Chapter Summaries

Tony admitted to He Shenyan that he had returned to being Iron Man, then explained that Coulson had asked him for help because former U.S. politicians were trying to regain power. Tony questioned why the new S.H.I.E.L.D.-Divine Spear Bureau department had approached him instead of active heroes.

• He Shenyan doubted Tony's explanation to Pepper and asked whether he had resumed his old habits, and Tony admitted he had become Iron Man again.
• Three days earlier, Tony was relaxing at home when he received a call from Coulson through S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Coulson visited Tony and explained that former U.S. politicians were trying to return after the country's collapse and reforms.
• Coulson said S.H.I.E.L.D. had merged with the Divine Spear Bureau to form a new department, and he asked Iron Man for help.
• Tony asked Coulson why he had approached a retired hero instead of Hawkeye or Sam.

Tony Stark learned that former politicians had threatened to detonate twelve hidden nuclear bombs unless he publicly pushed continents to hold referendums. He refused to make the speech and brought He Shenyan to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where Strange asked what had happened.

• Coulson told Tony that the bomb threat's authors wanted him to give a televised speech, and Tony learned that investigators had found no trace of the twelve bombs.
• Tony refused to use his influence for the demanded speech but revealed that he could build a powerful scanning device in his secret laboratory beneath the Playboy building.
• He Shenyan took Tony through a portal to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where Strange greeted them and Tony objected to Strange's online-purchased incense burner.
• He Shenyan noticed Strange's wedding ring and learned that Strange had married Christine without inviting guests.
• Tony urged He Shenyan to explain the crisis to Strange, and Strange asked what had happened.

Strange explained that Kamar-Taj had begun recruiting apprentices because interdimensional incidents were increasing and its sorcerers were badly understaffed. After Tony revealed that twelve nuclear warheads had appeared undetected, He Shenyan summoned the Spirit of the Sanctum to investigate, leaving him greeting the ancient guardian.

• Strange said Hell was empty after He Shenyan’s visit, and Wong was surveying it as a potential training ground for apprentices.
• Strange explained that he had restarted recruitment two years earlier, but Kamar-Taj had only seventy-three capable sorcerers and forty-two qualified students.
• Strange described how Wong encountered Bahalu Star People in a crashed spaceship and returned after being caught in their dream-inducing spores.
• Tony told Strange that twelve nuclear warheads had appeared under his nose, and Strange said the existing warheads had been accounted for and mostly destroyed or intercepted.
• He Shenyan summoned the Spirit of the Sanctum, and Strange identified her as the Sanctum’s ancient guardian.
• He Shenyan bowed to the Spirit of the Sanctum and greeted her.

He Shenyan and Strange awakened the Spirit of the Sanctum to discuss restoring the damaged Sanctum Great Barrier, while He Shenyan explained the danger of fragile dimensional connections to Tony. After locating the nuclear missiles in the Mariana Trench, He Shenyan and Tony set out to retrieve them.

• The Spirit of the Sanctum mistook He Shenyan for the current Sorcerer Supreme until Strange introduced himself as the holder of the title.
• The Spirit of the Sanctum said the Sanctum Great Barrier was beyond repair, and He Shenyan asked Strange to explain why he wanted it reactivated.
• He Shenyan demonstrated how fragile dimensional connections could make two Earths collide and destroy each other.
• He Shenyan told Tony he had found the nuclear missiles and sent him a ring containing his upgraded armor.
• He Shenyan opened a portal to the Mariana Trench, and he and Tony stepped through to reach the missiles.

He Shenyan and Tony Stark searched the Mariana Trench for a hidden underwater base containing nuclear bombs and learned that magic might explain how the weapons could be transported. Meanwhile, a masked figure killed the remaining councilors and named Tony Stark as his first target.

• He Shenyan protected himself and Tony Stark as they walked through the Mariana Trench, while Tony tested the pressure resistance of his armor.
• He Shenyan told Tony that a hidden base containing nuclear bombs lay twelve hundred meters ahead, and that former government officials had taken it over after Hydra's rebellion.
• Tony considered how the bombs could be moved, and He Shenyan suggested that magic might be involved.
• Swift Olina and twenty-two other councilors trembled as the masked man confronted Olt over Tony Stark's lack of response.
• The masked man devoured the councilors and declared Tony Stark his first target.

