Recaps

Loki remained imprisoned as S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to interrogate him, while Steve volunteered for an experimental enhancement program. As Thor grew comfortable with Erin, the Ancient One tried to force a crisis to awaken his powers, but Chen Mo and Tony interrupted Thor’s planned confession.

• Fury confronted Loki after twenty-seven failed interrogations, while Loki concealed his anxiety and continued to taunt him.
• Steve asked Fury to restart the extreme physical enhancement program, and Fury showed him a serum with a sixty-two percent success rate.
• Thor and Erin shared a meal as Thor adjusted to life on Earth, and the Ancient One decided to put Erin in danger to spur him into action.
• Chen Mo stopped the Ancient One from manipulating the timeline and later dragged Tony away from his laboratory to intervene in Thor’s romance.
• Chen Mo and Tony sat beside Thor just as he began confessing his feelings to Erin, who turned her attention to interviewing Tony Stark.

Chen Mo exposed Thor’s rehearsed confession to Erin, but Thor accidentally smashed the restaurant table and hit Tony with a plate of pasta. After Tony left, Chen Mo told Thor that Loki had arrived on Earth, been injured, and was imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Thor torn over whether to try to save him.

• Erin interviewed Tony until Thor tried to interrupt, and Chen Mo stopped him by stuffing a burger into his mouth.
• Chen Mo told Erin that Thor had practiced confessing to her more than eighty times, making her feel touched and happy.
• Thor stood up nervously and broke the table, sending Tony’s pasta flying into his face and ruining the romantic moment.
• Tony left after paying for the damage and meal, while Thor apologized for the mess.
• Chen Mo told Thor that Loki was imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s highest-security prison after being injured in the Arctic.
• Thor worried that he lacked his powers to save Loki, and Chen Mo left the decision to him.

Erin pushed Thor to stop blaming his lost powers and make a plan to rescue Loki, while Chen Mo and the Ancient One watched from nearby and discussed their own arrangements. Thor left determined to act, unaware that Chen Mo had prepared a training plan and a professional to help with the prison break.

• Thor admitted to Erin that he feared failing to rescue Loki because he had lost his powers and Mjolnir.
• Erin reminded Thor that he could still fight and make decisions without his divine power, and Thor resolved to rescue Loki himself.
• Thor and Erin began planning to locate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prison, study its guards and defenses, and ask Tony for help.
• Chen Mo and the Ancient One watched Thor and Erin from an alley as Chen Mo explained that he planned to let Thor try before arranging training for him.
• Chen Mo looked toward a distant tower and said that a prison break needed a professional.

Chen Mo orchestrated a staged S.H.I.E.L.D. prison break so Thor could feel like he had heroically rescued Loki. Thor entered the base believing his clumsy infiltration was succeeding, while the agents prepared to stage a convincing fight.

• Thor used Erin's crude map to approach a S.H.I.E.L.D. base where Loki was supposedly held, while Chen Mo, Tony, Fury, and Steve watched him on surveillance.
• Thor tried to pick the electronic side-door lock with a pin and a mechanical-lock tutorial, so Tony remotely opened the door and let him believe he had succeeded.
• Chen Mo told Steve, Natasha, and Clint to stage a fight that would make Thor feel threatened without revealing the plan.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents prepared fake injuries, memorized lines, and watched Thor's progress across screens throughout the base.
• Thor reached a corridor near the core area, clenched his fists, and declared that he had come to save Loki before Chen Mo ordered the operation to begin.

Thor fought his way through a staged S.H.I.E.L.D. security operation to reach Loki’s detention area. He found Steve, Natasha, and Clint guarding the cell and charged at Steve to free his brother.

• Thor followed Erin’s instructions to sneak through the base, but an alarm sounded and armed agents confronted him.
• Thor used a gun and a shield to fight through the agents, while Tony, Fury, and Chen Mo watched and commented on the staged operation.
• Thor broke through the final interception and reached the core detention area, where Loki waited in his cell.
• Steve, Natasha, and Clint stood guard outside Loki’s cell, and Thor looked at Loki through the transparent wall.
• Thor demanded that they release Loki, then lunged at Steve.

