The giant black tentacle smashed through the broken steel door. It moved like a thick, oily snake. The massive red eye stared through the jagged hole, hungry and evil. The Overlord was trying to reach inside the metal room to crush the tiny humans. Commander Oliver did not step backward. He held his titanium combat knife in his human left hand. His black metal right arm glowed with dark purple magic. Oliver’s mind worked perfectly. He did not say the math out loud. He just saw the solution. The monster was huge, but it was stuck in the doorway. Oliver ran forward. He jumped into the air. He drove his combat knife directly into the center of the giant red eye. The Overlord roared. The sound was so loud it cracked the glass on the soldiers' helmets. Black, burning blood sprayed out of the massive eye. At that exact second, a bright blue light flashed from the sky above. The human Grand Fleet, hovering high in the clouds, fired their heavy plasma cannons again. A massive laser hit

The dark magic hit Commander Oliver like a speeding train. He flew backward through the falling gray ash. He crashed hard into the broken concrete. His black metal arm scraped the ground, throwing bright purple sparks into the dark air. He did not lie on the ground. He stood up instantly. The possessed Admiral floated above the mud. The Overlord’s deep, evil laugh echoed from the old man’s mouth. Red fire burned in his eyes. "You cannot hide from me, Oliver," the Overlord whispered. The voice shook the ruined buildings. "I will turn this entire planet into a graveyard."From the dark ash fields surrounding the city, a terrifying noise began. It sounded like massive, heavy drums. Oliver looked into the thick gray smoke. He did not need a map to know what was coming. His mind processed the sound perfectly. The Overlord had hidden heavy artillery cannons in deep trenches outside the city. Suddenly, the dark sky lit up. Dozens of massive, burning red plasma bombs shot high into the a

The violent wind dragged Commander Oliver into the sky. The giant Titan stood in the burning wasteland. A pitch-black hole spun inside the monster’s chest. It sucked the clouds, the dirt, and the heavy rocks straight into the dark void. Oliver flew helplessly toward the crushing center. He did not panic. He did not yell. His mind was perfectly cold. Oliver looked down at the muddy ground far below. He raised his pitch-black, Wraithborn metal right arm. The purple veins under the alien steel glowed with fierce light. He pushed a massive shockwave of kinetic magic directly toward the earth. The magical blast hit the mud. The opposite force threw Oliver straight down. He shot out of the sky like a falling meteor. His heavy metal boots slammed into the solid earth. The impact cracked the ground, but his robotic strength held him firmly in place. He stood up in the howling wind. He looked back at the giant steel vault doors of the city. The heavy steel doors were bending outward. The

The little girl with silver eyes stood in the dirty mud. She had no mouth, but her voice echoed loudly inside Commander Oliver’s head. "Thank you for opening the door," the ancient voice whispered. Oliver stared at her. His cold gray human eye and his burning red alien eye did not blink. His supercomputer brain analyzed the children. [Variable A: They have no body heat.] [Variable B: Their eyes are made of pure, raw magic.] [Conclusion: They are a weapon.] "You are not children," Oliver stated flatly. His metallic voice cut through the quiet air. "You are fuel."The little girl smiled without a mouth. Suddenly, the twelve children melted. They did not fall or bleed. Their bodies turned into glowing, liquid silver. The bright liquid flowed across the muddy ground like water. It rushed directly into the smoking, broken pile of sludge that used to be the Surface Commander. "Commander!" Captain Iris screamed over the radio. "The monster is absorbing the light!"Oliver watched the

The silver ships floated silently in the bleeding red sky. They looked like saviors. But Commander Oliver saw the truth. The glowing purple map in his mind showed millions of dark, evil energy signatures inside the human vessels. The Overlord had stolen the entire human armada. The ships were completely hollow of human life, piloted only by monsters and dark magic. Oliver turned his cold gray eye toward Lira. She stood in the mud, wearing her clean white dress. She looked perfectly human, with warm pink skin and bright blue eyes. But Oliver knew the Overlord had built this physical body. "You are a tracking beacon," Oliver stated cleanly. His voice was a flat, metallic hum. Lira smiled. Her bright blue eyes were completely empty. "The Overlord is everywhere, Oliver. You cannot hide."Oliver did not argue. He moved with sudden, terrifying speed. He grabbed Lira by the throat with his black metal right hand. He did not crush her neck. He pushed a sharp pulse of dark magic directly in