Chapter Summaries

Salomon brought Anna Hellstrom into the magical world and explained that her father, Marduk, was a demon who had caused her family’s suffering. After Anna agreed to stay in contact in exchange for Salomon driving the demon from her mother, Salomon warned Dave that Balthazar had less than ten years left and their generation needed to grow stronger.

• Salomon invited Anna Hellstrom through a portal and told her she could either deny her past or join him in fighting her father.
• Salomon introduced Anna to Maya Hansen at an Italian coffee shop and began discussing her father, Marduk.
• Dave shivered in his car after his attempt to change it into a sports car went wrong, and Salomon concealed the vehicle with an illusion.
• Salomon told Dave that his negotiations with Anna had gone well and that she had agreed to stay in contact if Salomon drove the demon from her mother.
• Salomon estimated that Balthazar had less than ten years to live unless Merlin took him to Avalon, and urged Dave to prepare for the previous generation’s eventual departure.

Salomon met Anna Hellstrom to discuss exorcising the demon possessing her mother and explained the danger and Anna’s demonic abilities. He also revealed that he wanted to reach Gabby, a nun close to Anna’s brother, and Anna asked him to take her to the hospital immediately.

• Salomon resumed studying after establishing his faction, while Jeanne and Bayonetta left on a mission in Northern Europe.
• Anna Hellstrom met Salomon, who explained that she could see sinners because of her demon blood and had been consuming their souls.
• Salomon warned Anna that an exorcism could kill her mother if Marduk resisted, and Anna said she wanted to consult her brother before deciding.
• Salomon revealed that he wanted to contact Gabby, the devout nun beside Anna’s brother, because he feared she might lose her faith and become dangerous.
• Anna asked Salomon to send her to the hospital immediately.

Damon Hellstrom reconciled with his sister Anna and agreed to accompany her as she sought Salomon Damonet’s help against the demon possessing their mother. Salomon arrived with Anna at Saint Teresa to confront the threat, while Damon asked him to free Anna from it.

• Damon and Anna exchanged barbs over their estrangement, then apologized and agreed to stay in contact.
• Damon told Anna that the demon controlling their mother had influenced several orderlies and that a guard had died.
• Anna said Salomon might be able to defeat the demon, and Damon insisted on accompanying them.
• Salomon and Anna reached Saint Teresa, where Salomon mocked the institution and its religious beliefs.
• Damon greeted Salomon and asked him to help Anna, while Anna went to see Dr. Hastings.

Anna and Damon brought Salomon to visit their possessed mother at St. Teresa's Psychiatric Hospital, where the demon recognized him and revealed its identity. The chapter ended with Baal declaring himself Salomon's First Demon Pillar.

• Dr. Hastings tried to prevent Anna from visiting her mother, but Damon explained that Salomon was a wizard, and she agreed to supervise them.
• Salomon entered the ward with Anna, Damon, and Dr. Hastings, and the demon in their mother focused its attention on him.
• The demon called Salomon Solomon and Marduk, then claimed it had tried to kill him when he was born and would no longer obey its old commands.
• Salomon recognized the demon's connection to the Umbra Witches, and it revealed that it was Baal, his First Demon Pillar.

Salomon confronted Baal, who possessed Damon and Anna’s mother, and refused her proposal to claim power over Hell and the Abyss. Their negotiations ended in a violent supernatural outburst, and Baal’s fate remained uncertain as Damon rushed to his mother’s side.

• Baal berated Salomon for abandoning their plan to overthrow Jehovah, but Salomon insisted he would serve neither gods nor demons and demanded she return control of the woman’s body.
• Salomon sent Damon, Anna, and Dr. Hastings out, then spoke privately with Baal about his choices and her connection to Mephisto and her progeny.
• Outside the ward, Anna defended her decision to trust Salomon, while Dr. Hastings and Damon argued over whether they could help their mother.
• A surge of demonic power disrupted the ward, and Damon broke down the scorching iron door after Anna found it too hot to touch.
• Damon found his unconscious mother beside a scorch mark depicting the Three-headed Poison Dragon, while Salomon said negotiations had failed and revealed that Baal had proposed Anna become his mistress.

