Chapter Summaries

Alfred told the Mage that Clark Kent, Martha Kent, and Lois Lane had vanished, prompting the Mage to leave Raven’s lesson and investigate. Meanwhile, Clark escaped his restraints but confronted a creature wearing Jor-El’s face, which revealed a rebuilt Krypton fleet poised to attack Earth and refused to say where Martha and Lois were.

• Alfred reported that Clark Kent, Martha Kent, and Lois Lane had disappeared, and the Mage left Raven to investigate.
• Clark broke the energy-absorbing ropes and endured the immense gravity in the dark place where he was held.
• A being wearing Jor-El’s face appeared, but Clark rejected its claim that it was his father.
• The impostor revealed hundreds of Kryptonian warships and declared that they would take Earth.
• Clark demanded to know where Martha and Lois were and vowed to kill the invaders if they did not tell him.

He Shenyan rescued Superman’s mother and Lois, then returned to Wayne Manor to teach Raven how to use magic through belief and intent. Raven made an ordinary tree grow apples and was left holding one to taste.

• He Shenyan stopped Superman from killing the creature, froze it, and revealed that Superman’s mother and Lois were safe in life-support pods.
• He Shenyan returned to Wayne Manor and showed Raven how to make flowers bloom across the lawn.
• He Shenyan encouraged Raven to make a nearby tree grow apples, despite it not being an apple tree and Raven never having tasted one.
• Raven told the earth’s consciousness she wanted to learn what sweetness tasted like and because her teacher said apples were delicious.
• Raven opened her eyes to find the tree covered in apples, and He Shenyan tossed one to her to try.

He Shenyan welcomed Raven to Wayne Manor and explained her background to Alfred, then told Superman that the Jor-El from another universe had led a Kryptonian invasion force and that more Kryptonians were already in their universe. Superman asked where they were, but He Shenyan first asked whether he could truly act against his biological kin.

• Alfred asked He Shenyan why the lawn and an old tree had become apple trees, and He Shenyan joked that Bruce needed a lesson.
• Raven wondered about the smell of steak, then tasted it and eagerly ate while He Shenyan told Alfred that her mother had ties to the Trigon Cult.
• Superman called He Shenyan to celebrate that his advice had worked, and He Shenyan invited him to Wayne Manor to discuss the visiting Jor-El.
• He Shenyan explained that the other universe's Kryptonians had waged wars, destroyed Earth, and planned cruel ways to control Superman.
• Superman learned that the Kryptonian vanguard had arrived long ago and asked He Shenyan where they were, but He Shenyan asked whether Superman was prepared to confront his biological relatives.

Clark Kent explained how his human upbringing shaped his identity as both Kryptonian and human, and agreed that the invading empire was unlike the Krypton he cherished. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne continued exhausting work for Gotham and offered Jason Todd a new uniform, leaving Jason ready to patrol.

• Clark Kent recalled his father's advice and said he was both human and Kryptonian, and He Shenyan assured him he would handle the invading empire.
• He Shenyan teased Clark about the hickey on his neck, and Clark fled while He Shenyan laughed.
• Bruce Wayne described the exhausting work of coordinating Gotham projects and handling applicants while Jason Todd brought him coffee.
• Bruce revealed a black-and-red uniform he had made for Jason after Jason's death, and Jason accepted it.
• Jason told Bruce he had made peace with his death and left to use the uniform, while Bruce smiled in his office.

He Shenyan arrived at a planet conquered by the Kryptonians and killed the soldiers there, saving the surviving civilians and restoring their world. After learning of the Kryptonians’ widespread invasion and genocide, he flew off at full power to confront them.

• A Kryptonian commander ordered the execution of the planet’s civilians and planned to leave their corpses as fertilizer.
• He Shenyan approached the planet, and its Kryptonian warship vanished before the commander could finish his warning.
• He Shenyan killed the soldiers threatening the civilians and repaired the planet’s environment before leaving without revealing himself.
• He Shenyan reflected on the Kryptonians’ brutal treatment of conquered worlds and the more than one hundred planets they had invaded in a week.
• He Shenyan stopped concealing his power and flew through the universe toward the Kryptonians.

