Chapter Summaries

Loki’s attempt to frame Laufey and claim the throne was interrupted when Thor and Lu Xi arrived in Asgard, but Laufey defeated both brothers. Lu Xi then captured Laufey for an experiment, alerting the awakening Odin to the arrival of a powerful stranger.

• Loki went to the Bifrost to let Laufey into Asgard and planned to stage a rescue of Odin.
• After Heimdall failed to answer Thor’s call, Lu Xi opened a portal to Asgard, and Thor and Lu Xi stepped through.
• Loki attacked Laufey and urged Thor to fight him, but Laufey repelled their attacks and froze both brothers.
• Laufey attacked Lu Xi with ice spikes, but Lu Xi shattered them, restrained Laufey, and dragged him into his Hell Territory.
• Odin sensed an unfamiliar powerhouse, summoned Gungnir, and prepared for battle.

Thor welcomed Lu Xi to Asgard after Odin awoke, then showed him the treasures in Odin's Vault and took the Destroyer to have it made into durable, changeable clothing. Odin, uneasy about Lu Xi's strength, ordered Heimdall to investigate him on Earth.

• Thor freed himself on the Bifrost, captured the frozen Loki, and brought Lu Xi to meet the newly awakened Odin.
• Odin assessed Lu Xi and learned from Thor how he had helped thwart Loki's conspiracy; Lu Xi sensed that Odin's immense Divine Power was damaging his body.
• Thor invited Lu Xi to stay in Asgard, and Lu Xi agreed to look around.
• Thor showed Lu Xi the vault's treasures, including the Eternal Flame, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and the Infinity Gauntlet, but Lu Xi declined to take anything.
• Thor took the flattened Destroyer to the Bifrost to have the Dwarf King make Lu Xi durable, changeable clothing.
• Odin told Heimdall to gather detailed information about Lu Xi's character and conduct on Earth.

After Loki and several prisoners escaped during a prison riot, Lu Xi explored Asgard and encountered Sif capturing the fugitive Lorelei. Intrigued by Lorelei’s Voice Enchantment, he persuaded Sif to let him keep her under his watch.

• Odin ordered Huginn to investigate Lu Xi and told Asgard’s citizens to treat him as an honored guest, then learned Loki had escaped amid a prison riot.
• Sif and the Warriors Three pursued the fugitives while Thor went to find the Dwarf King and Lu Xi explored Asgard.
• Lu Xi encountered Sleipnir in a forest and watched Sif capture Lorelei, one of the escaped prisoners.
• Lorelei tried to use Voice Enchantment to make Lu Xi free her and stop Sif, but the spell had no effect on him.
• Lorelei explained that her enchantment fulfilled people’s deepest desires, and Lu Xi asked Sif to let him keep her because the ability might be useful.

Lu Xi took Lorelei under his wing as Odin publicly stripped Loki of his princehood and expelled him from the Asgardian pantheon. During the announcement, Odin suddenly fell into a confused state, then attacked Lu Xi, leaving the cause of his abrupt hostility unclear.

• Lu Xi told Lorelei he was Lucifer, Lord of Hell and Sorcerer Supreme, and offered her a place at his side if her Voice Enchantment proved useful on Earth.
• Sif reported that Loki had escaped Asgard, and Odin concluded Loki must answer for his crimes despite his flight.
• Odin summoned Asgardians and civilians to the plaza, stripped Loki of his status as prince, expelled him from the pantheon, and offered a reward for his capture.
• Lu Xi and Lorelei watched the crowd condemn Loki, while Lu Xi laughed at the stories of Loki's childhood misdeeds.
• Odin became confused and his Divine Power surged chaotically; after Fandral roused him, Odin accused Lu Xi of invading Asgard and attacked him with Gungnir.
• Lu Xi deflected Odin's first blast and took to the air, where Odin pursued him and fired a barrage of energy blasts.

Lu Xi defeated Odin in a brutal fight and subdued him until his Divine Power returned to normal. Odin then explained Asgard’s dangers to Frigga and, with little time left, made a plan to protect the realm, beginning by ordering a banquet in the Golden Palace.

• Odin merged his power with Asgard and broke Lu Xi’s telekinetic hold, but Lu Xi seized Gungnir and beat him in a tug-of-war brawl before restraining him.
• Lu Xi used telekinesis to lock down Asgard, weakening Odin’s aura and restoring his senses; Odin apologized, and Thor helped him back to the palace.
• Odin refused to enter Odin’s Sleep, telling Frigga that Asgard faced threats from within, Laufey’s disappearance, and the Nine Realms’ unrest.
• Odin summoned Heimdall, heard his report about Lu Xi, and then discussed a plan with Frigga to address Asgard’s troubles.
• Odin ordered a banquet in the Golden Palace that night and instructed a guard to invite Lu Xi and Asgard’s high-ranking gods.

