Chapter Summaries

James reached the Mind Stone on Morton after its guardian, Legend Speaker, surrendered it and burned away. The Stone drew James into the Eternal Flame, where he answered its question about eternity before his spirit was consumed.

• Gamora and Nebula traveled with James to Morton, where James sensed Gamora had lied about the Soul Gem.
• Corvus Glaive and the Black Order cornered Legend Speaker, but the Mind Stone froze the assembled forces, including Corvus and Ebony Maw.
• James met Legend Speaker by the campfire, and Legend Speaker explained that he had been waiting for fate before tossing the Mind Stone into the fire and vanishing in flames.
• James took the Mind Stone as Corvus Glaive and Ebony Maw attacked, and the Stones in his chest and hand erupted in a pillar of fire that drew Thanos toward Morton.
• James entered the Eternal Flame and answered its question by declaring that only life could be eternal.

James merged with the Eternal Flame, which he called the Flame of Life, and fought Thanos with his transformed powers. As Morton Planet began to break apart, Gamora and Nebula questioned James’s identity and Nebula’s loyalty to their father.

• Thanos arrived at Morton Planet, recognized the fire as the Eternal Flame, and watched as James endured its power.
• The Flame of Life reshaped James’s soul and body, merging with his life energy and restoring his youthful appearance.
• James revealed his real name, James Howlett, admitted he had encountered other Infinity Stones, and challenged Thanos to a real battle.
• James and Thanos fought with weapons, duplicates, and energy attacks, devastating Morton Planet as James cut Thanos’s face and drew blood.
• Gamora asked Nebula who James was, and Nebula questioned whether James was connected to the death of Asgard’s All-Father and whether she remained loyal to Thanos.

James Howlett fought Thanos on the doomed planet Morton, trapped him beneath the collapsing crust, then learned from Gamora that the Soul Gem was on Vormir. Meanwhile, Jean Grey and her Phoenix Legion looted the Sovereign High Priest Temple, and Jean asked Ayesha whether she knew of a clawed man who could not be injured or killed.

• James Howlett tried to persuade Thanos to abandon his plan, but they fought across Morton's sea of lava.
• James used flaming chains and collapsing tectonic plates to bury Thanos, then flew to Sanctuary II and asked Gamora about the Soul Gem.
• Gamora told James the Soul Gem was on Vormir and urged him not to let Thanos obtain it; James told her to take Nebula and care for her.
• James blasted through Sanctuary II and escaped as Morton exploded, leaving Thanos alive and vowing to find him.
• Jean Grey's forces occupied the Sovereign High Priest Temple, seized energy batteries, and captured Ayesha.
• Jean asked Ayesha whether she had heard of a man who could not be injured or killed and whose hands could extend claws.

Jean Grey and the Phoenix Legion forced High Priestess Ayesha to reveal that Thanos’s Black Order was heading toward Molten, then left Sovereign with a golden cocoon containing a powerful life-form. Their ship pursued the Black Order’s trail toward the Molten Galaxy.

• Scott Summers kicked Ayesha to her knees and threatened her after she insulted the Phoenix Legion.
• Jean Grey questioned Ayesha, who revealed the Black Order’s route through the Herto Star System toward Molten and said Thanos’s forces were hunting something.
• After the Phoenix Legion left, Ayesha discovered that her secret embryo chamber was empty and broke down over the disappearance of her creation, Adam.
• Aboard the Skrull Royal Starship, Viper explained that the golden cocoon held a powerful life-form rather than an ordinary Sovereign embryo, and Jean Grey let her study it.
• Jean Grey’s ship entered Warp Drive toward the trail of Thanos’s army as a Ravagers flagship approached the edge of the shattered Molten Galaxy.

James Howlett rescued Peter Quill from Yondu and commandeered the Ravagers’ ship while traveling toward Vormir. When Jean Grey’s team intercepted the ship, the Phoenix Force began overwhelming Jean as James stepped into space to confront her.

• James caught Yondu’s Yaka arrow, defeated the Ravagers’ attack, and learned that Peter Quill was a kidnapped boy from Missouri.
• James told Peter he would take him home, then ordered Yondu to guide the ship to Vormir and afterward return to Earth.
• Peter adjusted to life aboard the ship and brought James his mother’s Walkman, but an incoming vessel interrupted their conversation.
• Jean Grey ordered her team to capture the Ravagers and question them about the destroyed Sanctuary II and the Morton Star System.
• As the ships faced each other, the Eternal Flame flared around James and the Phoenix Force began overtaking Jean’s consciousness.
• James broke through the ship’s barriers and stepped into the void, asking Jean if she was all right.

