Chapter Summaries

Luke released the newly converted Shadow Devourer Soldier and raised it by feeding it the shadows of more than ten thousand prisoners, then learned the Ancient One had information about Sylvie and Megatron at Kamar-Taj. He discovered that Kaecilius had damaged a forbidden spellbook and began considering how to respond to the betrayal.

• Luke released the fist-sized Shadow Devourer Soldier, and Galacta amused herself by squishing it while Luke explored newly discovered dimensions.
• Luke sent his Shadow Legion into a lesser dimension and ordered its Ninja Soldiers to capture enemy troops, but realized the dark dimension had no sunlight or shadows and moved the prisoners to Kamar-Taj.
• Luke fed the shadows of over ten thousand prisoners to the Shadow Devourer Soldier, which grew to around twenty meters tall, and the Ancient One warned him that it disrupted the balance of chi and energy.
• The Ancient One told Luke that Sylvie was studying with Asgard's Mage Corps at Kamar-Taj alongside Megatron, and Luke found the mages debating magic while discussing equipment production with Wong.
• Wong told Luke that Kaecilius had led people in an attempt to rob the library and damaged an irreplaceable spellbook before escaping, prompting Luke to consider helping the Ancient One deal with the betrayal.

Luke arranged a Kamar-Taj factory with Mordo, then watched the Ancient One’s Time Stone projection of Stephen defeating Dormammu. The vision left Luke planning to ambush Dormammu, while Dormammu strengthened Kaecilius for another attempt to claim Earth.

• Kaecilius summoned Dormammu from a church, and Dormammu recognized him as a useful pawn.
• Luke and Mordo proposed a factory for Kamar-Taj, and the Ancient One put Mordo in charge of the plan.
• The Ancient One showed Luke a future in which Kaecilius attacked the Three Sanctums and Stephen trapped Dormammu in a time loop until he withdrew.
• Luke asked the Ancient One to contact him when Dormammu next threatened Earth so he could attempt a sneak attack, then returned home and startled Galacta with the enormous Shadow Devourer Soldier.
• The Ancient One glimpsed a future figure handling Earth Security Council paperwork and suspected it was Luke, then resumed managing Kamar-Taj’s affairs.
• Dormammu promised Kaecilius magical knowledge and a replacement arm infused with dark energy, then prepared to use him to destroy the Three Sanctums and claim Earth.

Luke and Galacta flew to the asteroid belt in Galacta’s spaceship so Luke could gather energy, and Luke tested whether he could survive in space. After using dark energy to protect himself, he began capturing asteroids through the Shadow World, discovering that each one could substantially increase his energy cap.

• Luke learned that Galacta’s spaceship lacked enough energy for the trip, so he gave her Energy Crystals to fuel it.
• Galacta took Luke to the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars while Tony called to ask where Kamar-Taj was; Luke gave him its Manhattan address before losing reception in space.
• Luke put on a spacesuit and went outside the ship, then found that dark energy could protect his body from the vacuum and cold.
• Luke flew among the asteroids and opened a rift into the Shadow World in an asteroid’s path.
• Luke watched the captured asteroid raise his energy cap by around ten thousand and eagerly turned toward the rest of the asteroid belt.

Tony traveled with Saturday and Sunday to the Sanctum and went with Mordo to Kamar-Taj to study magic, while Pepper rejected Killian's request for Stark Group investment and Happy and Thursday began watching him. Luke returned from mining asteroids with Galacta and planned to join Tony's feast at Kamar-Taj, bringing Galacta along.

• Tony told Pepper he was going somewhere nearby to try out what being married to her might feel like, then entered the Sanctum with Saturday and Sunday and met Mordo.
• Mordo took Tony through a portal to Kamar-Taj, where Tony began making friends with the sorcerers by offering to pay for their food.
• Pepper declined Killian's request for Stark Group investment, and Happy and Thursday followed Killian and his unusually hot subordinate after the meeting.
• Luke shattered asteroids and sent their fragments into the Shadow World before returning to Earth with Galacta.
• Tony invited Luke to Kamar-Taj and announced that he would pay for everyone’s dinner, so Luke decided to bring Galacta along.

