Chapter Summaries

Tony apologized to Wanda and offered her a hundred million dollars, settling their personal grievance before their duel resumed. After Tony’s fireball badly burned Wanda, she refused to surrender and prepared Mental Labyrinth as Tony readied Forest of Thunder.

• Tony apologized, and Wanda accepted his offer of a hundred million dollars in compensation for herself and her brother.
• Tony and Wanda resumed their duel, with Wanda promising not to go easy on him despite the payment.
• Tony struck Wanda with a fireball that shattered her barrier and badly burned her abdomen.
• Tony urged the injured Wanda to surrender and offered to heal her, but she refused and forced herself to stand.
• Wanda charged Mental Labyrinth as Tony summoned Forest of Thunder and formed a Spear of Thunder to meet her attack.

Tony healed Wanda after she lost their duel, and she conceded before the next round began. Hawkeye and Natasha then faced each other, neither willing to concede, and their fight was underway when Hawkeye launched a fire dragon at her.

• Wanda's pain disrupted her magic circle, and Tony canceled his Spear of Thunder before healing her wound with water elements.
• Wanda admitted defeat, exchanged account IDs with Tony, and conceded the round.
• Hawkeye and Natasha met as opponents in the fourth round and agreed to fight rather than concede.
• Natasha attacked Hawkeye from stealth, but he detected her position and dodged her shadow blade.
• Hawkeye fired paired wind and fire arrows that twisted together into a fire dragon.

Hawkeye used a lightning attack to expose Natasha and seemingly kill her, winning their fight. But Natasha’s shadow-like body transformation let her attack him from behind, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Hawkeye spread a control Lightning Arrow across the floor, forcing the hidden Natasha to reveal herself and slowing her movements.
• Hawkeye shot Natasha through the chest with an offensive Lightning Arrow, and she collapsed and died.
• Hawkeye dispelled the lightning, caught Natasha as she fell, and closed her eyes before declaring that he had won.
• Natasha’s corpse turned pitch-black and shadow-like, and Hawkeye realized her class might have a hidden trait.
• Natasha appeared behind Hawkeye and slashed his back, repeating his claim that she had won.

Natasha revealed that her shadow could imitate her abilities and was immune to most attacks, then used it to fight Hawkeye alongside her real body. She explained that each Backstab that failed to kill Hawkeye would double the instant-death chance of her next one, leaving him facing a rapidly growing threat.

• Natasha's shadow returned to her feet after the instant-death effect failed to kill Hawkeye, and she explained its abilities.
• Natasha summoned Shadow Nat, and the two Natashas attacked Hawkeye together.
• Hawkeye tried to paralyze Natasha with a Lightning Arrow, but Shadow Nat pulled it free and released her.
• Natasha and Shadow Nat used Shadow Release to attack Hawkeye from different directions, and Natasha stabbed him with Backstab.
• Natasha explained that each Backstab that failed to kill Hawkeye would double the next one's instant-death chance.

Natasha lost to Hawkeye after he used light to erase her shadows, and the tournament continued until Steve faced the leader of Rising Tide in the ninth round. Steve endured a barrage of copies and attacks with his defenses and recovery, leaving his opponent frustrated as the fight continued.

• Hawkeye filled the arena with light, causing Shadow Nat to disappear and giving him the win over Natasha.
• Natasha conceded the round, and the tournament advanced through the later rounds.
• In the ninth round, Steve recognized the leader of Rising Tide as his opponent and sensed his strength.
• The leader of Rising Tide summoned four emotionless copies of Steve, each possessing Holy Light, then added two copies of the Berserker.
• After an hour of fighting, Steve remained standing behind his Lesser Invincibility Shield, frustrating the leader of Rising Tide.

Steve fought the leader of Rising Tide, who used copies, Berserkers, a dragon, and a devastating projectile to wear down Steve's Lesser Invincibility Shield. Steve's Holy Light was nearly exhausted, leaving him trapped and with little hope of reaching his opponent.

