Chapter Summaries

Hydra’s attempt to capture Johnny Blaze unleashed Ghost Rider, who rampaged through Texas until Nexus stopped him. Richard judged Ghost Rider innocent and tried to reach Johnny, but Ghost Rider kept attacking and was thrown back, leaving Richard to investigate why he was acting dangerously.

• Hydra agents tried to force Johnny Blaze to come with them, but he transformed into Ghost Rider and fought through police, SWAT, and Hydra reinforcements.
• Ghost Rider rampaged through Texas, and police officer Parker called for more help until Nexus arrived.
• Nexus blocked Ghost Rider’s motorcycle and stopped his charge, and Ghost Rider judged him innocent.
• Ghost Rider attacked Nexus with hellfire-enhanced punches, but Nexus caught the first blow and sent Ghost Rider flying after the second.
• Richard tried to contact Johnny and wondered whether Mephisto had awakened Zarathos’s demonic side in Ghost Rider.

Richard, as Nexus, fought Ghost Rider after Zarathos began awakening within him and defeated the demon-empowered rider. He left the battle carrying Ghost Rider’s wallet and the weathered middle-aged man.

• Nexus punched Ghost Rider, whose damaged skull quickly healed as Zarathos’s influence made him more powerful.
• Ghost Rider attacked Nexus with hellfire, but Nexus dodged the ground eruption and split a fiery blast with golden light.
• Ghost Rider mounted his flaming motorcycle and charged Nexus, who destroyed the bike with a powerful punch.
• Ghost Rider leaped from the wreckage to strike Nexus, but Nexus knocked him down and silenced both Ghost Rider and Zarathos.
• Nexus returned to the ground carrying a wallet and the weathered middle-aged man.

Richard summoned Gabriel after defeating Ghost Rider and handed over the unconscious Johnny Blaze, helping her bring the conflict closer to a peaceful end. The next morning, a Daily Planet headline falsely called Gabriel Ultraman’s girlfriend, and Richard confronted the editor-in-chief who had approved the story.

• Richard used Gabriel’s feather to summon her and delivered the unconscious Johnny Blaze.
• Gabriel thanked Richard, took Johnny, and departed; Richard flew away as well.
• The Daily Planet published a headline speculating that Gabriel was Ultraman’s girlfriend.
• Richard confronted reporter Cathy, who blamed the story on Editor-in-Chief Stewart.
• Richard warned Stewart not to make a big news story with inaccurate reporting.

Richard dealt with rumors about Ultraman and the angel, then came home to find Gwen, Wanda, and Jessica attempting to cook dinner. Gwen served a respectable-looking meal, but Richard’s reaction left its quality in doubt.

• Richard berated Editor-in-Chief Stewart for encouraging rumors, while Cathy was relieved she had avoided the scolding.
• Richard found online speculation claiming Ultraman was God and the angel was his subordinate, then closed a page of fanfiction about them.
• Richard returned home and found Gwen, Wanda, and Jessica cooking, with Gwen stopping Wanda from adding dark seasoning from the Darkhold.
• Richard left the girls to prepare dinner, and Gwen refused his offer to help as she managed the cooking and Wanda’s attempts to interfere.
• Gwen served dinner and asked Richard what he thought; Richard said the salt had been stir-fried nicely and had a faint egg fragrance.

Gabriel tried to extract Zarathos from Johnny, but Mephisto’s trap wounded her and let him enter Heaven’s ritual chamber. Mephisto revealed that he planned to devour Zarathos for power, then challenged Gabriel to witness what came next.

• Gabriel began a ritual to remove Zarathos and the Spirit of Vengeance from Johnny, persuading Johnny to help restrain the power.
• A hidden streak of black flame struck Gabriel as Zarathos was extracted, injuring her and weakening the ritual’s barrier.
• Mephisto emerged through a portal from Hell and admitted that he had arranged the trap to make Gabriel separate Zarathos’s essence for him.
• Mephisto revealed that he never intended to resurrect Zarathos and instead planned to devour the demon to gain power capable of challenging Heaven’s supreme beings.
• Gabriel confronted Mephisto, who pointed his cane at her and said he wanted her to witness his plan in person.

A wave of Hell’s creatures appeared across the United States, leading Richard to suspect that war between Heaven and Hell was brewing and to seek Ancient One’s help. While he was away, two low-ranking devils entered his manor to capture someone and confronted Wanda.

• S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four dealt with strange creatures appearing across Europe and the United States.
• Richard recognized the creatures as hellspawn and suspected the conflict between Heaven and Hell was escalating.
• Richard decided to visit the Sanctum Sanctorum and ask Ancient One about the situation.
• Two low-ranking devils bypassed the manor’s security and entered to seize a human as a bargaining chip.
• Wanda encountered the devils, recognized their hostile intentions, and began flipping through her book after telling them to wait.

Wanda used a spell from a book to kill two demons, then worried about the damage she had caused to Mr. Li’s home. Richard visited Kamar-Taj and learned that Ancient One had supposedly died, but he sensed her presence and found her floating in the air.

