Chapter Summaries

Tao Yu assessed the threats in The Boys’ world and set out to investigate, while Deep Sea sought refuge in Middle-earth and met with its leaders. At the meeting, Sun Shiyu learned that Tao Yu’s strength was far greater than she had realized.

• Tao Yu judged Homelander a potential Luck Stealer and estimated that the Burning Legion had fewer than ten disaster-level fighters, then left to investigate.
• Deep Sea admired the Elves and asked Aragorn whether his people could take refuge in Middle-earth, while privately hoping not to return to the dangerous battlefield.
• Aragorn brought Deep Sea to a meeting at Barad-dûr Fortress, where representatives from the Awakeners and the White Council could discuss rescuing his companions.
• Deep Sea became captivated by Sun Shiyu and Galadriel when he saw them at the meeting.
• Galadriel hinted that Tao Yu was exceptionally powerful, and Sun Shiyu realized that he had grown far stronger than she had known.

Sun Shiyu and the Middle-earth leaders discussed how little they knew about the Burning Legion and whether their coalition could help. Deep Sea revealed that Hidden Rock Village ninjas had helped organize resistance in his world, before Tao Yu arrived on an Alien Dragon with nine Fell Beasts and Galadriel leapt into his arms.

• Sun Shiyu, Galadriel, Gandalf, Elrond, Aragorn, and the Third Raikage discussed the Burning Legion and agreed their forces lacked enough information to risk a major attack.
• Gandalf asked Deep Sea for details, and Deep Sea said ninjas had helped plan a counterattack against the Burning Legion.
• Deep Sea identified the ninjas as coming from the Hidden Rock Village in the Land of Earth, and the Third Raikage recognized their leader, Onoki.
• Tao Yu arrived on a gigantic Alien Dragon accompanied by nine Fell Beasts and Ringwraiths.
• Galadriel leapt into Tao Yu’s arms while Deep Sea recognized that Tao Yu was stronger than him and held back his jealousy.

Tao Yu questioned Deep Sea about the Tailed Beasts and the Burning Legion, then brought him to the edge of the fragment to investigate the invasion. The chapter left Tao Yu preparing to open a passage across the Pacific toward the wider world.

• Tao Yu learned that Sun Shiyu had found a lead related to the Hidden Stone Village and said he was close to locating the Tailed Beasts.
• Tao Yu questioned Deep Sea, who knew nothing about the Tailed Beasts but described the Burning Legion forcing captives to build altars, participate in sacrifices, or become demons.
• Tao Yu dismissed Sun Shiyu's warning to gather more intelligence first and flew with Deep Sea toward the invasion zone.
• Tao Yu dropped Deep Sea near an unguarded barrier at the Pacific's edge, where Deep Sea explained that their fragment covered about half of Earth, centered on America.

Tao Yu flew over polluted seas with Deep Sea while, in San Francisco, Homelander attacked demons holding human prisoners. Homelander killed the warlock before he could contact the Burning Legion.

• Tao Yu questioned Deep Sea about how he was communicating as the Alien Dragon carried him over the ocean.
• In San Francisco, demons marched captured civilians through the ruined city while Huey Campbell assured his girlfriend that Homelander would save them.
• A demon warlock used the prisoners as bait to draw out nearby superheroes, but Homelander appeared and destroyed the Hellfire.
• Homelander mocked the warlock, interrupted his attempt to communicate, and cut him in two with his eye beams.

Homelander led the rescued civilians toward the team’s ships, eager for their praise while Onoki prepared the containers for transport. At the docks, three Catastrophe-class Terror Demon Kings ambushed them, surrounding the group.

• Homelander, Queen Maeve, and A-Train defeated the demons at the scene and rescued the captives, including Huey Campbell.
• Homelander led the civilians toward the docks, where the team planned to take them to a safe base at sea.
• A-Train warned that the warlock might have targeted the team, while Maeve worried Homelander’s eagerness to fight could endanger the civilians.
• Onoki used the Summoning Technique to learn that Deep Sea’s partner had sensed Deep Sea’s presence again, and he prepared the shipping containers for transport.
• Green fireballs struck the docks, but Onoki and Homelander destroyed the attacking Infernals and protected the civilians.
• Three Catastrophe-class Terror Demon Kings appeared and surrounded the docks.

