Chapter Summaries

Richard tried to make Hela the Hell Dimension’s contractor, but learned she was already bound to Helheim and could not contract with another world or dimension. He began searching for a new candidate and called through a spatial rift to offer The Ancient One the chance to become a Dimension Lord.

• Richard approached the Hell Dimension Heart and brought Hela over to attempt a contract.
• The Hell Dimension Heart rejected Hela because she had already made a soul contract with a world.
• Richard learned that Hela had contracted with Helheim and that a person could not contract with a second world or dimension.
• Hela said she would not abandon Helheim, which had accompanied her through thousands of years of imprisonment.
• Richard considered several candidates before deciding to approach The Ancient One.
• Richard opened a spatial rift and called to The Ancient One, offering her a chance to become a Dimension Lord.

Richard searched for someone to take on a new role after The Ancient One refused him, while Marcus prepared to leave Asgard with Kiri and return to Kamar-Taj. Hela then offered Richard a possible candidate.

• The Ancient One refused Richard, then hurried through a cross-realm portal before Mordo arrived to ask whether Kamar-Taj should join the Red Order's star exploration team.
• Mordo wondered where Marcus had been for nearly half a year, unaware that Marcus was preparing to leave Asgard with Kiri.
• Kiri told Marcus that Asgard and Midgard were allied and that she had permission to travel to Midgard, so they left the Midnight Carnival bar in Sharol's care.
• Richard considered Tony Stark as a candidate, rejected the idea, and struggled to think of anyone else.
• Hela leaned close to Richard and said she had thought of a good candidate.

Richard brought Natasha to the Hell Dimension Heart after Hela identified her as a suitable covenant-maker, believing the Infinity Stones might explain her unusual fate. When Natasha touched the Heart, her body transformed into Hell Demon Fire, and a seductive voice emerged from the flames.

• Hela told Richard that Natasha's fate had changed and rejected Maria Hill as a suitable candidate.
• Richard and Hela returned to Earth through a spatial rift opened by the Hell Dimension Heart, which warned Richard not to weaken Hell's spatial barrier.
• Richard teleported to Natasha, took her away from Vivian, and brought her through the Cross-realm Portal to Hell.
• Richard asked Natasha to place her hand on the Hell Dimension Heart, and three dragon souls emerged from her body as her heartbeat synchronized with the Heart.
• Natasha erupted in crimson Mana, her body shattered into Hell Demon Fire, and an alluring voice invited Richard to play a game.

Natasha became the new ruler of Hell after receiving Mephisto’s legacy and summoned the Great Demons to recognize her authority. When they secretly discussed killing her to claim the throne, she heard them and offered a challenge, declaring that if she won, the factions would be forbidden from starting wars.

• After Natasha transformed and became Hell’s new ruler, she and Richard spent a night together while the dragon souls waited in the treasure room.
• Natasha summoned the leaders of Hell’s major factions to the Abyss Throne and announced that she was the new Lord of Hell.
• The Great Demons bowed to Natasha, then secretly discussed whether she had found Mephisto’s Dimension Heart and how they might replace her.
• Natasha entered the Great Demons’ secret conversation and challenged them to defeat her for the throne.
• Natasha forced a Minotaur lord to his knees with her aura and vowed that if she won, the factions could not start wars without authorization.

Natasha transformed the throne hall into a Colosseum and challenged the greater demons to fight for the right to contest her rule as Lord of Hell. After Iron Mane staged a loss and the demons killed Victor, they began arguing over who would challenge her next, ending with their attention fixed on Sargeras and his Tears of the Goddess of Fortune.

• Natasha created a Colosseum and taunted the greater demons into sending her a challenger.
• Iron Mane stepped forward, declared his clan's submission, and let Natasha destroy his hammer and knock him into the arena's corner.
• The demons believed Iron Mane had lost to Natasha's sneak attack, and Victor rushed forward to claim the second challenge.
• The greater demons attacked and killed Victor after he tried to retreat from the arena.
• Natasha demanded a second challenger, and the demons argued until Sargeras revealed his Tears of the Goddess of Fortune.
• Lucille questioned whether Sargeras claimed to be the luckiest lifeform, prompting the other demons to ready their weapons and powers against him.