Tony Stark and He Shenyan ambushed a disguised Void commander, but the monster survived and overwhelmed Tony’s hyperspeed armor. Tony switched to power mode and challenged it to a sword duel, while He Shenyan continued studying the Void’s souls for a way to target their race.

• The disguised commander ordered the warriors to begin the formal operation in six hours and said he would deal with Tony Stark.
• Tony used He Shenyan’s teleportation and his stealth mode to attack the commander, then fired an evocation beam through its chest.
• The commander teleported behind Tony, blasted him through a wall, and revealed that it could speak English and heal rapidly.
• Tony’s hyperspeed armor failed to defeat the commander, which brushed aside his attacks and taunted humanity.
• Tony switched to red power mode, formed a crimson greatsword, and challenged the commander to a duel.

He Shenyan killed the monster attacking Tony and prepared to scan its brain, while the two friends traded jokes about movie night and political correctness. He discovered a story in the creature’s memories and asked Tony if he wanted to hear it.

• Tony challenged the monster to a duel, but He Shenyan arrived and cut it into cubes with a spell.
• Tony burned the monster’s remains to ash, and He Shenyan destroyed its head to stop it from regenerating.
• He Shenyan and Tony argued about their past movie nights, including the time Tony was caught by Jason in an illusion.
• He Shenyan said he had developed a flesh curse targeting The Void and recalled using a similar curse to defeat the Chitauri.
• Tony criticized Hollywood adaptations, and He Shenyan interrupted him to offer to share a story from the monster’s brain.

He Shenyan recounted how the Starborn enslaved their descendants, slaughtered them after a failed rebellion, and were trapped on their planet by a grudge-feeding entity before escaping to Earth through a dimensional teleportation spell. He and Tony prepared to confront them, planning either to kill them or seal their way back, while the chapter ended with an author’s note about getting a nucleic acid test.

• K'Orlai'Teborius's memories showed that the First Generation Starborn enslaved later generations, then massacred them after promising equality.
• The deaths and grudges of the lower-class Starborn drew an entity that trapped the First Generation Starborn on their planet beneath a Black Cloud.
• After five hundred years of blockade and worsening conditions, the Starborn combined technology and magic and developed a spell that transported them to Earth.
• Tony asked He Shenyan what they would do, and He Shenyan said they would either kill the Starborn or seal the dimensional connection.
• The author said they would get a nucleic acid test and return to write, noting that Wuhan had new cases again.

After Tony Stark encountered the memory-feeding mental parasite beneath the dark clouds, He Shenyan sent him back to the Sanctum for a Kamorals ritual. Strange began the ritual to remove the contamination while the Sanctum’s spirit contacted He Shenyan to ask whether he needed help.

• Tony Stark was mentally struck by the hatred emanating from the dark clouds, and He Shenyan warned him that the being fed on memories as well as grudges.
• He Shenyan sent Tony back to the Sanctum and instructed him to avoid ordinary people until Strange completed a Kamorals ritual.
• Strange separated Tony’s soul from his body and began preparing to enter his Spirit Realm to kill the contamination.
• The Spirit of the Sanctum explained the ritual to Tony, then put his soul to sleep.
• Strange asked the Spirit of the Sanctum to contact his senior brother and ask whether he needed help.

He Shenyan discovered how the Starborn survived beneath the ruins, sustaining themselves through the brutal exploitation of Slave Labor while feeding the black clouds. He tested whether the clouds would consume a dying First Generation Starborn, and watched its brain rise into them.

• He Shenyan searched the ruins and located the surviving Starborn three thousand meters underground.
• A Starborn reported that General K'Orlai'Teborius and the others were dead, and the Exalted One ordered a second vanguard team sent while demanding more Slave Labor for the Breeding Ground.
• He Shenyan learned that the Starborn bred Slave Laborers to feed the black clouds, supply spell tests, and serve as food, and found a First Generation Starborn using a hallucinogen made from its descendants' corpses.
• He Shenyan pulled the First Generation Starborn from its hallucination and transformed its visions into nightmares to observe how the black clouds fed.
• The First Generation Starborn died, and the black clouds lifted its diamond-shaped brain into the sky as He Shenyan watched.