Luke brought Galacta to Kamar-Taj, where Tony discussed his growing concern for her and learned about magical weapons from Mordo. Meanwhile, the Ancient One arranged for a doctor to discover evidence of Pangborn’s recovery, leaving Stephen Strange’s path toward Kamar-Taj in motion.

• Luke summoned Megatron to order materials for renovating the base, then took Galacta to Kamar-Taj to eat with Tony.
• Tony urged Luke to consider his feelings for Galacta, and Luke admitted he cared about her while remaining unsure whether he saw her as family or something more.
• Galacta explained that her body had not developed for centuries, easing Tony and Luke’s concerns about whether she was an adult.
• Mordo showed Luke enchanted weapon samples, and Tony learned how the weapons stored and used magical energy.
• Tony told Luke about the injured neurosurgeon Stephen Strange, and Luke anticipated that Tony would soon meet a changed Strange.
• The Ancient One planted Pangborn’s medical records and a photograph for a doctor to find, prompting him to investigate Pangborn’s apparent recovery.

Luke and Tony tested Kamar-Taj’s enchanted weapons, confirming that they greatly increased the Ninja Soldiers’ combat power but could only unleash their full strength for two strikes. The Ancient One agreed to expand the weapons factory and asked Mordo to seek promising recruits.

• Tony woke Luke early, and they brought enchanted weapons and targets to a secluded square for testing.
• Ninja Soldiers’ enchanted swords sliced the targets apart with sharpness, lightning, flame, and frost runes, while their staffs launched powerful fireballs.
• Luke explained that the weapons’ energy reserves emptied after two maximum-power strikes and considered making Energy Crystals rechargeable.
• Luke had the remaining weapons tested and decided to ask the Ancient One or Stephen to help expand Kamar-Taj’s workforce.
• Tony went to the library to study the inscriptions, while Luke spoke with Mordo, fed Galacta, and went to the Shadow World to work on his crystals.
• The Ancient One told Mordo to seek promising recruits so Kamar-Taj could expand its weapons factory.

Luke finished making Self-Charging Energy Crystals and found Tony helping the rival mage groups work together before Stephen arrived at Kamar-Taj. After Stephen rejected magic, the Ancient One expelled his astral form, and Luke helped return it before she sent him on a disorienting journey to challenge his beliefs.

• Luke completed more than ten thousand Self-Charging Energy Crystals in the Shadow World and left them to absorb energy.
• Luke found Tony leading a productive discussion between Megatron's group and the Asgardian Mage Corps, with Wong translating spellbooks for him.
• Luke checked on Galacta, who said her Cosmic Tapeworm had recovered and mentioned that a Dimensional Demon God's avatar had recently come to Earth.
• Luke met Stephen arguing with the Ancient One and learned from Mordo that Stephen had strong mental power and was a promising candidate.
• The Ancient One knocked Stephen's soul out of his body, and Luke pulled it back in after Stephen's body fell to the floor.
• Stephen continued to reject the explanation of astral projection, so the Ancient One sent his astral form away on a magical journey while Luke watched.

The Ancient One sent Stephen Strange on increasingly dangerous astral journeys to test and strengthen him, while Luke arranged a Nine Realms Trade Station at Earth’s Security Council headquarters. The chapter ended with Luke extracting Galacta’s devouring source again as Galactus worried they might stunt his child’s growth.

• The Ancient One repeatedly sent Stephen’s astral form through other dimensions, then brought him into Luke’s Dark Dimension, where frightening figures swarmed him before he was pulled back.
• Stephen returned to his body, asked the Ancient One to teach him, and was rejected because she judged him too arrogant and unready to bear Kamar-Taj’s burden.
• Luke inspected the renovated Security Council headquarters and traveled to Asgard, where he proposed an Earth-based Trade Station to Loki.
• Luke and Loki selected spatial rifts across the Nine Realms, and Luke connected them to the headquarters with permanent portals for trading.
• Luke extracted Galacta’s devouring source again, while Galactus watched from afar and worried that repeated extractions could harm his child.

