Chapter Summaries

Richard tested his knowledge-infusion magic on Shay, who successfully memorized a spellbook but reached his mental limit. The next day, Richard and Kaecilius entered the spatial rift beneath Mount Everest.

• Richard returned the Book of Cagliostro to Kamar-Taj’s library and left without meeting Wong.
• Christine returned to Kamar-Taj through a portal and showed Richard that she had learned to open portals skillfully.
• Richard used his brain-tempering magic to infuse Shay with the contents of Kamar-Taj Basic Spells, then stopped when Shay’s spirit neared its limit.
• Richard told The Ancient One about the technique, and she said it could not be used universally and that she did not know how to improve it.
• Richard and Kaecilius arrived at the cleared passage on Mount Everest and entered the spatial rift using Shield Magic.

Richard and Kaecilius crossed a dangerous Spatial Passage into an abandoned Dimensional Space, where Richard discovered a dying Crystal Orb that consumed his Mana. The orb showed him the dimension’s past, ending with a giant eyeball appearing in a tear in the sky.

• Richard shielded Kaecilius from the Spatial Passage’s pulling force and shimmering energy as they fell to its bottom.
• Richard found a severed Spatial Rift leaking Origin Energy and entered the abandoned Dimensional Space after sensing an attraction from within.
• Richard explored the fractured dimension, found surviving magical beasts, and opened a passage beneath a floating island.
• Richard discovered a cracked Crystal Orb that demanded Mana and gave it a third of his reserves.
• The Crystal Orb showed Richard the dimension’s flourishing past, which ended when the sky split open and a giant eyeball appeared.

Richard discovered that the dimensional core had made him master of the Crimson Dimension, then worked with Kaecilius and The Ancient One to prepare a confinement formation for Dormammu. The chapter ended with someone stealing the Space Cube from the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility.

• Richard realized Dormammu had nearly drained the Crimson Dimension before stopping for an unknown reason, and Richard discovered the dimensional core had made him the dimension's master.
• Richard concealed the dimension's recovering vitality and joined Kaecilius to build a confinement formation around the rift Dormammu had made.
• Richard and Kaecilius activated thirty-three Ancient Vishanti Rune to form a golden-red barrier, and The Ancient One corrected their placement before setting up the Mirror Dimension layer.
• A transparent whip emerged from a crimson portal at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, stole the Space Cube, and triggered an alarm.

S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered that the Cosmic Cube had vanished without triggering its Energy Monitor, and Nick Fury ordered a search. At Kamar-Taj, Richard and Kaecilius recruited Mordo for a plan to trap Dormammu, but The Ancient One’s use of Dark Force shook Mordo’s faith in Kamar-Taj’s rules.

• Nick Fury reviewed footage showing the Cosmic Cube disappear and ordered Hawkeye to monitor government transactions and black markets for it.
• Richard explained to Mordo that Kamar-Taj planned to trap Dormammu and let other sorcerers gain combat experience.
• Kaecilius revealed that Dormammu had planted Dark Force in him and that a concealed Spatial Rift connected to an abandoned Dimensional Space.
• The Ancient One revealed Dormammu’s mark on her forehead, and Mordo accused her of betraying the Vishanti and Kamar-Taj.
• Richard argued that The Ancient One faced a difficult choice and that the universe was not simply black and white.

Richard tried to persuade Mordo that The Ancient One had drawn on the Dark Force to protect Earth, not betray Kamar-Taj. Mordo began to accept Richard’s argument, and Richard left him with the revelation that Dormammu kept targeting Earth to collect a debt from The Ancient One.

• Richard told Mordo that The Ancient One had endured the Dark Force’s corruption for centuries to defend Earth from Dormammu and other threats.
• Richard argued that protecting Earth mattered more than strictly following Kamar-Taj’s doctrines, and Mordo admitted that the Sorcerer Supreme’s duty was to protect Earth.
• Kaecilius testified that the Dark Force constantly tempted and influenced him, supporting Richard’s account of its danger.
• Kaecilius told Mordo that he had once felt the same anger and betrayal after learning The Ancient One used the Dark Force, but came to understand her sacrifice.
• Mordo asked why Dormammu kept targeting Earth, and Richard said it was to collect a debt from The Ancient One.
• Richard joked that The Ancient One had beaten Dormammu every time he came to collect, provoking Dormammu’s ongoing hostility toward Earth.