James reunited with the Phoenix Legion before confronting Jean Grey, whose Phoenix Force had merged with the Flame of Life to create a new world. He left with Jean to retrieve another stone and faced the prospect of explaining her new identity to Emma.

• Kurt Howlett and the young mutants attacked James, then recognized him as their grandfather and welcomed the Wolf Lord's return.
• James told Kurt to take the others away as Jean Grey approached, fused with the Phoenix Force and hungry to reclaim the Child of the Universe's power.
• James and Jean clashed across space, then their powers combined to form the Flame of Life and bring a planet and its first life into being.
• James explained that he feared restoring the Child of the Universe's full power and said he did not want to take on its destiny.
• James and Jean left the new planet together to retrieve another stone, and Jean joked that Emma might not forgive him for what he had done.

James Howlett and Jean Grey traveled to Vormir to find the Soul Gem, where Red Skull explained that obtaining it required sacrificing a loved one. Refusing to pay that price, James destroyed Vormir to keep the Gem from Thanos, then began the journey back to Earth.

• James and Jean placed their newly created planet in a suitable star system before Yondu guided them to Vormir.
• James and Jean found the artificial monument on Vormir and met Red Skull, who revealed the Soul Gem's location and its sacrifice requirement.
• James rejected the idea of sacrificing someone he loved and discussed how Thanos might be able to obtain the Gem through Gamora.
• James ordered Kurt and Yondu to take the ships beyond Vormir's orbit, then joined Jean in tearing the planet apart.
• Vormir exploded into dust, and the Phoenix began its journey back to Earth.

Peter Quill received Yondu’s helmet and spoke with James Howlett before leaving for Earth, while a group of released prisoners gathered to plan against the Howlett Family. They named their conspiracy the Avengers.

• Yondu gave Peter Quill his old helmet, and Peter took a spacecraft to join the Phoenix.
• Peter told James Howlett about his memories of home, and James placed a protective golden flame in him and urged him to ask Yondu about his father.
• Peter returned to the Ravagers’ ship, where he and Yondu argued over the Milano and Kraglin lamented losing it.
• T’Chaka met with a crippled former officer outside Order Whip, and Reed Richards and Ben Grimm joined them to discuss their plan against the Howlett Family.
• Reed questioned whether the plan could succeed, but the cripple claimed James Howlett might return and named their group the Avengers.

Dr. Bruce Banner’s experiment transformed him into the Hulk, and General Ross sent William Stryker, T’Chaka, Reed Richards, and The Thing to contain him before Order Whip intervened. The group descended toward the rampaging Hulk near Willowdale as Ross waited for news about Betty.

• Bruce Banner’s Gamma-ray experiment failed, and an intruder knocked him unconscious in the laboratory.
• William Stryker brought T’Chaka, Reed Richards, and The Thing to meet General Ross and urged him to use the military’s enhancement research against the Howlett Family.
• Ross received word that Banner had transformed into a green monster and was destroying the facility and breaking through the troops sent to stop him.
• Ross ordered Stryker and the others to contain the Hulk before Order Whip took control of the incident.
• T’Chaka, Reed Richards, and The Thing jumped from the aircraft and descended toward the Hulk, while Stryker remained aboard and Ross awaited confirmation about Betty.

The Hulk overwhelmed Reed Richards, the Thing, and Black Panther before collapsing back into Bruce Banner, while Stryker revealed his ambitions to General Ross. Later, Stryker proposed approaching Tony Stark, who was testing new armor and studying Laura’s powers in preparation for another fight.

• The Hulk broke free of Reed’s restraints, defeated the Thing and T’Chaka, and forced Richards back with shockwaves.
• The Hulk collapsed and reverted to Bruce Banner, prompting Stryker to tell General Ross that the experiment had succeeded.
• Stryker met a mysterious figure in his Hell’s Kitchen room and suggested making contact with Tony Stark; the figure approved the idea.
• Tony tested the Mark IV energy source and asked Jarvis to analyze Laura’s combat abilities, Hellfire, and blood-red energy.
• Tony continued improving his armor because he wanted to defeat Laura, who had beaten him repeatedly.

