Chapter Summaries

Loki used the Space Stone to hide from Zarathos, who relentlessly attacked while trying to exhaust him. Tony discovered the demon during his daily inspection and flew to Loki’s territory to intervene.

• Zarathos recognized Loki’s Infinity Stone and demanded he surrender it, then attacked him as Loki hid in folded space.
• Loki endured Zarathos’s assault, relying on Tony to arrive and rescue him.
• Tony inspected the Dark Alliance members’ territories remotely with JARVIS and saw Loki in danger.
• JARVIS identified Zarathos as a demon with no known origins on the Blue Planet.
• Tony decided to capture Zarathos and flew from his villa toward Loki’s territory.

Loki exhausted his power hiding in the Tesseract’s folded space, and Zarathos brutally injured him after he emerged. As Zarathos prepared to search Loki’s soul for the method to cultivate high-quality fallen souls, an unknown man appeared beside him and vanished before Zarathos could find him again.

• Loki ran out of energy and emerged from folded space, where Zarathos struck him with his Flame Whip.
• Zarathos stomped Loki’s chest and crushed his hand, then repeatedly punched his face until he was near death.
• Zarathos decided to search Loki’s soul for the method to cultivate high-quality fallen souls.
• An unknown man appeared beside Zarathos and warned him that demons with no manners got punished.
• Zarathos sprang away and looked for the man, but found no one there besides Loki.

Tony tested the strength he had gained from absorbing Dai Gui's demon chi by fighting Zarathos, then killed the demon and healed Loki. Loki recovered from his near-fatal beating, while Tony's new power proved far greater than before.

• Tony caught Zarathos's punch and explained that he was retaliating because Zarathos had beaten one of his people, Loki.
• Zarathos apologized and tried to appease Tony, but Tony crushed his skull with one hand.
• Tony reflected that absorbing Dai Gui's demon chi had let him defeat Zarathos in one move instead of needing many exchanges.
• Tony revealed that he had watched Zarathos beat Loki to teach him not to take reckless fights for granted.
• Tony used the Horse Talisman to heal Loki until he had no injuries left.

Tony let Zarathos escape so he could gather his enemies together, while Loki accepted Tony’s warning to seek help if threatened. Zarathos fled to S.H.I.E.L.D. and arrived at Steve’s office, where Steve questioned his battered appearance.

• Loki woke beside Tony, who scolded him for stubbornly fighting Zarathos despite being outmatched.
• Zarathos revived and tried to flee, but Tony stopped Loki from pursuing him and revealed he had let Zarathos escape on purpose.
• Tony told Loki to ask for help if he faced danger again, then left.
• Zarathos abandoned his plans to keep causing trouble and went to S.H.I.E.L.D. to confront those who had summoned him.
• Zarathos entered S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters after giving Doctor Doom’s name and met Steve in his office.
• Steve asked Zarathos how he had become so disheveled, and Zarathos awkwardly blamed a mishap.

Steve suspected Tony had beaten Zarathos and went to ask Doctor Doom about finding Dormammu. Meanwhile, Baron Mordo rebelled against The Ancient One over her choice of successor and overpowered Druid in a fight.

• Steve concluded that Tony was the only person in New York strong enough to defeat Zarathos, then left to ask Doctor Doom how to find Dormammu.
• In a Himalayan temple, Druid confronted Baron Mordo for ambushing The Ancient One and demanded to know why he had betrayed her.
• Baron Mordo said he resented The Ancient One for choosing Stephen as Sorcerer Supreme and vowed to destroy the temple.
• Druid attacked Baron Mordo with his physical strength and mind power, but Baron Mordo blocked his blows with Magic Shields.
• Baron Mordo broke Druid's telekinetic grip with soul magic, leaving Druid badly injured.

The Ancient One confronted Baron Mordo over his betrayal and offered him one last chance to repent, but he refused and summoned Dormammu. Dormammu appeared at the temple, challenged the Ancient One, and struck Baron Mordo for failing to injure her.

• Druid revealed that he had only needed to hold Baron Mordo until the Ancient One emerged unharmed, and the sorcerers greeted her as Sorcerer Supreme.
• The Ancient One confronted Baron Mordo about his betrayal and explained that she had known he contacted Dormammu.
• The Ancient One offered to forgive Baron Mordo if he turned back and spent a hundred years in secluded penance, but he refused and threatened to kill everyone.
• Baron Mordo opened a Space Portal, and Dormammu stepped through into the temple.
• Dormammu challenged the Ancient One and, angered that Baron Mordo had failed to injure her, struck him with a powerful force.

The Ancient One and Dormammu fought in a separate dimension, trading powerful spells until Dormammu nearly overwhelmed her. The Ancient One then surrounded him with golden barriers and sealing runes, but Dormammu vowed not to be sealed again.

• Dormammu struck Baron Morton down, and Morton apologized before Dormammu turned his attention to The Ancient One.
• The Ancient One transported herself and Dormammu to an uninhabited dimension to protect the mortals, and they began battling with Forbidden Spells.
• Dormammu distorted The Ancient One's meteors, and their spells destroyed the dimension around them.
• Dormammu unleashed a devastating attack that nearly pierced The Ancient One's golden barrier, but she survived.
• The Ancient One appeared in four places around Dormammu and trapped him inside golden barriers covered in sealing runes.
• Dormammu sneered at The Ancient One and declared that he would not let her seal him again.