Steve fought Thor outside Loki’s cell while Chen Mo watched and scored the encounter as a staged spectacle. After Asgardian reinforcements arrived nearby, Chen Mo delayed them and ordered Steve to stop holding back, leaving the fight poised to intensify.

• Thor charged Steve, but Steve used his shield and agility to knock Thor down and drive him into a wall.
• Natasha and Clint kept their weapons trained on Thor without firing, while Chen Mo scored the fighters and mocked their performances from the monitoring room.
• Loki watched Thor’s wounds multiply and realized his brother had come to rescue him despite losing his powers and weapon.
• The Ancient One told Chen Mo that four Asgardians had arrived, and Chen Mo ordered her to delay them with a red light.
• Chen Mo told Steve to beat Thor severely, and Steve apologized before raising his shield to strike Thor’s face.

Steve, Natasha, and Clint overwhelmed Thor while Chen Mo refused to stop the staged fight. As Thor begged Steve to spare Loki, Loki finally lost his composure and demanded that the Earthlings stop.

• Steve suddenly attacked Thor with his shield and fists, and Thor realized Steve had been holding back before.
• Natasha and Clint joined Steve, breaking Thor’s shoulder and wounding his leg until he could no longer fight.
• In the surveillance room, Chen Mo dismissed Tony and Fury’s objections and said the fight had to continue until reinforcements arrived.
• Steve and the others continued attacking Thor, who collapsed near Loki’s cell and begged Steve to deal with him instead of his brother.
• Loki watched Thor plead for his life, then smashed his bloody hands against the cell wall and roared for the Earthlings to stop.

Loki wielded Mjolnir and awakened as a lightning-powered Asgardian, stunning Thor and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. As Loki emerged from his cell to face them, Odin awoke in Asgard with a sense of foreboding.

• Chen Mo ordered the regular agents to evacuate as a storm gathered over the S.H.I.E.L.D. base and lightning smashed through its dome.
• Mjolnir flew past the injured Thor, shattered Loki’s cell, and stopped in front of Loki.
• Loki grasped Mjolnir, gained silver armor, and blasted the corridor wall with a lightning strike.
• Loki attacked Steve, Natasha, and Clint, while Tony confronted Chen Mo about his plan to awaken Thor; Chen Mo said either brother awakening was the same.
• Loki approached Thor with Mjolnir, and Thor asked whether he had picked up the wrong hammer.
• Odin woke in Asgard after feeling a powerful sense of unease.

Loki used Mjolnir to overpower Steve, Natasha, and Clint, while Thor tried to stop him from killing them. After Sif and the Warriors Three arrived, Loki turned his lightning on everyone, and Chen Mo stepped in to defend the base and face him.

• Loki beat Thor, took Mjolnir, and attacked Steve, Natasha, and Clint with lightning.
• Thor urged Loki to spare the humans and warned him that Chen Mo was dangerous.
• Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg arrived to rescue Thor and were stunned to see Loki holding Mjolnir.
• Loki dismissed Thor and Sif's objections, then unleashed lightning across the corridor.
• Chen Mo blocked Loki's lightning with the Blacklight Virus and prepared to fight him to protect the base.

Chen Mo confronted Loki at the base and proved immune to his lightning and powerful enough to overpower him. After Loki tried to attack again, Chen Mo raised Mjolnir over his terrified enemy, leaving his next move unclear.

• Loki accused Chen Mo of luring Thor and unleashed a powerful lightning blast at him.
• Chen Mo’s biological armor absorbed the lightning, and he charged through it toward Loki.
• Loki leaped at Chen Mo with Mjolnir, but Chen Mo caught the hammer and forced Loki to his knees.
• Chen Mo lifted Loki by the neck and struck him through three reinforced walls, while Thor pleaded with him not to kill Loki.
• Loki fired blades of black magic at Chen Mo and tried to summon Mjolnir, but Chen Mo took the hammer and swung it down toward Loki’s face.

Chen Mo knocked Loki unconscious with Mjolnir and ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to detain him, while the witnesses reckoned with Chen Mo's overwhelming power. In Asgard, Odin saw Chen Mo wield the hammer and urgently called on the Ancient One to stop him, but she remained unconcerned.

