Chapter Summaries

After the Red House Base was destroyed, Nick Fury and the survivors searched for Natasha but found no trace of her, so he invited Melina, Alexei, and Yelena to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha had been rescued to Kamar-Taj, where she woke up as Kaecilius and Mordo argued over who was responsible for her injuries.

• Nick Fury's team searched the Red House ruins and found survivors, but no sign of Natasha.
• Nick Fury told Melina, Alexei, and Yelena about Kamar-Taj and asked them to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Alexei, Yelena, and Melina each agreed to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• At Kamar-Taj, Kaecilius and Mordo argued about their failure to prevent Natasha from being caught in the explosion.
• Natasha woke up and told Kaecilius and Mordo to stop arguing because she was fine.

Natasha reunited with Mordo and Kaecilius after taking revenge on Dreykov, then returned to Kamar-Taj and admitted her unauthorized departure to Feng Xu. Feng Xu ordered her to remain in the sect until she reached the Qi Refining Realm, leaving her unable to visit her family for now.

• Natasha told Mordo and Kaecilius what had happened, and the three argued about her revenge before she urged them to cultivate harder.
• Mordo reminded Natasha that leaving without permission had broken sect rules and told her to see Feng Xu.
• Natasha found Feng Xu playing chess with Ancient One, whose orange-cat avatar heard her thoughts and insisted she was not a pervert.
• Feng Xu told Natasha to cultivate peacefully now that her worldly ties were settled, but punished her by forbidding her to leave the sect until she reached the Qi Refining Realm.
• Natasha began to protest that she still had not seen her sister and family, but Feng Xu silenced her and she accepted the order.

Natasha focused on cultivation so she could reunite with her family, while the Ethereal Ascension Sect expanded into a full cultivation sect and struggled to maintain its spiritual energy. Mordo and Kaecilius proposed drawing power from Dormammu’s Dark Dimension, but Natasha rejected their dangerous plan and threw them out.

• Natasha asked Feng Xu whether her family could join the sect, and Ancient One explained that they would need aptitude and to pass trials.
• Over the next few years, the Ethereal Ascension Sect expanded, its disciples settled on specialized peaks, and Ancient One used his clones to produce Spirit Stones for the Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• As the expanded sect’s spiritual energy thinned and the Time Stone could not supply more, Ancient One considered targeting the Space Stone in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Tesseract.
• Mordo and Kaecilius told Natasha that the Book of Cagliostro could help them draw spiritual energy from the Dark Dimension or enter it to cultivate.
• Natasha realized the plan would risk provoking Dormammu, so she dismissed the Golden Armored Warriors’ tea service and threw Mordo and Kaecilius out.

Natasha reluctantly agreed to help Mordo and Kaecilius after they paid her with treasured materials, then learned their plan was to use an improved portal spell to open a breach into the Dark Dimension and absorb its energy. The two wanted her Immortal Artifact Jade Pendant to hold off Dormammu briefly if he discovered the breach, leaving Natasha wary of the danger.

• Mordo and Kaecilius persuaded Natasha to join their plan by invoking Feng Xu's teachings and giving her White Jade Bone and Blood Drop as protection fees.
• Natasha accepted the materials and teased the two about lacking an Immortal Artifact Jade Pendant like hers.
• Kaecilius explained that they planned to open a huge breach in the Dark Dimension with the Sect Master's improved portal spell and cultivate by absorbing its energy.
• Natasha realized Mordo and Kaecilius wanted her jade pendant to delay Dormammu if he discovered the breach, rather than relying on Teacher to clean up.

Natasha helped Mordo and Kaecilius prepare a courtyard for opening a portal to the Dark Dimension, while the two bickered as usual. Their ritual opened the portal, and Dormammu recognized Kaecilius’s curse and threatened to kill him.

• Natasha summoned the Fortune and Virtue Deity, who built a courtyard on Spirit-Commanding Peak.
• Mordo and Kaecilius argued over their demon arts and their supposed friendship before preparing to summon Dormammu.
• Kaecilius began the summoning ritual while Natasha readied her jade pendant to block Dormammu from entering.
• Kaecilius cursed Dormammu during the final part of the incantation, and Mordo completed the portal to the Dark Dimension.
• Dormammu recognized the curse and angrily vowed to kill Kaecilius.

