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The Verge Of An Empire 43
Lights, muffled music, a mixture of expensive perfumes, laughter, voices. On the ground floor there are entertainment rooms, poker and bridge tables, cozy nooks for those who want to drink and talk in private. And also girls. Mostly human, but according to my predecessor, lovers of strong and furry women from the Lups tribe were among the top of our society. I don’t know who you have to be to be seduced by such fanged treasures ... Although no, I know everyone by name.“Thane el'Moria?! Inresh squeaked. "Put on your mask, hurry up!"“Come on, little one, less than me, these thanes and gentlemen respect only ratlings. Fear doesn't count. I see you have nothing unusual here?“It’s the same as always, my thane. They look at you.- Let be. Don't follow us.We went to a remote part of the palazzo, away from the "work zone". Despite the fact that, when I reached the Rosebud, I did not find any destruction or their victims, the vise of anxiety did not loosen. It was dark in Incival's room, a
The Verge Of An Empire 44
"Thane el'Moria!" What a joy! Glad to see you!“Thane el'Cha…surprised by the meeting. What are you doing here?“I’m waiting for Master Mosenheim to be free. This mossy stump is always busy with something, and out of the kindness of my soul I prefer not to make a fuss.- Hm. If I may, what business do you have with Mr. Rector?“Strictly businesslike,” el'Cha smiled like a fox. “Would you like to sit next to me and wait too?”- Alas, I must hurry. I'll have to bypass you in line.- Yes you! Drop it! Queues are so vulgar! he chuckled.“Go ahead, Sebastina.How to understand that the future of imperial alchemical science is in good hands? Inspect the office of the chief alchemist Mescia. Not just an office littered with awards, certificates and expensive furniture, but an office-laboratory, stuffy, dark, saturated with pungent odors, with alchemical utensils on the tables. A solid part of the space is occupied by a gurgling monster atanor, on which there are no identifying marks, except
The Verge Of An Empire 45
– Is it possible in practice?- It's hard to say for sure. The newest documents, which contain evidence of successful experience in this area, date back to the twelfth century BC. Try to check the veracity of what was said! But one thing unites them all: they all say that the homunculus did not last long. The process of disintegration of this creature took from several hours to several days, but this creature always died, having exhausted a certain life resource. I think it happened because of the original mistake. By growing a homunculus from scratch, you can create a long semblance of life, but reviving it in the form of an adult, you get a flawed craft."Attempts to raise a large homunculus instantly?"- Right! Wrong! Artificial life is also life, but what is life, tan el'Moria?I clearly watched as Mosenheim, carried away, got more and more pleasure from our conversation, which concerned his favorite topic - alchemy. Not wanting to wait for my reaction, he answered himself.- Life
The Verge Of An Empire 46
- First, I am ready to listen to the proposals of the audience. After all, they didn’t just come to listen to me, perhaps they have worthwhile ideas.There were not so many worthwhile ideas, most of those present preferred to remain silent, and Thane el'Vanshar was frankly bored in general. He was whispering quietly to his colleagues, el'Balog and el'Farhash, the same sharks of the eastern financial world. If Mork were around, he could see real cold-blooded predators. Echoes of rumors reach the mother country about exactly how the company operates, gutting the Maldese markets for spices and fabrics, but as long as money and goods flow in an unceasing stream, the rulers of Mescia do not care. If we face the truth, we are no better than Malodius, the same parasites who live at the expense of others. But the Malodius are weak and vulnerable, and we are a huge and strong bloodsucker that cannot be stopped. This is if you look at the truth. But we can't look."If I may be allowed, I will m
The Verge Of An Empire 47
“And I saw him wring the neck of a Maldis mage. He poured it with a continuous stream of fire, from the temperature of which the stone would have flowed, but Gantz continued to shove forward, only getting hot, but when he got to the enemy, crunch! In my opinion, his strength is also increasing.“You are not very happy about your cousin's arrival, Brian. Although he was kind to you. I heard that the family did not love you, sorry if I allow myself to touch ...- Not at all. Over the years, moaning that I was not loved by my relatives became a kind of bad habit. Or a romantic part of a dark halo. In any case, it is stupid and humiliating and should be got rid of. To put it bluntly, my whole family would love to come to a luxurious funeral they paid for, just to see me in a coffin. The exceptions are my uncle Kryptus and his eldest son Gantsaros. The first one despises me, but as long as I stay away from my family, I don't bother him. The second is surprisingly friendly, the reasons for
The Verge Of An Empire 48
- So, - I shook the blade from side to side, peering into the slits of the mask, - your nightly visit is solely for the purpose of caring for my well-being? Is that what you were guided by when you blew up Scoalt Yard when I was supposed to be there? Is that what you were guided by when you tried to kill my friend? Or maybe this most incomprehensible concern for me made you put me in a wheelchair and unleash a monster on me, the likes of which I have not yet seen?“Recent incidents were accidental, my friend. Coincidence.- I'm not your friend, and, therefore, the first were not accidental!- Justifying myself, I can only admit my guilt in the fact that I am not able to keep track of all my hands. Please, Brian, drop it all and go! You will not be harmed...“You are mistaken, sir, if you think,” I raised my voice, “that my own safety or my own life are paramount values for me!” I have the honor! I have a debt! Let's lie down with bones, having only fulfilled our duty! So say we, el'