• The leader of Rising Tide sent four copies and two Berserkers after Steve, who stayed behind his shield as his Holy Light dwindled.
• Steve dismissed his shield and was struck by the attackers, so the leader summoned a dragon that suppressed Steve's strength with Dragon's Majesty and fired Destruction Dragon Breath.
• Steve raised his Lesser Invincibility Shield again to block the dragon's breath and the surrounding attackers.
• The leader materialized the Sword of Damocles and drove it into Steve's shield, unleashing a blast that battered the dragon and Berserkers but failed to break the shield.
• The leader sent the copies, Berserkers, and dragon to attack the shield as Steve realized his Holy Light was nearly gone and he had little chance of reaching his opponent.

Steve conceded his duel with the Rising Tide leader, then spoke with him about his identity, strength, and the organization’s aims. The leader defended Rising Tide’s public disclosure of the alien invasion, leaving Steve considering whether S.H.I.E.L.D. should keep the public uninformed.

• Steve sensed he could not break the leader’s barrier and conceded, so the leader stopped the attack.
• Steve learned that the masked Rising Tide leader went by the codename Magician and told him that Nick Fury considered him dangerous and ambitious.
• The Rising Tide leader realized Steve had revealed that several Avengers had obtained purple skills and reflected on their power to counter rules.
• The leader explained that Rising Tide had fewer than ten members from its original hacker group and now offered a home to people without one.
• The leader admitted Rising Tide had exposed the alien invasion, arguing that the public had a right to know and that superpowered people outside S.H.I.E.L.D. could help.
• Steve acknowledged that the leader’s argument had merit and questioned whether the public needed to be kept so sheltered.

The leader of Rising Tide defended his organization to Steve, arguing that S.H.I.E.L.D. should worry more about powerful people emboldened by the game’s disregard for the existing order. After the final contestants gathered, Su Yu rewarded each with an Advanced Blind Box and explained the competition rules.

• The leader of Rising Tide told Steve that the game could inspire ambitious people to challenge the existing order, but Steve said S.H.I.E.L.D. could not trust them after one meeting.
• The leader of Rising Tide suggested his group might become S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ally, then was restored by green light and joined the other ninety-nine finalists.
• The leader of Rising Tide noticed that none of his seven subordinates had advanced and that Tony, Nick Fury, Thor, and Hawkeye had reached the final round for the Avengers.
• Nick Fury lamented that Natasha, Banner, and Steve had lost, leaving only four Avengers among the finalists.
• Su Yu appeared, awarded each finalist an Advanced Blind Box, and announced that they could compete alone or in teams, with the same rewards for either.

Su Yu sent the gathered superhumans into separate spaces to design worlds that would inflict despair on the supreme leaders, whose souls he had divided into a hundred portions. Tony explored the world-building interface, while Hawkeye confirmed a simple transparent room and found himself standing outside it.

• Su Yu explained that the superhumans could use any methods they wanted to torment the divided souls, with time standing still outside, and the group agreed to begin.
• Su Yu made the superhumans vanish, and the supreme leaders disappeared from Base Two a second later, leaving the witnesses to suspect superhuman involvement.
• Tony explored the Theme World Overview interface, learned that its templates could create real environments, and browsed its game and apocalypse options.
• The superhumans mostly chose to design their own tormenting worlds, imagining physical and mental suffering for the supreme leaders.
• Hawkeye, unable to think of much, created a transparent room with five ceiling nozzles and confirmed his design, appearing outside it in the surrounding darkness.

The five highest-ranking leaders were transported into a transparent room, where Hawkeye explained that the shopkeeper had punished them for their arrogance and destroyed the world's nuclear missiles. Realizing their authority and weapons could not protect them, they pleaded with Hawkeye for help and threatened him when he refused.

