Chapter Summaries

Blaze recovered after defeating Blackheart and met the succubus Lilith Selene, while Richard took Blackheart and Mephisto's Clone to the Crimson Dimension and used their Death Law fragments to create Valhalla. Richard then brought the new floating palace to the fog-covered New Mexico desert, where it began to stir the mysterious fog.

• Blaze accepted the succubus Lilith Selene's help, and Richard took custody of the souls of Blaze's foster father and ex-girlfriend so they could be reincarnated later.
• Richard stored Blackheart's cocoon and left Blaze to recover with Lilith Selene.
• In the Crimson Dimension, Richard crushed Blackheart and Mephisto's Clone, extracted their Death Law fragments, and used them to build Valhalla.
• Richard inspected Valhalla, judged its Underworld laws incomplete, and shrank the floating palace into his hand.
• Richard brought Valhalla to the fog-covered New Mexico desert and dropped it into the fog, making the mist churn violently.

Tony Stark showed President Ellis that the New Mexico desert’s white fog matched the shape of Rome’s Colosseum, though he admitted he did not know why. He recommended moving the army another twenty kilometers back and preparing for a full evacuation.

• The white fog outside the desert began spreading, so US military commanders ordered the troops to retreat ten kilometers; the fog then settled, leaving them uncertain whether to return.
• President Ellis brought the military’s dilemma to an emergency expert meeting, where experts proposed conflicting plans for containing or investigating the fog.
• President Ellis asked Tony Stark for his opinion, and Tony dismissed the experts’ suggestions as useless before presenting a holographic map of the desert.
• Tony overlaid aerial footage of Rome’s Colosseum onto the desert fog, and the two images matched seamlessly.
• Tony advised President Ellis to move the army another twenty kilometers back and remain ready to evacuate entirely.

Tony warned President Ellis that the desert white fog might be part of a mysterious trial or alien conflict, then offered Rhodes a chance to see the hidden world and took him through a portal. At Mjolnir Base, Richard assigned Thor to fight invading dimensional minions and resurrected fallen Source Star warriors, who were sent to the battlefield.

• Tony advised President Ellis to withdraw twenty kilometers and cautioned that provoking the white fog could make it spread, then left the conference room with Rhodes.
• Rhodes asked Tony to share what he knew, agreed to enter the hidden world, and followed Tony through a crimson portal.
• Richard assigned Phil Coulson and his team to run the Mjolnir Base and ordered Thor to clear dimensional minions from a white fog zone.
• Richard activated the Human Sovereign Banner, sending the souls of fallen tribal leaders to the Soul Shaping Hall to be resurrected.
• Old Tree and Bamboo Elder recognized each other after their resurrection, then the revived warriors were summoned and sent to the battlefield.

Tiamut changed the rules of the white mist sectors, giving Heroic Spirits visible attributes and health bars while making damage and terrain automatically recover. As dimensional invaders entered White Mist Sector 1, Figo Muller and the Arbiters opened fire from the War Fortress.

• Tiamut sent an illusory blue sphere into the desert mist, changing the world rules across the white mist sectors.
• Old Tree and Bamboo Elder discovered their attributes and health bars, tested their abilities, and found that damage and terrain repaired themselves.
• Inquisitor Stephens Fleigel escorted Old Tree and Bamboo Elder to a War Fortress to await the invaders.
• High Priestess Strucker and the New York Sanctum sorcerers connected their ley lines to the desert mist, creating a trap at the magic array gap.
• Fear Lord Bethus and his Beetle Legion entered White Mist Sector 1 and advanced on the War Fortress.
• Figo Muller ordered the Arbiters to defend the walls; he struck Bethus with a grenade, then the Arbiters fired on the charging Fear Legion.

Figo and the Arbiters held off the Fear Legion with crimson weapons while Kaecilius fought the Fear Lord Bethus and protected the defenders from its attacks. Bethus opened a fissure beneath the city wall, leaving the Arbiters falling and the minions pouring into the War Fortress.

• Figo ordered the Arbiters to switch to flamethrowers, and they used crimson fire to hold back the Fear Legion minions.
• Kaecilius intercepted Bethus’s attack on Figo, forcing the Fear Lord to withdraw into shadow space.
• Bethus killed Harris and frightened the Arbiters, but Kaecilius used the Mind-Calming Secret Art to restore their resolve.
• Kaecilius created a crimson sword and shield for every Arbiter and set the Crimson Veil above them ablaze.
• Bethus split the city wall beneath the Arbiters, sending them tumbling as the Fear Legion minions surged into the War Fortress.

