Chapter Summaries

The Ancient One recruited Hyperion by promising to restore his ability to be reborn, intending to use him against Tony. But Hyperion admired Tony’s brutality and declared him a kindred spirit, leaving the Ancient One furious as he fled.

• The Ancient One found Hyperion on his planet, fought him, and told him he could regain the Eternal Gods’ rebirth ability by linking minds with a fellow Eternal.
• Hyperion agreed to accompany the Ancient One to fight Tony, and she brought him through a portal to the Blue Planet.
• At the Interdimensional Temple, Captain Marvel recognized Hyperion as a pure strength-based brute, while the Ancient One described Tony’s violent deeds.
• Hyperion praised Tony as a great hero and asked to meet him, revealing that he admired the very conduct the Ancient One wanted him to oppose.
• The Ancient One called Hyperion a traitor and threatened to imprison him, but he spun around and ran.

After escaping the Ancient One and Captain Marvel by tearing open the pocket dimension, Hyperion flew to Tony’s villa and repeatedly challenged him, only to be beaten each time. Once Hyperion realized Tony was the person he had been looking for, he asked to join him, while Tony hesitated at the thought of taking him along.

• Hyperion used brute force to reverse time and smash through the pocket dimension, escaping the Ancient One and Captain Marvel.
• After the Ancient One and Captain Marvel chose not to pursue him, Hyperion flew off to find Tony and spotted a seaside villa.
• Hyperion crashed through Tony’s roof and demanded directions, so Tony slapped him into the seabed.
• Hyperion returned and attacked Tony with heat vision, but Tony countered with flames and knocked him back underwater.
• Hyperion charged Tony again, and Tony struck him with a giant black hand before repairing the villa with the Horse Talisman.
• Hyperion recognized Tony and asked if he was still taking people in, while Tony felt embarrassed at the idea of bringing him along.

Tony recruited Hyperion into the Dark Alliance, gave him a Darkness Mark, and ordered him to establish a Dark Lands territory. Hyperion quickly founded the Land of Torment by forcing people through exhausting exercise, leaving Tony baffled by his methods.

• Hyperion joined the Dark Alliance, and Tony obtained control of the Mantis Group and drew Po Kong's demon chi.
• Tony gave Hyperion a Darkness Mark and a smart wristband, then ordered him to establish a Dark Lands territory.
• Tony instructed the Generals to build an autocratic dark civilization that used energy efficiently and would revive its dead in the Soul Realm.
• Hyperion enclosed an American state with mountains, killed people who resisted, and made the residents exercise under threat.
• The residents' torment power seeped into the land and strengthened them as Hyperion completed the initial establishment of the Land of Torment.
• Tony examined Hyperion's territory and wondered what kind of recruit he had taken in.

Tony ordered Mephisto and Loki to prepare the Shadow Empire while he continued absorbing the Darkness Force, and Thanos arrived near Earth to confront him. After Dormammu ambushed Thanos, The Ancient One revealed she had given Tony half the Darkness Mark, leaving Thanos furious at her recklessness.

• Tony showed his companions Hyperion's Dark Lands, ordered Mephisto and Loki to seal off everyone's Dark Lands, and told Mephisto to announce the founding of the Shadow Empire.
• Potts warned Tony that war had broken out in the United States, and Tony admitted that he had caused it before returning to absorb the Darkness Force.
• Thanos read The Ancient One's report about Tony, stationed his fleet in the Solar System, and traveled to the space outside Blue Planet to join forces with her.
• Dormammu shot Thanos in the kidney with a purplish-black arrow and escaped through a spatial ripple.
• The Ancient One arrived and revealed that she had given Tony half the Darkness Mark, prompting Thanos to condemn her as the universe's greatest scumbag.

Thanos joined the Ancient One and Captain Marvel to confront Tony, but the Ancient One’s visions showed their odds of victory were only one in ten million. As Tony began moving all nine Dark Lands into the Space Dimension, Hyperion kept the people of the Land of Torment alive through brutal exercise and medical treatment.

• Thanos entered the Ancient One’s portal and found Captain Marvel waiting to help fight the Demon King.
• Thanos learned that Hyperion, a member of the Eternal Race, had joined Tony, and he angrily blamed the Ancient One for letting him go.
• Captain Marvel and Thanos considered joining the Ancient One against Tony, but the Ancient One’s visions revealed only a one-in-ten-million chance of victory.
• The Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos saw Tony raising all nine Dark Lands into a higher dimension.
• Tony, Mephisto, and Loki used their spatial abilities to haul the Dark Lands into the Space Dimension.
• Hyperion treated and revived the people of the Land of Torment, then urged a distraught priest to stand up and keep fighting.