• The five leaders appeared in the transparent room and asked Hawkeye where they were.
• Hawkeye told them their actions against the shopkeeper had brought about their predicament.
• The leaders learned that all the world's nuclear missiles had been turned into models, and Hawkeye warned that the shopkeeper's power made their weapons and authority meaningless.
• The leaders regretted provoking the shopkeeper and offered money in exchange for Hawkeye's help.
• Hawkeye refused to intervene, and the leaders tried ordering him, bribing him, and threatening his family.

Hawkeye punished five captives by wounding them and then using water jets to keep them awake. After a week had passed inside the room, Hawkeye judged that it was still too early to stop.

• The five captives threatened Hawkeye and invoked his family, so he shot Wind Arrows through the transparent room and wounded their thighs.
• Hawkeye ignored the captives as they treated their wounds, then the ceiling nozzles soaked them whenever they started to fall asleep.
• Hawkeye told the captives that his task was to punish them for what they had done, but refused to explain further.
• The water jets kept the five captives awake for days, leaving them exhausted and begging Hawkeye for sleep.
• Hawkeye checked the timer and saw that seven days had passed inside the room while only seven minutes had passed for him, then decided it was still too early.

Hawkeye ended the five leaders’ sleep-deprivation punishment, while the red-haired man kept them trapped in a controlled apocalypse. After surviving six years, the five leaders were told they would have to endure another three.

• Hawkeye woke after a day had passed in the transparent room and killed the five leaders with arrows.
• The red-haired man forced the five leaders to survive an apocalypse for three years, promising they could leave and gain the right to buy blind boxes.
• After three years, the red-haired man persuaded the desperate leaders to endure another three years by claiming their past suffering would otherwise be wasted.
• The five leaders survived worsening disasters for another three years, unaware that the red-haired man controlled their severity and location.
• On the final day, the red-haired man told the five leaders they would have to remain in the apocalypse for another three years.

After ten years of false promises, the red-haired man revealed that the five leaders had never had a chance to leave and began killing them. Three leaders died in flames, leaving the red-haired man pursuing the last two.

• The red-haired man kept the five leaders hoping for three more years, then left them to endure another year of despair.
• The five leaders begged the red-haired man to take them away, believing they could finally leave after ten years.
• The red-haired man set one leader on fire and admitted that he had lied to them from the beginning.
• The red-haired man burned a second leader, then tormented the remaining three as they tried to crawl into nearby ruins.
• The red-haired man struck the three fleeing leaders with flames, leaving only their charred remains.

Su Yu ended the despair game, reunited the five participants whose souls had been divided, and reduced them to sand after a Psychic Blast left them vegetative. He distributed participation prizes, announced the top rankings and rewards, and revealed the remaining scores on a golden screen.

• When the game ended, the five participants’ soul fragments reunited, and their combined despair triggered a Psychic Blast that left them vegetative; Su Yu turned them to sand.
• Su Yu returned to the plaza, declared the game over, and gave each participant an Advanced Blind Box.
• Su Yu named Hawkeye first place for lasting nearly four years, awarded him ten Special-Grade Blind Boxes, and warned that only their rightful owner could open or distribute them.
• Su Yu announced Jack as second and Heinrich, the leader of Rising Tide, as third.
• Su Yu displayed everyone’s scores and rankings, and the seven people who had made the top ten received their rewards.

The Avengers returned to Stark Tower with ten Special-Grade Blind Boxes, and Hawkeye shared six of them with the others before they opened their rewards. The Avengers gained powerful purple skills and equipment, while Hawkeye opened two of his remaining boxes and received skills that strengthened his attacks and area damage.

• The Avengers reappeared in Stark Tower, and Hawkeye offered one blind box to each of his companions while keeping the rest.
• Natasha received Shadow World, Steve received Holy Angel's Advent, Nick Fury received Psychic Catastrophe, Tony received Annihilation Domain, Thor received Thunder's Wrath, and Banner received Bloodline of Rage.
• The Avengers opened their rewards and were satisfied with their items.
• Hawkeye opened his first blind box and received Galaxy Shining Pulse, a skill that formed a powerful arrow from gathered elements.
• Hawkeye opened his second blind box and received Elemental Advent, an area-of-effect skill.

