Chapter Summaries

Salomon and Catherine's squad fought through the Undead Legion at Lone Bridge while Jacob discussed changes to the Source of Divinity and the Philosopher's Stone. After reinforcements cleared the bridge, Salomon ordered the units to push into the Soul Chamber before the undead could revive.

• Jacob told Salomon that the Source of Divinity had changed and wondered whether the Philosopher's Stone had caused the outcome.
• Salomon used spells to trap the Undead Legion at Lone Bridge, then sent Catherine's squad down to attack.
• Salomon and Catherine's squad fought the undead with magic, chainsaw swords, plasma fire, and Explosive Rounds Guns.
• A five-woman heavy-firepower squad arrived by Assault Transport and helped clear the bridge of the Undead Legion.
• Salomon praised the Artificial Humans, then ordered all units to activate their Iron Wings and enter the Soul Chamber.

Jacob revealed the Source of Divinity’s hidden purpose and led Salomon beneath the Soul Chamber, where he found a wounded giant in golden armor preserved in a high-tech coffin. Jacob said Salomon had entrusted the warrior to him in Byzantium, and the giant had awakened before to protect Jacob’s followers.

• Jacob told Salomon that the Undead Legion’s immortality had consumed their souls and that he had waited a thousand years for his task to end.
• Jacob wrapped the Source of Divinity and explained that its true purpose lay in a hidden chamber beneath the Soul Chamber.
• Engineers cut and lifted the marble floor, and Salomon leaped into the chamber after Jacob indicated it was safe.
• Laura Croft saw the Golden Armored Angel: a giant warrior kept alive in a high-tech coffin, gravely wounded and connected to the Source of Divinity.
• Salomon recognized the armor as a creation tied to his future Imperial Guard, and Jacob recalled that the warrior had awakened once to kill thousands of pursuers.
• Jacob told Salomon that he had entrusted the warrior to him in Byzantium.

Salomon uncovered Jacob’s hidden coordinates and bade farewell to him as Jacob died after completing his thousand-year mission. He decided to preserve the dying Golden Armor Guard’s body and transform the Guard’s soul into his Divine Emissary, while Maya Hansen prepared to use the Guard’s data to advance the Gene-modded Warrior project.

• Salomon found Jacob’s parchment, which contained coordinates and an incantation leading to a hidden Plane Fragment on the Ether Plane.
• Salomon honored Jacob before Jacob died, and Sophia and her people split between settling in the City of Immortals and guarding Kitezh.
• Maya Hansen received the dying Golden Armor Guard as a research template but rejected Salomon’s plan to revive him, insisting that the Guard’s mission was to provide data and technology.
• Salomon ordered the Guard’s armor and weapons preserved, raised the research materials to the highest confidentiality level, and began a twenty-four-hour spell to make the Guard’s soul his Divine Emissary.

Maya Hansen analyzed the Imperial Guard's biology and discussed the long timetable for developing Gene-modded Warriors, while Wakanda and Salomon exchanged research on alchemical pharmaceuticals and Power Armor. Salomon then asked Maya to study Terrigen-mutated blood from Puerto Rico, revealing that he planned to target a group of people who considered themselves superior to humanity.

• Maya Hansen explained how the Extremis Virus let the Imperial Guard consciously control bodily functions and said reproducing their specialized nervous system would take ten years.
• Maya Hansen arranged to use Wakanda's equipment while keeping the biological laboratory's project secret from Wakandan researchers.
• Wakanda rejected Salomon's Mars Foundry volunteer plan and instead agreed to have Shuri lead work on Power Armor life-support systems in exchange for biological research.
• Maya Hansen complained that she was too busy to analyze Salomon's blood sample, so he reminded her that it had caused the Puerto Rico earthquake.
• Salomon told Maya Hansen the sample contained Terrigen-mutated Kree and human DNA and asked her to find a way to suppress its special components.
• Salomon said he intended to go after people who considered themselves superior to humanity.

Salomon explained the Kree origins of Inhuman genes and proposed using Extremis and genetic editing to restore some Inhumans, while warning Skye against seeing herself as superior to humanity. He gave Coulson Hydra intelligence about Dr. List and Bloom, leaving Coulson unsettled by Salomon’s claim that Hydra permeated the world.

