Chapter Summaries

Derrick Xian fought the Aetheric entity while Black Bolt led his squad through a flesh-filled tower and uncovered signs of the enemy. Meanwhile, Matriarch Aevo sought to unite the Inhuman clans’ weapons against the invaders, but learned that Matriarch Medusa could no longer make decisions.

• Derrick Xian endured the monster’s attack, shot its face at close range, and struck again with the Spear of the Garrison as its head regenerated.
• Black Bolt recalled his parents’ deaths and his complicated history with Maximus before returning his attention to the fleshy growths surrounding his squad.
• Black Bolt used a controlled sound wave to clear a passage through the flesh, revealing debris, a dead Kymellian Clan member, and a mass-produced enemy detector.
• Black Bolt’s squad concluded that the invaders had passed through the area and prepared to open the next door as they pursued them.
• Matriarch Aevo learned that the clan defense force had lost the Maintenance Tunnel and airlock and that enemy armored personnel carriers were approaching the settlement.
• Matriarch Aevo demanded the Gene Council share every clan’s weapons and ammunition, but her messenger warned that Matriarch Medusa could no longer make decisions.

As the Ghost and Rogue Clans withdrew toward the fourth defensive line, Human Army forces sabotaged the Kymellian Clan settlement and trapped a powerful Mutant threat. Derrick Xian fought an Outer Dimension Psychic Energy Entity, but it escaped his attacks and declared that its task—and its fate—were not finished.

• Matriarch Aevo ordered the Ghost Clan to retreat after learning that Medusa had been attacked and that Black Bolt was on a secret mission near the Kymellian Clan settlement.
• After the Ghost Clan withdrew, Aladi Koek ordered the Rogue Clan to fall back to the fourth defensive line and arm everyone in its settlement.
• A Tactical Support Squad detonated explosives beneath the Kymellian Clan settlement, destroying part of its dome as Gene-modded Warriors prepared to attack the trapped Tower.
• Derrick Xian repeatedly wounded the Outer Dimension Psychic Energy Entity, which grew weaker as it devoured the souls of the dead in the Attilan Star Fortress.
• Mutants entered and fired on Derrick Xian and the beast, which vanished and told him its task was unfinished before Derrick charged the Mutants and killed one.

Derrick Xian confronted Black Bolt amid Attilan’s destruction, while Lockjaw struggled to escape the ruined area. After receiving Derrick’s report, the Emperor prepared to join the fight and explained why he intended to face Black Bolt personally.

• Derrick Xian fought off the Ghost Clan warriors and faced Black Bolt, while both sides tried to understand the strange place and the madness afflicting its Kymellian Clan inhabitants.
• Black Bolt activated a beacon as Lockjaw, frightened and injured, repeatedly tried and failed to jump toward a faint signal.
• Derrick Xian sent Black Bolt’s information to the Emperor, prompting the Emperor to armor up and gather Constantine, Hammurabi, Amon, and Hannibal.
• The Emperor told Constantine that he intended to meet Black Bolt and give him the chance to fight back before the Emperor killed him.
• The Emperor explained that his war aimed to secure humanity’s future and that he would grant Black Bolt and Attilan’s Kree Empire War Slaves dignified deaths.

Constantine prepared to join the battle while the Emperor explained why he valued mortal soldiers. In Attilan, Derrick Xian devastated Black Bolt’s forces until the Emperor arrived, healed Lockjaw, and demanded that Black Bolt prevent the Gene Council from firing the Terrigen Missiles.

• Constantine ordered the City of Immortals technicians to calibrate the teleportation device and beacon for departure in three minutes.
• Derrick Xian killed several Inhuman warriors while Black Bolt struggled to fight without harming his own forces.
• Lockjaw arrived battered by failed teleportation attempts, and Black Bolt ordered him to take the survivors away.
• The Emperor appeared and apologized to Black Bolt for attacking Attilan, explaining that its values placed humanity at risk.
• The Emperor healed Lockjaw and Derrick Xian, then told Black Bolt to stop the Gene Council from launching the Terrigen Missiles and carry his warning to the Inhumans.

Black Bolt returned to Attilan after the Human Monarch spared him and ordered the Inhumans to leave Earth’s ecosystem untouched. He found the Gene Council and royal lounges devastated by an attack, learned Crystal’s sister had been badly injured, and lost control of his voice, killing someone he knew.

• The Human Monarch explained that the Inhumans’ Kree-made legacy had to be erased, spared Black Bolt, and ordered him to deliver the decision to the Gene Council.
• The Human Monarch sent Derrick Xian to hunt another monster, while Tetanus teleported Black Bolt and the surviving warriors back to Attilan.
• Black Bolt found the Gene Council Hall littered with corpses and battle damage, and a Rogue Clan warrior urged him to arm the Inhumans and fight back.
• Black Bolt rushed into the royal lounge, where Crystal told him that assassins had attacked the Gene Council representatives and that her sister was gravely injured.
• Black Bolt lost control of his voice amid his shock and grief, killing someone he knew.

