Chapter Summaries

Josh agreed to let Frank negotiate a possible partnership with the Mage Guild, then learned that Master Gu Yi had located Peter Jason Quill on Xandar. Josh and his companions returned to the Marvel Universe to find him, while Howard prepared to join their trip.

• Josh assigned Frank to handle negotiations with the Mage Guild and warned him not to let Rivendell suffer losses.
• Master Gu Yi informed Josh that Peter Jason Quill was on Xandar, and Josh decided to leave for the Marvel Universe without waiting for Garen and Tony.
• Josh showed Natasha, Avila, Daenerys, and Wina the message and arranged for them to travel with him.
• Josh arrived in his room in the Marvel Universe and found Howard studying Asgardian technological and magical materials.
• Howard revealed that he had ordered an Asgardian spaceship to accompany Josh, because Asgard only provided a star chart with a ship purchase.

Josh returned to Earth and went with Howard to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to retrieve the Asgardian spaceship. There, he warned Fury that Hydra had infiltrated most of S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Fury to decide whether to believe him and investigate.

• Josh and Howard arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where Coulson welcomed Josh back.
• Josh entered Fury's office and demanded to know where Howard's spaceship was being kept.
• Fury admitted that S.H.I.E.L.D. had considered dismantling the ship but had stored it securely instead.
• Josh challenged Fury's understanding of S.H.I.E.L.D. and revealed that Hydra had infiltrated eighty percent of the organization.
• Fury questioned Josh's claim, and Josh told him to investigate, calling the warning an act of great mercy.

Josh warned Nick Fury about Hydra’s deep infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and set out with Howard for Asgard to find a pilot for his ship and meet Odin. Upon arriving, they were surrounded by Asgardian soldiers, but a powerful warrior recognized them.

• Josh told Fury about Project Insight, named agents he believed could be trusted, and warned him that Rumlow’s team served Hydra.
• Josh transported Fury and himself through a Dimensional Space to the stored ship, then asked Howard whether he could pilot it.
• After learning neither of them could fly the ship, Josh stored it in his Dimensional Space and decided to visit Asgard.
• Josh used the Space Stone to travel with Howard to Asgard, where the guards sounded alarms and soldiers surrounded them.
• A powerful warrior approached, recognized Josh and Howard, and asked why they had come.

Josh visited Asgard with Howard, met Odin, and examined the ailing king’s power. After sensing Odin’s energy, Josh identified the source of his problem.

• Thor helped Josh and Howard reach the palace after Asgard’s guards mistook their arrival for a threat.
• Josh and Howard discussed Asgardian armor, and Josh considered seeking out the Dwarves’ forging techniques.
• Thor returned with Odin, who welcomed Josh and spoke with him about his weakening life force.
• Odin dismissed Thor and Howard, then condensed a thread of power for Josh to examine.
• Josh sensed Odin’s power and told him that he knew the cause of his problem.

Josh diagnosed Odin's failing vitality as a problem with the poor quality of his bloodline-based power and offered to help him improve it. After Josh's demonstration accidentally destroyed Odin's palace, he prescribed an unexpected solution: Odin should go to Hogwarts and be a student.

• Josh compared Odin's condition to Dumbledore's former decline and explained that meditation had helped Dumbledore refine his magic and reach the Sixth Tier.
• Josh told Odin that his powerful bloodline-based energy was too low in quality to sustain his life, then gathered a thread of exceptionally pure magic power.
• Josh's demonstration triggered a surge that shook Asgard, destroyed Odin's palace, and opened spatial rifts as Champions rushed to investigate.
• Odin accepted Josh's apology and asked how Josh would solve his problem.
• Josh told Odin to go to Hogwarts and be a student for a while.

Josh and Odin negotiated an alliance that would bring Asgardian technology and forging knowledge to Josh while letting Asgardians study with the Secret Ones Alliance. They signed the contract, which would remain in effect for as long as Odin lived.

• Odin agreed to study at Hogwarts and learn a meditation method to improve the quality of his power, with Josh proposing that Ancient One help him.
• Josh demanded access to Asgardian technology and the dwarves' forging techniques in exchange for helping Odin and sharing cultivation methods.
• Odin proposed joining the Secret Ones Alliance and allowing Asgardians to study with it in return for training opportunities for Asgard's talented people.
• Josh and Odin agreed that one royal family member could join with each change of God King, but that person could not be the God King; Asgard would also provide a location and Bifrost access.
• Josh and Odin signed matching contracts, which would remain in force for as long as Odin lived.

Josh returned to Earth with Thor to investigate Jane Foster’s disappearance and found a strange disturbance in an abandoned factory. Recognizing the Reality Stone’s influence, Josh became tempted to claim it and use it to refine the laws of the world within his body.

• Odin told Thor that he would eventually leave Asgard and that Thor would rule with Loki advising him.
• Thor revealed that Jane Foster had disappeared, so Josh agreed to help find her.
• Josh and Thor traveled to Earth, where Master Gu Yi offered to have London mages investigate.
• Josh expanded his spiritual perception across Earth, checked on his allies, and located Thor’s girlfriend’s trail.
• Josh and Thor arrived at an abandoned factory where unusual objects floated and matter seemed to defy its normal laws.
• Josh identified the disturbance as the Reality Stone and decided he wanted to use it to refine the laws of the world within his body.

