The massive, pitch-black wave of anti-magic bounced off the Creator’s mirror. It flew backward, rushing directly toward Catherine. Adam Cook did not have time to think. He only had time to react. He threw himself directly in front of Catherine. He wrapped his massive, shifting wings of violet-black shadow tightly around her. He used his own body as a shield against his own ultimate attack. The dark magic slammed into Adam’s back. The impact of the Void crashing into the Void was absolutely devastating. It was a paradox. The explosion did not create fire. It ripped a jagged, violent hole straight through the fabric of space. The tear sucked Adam and Catherine inside. The world of the ruined valley, the frozen army, and the smiling Creator completely vanished. They fell through a spinning tunnel of gray light. A second later, they crashed hard onto solid ground. Adam rolled to his feet. He kept Catherine tucked safely behind him. He raised his pale, obsidian hands, ready to fight

Adam took one slow, unstoppable step toward the angel of light. Malphas, the Golden Scourge, backed away. The beautiful, glowing angel was genuinely shocked. His atomic vibration magic had completely failed. Malphas scowled. His four white wings beat the hot air. He flew backward, leading Adam out of the flat desert and into a deep, jagged canyon carved into the red clay. "You survived one trick, shadow," Malphas chimed. His voice was like a chorus of ringing bells. "But you cannot survive the sun!" Malphas raised his golden spear. He pointed it directly at Adam’s chest. A blinding, burning line of pure sunlight shot from the tip of the spear. It was a Solar Beam. It moved faster than a normal arrow. The heat coming off the beam was absolutely terrifying. Adam stepped quickly to the side. The beam missed his chest. But the beam did not hit the ground. It sharply turned in mid-air. It tracked Adam’s exact movement. Adam had to run. He sprinted across the dry, red dirt floor of t

Adam pulled the golden spear forward. The pitch-black rot of the Void spread instantly up the weapon, reaching for Malphas’s hands. The Golden Scourge screamed in panic. To save his own life, Malphas did the unthinkable. He summoned a sharp blade of pure light and violently chopped off his own corrupted arm. The severed arm fell to the sand and turned to dry, gray ash. Malphas flew high up into the top of the blazing Solar Dome, bleeding bright white light from his shoulder. "You are a plague!" Malphas shrieked. His beautiful, bell-like voice was broken and raspy. "I will burn every atom of your dirty flesh!" Malphas raised his remaining hand. The entire Solar Dome responded. The walls of blinding white fire began to shrink. All the terrible heat and intense light in the giant cage rushed into the angel's palm. He was gathering a concentrated blast of pure Solar Flare. It was an attack meant to wipe out entire cities. Adam stood on the boiling glass floor. He dropped the rusted,

The harsh, blinding sun rose high over the Searing Flats. The dark purple clouds completely melted away, leaving only an empty, burning blue sky. Adam Cook hung entirely alone on the steep red cliff. Malphas’s giant dome of golden light surrounded the canyon. The magical barrier kept the desert wind out, but it trapped all the heat inside. The canyon quickly felt like a giant, boiling oven. Adam’s head hung down. He breathed in dry, scratching gasps. His pale skin was covered in sweat, but the incredibly hot air instantly evaporated the water. His skin turned cracked, dry, and blistered. But the absolute worst pain did not come from the hot sun. It came from the four thick Null-Steel spikes. The heavy gray metal spikes pinned his wrists and his thighs deeply into the solid red rock. As the desert sun beat down on the cliff, the metal began to absorb the extreme heat. The Null-Steel was highly conductive. The thick spikes slowly turned from dull gray to a glowing, angry orange. Th

High Inquisitor Malakor smiled a cruel, ugly smile. He stood on the edge of the giant black airship, looking down through the scope of his silver sniper rifle. His finger pressed tightly against the cold metal trigger. Adam Cook watched from the red cliff. He thrashed violently against the burning Null-Steel spikes. "No!" Adam tried to scream, but only a weak, bloody cough came out of his dry throat. He pulled his arms with all his remaining human strength. The glowing orange metal tore his flesh. The pain was blinding, absolute agony. But he did not care about the pain. He only cared about Catherine. She was crying and hitting the wall of blinding light down in the canyon. She was going to die because of him. But Adam’s human body finally gave up. His crushed lungs stopped expanding. They felt like dry, flat pieces of paper. He gasped, but no oxygen entered his chest. His heart beat one slow, heavy, terrible time. The bright red blood inside his veins stopped flowing like water.