Luke opened the Trade Station on Earth, explained how the Nine Realms could trade and request help, and set rules for its operation. After hundreds of deals were recorded, he praised China’s business and discovered that the God of Wealth was managing its shop, while the United States’ representative was ordered to make ten deals.

• Megatron told Luke that he had finished building the Trade Station and left to prepare for leading a mechanical army on Earth.
• Luke welcomed leaders and envoys to the opening, explained the World Tree and the Trade Station’s purpose, and warned that dishonest traders could lose their trading privileges.
• Luke inspected the records and found that more than three hundred deals had been completed, with China trading fine wine, food, celestial robes, and other goods for items from the other realms.
• Luke met China’s representative, recognized him as the God of Wealth, and awarded China twenty impression points for its deals.
• After the United States’ representative objected to China receiving points, Luke explained his system and ordered him to conclude ten deals that day.
• The God of Wealth gave Luke pastries made by the God of Cookery, and Luke left for Kamar-Taj with them after confirming that the Trade Station was running smoothly.

Luke introduced Stephen to Kamar-Taj’s magic and contracted to supply him with dark energy, then tested whether Stephen could cast spells without the usual gestures. Stephen successfully formed a magic circle, and Luke left him trapped in the Mirror Dimension with a Sling Ring to find his own way out.

• Luke explained to Stephen that Kamar-Taj sorcerers obtained energy through contracts with Dimension Lords, and that his energy gave some sorcerers’ magic a different color.
• Luke made Stephen sign a contract that temporarily made him his servant for three days, though the Ancient One confirmed it would become an equal contract afterward.
• In the Mirror Dimension, Luke sent Stephen extra dark energy and watched as Stephen learned to direct it with his thoughts and form a magic circle.
• Luke gave Stephen a Sling Ring and explained how to use it to open a portal, then left him in the Mirror Dimension with the Ancient One.
• Luke and the Ancient One wondered whether Stephen would escape in time for dinner.

Stephen searched Kamar-Taj’s Chinese-language library books and was publicly humiliated after Tony and Luke mistook his attempt to check Tony’s healed chest for groping. The misunderstandings were cleared up, Luke changed Stephen’s contract, and the chapter ended with Tony and Stephen discussing how magic might combine with technology.

• Stephen asked Wong for the spellbooks on his reading list and learned that Wong’s translation work was paid content reserved for a private commission.
• Tony arrived, and Stephen recognized him as the patient whose chest injury he had once offered to operate on before tugging at Tony’s clothes to check that he had healed.
• Luke ordered Stephen through their contract to run laps around Kamar-Taj while shouting that he was a pervert, and Tony and Luke later realized Stephen had only been checking Tony’s recovery.
• Stephen returned after Wong and nearby sorcerers saw him being mocked; Tony and Luke apologized, and Tony arranged for Saturday to delete the videos of Stephen’s run.
• Tony explained that Luke had translated the spellbooks from Sanskrit into Chinese and that Wong had made English versions; Luke also changed Stephen’s master-servant contract into an equal contract.
• Stephen told Luke and Tony that he had learned to draw a portal after contacting energy from another dimension, and he and Tony began discussing ways to combine magic with technology.

Kaecilius prepared to destroy Kamar-Taj’s Three Sanctums for Dormammu while Luke followed his routine and Stephen weighed his place among the sorcerers. Stephen agreed to help Kamar-Taj as a doctor, then joined Mordo in responding to an attack on the London Sanctum.

• Dormammu ordered Kaecilius to destroy Kamar-Taj’s Three Sanctums while he fought the Dimension Lord, and Kaecilius rallied his corrupted followers.
• Luke returned to Kamar-Taj with pastries, where Tony and Stephen discussed their magical effects before Luke continued his routine of consuming asteroids.
• Stephen used dark magic to stop his hands from trembling and set out to visit Christine, but Mordo explained Kamar-Taj’s protective formation and urged him to serve.
• Stephen agreed to provide free medical care to Kamar-Taj’s sorcerers and to fight in emergencies, though he would not normally go to battle.
• An alarm announced an attack on the London Sanctum, so Mordo and Stephen sent requests for help and rushed there.