• Chen Mo missed Loki's head with Mjolnir but sent him flying into rubble, where Loki passed out.
• Thor, Steve, Clint, and Natasha reacted to Chen Mo's strength, and Natasha told Clint they should follow Chen Mo's orders next time.
• Tony told JARVIS to record Chen Mo's abilities and update the anti-Chen Mo armor project, while Fury wondered whether anyone could stop him.
• Chen Mo told Fury to have the medical team take Thor and Loki away and said Loki would have to write a self-criticism when he woke.
• Odin sensed Mjolnir in Chen Mo's hands and watched him strike Loki, then called out to the Ancient One for help.
• The Ancient One dismissed Odin's alarm as a golden rift opened and Odin shouted for her to make Chen Mo stop.

Chen Mo revealed that the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison break had been staged as a reality show, collected Asgardian and Frost Giant genetic samples, and brought the injured participants together for a tense wrap party dinner. His toast mocked the chaos and praised Mjolnir for choosing Loki, while Fury and Tony argued over the damage bill.

• The Ancient One told Odin that the trial had taught Thor responsibility and helped Loki stand up for his brother, while Odin objected that Loki had lifted Mjolnir.
• Chen Mo collected blood from Thor and Loki for the Blacklight Virus to analyze, then announced that the prison-break reality show was over and promised extra food.
• Sif and the other Asgardian Warriors confronted Chen Mo, but Thor stopped them from attacking and explained that Chen Mo was merely strong; Thor and Loki were sent to the medical room.
• At the S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria, the injured participants gathered for dinner while Fury and Tony argued over who should pay for the damage.
• Chen Mo gave a toast thanking S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor, Loki, and Mjolnir, then Stark asked why Chen Mo had not thanked him.

After Odin confronted Chen Mo over Thor and Loki’s injuries, the Ancient One redirected their anger toward a shared enemy: the Serpent. Chen Mo and Odin reconciled and began planning to confront him.

• At the wrap party, Tony learned that he was responsible for paying the bill for repairs to the base.
• The Ancient One brought Chen Mo to the New York Sanctum, where Odin demanded an explanation for Thor and Loki’s injuries.
• Chen Mo argued that Steve had beaten Thor and claimed that both brothers had learned from the experience, while the Ancient One defended the outcome.
• Chen Mo challenged Odin to fight, and the two began powering up until the Ancient One stopped them.
• The Ancient One revealed that the Serpent, Odin’s former brother and a dimensional demon god, could give both men what they wanted.
• Chen Mo and Odin put their dispute aside, exchanged friendly terms, and planned how to capture the Serpent without letting him escape.

Odin explained that his brother Cul Borson, a former Asgardian king who grew stronger through fear, would eventually awaken from his seal on Earth. The Ancient One began teaching Chen Mo how to build his own dimension, sending him into a magic circle to confront his inner world.

• Odin told Chen Mo that Cul Borson had ruled through fear, grown stronger from it, and forced Odin to seal him away after a costly war.
• Odin warned that Cul's seal would fail once fear accumulated, while Chen Mo dismissed the threat and said he would beat Cul back into slumber.
• The Ancient One explained that Chen Mo needed a personal dimension whose rules would amplify his power and suppress enemies.
• The Ancient One told Chen Mo to find the deepest obsession that could form the foundation of his world, and Chen Mo named survival, strength, and eating.
• The Ancient One warned that failure could trap Chen Mo's mind in his own world, then opened a magic circle that swallowed him as she wondered what his heart would reveal.

Chen Mo entered the interstice between worlds to create a world, but his attempts to shape it with blasts of energy failed. After the Ancient One explained that the space reflected his inner self, it finally manifested a second Chen Mo who challenged him to a fight.

• Chen Mo arrived in the interstice between worlds and learned from the Ancient One that he had to create everything there himself.
• Chen Mo hurled energy spheres into the void, but nothing appeared, and the Ancient One told him to contemplate his inner self.
• Chen Mo wondered what kind of world he wanted and joked that he would rather fight a dark version of himself.
• The Ancient One noticed the space responding, and another Chen Mo appeared before the original.
• The other Chen Mo formed black tendrils patterned with crimson-gold light and challenged Chen Mo to a fight.

