Chapter Summaries

Lu Xi restored the destroyed Kree warship and returned to Earth, where he found the Avengers’ battle still raging because Professor Erik remained under mind control. After seeing Mordo’s exhaustion, Lu Xi learned that even Infinite Firepower Mode could not prevent the strain of prolonged large-scale magic.

• Daisy worried that the Moon’s altered gravity might cause disasters, and Lu Xi assured everyone that his time magic prevented any effects on Earth.
• Lu Xi restored the broken [World Destroyer] warship with spacetime power and stored it in his Hell Dimension.
• Lu Xi returned everyone to the villa courtyard and discovered that the Avengers were still fighting the Chitauri near Stark Tower.
• Lu Xi realized that Professor Erik had not revealed how to close the portal because he was still controlled and hiding from the Asgardians beating Loki.
• Lu Xi appeared beside Mordo, who admitted that prolonged use of high-level magic had exhausted his soul and mind.

Lu Xi redirected the Chitauri invasion through a portal to Hala, provoking the Kree Empire, while he left the Earth portal open and considered the gains from the attack. As world leaders demanded answers from Nick Fury about the alien invasion, its political consequences began to unfold.

• Lu Xi placed a golden portal against the Tesseract’s blue portal, sending the Chitauri to Hala, where the Supreme Intelligence ordered the Kree fleets to attack them.
• Lu Xi passed through the Tesseract’s barrier, and Thor explained that only the power of another Infinity Stone could ignore it.
• Lu Xi left the portal open so the Chitauri and Kree could fight, then returned home to review his gains, including control of Snake Shield and the souls of its agents.
• Steve Rogers collected the Mind Scepter for S.H.I.E.L.D. to study while Lu Xi anticipated that the research would lead to Ultron.
• World leaders summoned Nick Fury to explain the invasion, and President Ellis threatened to imprison him if he failed to provide answers.

Nick Fury told world leaders that he had summoned the aliens and pledged S.H.I.E.L.D. to Lucifer, leaving them unable to challenge him. The leaders argued over how to respond, and the meeting ended in a fight over national pride.

• Fury admitted that the Kree had arrived on Earth and said he had traded his soul to Lucifer for help.
• Fury revealed that his Tesseract research had emitted a signal that drew the other aliens through the portal.
• Fury warned the leaders that S.H.I.E.L.D. had pledged itself to Lucifer, while the Union Jack-wearing gentleman and the Russian called for the organization to be disbanded.
• Ellis accused the Russian of planting a four-star general who had proposed using nuclear weapons against Lucifer, and the Russian admitted the man was a spy.
• The French representative suggested joining Lucifer, prompting the Union Jack-wearing gentleman to mock France and sparking a chaotic argument.

World leaders debated how to respond to Lucifer and the supernatural forces under his command, with Ellis proposing cooperation and expansion into space. Lu Xi secretly confirmed he could hear them, leaving the leaders terrified and uncertain.

• After Nick Fury left, Ellis warned the leaders that people with soul deals with Lucifer could undermine their authority and that supernatural powers would reshape the world order.
• Russia argued that the leaders had no way to fight beings such as aliens, mages, gods, and demons, while the middle-aged man urged them to pursue mutually beneficial cooperation instead.
• The middle-aged man proposed joining Lucifer's side, and Ellis supported the idea of using their influence to target alien powers such as the Kree Empire.
• The old gentleman rejected surrendering to Lucifer, but the middle-aged man warned that Lucifer might be listening to them.
• Lu Xi spoke through the conference room, frightening the leaders; he ignored Ellis's calls, and the men slowly sat down in shock.

Ellis and the other leaders agreed to form a Global Federation under Lu Xi’s influence, while Lu Xi approved of the plan as a way to reach people with potential. On the moon, Black Bolt and the Inhumans chose to trade their souls for protection and were transported to Kamar-Taj.

• Ellis, Russia, and the other leaders unanimously backed forming a Global Federation and proposed a real-name vote to overcome opposition.
• Ellis reasoned that Lucifer might accept people who sincerely submitted, and the leaders agreed to settle the federation’s affairs before seeking his approval.
• Lu Xi approved of the federation proposal because it could help him contract people such as Tony Stark and Scott Lang, then turned his attention to the moon.
• Black Bolt gathered the Inhumans, and Medusa translated his explanation of their choice to evacuate the moon by trading their souls or seeking a home themselves.
• The Inhumans chose to trade their souls, and Black Bolt contacted Lu Xi with the decision.
• The Inhumans signed the contracts and appeared on Kamar-Taj’s training ground.

