Chapter Summaries

Salomon fought the memory-born Trinity soldiers in Kamar-Taj’s library while Laura Croft followed the yarn trail and was rescued by him. Master Hamir gathered the other masters to investigate the library’s breach and restore the missing spells.

• Salomon used his Explosive Rounds Gun and Mental Power to destroy the unreal Trinity mercenaries, then vowed to make the culprit pay.
• Laura Croft was grazed by a ghostly bullet while following the yarn trail, but she reached Salomon’s warm aura and survived.
• Bayonetta teased Laura Croft about Salomon’s popularity as Laura began explaining how he had found her.
• Master Hamir retrieved the key-shaped artifact from Master Wong and assembled Master Wu Guiyue, Master Mordo, and Master Cassilius to investigate what had happened in the library.

Kamar-Taj’s leaders debated how to handle the Arcanist Families who had disabled the library’s defenses, while Hamir redirected them to carry out the Emperor’s orders. At the manor, Laura Croft described surviving the library attack and asked to keep the unnamed woman who had been rescued with her.

• Mordo argued that the Emperor should punish the Arcanist elders immediately, but Cassilius, Master Wu Guiyue, and Hamir told him he lacked authority and should wait.
• Master Wu Guiyue warned Mordo not to underestimate the Emperor and pointed out the Praetorian Guard and autocannons protecting him.
• Hamir told the group to focus on resolving the library ritual problem before sunrise and said a small cabinet would give Mordo a chance to voice his concerns.
• Laura Croft described how an illusory bullet froze her heart and organs before the Emperor revived her.
• Laura asked to let the unnamed woman rescued from the library stay at the manor while she recovered, and Bayonetta reassured her that the Emperor had agreed.

Laura Croft woke in Kamar-Taj after a Ghost bullet struck her heart in the library, and Salomon explained that he had healed her. She learned the attack came from creatures drawn by her memories after the library’s protective spells failed, while her questions about the incident remained only partly answered.

• Laura recalled confronting the Emperor over his plans for the Balkan region and remembering his supernatural warmth from their meeting in the Amazon.
• Salomon confirmed Laura was alive and sent Hammurabi out so he could speak with her privately.
• Salomon apologized for the library accident and assured Laura that Yarn Ball was safe and enjoying dessert.
• Salomon explained that Ghosts had entered the library after its protective spells malfunctioned and taken forms shaped by Laura’s memories.
• Laura learned that the bullet was a supernatural object rather than a physical projectile, and Salomon said his spell had healed her without leaving anything in her body.

Laura Croft recovered at the Emperor’s manor after her encounter with the Outer Dimensions, while the Emperor and the Witches arranged for her to rest and receive care. She reunited with her butler Winston and learned she would stay on as the manor’s storyteller.

• The Emperor explained that Laura’s psychological report was incomplete and that her condition required rest and symptom management at his manor.
• Laura noticed the herbal scent on her skin, and the Emperor described his spellcasting as precise medical treatment without revealing how he had saved her life.
• The Emperor offered Laura a stay at his manor, and she joked about her butler Winston’s likely reaction to her absence.
• Winston arrived at Oxfordshire Manor by helicopter, and Bayonetta claimed Laura had lost their wager.
• Laura insisted on welcoming Winston because he was her only family, while Jeanne assured her he was a guest and said Laura would tell stories at after-dinner receptions.
• Laura asked whether the Emperor was still working at Kamar-Taj, and Jeanne said he had left before Laura woke and promised to pass along her thanks.

Wanda Maximoff visited the Emperor aboard the Space Station to learn that her ritual had helped stabilize her mental health. After Wanda revealed she had once taken Pietro into space using magic, the Emperor arranged medical examinations and time off, then summoned Hammurabi for a mission.

• Wanda Maximoff woke after a peaceful night and accompanied the Emperor to the Space Station instead of joining the manor breakfast.
• The Emperor told Wanda that her ritual had blocked psychic disturbances and explained that it could help restore her health.
• Wanda admitted she had repeatedly taken Pietro beyond the atmosphere with magic, and the Emperor warned that the trips could have exposed him to serious hazards.
• The Emperor arranged for Pietro to receive a comprehensive medical examination and offered Wanda time off at the Space Station.
• The Emperor asked Wanda to call Hammurabi in because he had a mission for him.

