Apocalypsis

Peter Adam wakes up on an oil rig to discover he has survived a mortal injury, and learns that the Vatican's chief exorcist, Don Luigi, has been elected pope. The news is worrying, not least because it appears Pope Peter II is doing everything possible to fulfil the prophecy of Malachi. Following a migraine attack, Peter wakes up to find himself in Cologne Cathedral after a gap in his life of five days of which he has no memory. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose around him.

Back in Rome, Peter discovers his entire body covered in an enigmatic tattoo, including images of a man with the head of a lion. He still has no memory of the five missing days. When he discovers that his brother Nicholas has apparently been murdered in Cologne, he fears he himself might have killed him.

Peter and Maria, trying to decipher the meaning of his tattoo, find themselves in the Pantheon in Rome where they stumble on the body of a Roman legionary with one of amulets and a document in ancient Mayan in his hand. They then come across a library of occult books where they find Franz Laurenz, the former pope.

Peter, paralysed by a nerve poison given him by Franz Laurenz hears that the occult library under the Pantheon contains an ancient encrypted book of Evil. Incredulously he also discovers that in fact he isn't Peter but Nicholas! Laurenz and his disciples are moving him from the library to a safe place when they are set upon by the Bearers of the Light.

In the Himalayas a young Buddhist monk makes a horrific discovery. Peter, trapped in the body of his brother, realises his tattoo is the key to deciphering the Book of Dzyan, a catalogue of evil. Simultaneously, a young Jesuit hacker in the Vatican discovers a conspiracy and Yoko Tanaka manages to decipher parts of Peter's tattoo.

Two weeks earlier: Nicholas, in Cologne Cathedral waiting for instructions from Seth, falls in love with Marina, a mysterious gypsy. When he senses that Peter is in deadly danger in Rome he finds himself transported into his brother's body. Peter, in the body of Nicholas is on his way back to Cologne with Urs Bühler when he discovers another amulet on a statue of a Black Madonna. The symbol leads him to Burma where Hell is waiting for him.

Peter Adam and Urs Bühler discover the crucified Felipe Galán in the monastery of Santa Maria de la Real. Meanwhile Nicholas abducts Maria and hands her over to the Bearers of the Light. Back in Santiago de Compostela Peter and Bühler discover clues which lead them to an abandoned chapel in which they discover Christianity's best-kept secret.

Before Peter can work out the true meaning of the amulet they find in the ossuary, he is tracked down by Nakashima. Bühler has betrayed him. Nakashima makes him an offer he can't refuse. Meanwhile Brother Anselmo in the Vatican tried to send a warning via coded email and sets off the rubus flammeus virus written for the previous pope. Muslim leader Sheikh Al-Husseini, unable to resist any longer, goes to meet the pope in Suite 306. Chief Rabbi arrives shortly after to make a horrible discovery.

Nakashima, flying with Peter to Nepal, offers him a drug that will restore his lost memory. He takes it and at last understands the connections and finds out who his biological father really is. Back in Rome, Franz Laurenz learns that Maria is in the hands of Seth. Nakashima offers to help him but demands the unimaginable in return.

Urs Bühler leaves Kathmandu to try to help Peter only to come across Marina, lying in a strange coma in a Buddhist monastery. Peter frees Nicholas and together they break into the secret Area 23 to uncover a shocking secret.

Franz Laurenz does a deal with Pope Peter II to save the life of his daughter. The pope has found out where the mysterious wooden box is hidden and has sent Maria there to find it. Brother Anselmo successfully hacks into Seth's CCTV surveillance system allowing Franz Laurenz to watch powerlessly as Peter and Nicholas meet their fate in Area 23.

Marina meets Sheikh Al Husseini on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem while Maria comes across the ancient secret of the Templars at Oak Island in the USA, only to have it immediately stolen from her by Kelly and Pope Peter II. Maria, Laurenz and Nakashim are left tied up on the island next to a Red Quicksilver bomb. All too late Maria and Laurenz realise what a terrible threat the Templars' secret poses. But Peter II has begun to realise it too.