The air in the center of the room began to twist and bend. It did not look like normal light. It looked like liquid silver floating in the air. This was the post-singularity glow. It was technology so advanced it looked like pure magic. It bent time and space to send a signal across the universe instantly.Three giant faces appeared in the glowing silver light.They were the Traveler Council. The highest leaders of the human race.In the center was Prime Councilor Vane. He was an old man with a long white beard and a face full of deep wrinkles. He wore a heavy golden robe. On his left was Councilor Tor, a strict, angry-looking woman with a scarred cheek. On his right was Councilor Silva, a fat man with cold, calculating eyes.They were sitting safely in a beautiful, clean room on a distant core planet, far away from the blood and the monsters."Commander Oliver of Sigma-12," Prime Councilor Vane spoke. His voice echoed through the silver light. It sounded like thunder. "We received y

The ground beneath the city of Oakhaven was shaking. It did not stop. It was a slow, heavy rumble that made the teeth rattle inside the mouth.Deep inside the underground bunker, Commander Oliver stood perfectly still. He watched the giant blue hologram in the center of the room.On the screen, deep below the surface of the planet Sigma-12, a giant red dot was glowing. It was growing bigger. It was getting hotter. The ancient metal vault at the core of the world was opening from the inside."The Wraithborn probe on the surface failed," Oliver said. His voice was cold, flat, and calm. "The King sacrificed millions of monsters up here just to keep our eyes on the sky. He wanted us to look up, while he was digging down.""Boss," Billy the hacker said from his video screen. Billy's hands were shaking on his keyboard. "The energy readings from the tunnels are crazy. The purple Rift magic is leaking into the dirt. It is melting the rock. The whole crust of the planet is becoming unstable."

Oliver did not need a map. He used his plasma rifle. He did not shoot the rifle. He used the red targeting laser on the barrel of the gun. He pointed the laser down the long, dark caves. He measured exactly how long it took for the laser light to bounce back to his visor. He was using the laser like a radar."Right tunnel ends in a dead wall forty feet ahead," Oliver whispered, doing the math in his head. "Left tunnel drops into a deep hole twenty feet ahead. Center tunnel curves downward. The center path is open."He walked down the center path.The air grew hotter. It grew wetter. Water dripped from the ceiling. Drip. Plop. Drip.Suddenly, Oliver stopped.He did not hear a sound. He felt a vibration in his boots.He turned off his red light. He stood in total, absolute darkness. He held his breath.Slither. Slither. Slither.Something was moving in the dark ahead of him. It sounded like a massive, wet body dragging itself across the sharp rocks.Oliver's visor had a thermal camera.

In the center of the echo, giant Wraithborn Goliaths were standing inside large, clear tubes of green liquid. Strange, tall figures in golden robes were typing on floating keyboards. They were putting armor on the monsters. They were fusing thick metal plates to the monsters' smoky bodies."This is an old Wraithborn creation facility," Oliver analyzed. "The King did not invent the armored Goliaths. He found them here. He woke them up."Oliver watched the golden figures work. He noticed something very important.When the golden figures attached the thick tank armor to the monsters, they left a small gap right behind the knee. It was the only place where the armor did not cover the smoke. If the armor covered the knee, the monster could not walk."Weak point identified," Oliver said softly. "Behind the knee joint."Suddenly, the alien coin in his pocket beat very fast. Thump-thump-thump!Oliver instantly pulled his hand off the wall. The echo vanished.He was back in the dark, empty cir

The massive underground cavern was incredibly hot. It smelled like ancient dust and burning copper.Commander Oliver took one step forward. His heavy combat boots made a loud CLACK on the smooth stone floor.At the far end of the cavern stood the giant golden door. The door was covered in jagged, glowing lines. In front of the door stood the Wraithborn King. The King wore a cloak of dark, moving shadows. He smiled a thin, cold smile.Above the King, the bodies of Oliver’s soldiers floated in the air. Captain Jax and the others were wrapped in thick, glowing purple webs. They were deeply asleep. But they were dying.Bright red light slowly flowed out of the soldiers' chests. The red light was their life force. It moved through the air like a river of glowing red water. The red light flowed directly into the center of the giant golden door."You have twenty-eight seconds, Commander," the King’s smooth voice echoed in the huge room. "Put your coin in the door. Take their place. Feed the