Chapter Summaries

Hespera and her sisters accepted the Seven Deadly Sins' help to escape the Lesser Divine Realm, while Dane learned that they had stolen a Golden Apple and were heading into the mortal world. Dane decided to let them make their next move as he considered how to deal with them.

• Pride offered Hespera power in exchange for helping kill Shazam, and Hespera considered the deal despite Anthea's warning.
• Calypso accepted Envy's power and arranged for Anthea to use her pure divine soul to open the gate to The Rock of Eternity.
• The Seven Deadly Sins invaded Anthea's mind, gave her Lust's power, and used her to open the gate for Hespera and Calypso.
• Hespera took a Golden Apple from the storeroom, accepted Pride's power to restrain Calypso, and seized the remaining sin statues before the sisters left for the mortal world.
• Enchantress told Dane that a Golden Apple had been stolen and the Seven Deadly Sins had escaped The Rock of Eternity, and Dane chose to wait for their next move.

Anthea, Hespera, and Calypso met Mary Bromfield in Philadelphia and learned that Shazam was worshipped as a god. After Mary resisted Calypso’s attempt to force information from her, Hespera considered turning her into a host for one of the remaining Seven Deadly Sins.

• Anthea befriended Mary, who showed the sisters a superhero ranking that listed Shazam among the world’s gods.
• Calypso crushed Mary’s phone and accused Shazam of stealing the sisters’ power, while Hespera declared that humanity would pay for its blasphemy.
• Mary ran, but Anthea used her Axis Power to rearrange the space around her and bring her back.
• Anthea told Mary that the sisters were Atlas’s daughters seeking to rebuild their home, while Calypso admitted that they also wanted revenge.
• Calypso used magic to make Mary reveal how to find Shazam, but Mary resisted and kept herself from speaking.
• Pride suggested that Hespera make Mary a host, and Hespera took out four figurines as she considered it.

Dane rescued Mary from the Seven Deadly Sins and defeated Hespera’s sisters, while Anthea was trapped by Anti-Magic Shackles. Hespera merged with five sins and summoned the Evil Eye, but Dane overpowered her as the sins urged her to retreat.

• Hespera tried to make Mary host Sloth, but Mary called Shazam, and Dane arrived to rescue her.
• Dane blasted Hespera, seized Calypso, and subdued Anthea with Anti-Magic Shackles after resisting her attacks.
• Hespera merged with Wrath, Greed, and Gluttony, and the Seven Deadly Sins summoned the Evil Eye.
• Hespera absorbed compatible sins from the city and attacked Dane with earth, magma, and water, but he emerged unharmed.
• Dane struck Hespera into the sky and struck her with lightning, prompting the original sins to urge her to retreat.

Dane stabilized Mary after Sloth’s magic put her life at risk, while Anthea explained that her sisters hoped to restore the divine realm with the Golden Apple. Calypso instead brought Ladon to the Rock of Eternity, where Dane confronted them as Ladon tried to overwhelm him with fear.

• Dane left Hespera to flee after she redirected a storm toward Philadelphia, while Calypso returned to the divine realm and went to free Ladon.
• Dane found Anthea still in Philadelphia, took her to Mary, and used divine power to stabilize Mary’s life force as she woke.
• Anthea apologized to Mary and explained that the sisters planned to regrow the Golden Apple, prompting Dane to ask about the imprisoned Wizard Shazam.
• Enchantress and Dane sensed trouble at the Rock of Eternity, and Dane left Anthea with Enchantress before teleporting away.
• Calypso rode Ladon through an interdimensional gate into the Rock of Eternity, where Dane appeared and Ladon unleashed its power of Fear against him.

Dane entered the God Realm, freed Wizard Shazam, and learned why Atlas’s daughters had been trapped there as the Tree of Life withered. He confronted Calypso and Ladon, who joined their powers through Trinity magic, and left them stunned when their attacks failed to harm him.

• Dane used Parallax’s fear light to terrify Calypso and Ladon, then drained the energy Parallax had consumed and disciplined it.
• Dane entered the God Realm, sealed the gate, and found Wizard Shazam imprisoned after the goddesses had taken away his power.
• Wizard Shazam explained that the Tree of Life had withered and that Atlas’s daughters had remained behind, leaving the God Realm to decline.
• Dane told the Wizard that the Seven Deadly Sins had escaped into the human world and agreed to deal with Calypso before pursuing the New God Realm.
• Dane confronted Calypso and Ladon, who used Trinity magic to strengthen their attack, but he easily defeated Ladon’s blows and remained unharmed by its dragonfire.

