The air inside the massive, underground cavern was freezing cold and smelled like rotting meat. Landon Hale stood on the high stone balcony. He gripped the metal railing tightly. His broad shoulders heaved up and down as he breathed heavily. He stared out into the gigantic, empty chest cavity of the ancient Fallen God buried beneath Chicago. General Kade Rauth hung in the center of the dark cavern. Hundreds of glowing purple magical wires were plugged directly into Rauth's human body. But Rauth was not winning. Rauth was screaming in absolute, mind-shattering agony. The dead god was sucking the life out of him. "The god is eating him," Claire Arden whispered softly. She stood next to Landon. Her dark eyes were wide with pure horror. "Rauth tried to control the monster, but the monster is controlling him." "Good," Kade growled angrily. He held his heavy green rocket launcher. "Let the ugly monster eat him. He deserves it." But the victory felt wrong. Landon knew that if the ancien

Claire rolled onto her back on the cold stone. She was covered in dirt, and her knuckles were bleeding. She was breathing incredibly heavily. She began to laugh. It was a joyful, breathless laugh. "Sometimes," Claire whispered to the empty air, "a bad plan is better than a perfect one." A few walls away, the giant Marcus and the veteran Navarro were fighting their own terrible mirror matches. Navarro was trapped with the Iron Shadow Navarro. The dark clone was standing far away, hiding behind a stone pillar, aiming its black sniper rifle. "You are old, Navarro," the clone taunted him over the roaring flames. "Your leg is burned. You cannot run. You always try to keep your distance because you are afraid of close combat." Navarro hid behind a fallen rock. He clutched his injured, bleeding leg. The pain was terrible. The clone was right. Navarro loved his sniper rifle because it kept him far awa

The massive, fifteen-foot-tall monster floated in the dark, underground cavern. It used to be General Kade Rauth. But now, it was a terrifying nightmare made of black metal and sharp, glowing purple crystals. Its face was a smooth, flat mask of dark stone. In the exact center of the mask was a single, giant, glowing purple eye. The ancient, dead god buried deep beneath the city of Chicago had not been controlled. It had consumed the evil general. "I am the alpha. I am the omega. I am the Deep," the monster's booming voice echoed. It did not sound like a human. It sounded like grinding rocks and crashing ocean waves. The entire cavern began to shake violently. Dust and heavy stones fell from the dark ceiling. Landon Hale stood on the cracked stone balcony. His massive chest heaved up and down. He was completely exhausted, but his dark eyes never left the giant monster. Before Landon raised his fists to figh

The kinetic explosion acted like a powerful cushion. It perfectly slowed their terrifying fall. They landed heavily on the main floor of the cavern, right in front of the giant monster. They rolled safely across the dusty stone, unharmed. Landon quickly stood up. He pushed Claire safely behind his back. He raised his glowing white fists. The giant monster looked down at them with its single purple eye. "You delay the inevitable, tiny humans," the God mocked them. The monster raised its giant black ice sword to crush Landon. But Claire Arden was already thinking three steps ahead. "Landon! Do not fight it head-on!" Claire shouted in his mind through the War Resonance. Her thoughts were fast and brilliant. "Jin said the magic is acting like a virus! It is a parasite! It needs a root to stay connected to this world!" "What does that mean, Claire?" Landon asked silently, dodging a mas

The giant, glowing hand of pure blue ice gripped the broken edge of the stone floor. Landon Hale could not breathe. The air inside the deep, underground cavern was instantly frozen. It was colder than the worst winter blizzard in Milwaukee. The warm sweat on Landon's face turned into tiny, hard crystals of ice. The Vanguard team stood absolutely frozen in terror. They stared at the massive, beautiful, horrifying ice hand. It was the hand of the ancient monster. The true master of the deep had finally awakened. The beautiful, sad, haunting song echoed out of the dark chasm again. "Get back!" Landon roared, his deep voice shaking in the freezing air. He pushed Claire Arden behind his broad shoulders. Kade, Marcus, Navarro, Jin, Sera, Juno, and Silas all took slow, terrified steps backward. The massive hand of blue ice did not reach out to grab them. Instead, the giant fingers dug deeply into the