Hyperion transported the people of the Land of Torment to the Dark World, where he revived a priest who had tried to kill himself and turned him into his assistant. As the priest set out to punish those who reported him, the Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos arrived at the Blue Planet coordinates linked to the Dark World.

• Hyperion contacted his boss through the mask and learned that the Dark Lands were being moved into a dimension through the Shadow Kingdom.
• The people of the Land of Torment arrived in the Dark World, celebrated their escape from Hyperion, and then realized he had followed them.
• The priest shot himself, but Hyperion explained that the Soul Realm resurrected the dead and brought him back to life.
• Hyperion assigned double exercise to anyone who had insulted him and offered a tenth reduction to anyone who reported another person, sparking a rush of accusations.
• Hyperion made the priest his assistant, and the priest agreed while secretly vowing revenge on the people who had reported him.
• The Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos arrived at the Blue Planet coordinates connected to the Dark World.

Tony and his Generals prepared to fight The Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos, while The Ancient One’s already tiny odds of victory fell further as she saw the enemy forces. The chapter ended with Captain Marvel suggesting they move to another planet rather than face eight lesser Supremes.

• Hyperion called Tony for help after The Ancient One arrived with Captain Marvel and Thanos, and Tony came through a shadow portal with his Generals.
• Tony learned that General Ika had shut himself away because he could not bear coexisting with Hyperion, then assigned the team to handle one of the three Supreme-level opponents while he fought the other two.
• Tony offered the Infinity Gauntlet to the Generals, and Loki took it so he could ambush their opponents while they drew attention.
• The Ancient One reviewed the battle plan with Captain Marvel and Thanos, while Thanos admitted he had stabbed his toes with his own blade.
• Tony and the Generals emerged to face them, and The Ancient One retreated when she realized they would have to fight eight lesser Supremes.
• Captain Marvel suggested that they move to another planet instead of fighting Tony’s forces.

Tony trapped the Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos inside the Dark Demon King Realm, where the Ancient One admitted their odds of victory were nearly nonexistent. As Tony watched the Dark Generals fight Thanos, Hyperion’s crude attempt to draw Thanos’s attention provoked him into a furious counterattack.

• Tony brought the Dark Demon King Realm down over the area, trapping the Ancient One, Captain Marvel, and Thanos inside its spatial barrier.
• The Ancient One admitted she had come to understand why their chance of winning was only one in ten million, while Tony warned that he could defeat her and Captain Marvel within minutes.
• Tony ordered the Ancient One and Captain Marvel to stay quiet and watched the Dark Generals surround Thanos.
• Thanos fought back against the Generals, injuring them whenever they made mistakes, while Hyperion volunteered to draw his attention.
• Hyperion urinated on Thanos in the crater, enraging him; Thanos charged out to attack, and Loki teleported Hyperion away from danger.

Ratso used Loki’s enchanted bladed staff to ambush the raging Thanos while Hyperion kept him distracted. Hyperion then kicked the weapon farther into Thanos, knocking him unconscious.

• Loki enchanted his bladed staff for Ratso and strengthened him with buffs.
• At Ratso’s request, Mephisto urged Hyperion to draw Thanos’s attention more firmly, and Hyperion enraged him by spitting in his face.
• Ratso and Hyperion coordinated a flight pattern that let Ratso hide along Thanos’s path.
• Ratso struck Thanos from behind, accidentally impaling him through a vulnerable spot with the enchanted staff.
• Hyperion kicked the staff farther into Thanos, who foamed at the mouth and passed out.

Tony defeated Thanos, forced him to trade information about an Infinity Stone and half his energy for his life, and let him go after taking even more power than agreed. Tony revealed that he intended to fatten the universe’s strongest beings before eventually killing them, then addressed the readers.

• The Ancient One and Captain Marvel fled after Tony hinted he might have more demands, and Tony returned the Demon King Realm to higher-dimensional space.
• Hyperion pulled the bladed staff from Thanos, and the Generals refused to keep it before Hyperion tossed it into his demon realm.
• Hyperion woke Thanos with a kick, and Mephisto healed him with holy water while Loki restrained him with the Infinity Gauntlet.
• Thanos offered information about an Infinity Stone on an abandoned planet in exchange for his life, and Tony demanded half his energy as well.
• Tony devoured Thanos’s energy, secretly took an extra ten percent, and released him; Thanos flew away as Tony described the universe’s powerhouses as sheep he was raising for slaughter.

Tony returned to the Dark Dimension to claim Dormammu’s Darkness Mark after the nearby Dimension Lords’ spatial refraction formations failed to keep him out. Dormammu surrendered the mark and gave Tony the coordinates of the neighboring dimensions, leaving Tony ready to pursue them.

