“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
“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
- 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
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
Candlelight licked my face. I sleep lightly, and therefore I wake up from any rustle, not to mention the light. Carefully pretending that I was just tossing and turning in my sleep, I put my hand under the pillow and felt for the butt of the revolver.- Master?I let go of the weapon.What do you want, Sebastina?"I'm sorry I dared disturb your sleep." The crown needs you.She loves pompous phrases. “The crown needs you” is nothing new. Sebastina has such a weakness, she loves to be proud of me, to stick out my significance in the eyes of the public in every possible way, so that everyone around can see what an important thane she serves.“If someone was killed, then it can wait. The dead are in no hurry.“You are right as always, master, but Inspector Aberlein is waiting for you in your office with a verbal imperial commission. I dared to offer him tea.The fifth hour of the night, it is winter outside, the dawn is still very far away. Wrapped up in a dressing gown, I left the bedroo
I'm always glad to be a gag that plugs the throats of noble houses, even if they bite their elbows! This time the Emperor is on my side!– And yet, involve knowledgeable people from KGM. At the faculty of military criminology, they say, another nugget has appeared. If de Moranjac was killed by witchcraft, I want to know how it happened.‘I daresay our mages can do it too, my thane,’ said Aberlein.“Pride is a crutch for the insecure, my friend. This is Monsieur de Moranjac's office, as far as I remember?I pointed to the sealed door.“Yes, my thane. We decided that while documents are kept there that could turn out to be secret or simply very important, it is worth restricting access to them until the appropriate order.- Who ordered?“Chief Inspector Wolfeld, my thane.- Old dog. You have received the appropriate order. My. “I tore off the signal tapes and entered. No corpses were found in the office, as well as in the small library adjacent to it.Perfect order reigns on a huge expe
One of the alleys connecting the streets of Tulips and Red Onyx. The eastern and southeastern outskirts of the Imperial Gardens are not as prestigious as the rest of the parts. The KGM campus and the tower of the building are located very close, darkening alone against the sky. In this part of the district there are institutions that serve the rich, food markets, the most expensive and best post offices and bank branches in Starkrar. Rented apartments in tall six-story buildings cost decent money. And yet there are a lot of such alleys even in the Imperial Gardens. From what exactly they spoke to him, Grandi could not accurately identify. Taking advantage of one of the state-owned carriages, I ordered to carry Tulips to the street. The chance to find the right place, and there is some evidence there, is, of course, a pipe hope, but what remains for me?“Keep everything under control,” I told Sebastina, dismissing the carriage.“I am always in control, master.“Like the time I had to d
The strong eat the weak in the world created by the tenkris, this is our worldview, and no one will disbelieve me of its truth. The army knocked out any illusions about the value of the life of a sentient being from the young thane, and service in the Night Guard consolidated the ability to look at this world soberly. Four years in the hot stuffy jungles of Maldiz, among hundreds of species of poisonous reptiles, in a hotbed of still unknown diseases, surrounded by enemies who secretly want to put a knife in your throat, or traitors leading you into an ambush ... And another seven years of similar madness upon returning to capital.We conquered the Maldis, ransoming each city with a lavish blood offering to the ugly Eastern gods. The empire is always in need of new colonies, all the luxury of Starkrar is created from what we take from the provinces, we call it taxes. I will never forget the senselessness of the faces of those who died from arrows, bullets, spears, extracting these ric