Richard persuaded Mordo to accept The Ancient One's use of the Dark Force, then checked on his Long Beach laboratory and advised Natasha about a Widow who could help with the Pheromone Dissolver. Natasha confirmed Oksana was returning to the Red Room and confronted Nick Fury over his lies about Dreykov.

• Richard argued that The Ancient One had used the Dark Force to protect Earth, and Mordo fell to his knees before her in tears.
• Richard learned that Simmons's research team had made rapid progress on Directed Stem Cell Migration and expected preliminary results next month.
• Richard told Natasha to look for Oksana, and Natasha confirmed that Oksana Suarez was returning to the Red Room from Egypt.
• Nick Fury demanded that Natasha report on her Stark Industries infiltration, but she told him she was hunting Dreykov instead.
• Natasha accused Nick Fury of lying about Dreykov's death and hung up on him, leaving him furious aboard a plane to California.

Hawkeye failed to find the supposed superpowered man and learned that Natasha had fallen out with Nick Fury. At Tony Stark’s villa, Fury confronted Richard over the Cosmic Cube, and Richard challenged S.H.I.E.L.D.’s authority while Tony demanded an explanation.

• Hawkeye killed three thugs, questioned Martin Davis about a superpowered subordinate, and learned that Martin had invented the story.
• Hawkeye knocked Martin unconscious and left to investigate another lead, then spoke with Natasha, who had split from S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury visited Tony Stark and presented the Avengers Initiative file while explaining S.H.I.E.L.D.’s interest in him.
• Richard arrived through a portal, and Fury accused him of stealing the Cosmic Cube and demanded its return.
• Richard argued that the Cube belonged to the Divine King of Asgard and questioned Fury’s authority, while Tony asked what was happening.

Richard left Tony Stark’s home after Nick Fury confronted him about the stolen Cosmic Cube and discovered Richard’s magical abilities. At the Starlight Bar, Richard tasked Adele with quietly recruiting HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. members so they could eventually take over both organizations, while Thomas arrived with Grant.

• Nick Fury presented Tony Stark with the Avengers Initiative proposal, and Tony mocked its name and rejected the idea of joining.
• Tony read that S.H.I.E.L.D. had listed Richard as a suspected Mage, and Richard demonstrated his abilities by opening a portal before leaving.
• Nick Fury questioned Tony about Richard, but Tony mocked Fury’s disbelief and refused the Avengers proposal.
• Richard arrived at the Starlight Bar and told Adele to quietly recruit promising HYDRA members, including those inside S.H.I.E.L.D., for a future takeover of both groups.
• Thomas entered the bar and beckoned Grant inside.

Richard revealed that Grant Ward was John Garrett’s adopted son, exposing Grant’s undercover mission to the HYDRA members in the bar. As the group aimed their guns at Grant, he asked to make a phone call.

• Richard recognized Grant Ward and told Adele that he was John Garrett’s adopted son.
• Thomas introduced Grant to the HYDRA members, and Grant quickly won their approval.
• Richard explained John Garrett’s history as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Deathlok, and warned Adele that Garrett had tracked them down.
• Adele accused Grant of being a mole, prompting the HYDRA members to draw their pistols and point them at him.
• Grant denied being a mole and pleaded with the group to believe him.
• Richard said they did not believe in God, and Grant, surrounded by their growing suspicion, asked to make a phone call.

John Garrett learned that his worsening condition left him five years to live and pinned his hopes on A.I.M.’s Extremis Virus. After Richard revealed he had caught Grant Ward, he arrived through a portal and brought Garrett and Professor Jennings to Washington, where Garrett found himself among a group of teenagers at the Starlight Bar.

• Professor Jennings operated on John Garrett and warned that his condition would become untreatable within five years without progress on the Deathlok Project.
• Garrett told Jennings that A.I.M.’s Extremis Virus could modify bodies and heal them, though its high rejection rate killed most test subjects.
• Garrett learned from Grant Ward’s call that the undercover mission had failed, then discovered Richard was on the line and had caught Ward.
• Richard opened a crimson portal to Cuba, revealed that he knew Garrett’s and Jennings’s identities, and reassured Jennings about his HYDRA past.
• Richard brought Jennings and Garrett through the portal to Washington, D.C., where Garrett stared in confusion at the teenagers gathered in the Starlight Bar.