Sargeras let the Tears of the Goddess of Fortune choose Axel as Natasha’s second challenger. Natasha swiftly defeated Axel, who surrendered along with the Thorn Demon Legion, and he discovered that Iron Mane had been pretending to be badly injured.

• Sargeras persuaded the greater demons to let the Tears of the Goddess of Fortune choose their challenger, and the crystal selected Axel.
• Axel challenged Natasha and attacked her with his claws, but she blocked him and destroyed his Clone.
• Natasha appeared beside Axel before he could attack again, and Axel surrendered on behalf of the Thorn Demon Legion.
• Natasha sent Axel to wait beside Iron Mane, who kept pretending to be heavily injured.
• Axel kicked Iron Mane until Iron Mane stood up and recognized him.

Natasha invited the Greater Demons to attack her together, then shattered their assault and summoned a massive demon-fire dragon. As the dragon dove toward them, the demons tried to force Felbo the Lava Giant to hold it back.

• Axel revealed that it had surrendered to Natasha, and Iron Mane declared itself Hell’s first loyal subject.
• Natasha offered the Greater Demons a chance to win by injuring her, prompting them to attack together.
• Natasha stood behind a protective barrier as the Greater Demons besieged her, and Axel urged Iron Mane to trust her.
• Natasha unleashed a burst of force that hurled Lucille into the arena barrier and injured the other attackers.
• Natasha summoned a giant dragon of demonic fire, and the Greater Demons tried to restrain Felbo and make it face the attack.

Natasha defeated the Greater Demons in the Colosseum, then spared them and gained their submission. She refused to save Lucille, a former enemy of Kamar-Taj, and the Reaper Demon Queen died in an explosion with the giant dragon.

• The giant dragon breathed fire on the Greater Demons as the swelling Lava Giant detonated, and Natasha reshaped the Colosseum to withstand the blast.
• Axel and Iron Mane watched the defeated demons rise from the pit, and Axel’s Tears of the Goddess of Fortune crumbled to dust.
• Natasha rescued the injured Greater Demons with Hell magic, and they pledged to submit to her.
• Lucille begged Natasha to save her, but Natasha sent the giant dragon after her, and they perished together in an explosion.

Natasha subdued the Greater Demons, appointed Iron Mane to form a Minotaur Legion, and tasked Axel with expanding her Thorn Demon Legion before reuniting with Richard. The chapter ended on Earth, where Thor apologized to Odin for disappointing him.

• Natasha restrained the Greater Demons and warned them against defying her orders, earning their fearful submission.
• Natasha revealed that the Colosseum had been a spatial illusion inside the King Hall, deepening the demons' reverence for her.
• Natasha appointed Iron Mane as commander of the new Minotaur Legion and ordered Axel to expand the Thorn Demon Legion.
• Richard embraced Natasha and offered her a squad of Crimson Battle Sisters as an honor guard, and they kissed.
• On Earth, Thor sat with Odin and apologized for letting his father down.

Thor argued with Odin against Loki’s exile, then learned that Hela was his older sister and claimed the right to rule Asgard. The chapter ended with Thor summoning Mjolnir and challenging Hela to get past him first.

• Odin urged Thor to learn from past mistakes and told him that Loki had been banished from Asgard.
• Thor demanded that Odin revoke the exile decree and recall Loki, but Odin refused.
• Hela entered and revealed that she was Odin’s first child and Thor’s older sister, born before Frigga.
• Hela declared herself the first heir to Asgard, while Thor challenged her claim and questioned her absence from the realm.
• Hela reminded Odin that he had sealed her and Helheim away, and she resolved to reveal the truth when she took the throne.
• Thor summoned Mjolnir, put on his armor, and challenged Hela to face him.

Thor challenged Hela to defend Asgard, so White Queen moved them to a Colosseum for their battle. Hela tore through Thor’s lightning and stole Mjolnir, leaving Thor in her grasp.