Dormammu tried to reverse time but the Ancient One resisted and continued sealing him. Desperate, he contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. for help, where Steve demanded the truth and learned he was trapped by the Ancient One.

• Dormammu tried to rewind time, but the Ancient One remained stable and kept her magical seal intact.
• Dormammu decided to seek help from the people who had summoned him and sent his consciousness to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Dormammu appeared before Steve, Doctor Doom, and Mephisto, then offered to open a passage to his location.
• Mephisto refused to help and mocked Dormammu for seeking aid only after running into danger.
• Steve saw through Dormammu's excuses and demanded an honest explanation before deciding whether to help.
• Dormammu admitted he was trapped by the Ancient One, and Steve regretted that another demon had picked a fight with an opponent he could not beat.

Doctor Doom and Mephisto joined Dormammu as he fought The Ancient One, and Doctor Doom challenged her to prove his magical strength. When Doctor Doom’s spellwork disrupted her attempt to seal Dormammu, The Ancient One fled through Dimension Space, leaving the three enemies behind.

• Doctor Doom agreed to accompany Dormammu, and he and Mephisto traveled through a spatial passage to the battle.
• The Ancient One recognized Doctor Doom and Mephisto as Dormammu’s reinforcements, but Doctor Doom ignored her and attacked to test himself against the Sorcerer Supreme.
• The Ancient One tried to maintain Dormammu’s seal while fighting Doctor Doom, but his “Switch!” spell redirected her own forbidden spells toward her.
• The Ancient One’s seal shattered, allowing Dormammu to escape and threaten her.
• The Ancient One tore open Dimension Space and fled rather than face Dormammu, Doctor Doom, and Mephisto together.

Dormammu returned to the Himalayas too late to find the Ancient One, who had moved her Temple and followers. She settled above New York, where Tony detected her magic and met her, leaving him curious about why she had come.

• Mephisto warned Dormammu that Zarathos had nearly been killed on the Blue Planet, then left with Doctor Doom while Dormammu returned to the Himalayas.
• Dormammu found the Ancient One and her Temple gone, learned from Baron Mordo that they had fled, and took Baron Mordo and his disciple away.
• The Ancient One created a Dimension Space above New York and concealed herself with the city's mortal aura, causing a storm to hide her from people below.
• Tony sensed the Ancient One's magic from the Seaside Villa, flew up to meet her, and introduced himself after she gave her name.
• The Ancient One grew wary of Tony's ability to detect her, while Tony recognized her as the Sorcerer Supreme and asked why she had come to New York.

The Ancient One told Tony that Dormammu had come to Earth and asked him to form an alliance against Dormammu and his powerful companions. Tony accepted in exchange for her spell compendium, leaving them with a mutually beneficial agreement.

• The Ancient One admitted she had come to Earth to hide from Dormammu, who had descended on the planet.
• Tony received a system quest to kill Dormammu and learned that the Ancient One could hold her own against him but not against him and his companions together.
• Tony probed the Ancient One's reasons for telling him about Dormammu, and she offered to form an alliance and let him name his payment.
• Tony asked for the Ancient One's spells, and she gave him her spell compendium.
• Tony promised to help when the Ancient One called, and she thanked him.

Tony asked JARVIS to investigate Dormammu and discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had summoned him, Zarathos, and Mephisto, while deciding to save them as opponents for the Shadow Generals. He studied the Ancient One’s spell compendium and learned three minor spells before someone in the Dark Alliance passed the system’s trial.

• Tony authorized JARVIS to search classified networks, and JARVIS found records showing that S.H.I.E.L.D. had summoned Dormammu, Zarathos, and Mephisto.
• JARVIS said S.H.I.E.L.D. had likely summoned the demons to target Tony and offered to plan retaliation, but Tony declined because he wanted to use them as tests for the Shadow Generals.
• Tony checked the trial progress bars and saw that Norman and Loki were closest to finishing, at ninety-two and ninety-four percent.
• Tony returned to studying the spell compendium and learned Fireball, Frost Spell, and Healing Spell over the next few days.
• Someone among the seven Dark Alliance members passed the system’s trial.

Tony learned that the Ratso Mask had merged Norman’s consciousness with Ratso’s, then tested Ratso’s strength over the ocean. Ratso revealed he had recovered eighty percent of his power and proved fast and strong enough to surprise Tony.

• Tony received a notification that Norman had completed the trial and earned the Ratso Mask.
• Norman hesitated before putting on the mask, which fused with him and allowed Ratso to take control.
• Ratso appeared before Tony and explained that Shadow Generals could coexist with their hosts, though Norman had already been devoured.
• Tony took Ratso out over the ocean and asked him to attack with all his strength.
• Ratso struck so quickly that Tony could not track his movement, but Tony caught his fist and judged his strength comparable to Zarathos’s.