Richard used the Biochemical Prosthetic Modification technology to persuade John Garrett to join his group, while Adele and the others celebrated in their chaotic fashion. John accepted the invitation, and Grant Ward tried to reassure him that the group was simple-minded.

• John Garrett recognized Adele von Strucker and the other youngsters as HYDRA descendants, while Grant Ward called out to him for help.
• Richard released Grant to John, who offered compensation and asked to leave with him, but Richard refused and showed him the Biochemical Prosthetic Modification technology.
• After Professor Jennings said the technology could save John and continue the Deathlok project, John knelt and offered everything he had in exchange for Richard's help.
• Richard welcomed John into the group, and Adele accidentally drove a high heel into Thomas's buttocks before kicking him again.
• Grant moved to John’s side and assured him that he and the others would get along, calling them simple-minded.

Richard led Kaecilius, Mordo, Hamir, and Wong to the Crimson Dimension to lure Dormammu into a prepared trap. Dormammu arrived through Kaecilius’s summoning ritual, but Kaecilius resisted him, and Dormammu attacked him in fury.

• The Ancient One gave Richard the Eye of Agamotto, and Richard transported the group to the spatial rift in the Crimson Dimension.
• Richard used four Elemental Runes to conceal himself, Mordo, Hamir, and Wong within the Dimensional Confinement Formation.
• Kaecilius activated the summoning ritual, allowing Dormammu’s Dark Force to possess him and summon Dormammu through a black hole.
• Dormammu ordered Kaecilius to kneel, but Kaecilius resisted, and the Robes of Protection expelled the Dark Force from his body.
• Dormammu called Kaecilius a traitor and sent a giant claw crashing down toward him.

Richard and the Elemental Rune jinchuriki trapped Dormammu in the Imprisonment Array, cutting him off from the Dark Dimension and weakening him with elemental suppression. Richard wounded Dormammu in a fierce battle and ended the chapter with a Special Beam Cannon blasting through his skull into the barrier.

• Kaecilius shielded himself from Dormammu’s attack, and Richard froze him briefly before releasing him and returning the Fire of Surtur Elemental Rune to him.
• Richard activated the Imprisonment Array, sealing Dormammu inside and severing his connection to the Dark Dimension.
• Kaecilius, Mordo, and the other Elemental Rune jinchuriki combined the earth, water, wind, and fire elements to suppress Dormammu.
• Wong and the others defended Richard as he attacked Dormammu with blue-white fireballs, burning his energy claws and forcing him to use up one of his colorful energy streams to recover.
• Dormammu’s giant claw broke through the wind chains and fire pythons, but Richard pierced it with a crimson sword and fired a Special Beam Cannon through Dormammu’s mouth and skull.

Richard fought Dormammu’s avatar while Mordo, Kaecilius, Wong, and Sorcerer Hamir sustained the containment barrier. After Dormammu tried to destroy itself, Richard reversed the explosion with the Time Stone and the group restrained Dormammu as he prepared to seal it.

• Richard teleported away from Dormammu’s energy blast and reassured Mordo and the others that he was unharmed.
• Richard repeatedly dodged Dormammu’s attacks by teleporting, provoking Dormammu into expanding and exploding its face.
• Richard used the Eye of Agamotto to freeze the explosion and reverse time, restoring Dormammu and the damaged containment barrier.
• Richard called on Mordo, Kaecilius, Wong, and Sorcerer Hamir to restrain Dormammu, and Hamir stone-sealed its face.
• Richard pulled out an Azure Blue Cube as the others held Dormammu in place.

Richard defeated Dormammu’s four miniature clones by cleansing their souls, sealing one, and destroying the other three with the Space Stone. He returned toward Kamar-Taj with Kaecilius and the others, while Dormammu’s true body learned that his clone had died and erupted in anger.

• Richard redirected Dormammu’s stolen dark forces into the Mirror Dimension and uncovered four miniature clones hidden through the Elemental Rune connections.
• Richard detonated the four Elemental Runes, then used Soul Shackles and Purifying Waterfall to capture the clones and cleanse the soul resentment from one of them.
• Richard sealed the cleansed clone and used dark blue sword light and Blue-White Flame to destroy the other three.
• Richard told Kaecilius that he planned to study Dormammu and eventually seize his territory, then dissolved the Imprisonment Array and returned toward Kamar-Taj with the others.
• Dormammu’s true body realized his clone had died without sending word and roared furiously in the Dark Dimension.