Mordo, Kaecilius, and Natasha opened a portal to siphon energy from Dormammu’s Dark Dimension, only to discover that Ancient One was already provoking Dormammu there. Ancient One escaped after demonstrating her growing power, while the three disciples watched from their hidden portal.

• Dormammu sensed the disturbance as Mordo, Kaecilius, and Natasha prepared to close their portal, and they realized Ancient One was also in the Dark Dimension stealing energy.
• Kaecilius convinced the others that Dormammu would blame Ancient One for any energy loss, but Dormammu announced that he had caught her.
• Mordo turned the portal’s view toward the fight and saw Dormammu crush and devour Ancient One while Mordo and Kaecilius tried to rush to her aid.
• Ancient One emerged through another portal, enraged Dormammu with taunts, and used the Eye of Agamotto to collapse his giant dark form.
• Ancient One caught Dormammu’s punch, demanded he tolerate her energy gathering, then covered the disciples’ portal with a floating planet and escaped through another portal.
• Dormammu raged after Ancient One fled, then left the Dark Dimension resentfully.

Natasha accidentally sent Mordo into the Dark Dimension with a Golden Armored Warrior’s punch, and Kaecilius and Natasha followed to rescue him. Feng Xu let them face the danger as training, while his jade pendant protected them from death; after Dormammu appeared, Natasha used the Earth Deity to take the group underground.

• Natasha summoned a Golden Armored Warrior, which punched Mordo through the portal into the Dark Dimension.
• Kaecilius jumped in after Mordo, and Natasha followed after sending an immortal crane to alert Feng Xu and Ancient One.
• Feng Xu told Ancient One that the trio could use the Dark Dimension to gain experience and that Natasha’s jade pendant would protect them from mortal danger.
• Kaecilius found Mordo unconscious, and Natasha caught up with them on the drifting celestial body.
• Dormammu’s giant face appeared, so Natasha summoned the Earth Deity to take all three underground.

Natasha, Kaecilius, and Mordo hid in the Dark Dimension and cultivated while waiting for rescue. When Clea arrived and tried to introduce herself, they attacked and bound her, and she finally shouted that she had come to help because Dormammu had killed her father and exiled her mother.

• Tu Xingsun concealed Natasha, Kaecilius, and the unconscious Mordo from a powerful presence until it left, and Kaecilius woke Mordo.
• Natasha apologized for accidentally sending Mordo through the portal, while Kaecilius explained that they lacked Earth’s coordinates to open a portal home.
• The three decided to wait for rescue and cultivate the dense dark energy underground.
• Clea cut through the ground and entered their shelter, but Natasha, Kaecilius, and Mordo attacked before she could finish introducing herself.
• Clea drove back their blood and skeletal attacks briefly, but Tu Xingsun bound her with his Immortal-Binding Rope.
• Clea shouted that she had a grudge against Dormammu, who had killed her father and exiled her mother, and that she had come to help.

Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius captured Clea but accepted her claim that she hated Dormammu and might help them. Clea revealed that she could open dimensional barriers and was Dormammu’s niece, leaving the group wary of her true purpose.

• Clea convinced Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius to release her after claiming that Dormammu had killed her father and exiled her mother.
• Natasha judged from the Immortal-Binding Rope that Clea was telling the truth, and the three mages agreed to hear her out.
• Clea explained that she had watched Ancient One fight Dormammu and had followed Natasha and the others into the Dark Dimension.
• Clea told the group that eighteen hours had passed on Earth, making Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius fear they had been trapped there for too long.
• Clea tore open a dimensional barrier, shocking Mordo and Kaecilius, who demanded to know her identity and motives.
• Clea revealed that her mother was Dormammu’s younger sister, making Dormammu her uncle.

Clea recounted how Dormammu seized the Dark World and drove her into exile, then asked Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius for help joining Kamar-Taj. She learned that Kamar-Taj had become the Ethereal Ascension Sect, which taught cultivation instead of magic, and Natasha began explaining its practices.

• Clea told Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius how Dormammu took control of the Dark World, killed her father, and hunted her because she could inherit the throne.
• Natasha and Kaecilius sympathized with Clea, while Mordo asked what she wanted from them.
• Clea asked to join Kamar-Taj as the Sorcerer Supreme's disciple so she could learn powerful magic, and the group agreed to help within reason.
• Natasha warned Clea that Ancient One was a bad teacher, and Mordo explained that Kamar-Taj had been renamed the Ethereal Ascension Sect and now taught cultivation.
• Clea connected the sect's cultivation to the powerful attack she had witnessed, and Natasha offered to explain cultivation and unlocking the body's hidden potential.