After apologizing for attacking Lu Xi, Odin appointed him Asgard’s Executive Deputy All-Father and asked him to save Asgard from Ragnarok. Lu Xi accepted the role and began considering whether Asgard’s power boost could stack with his Hell-lord enhancement.

• Thor invited Lu Xi and Lorelei to Odin’s banquet in the Golden Palace.
• Odin explained that his failing condition had caused his attack on Lu Xi and offered him the position of Executive Deputy All-Father.
• Odin warned that Ragnarok would repeatedly destroy Asgard unless someone powerful enough broke its converging force, and offered his soul in exchange for Lu Xi’s help.
• Odin declared Lu Xi the new All-Father, and the assembled gods, including Thor, knelt to greet him.
• Frigga gave Lu Xi the God-King Armor, which acknowledged him as its master.
• Lu Xi accepted the appointment and considered whether Asgard’s lord enhancement could combine with his Hell-lord buff.

Lu Xi became Asgard’s true God King after Odin transferred the highest authority to him and removed Hela’s reserve authority. Odin prepared to return to Odin’s Sleep, leaving Asgard and Thor in Lu Xi’s care.

• Odin led Lu Xi to Asgard’s underground Divine Power Core and explained that destroying it would shatter the continent.
• Odin began the authority-transfer ritual, and Lu Xi merged his aura with the core, gaining a connection to Asgard and its power.
• Lu Xi discovered his authority ranked above another, and Odin revealed that it had displaced Hela’s reserve God King authority.
• Odin explained that Lu Xi’s first-priority authority would grant him greater Divine Power, while Frigga would handle most routine affairs.
• Odin told Lu Xi he would return to Odin’s Sleep and asked him to care for Asgard and Thor, then imprinted Lu Xi’s Divine Power Contract with his aura.

Lu Xi accepted Odin’s contract and became Asgard’s God-King, then tested his new armor and reunited with Thor at the banquet. Thor accepted that Lu Xi would rule and said he was better suited to fighting as a general.

• Odin explained that the Soul Contract would send his soul to Lu Xi after his death and that Valhalla could not offer souls the growth of the Hell Dimension.
• Odin recommended assigning Sif as Lu Xi’s Throne Guard, and Lu Xi agreed after rejecting Heimdall as an alternative.
• Lu Xi tested the God-King Armor’s clothing and combat forms, then returned to the banquet hall.
• Thor asked about Odin, and Lu Xi told him that Odin had entered Odin’s Sleep.
• Lu Xi joked about Thor calling him Dad, reassured him that their friendship was unchanged, and asked how he felt about losing the throne.
• Thor said his exile had taught him that he was unsuited to rule and preferred serving as a fighting general.

Lu Xi defeated Thor and several Asgardian gods in a drinking contest, then tested his Divine Realm power and considered joining Hell Territory to it. On Earth, the desperate Stephen Strange searched for Kamar-Taj but was mistaken for someone seeking adult entertainment.

• Lu Xi enchanted Thor's cup with an infinite-refill spell, got Thor drunk, and then brought down most of Asgard's high-ranking gods with one cup.
• Lu Xi tested the Divine Realm's power boost and briefly tried to strip Thor of his power before canceling the attempt.
• Lu Xi wondered how to combine the Divine Realm and Hell Territory buffs, then summoned his Hell Dimension to descend.
• After learning about Kamar-Taj from a recovered patient, Stephen Strange spent his remaining money on a one-way ticket and searched for the place.
• A bearded man mistook Stephen Strange's question about Kamar-Taj for a request for adult entertainment, and Strange said he had no money.

Mordo rescued Strange from street thugs, prompting Strange to seek training at Kamar-Taj, while Lu Xi learned that the Hell Dimension could not be overlaid onto the real world. As Lu Xi prepared to leave Asgard for Earth, Sif presented him with a newly selected, all-female Throne Guard chosen by Odin.

• Strange tried to fight off thugs who demanded his watch, but Mordo drove them away with magical whips and returned the watch to him.
• Strange begged Mordo to teach him magic, but Mordo vanished through a portal and reported to Lu Xi that Strange had taken the bait.
• Lu Xi summoned Mordo and asked how to overlay the Hell Dimension onto the real world, and Mordo explained that doing so would cause it to devour the real dimension.
• Lu Xi told Mordo to arrange trials for Strange, then said goodbye to Frigga and prepared to return to Earth with Lorelei.
• Sif presented Lu Xi with the Throne Guard, an all-female unit selected by Odin, leaving Lu Xi to question what Odin thought of him.