Stephen and Mordo confronted Kaecilius at the London Sanctum as he prepared to destroy its core with Dormammu's dark energy. Wong and Kamar-Taj mages arrived, but Kaecilius detonated the energy sphere and blasted Stephen back through the portal as the portal vanished.

• Stephen and Mordo found a dead guard at the London Sanctum and advanced toward its hidden core while waiting for reinforcements.
• Kaecilius revealed that he had found the core and gathered dark energy as Stephen and Mordo entered the hall.
• Mordo attacked Kaecilius but was overwhelmed by Dark Followers, while Kaecilius severed Mordo's hand and sent Dark Followers after Stephen.
• Stephen fought off the Dark Followers until Wong arrived with Kamar-Taj mages and led them through a portal to confront Kaecilius.
• Wong refused Kaecilius's offer to join Dormammu, and Kaecilius dropped an energy sphere that blasted the hall, knocking Stephen back through the portal before it disappeared.

After Kaecilius’s attack devastated Kamar-Taj, Stephen Strange arranged for injured sorcerers to be treated at his former hospital and operated alongside Christine. The surgeries saved several lives, but Mordo was lost, and Tony accompanied Stephen to check on Wong.

• Stephen returned to the ruined hall, treated Wong’s bleeding, and sent Renn to organize the search and summon help.
• Stephen went to his former hospital and called Tony when the staff initially refused to follow his instructions.
• After the director ordered the hospital to prepare, Stephen recruited Christine and the doctors, then opened a portal for Renn and the injured sorcerers.
• Galacta swallowed a soul collector in London and kept a leftover soul to give to Luke.
• Stephen and Christine operated for six hours, saving the injured sorcerers, while Mordo’s fate left Stephen grieving.
• Tony arrived after the surgeries, offered Stephen pastries and help finding a girlfriend, then learned Wong was in private room 3101.

Luke learned that Kaecilius’s attack had killed Mordo and left Wong gravely injured, then gathered Chinese specialists to repair the damage Dormammu’s Dark Energy had done to Wong’s soul. Wong recovered and woke up, leaving Luke ready to ask him what had happened.

• Luke returned to Kamar-Taj and learned that Kaecilius had attacked, Mordo was dead, Wong was badly injured, and the Ancient One had not foreseen Mordo’s death.
• Luke examined Wong in the hospital and found Dormammu’s Dark Energy had severely corroded his soul, making it dangerous to remove without first stabilizing him.
• Luke called Captain Zhao, and Captain Yang brought Chinese soul specialists to help treat Wong.
• Luke and the specialists cleared away most of the Dark Energy and cut out the remaining contaminated part while repairing Wong’s soul.
• Wong’s soul stabilized, and he woke up; Luke promised the specialists compensation for the rare treasures they had used.

After Mordo died and Wong was badly injured during Kaecilius’s attack on the London Sanctum, the Ancient One abandoned her reliance on predicted timelines and gave the Time Stone to Luke. Luke and the mages prepared to defend the remaining Sanctums as Dormammu planned a new assault, while the Ancient One waited to confront Kaecilius without consulting the future.

• Wong told Luke that Kaecilius had used Dark Followers and a trapped magical array to attack the London Sanctum, killing Mordo and nearly wiping out the mages.
• Luke reassured Wong that the surviving mages had been saved, then went to Kamar-Taj and urged the Ancient One to stop following the timelines she had seen.
• The Ancient One gave Luke the Time Stone, and Luke seized it despite its resistance; she explained that the remaining Sanctums could still block dimensional demon gods, though more avatars might infiltrate Earth.
• Kamar-Taj deployed its mages and weapons to guard the two remaining Sanctums, while Luke watched the quiet compound and set Night Bats to monitor it.
• Kaecilius reported to Dormammu that Earth had not descended into chaos, so Dormammu supplied him with more dark energy and moved toward Luke’s dimension to provoke a confrontation.
• Luke praised Galacta for helping contain the threat, while the Ancient One waited in the portal hall and welcomed facing events without a timeline to guide her.