Dane defeated Ladon and Calypso, restored the Tree of Life by opening the divine realm to human vitality and using Zeus's lightning, and saw the Wizard depart. As Dane settled into Mount Atlas, Hespera followed the Seven Deadly Sins to Deepwater Prison to reach Teth-Adam.

• Dane smashed Ladon into the ground, knocked Calypso unconscious, restrained her, and absorbed Ladon into his lantern ring.
• Dane used the staff to open the divine realm to human vitality, then revived the Tree of Life with Zeus's lightning.
• Zatanna, Constantine, Doctor Fate, and Diana sensed the disturbance, but Dane's intervention resolved it without their involvement.
• The Wizard told Dane that Destiny had chosen him as Shazam's successor, then entered the Tree of Life and left for another world.
• Dane restored Mount Atlas and ordered bronze apes to carry Calypso into the temple.
• Hespera followed the Seven Deadly Sins to Deepwater Prison, parted the sea, and dived toward Teth-Adam as the facility raised an alarm.

Hespera freed Teth-Adam from Deepwater Prison and fought Doctor Fate before recruiting Adam to help her reach Shazam. After Greed empowered Adam and sealed Nabu inside the Helmet of Nabu, Hespera planned to seek the gods’ help.

• Hespera freed Teth-Adam from his water cell, and he agreed to join her after she named Shazam as her goal.
• Doctor Fate confronted Hespera, but she wounded him with a poisoned Golden Dagger and went to Adam.
• Hespera used Greed to strengthen Adam, who then removed Doctor Fate’s Helmet of Nabu and kept it.
• Greed suppressed Nabu’s power and sealed him inside the helmet.
• Adam said he could reclaim his power by touching the Wizard Staff, and Hespera proposed seeking the gods’ help.

Hespera and Teth-Adam went to Greece seeking Athena’s help against Shazam, but Athena warned Hespera to stop and refused to interfere. Hades then attacked Athena’s messenger and revealed himself, leaving Hespera’s appeal interrupted.

• After Hespera and Teth-Adam left the A.R.G.U.S. site, Kent Nelson urged the medical team to warn Hawkman and the Justice League about the stolen Helmet of Nabu.
• At Justice Hall, Calypso woke in anti-magic cuffs and learned from Anthea that the divine realm was recovering and the Tree of Life had revived; she insisted on seeing it herself.
• Hespera and Teth-Adam arrived at the Parthenon, where Hespera summoned Athena and asked her to help fight Shazam.
• Athena told Hespera that Zeus had ordered the gods not to interfere with Shazam, and advised her to stop pursuing the conflict.
• Hades’s raven attacked Athena’s owl, severed Athena’s divine power, and burned the messenger to ashes as Hades addressed Hespera.

Hades empowered Hespera with authority over a Kryptonian army to help her defeat Shazam. In the Dreamscape, Dane recruited Faora by offering to restore Kryptonian civilization while allowing her and its people to remain free.

• Hades granted Hespera the power to command Kryptonian warriors, revealing that he had secretly gathered exiled Kryptonians in the Netherworld.
• Hespera summoned ten black-armored warriors and declared that Hades's army would let her defeat Shazam and his allies.
• Dane sparred with Faora in the Dreamscape, repeatedly overpowering her before revealing that he wanted to recruit her as a legion commander.
• Faora asked whether General Zod was also being recruited, and Dane said he had invited Zod first but had largely given up on him.
• Dane recognized that Faora wanted to restore Kryptonian civilization and offered to help her do so without restricting her freedom or demanding her submission.

Dane discovered that Hades had marked Faora’s soul and realized Hades and Ares were conspiring against Shazam. As Hespera’s Netherworld Kryptonians attacked Metropolis, Clark rushed to confront them.

• Faora signed Dane’s magical contract with a Kryptonite pen, triggering a divine mark that Dane recognized as Hades’s power.
• Dane removed the mark from Faora and sent Cortana to check whether the other Kryptonians carried the same energy.
• Hades learned that Shazam had noticed his interference and discussed his alliance with Ares, who wanted to reignite war in the human world.
• Hades said Hespera was already taking action as international tensions and the United States’ military setbacks brought war closer.
• Hespera led the Netherworld Kryptonians in a surprise attack on Metropolis, where they destroyed buildings and terrorized civilians.
• Clark awoke to the attack and hurried out to face the Kryptonians while Lois called after him to put on clothes.

