Chapter Summaries

Taylor’s armored followers confronted Barbossa’s undead pirates aboard the Black Pearl while William helped defend the governor’s mansion. The pirates returned to their ship and attacked Hawkes and the others, who began crushing them under Taylor’s orders.

• Hawkes crushed the skulls of the three pirates left aboard, while Taylor read and Jack Sparrow waited anxiously in the captain’s cabin.
• After hearing the ship’s alarm, Barbossa and the pirates abandoned their assault on the governor’s mansion and rushed back to the Black Pearl.
• William collapsed after defending the mansion, and Elizabeth tended to him while the governor privately considered supporting their relationship and making William a tax officer.
• Barbossa returned to the Black Pearl with fifty or sixty undead pirates and demanded to know who Hawkes and the other armored figures were.
• Barbossa ordered the pirates to attack, and Hawkes crushed the skeletal monkey before he and the other armored figures charged into the undead mob.

Taylor tested the limits of the pirates’ immortality and found that reducing them to particles finer than powder stopped their regeneration. He summoned Barbossa to the cabin, while Jack taunted his old rival outside.

• Hawkes and the other three Achilles Warriors subdued Barbossa’s pirates after a day-and-night battle and kept them confined on deck.
• Taylor pulverized a pirate with spatial turbulence and confirmed that the curse could not regenerate a body reduced to particles finer than powder.
• Taylor explained to Jack that the cursed pirates were no longer human and ordered him to bring Barbossa into the captain’s cabin.
• Jack left the cabin, approached Barbossa, and mocked him by smearing makeup around his eye sockets.
• Barbossa tried to attack Jack, but an Achilles Warrior slapped his head off.

Taylor ordered Barbossa to steer the Black Pearl to the Cursed Gold Coins and demanded Barbossa's glass-eye token, while Calypso sensed an unsettling threat from afar.

• Barbossa found Taylor in the captain's cabin and agreed to take him to the stone coffin containing the Cursed Gold Coins.
• Taylor demanded Barbossa's glass eye, and Barbossa realized Taylor knew it was a token used to seal Calypso.
• Jack mocked Barbossa after he left the cabin, and Barbossa punched him before retrieving the glass eye from a skeletal pirate.
• Barbossa presented the glass eye to Taylor, then turned the Black Pearl toward the coins and plundered wealth.
• Calypso woke in her treehouse with a sense of unease and wondered whether the Pirate Lords were plotting against her.

Taylor led Jack Sparrow and Barbossa to the stone coffin containing the Cursed Gold Coins and discovered that its god had long been dead. He found an empty divine spark and considered using it to build a supercomputer for recording data.

• Taylor had Jack Sparrow and Barbossa guide him and Hawkes's warriors through the island's caves to the treasure-filled chamber.
• Taylor sensed that the stone coffin's undead curse came from a dead god and that the world's supernatural particles were rapidly fading.
• Taylor swept the Cursed Gold Coins aside and opened the coffin, finding a grayish-white crystal and powdery remains.
• Taylor identified the crystal as a divine spark and used special gloves to examine its empty shell.
• Taylor considered using the divine spark as a supercomputer for recording data.

Taylor transformed into Ghidorah and used his bloodline sorcery and Gravity Ray to destroy the island where Barbossa’s crew had hidden their treasure. As the island sank and a massive wave threatened the Black Pearl, Hawkes split the wave with his Chainsword.

• Jack mocked Barbossa for the pirates’ greed, and Barbossa defended their crimes before Jack tripped him into the mud.
• Taylor collected the empty godhead and bone ash, then left the island aboard the Black Pearl with Jack, Barbossa, Hawkes, and his subordinates.
• Taylor transformed into the Three-Headed Golden Dragon Ghidorah and unleashed a Supernatural Storm that overwhelmed Jack and scattered Barbossa’s bones across the deck.
• Taylor fired a Gravity Ray at the island’s geological node, shattering the island and burying its treasure beneath the collapsing ground and sea.
• Hawkes drew his Chainsword and split the giant wave rushing toward the Black Pearl.