• Salomon told Skye that her unstable emotions and Inhuman power did not make her superior, then joked about having her sterilized and enraged her.
• Salomon explained to Coulson that Terrigen activated Kree-engineered gene fragments and that Extremis might reverse Inhuman mutations in those without severe organ damage.
• Salomon told Coulson that Agent Hand had found intelligence about Dr. List and Bloom and suggested they cooperate on the mission.
• Salomon warned Coulson that Hydra reached into the White House and was far more than a Nazi organization.
• Coulson asked whether Hydra existed among magic users, and Salomon claimed Kamar-Taj had none before smiling without confirming his certainty.

Salomon coordinated with Agent Coulson against Hydra while pursuing research in the City of Immortals. He prepared to investigate a mysterious Inner Plane fragment, but The Venerable One urged him to focus on the Silver Key instead.

• Salomon agreed to support Agent Coulson’s campaign against Hydra after Stephanie seized Hydra leaders’ assets, while Coulson sought Agent Hand’s help against political resistance.
• Salomon gave Skye the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as a reminder about the dangers of her new powers, but she dismissed it as a dull academic tome.
• Salomon asked Maya Hansen to examine a blood sample for one day before returning to her Gene-modded Warrior project, then announced he would investigate the Inner Plane coordinates.
• Salomon returned to Kamar-Taj to recruit people for the investigation, but The Venerable One told him to pursue the Silver Key and advance his magic through dreams instead.

Salomon explained how dreams and etheric bodies revealed a spellcaster’s inner state, then checked Wanda’s mental health and tried to choose lessons that would help her control her power. He left her with a crash course in magical knowledge and proposed teaching her to borrow power from the Shadow Plane and become a dragon.

• Salomon reflected on dreams, astral projection, and the Silver Key’s ability to let him observe possibilities in parallel universes, while noting that Hank Pym helped his research into the Quantum Realm.
• Salomon reviewed reports that Wanda’s dreams were affecting the castle’s soldiers and that Kamar-Taj Arcanists were using Vishanti’s power to cleanse the contamination.
• Salomon gave Wanda a Latin report to read and reassured her that her influence on others would fade as she learned to control her power.
• Wanda asked Salomon to teach her more magic, and he questioned her about her studies of the Shadow Plane.
• Salomon proposed that Wanda learn to borrow the Shadow Plane’s power and transform into a dragon.

Salomon tested Wanda's ability to resist Dark Magic and guided her through the dangers of the Shallow Aether. Wanda declined to create a spirit guardian and asked Salomon to show her a Plane Fragment, so they prepared to explore the Aether's depths.

• Salomon watched Wanda endure a dangerous Dark Magic test and explained why her lessons had to take place under his supervision.
• Salomon used Spirit Transformation to bring Wanda into the Shallow Aether, where she encountered an extradimensional creature feeding on emotions.
• Salomon explained that Wanda could bind the creature as a Spirit Hunter, but Wanda refused because she did not need a guardian.
• Wanda asked Salomon to show her a Plane Fragment, and he agreed to take her only a short distance into the depths of the Aether.
• Wanda trusted Salomon to protect her as they prepared to continue.

Salomon took Wanda Maximoff to the Ether Plane, where they discovered a fleet of immense future warships left by Salomon’s future self. He explained that the fleet could help humanity resist the Dark Titan’s coming invasion and invited Wanda to join his mission.

• Salomon brought Wanda to explore the Ether Plane and hoped to draw her into the City of Immortals’ combat system.
• Salomon and Wanda discovered enormous warships, including the battleship Sword of Terra, hidden in the Ether Plane.
• Wanda questioned how the fleet could belong to Salomon, and he explained that it was a gift from his future self connected to a time loop involving Jacob.
• Salomon told Wanda that the Dark Titan’s fleet was heading for Earth and that humanity lacked the means to fight it in space.
• Salomon said his past preparations and the warships could defeat the invasion, then asked Wanda to join his mission.

Stephanie learned that Salomon was preparing for a future war against Thanos and began organizing the secret staffing and research needed to operate the warships. Salomon placed Sophia’s people in Stephanie’s command and kept the plans hidden from Wakanda, while the Maximoff siblings prepared to join the City of Immortals.

• Stephanie promoted U.S. research into space naval warfare as Gideon Malick returned to lead NASA’s tactical research program and worried about Stephanie’s future marriage.
• Salomon showed Stephanie the warships in the Inner Plane and told her that Thanos was their first opponent and that Earth would be unable to resist his forces alone.
• Stephanie asked about the enemy’s arrival and whether Wakanda should be informed, and Salomon explained that they needed brain-computer interfaces and trained personnel to operate the ships.
• Salomon ordered Stephanie to recruit Sophia’s people to secretly learn the stored piloting techniques and to keep the Mars Foundry plans from the Wakandans.
• Salomon explained that Wanda was his student and that the Maximoff siblings had accepted his invitation to join the City of Immortals, while Bayonetta teased him about Wanda.