Richard sealed Dormammu’s avatar, then consumed a Dimension Tomb to restore and expand the Crimson Dimension. Back at Kamar-Taj, his body began producing a sandalwood fragrance that the Ancient One identified as a sign of deepening cultivation.

• Richard handed Dormammu’s sealed avatar to the Ancient One, who struck it with golden-red lightning and stored the Sealing Spirit Orb.
• Richard told the Ancient One he intended to invade the Dark Dimension when conditions were right, while she suggested she might retire and leave Kamar-Taj to him.
• The Ancient One took Richard to a Dimension Tomb, and Richard sent the Crimson Dimension’s energy tide to devour it.
• The Crimson Dimension expanded as its floating islands fused, and Richard returned to Kamar-Taj with altered appearance and a sandalwood fragrance.
• The Ancient One explained that the fragrance was a sign of advanced cultivation and could eventually heal living beings, leaving Richard afraid he would become like Tang Seng’s Flesh.

Richard learned to suppress his muscle-and-bone fragrance by recalling his fusion with the Crimson Dimension, while Christine committed herself to pursuing magic. Kaecilius visited Richard about Blackheart, and Richard ordered White Queen to find Johnny Blaze and investigate San Venganza.

• The Ancient One told Richard that his strange fragrance made him valuable to practitioners and urged him to consider succeeding her as Sorcerer Supreme, but Richard refused.
• Richard traced the fragrance to his fusion with the Crimson Dimension and suppressed it by recalling that state.
• Christine returned to Richard and said she would pursue magic rather than return to hospital work, aiming to become the next Sorcerer Supreme.
• Kaecilius visited Richard, who guessed he had come about Blackheart.
• Richard called White Queen and told her to search for Johnny Blaze and investigate San Venganza.

Richard approached Johnny Blaze after his motorcycle stunt show and revealed that he knew Johnny was the Ghost Rider. When Johnny dismissed Richard’s magic, Richard transported him to the Crimson Dimension and challenged him to fight, where their battle began.

• Johnny Blaze thrilled the crowd by launching his motorcycle over a fleet of trucks, performing midair spins, and igniting in flames before landing safely.
• Richard found Johnny outside the arena and asked for his help as the Ghost Rider.
• Johnny demanded to know who Richard was, then mocked his fireball as a magic trick.
• Richard grabbed Johnny and transported them both to the Crimson Dimension, where a black-horned antelope ran off at Richard’s instruction.
• Johnny transformed into the Ghost Rider and attacked Richard with a hellfire chain.
• Richard dodged the chain and stabbed the Ghost Rider in the chest with a crimson Eldritch Whip, but the Ghost Rider retaliated with another swing.

Richard defeated Ghost Rider in combat and recruited Johnny Blaze to help capture Blackheart, Mephisto’s son. Richard and Johnny visited Carter Slade to ask about the San Venganza Contract, but Slade discovered that they already had it.

• Richard fought Ghost Rider, demonstrating how to use a flexible weapon and overpowering him.
• Ghost Rider became Johnny Blaze, and Richard asked him to help capture Blackheart using a fragment of Blackheart’s soul as bait.
• Johnny agreed after Richard revealed that Blackheart was Mephisto’s son.
• Richard and Johnny arrived at Carter Slade’s cabin, where Slade initially mistook Johnny for Hell’s agent.
• Carter Slade warned that the San Venganza Contract could let Mephisto descend upon Earth, and Richard revealed that they already had it.

Richard revealed that Hell had found Carter Slade and proposed using Blackheart’s split soul and the San Venganza Contract to lure Blackheart into a trap. At the abandoned church in Venganza, Richard set the trap and released the split soul, leaving the group hidden and waiting for Blackheart.

• Richard exposed a disguised Hell Imp spying on Carter Slade and burned it to ashes after learning it served the Son of Hell.
• Richard explained his plan to lure Blackheart with his imprisoned split soul, then convinced Carter Slade to join them.
• Richard, Johnny, and Carter Slade traveled to the abandoned village of Venganza and went to its church.
• Richard built a concealed magical barrier, hid Johnny and Carter Slade, and placed the San Venganza Contract beside Blackheart’s sealing orb.
• Richard cracked the orb and released Blackheart’s split soul, which exclaimed that it was free before noticing Richard below.