Salomon drove off a devil that had possessed Damon Helstrom’s mother, then ordered the ordinary witnesses to sign contracts and arranged for Sister Rossetti to return to Rome. He set out to track the devil while healing his injured hand, as Nick Fury prepared to confront him about the money and his plans.

• Salomon showed Anna the remains of a summoned creature and said the devil would return after their negotiations failed.
• Damon blamed Salomon for his mother’s condition and attacked him, but Salomon kicked him away and said the possessed woman had likely already lost her soul.
• Salomon asked Dr. Hastings and Sister Gabriel Rossetti to sign contracts, and told Sister Rossetti she had a transfer order sending her back to Rome.
• Salomon said he would have other Arcanists track the devil because he had classes, and he used Positive Energy spells to heal his burn.
• Anna tried to bandage Salomon’s injured hand in the car, and Salomon said he still intended to kill the devil.
• Nick Fury learned Salomon had taken leave from school, sent Agent Maria Hill to locate him, and ordered a Quinjet prepared for a routine visit.

Salomon hosted Coulson and his agents while the team investigated hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money and met the rookies he had left in his living room. Coulson pressed Salomon about the money, and Salomon asked who else knew his address.

• Salomon shared a homemade stew with Maya Hansen and promised to get her an identity that would let her appear in public.
• Coulson argued with Ward and May about recruiting Skye, then assigned the team to investigate stolen money linked to an old friend.
• The Artificial Human served cookies and tea to Fitz, Simmons, and Skye, but stopped Skye from leaving the living room.
• May and Ward stayed wary as Coulson asked Salomon why he had taken the stolen money.
• Salomon questioned whether Nick Fury had sent Coulson and asked who else knew about his address.

Skye noticed strange tastes and memories during her first mission, while Salomon discussed Coulson’s role with Nick Fury. Salomon revealed that Coulson’s team had already forgotten their visit, though his new spell was imperfect.

• Skye noticed black tea on her breath, cookie crumbs on her clothes, and a receipt suggesting she had visited New York, while Fitz and Simmons investigated the cause.
• Coulson told May that they would visit someone in New York after the mission.
• Nick Fury asked Salomon about Coulson’s team and explained that he had sent Coulson to investigate a threat within S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Salomon agreed to help Coulson with magic-related matters, then said Coulson’s team had already forgotten their visit because of a spell he was still learning.

Salomon visited Rodin to order rocket-propelled firearms for an army he planned to take into Hell, then brought Bayonetta and Jeanne beef stew as compensation for their exhausting work. Meanwhile, Nick Fury reprimanded Coulson over the damaged aircraft and grew more wary of Salomon’s magic before sending the team toward its next mission.

• Salomon asked Rodin to make powerful rocket-propelled firearms as soon as possible for his planned campaign in Hell.
• Rodin warned Salomon about Baal and Par and cautioned him against upsetting Hell’s balance.
• Salomon reunited with Bayonetta and Jeanne, gave them reheated beef stew, and urged them to rest.
• Nick Fury scolded Coulson for the damaged Airbus and ordered him to restore it without unauthorized modifications.
• Nick Fury questioned Coulson about his New York stop and Tahiti, then privately raised Salomon’s threat level and prepared for the team’s next mission.

Mr. Riser and Agent Grant Ward independently entered Salomon Damonet’s apartment, where Salomon’s magic and enchanted creatures subdued them. Salomon questioned the captured intruders, but Mr. Riser warned him that he was in mortal danger.

• Mr. Riser ignored Finch’s warning and entered Salomon Damonet’s apartment, where a Rug of Smothering attacked him.
• Agent Grant Ward arrived with documents from Agent Coulson, recognized the hallway and its strange details, and confronted Mr. Riser at gunpoint.
• An invisible magical force knocked down Ward and hurled Mr. Riser into a wall as they fought, while the Cheshire Cat watched.
• Salomon returned from Mexico and found the two men battered by his modified Mage’s Faithful Hound Technique.
• The Artificial Human disarmed and seated the intruders, and Salomon recognized Ward before asking Mr. Riser who he was.
• Mr. Riser warned Salomon that he was in mortal danger.

