Chapter Summaries

After Klayya left, Evenson admitted his part in the conflict and accepted the Eredar Twins’ challenge to try to win their devotion. The Twins then revealed they had found candidates to assist Gernos, beginning with a sanitation worker.

• Evenson confronted the Eredar Twins for going too far, but Klayya stopped him from answering and left through a portal, asking him to tell her the truth after thinking it over.
• Evenson acknowledged that he was responsible for keeping Klayya and the Twins in an unresolved relationship.
• Aurelles and Saloras insisted that they would never share what they valued and challenged Evenson to tame them and make them belong to him.
• Evenson accepted the challenge, while the Twins wondered whether he would fail or truly make them fall for him.
• Saloras said they had found suitable candidates to assist Gernos and identified the first as a sanitation worker.

Evenson questioned why a cleanup worker was being considered for Gernos's project, and the Eredar Twins explained how seemingly insignificant workers could prove useful. They identified Adrian Toomes as a capable candidate whose New York cleanup business had been shut down after Stark Industries secured the rights to the Chitauri salvage, and Saloras said her people were already negotiating with him.

• Saloras and Aurelles described how small Gargan laborers could use Fel Energy Concentrated Bombs to breach a fortress while its defenders ignored them.
• Evenson learned the candidate was a cleanup worker who had recently led New York's private cleanup crews.
• Adrian Toomes invested his assets in a crew that salvaged Chitauri corpses and technology after the Battle of New York.
• Stark Industries secured the Chitauri cleanup rights with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support, and a court voided the private crews' contracts and ordered them to surrender their salvage.
• Evenson agreed that the Eredar Twins should recruit Adrian Toomes, and Saloras said her people were already negotiating with him.

Adrian Toomes, ruined after Tony Stark's Chitauri cleanup operation destroyed his investments, received a late-night recruitment offer from Gospel Company. Luther's blunt account of the violence behind Stark's success left Adrian confronting how little fairness powerful corporations offered people like him.

• Adrian worried that bankruptcy would cost him his home and threaten his family's future.
• Luther arrived on behalf of Gospel Company and asked Adrian to join its research team.
• Luther displayed a briefcase of cash with a pistol on top, prompting Adrian to accuse powerful corporations of treating ordinary people as insignificant.
• Adrian blamed Tony Stark for destroying his work, and Luther argued that Stark's mercenaries could have killed Adrian's team and taken their discoveries.

Luther persuaded Adrian to join Umbrella Corporation as its Chief Scientist’s assistant and let him bring his team, while the Eredar Twins and Evenson discussed a candidate who had repaired a Chitauri weapon. The chapter left Evenson impressed by the candidate’s skill and puzzled by his choice to rob banks.

• Luther preached to Adrian that fairness meant the strong keeping what they could and the weak losing, then pressured him to accept a job with Umbrella Corporation.
• Adrian accepted a million-dollar offer to become the company’s Chief Scientist’s assistant and asked to bring his unemployed team, which Luther approved.
• Luther gave Adrian a business card and told him to bring his team to the company’s address the next day.
• Luther reported to the Eredar Twins that Adrian had agreed to join them.
• The Eredar Twins showed Evenson a video of a bank robbery in which a robber used a repaired Chitauri heavy rifle, and Evenson praised the robber’s technical talent.

Benjamin Pollock and Clairevis rebuilt a Chitauri rifle, used it to rob banks, and were captured by Sitwell. Agent 47 arrived, defeated Sitwell, and reported that his mission was complete.

• Benjamin Pollock and Clairevis restored a Chitauri rifle and robbed several banks before deciding to retire with their stolen money.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sitwell tracked the couple to a motel and captured them.
• A bald man introduced himself as Foting Saiwen and attacked Sitwell.
• Agent 47 overpowered Sitwell, checked his pulse, and called to report that the mission was complete.

Agent 47 abducted the scientist couple for the Eredar Twins, who arranged for S.H.I.E.L.D. to blame the US military. Nick Fury accepted that he could not retrieve the couple without worsening S.H.I.E.L.D.'s already poor relations with the government.

