Chapter Summaries

Su Ming took Mordo out to learn about the world and visited the London Sanctum, where he negotiated Mister Sinister’s release in exchange for infiltrating the Hellfire Club. Mister Sinister accepted the mission, and Su Ming ordered Mordo to contact the Vishanti to formalize their contract.

• Su Ming explained to Monark that he planned to send Mordo out for training so he would gain perspective and be less likely to betray him.
• Monark stayed behind at Kamar-Taj while Su Ming left with Mordo and traveled to the London Sanctum Sanctorum.
• The old Mage showed Su Ming and Mordo Mister Sinister, who had been reduced to a feral state by experiments involving an Alternate Dimension toad.
• Su Ming had the old Mage remove the magic affecting Mister Sinister, then offered him freedom in exchange for infiltrating the Hellfire Club, gathering intelligence, and helping kill Sebastian.
• Mister Sinister accepted, and Su Ming told Mordo to contact the Vishanti so they could witness a contract.

Su Ming visited Mephisto in Hell to renegotiate Ancient One’s old treaty while Magik accompanied them. He secured Mephisto’s agreement to lend him Ghost Rider, leaving the rest of their arrangement unchanged.

• Su Ming and Magik met Mephisto, who showed them his gambling halls, nightclub, and other domains in Hell.
• Su Ming returned with Mephisto to his throne and said he wanted to alter the treaty left by Ancient One.
• Su Ming allowed Mephisto’s salesmen to keep operating in the Main Dimension but objected to his enforcers roaming there.
• Su Ming asked to borrow Ghost Rider, and Mephisto agreed to sign a contract while keeping the other terms unchanged.

Su Ming explained Travis Parham’s history as Ghost Rider to Magik before the Spirit of Vengeance arrived at Wilson Enterprises. Su Ming met Parham on the highway, where the two began discussing his help with the coming operation.

• Su Ming told Magik how Parham became Ghost Rider after pursuing revenge for the murdered family of the man who had saved his life.
• Su Ming saw Parham riding a flaming horse toward Wilson Tower and sent Magik back to Limbo before intercepting him.
• Su Ming met Parham on the highway, where Mordo arrived with a jianbing guozi containing a hundred eggs.
• Su Ming offered Parham some food and asked him to change back so his presence would not scare away the Vampires.
• Parham extinguished his flames, dismounted, and accepted a little jianbing guozi.

Su Ming, Mordo, and Parham traveled to Philadelphia to find Blood-Eater Vampires. A homeless man directed Su Ming to a Vampire brothel by the river, and the group set off to investigate.

• Su Ming reasoned that Quincy had found the Blood-Eater Vampire corpse in Philadelphia and decided to search the city’s roughest areas.
• Su Ming, Mordo, and Parham arrived in Philadelphia through Mordo’s Teleportation Portal.
• Su Ming paid a homeless man for directions to a chaotic bar near the docks and learned that the bartender could help him find people of all kinds.
• Su Ming asked about Vampires, and the homeless man pointed him toward a Vampire brothel upstream along the river.
• Su Ming left for the brothel, warning that its Vampires might be older than the homeless man’s grandmother.

Su Ming, Mordo, and Parham investigated a suspicious establishment across the frozen river in Philadelphia, where Parham found no vampires but sensed something wrong. The group entered the red-lit Blood of Immortality, whose unnervingly composed women watched them like rulers surveying their subjects.

• Su Ming and Parham discussed the changing city and the streetwalkers as the group walked along the frozen river with Mordo.
• Su Ming sent Parham across the river with money to investigate the building, then answered Mordo’s question about why darkness existed with a riddle about people coming before chickens and eggs.
• Parham returned without finding vampires and said the people inside were sinful but did not meet his standards, though the atmosphere felt wrong.
• Su Ming led Parham and Mordo toward the building, identified as the inn called Blood of Immortality, and noticed that customers leaving had no bite marks.
• Su Ming entered the red-lit lobby, where women in altered medieval clothing watched the guests with queenly disdain, while Mordo covered his eyes.

