The eighty-foot Synthetic God blocked the sky. Its twisted, demonic face looked exactly like Prince Elias. The monster laughed, and the terrible sound shook the broken stones of the courtyard. "You cannot save her, Sovereign!" Elias roared from the giant machine. Adam Cook did not move. He stood in the shadows of the three monsters. Above him, the First King was ripping the bright blue life force out of Catherine’s chest. In front of him, the Elias-God raised its massive, bloody fists. Behind him, the ancient bronze giant pulled its heavy metal body out of the deep earth. Adam felt a sudden, massive pull. It was not physical gravity. It was a magical vacuum. As the Synthetic God fully awakened, its giant chest glowed with blinding red light. The machine was so powerful that it started sucking the ambient magic right out of the air. It tried to pull the pitch-black Void out of Adam’s soul. Adam’s hollow mind calculated the cold, hard math. “Catherine has thirty seconds to live,” A

Catherine pressed the sharp, red blood-dagger directly against her own pale throat. A single drop of warm red blood rolled down her skin. But it was not Catherine in control. Prince Aurelius—Elias—was fully possessing her body. His toxic, bright purple light burned in her beautiful blue eyes. "If you kill me now, you destroy the girl forever," Elias whispered through Catherine’s lips. "What will the great protector do?"Adam Cook stood perfectly still. His flawless, black obsidian skin reflected the dim light. His massive violet-black wings of shadow shifted slowly behind his back. Inside Adam’s mind, the empty, silent cathedral processed the threat. A normal human boy would panic. A normal boy would drop his weapons and beg for her life. But Adam was no longer a human boy. He was the Sovereign of the Void. He operated on pure, cold logic. "You will not cut her throat," Adam said. His metallic, layered voice was completely flat. Elias frowned. "Are you willing to risk her life on

The True Master smiled softly. He wore a perfect copy of Adam’s face, but his eyes were bright, beautiful blue. He held the sharp blade of holy light directly over the glowing string. Below the string hung thousands of glass cryogenic pods. Inside the pods, the innocent people of the Kingdom were fast asleep. "Let us see how much a god can care," the True Master whispered. He brought the blade down to cut the string. Adam Cook did not have time to fly up to the glowing throne. He did not have time to grab the string. He had less than one second before thousands of innocent people dropped into the dark abyss. His hollow, logical mind calculated the only possible solution. He could not stop the fall, but he could change the sky itself. "Hold on to me," Adam commanded Catherine. He wrapped his left arm tightly around her waist. He wrapped his massive, shifting wings of violet-black shadow completely around her, creating an unbreakable, dark shield. Adam raised his right hand towa

The dark shadow stood up from the white ice. It was completely separated from Adam’s feet. Two sick, yellow eyes burned in the pitch-black shape. "I am already leaking out," Marquis Valerius whispered from the shadow. Adam could not move. His human body was broken, bleeding, and totally exhausted. The heavy silver collar was off, but he had locked his magic deep inside his soul to survive. If he opened the door to fight, Valerius would take over his mind. He was completely helpless. The shadow raised a long, dark hand with sharp claws. It reached for Catherine’s neck. Catherine did not scream. She did not run away. She saw that Adam was too weak to protect her. Now, it was her turn to be the shield. Catherine raised both of her hands. Her bright blue eyes flashed with fierce, pure light. She pushed all her fear away and pulled up her Primordial Frost magic. "Stay away from him!" Catherine shouted. A massive blast of freezing, bright blue ice exploded from her hands. It hit the

Elias stepped forward in the dark, dirty cellar. Half of his face was a terrifying mess of black metal wires and red, glowing meat. In his human hand, he held the heavy, jagged iron crown. "I am going to take your body, Sovereign," Elias laughed. The sound was a horrible mix of a human boy and a grinding machine. Adam Cook did not have any magic left. His chest was covered in terrible burns. But his cold, logical mind calculated his only chance for survival. He could not fight a cyborg god in a tiny dirt room. "Run," Adam whispered to Catherine. Adam did not attack Elias. He turned and punched the thick wooden beams holding up the cellar ceiling. He used every single drop of his dense, physical strength. The wooden beams snapped completely in half. The heavy dirt and rocks from the collapsed bunker above them crashed down into the cellar. Elias yelled in anger as tons of heavy rocks fell directly onto his metal and meat body. The cyborg Prince was instantly buried under a mounta