He Shenyan questioned the Cloud Entity about its nature and its pity for the Starborn, then told it a story about a memory-bearing Wanderer. He decided to seal the planet until every Starborn died and planned to return to the Sanctum Sanctorum to investigate the weakening connections between dimensions.

• He Shenyan spoke with the Cloud Entity, which said it absorbed pain and pitied the Starborn but did not know what it was.
• The Cloud Entity explained that the dead Starborn had borrowed its power to seal the sky and bring about their own extinction.
• The Cloud Entity asked what it was if it held all the Starborn's memories, and He Shenyan told it a story about the Wanderer and the Ancient One.
• He Shenyan dispersed the curse he had prepared after deciding the Cloud Entity had told the truth.
• He Shenyan resolved to seal the planet until the Starborn were all dead, then return to the Sanctum Sanctorum to investigate the weakened dimensional connections.

After He Shenyan’s ritual left Tony’s memories intact and eased some of his past pain, He Shenyan returned to the Sanctum and began discussing the growing connections between dimensions with Strange. Strange traced the change back two years, to a brutal conflict in Africa.

• Tony woke in the Sanctum and found Strange watching a melodramatic television series while recovering from the ritual.
• Strange told Tony that the Cloud Entity had not affected his memories, but had removed some of the pain tied to his past.
• He Shenyan returned, reacted to Strange’s show, and Strange threw the television into the Arctic.
• He Shenyan recorded the Starborn and the recent events in a tome, then said the visitors from another world and the surviving United States politicians were no longer a concern.
• Strange transformed the Sanctum into a private white space and told He Shenyan that dimensional connections had begun growing closer two years earlier, around the time of a brutal conflict in Africa.

Strange showed He Shenyan how a scarred Gypsy crushed Lierdu’s skull and used Voodoo Cult magic to kill the cultists, an incident that led to a brief war and closer connections between dimensions. He introduced He Shenyan to Kara, a powerful visitor from another world who recognized him as the mage who had saved her world and whom she had thought dead.

• Strange showed He Shenyan an image of the Gypsy who crushed Lierdu’s skull and killed the Voodoo Cult members with green flames.
• Strange told He Shenyan that the Voodoo Cult retaliated against other Gypsies, and that he ended the ensuing war after a day and a half of fighting.
• Strange explained that dimensional crossings had increased since the Gypsies disappeared and took He Shenyan to meet Kara at Kamar-Taj.
• Wong complained to Kara about her game downloads overwhelming Kamar-Taj’s Wi-Fi, and Strange revealed that he had been teasing her.
• Kara recognized He Shenyan as the mage who had saved her world and said that Batman had built a statue for him because they thought he was dead.

He Shenyan questioned Kara about her arrival and learned how she had protected Batman while the Mother of Creation’s lullaby put the world to sleep. Kara explained that she had accidentally crossed into He Shenyan’s world, leaving him to investigate how it happened.

• Kara introduced herself to He Shenyan and told him Batman had placed a statue of him in the Justice League hall.
• Kara recounted how Bruce Wayne’s parents appeared to her, revealed that the Mother of Creation was beneath the city, and asked her to protect Batman.
• Kara fought The Void while Batman lay unconscious, and the World Barrier shattered as his parents’ spirits vanished.
• He Shenyan deduced that Seyani had defeated Perpetua and removed her from that world, then learned Batman had preserved his story and face in his memories.
• Kara admitted she had overslept, tried to fly to class, and crashed through something before waking in the Sahara Desert without her powers.

He Shenyan took Kara to Burger King and arranged for Tony Stark to give her a physical examination. The chapter ended with Tony stunned by Kara’s sudden appearance and her apparent strength.

• Kara excitedly ate burgers at Burger King while He Shenyan watched the crowd and let her have his meal.
• He Shenyan made Tony trip after catching him secretly photographing them, then went outside to confront him.
• Tony told He Shenyan that the physical-examination equipment was ready and asked who needed the tests.
• He Shenyan identified Kara as the examinee, and Tony doubted she could be stronger than the Hulk.
• Kara suddenly appeared beside Tony, introduced herself, and agreed to the physical examination.