Salomon explained that he needed Bayonetta’s genetic information to stabilize the dangerous Gene Fragments in his Golden Guard experiments, while Bayonetta agreed to testing on her own terms. The chapter ended with Bayonetta teasing Salomon and demanding that he keep fulfilling her desires.

• Bayonetta agreed to genetic testing with Salomon and planned to have Jeanne tested as well.
• Salomon revealed that test subjects carrying fragments of his genes had burned up because their bodies could not withstand the power and memories they contained.
• Salomon said he needed to compare Gene Fragments from women with special powers, including Bayonetta, Athena, and Wanda Maximoff, to stabilize the Golden Guard.
• Salomon reflected on his tangled relationship with Athena, his adoptive mother, whom he had not visited since returning from the edge of the galaxy.
• Bayonetta demanded that Salomon attend every conception ritual and come whenever she called, then teased him about using the skills she had taught him.

Salomon heard that the Power Stone had emerged on Xandar, alarming spellcasters across the dimensions who feared Thanos would seize it and wanted Kamar-Taj’s response. He rejected proposals to move it to Earth or Asgard, then returned to Kamar-Taj burdened by the threat of Thanos’s coming attack.

• The Munnopor lord and the protector of the Dimensional Rift market questioned Salomon about Kamar-Taj’s plans for the Power Stone and the possibility of a spellcasters’ assembly.
• Salomon listened as spellcasters debated stealing the Power Stone from Xandar and hiding it on Earth or Asgard, then rejected the idea, as did the Asgardian mages.
• Salomon reflected on how the Mind Stone and Space Stone had affected Professor Selvig and Hawkeye, and on what the Maximoff siblings and Lorna had revealed about powers linked to Astral Energy.
• Salomon returned to his Kamar-Taj bedroom and worried that Xandar could not withstand Thanos, who would soon begin to act.

Salomon asked Tony Stark to develop brain-computer interface technology to help nonhuman pilots absorb the knowledge needed to operate a space battleship, offering access to magical technology in return. Stark signed an approval form for modifying the Avengers' Mach Quinjet, while Salomon declined to join their campaign against Hydra.

• Tony Stark welcomed Salomon to Stark Tower and learned that Salomon wanted the brain-computer interface technology covered by an agreement with Pepper Potts.
• Salomon explained that the interface could reinforce neural connections to speed learning and that he needed it to prepare nonhuman pilots to operate a vast space battleship.
• Salomon offered Stark access to his reserves of technology adapted from magic if Stark conducted the research, and Stark showed interest in the offer.
• Maria Hill brought Stark the approval form for modifying the Avengers' Mach Quinjet, and Stark signed it.
• Stark invited Salomon to join the Avengers' fight against Hydra, but Salomon refused, saying Kamar-Taj would not involve itself in mortal conflicts.

Salomon and Wakanda formalized a technology exchange that advanced the City of Immortals’ research plans, while Sophia presented a genetically compatible boy as the first candidate for Salomon’s future Imperial Guard. The boy would undergo modification and intensive education, though Stephanie warned that he was only one contender for the elite force.

• Salomon and Wakanda signed a technology exchange agreement, and Wakanda agreed to share some technology for studying the Celestial corpse.
• Salomon assigned Princess Shuri the task of adapting mechanical biotechnological surgery, while Stephanie prepared to build the City of Immortals’ technology research department.
• Stephanie worried that the City of Immortals lacked enough administrative staff despite the magical crown Salomon had given her.
• Sophia brought Stephanie the medical reports for a boy whose genes showed exceptional compatibility with the laboratory’s modification program.
• Stephanie warned Sophia that the boy would remember nothing after surgery and would serve only Salomon, then identified him as merely the first candidate for the Imperial Guard.

Stephanie confronted Sophia about preserving her people’s secret and continuing her father’s mission, then consulted Dr. Whitehall, who challenged her motives and offered advice. Elsewhere, Salomon defended trusting Stephanie to Bayonetta at a bullfight, where he stopped a charging bull and Bayonetta teased him about the night ahead.