He Shenyan continued destroying the Kryptonian warship while Kratos reunited with Seyani and spoke with her about his grief, immortality, and the child he had agreed to protect. Seyani urged Kratos to carry out the task and reminded him that his life also held the memories of those he had lost.

• He Shenyan turned a Kryptonian soldier and her planet-sized warship to ash as he continued killing the invading Kryptonians.
• Kratos arrived at Seyani’s lake, greeted her reverently, and told her he had not been in contact with humans since she left.
• Seyani asked whether Kratos still sought death, and he defended her against blame for his past tragedies.
• Kratos told Seyani that He Shenyan had asked him to protect a child until she came of age, and that he had already agreed.
• Seyani asked about Atreus, and Kratos said that his son had left.
• Kratos asked why he could not die, and Seyani said his life also belonged to the memories of his lost loved ones.

Clark took Lois to dinner before leaving for a Justice League meeting, where he asked Cyborg a question that made him freeze like a short-circuited machine. The chapter ended with Cyborg snapping out of it and greeting Clark again.

• Clark took Lois to a luxurious restaurant, where she teased him about their plans for the night.
• Clark told Lois he had to attend a Justice League meeting, and she flirted with him about a black nightgown she had bought.
• Superman arrived early at the Justice League hall, where Cyborg joined him while Wonder Woman and the other members were absent.
• Superman asked Cyborg whether he had ever had a girlfriend, and Cyborg insisted he was traditional and wanted a relationship leading to marriage.
• Superman whispered another question to Cyborg, who froze before recovering and repeating his earlier greeting.

Superman told the Justice League about his intimate difficulties with Lois, leaving the others confused or amused. After the meeting, Bruce Wayne celebrated Gotham’s improving fortunes until Catwoman appeared in his office, where he confronted her.

• Cyborg reported that Gotham’s crime rate had fallen by fifty percent, and Wonder Woman teased Batman about the city’s improvements.
• Superman revealed that he had told Lois the truth and explained that he struggled to handle her when he sealed away his powers.
• Batman advised Superman to adapt rather than secretly use his Kryptonian abilities, while Cyborg repeatedly short-circuited over the conversation.
• The Flash arrived and found the Justice League in a strange mood.
• After the meeting, Bruce laughed alone in his dark office until Catwoman appeared and teased him about missing patrols.
• Bruce tore open his shirt and told Catwoman she would learn she was wrong.

Harley learned that Bruce Wayne was rebuilding Gotham and decided to apply for a job at Wayne Enterprises. She planned to buy a suit the next day and go to an interview.

• Harley smashed her television and shouted about the Joker's death until her armed neighbor came upstairs to confront her.
• Harley told her neighbor she had stopped killing and running with the Joker more than a year earlier.
• Harley asked her neighbor what Bruce Wayne had been doing and learned that he was building schools and orphanages, offering jobs, and cracking down on drug dealing.
• Harley decided to find Bruce Wayne, then clarified to her neighbor that she wanted to apply for a job rather than hurt him.
• Harley took money from a compartment in her bathroom mirror and decided to buy a suit before interviewing at Wayne Enterprises.

Harley Quinn went to Wayne Tower to ask Bruce Wayne for a job, but Batman doubted that she had truly left her criminal past and obsession with the Joker behind. After Harley broke down in tears, Bruce recognized the vulnerable person beneath her wild persona but remained unsure whether she could change.

• Harley entered Wayne Tower with an unloaded gun and asked the receptionist for an interview.
• Batman took Harley to his office, where she admitted she knew his identity and said Arkham had been destroyed, killing everyone inside, including the Joker.
• Harley explained that she had left the Joker a year earlier, had avoided returning to crime, and wanted a fresh start at Wayne Enterprises.
• Batman questioned whether Harley could be trusted around innocent coworkers and said she had to prove she had overcome her obsession with the Joker.
• Harley cried as she acknowledged Batman's doubts, and Bruce reflected on her troubled past and the good deeds that had made him more tolerant of her.

