MY ENTRANCE WAS NOISY, so unless the sniper was deaf, he’d know about the upcoming visit. If he was still alive and in the tower, of course, which I very much doubted. The raven’s magic had grown much stronger after absorbing the Blood Essence, and even if the enemy had divine protection, it wouldn’t cover the rifle. Legion wasn’t stupid, so he would disable the weapon first of all.
I was a little concerned that the battle was over, yet there was no word from my vassals, but I was sure that they were still alive. Since I had created the altar and increased the cult level, I could not only track their status, but also send them a message.
“I’m inside the monastery. Heading to the tower, I’ll be there soon.”
Perhaps not that soon. The explosion had attracted two creatures, already splattered with blood, which were now hesitantly sniffing the air and uttering deep-chested growls. I froze as I considered my situation. I didn’t need to worry that they would smell me. At its current level, the Invisibility field blocked most things that could give me away, including smell. However, I had left footprints behind me. The paths were cleaned regularly in the cemetery, but knee-deep snow had piled up in front of the unused gates. It wasn’t a problem as long as I stood still, but once I started moving...
“Come on, come closer,” I whispered. The hounds couldn’t hear me, the field blocked almost all sound as well. However, I could adjust this feature, which allowed me to communicate with a person without deactivating the skill. The important thing was not to forget about this nuance.
These weren’t typical thoughts for a deadly situation. I suddenly realized that I was less afraid of their attack than of scaring off my prey. Level 3 and 4. Too much... Skills were much more important at this stage than the ability to increase a couple of parameters. So, if I didn’t want to level up again, I needed to offload the experience points somewhere. But where?
Perhaps I could dump a hundred points into the return card (182/300) that Eva had given back to me. Five seconds… Another hundred into the Search for Life card (82/300), obtained an eternity ago, in the city of goblins. Over two months had passed. It was a useful skill. Perhaps I could find a better one through the Server, but the difference wouldn’t be massive. Unfortunately, I had enough time to saturate the card, but not enough to study it. Even five minutes under current conditions was an unacceptably long time. Otherwise, I would have simply raised the skills I already had.
“Let’s start with a prayer…”
One of the Hellhounds walked past me to reach the hole in the gate, exposing its neck. My only regret was the need to spend mana but scrimping in such a situation would be stupid. Before the hound could understand what was happening, my spear slipped between its plates. Split.
Attention! You have gained 90 SP! (172/300)
Time was running out, so I released the weapon and rushed to the second creature, pulling out the spare spear on the move. Four meters… My foot fell through a snowdrift, but it had developed a crust over winter, so I didn’t sink as deep as I feared.
“E-e-e?”
The second creature paused for a moment before leaping forward, but that sealed its fate. I hooked its hind leg, and the flow of mana cut it off, causing the creature to somersault. I jumped onto a cleared path, and moving became much easier. The creature rolled onto its back, trying to fight me off with its paws, but this meant I didn’t need to use Split again. Even a monster couldn’t cover themselves with armor plates from head to toe, as this would excessively limit mobility, but they had tried to protect the vulnerable parts. Here, a rougher section made it possible to accurately determine the pilot’s position. I struck slightly at an angle, avoiding this defense.
“E-e-e-e!” The creature didn’t die immediately, trying to roll away and get me with its claws. It didn’t work.
Attention! You have gained 67 SP! (239/300)
The corpse turned into a puddle of slime, making me stagger. However, I didn’t have to dig around in it. I raised my weapon and saw a puppy impaled on its tip. I had run it almost completely through. After collecting the card and throwing the corpse into the bag, I returned to my first opponent, and pulled out the spear.
It was a perfect strike. Many people thought that a skill was feints, complex moves and all that jazz, but the higher you climbed up the ladder, the less useless movements you made. It was important to achieve one’s goal in an optimal way. If you could dispatch the enemy with one blow, why bother with the extra complexities? It was even more stupid to engage in “fencing” and compete with the monsters. The fact I was alive was proof of my mastery, with my enemy spread out before me in a puddle of slime.
A card had been dropped here as well, which went into the bag, but I didn’t dig up the corpse — too much hassle, and it’s not like it was going anywhere.
Now I could take a look around. There were no monsters in sight, but I was more interested in scaling the wall. It was a pity that I didn’t have some sort of flight ability, even if it consumed a lot of mana and was only active for ten seconds. Another skill to add to the list, as well as a mana generator so I could use them all at the same time. Or was I getting a bit carried away?
I chuckled at myself as I took out new cards and poured the experience into them. Ten points each into Chinese (229/300) and English (219/300). Long-awaited copies of Axe Fighting (209/300), Dagger Fighting (199/300), and Mace Fighting (189/300). And finally, Horseback Riding (179/300), which had long annoyed me. It wasn’t the most useful skill, but according to raven, it could be developed into something much more interesting. I could just buy the skills that interested me directly from the System, of course, bypassing the skills tree, but the best ones often required a certain foundation. For example, I could pay 100 SP and become a Sword Master, yet the limit would then be a three, not a four, and I would have no way to raise it to the next rank. Although it was too early to worry about that at present.