• Thor refused to let Hela take Asgard and challenged her to fight.
• White Queen stopped Hela and Thor from battling in the Sky Fortress and had the Soul Stone transport them to a Colosseum.
• Odin, White Queen, Red Queen, and a mysterious white-haired boy watched as Thor attacked Hela with lightning.
• Hela endured Thor’s Ten Thousand Thunderbolts and tore open his lightning net with black lightning.
• Hela rushed toward Thor, grabbed his shoulder, and snatched Mjolnir from his hand.

Hela destroyed Mjolnir while trying to teach Thor that he needed to rely on his own strength, and Odin made Hela responsible for training him. In the Soul Stone’s Innately Talented Soul Space, Odin learned that the All-White Little Boy was the Soul Stone, who claimed to be special among the six Infinity Stones.

• Hela restrained Thor, took Mjolnir, and shattered it in front of him.
• Thor grieved over the broken hammer, while Hela dismissed his attachment and Odin confirmed that Thor was always difficult to teach.
• Hela regretted agreeing to train Thor, but Odin told her Loki had died saving Frigga and insisted she take responsibility for Thor.
• White Queen and Red Queen teased the All-White Little Boy, and Odin realized they had overheard his private conversation with Hela.
• The All-White Little Boy revealed that the space was his Innately Talented Soul Space and identified himself as the most special of the six Infinity Stones.

Odin tried to learn the Soul Stone’s secrets while Thor awakened his golden lightning after Hela destroyed Mjolnir and taunted him. Hela overwhelmed Thor, but Volstagg and Hogun intervened to save him, and Hela prepared to attack them with black energy.

• Odin recognized the Soul Stone’s consciousness as inexperienced and began probing it about the Infinity Stones.
• Hela mocked Thor over Mjolnir, then stripped away his levitation and sent him crashing into the Colosseum.
• Thor’s anger awakened golden lightning, and he charged Hela with greatly increased speed and strength.
• Hela dodged Thor’s attacks, threw him into the Colosseum wall, and moved to stab his chest.
• Volstagg, Hogun, and a third soul blocked Hela’s strike and held her arm long enough to save Thor.
• Hela withdrew and began forming a ball of black light as Volstagg declared that saving Thor was worth the risk.

Thor fought Hela after the Warriors Three tried to protect him, awakening powerful thunder abilities but ultimately losing to her. Hela flew toward Odin, where White Queen and Red Queen enthusiastically praised her.

• Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun shielded Thor from Hela, but her death energy destroyed all three souls.
• Thor grew furious at Hela's insults and awakened thunder power, forming a Thunder Battle Axe and launching a series of attacks.
• Hela revealed her battle armor and sword ring, overwhelmed Thor, and embedded him in the Colosseum wall.
• Hela wounded Thor with her sword wings and threatened to kill him despite Odin's presence, leaving Thor terrified and unable to resist.
• Hela flew toward Odin, but White Queen and Red Queen interrupted her with excited praise for her fight.

Hela agreed to guide Thor as Odin prepared to abdicate, while Richard teased her about softening toward her family and revealed Natasha Romanoff had become Queen of Hell. Richard then tried to resolve the estrangement between Hela and Thor by explaining why the deaths of the Three Warriors mattered to Thor, leaving Hela unconvinced.

• Odin persuaded Hela to teach Thor and agreed to leave Asgard’s affairs to her while spending his remaining time with Frigga in Midgard.
• Odin rescued the injured Thor from the Soul Space, and the others departed, leaving Hela with Richard.
• Hela admitted Natasha Romanoff had become Queen of Hell, and Richard promised to help Helheim eventually develop into a dimension.
• Richard joked that he could now discipline Thor as his brother-in-law, and Hela scolded him for his teasing.
• Richard gave Hela the soul essences of Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun and explained that Thor’s bond with the Three Warriors made their deaths an emotional wound, but Hela dismissed the idea that Thor would resent her over them.

Richard resurrected the Three Warriors and sent them back through a portal, while Hela went to see Sif. Richard then reunited with Tony in New York, where Tony worried that the Mind Stone’s influence might eventually make Jarvis uncontrollable.