He Shenyan offered Bruce Wayne the chance to become this world's Sorcerer Supreme, and Bruce agreed to consider it. The chapter ended with He Shenyan confronting Harley Quinn about her secret conversations with a Dialogue Box.

• He Shenyan revealed that he had restored Bruce Wayne to himself, then conjured a giant pink teddy bear for Harley Quinn.
• He Shenyan told Bruce that he could resurrect the dead, but Bruce refused the offer despite its appeal.
• He Shenyan explained the Sorcerer Supreme's responsibilities and asked Bruce to take the position to protect the world after He Shenyan left.
• Bruce said he would think about the offer, and He Shenyan accepted his cautious response.
• He Shenyan questioned Harley about the Dialogue Box she had been speaking with in her mind.

He Shenyan questioned Harley about the dialogue box, but after she killed herself, he revived her and entered her mind to investigate. He found a distorted version of Arkham Asylum and was directed to an office as its new doctor.

• Harley denied knowing about the dialogue box, but He Shenyan told her he knew she was lying.
• Harley demanded to know whether He Shenyan had read her memories, then stabbed herself in the throat when he refused to answer directly.
• He Shenyan revived Harley with magic and tapped her forehead to enter her mindscape.
• He Shenyan found a surreal world filled with versions of Arkham Asylum and entered a pink, fairy-tale-like building.
• A blind sugar person at the front desk told He Shenyan to go to the second room on the right, where his office had been prepared.

He Shenyan entered Harleen Quinzel’s mindscape disguised as Doctor Quinzel and spoke with a woman who claimed Harleen needed her. The woman revealed herself as a protector who comforted Harleen as a child during her father’s violent abuse, and the chapter ended as the scene shifted again.

• He Shenyan put on a white coat and Harleen Quinzel’s badge, then followed directions to meet a patient in the mindscape’s strange hospital.
• He Shenyan met a woman in a straitjacket who said Harleen was not there and that Harleen needed her.
• The woman recalled Harleen’s childhood in an apartment where her father beat and abused her mother.
• The woman emerged from the wall, comforted the frightened child Harleen with a lullaby, and asked He Shenyan why he thought Harleen needed her.
• The scene changed again before He Shenyan answered.

He Shenyan witnessed Harleen Quinzel’s early career and her first session with the Joker at Arkham Asylum. The Joker explained his theory of a third kind of harm, then claimed that he could release the pain it caused.

• He Shenyan saw Harleen Quinzel graduate with a doctorate at twenty-two and accept an internship at Arkham Asylum.
• Harleen began working as a psychiatrist and endured harassment from inmates and guards as she walked through Arkham’s corridors.
• Harleen met the Joker, introduced herself as his attending doctor, and began questioning him.
• The Joker described his desire to hurt others and argued that harming the world was more interesting than committing ordinary crimes.
• The Joker proposed a third form of harm that combined physical and mental suffering, then claimed he could release it.

Harley Quinn relived the electrocution that transformed her, and He Shenyan listened to the voices in her mind, including the mysterious Dialogue Box that knew of him. As Harley convulsed on the operating table, He Shenyan decided to end the ordeal.

• The Joker electrocuted Harleen, and she experienced a vision of love and childhood comforts instead of embracing his philosophy.
• After the Joker left, Harley used the discarded device to electrocute herself again, seeking to return to the vivid world she had seen.
• He Shenyan listened as Harley and the Dialogue Box discussed him, and the Box revealed it knew fragments of his experiences across worlds.
• He Shenyan heard countless voices echoing in Harley's mind, including lines from other stories, after the Dialogue Box had disappeared when Harley killed herself.
• Watching Harley convulse on the operating table, He Shenyan decided to put an end to the ordeal.