• Tony gave Loki the Mind Stone and Space Stone, drew the Rat and Monkey Talismans, and entered the Dark Dimension to confront Dormammu.
• Dormammu’s spatial refraction formations failed because nearby Dimension Lords had built similar formations, allowing Tony to break through the dimensional barrier.
• Tony realized The Ancient One had indirectly set Dormammu up by spreading the refraction technique among the Dimension Lords.
• Dormammu pleaded for his life and surrendered the Darkness Mark, completing Tony’s quest to end Dormammu’s reign as Dark Ruler.
• Dormammu gave Tony a book of nearby dimension coordinates, and Tony accepted it as a guide to the Dimension Lords.

Tony killed Dormammu after pretending to release him, then returned to Blue Planet and ordered the Nine Generals to attack the Dark Dimension. The other Dark Dimension Lords organized a counterattack but secretly fled, while their assembled army remained unaware of their leaders’ escape.

• Tony crushed Dormammu after Dormammu thanked him and tried to flee, then returned to Blue Planet.
• The Bone Lord, the Decay Lord, the Blood Lord, and the Mad Wolf Lord persuaded other Dimension Lords to provide supplies and join a campaign against Tony.
• After the war council, the five Dark Dimension Lords decided to abandon their dimensions and flee toward the Kree Empire with their core territories.
• An army of Dark Lords gathered near Dormammu’s former domain, confident they could defeat Tony.
• Tony gave the books Dormammu had supplied to the Nine Generals and ordered them to assemble the army and attack the Dark Dimension.
• Mephisto and Loki joked that the Dimension Lords would gather an army and deliver themselves to be defeated, and Tony threatened to swallow the Nova Civilization’s capital planet if they did.

Tony used the Dark Ruler quest reward to gain Shendu’s Body, the Twelve Talismans, and Fire Demon Qi, then prepared to expand the Shadow Empire. When a coalition of Dark Lords ambushed him, they realized too late that he was no inexperienced Demon King, and Loki sealed the battlefield as Tony ordered an attack.

• Tony absorbed the quest reward, combining the talisman powers into a self-sustaining cycle and greatly increasing his strength.
• Tony sent the generals into the Dark Dimension to gather armies, while Mephisto ordered Skeleton Mage Billy to scout nearby dimensions.
• Skeleton Billy returned to report that a dark army was waiting in ambush, prompting Tony and the generals to summon more troops and charge out.
• The Dark Lords recognized Mephisto, Hyperion, and Loki among the approaching forces and realized they had mistaken Tony for a weak, newly awakened Demon King.
• Loki used the Infinity Stones, aided by Spider-Man, Reed, Black Panther, Bucky, Doctor Octopus, and others, to seal space-time around the battlefield.
• Tony ordered the army to slaughter the terrified Dark Lords.

Tony crushed the Dark Dimension Lords who had ambushed him, then sent Mephisto and the Generals to seize nearby dimensions. He turned his attention to the Power Stone on Xandar, while the fleeing Bone Lord and four other lords headed for the Nova Civilization Capital, unaware that Tony was interested in them.

• The Dimension Lords claimed their ambush had been a misunderstanding, but Tony killed the Fallen Lord when he lied.
• The Alien Entity Lord revealed that the Bone Lord had gathered the dark armies after claiming a Demon King had emerged, then said the Bone Lord had fled with the others.
• Tony killed several more lords and ordered Mephisto and the Generals to devour the survivors and their dimensional essences.
• Mephisto led the Generals to attack nearby dimensions while Tony considered pursuing the Power Stone on Xandar.
• The Bone Lord and four other Dark Lords discussed targeting the Nova Civilization and decided to travel to its capital, confident Tony would not find them.

After conquering territory in the Dark Dimension, Tony decided to pursue the Power Stone in Nova space, but his group had no spaceship until Hyperion handed over his. Tony left Blue Planet to begin the journey, while the Shadow Empire continued to view the planet with indifference.

• Ratso reported that nearby Dimension Lords had submitted as vassals, and Tony ordered the Nine Generals to conquer nearby realms and befriend those farther away.
• Tony discussed the Infinity Stones as potential threats, and Skeleton Billy revealed that the Power Stone was sealed in a Nova Corps fortress and had prepared a plan to retrieve it.
• Tony ordered everyone to prepare for a trip to the Nova Civilization, but Reed pointed out that they lacked a ship capable of traveling there.
• Hyperion revealed that he owned a spaceship, and after Loki stabbed him, Tony requisitioned it and took the key.
• Tony left messages for Potts and Hani before departing Blue Planet, where the Shadow Empire remained largely unseen and treated the planet as insignificant.

Hyperion took Tony and the others aboard his imperial combat carrier, though they doubted he could really lead an interstellar empire. After reaching the Nova Civilization, they revealed their overwhelming power and received a nervous welcome from the Nova Corps.