Kaecilius watched the Arbiters sacrifice themselves to wipe out the Fear Legion minions at the city wall, then flew above the war fortress to summon a vast storm. Bethus empowered himself with the heart of a minion and faced Kaecilius as the wizard completed an amplification array and called down lightning.

• Figo ordered the Arbiters to form three-person teams, but Bethus ambushed and killed Figo and his squad.
• Kaecilius's crimson longsword failed to strike Bethus, who escaped into the Shadow Space.
• The Arbiters unleashed Crimson Meteor Burst attacks, destroying the minions in the wall's cracks at the cost of their own lives.
• Kaecilius flew above the fortress and summoned dark clouds and lightning, while Bethus discovered the Shadow Space would not open.
• Bethus sacrificed a minion's heart to summon Akkad's power, transforming into a more formidable form.
• Kaecilius carved an amplification array across the sky and commanded the thunder to fall through it.

Kaecilius used his death to draw the lightning onto Fear Lord Bethus, leaving the Fear Lord gravely wounded and captured. The battle in White Mist Sector 1 ended, but fighting continued in other sectors, where Thor faced a giant hand.

• Fear Lord Bethus broke through the amplification formation and pierced Kaecilius with his claws, but Kaecilius died without feeling fear.
• Lightning converged on Kaecilius's corpse and struck Bethus, shattering his Black Glazed Carapace and leaving him unconscious.
• Inquisitor Figo Muller and the Arbiter Detachment emerged from a tunnel and killed the surviving Fear Legion minions.
• Kaecilius bound Bethus with Crimson Chains of Destiny and opened a portal to transfer him to Kamar-Taj.
• Thor charged an enormous Bone Dragon in White Mist Sector 23, but a gigantic palm swatted him underground.

Cass Soren fought a Bone Dragon while Yuri and Gibson struggled to carry the unconscious Thor the God of Thunder, whose Mjolnir lifted itself from his chest. Cass was knocked down by the dragon, then killed by Soul Hunter Chloes, leaving his crimson greatsword to dissolve.

• Cass ordered Yuri and Gibson to take the unconscious Soren to the base safe zone, but the three of them could not lift him while he held Mjolnir.
• Mjolnir rose into the air with Soren's arm, and Yuri and Gibson carried him away as Cass returned to battle.
• Cass challenged a Bone Dragon, cut through its Death Dragon Breath, and was struck into the ground after clashing with its claw.
• The Bone Dragon turned away after receiving an order, and Soul Hunter Chloes sent a gray palm through Cass, killing him.
• Cass's crimson greatsword lost its Mana and dissolved after his death.

Richard personally destroyed the Soul-Hunting Army in White Mist Sector 23, then comforted his revived allies and prepared the Heroic Spirits to fight again. Thor woke believing his companions were dead, while Phil Coulson later explained to Melinda May that the sector’s defenders could resurrect like players in a game.

• Richard froze and shattered White Mist Sector 23, annihilating the Soul-Hunting Army and capturing the wounded Croesus.
• Richard restored the sector, welcomed Leonzos, Uldon, Cass Soren, and the Arbiters, and urged Cass to master his Berserker Bloodline.
• Leonzos and Uldon challenged each other to compete over who would kill more enemies.
• Fitz revived Thor, who believed Cass and the Arbiter detachment had died and grieved that he had failed to protect his companions.
• Phil Coulson told Melinda May that Richard had changed the sector’s rules so their people could resurrect after death, and May began making a request.

After Richard intervened in White Mist Zone 23, the arbiters across the War Fortress rallied and drove the invaders out of multiple zones. In an Asgardian detention cell, Loki confronted Frigga about his Frost Giant origins and accused Odin of hiding his bloody past, including the truth about Hela.

• Phil Coulson refused Melinda May’s request, insisting they had to stay and secure logistics for the White Mist Zone.
• After news of Richard’s intervention spread, the arbiters fought more fiercely, and the unsealed heroic spirits helped clear invaders from the War Fortress.
• In White Mist Zone 13, Old Tree immobilized a stone giant with Wild Growth, Bamboo Elder sealed the fortress perimeter with a bamboo forest, and Stephens Fregel ordered the arbiters to attack the trapped stone elementals.
• Arbiters in zones including White Mist Zone 19, White Mist Zone 28, and White Mist Zone 33 drove out the invaders, while resurrected fighters returned stronger and more devoted to the Lord of Crimson.
• Frigga asked Loki whether he truly wanted to kill Thor, and Loki revealed that he knew Laufey was his biological father and believed Odin had taken him from Jotunheim as part of a plan.
• Loki told Frigga that he had discovered Odin’s erased history with Hela through Gungnir and accused Odin of making Hela bear the blame for his own massacres.