Hawkeye opened his final mystery boxes and gained the Golden Legendary Sunset Bow and a powerful homing skill. The Avengers kept the skill secret and traveled to a remote mountain to test the bow’s strength.

• Hawkeye opened a mystery box and received the Golden Legendary Sunset Bow, which only he or someone he permitted could wield.
• Hawkeye learned the bow could destroy a star at full draw, but admitted he was not strong enough to draw it fully.
• Nick Fury stopped Hawkeye from testing the bow immediately and suggested they find a remote mountain.
• Hawkeye opened his last mystery box and acquired Ten-Thousand-Mile Soul Pursuit, a skill that made his arrows track a designated target across the world.
• Natasha and the others agreed to keep Hawkeye’s homing skill secret, and Nick Fury warned him to use it sparingly.
• The Avengers landed in a remote mountain forest and chose a bare mountain as a target for testing the Sunset Bow.

Hawkeye tested the Sunset Bow and destroyed a mountain with only a fifth of a draw, then found that his purple skill was weaker than the bow’s own power. The Avengers began testing their abilities, with Natasha enveloping them in Shadow World and Steve transforming into light.

• Hawkeye drew the Sunset Bow about a fifth of the way and erased a mountain with its sharp aura.
• Tony suggested Hawkeye try a purple skill, and Hawkeye fired Galaxy Shining Pulse at another mountain.
• Hawkeye and Natasha observed that Galaxy Shining Pulse caused a spectacular blast but was weaker than the bow’s first shot.
• Hawkeye invited the Avengers to test their skills, and Natasha spread Shadow World, blinding them and suppressing their strength.
• Steve announced his turn and transformed his body into light within Natasha’s darkness.

After the Blind Box game empowered Transcendents, worldwide disorder erupted until lightning from an unseen power killed those who threatened civilians. Months later, the strained Nick Fury received a visit from the worried Ancient One, who asked him to take her to that person.

• Steve spread three pairs of Holy Light wings and created a small domain in the Shadow World, while Natasha tricked the others by reminding them they still had shadows.
• Transcendents gained power and chaos spread, but global thunderstorms killed those who harmed civilians or considered doing so, making the Avengers busy responding to crises.
• A month later, Transcendent organizations proliferated as nations weakened, and several more months passed as old power structures broke apart.
• Nick Fury sensed a presence in his office and watched the Ancient One arrive through a Space Gate.
• The Ancient One told Nick Fury that something had happened and asked him to take her to that person.

The Ancient One visited Su Yu after the Eye of Agamotto showed her that the universe’s future had vanished. She asked whether he knew what had happened, leaving the cause of the void unexplained.

• Nick Fury brought the Ancient One to Su Yu’s Blind Box Shop, where she marveled at its hidden appearance.
• The Ancient One explained that she had delayed visiting until her destined successor appeared and assured Su Yu she had never looked down on his shop.
• Su Yu joked with the Ancient One, while Nick Fury silently worried that Su Yu could read his thoughts.
• The Ancient One revealed that the Eye of Agamotto had shown her a void where the future should be, suggesting the universe might have no future.
• Nick Fury reacted with alarm, and the Ancient One asked Su Yu if he knew what had happened.

Su Yu told the Ancient One and Nick Fury that the threads of fate had snapped and the universe faced destruction, then explained that he came from beyond their universe and was responsible for protecting it. The chapter left the Ancient One and Nick Fury reeling after learning about the White Sea, other universes, and monsters that destroyed worlds.

• Su Yu found that the threads of fate had snapped and said the universe was about to be destroyed.
• The Ancient One suspected Su Yu had come from outside the universe, and Su Yu confirmed that he had.
• The Ancient One feared Su Yu might be responsible for the destruction, but Su Yu said protecting the universe was his responsibility.
• Su Yu explained the White Sea and the existence of other universes to the Ancient One and Nick Fury.
• The Ancient One learned that monsters existed to bring worlds to an end.