Josh rescued Jane Foster from a hidden spatial overlap, but his magic destroyed the device that had contained the Aether. After Jane woke, Josh detected a powerful energy inside her and considered using the Reality Stone to secure a favor from Asgard.

• Josh sensed a hidden Mirror Space and used magic to bring the unconscious Jane Foster out while Thor waited nearby.
• Josh discovered that his magic had destroyed the device that had sealed the Aether, leaving no scraps behind.
• Jane woke in Thor's arms, learned she had been missing for more than two hours, and described being pulled into a strange place and seeing an unfamiliar object.
• Josh sensed an extremely powerful energy fluctuation inside Jane and considered trading the Reality Stone to Asgard for valuable technology or forging knowledge.

Josh used the Space Stone to extract the Reality Stone from Jane Foster, leaving her dangerously weak, then took her and Thor to Asgard. Jane learned that Josh was the mage who had protected Earth and was a Cosmic Overlord.

• Jane doubted Josh’s warning, so Josh used the Space Stone to reveal the Aether inside her.
• Josh drew the Reality Stone out of Jane, and Thor realized that the extraction had left her close to death.
• Josh explained that the gem was the Reality Stone and said the Nine Realms’ overlap contributed to the strange phenomena around them.
• Josh transported Jane and Thor to Asgard, where Jane objected to being taken without her consent.
• Thor told Jane that Josh led the Secret Ones Alliance, had defeated the Chitauri, and held the status of a Cosmic Overlord.

Josh discussed the Reality Stone with Odin and warned him that the Dark Elves would soon attack Asgard. He predicted that they would first use an infiltrator to distract Asgard’s defenses before launching their assault.

• Josh followed a guard to meet Odin, where Thor and Loki were also present.
• Odin worried that Thanos or others would come after the Reality Stone, but Josh said Thanos would not attack and identified the Dark Elves as the threat.
• Josh explained that Malekith would target Asgard because the Aether was with him, and he wanted the Dark Elves’ attack to happen there rather than on Earth.
• Josh predicted that the Dark Elves would use an infiltrator, and Odin finished describing the plan before Josh could complete his warning.

Josh warned Odin that the Dark Elves planned to use a Cursed Warrior to distract Asgard before attacking, and Odin prepared an ambush. After exploring Asgard with Howard, Josh was awakened by Odin as the infiltrator made his move.

• Josh explained the Dark Elves' plan and urged Odin to kill the infiltrator and use the attack to assess Asgard's strength.
• Odin agreed and arranged for the Dark Elf infiltrator to be isolated in a specially prepared cell while Asgard's guards replaced the other prisoners.
• Josh and Howard explored Asgard, admiring its architecture, defenses, and scenery.
• After Josh and Howard finished dinner and went to rest, the infiltrator made his move in the dungeon.
• Odin contacted Josh and invited him to witness the Asgardian warriors in action.

Josh and Howard watched Asgard defeat the Dark Elves after Josh warned Odin about their attack. Odin planned to train Thor and Loki before choosing an heir, while the captured Malekith challenged him to fight.

• Josh and Howard traveled through a portal to the battlefield, where Odin thanked Josh for warning Asgard.
• Asgard’s prepared forces surrounded the Dark Elves and nearly destroyed their fleet, leaving Malekith’s surprise attack in ruins.
• Josh advised Odin to visit Master Gu Yi about his condition, and Odin said he would train Loki and Thor before deciding who would inherit the throne.
• Loki reflected on how Josh’s scolding had changed him, while Thor accepted that either brother could inherit the throne.
• Malekith and the Dark Elf warriors stepped onto Asgard’s coast, and Malekith called Odin out to fight him.

Odin defeated Malekith by ordering Thor and Loki to kill him, then arranged to retire and manage the Secret Ones Alliance branch in Asgard. Josh later considered how to use the Infinity Stones, and Akatosh proposed extracting the Reality Stone’s power and creating a replacement with Josh’s magic.

• Josh recognized that Malekith’s duel challenge was an attempt to exploit Odin’s failing health, but Odin ordered an attack instead.
• Odin sent Thor and Loki to kill Malekith, then told Josh he planned to retire and asked him to help protect Asgard through an alliance with the Secret Ones Alliance.
• Josh agreed to announce the alliance, and he realized Odin could manage the Alliance’s Asgard branch himself.
• Thor and Loki killed Malekith as Asgard’s soldiers defeated his army, and Josh left with Howard to consider the Infinity Stones.
• Akatosh pulled Josh and Howard into Dimensional Space and suggested that Josh extract the Reality Stone’s power, then use his magic to create a replacement Infinity Stone.

Josh decided to absorb the Infinity Stones’ rules to strengthen the rudimentary universe within his magical source, after Akathosh assured him that destroying the stones would not harm the universe for hundreds of millions of years. He shattered and absorbed the Space Stone, but its rules overwhelmed him, and he woke to find his hand had vanished through space.