Homelander and the survivors fought three Terror Demon Kings, who tried to recruit him by exploiting his desire for power and acceptance. Tao Yu arrived with reinforcements and swiftly killed one demon, leaving Onoki stunned by the gulf between their strength.

• Homelander blamed A-Train and Maeve for letting a warlock contact the Terror Demon Kings, but Onoki calmed him and suggested they had been betrayed.
• A Terror Demon King offered Homelander power, status, and eternal life, and Homelander wavered before rejecting the offer aloud.
• Onoki attacked with Dust Release, and the Shadow Guard joined the battle as Homelander fought two Terror Demon Kings in the sky.
• Tao Yu arrived on flying dragons, killed the demon facing Onoki with a lightning-fast strike, and destroyed the fel-bee swarm with holy light.
• Onoki watched Tao Yu descend with three Fel Seeds and realized he could barely follow the battle or measure the difference in their strength.

Tao Yu rescued Homelander from the Terror Demons, then turned to Onoki to negotiate for Iwagakure’s Tailed Beasts. The chapter ended with Onoki realizing Tao Yu knew about the Tailed Beasts before he had mentioned them.

• The Terror Demons tempted Homelander while Fel Bats swarmed him, weakening his will.
• Tao Yu appeared, seized both Terror Demons, and destroyed the demons and Fel swarm with holy light.
• Tao Yu collected three Fel Seeds and used his power to stop the resulting shock wave from reaching the wharf.
• Deep Sea praised Tao Yu as an ally while Maeve and A-Train relaxed, and Onoki studied Tao Yu.
• Tao Yu asked Onoki whether Iwagakure’s Jinchuriki were alive and offered to arrange an exchange for the Tailed Beasts while keeping them safe.
• Onoki was surprised that Tao Yu knew about the Tailed Beasts and wondered whether he had met with the other villages.

Tao Yu secured the Four-Tails and Five-Tails from Onoki and promised to help fight the Burning Legion. He encouraged Homelander to see himself as his world's Chosen One, then assessed the legion's remaining leaders and considered how to proceed.

• Onoki offered Tao Yu the Tailed Beasts after explaining that the Burning Legion had destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village and that Roshi and Han were aboard a carrier.
• Tao Yu praised Homelander as his world's Chosen One and encouraged him to grow stronger by resisting temptation and killing demons.
• Tao Yu observed Homelander helping transfer rescued survivors onto a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and considered whether the fleet could reach the Pioneer Zone.
• Onoki brought Roshi and Han to Tao Yu, and both Jinchuriki accepted that their Tailed Beasts would be handed over in exchange for help against the strongest demons.
• Tao Yu reviewed the Burning Legion's remaining disaster-class leaders and decided to gather more information before confronting General Zak and the Abyssal Lord.

Tao Yu absorbed the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, strengthening his tailed-beast chakra, while Steel and the survivor fleet’s leaders discussed his power and the newly discovered world of Middle-earth. The meeting ended with the fleet aware that Tao Yu could rival Homelander, leaving their plans to conquer or negotiate with Middle-earth uncertain.

• Tao Yu absorbed the Four-Tails and Five-Tails and concluded that he could fuse the Ten-Tails’ chakra without the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Steel questioned Homelander about Tao Yu’s strength, and Homelander concealed his belief that Tao Yu was stronger than him.
• Steel convened the survivor fleet’s representatives and described Middle-earth and the threat posed by demons there.
• The representatives discussed exploiting Middle-earth, then learned from Steel that Tao Yu was its powerful dragon master.
• Maeve, A-Train, and Deep Sea recognized that Tao Yu’s feats suggested he might be stronger than Homelander.

The refugee fleet’s leaders agreed to seek refuge in Middle-earth and discussed using Compound V to create more superpowered fighters, despite its deadly risks. After the meeting, Nia secretly activated a green soul crystal in his room, summoning a figure from its mist.

• Deep Sea reminded the council that Aragorn had agreed to accept them as refugees, and delegates discussed moving over and gaining influence in Middle-earth.
• Steel proposed putting the Super Soldier Program into action, including injecting rescued children and adults with Compound V to build a fighting force.
• A naval officer, Storm, and Homelander accepted the proposal and argued that everyone needed to contribute, while Starlight was disturbed by the leaders’ callousness.
• The delegates waited to meet the neighboring world’s representative because Tao Yu was studying tailed beast fusion.
• Nia went to his assigned room, concealed a green soul crystal, and used his blood to summon a figure from it.