Tony Stark met Reed Richards after Reed returned from seven years in Wolf Tower, and the two discussed using technology to protect humanity rather than relying on mutants. James Howlett returned to Earth with Jean Grey and their students, reunited with Emma, and began searching for Laura, while Tony approached Laura with an offer to help the Howlett Family.

• Tony Stark reviewed Reed Richards's appointment request and moved the meeting to the top of his schedule.
• Reed told Tony that he had spent seven years in Wolf Tower after a Cosmic Storm caused a genetic change that gave him elastic abilities.
• Reed argued for protecting the world through intelligence and technology, and Tony invited him to visit his research facility and offered Vibranium for armor projects.
• James Howlett and Jean Grey delayed landing to return home first, and the Phoenix arrived at Greenland, where Emma and the family welcomed them.
• James gave Emma a Vibranium necklace containing the Mind Stone, and the Eternal Flame helped her stabilize its power.
• Tony found Laura at Ororo Munroe's bar and told her he had come to help the Howlett Family.

William Stryker, Reed Richards, and Tony Stark prepared the Sentinel Program with Vibranium, while James Howlett returned and unveiled the completed Sirius for his campaign against Asgard. The chapter ended with Hela seeking a way to revive Fenrir and Thor asking Loki to send him to the Well of Wisdom.

• T'Challa and N'Jadaka brought Wakanda's remaining Vibranium to the U.S. base and chose to stay and fight beside T'Chaka.
• Reed Richards offered Tony Stark Vibranium and Bolivar Trask's Sentinel research in exchange for technical help, and Tony later warned Laura that the project could be used against the Howlett Family.
• Storm told Laura that James Howlett had returned, and James addressed the Sirius Legion before ordering Hank McCoy to raise the Sirius.
• James and the assembled Legion saw the enormous Vibranium-and-Adamantium Sirius rise from the mountain at Wolf Nest Base.
• Hela ordered Skurge to enlist every Asgardian able to fight, then vowed to recover the power needed to revive Fenrir.
• Loki refused Thor's request to send him to the Well of Wisdom.

Thor asked Loki to lead him to Jotunheim’s Well of Mimir so he could gain power and return to Asgard, while James Howlett invaded Asgard aboard the Sirius Ship and fought Hela. James drove Hela into the seabed with the Eternal Flame and began tearing apart Asgard, leaving its realm on the brink of destruction.

• Thor told Loki about the World Tree’s roots and asked him to take him to the Well of Mimir, and Loki agreed while warning that the spring demanded a price.
• James Howlett ordered the Sirius Ship to charge through Asgard’s defenses, and it smashed past Heimdall, the Realm Eternal fleet, and Valaskjalf’s protective barrier.
• Emma introduced James to Hela, and James demanded that Asgard surrender its rule over the Nine Realms.
• Hela attacked James with weapons formed from deathly energy, but James used the Eternal Flame to repeatedly defeat her while the Aesir army stayed back.
• James drove Hela through the sea and into Asgard’s bedrock, splitting the continental shelf and triggering an apocalypse of earthquakes, frost, wind, and lava.

Hei Pan described struggling to write the final arc and explained that pressure from the novel and an upcoming Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition had left him anxious and distracted. After sharing his feelings with readers, he planned to take two or three days to recover before trying to update again.

• Hei Pan said he had been unable to focus on writing despite knowing the final arc's outline and content.
• Hei Pan recalled nearly giving up after Pan Pan tested positive in December, but he kept writing because he feared abandoning more novels.
• Hei Pan explained that he regretted signing up for a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition at the end of the month.
• Hei Pan said writing honestly to readers eased his mental blockage and that he might post again after resting for two or three days.

James Howlett stopped Asgard's collapse by killing Hela and severing her bond to the Well of Urd, then accepted Asgard's submission to his rule. He continued conquering the Nine Realms, defeated Surtur in Muspelheim, and set course for Jotunheim.

• James Howlett destroyed Hela and dimmed the Well of Urd, halting Asgard's destruction.
• Frigga submitted Asgard to James and asked him to spare her people and eventually return her sons; James agreed to spare the realm.
• James's Sirius Ship visited the remaining realms, and the Light Elves of Alfheim submitted to him.
• James and his forces invaded Muspelheim, where Storm's storm and falling fiery stars killed many creatures.
• James defeated Surtur with the Eternal Flame, severed his limbs and head, and took his flaming crown.
• James ordered the Sirius Ship to set course for Jotunheim, and Azazel carried Surtur's head.