The Emperor told Agent Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. would receive its base and upgraded transport only if the team completed a demanding training program and followed his orders. After warning that the team would be discarded if it became a negative asset, he left Coulson with a mission and a glimpse of a disastrous future.

• The Emperor offered to return Lighthouse Base and upgrade the team's transport, but made those resources conditional on completing training, especially Melinda May.
• The Emperor said Coulson's team would return to Earth after the first training phase and later answer his envoy's summons for a second phase.
• Coulson asked why the Emperor cared about humanity, and the Emperor answered that Coulson had failed too many times and had to prove he was worth trusting with the mission.
• The Emperor ordered Coulson to placate Jeffrey Mace and keep sensitive matters from Congress, warning that the team could be discarded as a negative asset.
• After leaving the office, Coulson told Melinda May and Daisy Johnson that they had to complete the program quickly and warned Daisy not to use her powers on the station.

The Emperor managed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s uncertain future while Countess Katarina Karkov reported on her intelligence network and invited him to dinner. The chapter ended as a tested bottle of wine from her French winery was brought to the table.

• Agent Coulson learned that the Emperor expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to fulfill its duty and that soldiers at Lighthouse Base would remain to monitor and protect the team.
• The Emperor left S.H.I.E.L.D.’s concerns behind and continued working from the Sky Sword Space Station while Victor von Doom handled political negotiations in the Balkans.
• Countess Katarina Karkov met with the Emperor and said Ms. Tita and Natasha Romanoff had handled the screening of reporters and scientists.
• Countess Katarina Karkov suggested replacing the owners behind certain newspapers and said her agents had received word about Laura Croft.
• Countess Katarina Karkov invited the Emperor to dinner and offered wine from her French winery, which the Sacred Guard had tested.

Countess Katarina Karkov tried to persuade the Emperor to eliminate spies among the press corps through staged accidents, but he insisted they face a public trial under the law. The Emperor explained to Hammurabi that he tolerated Karkov as a useful servant of power, leaving her future in his hands.

• Countess Katarina Karkov proposed arranging accidents to kill spies among the press corps and offered to have Lady Tita carry them out.
• The Emperor rejected Karkov’s plan, saying spies should die through public trials and lawful enforcement.
• Karkov criticized Silver Sablinova as unfit to enforce the law, while the Emperor told her he had arranged a future she would like.
• After dinner, Hammurabi objected to the Emperor’s tolerance of Karkov, and the Emperor said she was a useful tool who had always been a slave to power.
• The Emperor said Latveria could not afford to be picky about personnel until the academy produced its first batch of talent, and Hammurabi criticized the wine’s mineral taste.

The Emperor and Regent Victor von Doom planned to purge lingering Yugoslav Civil War factions and rebuild the New Yugoslav Federation through military action, trials, and reeducation. Countess Katarina Karkov was chosen to broker power behind the scenes, while the Emperor ended the chapter reflecting on the distant Earth.

• The Emperor recalled how his forces had reunited the former Yugoslav Federation and how the Regent had established a civil war tribunal to begin reconciliation.
• Regent Victor von Doom decided to combine violent purges of separatist groups with the quiet removal and reeducation of forces that could be integrated.
• The Gene-modded Warriors and First Secret Regiment began purging armed groups, while plans advanced to break apart and retrain the remaining soldiers.
• The Yugoslav Military Tribunal prepared to retry wartime commanders, and Countess Katarina Karkov was selected to broker deals and manipulate rival factions.
• The Emperor arranged for enhanced assassins and Sisterhood operatives to protect Katarina, then joked with Hammurabi about drifting through space toward Earth.

The Emperor reviewed the planned war against Attilan’s Inhumans, whose ambitions and possible release of Terrigen made them an enemy he would not spare. He weighed the Moon campaign against the Regent’s Balkan priorities, then prepared to meet Ruby Hale as he continued his work.

• Hammurabi reported that preparations for war against the Inhumans were fifty-two percent complete and described Attilan’s Returnists and the threat of Terrigen Mist.
• The Emperor explained that Victor’s proposal to prioritize the Balkan Peninsula was correct in the long run, but he would make it suitable by first resolving secondary threats.
• Hammurabi reported that Ms. Hanson would study Inhuman genes once Daisy Johnson’s and Elena Rodriguez’s samples were ready, while Attilan’s location remained hidden.
• The Emperor considered his efforts to conceal the Seventh Fleet’s losses and preserve American industrial capacity for the coming war.
• The Emperor summoned the next petitioner, and Hammurabi said Ruby Hale would arrive shortly.