Loki learned that the Lord of Evil Spirits planned to invade Earth and was forced to cooperate despite knowing Richard had set a trap. Loki broke a golden Sphere to escape his imprisonment, while Richard and his companions arrived in New York and Reynolds began speaking with Kim.

• Frigga left Loki's cell to warn Odin that news of Hela had leaked and threatened Asgard's safety.
• The Lord of Evil Spirits ordered Loki to guide an Evil Spirit Squad into Earth, and Loki warned that Richard had set a trap.
• The Lord of Evil Spirits threatened Loki with their soul contract and said the squad was already on its way.
• Loki broke a golden Sphere covered in Odinforce, causing a seal in a mysterious place to crack and release dark-red liquid.
• Richard, Reynolds, Mills, and Kim arrived at New York Airport, where Reynolds stayed with Kim while Old Bryan went to get the car.
• Reynolds awkwardly spoke with Kim, who said she and Amanda had noticed his shyness at school.

Reynolds and Kim shared a kiss at the airport and planned a date, but Reynolds had to fly to Taipei after his mother feared something was wrong with Lucy. Kim accepted the cancellation, and she and Bryan continued on their way from the airport.

• Kim praised Reynolds, and he tried to prove he liked sports by placing her hand against his chest.
• Bryan arrived and called Kim to the car, but Kim kissed Reynolds on the cheek and told him she had time that weekend.
• Reynolds went home, where Mrs. Reynolds worried that Lucy sounded sad on the phone and pushed him to leave for Taipei immediately.
• Reynolds called Kim to explain that he had to visit Lucy and cancel their planned date.
• Kim offered to reschedule the date after Reynolds returned, then told Bryan her first date had fallen through before it began.

Reynolds tracked his missing sister Lucy and learned through Richard that she was in Hong Kong, where she had forced a surgeon to remove CPH4 from her abdomen. After the doctor explained the substance’s effects, Lucy realized she would not live long.

• Reynolds failed to reach Lucy, hacked surveillance footage, and traced her abduction to a ship bound for South Korea or Hong Kong.
• Richard showed Reynolds that Lucy was armed and forcing her way through a hospital, then directed him to fly to Hong Kong.
• Reynolds returned to the airport after telling his taxi driver to turn around, and the frightened driver sped away without taking his fare.
• In a Hong Kong operating room, Lucy ordered a surgeon at gunpoint to remove the damaged bag of CPH4 from her abdomen.
• The surgeon explained that CPH4 was an extremely potent substance associated with fetal development, and Lucy concluded that she would not live long.

Lucy escaped the hospital with half a bag of CPH4 after undergoing surgery to remove it, while the surgeon and his assistant decided to conceal her identity from the police. She reunited with her brother Reynolds in a motel and told him that South Koreans had implanted the substance in her stomach and that it had dissolved into her body.

• Lucy left the operating room with the remaining CPH4, and the chief surgeon told his assistant to report the shooting while hiding her identity from the police.
• Lucy evaded the approaching police and received a call from her brother Reynolds, who told her to wait at a motel in Hong Kong.
• A young man who passed Reynolds's call to Lucy asked if she was a spy, but Lucy denied it and sent him away.
• Reynolds arrived three hours later, and Lucy embraced him before explaining that South Koreans had implanted CPH4 in her stomach and that it had dissolved into her body.

Reynolds found Lucy after she had ingested CPH4, which was rapidly changing her body and erasing her emotions. Richard arrived and offered to save her by conducting an experiment inside her body, leaving Lucy flushed and Reynolds stunned.

• Lucy told Reynolds that she had ingested a large amount of CPH4 and was gaining abilities while losing her emotions.
• Reynolds called for Richard, who appeared and used Crimson Mana to examine the blue CPH4 spreading through Lucy's body.
• Lucy touched Richard and read his memories, then declared that she would become the world's only true deity as her powers grew.
• Reynolds called their mother, and speaking with her helped Lucy regain some of her human emotions.
• Richard offered to save Lucy if she cooperated with an experiment, saying he would enter her body and experience her transformation firsthand.

