Summoning Key

"The Summoning Key is the most powerful artifact in this, or any other dimension."

- Shadow Man

"This artifact has the power to contain and preserve the subject's soul. YOUR soul. But it can only be done after the moment of death, just as you saw me do to my other self."

- Origins Edward Richtofen explaining his plan with the Summoning Key to the others.

The Summoning Key is a mysterious artifact featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies. It is featured in the map Shadows of Evil as a quest item and as part of the easter egg in Der Eisendrache. It also appears in the intro and outro cutscenes in Zetsubou No Shima, the outro cutscene in Gorod Krovi and the intro cutscene in Revelations. It plays a large role in the Shadows of Evil easter egg, Apocalypse Averted as well as Der Eisendrache's easter egg My Brother's Keeper. According to the Shadow Man and Richtofen, it is the most powerful artifact in existence.

History
The Summoning Key was created by the Keepers, having the power to create different universes, each with its own unique trait. Utilizing the power from the Aether, the Keepers were able to use the artifact as a mean for easy access across the dimensions. It also is one of the oldest artifacts in all of history itself. It resided in the 63rd dimension, the same dimension in which Shadows of Evil takes place in.

During his two year hiatus following the events of Origins, the Origins Richtofen came across an ancient book known as the Kronorium, which described many different major events all across history and time. It also described the location of the Summoning Key within Dimension 63. Seeing its potential for his plans, Richtofen set out to secure the Summoning Key by any means necessary.

Within Morg City, a city residing within the 63rd dimension, the Summoning Key was supposed to be delivered by a reporter who worked for a man named Mr. Raft (which as an alias used by the Shadow Man), but as the writer of the cipher found in Der Eisendrache (later revealed to be the Origins Edward Richtofen) arrived at the dimension, the reporter was babbling and acting weirdly, then the crate was sealed with "some ancient magic", storing the key. Richtofen was forced to act in self-defense and killed the reporter after the reporter attempted to kill him. Richtofen then left the scene, unaware that the Summoning Key was still in the back of the truck as he continued to search the rest of the 63rd Dimension for the artifact.

During gameplay in Shadows of Evil, the Summoning Key can be found in a crate in the back of a truck in the spawn alley in Shadows of Evil. In order to obtain it, the player must enter beast mode and smash the crate, revealing the Summoning Key, which can be picked up by the player in their human form.

The Summoning Key is used by the player to complete rituals around the map. Everytime a ritual is completed, the soul of the person sacrificed in the ritual will be trapped within the Key. During the events of the map, the Shadow Man is ultimately trapped within the Summoning Key by the crew in an effort to remove the Mark of the Beast from their hands.

After defeating the Apothicons, a Keeper will hand the players the Summoning Key in order to remove their curse, but before they could grab it, the Origins Richtofen appears from nowhere and snatches the Key, saying he doesn't have time to explain and that he has a universe to set right before thanking the crew and leaving through a portal, dooming the Shadows of Evil cast. In the map The Giant, Richtofen mentions to Nikolai that he has an artifact that could be useful to them later on, which is in fact the Summoning Key.

In the map The Giant, several pieces of blue scrap paper can be found scattered around the map, with each piece being a part of a blueprint. When put together, they will reveal a blueprint involving the Summoning Key, as well as the blueprints' creator, Dr. Monty.

In the map Der Eisendrache, Richtofen will mention the Summoning Key several times throughout the map, including during one of his conversations with Dempsey. The Summoning Key physically appears in the map after defeating the corrupted Giant Keeper, where the players must use the MPD to charge up the key. Once charged, it can be picked up by anyone. Placing it at the computer terminal by the bell tower will cause the Summoning Key to override the facility's defense systems, launching several rockets towards the Moon, destroying it and killing Groph and any Group 935 members at Griffin Station. In the end cutscene, Richtofen explains that he plans to preserve the souls of the original characters after they are killed, stating the Summoning Key can only preserve their souls after the moment of their death. After the Original Timeline Dempsey was solemnly put down by his Origins counterpart, Richtofen uses it to capture his soul. During this, Richtofen also reveals what he did to his Original Timeline body after he killed him; he knelt down to capture his soul. With Original Dempsey dead, Richtofen only has the Original Timeline Nikolai and Original Timeline Takeo left to preserve their souls after they have been killed.