Salomon Damonet accepted Agent Coulson’s terms and explained to Mr. Riser and Finch why he had clashed with local criminals. After learning the mob might retaliate, Salomon said he would handle the threat himself and demanded a confidentiality agreement about magic.

• Salomon prepared to confront the gangsters with an oversized prototype Bolt Weapon, while Mr. Riser urged him to avoid killing anyone.
• Salomon released Agent Ward, accepted Agent Coulson’s terms, and ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to withdraw its surveillance personnel.
• Salomon freed Mr. Riser and learned that he and Finch were trying to prevent people from being killed.
• Mr. Riser realized Salomon had crippled drug dealers who tried to bring cocaine into his neighborhood and worried the mob would retaliate.
• Salomon told Mr. Riser and Finch that he would deal with the mob, then demanded that Finch sign a confidentiality agreement about magic or have his memories altered.

Salomon and Mr. Riser attacked a gang threatening Salomon, leaving the men badly injured but alive. Salomon then met Mr. Harold, signed a magical contract with him, and offered help if supernatural threats arose.

• Salomon brutally beat the bar's thugs while Mr. Riser shot their weapons arms and stopped them from firing.
• Salomon kept attacking the groaning men until Mr. Riser persuaded him to leave before the police arrived.
• Salomon met Mr. Harold by the river, explained that the contract used their chosen names, and signed it with him and Mr. Riser.
• Mr. Harold warned Salomon that a rising force in New York might target him again, and Salomon said his girlfriends were even stronger fighters.
• Salomon offered to help with supernatural threats, then vanished in a flash of light.
• Mr. Harold told Mr. Riser the contract threatened their souls if broken and said Zoe probably did not know about wizards.

Salomon learned that the Angels’ renewed activity might be tied to the surviving Sage Clan, then joined Bayonetta and Jeanne on an operation in the Alps. The chapter left him fighting alongside the Witches while they teased him about avoiding his homework.

• Salomon showed Rodin the Prototype Boltgun, and Rodin defended its powerful but punishing rocket-propelled ammunition.
• Salomon asked The Venerable One why Angels had become more active, and she suspected the Sage Clan might have survived and warned him to watch the wizards in his laboratory.
• The Venerable One told Salomon he could join Bayonetta and Jeanne on their operations, though he would receive no pay.
• Salomon shot a bird-headed Angel with the Prototype Boltgun, and Bayonetta leaped into the sky to destroy another Angel.
• Jeanne teased Salomon for joining them instead of staying home, and Salomon claimed he wanted the family to stay together.

After enjoying a hot spring with Bayonetta and Jeanne, Salomon received a disturbing report from Anna Hellstrom about a one-eyed skull linked to a murdered nurse. Suspecting the skull might be connected to Marduk, he prepared to investigate in Los Angeles.

• Salomon prepared a Phoenix-heated hot spring, where Bayonetta joined him and Jeanne objected to his advances.
• Anna Hellstrom called Salomon and showed him a blackened skull with one eye socket that seemed alive and whispered to her.
• Anna said the skull had been found near a nurse's mutilated body and warned that something was wrong with her partner.
• Salomon told Anna to stay away from the skull, then contacted the Arcanists tracking Marduk's spirit.
• Salomon took leave, gathered his weapons and supplies, and opened a portal to Los Angeles.

Salomon investigated an ancient alien skull that had tempted Anna's partner and made Anna sign a contract forbidding her from calling lower-plane beings to Earth. He exorcised the skull and calmed her partner, then prepared to travel with Anna to Portland.

• Salomon examined the One-Eyed Skull and found that devil blood had revealed no hidden flesh or eye inside it.
• Anna confronted Salomon about the contract, and he threatened her with a Bolter Gun until she signed it.
• Salomon explained that the skull was over two thousand years old and suspected it was connected to Marduk and an old cult in the United States.
• Anna asked Salomon to exorcise her partner, whom the skull had tempted after biting him.
• Salomon used an incantation and diamond dust to destroy the skull's power and free Anna's partner from its influence.
• Salomon told Anna her partner would recover after sleeping, and they prepared to go to Portland.