Lu Xi brought Black Bolt and the other Inhumans to Kamar-Taj, where he used the authority of Destiny to let Black Bolt speak and control his destructive power. After explaining that Inhuman abilities borrowed the Universe’s laws, Lu Xi ordered Mordo to arrange for the group to live at Kamar-Taj.

• Lu Xi introduced himself as Lucifer and used his power to let Black Bolt speak without unleashing his destructive sound waves.
• Black Bolt tested his restored control by firing a hypersonic wave at Lu Xi, who stopped it in midair.
• Lu Xi asked about the Inhumans’ origins, and Black Bolt explained that they had been created through Kree genetic experiments.
• Lu Xi explained that Inhuman powers borrowed the Universe’s laws through their genes, though their abilities had fixed limits.
• Lu Xi told Mordo to arrange for the Inhumans to live at Kamar-Taj, and Mordo agreed.

Lu Xi accepted the rewritten Genesis that cast him as the Creator and learned that religious upheaval had brought believers to New York. He summoned Pierce to test whether he could implant artificial superpowers in an ordinary person.

• Pierce reported that Ellis’s group was pushing for an Earth Federation and that churches had rewritten their scriptures to worship Lu Xi.
• Lu Xi accepted the new Genesis, while Pierce explained that most people had switched faith and that clashes between new and old believers were erupting in New York.
• Lu Xi dismissed Pierce’s offer to find him a secluded residence, explaining that magic hid his home from the unqualified.
• Lu Xi told Pierce that his work on soul contracts had earned him a reward and chose him as the test subject for experiments granting superpowers.
• Lu Xi explained that he planned to imitate Inhuman abilities by implanting a segment of the Universe’s rules into Pierce.

Lu Xi created a strength-and-defense superpower for Pierce by assembling fragments of the Power Authority, then tested its limits. After Thor brought the shackled Loki before him, Lu Xi offered Loki freedom if he could defeat Pierce, and Loki confidently accepted.

• Lu Xi chose the Power Authority and gave Pierce a superpower that greatly enhanced his strength, reactions, and durability.
• Pierce tested his new ability by leaping high, surviving a fall, and taking a bullet without injury.
• Lu Xi concluded that Pierce’s power had a limited ceiling because the Superpower App was assembled from poorly understood, cobbled-together rules.
• Thor brought Loki to Lu Xi and asked how Loki should be punished after Earth’s aftermath had been handled.
• Lu Xi offered to free Loki if he defeated Pierce, and Loki accepted, assuming an ordinary Earthling would be easy to beat.

In the Mirror Dimension, Pierce defeated Loki and then fought Thor, growing stronger as the battle continued until he pinned Thor. Lu Xi offered to teach Thor Pierce’s ability in exchange for his soul.

• Lu Xi trapped Loki in the Mirror Dimension, where Pierce knocked him out after Loki’s escape attempt and attacks failed.
• Lu Xi teased Thor by showing him a dancing woman on his phone and claiming she was Thor.
• Thor agreed to fight Pierce without Mjolnir, but Pierce adapted during the fight and eventually pinned him.
• Lu Xi explained that Pierce grew stronger through battle, then offered to teach Thor the ability if Thor signed away a soul.

Lu Xi persuaded Thor to contract his soul by showing him a future in which Frigga died protecting Jane Foster, and promised to help Asgard face future disasters. After the contract, Lu Xi gave Thor memories of his future command of Thor’s Power, and Thor began testing his newfound abilities.

• Thor told Lu Xi that he was willing to make a soul contract, but Asgard had hoped to reserve its souls for a future crisis.
• Lu Xi showed Thor and Loki a vision of the Cursed Warrior killing Frigga while she protected Jane Foster.
• Thor agreed to the contract and pressed his handprint onto Lu Xi’s scroll, after which Lu Xi sealed the authority he received.
• Lu Xi copied Thor’s memories of using Thor’s Power from thirty years in the future and placed them in Thor’s consciousness.
• Thor awakened his lightning powers and blasted a massive crater into the Mirror Dimension as he excitedly tested his abilities.