I decided to stop at that. The level boundary was far enough away, and I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to kill anyone else today. The further I went, the less I expected the “final boss” to be waiting for me in his tower. The hundred points served as additional insurance, in case I needed to be transported to the altar. I hadn’t accepted the mission, there was no transition through the personal room, in fact, I wasn’t sure the return card would even work.
“I’m meant to go in here, I take it?”
The door was closed, and no one responded to my knock. I considered the obstacle and struck the lock with my spear without further ado. Split... Kick… Another kick… And I was inside.
“Is there anyone in here?” I called out. “This is the FSB, a special operation is underway, everybody remain calm!”
No one rushed to leave their hiding place, so I advanced slowly. It was quite dark on the ground floor of the gateway church, and I could see brackets for wires in places. Authenticity was great and all, but the monks had no intention of living without electricity. And tourists wouldn’t like to walk around here with candles.
Activate True Sight?
Yes/No
Although the enemy might have left long ago, I had to remain cautious for another reason: whoever was shooting at us, I doubted that it was an alien monster. I’d bet an arm that it was another traitor. We had set ourselves up when we decided to make the event public, giving our enemies time to prepare this attack. I had to expect any dirty trick — a tripwire would be easy enough to set up.
Well, we’d manage. Although the enemy’s new tactics were concerning, countermeasures were already being discussed. First of all, nets would work here. Both manual and net-throwers — perhaps the ones the police and animal trapping services currently used were too weak, but it wouldn’t take long to create our own version. In addition, I hoped the divine protection could be exhausted or circumvented in some other way. The priests claimed that it couldn’t remain active forever, or even for too long. Energy always has to come from somewhere. So, an hour, two, maybe five... and the monsters would become vulnerable to gunfire again. In addition, the enemy gods were unlikely to protect all the creatures raining down on our world. It wouldn’t be profitable.
Plus, no protection is ever perfect. What about gases? Different types of radiation? If they can see and hear, then light and sound could pass inside. How reliable were their “filters”? We should try to make bullets made from System metal. We wouldn’t be able to carry them on quests without a bag, but they would certainly work against divine protection. In any case, we wouldn’t give up without a fight. I could consider what was happening as the traditional battle of weapons vs. armor. The armor nearly always lost in the end.
* * *
I ascended to the second floor and spotted a nun hiding behind a basin of “holy salt”. Judging by her tear-stained face, she was young and already understood what was happening.
“Who’s here?”
Even if Invisibility muffled the sounds, it couldn’t cover the entire staircase.
“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God. Protect your slave Natalia…”
I squinted, checking that she was an ordinary person. Not a player, not a hero, not a unit, and not a disguised monster. Although who was to say that the sniper couldn’t be a simple mercenary? A female mercenary, hiding behind monastic robes? Okay, let’s not get paranoid.
“I know you’re here!” The girl spoke louder this time. It was a great way to lure monsters in the dark. Of course, she didn’t believe in them and hoped that no one would respond.
I might have left her be, but the door leading outside was locked. Should I break it down again or ask her for a key? I could go even higher and climb out of the window, but historically, the monastery had also been a prison, so there were bound to be bars on the windows.
“Attention! This is Captain Ivanov from the special FSB group. A special operation is underway, everybody remain calm! I need the key to this door!”
In response to my appearance, the nun screamed and threw a handful of salt at me. Fortunately, the Kinetic Field was set up quite well, so it didn’t perceive this as a threat and my mana reserves remained unchanged.
“Are you sure that was the right decision?”
“Please don’t kill me!” She backed away. “Please! I... I’ll do whatever you want!”
“Give me the keys, you idiot. Don’t you watch the news?”
“There are no televisions at the monastery. We have the internet, but the abbess took away my bonus and my iPhone, and imposed penance. I haven’t been online for six days. There are four more to go...”
“The keys!” I repeated. Although I was no longer in a hurry, the delay was annoying. “Do you have them? Or should I break down this door?”
“No, don’t break it. The key is over there, on the hook,” she pointed to the wall. “People are working here, so we keep a spare one...”
“I need to reach the corner tower. Setunskaya. There’ll be another door along the way, is the key to it also hanging on a nail?”
“It should be open.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. A monster breach has occurred near the monastery. I recommend that you find a safe place to hide and wait until we’ve dealt with them.”
“Al… alright. God bless you. The Mother Superior said that all neo-pagans will burn in hell, but I will pray for your soul.”
“That would be very helpful. Have you seen any strangers?” I asked. More to monitor her location through her voice than because I was interested in the answer.
“No. No one except the sisters and tourists. And those infernal creatures…”
The path to the tower could be clearly seen from here, so it was the perfect place for a trap. I turned the key and carefully opened the door, spotting a grenade perched above. F-1. If I had opened the door a little further... my phone rang, making me twitch. The grenade fell, but I managed to catch it without letting the fishing line pull out the prongs, and gently bent them back in. The pin was missing, but my bag solved this safety issue. It worked, although I spent a few very unpleasant seconds dealing with this trick.