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This is my job and I can do it myself. Sebastina, get my clothes and weapons ready.- Listen, master.And now we are already riding in the belly of a metal monster breathing hot steam. Silently. Usually we are not very talkative, I order, Sebastina confirms that she understood the order and immediately obeys. The ideal relationship of master and servant. Sometimes I talk out loud about something and ask her opinion, but this is the same as talking to myself. And otherwise, Sebastina is perfect, so we didn't have moments when she managed to do something wrong and then feel guilty.- Stop it.- Master?“We got passed by a move or two. He knew that mind-clouding spells and other debuffs didn't work on you, and he prepared better than we could have expected. Damn it, I didn't expect anything like this at all! All of a sudden, he showed up at my house! Did you hear what the experts said? The bastard burned the best protective seals, cut them... Are you listening to me?“I failed you, maste
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- I'll be brief. As you may know, a victorious parade of regiments of the colonial army will soon take place, after which the banners of the defeated rebels will be laid at the imperial tribune. My hosts, the Emperor himself in particular, want this glorious event to go off without a hitch. In connection with this, I sent away from the city many of your ... hmm ... soldiers. But I'm not so naive as to believe that they have all been removed. Before I make my proposal, I would like to thank the audience for ... cooperation. And for the fact that you did not try to kill each other, despite the fact that there are heads of competing ... organizations here. In particular, I want to thank Mr. Oscar Bainley for coming here voluntarily today, even though my people could not find him.The sounded name sharply cooled the emotional background, strengthened and nurtured the flowers of sincere fear. They began to turn around, looked at each other with even greater suspicion, tried to peer into th
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- The Verge Of An Empire
Epilogue
In the evening of the same day, when the carpenter's hammers continued to rattle throughout the capital, I sat opposite the Emperor and told him everything I knew about the past crisis. Although not all, of course. I left out some details, I didn't say a word about John Darksad, or Zolan el'Cha, or who and what helped me set up a forgery to start a riot, I didn't say how exactly I was connected with the first enemy of the empire, in my retelling, he was simply the Persistent, who broke into our world and wanted to crush the great Meskian Empire. If the Emperor knew I was lying, he never showed it. After all, during our conversation with Authurn di'Anshwar, he was near death and could not hear everything that we said to each other.“Thus, after all of the above, I tender my resignation and express my readiness to accept any punishment that Your Majesty deems appropriate.”I laid out a sheet of petition on the tabletop.Hmm, punishment? the Emperor drawled. “Hmm, what punishment should
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- Hurt.- Sorry…“It hurts to see what an ungrateful and stupid young man my son's son has grown up to be. Boy, I am a great black-tongued, I do not die from a wounded perishable blade, I forge perishable blades myself!With these words, he tore the sword out of his stomach, causing the purulent masses to flow out, and let out a loud roaring scream! His appearance changed dramatically and almost instantly, his clothes dissolved, his whole body acquired a matte black color, dozens of thin tentacles appeared instead of legs, forming something like a long skirt, huge black wings opened behind him, from which numerous eyes looked, his arms lengthened and received the second elbow, instead of fingers, terrible blades jingled on them, and a white bone mask without eyes and nose, but with a wide, toothy mouth, covered his face. A large wound on the stomach that was supposed to kill a person was quickly healed on this monster!“Look what you got me into. Are you satisfied now? I had to uncove
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“I was forced, Brian. Even my spell can be removed, and the puppets, although they are not able to act on their own, see and understand everything.“You destroyed him, and at the same time you tried to kill Tromgar el'Rumar to protect yourself from possible testimony from the grave.- It's like that.“I still don’t understand why you stole Yaro Wolfeld’s body from Volchie. Is it really just to abuse him for the last time and turn him into a vile running piece of carrion?- A burst of inspiration. A particle of chaos in an ordered stream of consciousness. Besides, I was hoping to set you on another false trail.“Using charmed Lups soldiers from the missing battalion?”- Exactly. They did not stand out on Volchie, and lups are by nature a close-knit people, they do not suspect their own.- I understand ... In principle, if the execution of a grandiose plan was perfect, you would have succeeded. You removed your creature from the statue before the statue reached the museum, and all this
