Chapter Summaries

Odin learned that the seven hammers came from another universe and gave Loki Gungnir to prepare him to face the threat. Ancient One asked Russell to monitor Cul Borson and leave the hammers to Tony, Wanda, and the Avengers unless the situation demanded his intervention; Russell then went to find Tony.

• Ancient One told Odin that the hammers belonged to Cul Borson, the God of Fear, an All-Father in another universe.
• Odin bestowed Gungnir on Loki, who swore to fight for his family, Asgard, and the kingdom.
• Ancient One summoned Russell and asked him to keep an eye on Cul Borson and let the Avengers deal with the hammers for now.
• Russell agreed to intervene only at critical moments, then went to find Wanda but learned she was in class.
• Russell opened a Portal to Tony's mansion, where Tony invited him upstairs to discuss his urgent news.

Russell warned Tony that the mysterious hammers could empower their wielders, but Tony soon received an urgent request for help. He and Pietro found Bucky dead and Steve gravely wounded, while the attacker remained unknown.

• Russell told Tony that the hammers could grant power to compatible wielders and suggested asking Thor and Loki for help.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. relayed Maria Hill's message that Bucky and Steve had been attacked, and Tony opened a Portal to respond.
• Tony and Pietro arrived to find Bucky dead and Steve unconscious with severe injuries.
• Tony and Pietro took Bucky and Steve back for treatment, then searched the scene but found no clues to the attacker.

After Steve and Sergeant Barnes were attacked, the Avengers suspected that a war hammer wielder was targeting them. Meanwhile, Attuma seized Talokan and Erik Killmonger invaded Wakanda, while Thor confronted the hammer-wielding attacker terrorizing Paris and struck him with lightning.

• Tony and Pietro reported that Steve was badly injured, Sergeant Barnes was dead, and traces at the scene matched the magic of the celestial war hammers; Hill warned the Avengers to stay alert.
• Attuma used the Serpent's hammer to defeat Namor and seize Talokan, forcing Namor to seek T'Challa's help.
• Erik Killmonger returned to Wakanda with a war hammer, killed T'Chaka, and left T'Challa gravely wounded; T'Challa decided to ask Namor for help.
• In Paris, Thor confronted a mysterious hammer wielder who claimed to serve the All-Father Serpent and used a gray beam to turn bystanders to stone.
• Thor deflected the beam with Mjolnir, struck the attacker with a hammer blow, and called down lightning on him.

After fear spread across Earth, Kaecilius and the four Serpent Apostles attacked Manhattan to summon the Serpent. The Serpent descended, but found that the planet’s Fear Energy had vanished.

• Steve learned that Bucky had died after Emil Blonsky attacked them, while Tony revealed that the other war hammers had appeared in the Pacific and Africa.
• Loki said Talokan and Wakanda had fallen to fear and warned that the Serpent would regain his full power if fear spread across Earth.
• Kaecilius sent Gravik, Emil Blonsky, Attuma, and Killmonger Erik Killmonger to wreak havoc in Manhattan while he performed a summoning ritual.
• The Avengers and Gwen’s Street Hero Squad fought the Serpent Apostles as civilians fled Manhattan.
• The Serpent answered Kaecilius’s summons and descended through a Green Vortex, then wondered why the Fear Energy he had sensed across Earth had disappeared.

Kaecilius and his renegade mages attacked the battlefield, forcing Wanda, G'iah, Pietro, and their allies to fight back as Russell secretly protected Wanda from a lethal blow. Hulk and Gwen defeated Blonsky, Thor killed Gravik with the Destroyer Armor, and Serpent confronted Thor as the other battles remained unresolved.

• Kaecilius's mages attacked the police and military, while Barton, Wanda, G'iah, and the Kamar-Taj mages fought back.
• Kaecilius ambushed Wanda, but G'iah exposed him and Russell secretly rescued Wanda from his hammer strike.
• Hill sent Pietro to help Wanda, and Hulk and Gwen defeated Blonsky before joining the fight against Kaecilius.
• Odin sent Thor the Destroyer Armor, which let Thor kill Gravik with a beam attack.
• Serpent transformed into human form and confronted Thor, while Russell watched the Watchers and considered charging them for watching.

The heroes fought Kaecilius’s mages and Serpent’s forces across New York, with Russell saving Wanda from a deadly hammer strike. Hulk and Gwen defeated Blonsky, Thor destroyed Gravik with the Destroyer Armor, and Serpent confronted Thor as the remaining battles stayed unresolved.

