Horror breaks out into the vastness of the Galaxy. States are collapsing one after another, millions of people are dying. Streams of blood are sweeping the planets. Nightmaru's name is Empire, Death's name is Ivan de Berg. Half man, half machine, he leads fanatically loyal legions into battle. Everything is ruled by naked logic, and all his actions and deeds are for the sake of a single goal: to unite the world at any cost. For what? For what? Does the end always justify the means? The Emperor is desperately trying to preserve the remnants of the human component within himself, but every day the machine inside him more and more subjugates what little remains of the personality of the former baron...