Su Ming used money to draw out the owner of a supposed vampire-themed shop, while Mordo was dragged downstairs by the women. The owner tried to consume Su Ming’s soul, but he resisted her attack and revealed that she used Hell Magic.

• Su Ming explained to Parham that the women were ordinary people acting as vampires for customers’ psychological satisfaction.
• Su Ming used Mordo and a pile of cash to attract the women, who dragged Mordo into the basement for their services.
• Su Ming booked the remaining Queens and went upstairs with the shop’s owner, leaving Parham in the lounge.
• The owner kissed Su Ming and tried to eat his soul, but he resisted and confronted her.
• The owner burst into flames with Hell Magic, but Su Ming dodged and the attack struck the ceiling.

Su Ming revealed himself as the new Sorcerer Supreme to Satana and offered to preserve her agreement with Ancient One if she helped him. The chapter ended with Satana dodging his request to help deal with Dracula by suggesting they discuss having children instead.

• Su Ming exposed Satana as a demon and identified her as the Hell Lord Marduk Kurios’s daughter.
• Su Ming explained that Satana’s Hell was infested with Tentacle Creatures, which had driven her to remain on Earth and seek greater power.
• Satana realized the Time Stone had prevented her from feeding on Su Ming’s soul and asked what he wanted from her.
• Su Ming offered to leave her agreement with Ancient One unchanged if she helped him deal with Dracula.
• Satana responded to Su Ming’s request by asking to talk about having children instead.

Su Ming negotiated with Satana to reclaim her Hell in exchange for making her Dracula’s target, and they signed a contract witnessed by Mephisto and Hela. Hela arrived and revealed that Su Ming was not a warlock, leaving Satana surprised.

• Su Ming rejected Satana’s attempt to change their terms and offered to help her deal with the ancient-god creations invading her Hell.
• Satana agreed to the deal, and Su Ming proposed Set as witness before they settled on Mephisto and Hela.
• Mephisto witnessed Su Ming and Satana sign the contract and learned that Dracula was the target.
• Hela arrived, heard Satana’s explanation, and told her that Su Ming was not a warlock.

Su Ming negotiated a deal with Hela and Satana to help them pursue their plans in exchange for Hela’s aid against Dracula. The group searched for Blood-Eaters in the city, and Hela began using her powers to locate the dead.

• Hela offered to help Su Ming deal with Dracula if Magik returned Tyr’s soul, but Su Ming refused to agree to those terms.
• Satana offered Hela territory in her father’s Hell and proposed that she, Hela, and Daimon join forces against Marduk; Hela accepted the deal.
• Su Ming, Hela, Satana, and Parham left to search for Blood-Eaters, while Mordo remained at Blood of Immortality for an extra day.
• Satana and Hela discussed trying to seduce Su Ming as they walked, and Su Ming asked Hela to locate the city’s active dead.
• Hela sent black mist into a roadside sewer as she began searching for skeletons, zombies, and Vampires.

Su Ming and his companions used Hela’s undead animals to locate the Vampires hiding beneath Philadelphia, whom Su Ming wanted to question about the Inhumans. They reached a concealed underground dock disguised as a sewer entrance and prepared to investigate.

• Hela summoned tens of thousands of undead animals and sent them through the city to search for Vampires.
• Su Ming explained that he wanted to intimidate the Blood-Eaters and learn about the Inhumans’ plans for an underground war.
• Hela discovered the Vampires were underground, and Parham identified the location as an abandoned dock once used for bootlegging.
• Su Ming led the group to a fake sewer entrance beneath a bridge and leaped over the garbage pile into the darkness.

Su Ming, Hela, Satana, and Parham discovered the Vampires’ underground blood-harvesting spire beneath Philadelphia and found that its thousands of human victims could not be saved. Satana claimed their souls while the group descended farther into the Abyss, and Hela explained that their attempt to test Su Ming’s attitude had shown he regarded them as replaceable tools.