James Howlett arrived in Jotunheim as Thor completed his nine-day sacrifice and awakened as the Rune King, then fought and defeated him. James touched the World Tree’s root and rejected its demand for sacrifice, draining the Well of Wisdom and stripping away Thor’s runes as a vast golden-and-silver phantom appeared.

• Loki prepared to defend Jotunheim’s royal court as James Howlett and the Sirius Legion arrived, and Phoenix and the White Queen engaged Loki and the Frost Giants.
• James flew to the Well of Wisdom, where Thor awakened with the World Tree’s power and declared himself the Rune King.
• Thor attacked James with the power of the Aesir, but James bound him with fiery chains, pinned him to a pillar, and subdued him.
• James caught Thor’s thrown Mjolnir and melted it with the Eternal Flame, then went to the World Tree’s root.
• James rejected the World Tree’s demand that he sacrifice himself, entered the Well of Wisdom, and boiled away its waters.
• Silver light descended on James, Thor’s runes faded, and a giant phantom wreathed in golden and silver flames appeared over Jotunheim.

James Howlett arrived at Nidavellir and claimed rule over the Nine Realms, demanding that the Dwarves prove their worth as equals by forging him a weapon. Meanwhile, General Ross revealed his Red Hulk transformation as Stryker prepared a plan against Howlett, and Thanos began torturing Nebula for information about the Soul Gem.

• James Howlett brought the Sirius Ship and his Legion to Nidavellir, where Eitri and the Dwarves initially mistook the ship for an extraordinary source of Vibranium.
• James declared himself ruler of Yggdrasil, demonstrated his Rune Power, and told Eitri that the Dwarves would have to earn equal standing by forging powerful weapons for him.
• At a secret U.S. Army base, Red Hulk fought Abomination and defeated him while remaining in control of himself.
• General Ross discussed transferring more soldiers to the Avengers Initiative and developing armor based on Stark's technology as Stryker promised a chance to move against Howlett was near.
• On Morag, Corvus Glaive led the Black Order to search for the Infinity Stone while Thanos questioned Gamora about the Soul Gem.
• Thanos had Nebula restrained and ordered her to be modified in an attempt to make her remember what she knew about the Soul Gem.

Thanos reached Vormir and sacrificed Gamora to obtain the Soul Stone, while James Howlett began forging the Blade of the King at the cost of his own body. The chapter left James plunging into the dwarves’ Stellar Forge as the price of his weapon remained unknown.

• Thanos took the Power Stone from its Orb and embedded it in his Double-Bladed Sword before setting course for Vormir.
• Gamora told Nebula that she had given Thanos the location to protect her, and they arrived with him at the hidden mountain of Vormir.
• The Red Skull explained that Thanos had to trade the soul of someone he loved for the Soul Gem, and Gamora mocked him for being unable to meet the condition.
• Thanos apologized to Gamora and threw her from the cliff, sacrificing her to obtain the Soul Gem.
• James told Eitri that he would use his bone claws to complete the Blade of the King, then leapt into the Stellar Forge as golden flames consumed his body.

James Howlett had the Dwarves forge God-Slaying Metal around his bones, creating a divine weapon that was part of his own body. He brought the Dwarves to Earth and returned Thor and Loki to Asgard, where Frigga and Heimdall recognized that James’s intentions lay beyond the reach of destiny.

• Gimli and the Dwarves worked with Dr. Myron MacLain and King Eitri to forge Uru, Adamantium, and primordial Vibranium into God-Slaying Metal.
• James entered the stellar forge, and Eitri hammered the new metal over his bones as the Eternal Flame and runes transformed his skeleton and claws.
• James tested his power by commanding the Bifrost, then emerged restored and praised Eitri’s craftsmanship.
• Eitri and the Dwarves knelt to James, who promised peace and freedom, then transported them and the Sirius Legion away from Nidavellir.
• The Bifrost brought Thor and Loki back to Asgard, where Frigga welcomed them and Thor’s lightning power returned.
• Frigga said the Asgardians had escaped Ragnarok, while Heimdall sensed that James’s intentions might be beyond destiny.