Chapter Summaries

Nick Fury explained that the blue CH325 serum had revived Coulson and revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had obtained it from an alien corpse. Klayya recognized creatures like the alien from illustrations in ancient Kamar-Taj books.

• Nick Fury showed the Avengers the blue serum and explained how it revived Coulson by activating and repairing his cells.
• Nick Fury said the serum had completed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s abandoned Death Warrior Project, prompting Klayya to compare it to necromancy.
• Evenson persuaded Nick Fury to reveal the Level Ten file so they could investigate whether the serum was connected to Coulson's condition.
• Nick Fury showed Evenson and Melinda an incomplete blue alien corpse whose blood had produced the CH325 serum.
• Klayya said she had seen similar creatures in illustrations in ancient books at Kamar-Taj.

Nick Fury assigned Evenson and Klayya to monitor each other after Klayya learned S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret, then questioned her and Evenson about the alien corpse. Evenson identified it as a Kree and warned that studying it could provoke the Kree Empire, before asking to examine it for effects on Coulson.

• Nick Fury ordered Evenson to supervise Klayya, and Klayya and Evenson agreed to monitor each other.
• Klayya said an ancient book depicted blue angels resembling the alien and connected them to the Inhumans.
• Evenson identified the alien as a Kree from a powerful interstellar empire.
• Evenson warned Nick Fury that studying the corpse could give Ronan the Accuser grounds to attack Earth.
• Evenson asked to inspect the corpse to determine whether its lingering soul or genes had affected Coulson, and Nick Fury agreed.

Nick Fury brought Evenson and Klayya to a secret base in Tahiti, where they examined the Kree corpse and learned that its unusual vitality could affect others. They then watched footage of Coulson and saw his altered eyes, prompting Evenson to smash the monitor in anger.

• Nick Fury used the base’s passphrase to bring the group inside, and Evenson assured him that he would stand with Earth rather than other Sorcerers if they became hostile.
• Doctor Strider said he regretted reviving Coulson and reported that the patient’s condition remained unchanged.
• Evenson and Klayya examined the frozen Kree corpse and found that its soul had nearly dissipated, though its body still held powerful life force.
• Evenson proposed checking whether he could remove the Kree’s effects from Coulson, and Nick Fury led the group to the monitoring room.
• The group saw Coulson turn toward the camera with altered eyes, and Evenson smashed the monitor while shouting, “Damn bastard!”

Evenson realized that a demon had possessed Coulson and confronted it with Nick Fury, Melinda, and Klayya. The demon identified itself as Nahash, the Deceiver, and Klayya recognized it as the Serpent of Eden.

• Evenson concluded that Hell had taken Coulson’s soul and possessed his body after his resurrection.
• Coulson crawled across the ceiling, destroyed a camera, and prompted Klayya to warn that removing the demon could harm him.
• Evenson and the others went to confront Coulson, who said Mephisto wanted Evenson to pay for losing the Soul of Mephisto Contract.
• Coulson expelled venomous snakes that joined together to form a man who called himself Nahash, the Deceiver.
• Klayya identified Nahash as the Serpent of Eden.

Evenson refused to compensate Mephisto for the lost contract, while Nick Fury proposed trading a thousand condemned souls to save Coulson. Evenson rejected the offer and pressed Nahash to reveal Mephisto’s real purpose, and Nahash named Locke.

• Nahash demanded a thousand high-quality souls as compensation for the lost Soul of Mephisto Contract and threatened that Coulson’s soul would remain in Hell.
• Nick Fury proposed giving Nahash a thousand death-row inmates’ souls in exchange for Coulson, explaining that S.H.I.E.L.D. needed Coulson to face threats and suspected Hydra had infiltrated its highest levels.
• Evenson refused to compromise with Mephisto and told Nahash to reveal his real purpose.
• Nahash praised Evenson’s intelligence and said, “Locke.”

Nahash explained that Locke, an incarnation of Mephisto, could remain in the human world indefinitely by possessing the Child of Demon he had fathered thirteen years earlier. Evenson refused to help Mephisto until Nahash offered guarantees about the Soul of Mephisto Contract and Evenson’s friends, then gave him a scroll to review.