Luke fought Dormammu’s invading army in his Shadow Dimension, using the battle to increase his energy capacity while pretending to be exhausted. As the Ancient One waited anxiously in the portal hall, Luke’s upbeat message made her curious enough to approach the portal.

• Luke told Tony and Stephen to stay out of the fight, but they chose to defend the Sanctums, with Tony taking London and Stephen taking New York.
• Luke discovered Dormammu’s Dark Dimension had torn open a vast rift into his Shadow Dimension and sent the Shadow Legion to defend the portal to Kamar-Taj.
• Luke used magic arrays and his soldiers to slaughter the dark creatures, absorbing their remains and gaining energy capacity as Dormammu watched.
• When the enemy paused, Luke pretended he had exhausted his energy, then resumed measured attacks after Dormammu ordered the creatures forward again.
• The Ancient One messaged Luke to ask how things were going, and his reply that the fight felt amazing left her stunned and prompted her to approach the portal.

Luke and the Ancient One fought Dormammu after he entered their dimension to stop her from returning. Luke weakened Dormammu’s control of dark energy and adapted his fighting style, but Dormammu began growing larger as Luke brought the scythes down toward his neck.

• The Ancient One emerged from the portal, and Dormammu sent his minions charging at Luke to keep her from leaving.
• Luke replenished his dark energy with Energy Crystals and swept the battlefield with a massive saber of dark energy.
• Dormammu attacked the Ancient One as she turned to leave, entered Luke’s dimension, and lost the ability to command dark energy after Luke intervened.
• Dormammu overpowered Luke in a direct exchange, but Luke changed tactics, bound him with his snake tail, and attacked his eye while the Ancient One’s spells repeatedly blinded him.
• Dormammu grew larger to escape Luke’s hold, but Luke slammed him into the ground and swung both scythes toward his neck.

Luke and the Ancient One fought Dormammu in the Dimensional Space, while Kaecilius attacked the New York Sanctum. The Ancient One and Luke prepared to keep fighting Dormammu, and Stephen evacuated the remaining defenders as Kaecilius took control of the Sanctum.

• Luke and the Ancient One wounded Dormammu, but he unleashed his Source Energy, blasted Luke away, and rapidly recovered.
• The Ancient One explained that Dormammu was burning his Source Energy, and Luke proposed luring him into the Material World to attack him with the Infinity Stones.
• Dormammu contacted Kaecilius through their contract and demanded to know why the New York Sanctum had not been destroyed.
• Kaecilius killed the defenders on the Sanctum's rooftop and ordered the Dark Followers to attack, while Stephen led the remaining mages inside and arranged their retreat.
• Stephen confirmed the magical artifacts had been evacuated and told the mages to abandon the New York Sanctum in favor of protecting the Hong Kong Sanctum.
• Kaecilius killed a captured mage and threw the corpse at Stephen, who escaped through a portal with another mage as Kaecilius stayed behind to destroy the Sanctum.

Stephen, Tony, and Megatron’s forces defeated Kaecilius’s Dark Followers at the Hong Kong Sanctum with help from China’s S.P.E.A.R., then captured Kaecilius. Captain Yang sought closer ties with Kamar-Taj, while Kaecilius sent Dormammu a distress signal as Dormammu faced Luke and the Ancient One.

• Stephen learned that the New York Sanctum had been destroyed and went to help defend the remaining Hong Kong Sanctum.
• Tony tricked Stephen into tasting stinky tofu while they waited for Kaecilius to arrive.
• Kaecilius led more than a hundred Dark Followers into the street, where S.P.E.A.R. soldiers bombarded them with energy weapons.
• Megatron captured Kaecilius, and Captain Yang proposed closer cooperation between S.P.E.A.R. and Kamar-Taj.
• Stephen slapped Kaecilius before Tony called him over to meet Captain Yang.
• Kaecilius sent Dormammu a distress signal, and Dormammu received it while confronting Luke and the Ancient One.