• Kaecilius’s mages attacked the police and military through Portals, but Barton, Wanda, G'iah, and Kamar-Taj’s mages joined the fight and inflicted heavy casualties.
• Kaecilius trapped Wanda and struck through her shield with the Hammer of the Winter God, but Russell intervened and saved her; G'iah, Wanda, and Pietro then barely held Kaecilius back.
• Hulk and Gwen the Spider-Man defeated Blonsky and took Serpent’s warhammer, then Hill sent them to reinforce Wanda.
• Odin sent Thor the Destroyer Armor, which helped Thor blast Gravik apart with its beams.
• Serpent changed into human form and confronted Thor, while Russell watched the Big-Headed Babies and hinted that he would collect a fee from them.

Russell left a duplicate to watch the battle in New York and confronted a Watcher on the moon for spying on him. He collected compensation twice, totaling four billion units of energy, then praised the Watchers and left the encounter open to further demands.

• Russell left an Images of Ikonn duplicate to watch the battle in New York and traveled to the moon to confront a Watcher.
• Russell attacked the Watcher, threatened to kill him, and relented when the Watcher admitted his wrongdoing and offered compensation.
• The Watcher paid Russell two billion units of energy, and Russell restored the Watcher's destroyed castle.
• Russell demanded another two billion units of energy for a previous instance of spying, and the Watcher paid him again.
• After absorbing the energy, Russell praised the Watchers for recording the Multiverse's history.

Russell persuaded a Watcher to record his rise as a Supreme Deity and negotiated a deal for energy in exchange for witnessing major events. The Watcher agreed to pay two billion units of energy per event, leaving Russell considering whether to enlist more Watchers.

• The Big-Headed Baby explained that the Watchers had stopped interfering in civilizations and instead observed and recorded them.
• Russell praised the Watchers’ role in preserving the histories of mortal lives and civilizations.
• Russell used flattery and the Darkhold’s Charm spell to persuade the Watcher that recording his rise would be a legendary opportunity.
• The Watcher offered energy in exchange for witnessing Russell’s rise, and Russell agreed to a price of two billion units per major event.
• Russell realized he could offer the same deal to other Watchers, while the Watcher accepted his chaotic nature as part of the bargain.

As Earth’s battle turned against the Serpent’s forces, Thor and the others fought the Apostles while the Serpent fled. The Serpent sacrificed his Apostles to regain strength and faced a mysterious cosmic destination, while Kaecilius died in the Ancient One’s courtyard.

• The Serpent overwhelmed Thor with a green energy beam, then disappeared, so Thor went to aid Loki and discovered Loki’s battle with Attuma had been an illusion.
• Tony worked with Loki to bind Killmonger Eric, and Loki killed him with Gungnir.
• Thor and five others cornered Kaecilius, who escaped through a Portal but emerged in the Ancient One’s courtyard at Kamar-Taj.
• The Ancient One explained that Kaecilius’s borrowed power was consuming him, and Kaecilius dissipated into ash.
• The Serpent drained the life force of his four remaining Apostles to restore himself, then looked toward a swirling Nebula and the continent at its center in the Cosmic Void.

After Thor returned to Asgard to fight the Serpent, Loki brought Tony, Wanda, Gwen, and Pietro through a Portal to support him. The Serpent claimed the throne and the true All-Father’s title as the allies stopped his wave from reaching Asgard.

• Heimdall summoned Thor back to Asgard after the Serpent invaded, and Tony agreed with Gwen and the others to help.
• Loki opened a Portal to Asgard, where the Serpent marched across the ocean with sea monsters behind him.
• Thor attacked the Serpent to thin the monsters, but the Serpent used his advantage beneath the sea to drive Thor underwater.
• Loki arrived with reinforcements and Gungnir, striking the Serpent and giving Thor time to escape to land.
• The Serpent claimed Gungnir and declared himself Asgard’s rightful king and true All-Father, then sent a towering wave toward Asgard.
• Loki, Tony, Wanda, Gwen, and Pietro used their powers together to halt the wave as Odin watched from the Golden Hall.

Russell and the Watcher watched Serpent’s battle in Asgard as Thor, Loki, Tony, and Wanda exploited his dwindling energy and drove him toward defeat. Mephisto watched through Serpent’s perspective, realizing his plan was failing because Serpent had not absorbed enough Fear Energy.