Clea brought Natasha and the others toward Earth, but Dormammu redirected their portal to the Moon and attacked them. A mysterious golden-light phantom appeared, crushed Dormammu with a single command, and left Clea wondering whether it was a creator god.

• Clea opened a portal that brought her and Natasha's group to the Moon instead of Earth, and she realized Dormammu had interfered with it.
• Dormammu appeared above the Moon, revealed that he had set a trap for Clea, and fired a devastating beam at Natasha and the others.
• Clea cried out as the beam struck, but a golden-light phantom appeared and immobilized her with its overwhelming aura.
• The phantom said, "Scram," and Dormammu's nebula disintegrated as his body collapsed and his flames went out.
• Clea stared at the phantom and asked whether it was a creator god.

Natasha and her companions explained Feng Xu’s power and the protective jade pendant to Clea as Dormammu escaped. Feng Xu’s phantom repaired the moon before the group returned to face punishment, with Natasha hoping Clea’s discovery would earn her leniency.

• Natasha told Clea that Feng Xu was her teacher and the sect master, while Mordo and Kaecilius explained Ancient One’s role in the sect.
• Natasha revealed that Feng Xu’s jade pendant had protected them, and Clea urged her to use its phantom to kill Dormammu.
• Natasha explained that the phantom only acted to protect them, while Kaecilius encouraged Clea to join the sect and grow strong enough to challenge Dormammu.
• Dormammu escaped through a portal, and Feng Xu’s phantom used the Time Law to restore the moon and its orbit before dissipating.
• Mordo opened a portal to take the group back for punishment, but Natasha grabbed Clea and went through first, hoping that finding a potential new disciple would reduce her penalty.

Clea arrived at the Ethereal Ascension Sect with Natasha, Mordo, and Kaecilius, then eagerly asked Feng Xu to accept her as a disciple. Feng Xu offered Clea a test to resolve a coming disaster caused by their actions, while Natasha received punishment for leaving confinement.

• Wong confronted Natasha about returning from outside, and Natasha blamed Mordo and Kaecilius for leading them into the Dark Dimension.
• Ancient One summoned Natasha and Clea to meet Feng Xu, while Wong sent Mordo and Kaecilius to the Enforcement Hall for punishment.
• Clea bowed before Feng Xu and asked to become his disciple, but Ancient One said Clea had arrived too early and that her joining the sect should happen in the future.
• Feng Xu offered Clea admission if she resolved a coming disaster caused by their actions, and Clea looked to Natasha for help.
• Feng Xu punished Natasha by withholding her Spirit Stone allowance for half a year and ordering her to copy the sect rules one thousand times, then ordered Mordo and Kaecilius punished as well.

A mysterious force awakened Malekith and the Dark Elves, while loosening the Aether seal on Earth and obscuring Heimdall’s vision. Odin sent Thor and Loki to Midgard to protect the seal, then went to seek Frigga’s help and planned to visit Ancient One.

• A surge of power awakened Malekith and the Dark Elves inside their hidden warship in the asteroid belt, and Malekith vowed to reclaim the Aether.
• Heimdall told Odin that the Dark Elves had awakened, the Aether seal on Midgard had loosened, and an unknown force and Kamar-Taj were beyond his sight.
• Odin ordered Thor and Loki to go to Midgard and protect the Aether seal, hoping the dangerous mission would help them mature.
• Thor rushed out of the palace to face the enemy, leaving Loki behind as Odin headed to Frigga to seek her magic and prepare to visit Ancient One.

Odin visited Kamar-Taj, now renamed the Ethereal Ascension Sect, and discovered that Ancient One and her followers practiced a strange new power called cultivation. After Odin refused to join, Ancient One restrained his illusion and dragged him inside for a tour.