Thor and Loki accepted Lu Xi’s Soul Contracts, after which Lu Xi tested his new authority in the cosmic void. Meanwhile, Nick Fury settled into his studies at a renovated Kamar-Taj and learned that Strange’s magical talent surpassed even Wong’s.

• Thor asked Lu Xi how Loki should be punished, and Lu Xi offered Loki two years in prison followed by work for him if he signed a contract.
• Loki reluctantly signed the Soul Contract, and Lu Xi sent Thor, Loki, and Pierce away after returning everyone to the courtyard.
• Lu Xi traveled to the edge of the Universe and began fusing with his new authority, unleashing a terrifying radiance that twisted and destroyed the surrounding space.
• Fury walked through Kamar-Taj as an apprentice mage, where S.H.I.E.L.D. funding had supported extensive renovations and magic training for agents.
• Fury asked Wong for more books, and Wong told him to study with Strange, whose innate magical talent surpassed his own.

Nick Fury’s attempt to contact Captain Marvel Carol Danvers brought her to Kamar-Taj, where a misunderstanding escalated into a battle between Carol and the mages. After Kaecilius, Mordo, and Wong confronted her, Carol was stunned by what she saw after Kaecilius struck back.

• Nick Fury answered Carol Danvers’s pager call, and she said she had already located him and would arrive at Kamar-Taj.
• Carol arrived in the sky above Kamar-Taj, and the mages raised a magical shield while Nick Fury tried to tell her they were allies.
• A rookie mage’s lapse opened a gap in the shield, and Kaecilius struck Carol with ten Bolts of Balthakk, forcing her back outside.
• Carol retaliated with a powerful energy beam that battered the shield, and Mordo, Kaecilius, and Wong decided to confront her.
• Mordo opened a portal, and he, Kaecilius, and Wong stepped outside the shield to face Carol; after Kaecilius struck her lightning, Carol’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Carol Danvers and the three mages faced off in the Mirror Dimension while Fury searched for help outside. Fury brought Alexander Pierce to the battle, but the space beyond the shield began to crack moments after Pierce entered.

• The three mages created thousands of duplicates and challenged Carol, prompting Mordo to move the fight into the Mirror Dimension.
• Fury failed to contact Carol or Lucifer, and Peggy, Steve, and Natasha searched for someone who could help.
• Rumlow said Alexander Pierce had received a permanent superpower from the Lord and claimed Pierce had defeated Thor.
• Fury called Pierce, who agreed to help and stepped through a portal into the Mirror Dimension.
• Mage Hamir closed the portal, but the space beyond the shield soon fractured and bright energy flickered through the cracks.

Carol broke free of the mages’ restraints in Binary Form and blasted apart Kamar-Taj’s magical shield. At the edge of the Universe, Lu Xi recognized his new Multiversal reach and renamed Earth-19998 the Lucifer's Morningstar Universe.

• Mordo, Wong, and Kaecilius bound Carol with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak while Pierce tried to choke her unconscious.
• Carol unleashed a shockwave that threw Pierce and the mages away, shattered the magical chains, and destroyed Kamar-Taj’s shield.
• The remaining mages attacked Carol with spells as she prepared to strike back with a powerful punch.
• Lu Xi smoothed the distorted space and time at the Universe’s edge and realized he could extend his power across the Multiverse.
• Lu Xi renamed Earth-19998 the Lucifer's Morningstar Universe and then sensed something on Earth.

Lu Xi stopped the battle at Kamar-Taj and confronted Carol Danvers after she arrived to help Nick Fury. He challenged her claim that she had returned to Earth to help, while Pierce listed his titles and revealed that Earth was his territory.

• Lu Xi froze time at Kamar-Taj as Carol Danvers and over a thousand sorcerers clashed, leaving their minds active while their bodies were restrained.
• Lu Xi arrived carrying the Tesseract, erased the attacks, and released everyone from the temporal pause.
• Lu Xi recognized Carol as Captain Marvel and questioned why she had come to his territory.
• Carol said she had answered Nick Fury’s call and acted in self-defense, but Lu Xi pointed out that the crisis had ended days earlier.
• Pierce listed Lu Xi’s titles and declared Earth his private territory, making Carol realize that he was the God-King of Asgard.

Lu Xi exposed Carol’s past interventions and renamed her Cosmic Mediator, then settled the misunderstanding between her and the sorcerers. After everyone else left, Kaecilius stayed behind to report something privately to Lu Xi.