• Agent 47’s barcode tattoo earned him the nickname “Size 47,” and his determination to prove himself made him the Twins’ strongest subordinate after Luther.
• Evenson worried that Agent 47’s clash with S.H.I.E.L.D. could expose the real Umbrella Corporation, but Aurelles and Saloras said they had arranged for someone else to take the blame.
• Silvett woke in the motel, realized the scientist couple had been taken, and returned to headquarters to report the abduction.
• Nick Fury reprimanded Silvett and made him pay $43,000 for the motel damage.
• S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation traced Agent 47’s vehicle to a military base, leading Nick Fury to conclude that the US military had taken the couple.
• Nick Fury decided not to challenge the military, fearing it would use the couple’s criminal past and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history with the government to block their return.

Evenson worried that Nick Fury might uncover the Eredar Twins’ scheme, but they argued S.H.I.E.L.D. would have little reason to pursue the missing young couple. The twins then revealed they were going to meet the President, a chance created by General Ross’s newfound fame after the Battle of New York.

• Evenson warned Saloras and Aurelles that Nick Fury might turn the military into an unreliable scapegoat and trace the scheme.
• Saloras explained that her agent had left the alien rifle behind, giving S.H.I.E.L.D. no reason to pursue the young couple or negotiate with the military.
• Aurelles and Saloras complained that S.H.I.E.L.D. could become an obstacle to their enterprise, while Evenson hinted that its foundations were already weakening.
• The Eredar Twins announced that they were going to meet the President, surprising Evenson with how soon the meeting had come.
• Aurelles credited their Star-Making Plan for boosting General Ross’s profile after footage showed him fighting aliens and helping civilians during the Battle of New York.

Ross rose to political prominence by warning that the aliens would return, while the Eredar Twins prepared to meet the president. Evenson then revealed that the Naaru had once visited Earth, prompting Aurelles to seek a Fel Battleship for an interstellar trip.

• Ross rallied a crowd at the ruined New York café, calling for humanity to unite against the returning aliens.
• After his speech, Ross credited the Eredar Twins with his comeback and accepted that his political future depended on their support.
• Evenson, Saloras, and Aurelles discussed their planned meeting with the president aboard Air Force One.
• Evenson told the Eredar Twins that he had found certain traces of the Naaru on Earth from long ago.
• Aurelles called Agatha to ask whether a Fel Battleship was available for an interstellar trip.

Evenson tried to explain why the Eredar Twins feared the Naaru, and revealed that the Naaru had already left with God. Aurelles and Saloras learned the threat was gone, but Aurelles punched Evenson after he repeated the news as instructed.

• Saloras and Aurelles discussed fleeing on a Fel Battleship, but Aurelles said all the ships had been transferred away and the only battleship scientist was with them.
• Evenson asked why the Eredar Twins feared the Naaru, and they explained that Holy Light was like poison to demons and that Naaru felt less pain when attacked by Fel.
• Evenson told the Eredar Twins that the Naaru had left long ago to join the Holy Light Alliance and had taken God with him.
• Aurelles grabbed Evenson and demanded to know why he had not shared the news earlier, and Evenson said she had never let him speak.
• Evenson repeated that the Naaru had left several times, and Aurelles punched him in the face until his nose bled.

Evenson, Aurelles, and Saloras worried that the Naaru might have given the Burning Legion Earth’s coordinates and decided to accelerate their plan. Mephisto appeared to settle an old deal, leaving Evenson to confront the devil’s unexpected new appearance.

• Aurelles and Saloras scolded Evenson for joking, then discussed the Naaru’s departure and the uncertain war between the Burning Legion and the Holy Light Alliance.
• Evenson warned that the Naaru might have carried Earth’s coordinates and urged the Eredar Twins to speed up their plan rather than flee.
• Evenson explained that they could fight the Burning Legion, run if necessary, or hand the world over to the organization if they had no other choice.
• Evenson admitted that something he had seen inside the gates of Hell concerned him, and Aurelles hurled a fireball at someone hiding nearby.
• Mephisto emerged from the flames in a young man’s appearance and reminded Evenson that they still had a deal to settle.

Evenson met with Mephisto and the Eredar Twins to settle their transaction, while Mephisto accused him of repeatedly leaving loose ends. Their argument ended with Mephisto claiming that Evenson possessed a soul that belonged to him.

