Catherine covered her mouth. "No... Elara wouldn't.""She would," Adam said coldly. "Elara knows you are my anchor. She wants to break me. She is using the King's army to do it."Down in the courtyard, General Graves raised his glowing red sword into the air."Royal Hunters!" Graves commanded. "Breach the North Tower! Arrest the boy, and execute the traitor Professor on sight! Show no mercy!"ROAR! Hundreds of heavily armored Hunters screamed a battle cry. They charged forward like a wave of black and red iron. They crashed into the heavy wooden doors at the base of the North Tower.BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The sound of battering rams hitting the bottom doors echoed all the way up the spiral staircase.Catherine spun around in a panic. She looked at Adam."Adam, you have to hide!" Catherine said quickly. She ran to her large wooden bookshelf. She pushed a hidden lever, and the bookshelf swung open, revealing a small, dark secret room. "Get in there! My Primordial Frost hides magical signatur

Adam walked out of the North Tower.The main courtyard was in total chaos. Hundreds of Royal Hunters were running in a panic toward the front gates of the Academy. General Graves had ordered a full retreat. They had seen the rusted weapons. They had felt the crushing gravity of the dark aura. They wanted to get as far away from Adam Cook as possible.Adam did not chase them. He let them run. He had a different target. He walked slowly and purposefully across the wide, green lawns of the campus. His black coat dragged behind him. The shadows of the trees seemed to stretch out and follow his boots.A few brave Academy Guards tried to stop him. They stood in his path, raising their glowing magical rifles."Halt!" a guard shouted. His hands were shaking violently. "Do not take another step!"Adam did not even slow down. He just looked at the guard. The golden stars in Adam’s pitch-black eyes flared. The dark aura leaked from his skin. Before the guard could pull the trigger, the magical

"Please, Adam," Elara begged. She tilted her head back, showing him her tear-stained face. "Emily’s science failed me. The healers failed me. But you are different. Your body can digest poison. Your Void can eat curses."Elara pulled off her white glove again. She held up her bare arm, showing him the sick, rotting black veins."I groomed you for this," Elara confessed, sobbing openly. "I pushed you into the Gryphon Squad so you would grow stronger. I fed you high-tier mana cores so your Void would expand. I needed you to be strong enough to handle my sickness."She reached out and tried to press her sick, cursed arm against Adam’s pale hand."Eat it," Elara pleaded. Her voice was frantic, desperate, and completely broken. "Please, Adam. Open your dark gate. Put your hand on my skin. Eat the Blood Curse. Suck the poison out of my veins and swallow it into your infinite Void. Save my life."Adam looked down at the crying Princess. He realized he was not her agent. He was not her weapon

Adam looked at his two squadmates. He felt a tiny, strange warmth push through the freezing, violet-black ichor in his chest. It was the feeling of loyalty. It was the feeling of friendship. It reminded him that he was still human. "Thank you," Adam whispered softly. He turned toward the back of the kennel. "Kael, where is the closest entrance to the old tunnels?" Adam asked."Behind the old weapon racks," Kael pointed to the far wall. "There is an old maintenance hatch. It leads directly to the lowest drainage pipes."Lyra and Adam walked to the heavy wooden weapon racks. They pushed the heavy racks aside. Behind them, hidden in the shadows, was a rusted iron grate set into the stone floor.Adam grabbed the rusted iron bars. He did not use his Void aura. He just used his raw, physical strength. He ripped the heavy iron grate out of the floor and threw it to the side. CLANG.A blast of cold, terrible air blew up from the dark hole. It smelled absolutely awful. It smelled like old ru

The red puddles rushed past Adam. They aimed straight for the weakest targets: Lyra and Kael.Before Lyra could jump away, the red liquid shot upward, wrapping tightly around her ankles."Ah!" Lyra cried out. The blood was boiling hot. It burned through her heavy boots instantly.The second puddle wrapped around Kael’s legs.The elementals reformed their upper bodies, towering over Lyra and Kael. They raised their sharp liquid blades, preparing to chop the two squad members in half.Adam spun around. He was too far away to use his Void beam in time. The voice of the ancient monster laughed in his head. “Let them die. They are weak. Eat the monsters and let your friends fall. A King does not need weak friends.”"Shut up!" Adam roared aloud.Adam did not use his magic. He used his new, evolved biology.Adam sprinted back toward his friends. He moved with the impossible, explosive speed of his violet-black ichor.He did not try to hit the liquid monsters. He knew his physical punches wou