Lu Xi returned to his New York villa as Asgard's All-Father and explained his new roles to his companions and Maria Hill. He gave Wanda the Darkhold, promised Helen Cho a Soul Forge to study, and asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to fund Kamar-Taj, leaving Hill worried about how to pay.

• Lu Xi arrived at his villa with Lorelei, Sif, and his all-female guard squad, then told Daisy, Wanda, Helen Cho, and Maria Hill that he was Asgard's All-Father.
• Lu Xi showed the group scenes of Asgard and explained that he had also become the Sorcerer Supreme, then gave Wanda the Darkhold and warned her not to summon Chthon casually.
• Wong sensed that the Darkhold had disappeared from Kamar-Taj's library and suspected that Lu Xi had taken it.
• Helen Cho asked to study Asgard's Soul Forge, and Lu Xi agreed to have one sent to her.
• Lu Xi told Hill that S.H.I.E.L.D. should fund renovations, salaries, and insurance for Kamar-Taj's sorcerers, but Hill said the agency's budget was already allocated and required World Security Council approval.

Lu Xi offered S.H.I.E.L.D. access to Kamar-Taj’s magic training in exchange for funding, secretly intending to draw recruits into his grind-or-pay scheme. After going with Lorelei to meet Doctor Zola and Bucky, he left Nick Fury planning to send money and agents to Kamar-Taj while seeking a way to counter the hidden Skrulls.

• Lu Xi offered Hill expanded enrollment at Kamar-Taj in exchange for S.H.I.E.L.D. funding, and Hill agreed to report the proposal.
• Lu Xi privately planned to recruit S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, expecting them either to grind through missions or pay for magical power.
• Lu Xi took Lorelei through a portal to Doctor Zola’s underground base and asked Zola to unlock Bucky so he could speak with him.
• Hill told Nick Fury about Kamar-Taj and its battles against powerful demons, prompting Fury to send an initial one hundred million and select agents for magic training.
• Fury asked Hill whether the mutual assistance agreement with Thor remained valid after Asgard’s king changed, then summoned Clint and Natasha to his office.

Lu Xi’s attempt to use Lorelei’s Voice Enchantment to force a soul contract failed, and he realized the contract required the other person’s voluntary consent. He turned his attention to Steve’s search for Bucky and let Lorelei stay with him, unaware that she hoped to become Asgard’s queen.

• Lu Xi concluded that Voice Enchantment could not override the rules of his soul contract and considered Bucky a possible route to contracting Steve’s soul.
• Steve searched S.H.I.E.L.D.’s data for Bucky, but Sitwell reported that surveillance had found no trace of him.
• Steve suspected Bucky had become a brainwashed Hydra weapon but kept his fears to himself, while Lu Xi watched and recognized that Hydra might be concealing Bucky.
• Lu Xi dismissed Lorelei’s contract attempt and offered to pardon her if she returned to Asgard without causing trouble.
• Lorelei flirted with Lu Xi and persuaded him to let her stay, secretly hoping to use the opportunity to become Asgard’s queen.

Lu Xi freed Bucky from Hydra’s brainwashing in exchange for a signed contract, then brought Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton to Kamar-Taj to begin their training. As they questioned the gym-like practices, Lu Xi ordered Mordo and Kaecilius to spar.

• Bucky revealed that he had regained his will and remembered his years under brainwashing, then chose freedom and signed Lu Xi’s contract.
• Hill delivered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first $100 million payment and introduced Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton as its first candidates for Kamar-Taj.
• Lu Xi brought Natasha and Barton through a portal to Kamar-Taj, where they saw the mages practicing martial arts.
• Mordo told Natasha and Barton to join the training, but they questioned why aspiring sorcerers needed martial arts practice.
• Lu Xi ordered Mordo and Kaecilius to hold a sparring match, and the other mages cleared the training grounds to watch.

Mordo defeated Kaecilius in a protected magic sparring match, impressing Strange, Natasha, and Barton with the sorcerers’ power. Lu Xi announced that Kamar-Taj would cooperate with secular organizations to face coming crises and promised funding, salaries, and insurance for its sorcerers.

• Lu Xi stopped Mordo from opening the Mirror Dimension and protected the training grounds with a Psychic Barrier as Mordo and Kaecilius unleashed their magic.
• Strange, Natasha, and Barton watched the battle in shock, while Natasha recorded it for Nick Fury and Lu Xi’s recruitment plan.
• Mordo organized his duplicates into coordinated groups and defeated Kaecilius’s disorganized duplicates.
• Lu Xi advised Kaecilius to improve his spellcasting proficiency, especially his control over the Image of Ikonn duplicates.
• Lu Xi told the sorcerers that Kamar-Taj would cooperate with secular organizations and take a more active role in addressing coming crises.
• Lu Xi promised funding to renovate Kamar-Taj and proposed monthly salaries of one hundred thousand for official sorcerers, along with insurance.