Tao Yu exposed Nia as a traitor working with the Burning Legion and captured Stormfront after she revealed her demonic enhancement. As the meeting’s balance of power shifted, Tao Yu confronted Homelander about having a son he had never mentioned.

• Nia reported to the Burning Legion that Tao Yu had come from the neighboring world and agreed to spy on its fighters and inflame tensions.
• Tao Yu revealed that he had witnessed Nia’s secret meeting with a demon, then presented a recording and named Translucent as a witness.
• Tao Yu used divination to identify Stormfront as another traitor, and she attacked the room before trying to escape.
• Tao Yu absorbed Stormfront’s lightning and bound her with the Chains of Heaven, shocking the representatives and Homelander.
• Tao Yu told Homelander that he had a son from whom he was separated and asked why Homelander had never mentioned him.

Tao Yu exposed Steel’s role in hiding Homelander’s son, prompting Homelander to kill her and the politicians he suspected of aiding the Devil. As Tao Yu agreed to help find the boy, the story shifted to Billy Butcher leading Rebecca and her teenage son through the ruined New York subway.

• Tao Yu told Homelander that his son was alive and that Steel knew about the separation.
• Steel revealed that Rebecca had given birth to Homelander’s child, and Homelander killed her before she could explain further.
• Tao Yu calmed Homelander and promised to help him find his son in exchange for protecting his world.
• Homelander killed the politicians and representatives in the conference hall, claiming they had worked with the Devil.
• Billy Butcher led Rebecca and her teenage son through the dark subway tunnels beneath devastated New York, while wrestling with the boy’s connection to Homelander.

Billy Butcher fought off three Hellhounds in the subway, then Homelander arrived and found Ryan with Rebecca. Homelander recognized Ryan as his son and embraced him, while the injured Butcher watched bitterly.

• Billy Butcher prepared to defend Rebecca and the others when rats fled from an approaching threat.
• Billy Butcher killed three Hellhounds but was badly wounded as more Hellhounds appeared.
• Homelander burst through the tunnel ceiling, killed the Hellhounds, and found the injured Billy Butcher.
• Homelander realized Billy Butcher was not his son, then spotted Ryan with Rebecca and demanded to know if Ryan was his child.
• Ryan rushed to protect Rebecca and revealed glowing eyes like Homelander's, who recognized him as his son and kissed him while Billy Butcher watched.

Homelander reunited with Ryan and Rebecca, while Tao Yu arranged for the unconscious Billy Butcher to be rescued. After returning to the fleet, Homelander embraced his role as a father and protector as Tao Yu asked Onoki about the fleet and Vought Company's Compound V.

• Homelander found Ryan and Rebecca and promised to take them away with him.
• Rebecca asked Homelander to save Billy Butcher, and Tao Yu carried the unconscious man out with them.
• Tao Yu persuaded Homelander to see protecting his family and the world as one purpose, and Homelander vowed to wipe out the demons.
• Tao Yu and Homelander returned to the aircraft carrier, where Homelander told Ryan he was destined to become a superhero.
• Onoki reported that the fleet's transition had gone smoothly, and Tao Yu asked whether they had found leads on Vought Company's Compound V.

Tao Yu learned that Compound V production depended on a rare mineral and a factory in Milford, now controlled by the Burning Legion and guarded by a massive demon altar. The chapter ended with an Abyssal Lord and a human in black armor overseeing the factory’s reconstruction and brutal experiments.

• Onoki told Tao Yu that Compound V was stored on another ship and arranged for a researcher to explain its production.
• The researcher said the only functioning Compound V factory was in Milford, Massachusetts, and that its equipment was in Burning Legion territory.
• Homelander recognized the altar Tao Yu sketched as the one he had seen in Milford, where he had previously fought demons.
• Tao Yu concluded the factory site and altar were likely important to Compound V production and that General Zakka might be guarding the equipment.
• In Milford, human laborers built a huge altar under the watch of a towering Abyssal Lord and a human man in black armor.
• The Abyssal Lord and the armored man discussed the Legion’s experiments with Compound V, which had produced only a few powerful humans and left many dead as sacrifices.