After Black Bolt accidentally killed a respected elder, Crystal defended his right to lead Attilan and returned command to him as war approached. Black Bolt recovered enough to issue emergency orders and unite the clans, leaving their representatives to prepare for a Gene Council meeting.

• Attilan's officials gathered outside the lounge as staff cleaned up the remains of an elder killed when Black Bolt lost control.
• Crystal confronted the royal elders over their challenge to Black Bolt's leadership and declared she would return command to him.
• Crystal admitted to Black Bolt that she had lied about understanding the situation, and he thanked her for protecting him from the elders.
• Black Bolt promised to fight the invaders, and Crystal said she wanted to fight beside him.
• Black Bolt ordered the four clans to choose Gene Council representatives, required psychic interrogation, and ordered the arrest of remaining Wizarding Council members in the Gene Council.
• Black Bolt appointed the Rogue Clan warrior and other frontline commanders as temporary clan representatives until the invaders were repelled.

After waking, Matriarch Onomi learned that the Kymellian Clan had no reinforcements and could not retake the White Room, leaving her to demand help from the Wizarding Council and contact Matriarch Aevo. Meanwhile, Aevo’s forces intercepted a Kymellian reinforcements route, and she planned to use captured human devices to track the enemy.

• Matriarch Onomi learned that the Kymellian Clan had committed its reserves and that human wizards were fighting alongside the invaders.
• The Kymellian Clan general told Onomi that three attempts to retake the White Room had failed with heavy casualties.
• Matriarch Onomi ordered a communication with Matriarch Aevo and sent an envoy to demand the Wizarding Council send its wizards to the front line, threatening to arrest or destroy them if they refused.
• Matriarch Aevo’s forces confirmed the route of Kymellian reinforcements and prepared an interception and artillery bombardment.
• Matriarch Aevo had her subordinates move captured human devices into her residence, hoping to use them to uncover enemy movements.

Black Bolt used Attilan’s emergency to centralize military and civil authority while the Emperor’s forces searched beneath the Sorcerer Tower for the wizard or portal behind the invasion. The chapter ended with Gronov Rutov and his warriors descending into the underground complex as the Emperor promised they would find their target.

• Crystal read Resolutions No. 58 through 61, which placed Attilan under unified military command and declared military control until Black Bolt lifted it.
• Black Bolt and the clan representatives unanimously approved the resolutions, and Crystal sent the signed document to the front lines so Black Bolt’s warriors could assume command.
• Derrick Xian and the Praetorian Guard investigated the corrupted Mutants and reviewed Gronov Rutov’s mission results to track the Outer Dimensional Being.
• Gronov Rutov led his Type 19 Gene-modded Warrior squad down into the Sorcerer Tower’s underground complex with the Emperor and Hammurabi.
• The Emperor told Gronov Rutov that they would find the portal or the wizard after eliminating every other possibility.

Gronov Rutov questioned the Emperor about the Inhumans, and the Emperor explained that Attilan’s mutagenic missile posed a greater danger than its sorcerers. Meanwhile, Black Bolt opened Attilan’s armored portholes to observe the invading forces, leaving the Royal Family to confront the scale of the assault.

• Gronov Rutov asked the Emperor about Inhuman sorcerers and challenged the justification for war.
• The Emperor explained that a mutagenic missile could awaken Kree-altered genes in humans and argued that fighting Attilan now would prevent a worse catastrophe later.
• The Emperor told Gronov Rutov that Gene-modded Warriors would be needed to eliminate future threats and corrupt privilege, and Gronov accepted their role in further wars.
• Crystal urged Black Bolt to repel the invaders and flee the moon, but Black Bolt insisted that the Inhumans had nowhere else to go.
• Black Bolt ordered the bridge crew to open Attilan’s armored portholes, revealing hundreds of distant lights as enemy fire struck the fortress.

Black Bolt used his control of Attilan’s sublight engines to force the clan rulers to accept unified command as the Human Army pressed toward the Gene Council. He ordered the Inhumans mobilized and armed, leaving him with unprecedented authority over Attilan.

• Black Bolt assessed the damage to Attilan’s settlements and the disorganized retreat of the clan armies toward the Fourth Defense Line.
• Black Bolt recognized that the Inhumans could not defeat the Human Monarch alone and viewed the war as a struggle for survival between two races.
• Black Bolt told the clan royal courts he would withhold the sublight engine activation key until they accepted the Gene Council’s resolution.
• Black Bolt ordered Crystal to prepare a military mobilization order requiring every Inhuman to take up arms and submit to command.
• Black Bolt’s ultimatum unified Attilan’s Inhumans under his authority, and even Crystal did not challenge his decision.