• Su Ming, Hela, Satana, and Parham finished killing the Vampires and found a vast underground spire where more than twenty thousand people were being drained for blood.
• Su Ming examined the victims and concluded that their brains had been irreversibly damaged, while Hela confirmed the process could not be undone.
• Satana proposed taking the victims’ souls, and Su Ming let her and Hela decide; Hela refused her share because the victims had no faith in Asgard.
• Satana used Mass Soul Siphon to consume the victims’ souls, leaving their bodies dead on the spire.
• Su Ming and Parham descended into the sinkhole as Satana and Hela discussed their failed attempt to test him and concluded that he viewed them as tools.

Su Ming and his allies destroyed a vampire blood-wine factory and learned that its shipments were bound for King Vani’s fortress near Richmond. With no time to wait for daylight, they prepared to investigate two possible strongholds.

• Ghost Rider attacked the vampires at the spire’s base while Su Ming inspected the control room and searched the underground facility.
• Su Ming found a Blood Pool and a warehouse where vampires bottled blood as wine, then waited with Parham for the shipment collectors to arrive.
• Hela captured and interrogated a vampire, learning that the clan’s Elder was Duke Joe Vani, who called himself King Vani, and that the wine was headed to his base near Richmond.
• Hela learned that the vampires knew nothing about souls, while Satana asked whether any of them possessed one.
• Su Ming, Parham, Hela, and Satana debated whether King Vani’s fortress was Fort Harrison or Fort Vean, then decided to investigate both.

Su Ming, Hela, Satana, and Parham searched Harrison Castle for signs of vampires while Hela asked Su Ming about Loki and The Serpent. Hela left convinced she should arrange hardships to strengthen Thor and Loki while keeping Loki alive.

• Su Ming broke the castle gate’s lock and sent Satana to search the first floor, Parham to inspect the basement and wine cellar, and Hela to search with him.
• As they searched upstairs, Hela warned Su Ming that the Frost Giants were moving and asked about The Serpent and the prophecy that Odin’s son would perish with him.
• Su Ming assured Hela that Loki would survive and revealed that Balder was alive in Limbo.
• Su Ming suggested that Hela arrange dangers to strengthen Thor and Loki, and Hela decided she could use the Frost Giants as an opportunity.

Su Ming led Hela, Satana, and Ghost Rider to Fort Vean to confront the Vampires, while using his leverage to keep Hela and Satana cooperating. The group stormed the castle and began slaughtering its Vampire residents as Su Ming looted its furnishings.

• Satana reported seeing a white shadow sink into a wall, but Su Ming prioritized finding the Vampires and opened a portal to Fort Vean.
• Hela and Satana realized Su Ming intended to send them away after their usefulness ended, and Satana threatened to strike until Su Ming warned he could recruit Marduk instead.
• At Fort Vean, the group heard a waltz from the castle, and Su Ming ordered Ghost Rider to blast open the gates.
• The Vampires attacked the intruders in the great hall, but Ghost Rider blasted the first attackers apart while Hela impaled and beheaded others.
• Satana cast a rain of Hellfire that burned fleeing Vampires to ash as Su Ming collected candlesticks, pillows, and other valuables.

Su Ming and his companions fought through Giovanni’s ballroom and discovered that the vampires were infected with parasitic creatures designed to turn humanity into vampires. After uncovering the scope of the vampires’ plan to assimilate Earth, Su Ming realized he had to stop it in secret with the strength he had.

• Su Ming led Hela, Satana, and Parham into the ballroom, where Giovanni’s well-dressed vampires attacked them with Dark Magic instead of answering him.
• Hela, Satana, and Parham defeated the vampires while Su Ming looted the ballroom, and the group questioned why the vampires had fought so recklessly.
• Su Ming examined a vampire’s organs and split its head open, revealing a fluorescent green brain parasite that he identified as a Steam Brain-Sucking Creature.
• Su Ming explained that the parasites could spread through multiple routes, control human hosts, and multiply vampires far faster than the traditional method.
• Su Ming concluded that the vampires planned to use the parasites to assimilate humanity and that their experiments on Mutants and Inhumans could produce stronger vampires.
• Su Ming realized that he would have to stop the plan in secret with his limited strength.

Su Ming and his companions burned the parasite-infected corpses and tracked King Vani’s research to a concealed basement. They scorched the Vampires hiding in its mist-filled passage, then cautiously entered to face the high-level purebreds below.