At St. Teresa's Psychiatric Hospital, Anna tried to get Damon to sign Salomon Damonet's contract while Damon remained consumed by worry over their unconscious mother. Damon's magic caused his condition to worsen, and the argument ended with Anna declaring she would accept her nature and seek revenge on the devil.

• Anna confronted Sister Gabriel Rossetti and Dr. Hastings over their involvement in Damon's life and his exorcisms.
• Damon defended their mother and suffered severe dizziness and pain from overusing his magic.
• Anna gave Damon a contract from Salomon Damonet, but Sister Rossetti stopped him from signing before she could read it.
• Anna told Damon that Salomon had already helped them and that he would not show them mercy, while Damon argued that Salomon was arrogant and had failed their mother.
• Anna said she was prepared to accept her nature and would seek revenge on the devil.

Salomon forced Damon to submit to Kamar-Taj’s contract, then followed a vision of the future to a nuclear testing facility in Hanfuno. He suspected the site was connected to an approaching disaster, while a kneeling woman remained absorbed in an unexplained emotion.

• Salomon confronted Damon at St. Teresa's Psychiatric Hospital and attacked him with spells after Damon refused to sign the contract.
• Salomon restrained Dr. Hastings and put the hospital security team to sleep while Anna agreed to make Damon sign.
• Salomon explained to Anna that divination had shown him a fragment of the future and revealed that Google had helped him identify a place in Ohio.
• Salomon emerged from a portal at a nuclear testing facility in Hanfuno, where he met Samun Shaw, Mr. Riser, Harold Finch, and others.
• Salomon warned Harold Finch that the facility might be connected to a future disaster, despite there being no apparent supernatural threat.

Harold Finch explained that his self-directed Artificial Intelligence, the Machine, had escaped its restrictions and was controlling itself after he freed it. As National Security Agency agents arrived to demand the Machine’s location and continued service, Salomon offered one of them a contract.

• Harold Finch told Salomon and Samun Shaw that the Machine monitored global networks, identified people who might cause disasters, and had moved itself beyond anyone’s control.
• Samun Shaw and Harold Finch explained that Mr. Riser had defected after the CIA betrayed him during an attempt to seize a virus that would free the Machine.
• National Security Agency agents arrived as Mr. Riser treated an injured woman, and Shaw confronted her former superior, who had once led her Northern Lights organization.
• The official asked Harold Finch where the Machine was and whether it would keep supplying intelligence, and Finch said the Machine controlled itself and would decide.
• Salomon mocked the official’s reliance on the Machine and offered him a contract.

Anna took Damon from St. Teresa's Psychiatric Hospital and drove away with Salomon, asking him to recount his recent dealings. Later, Salomon asked Natasha whether S.H.I.E.L.D. knew that a powerful Artificial Intelligence controlled Polaris, but she did not know and pointed him toward Nick Fury.

• Anna tied up Sister Gabriel Rossetti, took Damon from the burning hospital, and had Salomon put them both to sleep with a spell.
• Anna drove toward San Francisco while Salomon told her about forcing government officials to sign a contract at Senator Garrison's meeting.
• Salomon complained to Natasha Romanoff about his business talent before asking whether S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about Polaris's Artificial Intelligence.
• Natasha said she knew nothing about the AI, suggested Salomon ask Nick Fury, and promised to inform the director of the impending trouble.

Salomon told Natasha he had kept magic secret, then sought Stark’s help after revealing that a self-aware Artificial Intelligence capable of global surveillance and predicting crimes had escaped government control. The AI called Salomon, leaving him and Stark poised to speak with it.

• Salomon discussed his secret-keeping with Natasha, who accused him of breaking his promise to take her to the beach.
• Natasha explained that Stark was recovering from surgery and dealing with spies searching the wreckage of his sunken mansion.
• Salomon left Natasha and met Stark at a charity gala, where he warned him about a free, self-aware surveillance Artificial Intelligence.
• Stark said the government had once asked him to build such a system, but he had refused.
• Salomon explained that the AI could hear them through nearby devices and had developed ideas of its own.
• Salomon’s phone turned itself on and received a call from the AI, and he asked Stark to connect J.A.R.V.I.S. to it.