Captain Gronov Rutov’s squad advanced with the Emperor and Hammurabi through a laboratory, where they discovered that the Kymellian Clan had turned humans into monsters. After the tactical support squad reported a large Kymellian force, the Emperor ordered Rally Point A to intensify its attack and prevent reinforcements.

• Captain Gronov Rutov discussed the Emperor’s restrictions on literature, and the Emperor defended his efforts to break writers’ social privilege.
• Captain Gronov Rutov’s squad found a laboratory filled with incubation chambers and killed the monsters and the Kymellian Clan wizard trying to release them.
• Hammurabi identified the creatures as humans altered through psionic mutation and hybridization, and showed evidence that Attilan’s Inhumans secretly captured humans for research.
• Captain Gronov Rutov received word that the tactical support squad had engaged more than a hundred Kymellian Clan reinforcements.
• The Emperor ordered Rally Point A to intensify its offensive and prevent the Kymellian Clan from sending more forces.

Martian forces delivered more ammunition to the lunar front as Derrick Xian, Amon, and Hannibal attacked a ritual altar and fought an evolving Outer Dimensional Entity. The Emperor revealed that the immortal monster could not be killed now, but the Praetorian Guards only needed to wound it severely.

• A Martian shuttle delivered artillery ammunition and missiles to a lunar airfield, though the ground crew had expected fuel and repair parts.
• Derrick Xian, Amon, and Hannibal advanced together toward the evolving creature, and Derrick identified their location as the twenty-fourth ritual altar.
• Derrick, Amon, and Hannibal attacked the altar and the monster, cutting its fused limbs and disabling one of its legs while fending off its claws.
• The Emperor told Hammurabi that the monster was immortal and could not be killed yet, but that grievously wounding it would serve their purpose.

Aparajita’s Gene-modded Warriors broke through the Mutant defenses and prepared for a full-scale offensive across the Attilan Star Fortress. Constantine ordered the forces to prioritize securing the Gene Laboratories and protect Kamar-Taj Arcanists as they advanced toward two sites with concentrated psionic phenomena.

• Aparajita watched the Gene-modded Warriors crush the Mutant defensive line, killing those who fled or resisted.
• Aparajita and his escort traveled by Armored Personnel Carrier to another front, where he saw severe psionic damage among the battlefield casualties.
• Constantine told Aparajita that special operations teams would target the Mutants’ Gene Laboratories and preserve their research before pursuing the wider assault.
• Malcolm reported that the Mutant Psionic was dead and asked Aparajita to reinforce the attack routes and artillery support.
• Constantine identified the Kymellian Clan settlement and the Attilan Royal Family settlement as centers of psionic activity, and ordered the attacking forces to protect the Kamar-Taj Arcanists.

Aparajita prepared the First and Second Combat Groups’ assault on the Kymellian Clan and the Attilan Civilian Clans, assigning Kamar-Taj Arcanists to identify psionic traces and ritual nodes. Master Wu Guiyue and Master Wong departed under armed guard, with their escort prepared to protect them and enforce the rules governing magic.

• Aparajita reviewed the covert special forces and organized the frontal assault with the First, Second, and Third Legions, Sisterhood personnel, and Mortal auxiliaries.
• Aparajita assigned breacher squads to protect Master Wong and Master Wu Guiyue while ensuring they could not interfere with military operations.
• Master Wong worried about performing well, and Master Wu Guiyue reminded him that their task was to identify psionic traces and summoning-ritual nodes.
• Master Wu Guiyue told Master Wong not to question the Emperor or the Sorcerer Supreme, explaining that their responsibilities and vision exceeded mortal understanding.
• Aparajita confirmed that the guard unit was ready and prepared to escort Master Wu Guiyue and Master Wong to the Attilan Civilian Clans settlement.

Master Wong traveled with Captain Davis and Mistletoe Squad toward a mission to eliminate a psionic signal, while Davis revealed the brutal life he had before becoming a Gene-modded Warrior. In Attilan, Black Bolt took command of the unified military and forced the clan courts to surrender their communications authority as the human invasion advanced.

• Captain Davis secured Master Wong in the transport and ordered him to obey commands and avoid using psionic spells unless necessary.
• Master Wong questioned Davis about his past, and Davis described how war and tragedy shaped his life before Power Armor.
• Black Bolt gathered the clan matriarchs under armed guard and asserted control over the Gene Council after killing an officer who defied its resolution.
• Crystal read Black Bolt's order for him to lead Attilan's unified military and centralize command by taking over the clan courts' communications authority.
• Matriarch Aevo declared the Ghost Clan would fight, while Matriarch Aladi kept her objections silent.