Chen Mo fought his mirror double in the interstice between worlds, and their mutual devouring drove both of them to evolve and grow hundreds of times more powerful. The chapter left them charging at each other with void black holes in their hands, while the Ancient One and Odin watched the interstice crack apart.

• Chen Mo attacked the mirror Chen Mo, who regenerated, copied his energy attack, and struck back with tentacles and spears.
• Chen Mo and the mirror Chen Mo trapped and devoured each other, repeatedly tearing apart and rebuilding their bodies.
• The Ancient One and Odin watched as each attack forced the two to evolve and their energy levels surged to hundreds of times their original strength.
• The Ancient One realized Chen Mo was exploiting the interstice to evolve through battle, and the interstice began cracking under their power.
• Chen Mo and the mirror Chen Mo returned to human form, created black holes in their palms, and charged at each other without dodging.

Chen Mo defeated and devoured Mirror Chen Mo, then absorbed the interlayer’s loose rules and began transforming his body into a world. After noticing Odin through the dimensional screen, he asked for the exact address of Odin’s older brother.

• Chen Mo and Mirror Chen Mo’s clash shattered the interlayer and opened fissures over New York, which the Ancient One covered with magic arrays.
• Chen Mo noticed Mirror Chen Mo’s power waning, restrained him with tendrils, and devoured him.
• Odin asked the Ancient One whether Asgard could be moved farther away from Chen Mo, but dropped the idea after learning Chen Mo could teleport across universes.
• Chen Mo absorbed the interlayer’s ownerless rules, and the Ancient One realized he was becoming a world rather than building one outside himself.
• Chen Mo looked through the dimensions at Odin and asked for his older brother’s exact address.

Chen Mo learned that his newly constructed world made his body too massive for Earth’s space to withstand. He left his true body in the interstice and sent an avatar to find Cul without crushing Earth.

• Odin gave Chen Mo Cul’s location beneath Svalbard and explained how the seal cut Cul off from the outside world.
• The Ancient One examined Chen Mo’s body and marveled that he had compressed a dimension’s laws into himself.
• When Chen Mo tried to enter the Sanctum, his presence destabilized the nearby space and began tearing open the sky above New York.
• The Ancient One explained that Chen Mo’s true body would crush Earth and suggested he use an avatar instead.
• Chen Mo created an avatar, left his true body in the interstice, and walked toward the Sanctum’s entrance as the Ancient One warned him to hold back his strength.

Chen Mo bypassed Odin’s prepared entrance to the sealed dimension and found it beneath the World Tree, where Cul was kneeling in a calm state unlike the tyrant Odin remembered. Chen Mo announced he had come to eat, and Cul slowly raised his head.

• Chen Mo sensed the Uru gate buried beneath northern Norway and reached it without following Odin’s directions.
• Odin warned Chen Mo not to break the gate and offered to open a passage, but Chen Mo’s avatar connected to the dimension and his main body tore a breach through the interstice between worlds.
• Chen Mo entered the sealed dimension and found a colossal golden World Tree instead of the black fog and ruins Odin had described.
• Odin realized the prison had somehow been moved to the World Tree’s core region, and the Ancient One mocked his unreliable account of its location.
• Chen Mo found Cul kneeling calmly beneath the tree, and after Chen Mo said he had come to eat, Cul raised his head.

Chen Mo and the Ancient One discovered that Cul had spent thousands of years performing a ritual beneath the World Tree, transforming him into a far more powerful foe than Odin had sealed away. Cul awakened his divine power of fear and confronted Chen Mo, declaring that his Destined Death would prevent him from leaving.

• Chen Mo questioned whether the calm figure beneath the World Tree was really Cul, while Odin recalled how his brother had once become violent and murderous.
• Odin explained that he had gained the Runes after hanging from the World Tree for nine days and sacrificing an eye, then used them to seal Cul.
• Chen Mo and the Ancient One realized Cul had remained beneath the World Tree for thousands of years, imitating Odin’s ritual and growing stronger.
• Cul stood, awakened the divine power of fear, and clashed with Chen Mo, splitting the space around them with their opposing powers.
• Cul formed a black curved blade, called it Destined Death, and warned Chen Mo that he would not leave alive.