Lu Xi introduced generous pay and retirement benefits for Kamar-Taj’s mages, then returned to his Hell Dimension to turn Laufey into a source of magical energy. Laufey became Kamar-Taj’s oversized power bank, supplied by the Casket of Ancient Winters.

• Lu Xi announced salaries and a retirement system for mages, then entrusted Kaecilius with handling the benefits.
• Lu Xi remembered Laufey and went to the Hell Dimension, while Mordo showed Natasha, Barton, and Strange around Kamar-Taj.
• Strange recognized Lu Xi as the Angel who had beaten the Hulk and recalled losing a race to him.
• Lu Xi bound Laufey in formations that extracted his frost magic and converted it into elemental magic for contracted mages.
• Lu Xi placed the Casket of Ancient Winters in the formations to replenish Laufey, extending his usefulness as Kamar-Taj’s power source to at least a hundred years.

Lu Xi discovered that Peggy Carter had aged because she had depleted the Divine Power he gave her, then used her restoration and information about Bucky to persuade Steve to trade his soul. Steve accepted, hoping Lu Xi would reunite him with Bucky, clear Bucky’s past, settle his conflict with Tony Stark, and restore Peggy’s youth.

• Lu Xi returned to the villa and found middle-aged Peggy Carter accusing him of breaking their deal to preserve her youth.
• Lu Xi determined Peggy had used up much of her Divine Power while handling supernatural cases, and he refused to restore her without a new bargain.
• Lu Xi revealed that Bucky Barnes was a Hydra agent and showed Steve and Peggy footage of Bucky killing Howard and Maria Stark.
• Lu Xi promised to reunite Steve with Bucky, clear Bucky’s identity and past, resolve the conflict with Tony Stark, and restore Peggy’s youth in exchange for Steve’s soul.
• Steve agreed to trade his soul with Lu Xi.

Steve traded his soul to Lu Xi so Peggy could be saved and Bucky could be brought back. Lu Xi restored Peggy’s youth, freed Bucky from Hydra, and left Steve, Peggy, and Bucky together while keeping Lu Xi’s knowledge of Hydra secret.

• Steve insisted on signing Lu Xi’s Soul Contract, saying he wanted to make up for failing to save Bucky and to help Peggy.
• The contract greatly increased Lu Xi’s power, allowing him to see across the Universe and confront a Watcher beyond its edge.
• Lu Xi opened a portal, pulled Bucky out of a Hydra base, and learned that Bucky had recovered from Hydra’s brainwashing.
• Lu Xi erased Bucky’s old records and pardoned his past crimes, then used Divine Power to restore Peggy’s youth and offered her magical training.
• Steve, Peggy, and Bucky left together, and Lu Xi told Bucky to pretend he remembered nothing about Hydra.

After gaining preliminary control of Earth-19998, Lu Xi questioned the Watcher about his new Cosmic Authority and learned that he might eventually control every Authority in the Universe. The Watcher gave Lu Xi a way to contact him before leaving to observe activity in another Universe.

• Lu Xi discovered the designation [Earth-19998] on the Universe's barrier and confronted the Watcher outside it.
• The Watcher explained that Lu Xi had gained preliminary control of Cosmic Authority, potentially giving him the chance to control all Authority in the Universe.
• Lu Xi realized that his soul contracts had to align with the Universe's Destiny Authority and could not be secured through loopholes or deception.
• Lu Xi persuaded the Watcher to leave him a way to make contact, and the Watcher drew a symbol that could serve as a cross-dimensional phone number or summoning method.
• The Watcher sensed activity in another Universe and departed to observe it.

Peggy Carter and Steve concluded that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and wrongly identified Nick Fury as the chief suspect, then set out to expose him. Peggy overheard Sharon Carter discussing them and knocked her unconscious, while Fury's voice came from Sharon's fallen phone.

• Peggy Carter used S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued ballpoint pens found at a Hydra base as evidence that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., while Bucky stayed silent about what he knew.
• Steve and Peggy blamed Nick Fury for Hydra's presence, citing his destruction of Steve's report and unexplained missing S.H.I.E.L.D. funds.
• Steve, Peggy, and Bucky agreed on a plan to expose Fury and left the apartment.
• Peggy heard someone discussing her and Steve on a phone, broke into the room, and found Agent 13, Sharon Carter.
• Sharon drew her gun, but Peggy knocked her unconscious, and Nick Fury's voice came from the phone asking for a report.