• Josh asked Akathosh whether destroying the Infinity Stones would damage the universe, and Akathosh explained that the consequences would take roughly 250 million Earth years to emerge.
• Josh decided to absorb the stones’ rules and planned to start with the Space Stone, whose spatial magic he understood better than the Reality Stone’s rules.
• Josh activated a partial Seraph transformation, shattered the Space Stone, and drew its energy into his body.
• Josh was overwhelmed by the spatial rules flooding his mind and collapsed.
• Josh regained consciousness and found that his hand had passed through space and vanished somewhere unknown.

Josh traveled to Xandar with Howard and Loki after spending a month recovering from the dangerous effects of absorbing the Space Stone. The chapter ended with a Xandarian official recognizing Josh as “Death Holy Flame” and “Genocider” and sounding an alarm.

• Josh recalled how absorbing the Space Stone left his body unstable for a month, while Akathosh helped him study and control its spatial laws.
• Josh confronted Akathosh for telling Natasha, Avila, and Ciri about his condition and arranging their visit to Asgard.
• Loki piloted Josh and Howard to Xandar, explaining that the Nova Corps protected the peace-loving planet and maintained good relations with Asgard.
• Loki introduced himself to Xandar’s reception officer and explained that Josh and Howard lacked Translation Devices.
• The reception officer searched his device, recognized Josh as “Death Holy Flame” and “Genocider,” and raised the alarm.

Josh arrived on Xandar with Loki to find Peter Quill, but his reputation for wiping out the Chitauri made the Nova Corps treat him as a planetary threat. After learning Josh was allied with Asgard, the Nova Empress agreed to help locate Quill.

• A Xandar official recognized Josh by his titles, prompting ships and civilians at the port to flee while the Nova Corps mobilized.
• Josh refused to harm the official and waited as Nova Corps fighters surrounded the area.
• The Nova Empress asked Josh why he had come, and he teleported into her carrier’s command room to answer her.
• Josh said he was looking for Peter Quill and warned the Nova Empress not to press him for more details.
• Josh explained that his organization was allied with Asgard and that Asgard had provided his information about Quill.
• The Nova Empress accepted Josh’s explanation and promised to search for Peter Quill.

Josh worked with Akathosh to turn his counterfeit Space Stone into a genuine replacement while preserving a secret link to himself. The Nova Empress brought Peter Quill to Josh, who confirmed that Peter had accepted a job involving the Orb.

• Josh examined the counterfeit Space Stone and learned from Akathosh that it needed a connection to the world to replace the original.
• Akathosh took the counterfeit to connect it to the world, while Josh explained that his Void magic would let him control and retrieve it.
• Josh and Akathosh sensed someone approaching, so Akathosh hid in Dimensional Space before Howard let the Nova Empress and her guards enter with Peter Quill.
• The Nova Empress introduced Peter to Josh, and Peter grew frightened after recognizing Josh's reputation.
• Josh asked Peter whether he had accepted the job involving the Orb, and Peter admitted that he had.

Josh secured Star-Lord’s help to retrieve the Orb and promised to let him go safely afterward. He revealed that the Orb contained the Power Stone, then prepared to leave Xandar with his companions.

• Josh agreed to pay Star-Lord for helping retrieve the Orb, and Loki promised that the Asgardians would honor the deal.
• Star-Lord asked Josh to guarantee that he and his companions would not attack him after the mission, and Josh agreed.
• Howard asked when they would leave Xandar, prompting Josh to explain that the Orb was an Infinity Stone in disguise.
• Josh identified the Orb as the Power Stone, while Loki considered Josh’s rivalry with Thanos and the Infinity Stones.
• Josh announced that they should set off because Xandar did not welcome him.

Josh and his companions traveled from Xandar to Morag while Josh learned that Akathosh had linked the forged Space Stone to their universe. They arrived at the hostile, lifeless planet, and Josh asked Quill to lead the way.

• Star-Lord talked with Howard about Earth and his past, and the two bonded over being fellow Earthlings.
• Akathosh told Josh that he had linked the forged Space Stone to their universe by tracing a connection revealed through the Ring and the Reality Stone.
• Josh reflected that Akathosh’s talent and knowledge had helped him progress far faster than he could have alone.
• Josh and his companions arrived on Morag, a dangerous dead planet filled with violent natural hazards and aggressive creatures.
• Josh told Quill to lead the way, and Quill began to respond before realizing what Josh meant.

Josh retrieved the Power Stone from its Orb seal and reflected on how his growing power and experiences in The Witcher 3 had made him increasingly indifferent to ordinary lives. Akathosh explained that Josh’s outlook had shifted as he stopped seeing people below his level as equals, and told him to be human to recover.

• Josh used his spatial abilities to open the Orb and reveal the Power Stone, astonishing Loki, Howard, and Star-Lord.
• Star-Lord planned to hide from Yondu, while Josh considered using a fake Power Stone to draw attention away from his plans.
• Josh wondered whether his growing indifference might lead him to risk Xandar and its people for his goals.
• Akathosh told Josh that he had begun viewing people beneath his level of existence as different from himself.
• Josh recalled the cruel choices he had faced in The Witcher 3, and Akathosh advised him to be human.