Clark and the Justice League fought Kryptonian soldiers while Dane uncovered a wider plot to provoke war between the United States and the northern bear. Cortana disabled Washington’s nuclear weapons, and the chapter ended with Alexander Luthor offering to help the United States confront the approaching fleet.

• Clark left Lois and fought a group of Kryptonian soldiers, then sent the Justice League an emergency distress signal.
• Dane deployed the Dreamscape over Metropolis and equipped several Justice League members with Kryptonite-powered gear.
• Teth-Adam and Hespera joined the battle, while Dane and the Justice League fought the Kryptonians and their allies.
• Cortana discovered Kryptonian attacks elsewhere and a fleet approaching United States waters as Washington considered launching nuclear weapons.
• Dane ordered Cortana to revoke nuclear launch authorization, and the missiles became unusable.
• An officer told the president that Alexander Luthor was willing to help the United States.

Dane learned that Ares had helped provoke Russia into war with the United States while Hespera and Teth-Adam distracted Shazam’s allies. After Dane defeated and sealed Adam, Hespera completed a barrier spell designed to trap everyone inside and drain their magic.

• The president accepted Alexander Luthor’s offer to rebuild the United States military command network, and Luthor ordered Mercy to begin.
• Russia’s Pacific Fleet exchanged fire with an American patrol fleet, starting a war, and Cortana informed Dane of the conflict.
• Dane deduced that Ares had helped instigate the war, and Hespera confirmed it.
• Dane overpowered Teth-Adam and several Kryptonian soldiers, then sealed Adam’s magic instead of killing him.
• Hespera used a Golden Apple’s restored vitality to complete a barrier that trapped those inside and began absorbing their magic.

The Justice League escaped Hespera’s barrier and learned that a war had begun between the Soviet Union and the United States. Dane discovered that Ares had instigated the conflict and set out to find him, while Hespera appeared in Central City with new Kryptonians.

• Dane broke Hespera’s barrier after Clark failed to smash through it, and the Justice League learned that Soviet and United States forces had exchanged fire.
• Dane rejected direct Justice League intervention in the war, but LexCorp’s military communications system and NATO pressure helped prevent the conflict from escalating.
• Dane revealed that Ares had provoked the Soviet Union and framed the United States, then used satellite analysis to locate him near the Pacific battlefield, where Arthur Curry was also present.
• Cortana reported that Hespera had appeared in Central City with another group of new Kryptonians, and Dane suspected she might be targeting Barry Allen.
• Dane asked Clark to take the others to the Pacific battlefield.

Arthur, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the rest of the heroes fought Ares at the Pacific battlefield, where the ocean gave Arthur an advantage. Just as they closed in to finish Ares, a black maw opened and swallowed the three strongest attackers.

• Arthur surfaced at the Pacific battlefield, found Russian warships attacking American ships, and began rescuing sailors from both sides.
• Ares confronted Arthur and fought him underwater, where Arthur used the currents to keep the God of War from escaping.
• Diana, Clark, Green Lantern, Batman, Nightwing, and Red Hood joined the battle and repeatedly attacked Ares.
• Hades gave Ares a plan after Ares admitted the heroes had him cornered.
• Ares threw his axe toward Green Lantern, drawing Hal, Diana, and Clark close before a huge black maw swallowed all three.

Barry Allen was captured by Hespera and taken to the Netherworld after Hades targeted him for his connection to the Speed Force. Dane defeated the Kryptonian soldiers and confronted Hespera, but the original sin of Wrath emerged to stop him.

• Barry Allen fled a squad of Kryptonians until Hespera froze him and prepared to take him to the Netherworld.
• Dane arrived to rescue Barry, but Hespera teleported Barry away after Dane attached something to him.
• Dane forced Hespera to explain that Hades wanted Barry because he was the source of the newly emerging Speed Force.
• Dane killed the Kryptonians with the Kiss of Death after Hespera ordered them to retreat.
• Dane broke through Hespera's attacks and moved to imprison her, but the Talon of Wrath emerged from her body and struck him away.

Dane captured Hespera and the Seven Deadly Sins, then learned that Wonder Woman, Superman, and Green Lantern had vanished. In the Underworld, Barry received a speedster suit and met its AI, Kid Flash, which detected abnormal energy underground.