Ruby accepted the Emperor’s assignment to supervise S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at Lighthouse Base, while learning that her genetically shortened telomeres threatened her lifespan. She was left facing strict training and biological modifications under Hammurabi before her mother, General Hale, arrived at the Space Station.

• Ruby agreed to serve as the Emperor’s executioner and supervise S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at Lighthouse Base.
• The Emperor asked what Ruby knew about herself, and she described her origins in Dr. Whitehall’s Eugenics project and her complicated feelings about General Hale.
• The Emperor revealed that Ruby’s telomeres were shorter than normal, and he promised medical monitoring and genetic treatment.
• Hammurabi said he would train Ruby in combat, shooting, piloting, and infiltration, while arranging limited biological modifications.
• Hammurabi told Ruby that General Hale would arrive at the Space Station in a few days and would see how Ruby had surpassed her education.

Stephanie Malik heard her father Gideon Malick explain how political leaders could undermine reform opponents by manipulating public insecurity and controlling the news. They discussed her absence from public view and Gideon’s invitation to visit the Space Station in the Malik family’s name.

• Gideon Malick advised Stephanie Malik to exploit strikes and social media to make people blame reform for the hardships caused by its opponents.
• Gideon reflected on the benefits he had gained from the election and his uncertainty about how much the Emperor had arranged.
• Stephanie Malik remained loyal to the Emperor and believed her Sisterhood connections and gifts showed that he approved of her devotion.
• Gideon warned Stephanie that bloodshed might reach her after the Emperor’s meeting, and she said she had taken leave while the Regent selected targets.
• Stephanie told Gideon that the Emperor had invited him to visit the Space Station as a private representative of the Malik family.

Stephanie told Gideon Malick that the Emperor expected the Malik family to help secure control of U.S. intelligence systems and prepare Earth for an alien war. She authorized Gideon to view a classified file intended to convince him that the Emperor could reach and fight enemies in the Kuiper Belt.

• Gideon asked Stephanie what the Emperor wanted him to do, and she explained that he wanted preparations for taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. and the CIA.
• Stephanie said the Malik family would help control the CIA and Department of Homeland Security information systems and transfer chip-manufacturing data to the Emperor’s technicians.
• Gideon warned that the plan could expose him and argued that Congress saw no reason to resist aliens, but Stephanie insisted the alien threat was imminent and urged him to commit the family’s resources to the Emperor.
• Gideon questioned how the Emperor could travel to the distant Kuiper Belt, and Stephanie said he had already traveled across the galaxy.
• Stephanie used a gene-reading badge to authorize temporary access to a classified file about global disasters and the voyages of three Helicarriers and the Sky Battleship, warning Gideon not to disclose its contents.

Gideon Malick studied a secret report on the Feathered Serpent God incident and learned how the Emperor’s portal technology, military power, and plans could reshape global trade and security. Stephanie told him the Emperor would reject the Outer Space Treaty and was preparing to expand Roman territory and eliminate aliens and Mutant groups near human society.

• Gideon Malick examined the report on the disaster and battle, focusing on the Gene-modded Warriors, their equipment, and the Emperor’s teleportation technology.
• Gideon Malick realized the portals could cross the Solar System and saw their potential military and financial implications.
• Stephanie described the alien research facilities and explained that the Emperor needed food to shelter refugee children.
• Gideon Malick proposed using gold bonds and food trade to build the Malick family’s position, while warning that rejecting the Outer Space Treaty could bring consequences.
• Stephanie said the Emperor would never recognize the Outer Space Treaty and revealed plans to recreate Rome’s territory and wipe out aliens and Mutant groups near human society.

General Hale confronted Stephanie Malik at the White House over Ruby’s training and the Emperor’s influence, while Stephanie offered political rewards and a trip to space. The chapter ended with Hale wary of Hydra’s control but preparing to meet its new master at Latveria Space Station.

• General Hale criticized Stephanie Malik’s forceful conduct, and Stephanie said the Emperor had assigned Ruby greater responsibility and training.
• Stephanie told Hale that Ruby was not a hostage and could end her training whenever she wished, but warned that neither of them could control their fate.
• Stephanie offered Hale support for the sixth-generation fighter program and said the Emperor would invite her on a journey through space.
• Stephanie revealed that Hale would enter Latveria Space Station as Hydra and face the Emperor, while Hale insisted she did not want Ruby harmed.
• Stephanie left Hale to attend to Budget Office work as both women anticipated the presidential transition.