After Ratso’s sparring session with Tony, S.H.I.E.L.D. learned from Zarathos about the darkness spreading through New York and prepared to attack its rulers. Tony received a revised assessment mission requiring the candidates to defeat S.H.I.E.L.D. and hold the dark territories, and he considered sending Ratso to help without intervening himself.

• Tony tested Ratso’s strength and speed, then ended their sparring session after learning how Ratso used the Shadow Kingdom to teleport.
• Steve called a meeting of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s superhumans, where Zarathos described the darkness and brutality he had encountered in New York.
• Dormammu joked that chaos and darkness sounded appealing, and Doctor Doom rebuked him by insisting the Blue Planet needed order.
• Steve ordered the group to eliminate the sources of chaos and distributed files on New York’s territories and their rulers, including Bucky and Loki.
• Steve scheduled the operation for the following night, and Thor left after seeing Loki’s file.
• Tony received a revised assessment mission to defeat S.H.I.E.L.D. and hold the dark territories, then considered sending Ratso to help while obeying the ban on using his own power.

Steve entered Bucky’s dark neighborhood to persuade his former friend to abandon the Dark Alliance, but Bucky refused and the two began fighting. Their clash left the neighborhood’s residents caught in the shock wave.

• Steve entered Bucky’s territory to assess it, while Bucky learned of his arrival and went to meet him.
• Steve urged Bucky to turn back and condemned his work for Demon, but Bucky refused to leave the Dark Alliance.
• Steve gave Bucky one final chance to come with him, and Bucky said no.
• Steve attacked Bucky, and their fists collided, sending a shock wave that killed several nearby residents.

Steve overwhelmed Bucky with his unleashed symbiote, but Bucky was transformed by the Dark District’s essence while recovering from his injuries. Bucky emerged far stronger and more savage, and turned against Steve.

• Steve unleashed his symbiote and beat Bucky badly, then tried to drag him away.
• Black mist enveloped Bucky, and contact with it corroded Steve’s symbiote.
• The Dark District’s essence poured into Bucky and transformed him, causing him immense pain as his strength rapidly increased.
• After half an hour, Bucky emerged from the mist and told Steve he felt fantastic.
• Steve insisted that Bucky had to leave the Dark District, but Bucky declared that he would keep Steve there and unleashed a terrifying aura.

Bucky killed Steve after overpowering him, then emerged from his darkened state and collapsed in grief. Elsewhere, Thor confronted Loki in the Dark Temple and demanded that he either leave Tony or become his enemy.

• Bucky caught Steve's punch, broke his arm, and demanded that he submit.
• Steve refused, attacked Bucky with his remaining strength, and was killed when Bucky punched through his chest and tore out his heart.
• Bucky regained clarity, realized he had killed Steve, and fell to the ground in shock and sorrow.
• Thor entered Loki's Territory and confronted Loki in the Dark Temple.
• Thor asked whether Loki still considered him his brother and demanded that he leave Tony or face Thor as an enemy.
• Loki burst into wild laughter after hearing Thor's ultimatum.

Thor confronted Loki in the Temple with Hela’s help, but Loki escaped into the Dimension Space and Hela threatened him with her power over death. The chapter ended with Loki trapped by death’s power and calculating how to kill Hela.

• Loki rejected Thor’s demand to surrender, and Thor summoned Hela with a Spatial Locator.
• Hela struck Loki as he tried to escape with the Tesseract, but Loki revealed he had already entered the Dimension Space.
• Hela sensed Loki hiding in the Dimension Space and began using her power over death to attack him from afar.
• Loki realized Hela was a deadly threat to gods and began planning how to kill her as death’s power enveloped him.

Loki absorbed the Dark Territory’s darkness force to overcome Hela’s power of death, then attacked her with his new strength and a flame that fed on divine power. Thor tried to join the fight but was repeatedly knocked aside, leaving Loki and Hela still battling.

• Loki drew the Dark Territory’s darkness force into himself, where it clashed with Hela’s power of death.
• The darkness force overwhelmed Hela’s power, causing her to cough blood as Loki emerged from the Dimension Space transformed.
• Loki attacked Hela and burned her hand with a flame that used divine power as fuel.
• Thor summoned Mjolnir and joined the fight, but Loki kicked him away and told him to stay put.
• Thor charged back in, but Hela struck him aside and told him to stop getting in the way.

Hela and Loki fought to a draw after their battle devastated the Dark Territory. Near Tony's Seaside Villa, Dormammu ignored Doctor Doom and the others’ warnings, approached the villa, and was knocked flying by Ratso.

• Hela and Loki battled until their clashes destroyed the temple and reduced the Dark Territory to ruins, then paused in a wary draw.
• Doctor Doom, Zarathos, Mephisto, and Dormammu watched Tony's Seaside Villa in case Tony interfered with their planned attack on the Dark District.
• Dormammu grew angry at the others’ caution and walked toward the villa to challenge Tony, while Doctor Doom and Mephisto let him go.
• No. 1 detected Dormammu and alerted Tony, who sent Ratso to investigate.
• Dormammu mistook Ratso for an insignificant opponent and called him an ant, so Ratso struck him with a punch that sent him flying.