulikas and Klein realized the connected fates had grown beyond their control.
• Han Mingxuan found an unstable rift in the 41st Millennium Warp and destroyed it and the nearby Daemons with a War God Weapon.
• A golden-red slash struck the Eye of Terror, weakening the illusory projection, while the Klein bottle showed Han Mingxuan wielding his weapon.
• Xiulikas confirmed that the image was Han Mingxuan, and Klein collapsed in tears as Malcador and the Night Haunter reacted to the news.
• The Khan and Angron watched footage of the slash, and the God of War identified Han Mingxuan as its source.

After learning that Han Mingxuan was alive in another Warp, the factions focused on defeating the Phantoms while the Necrons took control of the galactic war. The Silent King used the Celestial Orrery to destroy dozens of star systems, forcing Mortarion’s forces to withdraw and preserve their strength.

• Angron told Curze and the others that Han Mingxuan had launched an attack and was in a different Warp, and they agreed to defeat the Phantoms before searching for him.
• The Necrons joined the fighting in force, and the Silent King ordered Salas to activate the Celestial Orrery and send elite warriors against the Phantoms.
• Salas announced that the Necrontyr Dynasty would take control of the galactic battlefield, and the Celestial Orrery destroyed dozens of star systems near the Eye of Terror.
• Mortarion learned from Grandfather that the Necrons had used the Celestial Orrery and ordered the other forces to withdraw from the Eye of Terror combat zone.
• Curze asked Trazyn about the Silent King’s decree, and Trazyn said he would obey it because the Necrons needed to find out whether Han Mingxuan was safe.

The Necrons rejected Malcador’s request to delay their purge of worlds touched by illusory fate, leaving the Imperium scrambling to evacuate its people. Mortarion accepted the Death Power and prepared to guide the dead through reincarnation until the Necron war ended.

• Trazyn told Malcador that the Necrons would purge every place affected by illusory fate and rejected negotiations on behalf of the Triarch.
• Malcador ordered Valdor to take the Adeptus Custodes to the front lines, but Valdor refused until Horus reported that he had already departed to evacuate people.
• Valdor revealed that Endymion had left with Horus, and told him to accept his punishment when he returned.
• Grandfather gave Mortarion the Death Power and the Red Spider Lily, tasking him with guiding the souls of the dying into reincarnation until the Necrons’ war ended.
• Mortarion asked Curze and the Evernight Legion to help stabilize the Warp, and Curze agreed to help him.

Han Mingxuan arrived in the 41st Millennium and disguised himself as an Astra Militarum soldier named Neoth to join the Imperium without attracting the Inquisition. A Hospitaller brought him to Lamenters Chapter Master Malakim Phoros, where a notice about Chancellor Sinleech and his extraordinary power was discussed.

• Han Mingxuan recognized the Lamenters' armor and deduced that the Second War of Armageddon had already ended.
• Han Mingxuan transformed his armor and weapon into Astra Militarum equipment, then slipped into the regrouping soldiers and followed them to a field hospital.
• Han Mingxuan gave his name as Neoth, claimed he was a thirty-year-old sheep thief from Tenebor II, and was approached by Sister Miranda for verification.
• Sister Miranda escorted Han Mingxuan to a command post guarded by Ultramarines and introduced him to Lamenters Chapter Master Malakim Phoros.
• Sister Miranda asked Malakim Phoros about an Imperium-wide notice, and the conversation revealed that Chancellor Sinleech was a powerful Living Saint who had restored Imperial communications.

After Malakim recognized Han Mingxuan as the mysterious Father of Night, the Adeptus Custodes arrived to escort him. The chapter revealed that Sinleech’s rampage through the Warp had weakened the Warp Storms and forced many daemons into the Imperium’s Department of Internal Affairs.

• The new Chancellor’s reforms began after a visit to the Blood Angels, and secret orders sent a portrait and a legal question to senior Imperial leaders.
• Malakim questioned the disguised soldier Neoth, and Han Mingxuan correctly recited a line from the Evernight Code.
• Malakim recognized Han Mingxuan as the Father of Night and secretly reported his identity.
• The Adeptus Custodes arrived at Malakim’s command, saying the God-Emperor already knew the name Neoth and ordering Han Mingxuan’s escort.
• The story shifted to Terra, where Sinleech described beating the Warp gods and conscripting daemons into the Imperium Department of Internal Affairs.

Sinleech and the Emperor discussed Han Mingxuan’s arrival and the danger of Sinleech erasing Tzeentch, while the Emperor sent Trajann Valoris and Celestine to meet Han. Han Mingxuan’s attempt to remain unnoticed ended when the delegation arrived and the Hospitallers revealed they had recognized him as the Father of Night.