Athena warned Salomon that the Inhumans and the Eternals posed dangers, and advised him to deal with the Eternals first. Salomon planned to keep investigating their hidden locations, while Athena cautioned that they might awaken the Celestial he had removed from Antarctica.

• Athena welcomed Salomon and fed bloody human liver to her owls before asking what he wanted to know about Attilan.
• Salomon told Athena he feared the Inhumans might release Terrigen on Earth and considered whether they should be killed or handled more gently.
• Athena warned Salomon that the Inhumans were slaves and that the Eternals, an artificially created race, shared traits with him and the Dark Order's master.
• Salomon said he had begun tracking the Eternals and would act once he found them all, using the locations of discovered bodies to identify their hiding places.
• Athena told Salomon that removing the Celestial from Antarctica would draw the Eternals to him and urged him to deal with them before they could awaken it.

The Emperor investigated a female Eternal hiding in New York and sought to learn why she had forgotten her identity. He had her genetics analyzed and prepared an indirect attack using a genetically edited influenza virus, while Athena questioned whether her unusual immunity would foil the plan.

• The Emperor ordered agents to surveil a female Eternal who worked as Tony Stark's party planner, but they found no unusual behavior beyond her apparent amnesia and fear of aging.
• Athena suggested that the Emperor infiltrate the female Eternal's soul and warned that she might seek out other Eternals if she discovered the investigation.
• The Emperor revealed that the Sacred Guard and allied research groups had begun analyzing the Eternals' genetics and had collected samples from the woman.
• Athena learned that the Emperor had arranged vaccinations at an orphanage against a genetically edited influenza virus and asked how he would proceed if the woman resisted it.

The Emperor ordered the Sacred Guard to investigate the female Eternal and prepared to contact her himself, while considering nuclear weapons and his sword as last-resort defenses. Athena offered intelligence about The Machine and revealed that Thanos was an Eternal hybrid, leaving the Emperor asking where The Machine was.

• The Emperor reviewed surveillance of the female Eternal and ordered an investigation into her identities, with Constantine to take charge after finishing work at Lighthouse Base.
• The Emperor planned to meet the female Eternal in disguise and test whether she had forgotten her past, while leaving the research to a Sacred Guard team.
• The Emperor prepared to use nuclear warheads or his sword if the Eternals threatened humanity.
• Athena told the Emperor that Thanos was a malformed Eternal hybrid and offered clues about The Machine.
• Athena recalled that the female Eternal was emotional and distant from her companions, and the Emperor asked where The Machine was.

Constantine questioned Enoch about a black-haired woman while preparing a nuclear contingency at Lighthouse Base, then left the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to their mission. At Salomon’s manor, Laura Croft observed his lively dinner with Jeanne, Bayonetta, Milia, and Cheshire Cat.

• Constantine kept Lighthouse Base’s thermonuclear warheads secured and told Enoch that they were a final measure if Agent Coulson’s mission failed.
• Constantine showed Enoch photographs of a black-haired woman and asked whether Enoch’s database contained her facial data, but refused to identify her.
• Enoch predicted Constantine was about to leave Lighthouse Base, and Constantine confirmed that he had finished his work there and was departing.
• Jeanne handed Salomon a cigarette and wine, then took away his data slate as they gathered for dinner with Bayonetta, Milia, Cheshire Cat, and Laura Croft.
• Laura Croft watched the diners share food and discuss a wide range of subjects, admiring their ease and intimacy.

Salomon revealed that an ancient woman was a Celestial tool connected to the Eternals and the Dark Order’s plan to bring back their master. He ordered her kind destroyed to prevent the threat, then asked Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Wanda to help defend Kamar-Taj while the Sorcerer Supreme was away.

• Jeanne showed Salomon and the others information about the party planner, and Laura Croft identified her as a woman who may have lived for nearly ten thousand years.
• Salomon told Laura that she could study the Red Dragon Path and learn to make a Philosopher’s Stone.
• Salomon revealed that the woman was a Celestial tool and that exiled Eternals were leading the Dark Order toward Earth.
• Salomon explained that the Eternals could resurrect themselves and ordered the threat eliminated before they could summon the Dark Overlord.
• Salomon told Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Wanda that Kamar-Taj needed their help because its defenses were weak and the Sorcerer Supreme had not returned.