After Taylor tested his Gravity Ray by destroying an island, Jack Sparrow and Barbossa woke aboard the Black Pearl and recalled the terrifying dragon and the devastation they had witnessed. Barbossa decided to serve Taylor, and Hawkes summoned both pirates to the deck for a task.

• Taylor returned to human form after blasting apart an island with his Gravity Ray, then went to the captain's cabin to continue his research.
• A day later, Jack woke below deck, remembered the storm and golden three-headed dragon, and wondered how such a legend could exist in the current era.
• Barbossa woke and decided he wanted to follow Taylor, hoping to regain his ability to eat apples and perhaps gain power or a longer life.
• Jack recognized Barbossa's intent and asked whether he planned to join the mysterious monster, and Barbossa said he considered Taylor a worthy lord to serve.
• Hawkes called down from the deck and ordered the two pirates to come up because Taylor had a task for them.
• Barbossa hurried to the deck, and Jack cleaned himself up and followed.

Taylor lifted Barbossa’s curse and demanded that Jack take him to Calypso, threatening to search Jack’s soul if he refused. Jack agreed to lead the way, while Barbossa pledged himself to Taylor and was told he might serve Taylor’s friend Kano.

• Taylor absorbed Barbossa’s curse into a crystal, restoring Barbossa’s flesh and senses.
• Taylor asked Jack about Calypso, and Barbossa slapped Jack when he made a suggestive gesture.
• Taylor demanded Calypso’s location and threatened to search Jack’s soul, so Jack personally took the helm to guide him there.
• Taylor asked Barbossa what he could offer as a subordinate, and Barbossa pledged everything, including his soul.
• Taylor told Barbossa that his friend Kano liked sea scum and pure villains, and Barbossa accepted the possibility of serving him.

Taylor and his companions reached Tia the Witch’s treehouse, where he saw through her sealed appearance and recognized her as the sea goddess Calypso in a Naga-like form. After disarming her with a wind blade, he told her to sit down and talk, leaving her fate in his hands.

• Taylor led Hawkes and the others across the sea toward Tia the Witch’s treehouse, while Jack Sparrow and Barbossa followed behind.
• Taylor examined the treehouse with his psychic power but sensed no supernatural strength from the woman inside.
• Tia the Witch entered to greet her guests and recoiled when she saw Taylor, whom she perceived as the Three-Headed Golden Dragon Brutality.
• Taylor saw Tia’s sealed appearance as a deep-blue, fish-tailed Naga-like being and regarded her as a valuable alien specimen.
• Taylor knocked the bone wand from Tia’s hand with a wind blade and told her to sit down and talk.

Taylor questioned Tia Dalma about how nine ordinary people had sealed her, and she explained that the world’s rules had been erasing gods and that the nine tokens had drained her remaining power. She revealed that destroying the tokens would let her reclaim the power she had scattered throughout the sea.

• Tia Dalma surrendered to Taylor, while Barbossa kicked Jack down the stairs into the seawater.
• Taylor asked Tia Dalma how mortals had managed to bring down a goddess, and she described the fragile illusion surrounding her true body.
• Tia Dalma said the world was losing its capacity for powerful beings, and gods under Odin and Zeus had already been erased by its rules.
• Tia Dalma explained that she had scattered most of her power through the sea to escape the world’s decline, but nine mortals used tokens bearing her aura to drain her remaining strength.
• Tia Dalma said she disrupted the draining with a final attack, and destroying the nine tokens would allow her to absorb their power and reclaim what she had scattered.

Taylor bound Tia Dalma and learned that she had used a stolen fragment of the God of Death’s authority to draw ordinary souls into the Demon Prison. He took her aboard the Black Pearl and set course for the prison, while Jack and Barbossa bickered behind him.

• Taylor restrained Tia Dalma and questioned her about how she gathered souls and had Davy Jones guide them.
• Tia Dalma explained that she had placed a stolen fragment of the God of Death’s authority in the northern Demon Prison to draw in souls.
• Taylor decided to take Tia Dalma to the Demon Prison and use selected souls to awaken the intelligence of his Achilles Warriors.
• Jack Sparrow was shaken by Tia Dalma’s helplessness, while Barbossa teased him about becoming his first mate.
• Taylor, Jack, and Barbossa returned to the Black Pearl, which set sail for the Demon Prison with Tia Dalma confined below deck.
• Taylor examined a dried wooden eyeball and a silver pendant-like coin, noting that both carried traces of aura and power.