• Mephisto charmed the Eredar Twins with compliments, prompting Saloras to make pointed remarks about Evenson’s appearance and fashion.
• Evenson interrupted their conversation and asked the twins whether they had come to make small talk, while Saloras described their relationship with him as that of equal partners.
• Mephisto reminded Evenson that he had previously claimed to be the master of demons, and Evenson denied saying it.
• Mephisto accused Evenson of leaving loose ends in both of their transactions, citing the Soul of Mephisto Contract and the power drained from Child of Demon Danny.
• Mephisto claimed that Evenson had a soul that originally belonged to him, and Evenson argued that he had merely picked it up.

Evenson negotiated with Mephisto over the Monk Sanctum leader’s soul, but Mephisto refused to trade for it and explained that his mortal-realm office had fallen apart. When Evenson tried asking about Lucifer, Mephisto told him to leave.

• Evenson offered to give Mephisto the monk’s soul in exchange for a price, but Mephisto declined to pay for it.
• Mephisto said he would let Evenson keep the soul, since he believed the monk would suffer in Evenson’s hands anyway.
• Mephisto lamented that his Hell Special Envoy to the Mortal Realm Office was finished and complained about mortal cultists’ foolish rituals and beliefs.
• Evenson asked Mephisto about Lucifer, and Mephisto told him to fuck off.

Evenson questioned Mephisto about Lucifer’s origins and place among Hell’s monarchs, learning that Lucifer appeared in Hell before angels existed and maintained an undeveloped territory for over two thousand years. The chapter ended with Evenson asking whether the souls assigned to Lucifer were all right.

• Mephisto explained that Hell and Heaven were independent and that Lucifer was not one of Hell’s original six monarchs.
• Mephisto agreed to answer Evenson’s question about Lucifer in exchange for intelligence about angels.
• Mephisto said Lucifer’s body resembled an angel’s, but Lucifer arrived in Hell roughly two hundred years before angels appeared in Heaven, so he could not strictly be called a fallen angel.
• Mephisto said Lucifer had never fought the other monarchs and had settled in undeveloped territory that remained unchanged for more than two thousand years.
• Evenson asked Mephisto whether the souls assigned to Lucifer’s territory were all right.

Evenson and the Eredar Twins explained Lucifer’s Naaru life cycle to Mephisto after he revealed that Lucifer’s territory consumed nearby souls. Mephisto learned that starving Lucifer of souls could trigger his transformation into an Entropy Demon, the Naaru’s most terrifying form.

• Mephisto initially avoided answering questions about Lucifer, but Evenson warned him that the information was needed to assess Lucifer’s dangerous state.
• Saloras and Aurelles told Evenson that even they feared M'uru’s Naaru form when it entered its frightening state.
• Mephisto revealed that souls and demons who approached Lucifer were drawn in and devoured, after his investigation found Lucifer’s territory nearly empty.
• Evenson explained that Naaru shadow form was a recovery stage in which they replenished energy by consuming souls, then returned to their light form.
• Mephisto proposed cutting off Lucifer’s supply of souls, but Evenson warned that exhausting all his energy would cause Entropy Transformation and turn him into an Entropy Demon.

Mephisto learned that an Entropy Demon could turn Hell into the Void, undermining his home-field advantage. He considered feeding Lucifer souls to restore him, while Evenson suggested controlling Lucifer’s appetite instead.

• Mephisto explained that he had encouraged the rise of natural science to weaken religious belief and make people more willing to deal with him.
• Mephisto claimed that Hell’s power made him confident, but Sarolas warned that an Entropy Demon could open a portal to the Void and assimilate Hell.
• Mephisto lost confidence when he realized Hell could become the Void, and Evenson joked that a raid team would need to defeat the enemy.
• Salas shocked Evenson, who recalled that M'uru had been defeated in a similar way on Azeroth.
• Mephisto proposed gathering souls from the other monarchs’ territories to restore Lucifer, and Evenson suggested regulating Lucifer’s soul supply so he stayed fed but never became full.

Mephisto agreed to limit how much Lucifer could consume, then insisted he had come to the human world on vacation. When Evenson pressed him about his real motive, Mephisto admitted that Hell was overcrowded and he planned to stay away for decades.