Richard healed Lucy, separated a new individual from her true spirit, and left Reynolds a magic clone to help him take revenge. In the Marvel universe, Richard accelerated the new Lucy’s evolution, and she was left suffering alone in a world dissolving around her.

• Richard split a second Lucy from Lucy, restored Lucy’s body, and transferred her CPH4 into the new individual.
• Lucy said she hoped the new Lucy would survive but did not want her to remain in this world, so Richard took her away.
• Richard gave Reynolds a magic clone that could remain for one day, and Reynolds took Lucy home through a Portal before preparing to seek revenge.
• Richard returned to the Marvel universe with the new Lucy in a miniature Mirror Dimension and accelerated time inside it fivefold.
• Richard added a sliver of his true spirit to the new Lucy as her CPH4-driven evolution began, leaving her in agony as the surrounding world vanished.

Lucy survived being burned to ash and discovered she could reconstruct matter and affect space inside the Mirror Dimension, while Richard observed and learned from her abilities. As Lucy’s brain development reached 93% and her CPH4 ran out, Richard recreated a trace of the substance and realized her power felt strangely familiar.

• Lucy’s body burned to ash, then reformed, revealing her ability to reconstruct matter and transform her arm into different objects.
• Lucy’s growing brain development let her perceive the Rhombic Space Fragments and create spatial fluctuations, but Richard reinforced the Mirror Dimension from outside.
• A Space Storm formed inside the dimension and threatened Lucy, so Richard opened a door to release it before closing the door and reinforcing the space again.
• With Lucy’s CPH4 nearly exhausted and her brain developed to 93%, Richard used his new matter reconstruction insight to produce a trace of CPH4.
• Richard recognized that Lucy’s ability felt familiar and reacted in shock.

As Lucy's brain evolved and she became part of the mirror dimension, she captured the trace of Richard's true spirit that had been bound to her soul. She learned that the spirit was a fragment of Richard, then caught it revealing that his time magic came from the main body.

• Lucy completed her brain's evolution, vanished from the mirror dimension's interior, and became part of the dimension itself.
• Richard sensed that Lucy's true spirit remained alive but could no longer reach or locate her.
• Lucy discovered the foreign trace of true spirit in her soul and grabbed it, forcing it to speak through threats and chatter.
• The golden light broke open to reveal a tiny Q-version Richard, who introduced himself and recounted his past as a surgeon and the strongest Sorcerer Supreme.
• Lucy questioned Q-version Richard about her time-accelerating magic, and he accidentally revealed that it belonged to his main body.

Lucy learned that CPH4 was driving her evolution and challenged whether her new powers made her a deity, while Chibi Richard could not give her a clear answer. At Mjolnir Base, Thor accidentally covered Fitz in noodles, and Phil Coulson hurried after Thor when he realized his suggestion to apologize over drinks would be disastrous.

• Lucy questioned Chibi Richard about CPH4 and learned that it promoted physical evolution and brain development, possibly to the point of becoming a deity.
• Lucy listed her powers and argued that she had surpassed the practitioners, but Chibi Richard admitted he did not know whether she counted as a deity.
• Thor sneezed noodles across Fitz, knocking him backward, and Fitz left after ordering Thor to stop.
• Thor asked Phil Coulson how to apologize, and Phil suggested inviting Fitz for a drink without knowing Fitz avoided alcohol and Thor could drink for hours.
• Melinda May explained the problem to Phil, who rushed off to stop Thor, while Skye saved and distributed a video of the incident.

Inside the mirror dimension, Q-version Richard told Lucy that she could be a deity because she could control space and time and even retrieve the dead, but warned that he and Lucy were about to disappear. After Q-version Richard vanished, Lucy grieved, then tore open the dimension’s sky.

• Lucy claimed she could control space and time, recreate bodies, and steal souls to bring the dead back, while Q-version Richard praised her and warned that such power could damage the universe.
• Q-version Richard told Lucy that they would soon die, and Richard abruptly opened his eyes outside the miniature mirror dimension and realized they had appeared.
• Q-version Richard explained that he had known he could exist only briefly, then asked Lucy to smile before his body faded away.
• Lucy tried to keep smiling as Q-version Richard vanished, then wept and thanked him for making her happy.
• Lucy raised both hands and tore open the mirror dimension’s spatial wall.