Kano learned that Nick Fury had escaped with the Tesseract and gathered loyal agents at a hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. base. After sending Hydra away and ordering continued infiltration of Wakanda, Kano led the Achilles Warriors to surround Fury’s base and cut off its communications, preparing to attack.

• Kano berated Hydra’s leaders after Nick Fury fled with the Tesseract to a secret base.
• Kano rejected Alexander Pierce’s offer to lead an assault and ordered Hydra to continue infiltrating Wakanda cautiously.
• Kano borrowed power from the Blood Dimension and traveled to the hidden base beneath the Lonely Mountain.
• Nick Fury and Black Widow watched the base’s monitors while Fury worried that an unknown force had taken control of much of the world.
• Kano surrounded the Lonely Mountain with scarlet energy, linked his mind to the Achilles Warriors, and led them toward the base.

Nick Fury realized the Wizard was behind the approaching Achilles Warriors and prepared S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hidden base to defend the Tesseract. The chapter ended as the warriors reached the base’s alloy doors and began tearing them open.

• Nick Fury recognized the Achilles Warriors and concluded that the Wizard had manipulated events while evading S.H.I.E.L.D.’s surveillance.
• Black Widow asked Nick Fury what they should do, and he decided to defend the Tesseract rather than surrender.
• Nick Fury ordered the remaining loyal agents to set up layers of defenses using firearms, rockets, and laser weapons.
• Nick Fury addressed the agents and stood with the elite guards at the final firing line, expecting the Wizard to overwhelm them if the warriors fell.
• The Achilles Warriors reached the hidden base, and their captain led them in wrenching apart its steel alloy doors.

The Achilles Warriors stormed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret base, effortlessly crushing its defenses as Nick Fury and Black Widow faced the prospect of defeat. They advanced toward the Tesseract after wiping out the first firing lines and breaking through the elite agents’ laser crossfire.

• The Achilles Warriors tore open the alloy doors and killed the agents guarding the base’s entrance with Bolter fire.
• Nick Fury watched the defenses collapse and destroyed his control panel, while Black Widow feared she would die with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Warriors sensed the Tesseract and continued deeper into the base.
• At the triangular crossfire positions, elite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents scorched the Warriors’ armor with laser weapons, but the Warriors charged with Chainswords.
• The Achilles Warriors slaughtered the agents at the fourth, fifth, and sixth firing positions, extinguishing the laser fire.

The Achilles Warriors breached S.H.I.E.L.D.’s final defenses and killed Nick Fury and the remaining agents, including Black Widow. Outside Lonely Mountain, Kano captured Nick Fury’s soul after Fury used consciousness transfer to escape death.

• The Achilles Warriors slaughtered their way through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s successive defensive lines and reached Nick Fury’s position.
• Nick Fury reflected on his decision to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D. and prepared to face the invading warriors with his remaining elite agents.
• Nick Fury fired a personal laser cannon, killing one Achilles Warrior but dying from the weapon’s recoil and heat.
• Kano’s Bolters wiped out the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. forces, including Black Widow.
• Outside Lonely Mountain, Kano caught Nick Fury’s fleeing soul and realized Fury had used consciousness transfer.

Kano recovered the Tesseract and erased the secret base at Lonely Mountain with power borrowed from the Blood Dimension, while the Blood God decided to keep his head down. Taylor reached the Demon Prison with the Ocean Goddess and set out to find the scattered authority of the God of Death.

• Kano examined the Tesseract, put it in its case, and carried it away after completing his mission.
• Kano used the Blood Sea to corrode Lonely Mountain and the secret base until nothing remained.
• The Blood God replenished the power Kano had borrowed and resolved to avoid seeking revenge or provoking anyone.
• Taylor and the Ocean Goddess arrived at the Demon Prison, where she realized Davy Jones had not fulfilled his duty of ferrying the dead.
• Taylor asked the Ocean Goddess where the authority was, and she led him across the white wasteland to search for the God of Death's scattered authority.

