The dark tunnel was perfectly quiet. A single human tear dried on Commander Oliver’s dirty cheek. The terrible sadness inside his chest did not disappear. It turned into heavy, cold iron. He did not calculate equations out loud anymore. The Overlord had taken his friends. The Overlord had pushed him too far. The cold, mechanical part of Oliver’s brain merged completely with his human fury. He looked at his squad. General Vega, Sergeant Miller, Private Davis, Private Smith, and the giant mutant Rax stared back at him. They saw the red fire burning fiercely in his right eye. "The enemy thinks we are broken," Oliver said smoothly. His metallic voice was dangerously quiet. It chilled the blood of everyone listening. "The Overlord took Captain Iris because he wants us to chase him blindly. He wants us to make mistakes. We will not be blind."Oliver reached into his belt. The black coin pulsed softly against his fingers. He did not need to run numbers to know the map. He remembered the se

The shadow on the wall twisted like a nest of black snakes. Commander Oliver stood in the dusty cavern. He looked at the woman standing in the doorway. She had Captain Iris’s face. She had her beautiful blue eyes. She spoke with her sweet voice. But Oliver did not listen to her words. He listened to the cold logic in his mind. He did not use numbers or equations out loud anymore. The math lived silently inside his brain. "You are a Mimic," Oliver stated flatly. His metallic voice cut through the dust. Oliver raised his silent sniper rifle with his human left hand. He did not hesitate. He pulled the trigger. BANG. The heavy bullet hit the fake Iris perfectly in the center of her chest. She did not bleed red blood. She shrieked a terrible, high-pitched monster scream. Her human skin melted away instantly. The illusion broke. She exploded into a disgusting pile of black tentacles and bubbling green acid. The monster fell to the floor and turned to dark ash. "A trick," Sergeant Mi

The massive army of monsters stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the dark. Thousands of giant Stone Golems, invisible Phase-Hunters, and heavily armed mutants formed an unbreakable circle around the tiny group of humans. They blocked every exit. They blocked every tunnel. They gnashed their teeth and scraped their heavy claws against the stone floor. In the center of the trap, the sentient Rift-Commander laughed. The burning red fire floating above its armored shoulders flared with cruel joy. "You are a very smart machine, Oliver," the Rift-Commander whispered. The evil voice crawled directly into their brains. "But you are completely out of moves. You walked into the center of my camp to save two fragile humans. Now, your entire squad will be eaten alive."Sergeant Miller’s hands shook. He dropped his heavy machine gun. It clattered loudly on the stone floor. "It is over," Miller gasped. "There are too many of them. We cannot fight an ocean."General Vega lowered her sniper rifle. Priv

The little boy with pitch-black eyes smiled. Thick, dark blood dripped from his small white teeth. "Come down into the fire," the Overlord’s ancient voice whispered from the child’s mouth. Commander Oliver did not blink. He stared at the horrifying ghost of his own childhood. He raised his left hand and aimed his silent sniper rifle. He did not hesitate. He did not let the emotion touch his brain. He pulled the trigger. BANG. The heavy metal bullet flew straight through the little boy’s chest. The boy did not bleed. He did not fall. He laughed a dark, echoing laugh and instantly dissolved into thick red smoke. The smoke blew down the black glass stairs and vanished into the burning core below. "Target is a projection," Oliver stated flatly. "It has no physical mass."Behind Oliver, the thick gray dust from the falling ceiling finally began to settle. The giant cavern was completely destroyed. The massive Stone Golem army was buried forever under millions of tons of broken black

The ghost of Oliver’s father smiled warmly. The green grass of Earth waved in a gentle, warm breeze inside the magical portal. "Come home, son," the ghost said. "The war is over. You can rest now."Commander Oliver stood on the broken glass stairs. He stared at the beautiful, peaceful picture. Deep inside his chest, his human heart felt a terrible, heavy pull. He wanted to step forward. He wanted to feel the sun on his face. He wanted to hug his father. But Oliver’s mind was a fortress of pure, cold logic. He did not let the emotion take control. He looked closely at the edges of the portal. He saw the faint, glowing purple magic holding the picture together. "My father died twenty years ago," Oliver stated flatly. His metallic voice cut through the sweet illusion. "You are just bad light. You are a trap."Oliver did not walk into the portal. He raised his left hand. He threw his sharp titanium combat knife as hard as he could. The heavy steel blade hit the center of the glowing p