• Su Ming identified the worms as fire-vulnerable parasites and ordered Parham and Satana to burn the infected corpses.
• Su Ming told Hela that he needed to stop King Vani’s research to prevent humanity from facing extinction.
• Hela reported that she had burned the scattered Vampires upstairs, and the group searched the castle for the basement.
• Su Ming kicked open a magically concealed Golden Door and found a passage filled with black mist hiding Vampires.
• Parham and Satana unleashed fire into the passage, killing the hidden Vampires, and Su Ming entered cautiously with Godslayer as a shield.

Su Ming and his companions fought through a bat-filled passage in the vampire stronghold, then searched its sleeping quarters and found imprisoned women in the underground dining hall. Suspecting the women might carry Vampire Worms, Su Ming ordered Satana to kill them and burn their bodies before the group continued deeper into the lair.

• Su Ming used incendiary and concussion grenades while Parham attacked the bats with fire, clearing the passage despite their mind-affecting cries.
• Su Ming gave Parham concussion grenades and sent him ahead as the group explored rows of empty vampire coffins.
• Su Ming, Hela, and Satana reached the underground dining hall and found women imprisoned as blood donors.
• Su Ming ordered Satana to kill every prisoner and burn the bodies because he could not determine whether they hosted Vampire Worms.
• Hela followed Su Ming onward while Satana stayed behind to carry out his order.

Su Ming and his allies reached King Vani’s underground Throne Room and challenged his plans to use Vampire Worms. When Vani refused to abandon his vision of an immortal blood clan, Su Ming ordered an attack.

• Su Ming warned Satana to make sure every Vampire corpse had burned, then continued underground with her and Hela.
• The group reunited with Ghost Rider outside a Gothic-style hall, where Hela sensed Vampires inside and drew the Night Sky Sword.
• King Vani welcomed Su Ming into the hall and claimed his family had neither captured Mutants nor harmed Inhumans, while defending Vampire Worms as a path to coexistence and eternal life.
• Su Ming accused Vani of preparing for war and rejected his offer to negotiate, then called on Satana to attack.
• Vani’s sorcerers extinguished Satana’s fireball, and the Vampires charged; Su Ming assigned Ghost Rider to the Mages, Hela to protect Satana, and took the warriors for himself.

Su Ming and his allies slaughtered the Vampires as Strangle evolved a way to generate bioelectricity and restore Su Ming’s red combat lenses. After Hela impaled the surviving Vampires, Su Ming cut them apart and advanced toward King Vani, the last enemy at the throne.

• Ghost Rider and Satana attacked the Vampires with Hellfire, grenades, and powerful area spells while Hela watched and Su Ming and Deathstroke held the front line.
• Strangle absorbed the Vampires’ bloodline traits and evolved the ability to generate bioelectricity, bringing Su Ming’s red lenses back to life.
• Su Ming learned a Vampire’s rapier techniques before killing him, then called on Hela to clear the remaining enemies.
• Hela raised jagged stone spikes through the floor, and Su Ming used Cloak’s speed to carve the impaled Vampires into pieces.
• Su Ming walked toward the throne, leaving King Vani as the final enemy.

King Vani completed a crude imitation of the Blood God transformation and fought Deathstroke, using blood magic to drain him. Deathstroke faked his death to exploit King Vani’s hunger, and the chapter ended as King Vani’s Symbiote attacked him.

• King Vani reclaimed the blood of his Vampire descendants, while Satana recognized that the organ music had been part of his spell and Hela destroyed the organ too late to stop it.
• Su Ming explained that King Vani lacked the conditions to become a true Blood God, then used Strangle to track him through his bat and mist illusions.
• King Vani pierced Deathstroke’s heart in a clash, but Deathstroke stayed on his feet and called himself an ordinary human.
• King Vani controlled Deathstroke’s blood, leaving him apparently dead, while Hela stopped Parham from intervening and identified the death as a feint.
• King Vani failed to bite through Deathstroke’s armor and sent his red Symbiote tentacles at him, playing into Su Ming’s plan to exploit his hunger for blood.