• Russell questioned the Watcher about why Serpent had come to Earth-404, but the Watcher said he did not know.
• Serpent’s second giant wave let water monsters reach Asgard’s shore while Thor engaged him and the others joined the battle.
• Tony and Wanda changed to restraining Serpent, allowing Thor and Loki to strike, but Serpent unleashed an energy blast that knocked Loki and Tony away.
• Serpent ambushed Wanda, but her Shield of the Seraphim held; Loki then realized Serpent’s power had weakened because he had not recovered his energy.
• Thor, Loki, Tony, and Wanda attacked Serpent while he was low on energy, worsening his injuries and draining him further.
• Mephisto watched the fight through Serpent’s perspective and lamented that Serpent was nearing defeat before Russell or the Ancient One had even appeared.

Mephisto supplied Serpent with Fear Energy, restoring him to full strength as Serpent crushed Mjolnir and defeated Thor, Loki, and the others. With the heroes overwhelmed, Russell recognized Mephisto’s involvement and entered the battlefield to face Serpent.

• Mephisto sent Fear Energy through a Space Rift to restore Serpent, who transformed into a Giant Serpent and destroyed Mjolnir with one claw.
• Loki attacked Serpent with Gungnir using Time Magic, but Serpent wounded him and quickly healed.
• Hulk and the other heroes intervened, and Loki’s duplicate used the Casket of Ancient Winters to freeze Serpent, but Serpent broke free and blasted everyone away.
• Odin prepared to enter the fight after Thor and Loki fell, while Russell sensed Mephisto’s aura and asked the Watcher if Mephisto was behind the attack.
• Russell stepped onto the battlefield, confident that he could handle Serpent.

Russell effortlessly killed Serpent in front of the Asgardians, then asked The Watcher whether paying two billion units of energy to witness his strength had been worth it. Russell revealed that he planned to confront Mephisto, and The Watcher agreed to watch.

• Thor, the Asgardian Warriors, and Hulk recovered and prepared to fight Serpent again while Tony noticed Russell above the battlefield.
• Russell's enormous finger filled the sky, then extended smaller fingers until one reached Serpent's forehead.
• Serpent's attacks and attempts to escape failed, and Russell erased his consciousness and swallowed him whole.
• Russell asked The Watcher whether his display had been worth two billion units of energy, and The Watcher praised his strength.
• Russell said he would make a move against Mephisto, and The Watcher agreed to witness the confrontation.

Mephisto panicked after a mysterious giant finger defeated Serpent, sealing and moving Blazing Hell to escape whoever had intervened. In Asgard, Thor’s forces celebrated their victory, but Thor grieved over Mjolnir’s destruction as Odin reminded him that his power came from within.

• Mephisto feared the owner of the finger that destroyed Serpent, sealed Blazing Hell, and set the dimension moving through the Hyperswirl.
• Gwen and Tony identified Russell as the one who had struck Serpent, and Thor learned Russell had waited until the heroes faced an enemy they could not defeat.
• Thor helped the injured Loki, sent him for treatment, and ordered the Earth heroes to rest after the sea monsters retreated.
• Thor went to the Golden Hall and told Odin that Mjolnir had shattered.
• Odin praised Thor for defending Asgard and reminded him that the hammer had never been the source of his power.

Odin and the heroes discussed the enormous finger that Russell had used to defeat Serpent, while Russell searched the Hyperswirl for Mephisto. Russell discovered that Mephisto had fled with Blazing Hell, and the trail had vanished before he could track it.

• Odin asked Thor whether Russell himself or a spell had created the giant finger, but Thor did not know.
• Pietro asked Dr. Banner whether Hulk could lift the finger, and Dr. Banner and Tony speculated about its strange, nearly weightless material.
• Russell tried teleporting to Mephisto's Hell but found it sealed, so he flew through the Hyperswirl with The Watcher.
• Russell found that Mephisto had escaped with Blazing Hell and tried to reverse Spacetime to trace him.
• Russell's attempt failed because the Hyperswirl had no concepts of time or space, and the Information Ocean had swallowed Mephisto's trail.
• Russell blamed The Watcher's slow pace for his late arrival and worried that he had lost both a chance to extort Mephisto and The Watcher's viewing fee.