• Malekith learned that the seal's entrance connected to Midgard had loosened and ordered Algrim to leave for Midgard to obtain the Aether before Asgard could act.
• Odin arrived at the Ethereal Ascension Sect and was astonished by its immense energy and Ancient One's bizarre appearances in a cat, the mountain gate, and other objects.
• Ancient One told Odin that the Darkhold and Book of Vishanti had been thrown into an interdimensional node, and that a powerful being had taught the sect cultivation.
• Ancient One assured Odin that someone from the sect had been sent to handle his two sons' troubles and invited him to join to address his lifespan and physical problems.
• Odin refused the invitation, but Ancient One restrained his illusion and dragged him into the sect for a tour.

S.H.I.E.L.D. took over the anomalous RUNICO Shipping Company warehouse, where agents discovered warped gravity and an abyss-like doorway that pulled in nearby objects. As they investigated, something crashed into buildings outside and attacked the police cordon.

• The London police commissioner handed the sealed warehouse over to Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D., where Yelena briefed them on the spatial and gravitational anomalies.
• Yelena showed Coulson and the agents that a cargo rack could float, then demonstrated that objects fell endlessly through a stairwell gap and sometimes disappeared.
• Yelena identified a boarded-up door as a possible source of the anomaly and warned the agents to open it only slightly.
• The agents pried open the boards, triggering a powerful suction that pulled dust, debris, and Sylvie's glasses into the dark gap before they shut it again.
• A crash outside brought down buildings, and agents called for backup and opened fire on the unknown threat.

Dark Elves attacked London while S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Alexei to fight their aircraft. After Malekith transformed Algrim into a Cursed Warrior, Algrim struck Alexei down.

• Coulson warned S.H.I.E.L.D. of an alien invasion as Malekith's warship and escort aircraft attacked London.
• Nick Fury ordered the Avengers and Quinjets into action and instructed agents to contact the people inside the three buildings.
• Alexei leaped between escort aircraft and destroyed three of them, alarming Malekith with his strength.
• Malekith implanted an Aether fragment in Algrim, transforming him into a Cursed Warrior.
• Alexei bragged to Yelena about his strength, but Algrim dropped from the sky and smashed him into the ground.

Yelena and Alexei fought Algrim until Thor arrived with Loki and Asgardian soldiers to face the Dark Elves. Thor was quickly thrown into Loki, then insisted he felt no pain and had grown stronger.

• Yelena attacked Algrim to free Alexei, but Algrim grabbed her until Alexei broke free and kicked him back.
• Algrim battered Alexei, then threw a Black Hole Grenade that pulled Alexei and Yelena toward a singularity.
• Thor arrived and rescued Alexei and Yelena, though he accidentally sent them crashing into rubble.
• Loki arrived with Thor's guards and Asgardian soldiers as the Dark Elves turned their attack on them.
• Algrim knocked Thor's hammer aside and hurled Thor into Loki, after which Thor claimed his body had grown stronger.

Thor tried to protect Loki, then fought Algrim and was rescued by Alexei before Algrim knocked him down. Meanwhile, Natasha and Clea arrived at the London Sanctum and were told to complete their master's test quickly because the situation outside was critical.

• Thor realized he had mistaken Loki's attention-seeking pranks for hostility and promised to protect him, but Algrim sent Loki flying.
• Thor struck Algrim with a lightning-charged blow, but Algrim regenerated and grabbed Thor by the throat.
• Algrim knocked the injured royal guards unconscious, and Alexei rescued Thor with his shield.
• Thor and Alexei tried to attack Algrim together, but Thor's lightning also shocked Alexei, and Algrim slapped Thor into the ground.
• Natasha and Clea arrived at the London Sanctum, where a mage urged them to complete their master's test before the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents outside tore the Sanctum apart.

Natasha and Clea left the Sanctum after learning that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Yelena and Alexei, were fighting the Dark Elves. Natasha arrived on the battlefield just as Algrim was about to kill Alexei, and confronted him after finding her father badly beaten.

• Natasha learned that Yelena and Alexei were among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents involved in the Dark Elf invasion and rushed out of the Sanctum with Clea.
• Malekith gave three Cursed Stones to his guards, who transformed and overwhelmed the Asgardian soldiers as he headed for the warehouse containing the Aether.
• Yelena told Alexei that Natasha was coming, and Alexei distracted Thor by boasting about Natasha's summoning ability.
• Algrim knocked Thor away, then beat Alexei severely and prepared to deliver a final blow.
• Natasha arrived on the Golden Armored Warrior, knocked Algrim aside, and confronted him while Clea warned him that he had hurt Natasha's father.