Taylor led Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, Calypso, and the Achilles Warriors across the white desert to the place where the Authority of Death had fallen. A swarm of thousands of white crabs appeared, and Taylor ordered everyone to stay alert.

• Taylor searched the empty white desert for signs of life while the exhausted group continued traveling for three days and nights.
• Taylor judged Barbossa a more useful subordinate than Jack Sparrow and gave Barbossa apples and ice water.
• After two weeks, the group reached a smooth rocky wasteland rich in death element and learned they had arrived at the Authority of Death's resting place.
• Thousands of white crabs rushed toward the group, and Taylor ordered everyone to stay alert.
• An Achilles Warrior dropped Calypso and drew his Flame Bolter as the crabs approached.

Taylor investigated a swarm of white crabs in the land of deathly silence and discovered they were miraculous lifeforms whose claws could extract souls. He used his bloodline-control sorcery to claim the crabs, but the final drop of blood struck Barbossa instead.

• Taylor trapped the white crabs behind a disposable Tri-Prism Shield and scanned them with magic detection instruments.
• Taylor determined that the crabs had formed from Death Element and Water Element and could extract souls while stabilizing them.
• Taylor decided the crabs could become a source of income and prepared his Bloodline Control Sorcery to make them loyal to him.
• Taylor turned the prepared blood into invisible threads that touched the crabs, then flicked the remaining drop into Barbossa's forehead.

Taylor left Calypso’s lost trident behind, punished her, and departed the demonic realm after giving Jack Sparrow a magically enhanced Black Pearl and a crew of flesh puppets. Back at Silver Castle, Taylor learned that Gwen had become a vigilante and prepared to investigate the strange dormant factors in her blood.

• Calypso told Taylor that the Trident could not be found until her scattered power returned, but Taylor refused to help her recover it and Hawkes struck her down after she pointed at Taylor.
• Taylor left the demonic realm with his companions and gave Jack Sparrow runes to enhance the Black Pearl, flesh-puppet sailors, and a control crystal before departing.
• Jack set off to find Gibbs, but Commodore Norrington’s warships caught up with the Black Pearl and opened fire.
• Taylor returned to Silver Castle and learned from Tony that Gwen had been protecting people and animals as a vigilante called Spider-Woman.
• Taylor suspected Gwen’s powers might involve a native god and told Tony that he was ready to use Wizard research equipment to investigate dormant factors in Gwen’s blood.

Taylor analyzed Gwen's rapidly changing blood and discovered a golden substance tied to ancient totem gods. He realized Gwen was being positioned as the next Spider God, whose growing worship could eventually erode her independent will.

• Taylor found that Gwen's new blood sample contained nearly fifty times more unusual factors, then extracted a golden substance from it.
• Taylor spent nearly a week studying the substance and uncovered visions of an ancient rainbow spider and other primal beings worshipped as totem gods.
• Taylor watched the visions reveal the totem gods fading as civilization advanced and passing their power to successors.
• Taylor concluded that Gwen had inherited the Spider God's power and that growing faith in Spider-Woman could make her lose her independent will.

Tony Stark learned that Gwen’s new power might be changing her in dangerous ways, but she was already fighting Thor and Ghost Rider at a goat slaughterhouse. Taylor and Tony decided to go watch and bring another powerful figure, while Thor’s divine power began to awaken during the battle.

• Tony Stark called Gwen and learned she was fighting a blond brute and a flaming-skull rider in the West.
• Tony and Taylor decided to go see the bizarre fight, with Taylor eager to gather material from the supernatural beings.
• At an unregistered goat slaughterhouse, Ghost Rider knocked Thor down before Gwen kicked him away.
• Ghost Rider summoned two flaming demonic goats, and Gwen resisted their rage-inducing cries before burying them under earth and rubble.
• Thor charged Ghost Rider again as lightning began to surface in his fists, guided by memories of Odin.