He Shenyan resurrected Harley Quinn and questioned her about the voices in her head, which resembled a dangerous form of communication magic. He left without learning their source, while Batman gave Harley a job and a place to stay.

• He Shenyan made Batman leave the office, then revived Harley Quinn.
• Harley joked and flirted with He Shenyan as he asked where the voices in her head came from.
• He Shenyan recalled how Voice of the Realms and the Summoning Array had once been used to contact creatures from beyond the worlds, and how both spells were later banned.
• Harley said the Dialogue Box had told her He Shenyan was a good person because he had read her story.
• He Shenyan left through a portal, and Batman gave Harley an employee badge and told her to start work at nine the next morning.

He Shenyan learned that the dangers Seyani had foreseen for Earth had been averted, making his original task complete. Before leaving, he protected the planet with a vast magical formation designed to defend Earth and empower Batman as its future Sorcerer Supreme.

• He Shenyan asked Seyani when Earth would count as saved, and she said he could return because he had prevented Superman's collapse and Batman's fall.
• Seyani asked He Shenyan to place protective spells around Earth before he left, and he agreed.
• He Shenyan surrounded Earth with psychic tendrils and laid immense, invisible magic formations across the planet.
• He Shenyan activated the formations, which could detect demons and otherworldly threats, destroy designated targets, and empower Batman with the souls of people killed in a highest-level disaster.
• He Shenyan inspected his work and returned to Earth.

He Shenyan pushed Bruce Wayne through brutal magical training as Bruce struggled to master a spell and remained determined to become Sorcerer Supreme. After Bruce finally summoned a boulder, He Shenyan ordered him to rest and checked Raven’s progress with a barrier spell.

• Bruce repeatedly failed to summon and shape earth magic while He Shenyan harshly corrected his technique.
• Jason questioned He Shenyan’s severity, and Alfred explained that Bruce had endured even harsher training in his youth.
• Bruce succeeded in forming a gigantic boulder after 3,728 failures, and He Shenyan healed his injured hands.
• He Shenyan warned Bruce that becoming Sorcerer Supreme required mastering thousands of spells and many fields of study, but Bruce said he would persist.
• He Shenyan caught Bruce using stimulants and sent him to rest before the next morning’s training.
• He Shenyan asked Raven about her barrier spell, and she showed a red glow in her palm.

He Shenyan praised Raven’s spellwork and offered her a Golden Apple, but she only wanted an ordinary apple and a good meal. After cooking for the Wayne household, He Shenyan reflected on Raven’s talent and lack of ambition as he prepared to leave once Bruce Wayne mastered spellcasting.

• Raven completed a spell that sealed off elemental activity in one second, and He Shenyan praised her.
• When He Shenyan offered Raven a Golden Apple that granted extraordinary powers, she refused it because she only wanted to eat an apple again.
• He Shenyan conjured a kitchen and prepared a feast at Wayne Manor, which Alfred, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, and Raven ate.
• He Shenyan considered his preparations nearly complete and planned to leave once Bruce Wayne could cast spells proficiently.
• He Shenyan regarded Raven’s magical talent and resistance to temptation as an unexpected delight, then vanished from the backyard.

He Shenyan returned to Kaer Morhen, where Yennefer tried to charm him and Geralt confronted her about it. He then revealed that he had saved Ciri because he intended to bring her back to save his world, even if doing so cost her life, and said he would avoid meeting her to keep from wavering.

• He Shenyan let Raven ride Roach and entered Kaer Morhen.
• He met Geralt and Yennefer, identified her charm spell, and warned her to stop.
• Geralt demanded that Yennefer answer for using the spell, and she apologized to He Shenyan.
• He Shenyan told Geralt that Yennefer would choose power over him, though Geralt remained attached to her.
• He Shenyan said he planned to leave the next day and would not meet the child he had saved, Ciri.
• He Shenyan revealed that he intended to take Ciri back to save his world, even if she had to die, and Geralt was horrified.