Chen Mo fought Cul beneath the World Tree, where Cul’s Destined Death blade negated Chen Mo’s regeneration and put him at a disadvantage. Chen Mo unleashed a powerful devouring force, and the battle continued as Cul’s enormous black flame slash descended.

• Cul used black flames to extinguish Chen Mo’s tendrils, then struck him with Destined Death and destroyed part of his arm and chest.
• The Ancient One and Odin watched from the New York Sanctum, and Odin suspected Cul’s power was connected to Ragnarok.
• Cul cut through Chen Mo’s afterimages and wounded him again, while the Ancient One recognized that Destined Death cut away its target’s future possibilities.
• Chen Mo blasted Cul through several layers of space, regenerated his fingers, and challenged Cul to a serious fight.
• Chen Mo opened a star-filled maw and pulled in space, energy, and rules as Cul resisted with black flames and launched a massive blade of flame at him.

Chen Mo and Cul's battle destroyed an abandoned dimension and spread into the interstice between worlds, where their opposing powers began erasing nearby dimensions. Just as Chen Mo gained the upper hand, Cul burned through the rest of his life to strengthen Destined Death and renew his attack.

• Chen Mo unleashed the newborn world's crimson-gold torrent against Cul's black blade-flame, and their collision destroyed the abandoned dimension.
• Chen Mo and Cul fell into the interstice between worlds, where their battle consumed nearby dimensions and frightened other dimension demon gods into fleeing.
• Cul's blade-flame bypassed Chen Mo's defenses and destroyed part of his chest, while Chen Mo drew energy from his clones to stabilize his torrent.
• Odin and the Ancient One realized that Cul had ignited his own end and was spending his remaining life with every swing.
• Chen Mo pushed Cul's blade-flame back as Cul's body crumbled, but Cul regained clarity and said he had to kill Chen Mo.
• Cul engulfed his body in black flames and burned the last of his life, making his Destined Death surge again.

Chen Mo defeated Cul by draining his life and death power, then consumed his remains. As the Ancient One and Odin watched, black blood surfaced inside Chen Mo and a black flame ignited in his left eye.

• Cul burned his remaining life into black flames and overwhelmed Chen Mo's defenses, while the Ancient One's mirror formation briefly deflected his attack.
• Chen Mo pierced Cul with stellar-energy tentacles and drained his life and divine power of death until Cul crumbled into ash.
• Chen Mo inhaled and swallowed Cul's ash as the battlefield fell silent, leaving the Ancient One and Odin to wonder if the fight was over.
• Chen Mo doubled over and coughed up lifeless black blood, then a pitch-black flame ignited in his left pupil.

After Cul's Destined Death began consuming Chen Mo, the Blacklight Virus adapted while his clones gathered energy from across the universe to keep him alive. As Chen Mo reached a stalemate with the flames, a mysterious bony woman appeared and reached for his burning eye.

• Cul's black flames consumed Chen Mo's left eye and spread into his brain, while the Blacklight Virus repeatedly regenerated and adapted to them.
• At the New York Sanctum, the Ancient One and Odin learned that Cul's flames had killed her spells and prevented them from observing the battle.
• Chen Mo ordered his Blacklight Clones across countless worlds to devour stars, planets, and other matter for energy.
• Chen Mo used the incoming energy to replenish his body faster than the flames could consume it, halting their spread.
• A mysterious woman in a dark robe emerged from the shattered void, revealed a face half flesh and half bone, and reached toward Chen Mo's burning left eye.

Chen Mo met the Goddess of Death after surviving Cul’s black flames, and she absorbed the flames before restoring him. She gave Chen Mo the power of death and offered him a role as her servant, leaving him immobilized as she awaited his response.

• The Goddess of Death appeared before Chen Mo, extinguished the flames burning his eye, and restored his damaged body.
• Chen Mo braced for a fight and explained that Cul had attacked him first, while Death confirmed that Cul had been her apostle and had borrowed her power.
• Death summoned black flames onto Chen Mo’s chest, where they merged with his cells and began spreading the laws of death through his body.
• Chen Mo questioned why Death had given him the flames, and she explained that Cul had asked her for the power to kill him after seeing a certain ending.
• Death froze Chen Mo in place and asked him to serve her by carrying out the laws of death.