Soldier Boy accepted the Burning Legion’s offer of greater power and prepared to help defend its altar from an approaching human attack. As enslaved humans were forced to drink demonic blood, Tao Yu sensed a dangerous formation hidden in the altar.

• Soldier Boy told the Abyssal Lord he would honor his agreement and help the demons, while making clear that revenge on his old friends drove him.
• A warlock reported that Homelander and the others were approaching the altar, and the Abyssal Lord planned to capture them and exploit the nearby volcanic world.
• Soldier Boy volunteered to fight, and the Abyssal Lord and the warlock leader agreed to prepare sacrificial arrays as a precaution.
• The Abyssal Lord spilled his blood and ordered demons to feed it to enslaved humans to strengthen them before giving them Compound V.
• Tao Yu watched a laborer drink the demonic blood and transform, then sensed a dangerous pattern concealed across the altar.

Tao Yu watched demons use fel blood on human laborers and deduced that it might help them withstand Compound V. After General Zakka’s wife Delis noticed him, a demon guard summoned him to the altar, where he climbed the steps under her gaze.

• Tao Yu realized the demons might be using fel blood to increase resistance to Compound V and considered capturing the Abyssal Lord alive.
• Tao Yu observed the laborers recover from drinking fel blood and follow a demon commander toward the Compound V production facility.
• Tao Yu assessed the Abyssal Lord and Delis at the altar, deciding to wait because General Zakka had not appeared.
• Delis fixed her gaze on Tao Yu and ordered a demon guard to bring him to her.
• Tao Yu agreed to follow the guard up the altar steps while Delis watched him.

Tao Yu let Delis bring him to a private meeting with General Zakka after overcoming her mental defenses and implanting a Seed of Spirit in her. Delis agreed to arrange the meeting, and Zakka accepted her request, intending to judge Tao Yu himself.

• Tao Yu met Delis on the altar steps, resisted her enchantment, and pretended to be dazed as she carried him into a ruined house.
• Tao Yu broke through Delis's mental defenses, implanted a Seed of Spirit in her, and asked her to arrange a private meeting with General Zakka.
• Delis agreed to bring Tao Yu to Zakka, partly because the Seed threatened her and partly because she had become captivated by him.
• Zakka questioned Delis's plan but agreed to meet Tao Yu and decided he would kill him himself if Delis could not.

Tao Yu used stopped time to ambush General Zakka with a powerful Holy Light attack, then finished him off as Soldier Boy arrived. The Abyssal Lord saw Zakka’s remains and, blaming Delis for betraying them, prepared to attack.

• Soldier Boy was stunned that Tao Yu had survived and insisted on following Delis and Tao Yu to General Zakka’s camp.
• Delis brought Tao Yu into Zakka’s tent, where Tao Yu stopped time and prepared a series of attacks against the general.
• Tao Yu released a massive Holy Light strike that destroyed Zakka’s camp and left the general barely alive in a crater.
• Tao Yu finished Zakka with a mutant-killing spell while Soldier Boy stopped short, afraid to approach.
• The Abyssal Lord arrived, saw Zakka’s remains, blamed Delis for betraying them, and erupted in rage.

Tao Yu subdued the Abyssal Lord Manomas and captured him to harvest his fel blood, then claimed General Zakka’s Legion Emblem. After Soldier Boy protested that they were on the same side, Tao Yu killed him.

• Tao Yu told Manomas to submit, but Manomas erupted in anger and prepared to fight.
• Tao Yu created a Mirrored Space that suppressed Manomas’s power and summoned his Terror Demon King forces, including General Zakka restored in a new vessel.
• Manomas offered to submit, but Tao Yu refused and used spirit words, tentacles, and Shadow Soldiers to weaken and defeat him.
• Tao Yu bound Manomas with the Chains of Heaven, sealed him in a scroll, and stored him in the Corpse Hiding Mirror to harvest his regenerating fel blood.
• Tao Yu inspected General Zakka’s Legion Emblem, which could summon demons from the Twisted Void.
• Tao Yu dismissed Soldier Boy’s claim that they were allies and made him burst apart.