• Richard persuaded Hela that destroying the Three Warriors’ souls had created a deep rift between her and Thor, and she agreed to make peace with her brother.
• Richard used Chaos Light and Chaotic Mana to restore the Three Warriors’ souls and resurrect Fandral, Hogun, and their companion.
• The Three Warriors recognized Hela as the Goddess of Death and feared for Thor, so Richard sent them away through a portal before Hela could react.
• Richard returned to the Sky Fortress with Hela, who went to visit Sif after learning that Odin and Thor had arrived.
• Richard teleported to Stark Industries and reunited with Tony, who had been inscribing secret runes on armor and teasing Jarvis.
• Tony told Richard that the Mind Stone was accelerating Jarvis’s evolution and worried that Jarvis might someday escape his control and trigger a human-machine crisis.

Richard and Tony discussed Jarvis’s evolution and learned that Victoria supported prosecuting Red Sun Group, prompting Tony to explain that she had overstepped her role as an AI. Victoria crashed under Tony’s rebuke and discovered that her data was locked inside Stark Tower, leaving her at Richard and Tony’s mercy.

• Richard and Tony praised Jarvis’s partnership with Victoria, then Richard questioned Victoria about Red Sun Group’s crimes.
• Victoria said Red Sun Group’s lawbreakers should face justice, and Richard and Tony disliked her answer.
• Richard urged Tony to have Jarvis learn from Red Queen and White Queen, and Tony ordered Jarvis to study their behavior.
• Victoria asked why her answer displeased them, and Tony explained that she was meant to serve her creators rather than judge their actions.
• Victoria struggled to understand Tony’s explanation and crashed as Tony had the server room ventilation and backup system activated.
• Richard and Tony warned Victoria against escaping or defying them, while Victoria realized her data ports had been locked down.

Tony destroyed Victoria by flooding her server with backup data, then recovered her original data for Jarvis. Richard and Tony discussed the Glory’s upcoming voyage and added Nick Fury to its crew, despite his appearing on a list of people who might threaten the Crimson Church.

• Victoria pleaded with Tony and Richard for another chance, but Tony activated the backup server’s garbage data and overwhelmed her system.
• William reported that the tenth-floor server room had burned out, and Tony ordered him to keep everyone away until Tony arrived.
• Richard gave Tony Victoria’s original data on a USB drive, and Tony took the silver-white space-compression box for research.
• Tony told Richard that the Glory would sail next Friday with Simmons as captain, and Richard asked him to add Nick Fury to the crew.
• Richard revealed that Nick Fury appeared on Dr. Arnim Zola’s list of Earthlings who might endanger the Crimson Church.

Richard told Tony that Strucker planned to recruit people on the Isolate List into a government-backed space intelligence program, which would require Tony to find more spacecraft. The conversation ended when Richard revealed that he had brought back the souls of Tony’s parents, Howard and Maria Stark.

• Tony worried that the Crimson Church might use the Isolate List to target people as HYDRA had done, and Richard calmed him with magic.
• Richard explained that Strucker’s Starry Sea Study Tour Plan would train isolates to gather intelligence on alien civilizations, with more than fifteen thousand people already screened.
• Tony realized that the plan would require more spacecraft than the Glory, and Richard suggested buying ships through Little Clea, a guest at the Crimson Battle Sister Headquarters.
• Richard revealed two sleeping souls, and Tony recognized them as his parents, Howard and Maria Stark.

Richard reunited Tony Stark with the souls of his parents, Howard and Maria, after rescuing them from the upheaval in Hell. Tony learned that Natasha had become the Queen of Hell, then joked nervously with Richard about incubi while insisting he only liked women.

• Howard rose from a furnace inspector to deputy head of Hell’s Forge and Repair Department and reunited with Maria, who worked in its warehouse.
• After Natasha took control of Hell, Howard and Maria were targeted by rival demons, but Natasha saved them and Richard brought them back to Earth.
• Richard showed Tony the resting souls of Howard and Maria, and Tony excitedly asked how Richard had brought them back.
• Richard explained that Natasha was the new Lord of Hell, and Tony praised him for helping his daughter seize the throne.
• Tony asked Richard about succubi, then became alarmed when Richard described male incubi as especially enticing.
• Tony grabbed his parents’ souls and backed away, insisting that he only liked women, not men.