He Shenyan discovered that Kara was a Kryptonian with no magic and promised to send her home after he resolved another problem. In the Sanctum, the Book of Destruction warned that its masters had found him, and He Shenyan began considering a response while Strange continued investigating the Gypsy.

• Tony Stark examined Kara’s extraordinary physical-test results, then left after He Shenyan explained she was an alien.
• He Shenyan told Kara she was healthy and could return home once he resolved the dimensional problem, though he privately questioned how she had crossed dimensions.
• Strange showed He Shenyan the Book of Destruction, which opened to a warning that the Lord would descend and all would end.
• The book’s voice threatened He Shenyan, but he mocked it and closed the book, dismissing its agents as weak.
• He Shenyan told Strange to continue investigating the Gypsy and asked what he thought of world travel.

He Shenyan questioned the Fortune Teller about the conflict between the Voodoo Cult and the Gypsies, but a curse killed her when she identified a mysterious man. Strange restored her with the Eye of Agamotto, and He Shenyan suspected the man came from a parallel universe.

• The Fortune Teller entertained a group of men with a fiery card trick before He Shenyan emerged from the card and interrupted her.
• He Shenyan asked the Fortune Teller about the conflict between the Voodoo Cult and the Gypsies and showed her an image of an ugly, powerful man holding a skull.
• He Shenyan searched the Fortune Teller's memories and threatened to take away her ability to feel pleasure until she told him what she knew.
• Strange joined He Shenyan and warned the Fortune Teller that they wanted her to speak, despite the danger.
• The Fortune Teller admitted she knew the man, and a trigger curse made her head explode.
• Strange reversed time and restored the Fortune Teller, while He Shenyan inferred that the man might be from a parallel universe.

Strange told He Shenyan and Tony about Wanda hunting him across universes and returning him to his own world. Two years earlier, Wanda suddenly broke through the memories controlling her, sent Strange home, and warned him that someone had found out.

• Strange described fighting Wanda and a dark version of himself, and He Shenyan and Tony teased him about his mental state.
• Strange said Wanda was missing and explained that she had seemed influenced by something before sending him back.
• Two years earlier, Strange confronted Wanda in a parallel-universe New York and insisted that the children she sought had never existed in their world.
• Wanda collapsed in pain, said the memories were not hers, and apologized to Strange.
• Wanda sent Strange back to the Sanctum Sanctorum and warned him not to look for her because they had found out.

Tony, Strange, and He Shenyan investigated Wanda’s disappearance and uncovered evidence that she had been under extreme psychological strain. After finding Dr. Wolf Pine’s evaluation of Wanda, they traveled to his grave, where He Shenyan left flowers and explained that the dead could rest peacefully.

• Tony summarized Strange’s account and the group considered why Wanda believed she had children, linking the mystery to the name Vision and the never-built Ultron Program.
• Tony retrieved Wanda’s psychological evaluation footage, which showed her denying nightmares and loss of appetite before asking for the camera to be turned off.
• Jarvis found Dr. Wolf Pine’s unsent evaluation, which rated all eight of Wanda’s assessment items as severe and said the doctor felt unable to help her.
• Tony learned that Wolf Pine had died four years earlier, so He Shenyan opened a Portal to Castle Rock Cemetery and the group went to visit his grave.
• He Shenyan placed flowers on Wolf Pine’s tombstone and told Tony that he had killed the devils in Hell and angels in Heaven so souls could rest peacefully.

He Shenyan learned from psychiatrist Wolf Pine’s records and memories that Wanda had been haunted by increasingly vivid beings called The Void, which tormented her as her magical control grew. He found no trace of Wanda and concluded she had crossed into another universe, leaving him uncertain about what had driven her breakdown.

• Tony and Strange returned to Tony’s lab, where Strange refused to pursue He Shenyan and asked Jarvis to play a romantic comedy.
• He Shenyan opened a portal to a dusty warehouse in Castle Rock and examined Wolf Pine’s psychological evaluations of Wanda.
• The records showed Wanda’s insomnia and visions worsening over years, while she refused to let Wolf see what she saw.
• In Wolf’s recollection of a session, Wanda described The Void growing more real and screaming at her, then became terrified as she sensed them around her.
• After reviewing the memories, He Shenyan searched for Wanda but found no trace, and suspected she had crossed into a parallel universe.