• Tony and the others learned that Hyperion led an interstellar empire, but they mocked his claim and scattered around his ship while he piloted it alone.
• Loki and several companions used the Space Stone to accelerate Hyperion's carrier, and the group reached the heart of the Nova Civilization in less than three days.
• Hyperion revealed that his ship was an advanced combat carrier capable of manufacturing fighters and biological species, then stored it away so the group could request entry permits.
• The Nova Corps failed to detect Hyperion's carrier on radar and panicked when eleven people appeared in space before their guns.
• Hyperion identified the group as a peaceful tour party, and General Sarl welcomed them warmly on behalf of the Nova Civilization.

Tony and his party visited the Nova Capital Star, where Tony insisted on inspecting the slums and uncovered signs that the war with the Kree Empire was still affecting prices. There, Tony unexpectedly found the five hiding Dimension Lords, and his Generals moved to capture them.

• Commander Sarl welcomed Tony and his party to the Capital Star while the Bone Lord and four other Dimension Lords watched them on a giant screen and debated how to hide.
• Tony asked to visit the slums, demonstrated his power to reassure Commander Sarl, and led the party out of the capital building.
• In the slums, Skeleton Billy reported that grilled snacks cost twenty percent more than the previous year, and Tony connected the price increase to the ongoing war with the Kree Empire.
• Tony spotted the Bone Lord, the Blood Lord, Decay, the Mad Wolf Lord, and the Fallen Lord smoking on some steps and greeted them.
• The five Dimension Lords transformed and scattered, but Tony's Generals acted to seal or capture them as the Bone Lord lamented that they had found him.

Tony captured the Dimension Lords, learned they had found the Power Stone sealed in the Sky Tower, and took control of it after reaching the tower. The group left the tower’s base in chaos, with General Sarl under Skeleton Billy’s control and Tony holding an obedient Power Stone.

• Tony recognized the Dimension Lords by slapping them and learned that they had discovered the Sky Tower and the sealed Power Stone.
• The Blood Lord explained that he had learned about the Power Stone by drinking blood and absorbing memories, so Tony ordered the group to lead him to the Sky Tower.
• Skeleton Billy mind-controlled General Sarl, who led Tony and the others to the Sky Tower and shot a soldier when the guards refused them entry.
• Tony sent the Shadow Army to attack the base while Hyperion smashed through the tower’s defenses and code-locked door.
• Tony took the Power Stone, subdued it with his divine power inside the Shadow Kingdom, and used its power through his body.

Tony unified his past, present, and future, making him resistant to attacks through time and threatening other versions of himself across the multiverse. After the Ancient One returned to Blue Planet, Tony ordered the Nova Civilization devoured, and his followers began debating how to exploit it.

• Tony's Reality Stone flowed around the Power Stone, triggering a time-space shockwave that made the demon generals freeze in place.
• Loki warned that moving through the shockwave could split them into individuals from different timelines, and The Ancient One arrived to investigate.
• The Ancient One explained that Tony's existence across time had unified, forcing any time-traveling attacker to face his strongest self; she fled when Tony teased her about attacking her.
• Back on Blue Planet, The Ancient One told Captain Marvel that Tony's power threatened his counterparts across parallel universes and worried that a multiversal war could make him stronger.
• Tony ordered Mephisto to devour the Nova Civilization, then joined his followers as Loki, Mephisto, Hyperion, Bucky, and Black Panther debated how to benefit from it.
• Loki, Mephisto, and Skeleton Billy prepared three plans, and Loki began presenting a proposal to infiltrate the civilization, build portals, and develop it as a long-term base.

Tony approved Skeleton Billy’s plan to trap the Nova Civilization by moving its relay planets into the Shadow Kingdom, then prepared to test Ultimate Darkness on the Nova Capital Star. He rewarded Billy and restored Sarl’s memories, leaving the Nova leader to face the coming attack and the consequences of his betrayal.

• Mephisto proposed teaming up with the Kree Empire against the Nova Civilization, but Billy suggested teleporting planets into the Shadow Kingdom instead.
• Billy explained how the Space Stone could move planets and how capturing relay planets would strand the Nova Civilization’s spaceships.
• Tony approved Billy’s strategy, and Billy received a Darkness Mark that let him draw on the Shadow Empire and return after death.
• Tony chose the Nova Capital Star as the target for the generals’ first use of Ultimate Darkness.
• Billy dispelled his magic on Sarl, who remembered his betrayal and pleaded that he had acted for the empire.
• Tony accused Sarl of disguising warmongering as a pursuit of peace and criticized the Nova elite’s disregard for rising prices and shortages.