• Carol acknowledged Asgard’s authority over Earth and explained that she had returned after helping people across the Universe.
• Lu Xi pulled images from Carol’s memories, showing both her rescues and the resentment her interventions had caused.
• Pierce called Carol a Cosmic Mediator, and Lu Xi used his authority to change how the Universe perceived her title.
• Nick Fury apologized to Lu Xi, while Mordo, Kaecilius, and Wong agreed to let the misunderstanding pass.
• Nick Fury invited Carol to stay on Earth, and Lu Xi dismissed the others.
• Kaecilius stayed behind and asked to report something to Lu Xi, who led him to his private office.

Kaecilius told Lu Xi that Dormammu had tempted him to steal the Book of Cagliostro and summon him, so Lu Xi ordered Kaecilius to pretend to betray Kamar-Taj as part of a plan. Meanwhile, Nick Fury brought Carol to a New York crowded with pilgrims to Lucifer, where a fight broke out between his new believers and two priests.

• Kaecilius told Lu Xi that Dormammu had marked his consciousness and promised him power and immortality in exchange for stealing the Book of Cagliostro and summoning him.
• Lu Xi found Dormammu's hidden mark in Kaecilius's mind and ordered him to accept Dormammu's offer and make his apparent betrayal convincing.
• Lu Xi told Kaecilius to wait until he gave the signal, after glancing toward Strange.
• Nick Fury brought Carol through crowded New York and explained that people had come to make a pilgrimage to Lucifer.
• A group of Lucifer's new believers attacked two priests, calling them heretics and striking one priest in the mouth.

Carol discovered that Earth had changed drastically while she was away: Lucifer had become a widely worshipped god, and the authorities tolerated his followers. Nick Fury explained that people believed Lucifer had demonstrated immense power, while a broadcast announced the formation of the Earth Federation and its plan to make Lucifer Earth's ruler.

• Carol watched New Church believers beat two priests, then saw NYPD officers ignore the fight and walk away.
• Nick Fury explained that the priests had insulted Lucifer, and Carol read a copy of Genesis before Nick warned her not to criticize it aloud.
• Nick Fury told Carol that Lucifer had defeated the Kree invasion and was believed to wield Universal-level power, prompting people around the world to worship him in hopes of gaining power.
• A Daily Bugle broadcast announced that referendums had confirmed the formation of the Earth Federation.
• Nick Fury told Carol that the Earth Federation was intended to install Lucifer as Earth's ruler, leaving her shocked that nations had agreed so quickly.

Nick Fury warned Carol about confronting Lucifer, but she remained determined to investigate his intentions. Meanwhile, the Earth Federation announced Lucifer as humanity’s one true god in a global ceremony, and Lu Xi prepared to surprise the new believers.

• Nick Fury told Carol that Earth’s leaders had submitted to Lucifer after witnessing his power and that, despite his protection, his intentions remained unknown.
• Carol decided to speak with Lucifer and investigate his sudden increase in power, while Nick Fury urged her to be careful.
• Pierce told Lu Xi that the Earth Federation had prepared a statue unveiling and global broadcast, and Lu Xi gave permission for the ceremony.
• Ellis announced that humanity had formed the Earth Federation and would worship Lucifer as its one and only god, prompting believers and onlookers to cheer.
• Lu Xi watched the ceremony from Kamar-Taj, sensed the incoming Faith Power, and raised a hand to create a greater spectacle for the believers.

Lu Xi healed the most devout believers around the world and decided to make Carol Danvers serve him by exploiting her guilt over the Skrulls. After showing Carol the Skrulls’ plot to infiltrate Earth, he confronted her about leaving them there, and she tried to explain that she had intended to find them a home.

• Lu Xi bathed the world in radiant light, curing the illnesses of people whose faith in him was strong and prompting believers to praise him.
• Lu Xi decided Carol Danvers would be the right person to help Earth’s leaders expand into the Universe, and devised a plan to claim her soul and make her work for him.
• Lu Xi teleported Carol from New York to Kamar-Taj after she set out to question him about manipulating the public’s faith.
• Carol insisted she had the right to intervene as an Earthling, and Lu Xi accused her of neglecting Earth while leaving the Skrulls behind.
• Lu Xi showed Carol the Skrulls’ secret infiltration and conspiracy against Earth, shocking her with what she had failed to discover.
• Carol said she had meant to find the Skrulls a new home and help them end their wandering.