• Evenson asked who Locke was, and Nahash explained that Locke was Mephisto’s incarnation and contract-drafting secretary who had fled to the human world and betrayed him.
• Nahash revealed that Locke had fathered a Child of Demon, whom he could possess after a ritual on the first Winter Solstice following the child’s thirteenth birthday.
• Nahash asked Evenson to send Locke back to Hell before the ritual, but Evenson refused despite Nick Fury urging him to accept.
• Nahash offered to let bygones be bygones over the Soul of Mephisto Contract and promised to return Evenson’s friend’s soul intact.
• Evenson demanded guarantees that Hell would not interfere with his friends or use coercion against him, and Nahash handed him a scroll.

After Nahash revealed that Locke was in Eastern Europe, Evenson and the others looked for a way to find him before the Winter Solstice. Evenson decided to seek Johnny Blaze’s help, and Nick Fury learned that Johnny was in White Russia.

• Evenson signed Nahash’s contract, and Nahash returned to Coulson’s body after warning that the Winter Solstice was near.
• Klayya and Evenson explained to Nick Fury why Nahash’s demand for a thousand souls concealed a more urgent problem.
• Evenson suggested asking Johnny Blaze for help because he could sense Hell’s devils.
• Nick Fury confirmed that Johnny Blaze was in White Russia, and Evenson asked him to arrange a bus.

Evenson, Klayya, and Melinda boarded Nick Fury’s modified aircraft to travel toward Eastern Europe, where they would search for the demon. Nick Fury also sent a team of field agents led by Rumlow, while explaining that Coulson would be revived and given a team to help him recover.

• Klayya suggested using portals, but Nick Fury announced that his aircraft had arrived, and the group boarded the modified C-17.
• Evenson realized the aircraft had been prepared for Coulson and discussed with Nick Fury how Coulson’s revival would erase his old life and leave him separated from everyone who believed he was dead.
• Nick Fury said Coulson would lead a team to aid his recovery and told Melinda she would be its core, though Coulson would have to ask her to join.
• Evenson, Klayya, and Melinda boarded the aircraft, which landed at a S.H.I.E.L.D. airfield to pick up twenty field agents.
• Rumlow introduced himself as the leader of the agents sent to support Evenson.

On the flight to Eastern Europe, Evenson and Klayya struggled to operate the plane’s virtual interface before Melinda switched it on and asked why Coulson’s soul had gone to Hell. Evenson explained that Hell accounted for the harm people caused throughout their lives, leaving Melinda to reflect on Coulson’s indirect responsibility and the fates of those denied even the chance to reach Hell.

• Klayya examined the plane’s virtual interface and asked Evenson to show her how to use it, but he could not activate it.
• Klayya tried an emotional command to turn on the interface, and Melinda revealed that she had switched on its power.
• Melinda asked Evenson why Coulson’s soul had gone to Hell, and Evenson said Hell tallied every debt from a person’s life, including indirect harm.
• Melinda considered her own past actions and accepted that she might deserve Hell, but Evenson pointed out that Coulson could also have caused suffering without intending to.
• Evenson said the truly terrifying fate was dying without even getting the chance to go to Hell, and Klayya gripped his hand.

Evenson reassured Melinda and Klayya about their choices and their just cause, then joined the team for dinner before Rumlow and several action-team members began suspiciously flattering him. He wondered what Hydra’s Crossbones was trying to accomplish as the group tried to draw close to him.

• Melinda declared that she and Coulson would accept any price, even damnation, to preserve world peace and prevent further sacrifices.
• Klayya admitted that she had judged Melinda and her team for casually promising souls to the devil, and Evenson encouraged her to support their cause instead of apologizing.
• Evenson was surprised by the lavish dinner aboard the plane and drank with the action team despite the looming battle.
• Rumlow led the team in toasting Evenson as the hero of the Battle of New York, and the men showered him with exaggerated praise.
• One team member claimed that Natasha admired Evenson, prompting him to cover the man's mouth as he suspected the group had some ulterior motive.