The Emperor ordered the destruction of the Kymellian Clan’s psionic experiments and authorized Punishment Tactics against the Attilan Inhumans. Olaril led his surviving warriors through a maintenance tunnel toward the burning Sorcerer Tower as the Human Army pressed its assault.

• The investigation revealed that the Kymellian Clan had imprisoned and bred Psionics, including humans, to power the Sorcerer Tower, and the Emperor judged the crimes intolerable.
• The Emperor ordered Captain Gronov Rutov to burn the facility and directed that the imprisoned Psionics die under induced anesthesia.
• The Emperor authorized Punishment Tactics against the Attilan Inhumans, and Captain Gronov Rutov prepared to carry them out.
• Olaril led his squad through the Human Army’s bombardment and ordered them to retreat through a maintenance tunnel.
• Olaril emerged to find the Sorcerer Tower ablaze, civilians fleeing, and a human armored carrier firing on the Steel Dome.

Olaril witnessed the Human Army devastate the Kymellian Clan settlement, killing civilians and crushing attempts at resistance as the settlement’s air failed. Captain Gronov Rutov continued his orders to destroy the city, while the surviving Kymellians remained trapped and hunted.

• Human Army forces breached the settlement’s defenses, causing air leaks and killing civilians as armored vehicles and chemical fires tore through the city.
• Kymellian civilians and Psionics tried to resist, but the Human Army killed them and black-armored Gene-modded Warriors wiped out a group attacking armored vehicles.
• Olaril saw sorcerers’ bodies hanging from the burning Sorcerer Tower and heard panicked cries flood the reopened communication channels.
• Captain Gronov Rutov surveyed the city and continued hunting its inhabitants under orders to destroy the Kymellian Clan settlement.

Captain Gronov Rutov’s squad used snipers and psychological warfare to terrorize the Kymellian Clan Mutants in the Attilan Star Fortress. Meanwhile, the Emperor told Derrick Xian that the Outer Dimensional Entity had only been banished, and Derrick vowed the Praetorian Guard would keep fighting it.

• Captain Gronov Rutov sensed that the Emperor was absent and reflected on the advice the Emperor had given him.
• Captain Gronov Rutov and the tactical squads sniped Kymellian Clan Mutants, using panic to restrict their movements and discourage resistance.
• A Psionic Shockwave anchored the Kymellian Sorcerer Tower in the Material Universe, briefly weakening the Outer Dimensional Entity and allowing Derrick Xian, Amon, and Hannibal to inflict heavy damage on it.
• The Emperor told Derrick Xian that the entity had been banished rather than killed, and Derrick vowed to face it again until it feared the Human Race.

Derrick Xian recovered aboard a Sacred Guard vehicle while Hammurabi explained the dangers of dark faith and the likely return of Carnage. Meanwhile, Legion Commander Malcolm described how his forces had broken through the Attilan Inhumans’ Fourth Defensive Line and exploited the enemy’s logistical weaknesses.

• Derrick Xian received medical treatment and asked Hammurabi about the Mutants’ dark faith and Carnage’s expected return.
• Hammurabi explained that dark faith altered behavior and that mass slaughter could let Carnage emerge again through a weakened Veil of Reality.
• Malcolm received praise for adapting the battle plan and breaking through the Fourth Defensive Line without committing his main force to street fighting.
• Malcolm reported that his troops had encircled Inhuman soldiers and disrupted their retreat, worsening divisions and logistical problems among the Mutant forces.

Emperor authorized further attacks on the Inhumans and ordered Malcolm to keep pressure on their settlements while Constantine investigated Derrick Xian's discovery. At Attilan, Crystal sought food, medicine, and clan medical records to treat the wounded, then asked to lead a squad to retrieve them.

• Emperor approved Malcolm's plan to use phosphorus-based weapons in extreme circumstances and authorized Psychological Warfare before the next assault.
• Emperor told Constantine that Derrick Xian had found a book that might help resolve the psionic anomalies at Attilan Star Fortress.
• Malcolm planned to replace and resupply the battle-worn First Combat Group while preparing the Second Combat Group for the next offensive.
• Crystal demanded access to food warehouses and medicine because the influx of wounded had overwhelmed the Civilian Clans' medical system.
• Matriarch Aevo and the Rogue Clan Matriarch offered access to their clans' biochemical records, while Crystal proposed using Lockjaw to retrieve them.
• Crystal asked Black Bolt for permission to choose combat personnel and travel to the clan settlements to gather the medical information.