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“You were right, cousin. As always.“See the skinny shadows walking in front of the front door?- The enemy was spotted in the amount of fifteen combat units.“These are Asmoderians, immortal creatures from the Darkness. They are very fast and strong, and they also have weapons that destroy any armor, stone, metal, wood.“My task is to attack and distract while you get inside.– There may be more, and even your car does not guarantee you victory.“I fight to fight, not to win, cousin.Chapadeau rushed across the square turned into a battlefield, took out the front gate with a kick and opened fire. The Asmoderians scattered like frightened water striders, but they weren't frightened!- Now!Sebastina made a dizzying leap and ran forward. The shooting stopped, a huge iron fist grabbed me and threw me forward like some kind of ball, and the maid caught me!- Run, cousin!The last thing I saw before I ran into the palace hall was the figure of a steel giant, plastered with skinny black bo
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80
The tashshar's horseback ride turned out to be a surprisingly convenient and fast way to get around. Skinny looking and very hard to the touch, these furry monsters have long, strong legs. They rushed at great speed, made long jumps and easily maneuvered in the stream of evil spirits flowing through the streets. Smaller monsters did not stick to the tashshars, they had an order to get out and add new oil to the subdued fire of terror, and they breathed it, they breathed the will of their master! Every few seconds I looked up and peered into the darkness above our heads, expecting that the ceiling of the cave, invisible to me, would crack from a hail of artillery shells and multi-ton slabs would bury us under them! We broke out of the city and began to break through the tunnels filled with evil spirits, up into the predawn winter night, and hope even began to arise in me, that we will have time to get out when the whole world went crazy at once and a grandiose roar knocked us down! The
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It ended abruptly. The Tashshars simply crushed the Asmoderians in bulk, crushed them and deprived them of their heads. After that, the bodies of the invincible guardsmen literally evaporated. The armor was empty and scattered in many segments, swords fell to the floor. The crazy spree is over. It seems that one of the survivors addressed me. Some kind of lups with a crazy muzzle. Simon was saying something, but I didn't hear them. I was snapped out of my stupor by the sight of Arren el'Calyps writhing on the floor. Raising my saber as I ran, I struck with all my might at his arm, chopping it off at the elbow. Noble silver blood spattered, and the severed forearm literally in a few moments turned into a piece of fetid meat exuding poisonous pus.- Bandage him! Calculate the personnel, provide assistance to the wounded, if any! Don't touch the dead! Rest… I… Perform!Sebastina was already seated next to Incival.- Is he alive?- Yes, master. But it is very difficult for him, as far as
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He sighed heavily and sadly.“Listen, boy, I will go against my rules and extend my hand to you one more time. You have come a long way, you were able to find me and you were not afraid to come here, taking only a maid. This is worthy of encouragement. I extend my hand to you again and say, join me! The next morning will be the first morning of the new age! And this century will belong to me! On the ruins of old Mescia, I will build the palaces of a new empire, and, what the hell is not joking, you will sit on its throne!"Are you offering me the imperial crown?"“That little thing doesn't matter, my boy. I offer you the whole world!- Interesting.- You deserve it! Believe me, I know that in all this rotten aristocracy there will never be as much grandeur and dignity as there is in one of your fingers! Help me today, and tomorrow your path to the top of the world will begin! This is not the ravings of a madman and not a sweet lie, this is my promise to you! Get close and...- No.- W
- The Verge Of An Empire
77
We moved through the streets of the ancient city, expecting danger from every shadow. And there are many, many shadows! Tower, castle, palace or temple, whatever it was, the building seemed incredibly majestic and hung over us the closer we got. We soon approached the first crater.“The impact came at an angle of twenty-five degrees, demolished two houses, left a furrow, and went out right here.- What could hit like that? Spell? The stone is melted.The Emperor did it.- What?!- I saw something like that. Traces of destruction. Huge. And this sand under our feet - it is everywhere - not sand. It is the ashes of hundreds of thousands of living beings whose bodies have decayed over the past ages. This is Meskiah, thanes and gentlemen.“You mean the same city, el'Moria?”“The city that gave the name to our empire. The city that became the first letter in the new history. The Emperor came here and swept from south to north like a hurricane, demonstrating the power of his Voices. He dest
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Gantsaros remained himself, ruthless and purposeful, the one who steps over the corpses, grinding them into mincemeat, and opens fire on any moving target. I see his receding back and a plume of hot steam, white as milk in this cold and bitter night. And I have no doubt that the royalists have put an end to it. For some time, the new weapon will show its power, and the number of victims will exceed tens of thousands, total extermination. Then the time limit will be released, and the surviving prisoners will appear. Mesquia's new weapons will prove to all countries of the world that their armies are outdated. We will remind you again how powerful we are. And we will make them remember how ruthless we can be to our own people. What will we do with them if they dare to anger us?“Truly… The Emperor is prudent and ruthless as always… Now I understand why the threat of rebellion did not frighten him. Moon, have mercy on us.I looked at the creator of these new war machines and felt his del