Russell failed to track down Mephisto after he sealed Hell and escaped, and left The Watcher after learning that his recordings lacked usable coordinates. Back at his bookstore, Russell learned from Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon be disbanded because countries had formed their own supernatural organizations.

• The Watcher advised Russell to wait for Mephisto to reopen Hell, but Russell rejected the plan and asked whether The Watchers could share information about him.
• The Watcher agreed to share relevant recordings, then explained that they lacked specific universe coordinates and could not reliably locate Mephisto.
• Russell accused The Watcher of trying to mislead him, struck him flying, and left to seek another way to find Mephisto.
• Russell returned to his bookstore, welcomed Coulson, and congratulated him on becoming S.H.I.E.L.D. Director.
• Coulson told Russell that S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon be disbanded because countries had established their own supernatural organizations and stripped S.H.I.E.L.D. of its law enforcement authority.

Coulson asked Russell about the Serpent's Hammers during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final field mission, and Russell explained their origin and current danger. In Asgard, a bard spread a story crediting Loki rather than Thor with defeating the invader, and the crowd began to believe him.

• Coulson told Russell that agencies worldwide were investigating the hammers and explained why he wanted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final mission completed properly.
• Russell explained that there were eight Serpent's Hammers, described how they brainwashed their wielders, and said they had lost their power after he killed Cul Borson, though he offered no guarantee of their safety.
• Coulson thanked Russell and left to handle S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dissolution and handover work.
• Russell spent days and nights trying to devise a way to capture Mephisto and claim the Big-Headed Babies' viewing-seat tickets, but came up empty-handed.
• At Asgard's celebration, a bard claimed Loki had helped defeat the invader after Thor lost Mjolnir, and other Asgardians began to accept the story after comparing what they had seen and heard.

Loki joined the Asgardian celebration after Thor assured him that his injuries had healed, and the brothers teased each other on their way to the banquet. When Loki asked why Russell was absent, Russell suddenly appeared, having overheard them while pursuing a way to locate Mephisto’s Blazing Hell.

• Loki dismissed his Images of Ikonn clones and agreed to leave his Temporary Palace with Thor.
• Thor and Loki bickered about Mjolnir and the Serpent as they walked to the celebration banquet.
• Loki greeted Tony, Dr. Banner, Pietro, Wanda, Gwen, and G'iah, then asked where Russell was.
• Tony explained that Heimdall could not locate Russell, and Thor offered to find him.
• Russell appeared in Luminescent White Energy after sensing the energy he had left in Gwen and G'iah while searching for Mephisto’s Blazing Hell.

Russell joined Asgard’s celebration, explained how the Serpent had been summoned and aided by Mephisto, and impressed Odin with his increased power. After the feast, he took Thor, Loki, Tony, and the others to a Dimensional Fragment, where Loki challenged Thor to a life-or-death fight without their Divine Artifacts.

• Russell ate Asgardian food and named his enormous attack Russell’s Divine Finger, then explained that Loki could not learn it because it relied on Luminescent White Matter.
• Russell told Thor and the others that Kaecilius had summoned the Serpent, Mephisto had restored the Serpent’s strength, and Mephisto had fled after the Serpent died.
• Odin welcomed Russell into Asgard and sensed that he had become impossible to read, then watched Thor and Loki at the three-day celebration.
• Russell left Asgard with Thor, Loki, Tony, and the others and brought them to a Dimensional Fragment for Loki and Thor’s life-or-death challenge.
• Loki explained that fighting Thor without Mjolnir was fair because he had also given up Gungnir, then asked Russell to add moving meteors to the arena.

Russell brought Thor, Loki, and their companions to a frozen planet in a Dimensional Fragment and illuminated it so Thor and Loki could fight. After explaining that Time Magic would revive either combatant and outlining the two-battle rules, Russell left Thor to choose the first terrain as Loki urged him to stop delaying.

• Russell and the others arrived on a dark, icy planet, where Russell expanded his constant-temperature field to protect the group from the cold.
• Tony teased Thor and Loki by having J.A.R.V.I.S. shine bright beams on them, then traded jokes and accusations with the others.
• Russell snapped his fingers to illuminate the planet and placed Time Magic rings on Thor and Loki to restore them if they died or activated the spell.
• Russell explained that the contest would consist of two battles, with each fighter choosing the terrain once.
• Thor questioned whether the rings could revive them, but Loki ignored Russell's signal to demonstrate and pressed Thor to choose the opening terrain.