• Mephisto decided to coordinate with his old comrades on a plan to keep Lucifer fed but never full.
• While Mephisto made an interdimensional call, Evenson and the Eredar Twins discussed the Legion's communication devices.
• Mephisto returned and confirmed that his comrades had agreed to the plan for Lucifer.
• Evenson and the Eredar Twins discovered that Mephisto genuinely intended to vacation in the human world.
• After Evenson threatened to summon the Sorcerer Supreme, Mephisto confessed he wanted to escape Hell's overcrowding until his palace became vacant.

Mephisto explained that Hell’s prisons had overflowed after the World Wars sent an unprecedented number of souls there, despite a recent expansion meant to last centuries. He revealed that he had secretly intervened in human affairs to prevent further crises, including World War III.

• Evenson doubted Mephisto’s claim that Hell was overcrowded, but Mephisto explained that Hell needed purpose-built prisons and that souls stayed for centuries.
• Mephisto said a former subordinate had expanded Hell three hundred years earlier and promised the project would last six hundred and sixty-six years, but the prisons filled far sooner.
• Mephisto traced the crisis to the waves of souls arriving after the World Wars, which forced him to convert his palace, doghouse, amusement park, and garden into prison space.
• Mephisto said humanity’s wars made him question who the real devil was, and Evenson awkwardly sympathized with him.
• Mephisto revealed that he had helped avert World War III by influencing the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Watergate investigation, and the selection of the final Soviet premier.

Mephisto agreed to seek permission to stay in the human world, while Evenson arranged for someone else to handle the contract. Mephisto revealed that his true body was hibernating in a cramped bedroom in Hell while his consciousness used an incarnation to play Human World Online.

• Evenson doubted Mephisto's motives and warned that a Demon Monarch should not stay in the human world for long.
• The Eredar Twins teased Evenson about his interest in a banshee and threatened him when he denied having improper thoughts about her.
• Mephisto offered to sign a devil's contract, but Evenson refused to take responsibility for authorizing his stay.
• Evenson promised to arrange a meeting with a powerful human-world visa officer in three days, and Mephisto accepted.
• Mephisto explained that his true body hibernated in a bedroom of less than two hundred square meters in Hell while his consciousness used an incarnation to play Human World Online.

Evenson and the Eredar Twins discussed Mephisto’s planned nightclub before Evenson asked them to recruit Nadia and Danny for the company. The twins mistook Danny for Evenson’s son, then learned Danny was the Child of Demon and Nadia had an unusually high tolerance for magical power and Fel.

• Mephisto said he would open a nightclub and invited Evenson and the Eredar Twins to its opening, promising Evenson one free bill.
• After Mephisto left, Saloras ordered Luther to transfer one hundred million dollars for a rival nightclub, but Evenson stopped her and the twins agreed to spend only fifty million.
• Evenson gave Saloras a photograph of Nadia and Danny and asked the twins to bring them into the company.
• Aurelles grabbed Evenson and demanded to know whether Nadia and Danny were his family, but Saloras pointed out that Evenson was only twenty-two and Danny was thirteen.
• Evenson explained that Danny was the Child of Demon and that he had absorbed Danny’s power, while Nadia’s unusual tolerance for magic and Fel made her valuable to the company.
• Aurelles said she could recruit Nadia and Danny easily by offering them jobs.

Evenson arranged a legitimate, well-paid job and family housing for Nadia and Danny while discussing extensive employee benefits designed to bind workers and their families to the company. He told the Eredar Twins that his plan would reach an outcome within three months, then worried about meeting up with a woman he called a little wildcat.

• Evenson told the Eredar Twins that Nadia and Danny would be recruited through legitimate means to avoid attracting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention.
• Evenson asked the twins to arrange family housing for Nadia and discussed the families of the company's other employees.
• Evenson proposed building company schools, a university, nursing homes, and a cemetery to provide benefits and keep employees' families tied to the company.
• Evenson said he had found a seller for his trump card and that the needed cannon fodder had arrived, predicting an outcome within three months.
• The Eredar Twins warned Evenson not to endanger himself, then teleported away with the unconscious General Gu Le.
• Evenson wondered how he would placate the little wildcat he was supposed to meet.