• Dane sealed Central City inside the Dreamscape so the Sins could not absorb human sin, then battled Hespera and forced the Sins back into her body.
• Dane struck Hespera with a powerful Thunderbolt and restrained her with anti-magic handcuffs, completing his capture of the Seven Deadly Sins.
• Cortana told Dane that Wonder Woman, Superman, and Green Lantern had disappeared, and he saw an enormous mouth in a playback of the event.
• Barry arrived in the Underworld, where a metal bug identified him as the Flash and transformed into a red suit designed by Dane.
• Barry tested his speed, crashed after his blood sugar dropped, and learned that the suit could inject glucose.
• Barry named the suit's AI Kid Flash, which detected abnormal energy readings underground.

Barry was trapped by pursuing Deadmen until Wonder Woman, Superman, and Green Lantern rescued him. In the real world, Dane’s allies learned that Hades planned to seize Hell, which Dane now owned, while the team worried about the heroes sent to the Underworld.

• Kid Flash warned Barry that the Deadmen were pursuing him, and Barry ran from them as his blood sugar fell dangerously low.
• Wonder Woman, Superman, and Green Lantern arrived and cleared the Deadmen surrounding Barry.
• Dane returned to Justice Hall with Hespera, and Cortana brought Teth-Adam in for questioning.
• Cortana read Teth-Adam’s memories and revealed that Hades had sent Kryptonian exiles from the Phantom Zone to help him claim Hell.
• Dane disclosed that Hell was his territory, and Zatanna and Constantine warned that Hades’s bid to take it could spark a war involving gods, pantheons, Heaven, and the real world.
• Batman asked where Clark and the others had been taken, and Dane said they were most likely in Hades’s Underworld.

Dane entered the Phantom Zone to locate Hades's Underworld and encountered the Phantom Stranger, who offered help and a magical coin in exchange for a restriction on Dane's planned demonic power. The Stranger also agreed that Gabriel could remain in the mortal world, while Dane still needed to find the Justice League members and proceed with his experiment.

• Dane prepared to enter the Phantom Zone alone while Zatanna and the others stayed behind to guard the captured criminals.
• Dane and Cortana prepared to test his Demonization research in the Netherworld, and Cortana sealed the Seven Deadly Sins inside a Demon Eye set in a necklace.
• Cortana collided two Ghost Engines, sending Dane into the Phantom Zone, where he met the Phantom Stranger.
• The Phantom Stranger explained that the Phantom Zone was connected to Hades's Underworld but remained light-years away, and offered to locate the Justice League members and provide a magical silver coin.
• The Phantom Stranger asked Dane to keep his successful demonic form confined to Hell, and said Gabriel could remain in the mortal world.

Dane accepted the Phantom Stranger’s request to retrieve the Helmet of Nabu and was sent to the Underworld, where he joined the Justice League’s fight against Ares. After Dane helped turn the battle around, the story revealed that Persephone was limiting Hades’ authority at Zeus’ request.

• Dane accepted the Phantom Stranger’s deal, took the silver coin, and agreed to retrieve the Helmet of Nabu.
• The Phantom Stranger sent Dane to his teammates as Ares attacked them with his full divine power in the Underworld.
• Dane blocked Ares’ axe strike, was wounded, then unleashed lightning that blasted Ares away and healed his injuries.
• Diana, Hal, and Clark attacked Ares while Barry cheered from the ground, and Cortana told Dane he could not deploy his dreamscape in Hades’ Underworld.
• Hades confronted Persephone and learned she had restricted his authority in the Underworld at Zeus’ order.

Hades sent Ares to hold off the Justice League while he invaded Hell, but Dane used a soul-altering bomb to badly injure Ares. After Persephone brought Ares to her room, Barry was teleported there as well, leaving him facing the two gods.

• Hades imprisoned Persephone in her room and led his army into Hell while Ares fought the Justice League.
• Ares summoned immortal War Demons, but Dane altered a Titan Giant's soul and used it to detonate a Soul Annihilation Bomb that wounded Ares.
• Ares called Persephone for help, and the Underworld's power transported him to her room.
• Dane tracked Ares and activated the teleporter on Barry, sending him to Persephone's room before the rest of the Justice League followed.
• Persephone attacked Barry, but he vanished in a blur of lightning.