• Sinleech explained that he planned to take this world’s Authority over hope and miracles before returning to his own spacetime, and the Emperor worried that Sinleech would erase Tzeentch as a concept.
• The Emperor decided to ask Han Mingxuan about his plans and sent Trajann Valoris’s squad and Celestine to the Imperium Frontier.
• Han Mingxuan stayed in a tent with the Hospitallers, surrounded by Lamenters and Ultramarines, and tried not to ask about their classified guard duty.
• Trajann Valoris, Adeptus Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and Sisters of Battle arrived outside the tent and marched toward it.
• The delegation proclaimed Han Mingxuan the Father of Night, and the Hospitallers knelt and begged his forgiveness for deceiving him.

Han Mingxuan rejected the Emperor’s summons and drove Trajann Valoris and his companions into the Warp. He fed the depleted Lamenters and began planning to find them a place to settle, though their insistence on continuing their Penitent Crusade remained an obstacle.

• Han Mingxuan forgave the Hospitallers, who praised him and chanted the Lectitio Divinitatus.
• Han Mingxuan refused Trajann Valoris’s request to visit Terra and kicked him and his companions into the Warp.
• Sinleech mocked the Emperor, who looked toward Magnus, his returned son.
• Han Mingxuan gave the Lamenters thirty crates of fruit and told them to share it with their supporters.
• Han Mingxuan asked Malakim to stop calling him Father of Night and said he would find the Lamenters a place to settle.
• Han Mingxuan learned that the Lamenters still intended to continue their Penitent Crusade and called for Sister Miranda.

Han Mingxuan met up with Celestine and enlisted her help to end the Lamenters’ Penitent Crusade and restore their fortress-monastery. After Sinleech resolved the Chapter’s claims, Han Mingxuan sent Malakim to rebuild the Lamenters while he prepared to visit New Prospero.

• Han Mingxuan contacted Celestine through a blue screen of light and told an Ultramarines officer to leave Guilliman in the Stasis Field.
• Han Mingxuan and his companions left the Hive World, while the Ultramarines collected the belongings he had used as sacred relics.
• Han Mingxuan asked Celestine to advocate for the Lamenters and contacted Sinleech to settle their Penitent Crusade and related claims.
• Within nine days, Sinleech authorized the Lamenters’ pardon, returned their fortress-monastery, and granted them a Homeworld.
• Han Mingxuan told Malakim to rebuild the Lamenters and study the books he provided, then agreed to visit New Prospero.
• Celestine said she would follow Han Mingxuan, and he told her to reconsider her faith.

Han Mingxuan brought Celestine to New Prospero to meet Sinleech, where her attack on their guide exposed the limits of her faith and her understanding of the Warp. Sinleech revealed his true form as the Lord of Change, while Han Mingxuan claimed there was another Lord of Change on Terra, leaving Celestine struggling to comprehend the Imperium’s situation.

• Han Mingxuan led Celestine to New Prospero, the Daemon World, to meet the Chancellor.
• Celestine attacked their Department of Internal Affairs guide, but her psychic sword barely harmed him, and Han Mingxuan identified him as a Warp Daemon affected by Sinleech.
• Han Mingxuan told Celestine he was the Father of Night and that the Warp had five gods, not four.
• The guide brought Han Mingxuan and Celestine to Sinleech, who changed into his original form as the Lord of Change.
• Han Mingxuan said the Lord of Change on Terra was still handling paperwork, leaving Celestine to face the possibility that there were two Lords of Change.

Han Mingxuan learned that Sinleech had entered the Perpetuals’ plan as an extra variable and proposed a way to turn the Mystery Cult’s search against them. Sinleech began the next stage of his plan with the Emperor’s consent, though Han Mingxuan objected to the risk of sacrificing him.

• Sinleech explained that he had tricked The Accursed into letting him enter the plan, while events still led The Accursed to the throne.
• Sinleech revealed that the Mystery Cult wanted to use Han Mingxuan’s influence to establish Nostramo’s place in fate and merge it with a new Homeworld.
• Sinleech proposed extending the Mystery Cult’s search across the past so that problems would arise and force its members to act.
• The Emperor allowed Sinleech to put Celestine to sleep and agreed to be the biggest variable in the plan, saying he did not fear death.
• Sinleech announced that the latter half of the plan would begin, and Han Mingxuan warned him not to make the Emperor’s death a heroic sacrifice.