In the intro for Zetsubou No Shima, the Summoning Key was taken from Richtofen by a Japanese Officer onboard a ship in the Pacific Ocean before a wave gives the four a chance to fight back. After Takeo kills the officer with a Katana, the Summoning Key rolls out of his hand and begins to roll around the deck of the ship before almost falling overboard before it is caught by Takeo. After the Original Timeline Takeo commits seppuku while his Origins version commits kaishaku on his older self, Richtofen uses the Summoning Key to preserve the Original Takeo's soul.

In Gorod Krovi, the crew set out to kill the original timeline Nikolai to preserve his soul. Richtofen also mentions the Summoning Key more frequently to the others than in the previous maps. When the Origins Nikolai Belinski attempted to show remorse toward the original Nikolai, his original self pulls out an MR6 and shoots the Origins Nikolai. However, his bulletproof vest deflects the shot, forcing the Origins Nikolai to retaliate and shoot the original Nikolai in the head with his KRM-262, killing him instantly. Richtofen then preserves his soul and releases the original Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai's souls into the sky to Maxis.

By sending the souls to Maxis, three children representing Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were created in The House, with the original souls inhabiting the children, allowing their souls to live on within The House alongside Samantha, Eddie (who holds Richtofen's soul), Fluffy and Maxis.

In the intro for Revelations, the crew teleports to the House, where they are greeted by Maxis. Richtofen shows him the Summoning Key before leaving it in the basement after dismantling the MDT with Maxis. During the night however, Maxis begins to hear voices as the Summoning Key's glowing symbols intensifies as the voice of the Shadow Man can be heard. Maxis then accidentally releases the Shadow Man, who in turn captures Maxis within the Summoning Key before releasing the Apothicons into the dimension.

During gameplay of the map, the characters mention the Summoning Key, with Monty berating them for leaving the most powerful artifact ever alone on a table. He also explains that Maxis is within the Summoning Key as well.

Abilities
Throughout the story of Call of Duty: Black Ops III zombies, the Summoning Key has been able to demonstrate several different powers and abilities. In Shadows of Evil, the Summoning Key was shown to be mainly used to preserve the souls of those sacrificed during a ritual, destroying their physical bodies and replacing them with a Gateworm. Once the Shadow Man was able to acquire the Summoning Key from the four survivors, he was able to use it to summon a massive Apothicon tentacle monster above Morg City. The Shadow Man also uses the Summoning Key to try to stop the survivors from charging up the Keeper Flag by using the artifact to send a beam of energy towards the flag. During the battle with the Shadow Man, the four are able to sacrifice the Shadow Man into the Summoning Key, causing his physical body to be replaced with a massive Gateworm. After destroying the massive Gateworm with the train, as well as the massive tentacle monster above the city, a Keeper was about to give the four the Summoning Key in order to remove their curse, but Richtofen from the Origins Timeline swipes the Summoning Key before escaping via portal.

After Richtofen kills his older self in the intro for The Giant, he uses the Summoning Key to preserve his older self's soul. Richtofen then further demonstrates the Summoning Key's power in Der Eisendrache, where he is able to use it to launch several rockets towards the Moon, as well as cause the other three to levitate and freeze in the air. Once the original Dempsey was put down by his Origins counterpart, Richtofen was able to capture original Dempsey's soul.

When captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the intro of Zetsubou No Shima, the Summoning Key's six Apothicon symbols can be seen pulsating and glowing unlike in previous maps. Once original Takeo commits seppuku, Richtofen captures his soul with the Summoning Key.

Following the death of the original Nikolai Belinski, Richtofen captures his soul before using the Summoning Key to open a portal to Maxis above them. He then releases the souls of the original Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey from the Summoning Key into the portal.

Despite being captured within the Summoning Key, the Shadow Man was still able to trick Maxis into freeing him from within the Summoning Key, causing Maxis to be preserved as the Shadow Man then begins to carve a path of destruction for the new Apothicon invasion.

Appearance
The Summoning Key is a golden sphere with six Apothicon symbols on it. During a ritual, the six symbols fly out from the key, displaying blades and surround the person being sacrificed. After the ritual has ended, the symbols return back onto the Summoning Key.

Trivia

 * Strangely, there appears to be an outline of the KN-44 on the Summoning Key blueprint. This stands out due to the light blue coloration in the center.