A video began to play on the concrete wall. It was a recording from Prophet Cain’s courtyard. It was the live broadcast from two days ago. Jonah hung on the rusted steel cross. The iron spikes were driven through his hands. The video showed the exact moment Jonah died. It showed his head falling forward. But then, the video showed the massive explosion of white and silver light. It showed Jonah waking up, ripping his hand off the steel cross, and terrifying the monster horde. Below the video, General Silas had written a long list of notes. Kevin read the notes aloud. His voice began to tremble violently. “Standard System parameters state that a Host must kill to gain energy. Standard System parameters state that biological death equals System deletion. The target, Jonah, broke the absolute rules of the software.” Kevin swallowed hard. He read the next line. “The target achieved a Mythic Rank skill: Undying Will. This skill bypasses mortality. It generates infinite kinetic energ

Kevin took buckets of sharp, crushed glass. He spread the broken glass thickly in the dark corners of the room, and down the hallway leading to the armory. "If they try to sneak up on us from the shadows," Kevin said, his eye glowing faintly blue in the dark, "their boots will crush the glass. The stealth magic hides their bodies, but it cannot hide the sound of breaking glass." The lethal counter-ambush grid was perfectly set. The floor was a minefield of ice, ash, and glass. Any invisible assassin stepping into the room would instantly reveal their exact location. Jonah, Kevin, and Elena stood in the very center of the room, right next to the pulsing blue light of the Echo Seed. They stood back-to-back, forming a tight triangle. They held their heavy iron weapons ready. Jonah held his massive sledgehammer. Kevin held his geared mace. Elena held her thick iron pipe. "We wait," Jonah rumbled softly. "Do not move. Do not make a sound. Watch the floor." The room fell completely,

"They ran away," Kevin said. He stood up slowly. He looked at the melted hole in the steel door. "They tried to kill us, and then they ran." Jonah walked to the broken window. He looked out into the freezing, dark night. The snow was blowing fiercely. He could not see any footprints. The assassins had used their stealth magic to vanish completely. "They did not run away because they were scared," Jonah said softly. His voice was heavy with dread. "They ran away because they are smart." Jonah turned around to face his son. "They tested us," Jonah explained. "They wanted to see how fast we react. They wanted to see if I had my magical System turned on. Now they know the truth. They know I am just a man. And they know you are a Scout." Elena shivered violently in the cold air. "What do we do now, Jonah?" "We lock the doors," Jonah commanded. "We stay away from the windows. We wait for the sun to come up."&nbs

"I am sorry," Jonah whispered softly. "I do not know how to fight this." The giant wolf was trapped in a cage. "Move out of the way, giant." Jonah opened his eyes. Lisa was wheeling her chair directly toward him. She looked terrible. Her crushed ribs caused her agony with every push of the wheels. She was sweating. She coughed a thick, wet cough that sounded like tearing paper. Blood stained her pale lips. But her dark eyes were blazing with a fierce, unbreakable fire. She was furious. She hated seeing her people pinned down. She hated seeing the giant man look defeated. "I said move," Lisa commanded. Jonah stepped away from the door. He frowned in confusion. "Lisa, what are you doing? You need to rest." Lisa ignored him. She looked at Elena. "Elena," Lisa said sharply. "Go to my truck. Under the passenger seat, there is a long, heavy black box. Bring it to me right now." Elena hesitated, looking at Jonah. Jonah nodded slowly. Elena ran out the back door of the room, into th

The hidden drainage pipe was dark, narrow, and filled with solid black ice. Lisa crawled forward. She dragged her body across the freezing ice. She was wrapped in thick, pure white wool blankets. The blankets made her look like a lump of snow. But inside the blankets, she was in absolute, terrible agony. Her crushed ribs ground together with every tiny movement. The pain was a hot, sharp knife stabbing her inside her chest. She could not take a deep breath. She could only take short, shallow gasps. "Keep moving," Lisa whispered to herself in the dark pipe. "Do not stop. Do not think about the pain." She reached out with her small, dirty, freezing hands. She grabbed the icy wall of the pipe. She pulled her body forward another inch. She dragged the massive, heavy anti-materiel rifle behind her. The gun was almost six feet long. It weighed thirty pounds. It was made of heavy truck parts, a tank firing pin, and thick steel. To Lisa’s broken body, the gun felt like it weighed a thou