Evenson tested Rumlow and his companions’ interest in Magic by summoning a Hellhound, then joined Melinda and Klayya in the command room. Melinda reported that Johnny Blaze was hiding in a factory in White Russia, while an attack on a Lithuanian church suggested another possible lead.

• Rumlow asked Evenson to demonstrate Magic, and Evenson summoned a Hellhound that knocked Rumlow and his sofa to the ground before releasing him.
• Evenson left the meal and went to the command room, where Melinda and Klayya questioned him about summoning the Hellhound.
• Klayya scolded Evenson for casting a summoning spell without preparations and grabbed his ear when he seemed not to listen.
• Melinda told Evenson that Johnny Blaze was hiding in a rundown factory in White Russia and that they were flying there.
• Melinda reported that armed men had attacked a church in Lithuania, which Klayya said belonged to an unusual religious order that might be connected to the incident.

Evenson learned that the Outer Church was a secretive Christian sect with faint mysterious powers and a history of clashing with Kamar-Taj. He diverted the team to investigate the church, where they found evidence of a violent attack and identified some of the dead as Swiss Guards.

• Klayya explained that the Outer Church maintained ties with several Christian denominations and devoted itself to fighting demons.
• Klayya told Evenson that the Outer Church had once threatened the Sorcerer Supreme, who had knocked its members unconscious and hung them from a tower.
• Evenson ordered Melinda to redirect the aircraft to the Outer Church instead of searching for Ghost Rider.
• Evenson sent Rumlow and the action team to search the road and clear the church's shattered gate.
• Evenson sensed a faint mysterious power inside the church as the team found priests, soldiers, and armed men shot dead.
• Rumlow identified some of the dead soldiers as Swiss Guard directly under the Pope.

Evenson and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team investigated the ambush on the Swiss Guard, identified Carrigan’s mercenaries, and learned the Vatican was withholding information about Eastern Europe. The team then brought in a battered survivor they had found near a wrecked SUV and motorcycle.

• Rumlow identified the attackers as Carrigan’s mercenaries, known as the Disgrace of Mercenaries, and explained their reputation for extortion, betrayal, and other crimes.
• Evenson ordered Rumlow to track Carrigan, monitor his communications, and discover who was directing him.
• Melinda reported that the Vatican refused to share information because the Pope was in seclusion and the Vatican’s relations with S.H.I.E.L.D. had deteriorated over its demands for authority and restored tithes.
• Melinda suggested checking the site’s surveillance footage, but the search team returned with a Black man they had found clinging to a tree branch over a cliff near a wrecked SUV and motorcycle.

Evenson’s team questioned Morrigan and learned from surveillance footage that a woman had taken the Child of Demon. Evenson ordered the team to pursue the original plan, while Morrigan insisted only his group could solve the problem.

• Evenson questioned the captured Morrigan, who said he was a good guy with urgent business but refused to explain it.
• Klayya revealed her Kamar-Taj magic, but Morrigan called her a witch and rejected help from S.H.I.E.L.D. and her coven.
• Rumlow brought Evenson surveillance footage showing a woman in a red leather jacket taking the Child of Demon and escaping in a car.
• Evenson ordered the team to move out and follow the original plan before it was too late.
• Morrigan insisted only his group could solve the problem, and Evenson replied that Mephisto had come looking for him.

Evenson convinced Morrigan to join the effort to find the Child of Demon, then destroyed the church with powerful Magic as the plane departed. He left Morrigan and the agents with a clear warning about the force they were working with.

• Evenson told Morrigan that Mephisto had sought his help because he expected the Outer Church to fail, and Morrigan offered to help find the Child of Demon.
• Morrigan promised the child would be safe in the Sanctum, so Evenson agreed to bring him along on the plane.
• Before the plane left, Evenson asked Melinda about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s duty to protect people and said he would cover everything.
• Evenson cast a spell that collapsed the church and turned it into a sea of molten fire.
• Evenson looked at Morrigan and the others and asked whether they understood who they were working with.