• Wanda read a spell from her book and blasted one demon into dust, while the other survived by using his companion as a shield.
• Wanda panicked over the damage to the renovation, and the surviving demon tried to flee before she tripped him and dragged him back.
• Richard arrived at Kamar-Taj and heard Master Wong say that Ancient One had died.
• Richard saw Doctor Stephen Strange among the grieving mages and guessed that Ancient One had passed her responsibilities to him before seeking death at Kaecilius’s hands.
• Richard sensed something, flew into the sky, and found Ancient One floating in a yellow robe.

Richard spoke with the fading Ancient One about her retirement, Doctor Strange, and the limits of magic. Before disappearing, she warned him that a magical node near his estate had an anomaly, prompting him to hurry home.

• Richard questioned Ancient One's decision to retire and leave Kaecilius for Doctor Strange to handle.
• Ancient One explained that magic carried a price and that her weakened body could no longer use the Eye of Agamotto freely.
• Ancient One told Richard she had seen a uniquely bright future for him, though she offered no specific details.
• Ancient One warned Richard that a magical node near his estate had an anomaly, and Richard realized someone might be causing trouble at his home.

After Wanda destroyed part of Richard’s estate while defeating two demons, Richard forgave her and asked her to accompany him to Hell. As they prepared to leave, Amora arrived and offered to help.

• Richard returned to his estate and found the corridor wrecked, then Wanda explained that she had destroyed two demons who attacked her.
• Wanda feared Richard would kick her out for damaging the house, but he forgave her and asked her to compensate him by accompanying him to Hell.
• Richard gave Wanda Gabriel’s holy water and left a note for Gwen and Jessica as they prepared to travel through a portal to Hell.
• Amora appeared at the estate and asked Richard and Wanda if they needed a hand crusading against demons.

Richard, Wanda, and Amora traveled to hell to find Old Mephisto and negotiate a way to avert an all-out war. The two witches obliterated waves of minor enemies while competing for kills, leaving Richard to conserve his strength as they continued toward their destination.

• Amora opened a portal and led Richard and Wanda into hell, where Wanda grumbled that she could open portals too.
• Richard asked why Amora had joined them, and she explained that Asgard had reason to prevent the human world from falling.
• Amora used a detection spell to locate Old Mephisto and guided the group through hell.
• Wanda and Amora blasted successive waves of low-level hell creatures with increasingly powerful spells while competing to outdo each other.
• Richard stopped the witches from wasting their mana, and they continued fighting over kills as fewer monsters dared to approach.

Richard, Wanda, and Amora confronted Mephisto in Hell to negotiate his withdrawal from the human world and the release of Johnny Blaze and Archangel Gabriel. Mephisto revealed he had gained Zarathos's demonic power, and the meeting became a battle as Richard transformed into Nexus to face him.

• Richard brought Wanda and Amora to meet Mephisto and demanded that he leave the human world and release Johnny Blaze and Archangel Gabriel.
• Mephisto revealed Johnny and Gabriel in a thorn cage, and Gabriel warned that Mephisto had obtained Zarathos's demonic power.
• Mephisto summoned his forces, and Wanda and Amora attacked the Hell creatures surrounding them.
• Richard drew the Evolution Trust and transformed into Nexus, matching Mephisto's enormous size.
• Mephisto challenged Nexus to test his strength.

Richard transformed into Red Adult Form and fought Mephisto across Hell, trading evasive maneuvers and powerful attacks with the devil sovereign. After Mephisto avoided a direct punch and disappeared, he struck Nexus from behind with an ultra-hot magical fireball.

• Richard judged Mephisto a dangerous opponent and transformed into Red Adult Form before charging him.
• Mephisto unleashed hellfire and a barrage of fire arrows, while Nexus dodged and countered with golden energy.
• Nexus smashed the ground with a flying kick, destroying the surrounding terrain, then rushed Mephisto with a heavy punch.
• Mephisto evaded the punch without engaging in direct combat and disappeared from Nexus's view.
• Mephisto attacked Nexus from behind with an ultra-high-temperature fireball that struck his chest armor.

Nexus and the two witches fought Mephisto on his home turf, using magic and holy water to locate and defend against the demon lord while Nexus exploited his Quantumization and Light Power. Mephisto was badly battered but remained in the fight as Nexus continued his close-range assault.

• Mephisto concealed himself and attacked Nexus with fireballs, but Wanda used a shield enhanced by holy water to block them.
• Amora used a spell to reveal Mephisto's position, and Nexus protected the witches from his counterattack and reflected his flames back at him.
• Nexus used Quantumization to evade Mephisto's fiery assault, then reappeared behind him and struck him with a powerful punch.
• Nexus dodged Mephisto's hellfire slash, deflected his claws, and landed a knee and kick that sent him flying.
• Nexus used Mach Movement to catch Mephisto and struck his cheek before breaking off one of his horns with a chopping hand strike.

Nexus overwhelmed Mephisto in close combat, survived and deflected Mephisto’s demonic attack, then blasted him through several mountains with Core Pulse. Badly injured and unwilling to keep fighting, Mephisto seized Gabriel and Johnny Blaze and threatened to kill them unless Nexus stopped.