• Stephanie told Sophia that her people must carry on her father’s mission and warned her not to disappoint the Sovereign.
• After Sophia left, Stephanie asked Dr. Whitehall what he thought, and he questioned her loyalty, feelings for Salomon, and desire for power.
• Whitehall offered Stephanie advice while insisting that she would remain free to choose whether to take it.
• At a bullfight in Pamplona, Bayonetta questioned Salomon’s trust in Stephanie, and he defended her administrative abilities.
• Salomon caught and pinned a charging bull by its horns, and Bayonetta praised him and teased him about that night.

Stephanie brought Salomon to dinner at Malick Estate, where Gideon Malick learned she had no intention of marrying soon. Salomon promised that a child bearing the Malick surname would be born in the future, leaving Gideon pleased and the family reconciled for the moment.

• The Sisterhood imposed tight security at Malick Estate before Salomon arrived, exhausting Gideon Malick and alarming his staff.
• Gideon Malick complained that the government had left the Avengers to handle Hydra’s cleanup and resented Salomon’s influence over Stephanie.
• Stephanie told Salomon that her father had begun introducing her to conglomerate heirs in hopes of arranging her marriage.
• Stephanie said she thought marriage was premature, citing her long life and the need to protect the City of Immortals’ secrets.
• Salomon promised that a child with the Malick surname would be born in the future, and Gideon welcomed him as family.

Salomon’s promises secured Stephanie’s loyalty and the Malik family’s place in his organization, while Gideon Malick welcomed the prospect of a child bearing the family name. Salomon planned to use the Malik lineage and future engineered descendants as part of his preparations for threats including Dormammu and Morgan le Fay.

• Salomon’s fulfilled promises eased Gideon Malick’s worries, and Stephanie celebrated the Malik family’s power and future.
• Stephanie offered Salomon a prized bottle of Romanée-Conti, while Tita watched their exchange with disdain.
• Salomon planned for a child carrying Malik genes to become one of his assistants and for descendants of the Knights of the Round Table to help defend against future threats.
• Salomon considered Dormammu’s ambitions and the possibility that Morgan le Fay would enter the Prime Material Plane as Dormammu’s agent.
• The Venerable One hoped Morgan le Fay might be spared and welcomed the planned birth of children carrying the Knights of the Round Table’s DNA.

Natasha Romanoff confronted Clint about Salomon’s promise to help her have a child, then tracked Salomon down at the Bodleian Library to demand results. Salomon explained that restoring her organs would require difficult Dark Magic, while Natasha offered to carry his child if he could do it.

• Natasha Romanoff told Clint that Salomon had taken a blood sample using an ice-and-snow statue while he was away at class, then hung up without explaining the results.
• Clint comforted Natasha and offered to confront Salomon, and Natasha said she would settle the score with him herself.
• Natasha bypassed security and pressed a gun against Salomon’s waist as she demanded to know why he had hung up on her.
• Salomon said restoring Natasha’s internal organs was extremely difficult and involved Dark Magic.
• Natasha told Salomon she would be willing to carry his child and gave him one chance to decide.

Salomon asked Natasha Romanoff to help train war orphans in a brutal program, explaining that he foresaw multiple disasters and wanted to prepare humanity. Natasha rejected the plan but offered the Avengers’ help, while Salomon insisted he had already found a way to win and asked again for her answer about providing her genetic information.

• Salomon explained that he wanted to use Natasha Romanoff’s genes to create a hidden force and offered to restore her body by growing a replacement.
• Salomon asked Natasha to train Syrian war orphans in a thousand-times-crueler version of Red Room training, and she angrily refused.
• Salomon revealed that he had foreseen multiple disasters since birth and believed humanity had to prepare through sacrifice.
• Natasha urged Salomon to face the threat with the Avengers, but he refused to involve them and said his plan would reduce casualties.
• Salomon asked Natasha whether she would provide her genetic information, and she hesitated.

A boy selected for a ritual met Salomon, who began turning him into a candidate for a superhuman warrior through extensive surgeries and training. Natasha Romanoff questioned Salomon’s treatment of the boy, and the chapter ended with the work still underway.

• The boy entered a dark training ground and met Salomon, who told him his real training would begin and promised he would one day wear the armor.
• The boy underwent the first phase of tailored surgeries prepared by Maya Hansen, gaining height, strength, and sharper abilities.
• Salomon planned further physical and psychological alterations to transform the boy into the ultimate form of the Golden Armor Guards.
• Natasha Romanoff visited the City of Immortals, saw the boy’s surgical scars, and asked Salomon what he had done to him.
• Salomon replied that someone had to do what was necessary while the boy ate cake, wearing headphones during his sensory-adaptation period.