Achilles (the god of magic, not the mythological hero) surfaced in Qurac as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, asking Freddy Freeman, who sought to take up the mantle of the new Captain Marvel, to prove his courage to Achilles in combat against a hate empath, a beast able to feed on emotion. Sabina, a young magician girl linked to the "Council of Merlin", sets free the beast while looking to draft some of Shazam's powers for herself and the Council.