After Evenson revealed his overwhelming power, Morrigan told the team about Danny, the Child of Demon, and his mother, Nadia. With Winter Solstice less than four days away, Melinda proposed hiding Danny aboard S.H.I.E.L.D.'s aerial fortress instead of taking him to the Sanctum.

• Evenson reassured Melinda that the church incident could be explained away, while Morrigan reluctantly accepted his suggestion to blame the destruction on heavenly punishment.
• Morrigan recognized Evenson as the Avengers' Black Scythe Lord and explained that Locke had arranged for Nadia to bear Danny, the Child of Demon.
• Morrigan revealed that the church had planned to send Danny to the Sanctum, and Evenson ordered Rumlow to upload Danny's photograph so cameras could help locate him.
• Melinda privately urged Evenson to keep Danny aboard the aerial fortress, arguing that it could remain airborne and protected until Winter Solstice.

Evenson explained that their contract required sending Locke to Hell, not protecting the Child of Demon, and Melinda reluctantly agreed to pursue Locke while preparing to use the child as bait if needed. Rumlow then asked Evenson whether demons could grant immortality.

• Melinda proposed moving the Child of Demon onto S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying fortress, but Evenson challenged her motives and connected her concern to Barin Island.
• Evenson revealed that the contract with Nahash required Locke to be sent to Hell and warned that Locke could change bodies to remain in the human world.
• Melinda objected to using the child as bait and suggested tracking Carrigan to find Locke first.
• Evenson agreed to pursue both plans, using Melinda's approach if they found Locke and his own plan otherwise.
• Melinda asked Morrigan what trump card she had against the demon, while Rumlow asked Evenson if demons could grant immortality.

Evenson learned that Hydra might be pursuing rejuvenation technology through Daniel Whitehall, then learned that Morrigan’s plan involved asking Ghost Rider for help. After Melinda bombarded Ghost Rider’s warehouse, Evenson prepared to meet him in person.

• Evenson reasoned that Daniel Whitehall’s rejuvenation method might be the secret that kept Hydra’s leaders supporting him.
• Melinda stormed away after Morrigan revealed that he intended to enlist Ghost Rider, leaving a marble coffee table split in two.
• Evenson ordered Melinda to flatten the warehouse where Ghost Rider was staying because he no longer needed Ghost Rider’s help to find Locke.
• Melinda tilted the aircraft and fired its turrets at the warehouse, then brought the aircraft down after the bombardment.
• Evenson told the action team to stay aboard and took Morrigan with him, saying that the first step in dealing with Ghost Rider was to talk to him in sunlight.

Johnny Blaze was confronted by Evenson, Morrigan, and Klayya after their attack demolished his shelter, and he refused Morrigan’s request for help. Klayya repeatedly threw Johnny to the ground until he praised her and begged her to stop.

• Johnny Blaze crawled out of the warehouse ruins and discovered Evenson, Morrigan, and Klayya waiting nearby.
• Johnny accused Evenson of blowing up his shelter, and Evenson admitted he might have done it because he liked doing so.
• Morrigan asked Johnny to help him control the hunger of his illness, but Johnny struck him with a brick instead.
• Klayya caught Johnny’s wrist and threw him to the ground repeatedly when he tried to attack her.
• Johnny called Klayya a heroine and begged her to stop, so she ended the beating.

Morrigan offered Johnny Blaze a deal: find a child in danger in exchange for removing his curse, and Johnny accepted with a condition about Evenson. After S.H.I.E.L.D. found the child’s last known location, Evenson’s team followed Johnny at night, only to realize they had destroyed his motorcycle.

• Morrigan asked Johnny to find the child and promised the church would remove his curse if Johnny handed the child over.
• Evenson suspected the church’s offer would ultimately benefit Mephisto, while Johnny accepted the deal but refused to work alongside Evenson.
• Evenson’s group returned to their aircraft, and Melinda reported that a restaurant camera had recorded the child before he disappeared from surveillance.
• Evenson ordered his team to follow Johnny after dark and track his heat signature.
• Rumlow reported that Johnny was moving, and Evenson realized the team had blown up Johnny’s motorcycle.