• Nexus battered Mephisto at close range and cut off one of his horns.
• Mephisto unleashed the power of Zarathos’s demon fragments in a devastating attack, but Nexus blocked and deflected it with Circular Barrier and Core Flash.
• Nexus struck Mephisto with Core Pulse, sending him crashing through several mountains.
• Mephisto recovered from his injuries, dragged Gabriel and Johnny Blaze’s cage before him, and ordered Nexus to stop or they would die.

Nexus rescued Gabriel and Johnny from Mephisto’s hostage trap and overwhelmed the Devil Lord with Over Ray Schtrom Meteor. Gabriel warned that killing Mephisto would destabilize Hell, leaving Richard to consider her proposal to bind him with a contract.

• Mephisto used Gabriel and the unconscious Johnny as hostages to stop Nexus from attacking.
• Richard ignored Mephisto’s offer to negotiate and charged Over Ray Schtrom Meteor, prompting Mephisto to flee and abandon the cage.
• A duplicate of Nexus used Binding Ray to pull the cage and its hostages out of the beam’s path.
• Nexus struck Mephisto with Over Ray Schtrom, leaving him badly injured but alive; Mephisto then offered to withdraw the devils from the human world.
• Gabriel explained that killing Mephisto would disrupt Hell’s balance and proposed that they sign a contract.

Mephisto signed Gabriel’s agreement, surrendered Zarathos’s soul, and let the group leave Hell. Gabriel thanked Richard, who asked for a holy weapon as a memento, and she later brought him a collection of enchanted weapons.

• Gabriel rejected Mephisto’s attempts to exploit loopholes and made him sign her agreement.
• Mephisto handed over Zarathos’s fragments, and Johnny Blaze agreed to be freed from the Ghost Rider curse.
• The group left Hell, and Gabriel thanked Richard for helping Heaven.
• Richard declined Gabriel’s offer of a feather and asked for enchanted weapons with holy attributes.
• Gabriel brought Richard a pile of enchanted weapons imbued with holy light.

After the supernatural battle ended, Richard rewarded Amora with the Angel Scepter and brought Heaven’s remaining divine artifacts to Odin. Odin showed him the Eternal Flame, and Richard absorbed about one-third of its energy before leaving plenty behind.

• Mephisto returned to Hell, the remaining devils withdrew from Earth, and Gabriel returned to Heaven with the elemental demon fragments.
• The world’s vampire population was nearly wiped out, and investigations found no evidence of the vampires’ supposed infection weapon.
• Amora asked Richard to show his appreciation, and he gave her the Angel Scepter while Wanda received Gabriel’s holy water.
• Richard traveled to Asgard and offered Odin Heaven’s battle axe in exchange for the Eternal Flame.
• Richard absorbed about one-third of the Eternal Flame’s essence while Odin watched.

Richard traded enchanted weapons to Odin for the Eternal Flame and Brisingamen Necklace, then learned that Knull, the god of the symbiotes, was returning. Odin warned that Knull was not yet in Midgard, but his minions might be.

• Richard thanked Odin for the Eternal Flame, then traded him the Octagonal Purple-Gold Hammer for the Brisingamen Necklace and offered another enchanted sword.
• As Richard prepared to leave, Odin asked whether he remembered an ancient being who had challenged the Celestials.
• Odin showed Richard visions of Knull resisting the Celestials, killing one, dying in their siege, and later reviving as the source of the symbiotes.
• Richard recognized Knull and worried that the god of the symbiotes might target Earth.
• Odin told Richard that Knull was not yet in Midgard, though his minions could be there.

Odin warned Richard that the Symbiote Dragon remained buried on Earth and might awaken soon, prompting Richard to investigate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s old symbiote experiments. The records led him to Dr. Whitehall, and Richard arranged to confront him.

• Odin told Richard that Thor had only temporarily defeated the Symbiote Dragon and that its body remained buried on Earth.
• Richard returned to Earth and had Agent Sitwell search S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archives for records about the dragon and symbiote experiments.
• Agent Sitwell found files about 1960s S.H.I.E.L.D. experiments that had produced uncontrollable symbiote agents, but the records omitted what happened to the symbiotes afterward.
• Agent Sitwell uncovered evidence that Dr. Whitehall had obtained the symbiote project records and copies from Pierce in exchange for money and powered individuals.
• Richard arranged a meeting with Dr. Whitehall to find out what he knew about the symbiotes.

Richard visited Whitehall to obtain Hydra’s files and leads about the Symbiote Dragon, offering him the Obelisk as payment. Whitehall was astonished when Richard handled the artifact unharmed and produced a second one.

• Richard followed Sunil Bakshi through Whitehall’s base to meet Dr. Whitehall.
• Richard asked Whitehall for the files and leads concerning the Symbiote Dragon that Pierce had traded to him.
• Whitehall demanded a price for the information, and Richard placed an Obelisk on his desk.
• Whitehall recognized the Obelisk and asked how Richard could touch it without being petrified.
• Richard produced a second Obelisk, leaving Whitehall nearly jumping from his chair.