* * *
Who was it? A text message: Call me back if you can. Ilyin. Apparently, he also had no illusions about the success of the chase, since he had risked distracting me at such a moment. I sighed and pressed the call button. An extra minute wouldn’t make a difference, since I had already lost too much time.
“Vasily here.”
“How are things going? Did you find the sniper?”
“Not yet. I’m working on it.”
“He hasn’t fired a shot in a while,” the lieutenant colonel concluded. “Looks like he’s gone, the bastard.”
“Most likely, but I’ll check the location anyway. By the way, there are Hellhounds in the monastery too, I just killed a couple, and another two along the way.”
“Blast it... the evacuation is in progress, so I can’t send the other players to you. Two or three simply won’t make it, and I can’t send any more. Will you manage? The police are now blocking the streets, and we’ll proceed according to the plan. We’re bringing in firefighters. With the support of the players, we’ll eliminate this breach within a day.”
“This breach?” I clarified.
“Yes, there are two of them. An attack is underway at the Institute. There are no players inside, and the staff have mostly left the building, so don’t worry. The situation is serious, but we have it under control. By the time a mission is activated, we will have gathered significant forces there. The important thing is to avoid more losses among the players!”
I didn’t ask about the losses — this information was superfluous if I didn’t want to resort to the Calculating Mind.
“That’s... comforting,” I sighed. “Okay, I have to go. Over and out.”
I put the phone in airplane mode. I could put it in my bag, but then it would be harder to track it. In case they have to search for my corpse. Invisibility also blocked the mobile signal, and I would continue from here under its protection.
Activate Invisibility?
Yes/No
* * *
The view from the wall wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t make out what was happening at the other end. The wall was too low. The only thing of note was a Hellhound in the monastery’s courtyard, but it wasn’t my problem right now.
Activate True Sight?
Yes/No
I reached the next tower. The door here was, indeed, open — though not by itself, as the nun said, but because someone had broken in. The person who’d booby trapped the last door had clearly passed through here. I found another grenade, but stuck close to the ground with tape, rather than above. It wasn’t clear what the saboteur was counting on, since such tricks only work once, but I checked everything again for traps. I pushed open the door and accelerated sharply, in case I had been mistaken… But no, it was all clear — the second trap must have been made to gain time for a retreat.
“Legion? Bri? I’m in the second tower. Come back here!”
Twenty seconds later, when my patience was wearing thin, I spotted Bri, and came out of Invisibility so it could see me. Bri was a sad sight, having lost its tentacles again. Not a single whole one was left, so it looked more like a round bun than a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
“Boss, boss... he, he…”
The ghost hovered nearby, and its face assumed an extremely plaintive expression.
“Calm down. What happened?”
“That monk saw me! He got Legion!”
“He got Legion?”
“He... he almost got me, too. But he let me go and said that he will kill the raven if you don’t come.”
I had made a mistake in my calculations and the enemy had decided to wait for me. An alarming sign. Did he consider himself to be much stronger?
“Tell me more. What can he do? How did the fight unfold? But quickly…”
The ghost sent me several images so I could reconstruct what had happened. The rifle had been fired by a monk or, more precisely, someone dressed in a monk’s cassock. Not the best disguise for a convent, but the ancient traditions were less strictly observed in our time. Bri tried to cling to him and immobilize him as usual, but the monk released a wave of light that burned off half of the tentacles, and then set Spiritual Parasites on the ghost. The three creatures cornered Bri, at which point Legion intervened, trying to set fire to the enemy. Unsuccessfully, for the sniper had protection, which was even stronger than that of the ordinary monsters. The Sacred Flame failed, and only the rifle was destroyed. But the raven had no protection and collapsed after being shot with a handgun. Legion turned into a stone statuette, which the monk managed to catch. Moreover, judging by the sharp change in the direction of the fall, he’d used something like telekinesis.
“Don’t go in there, boss! The bad monk will kill you! There are millions of ravens in Moscow, we will find you another one, even better! I’m willing to possess it myself. Don’t go!”
Frankly speaking, the images from the battle and the enemy waiting for me made me think exactly the same thing, but I wasn’t in my habit of abandoning allies. Well, as long as the risks were acceptable. The enemy was strong, but I didn’t see evidence of overwhelming power. If the situation turned dire, I could still escape to my personal room.
“Get back in the bag, please.”
The ghost gave a bitter snort and dived into its shelter. Bri kept getting hurt lately, but it was hard to say what had prompted its warning. Fear for my life or the desire to get rid of the raven, since they had never gotten along.
* * *
I didn’t check how well the next door was mined, and went up to the landing instead. I could see the next tower from here, but if the enemy really was waiting for me, I couldn’t see him. This meant very little, however.
I squeezed through the loophole, pushed off, and jumped down. The combat form protected me from injuries, and Invisibility extinguished sounds, but the goal was not to fall the seven meters to the ground.
“Got it.” I glanced at the next tripwire, clearly placed at the tower exit, and kept going. It felt like I was on my way to confront the final boss.
There was a subtle haze up ahead, which made me stop. I blinked, switching off True Sight, to discover that it was now invisible. Some type of alarm system? I threw a coin, which easily passed through the “barrier” and fell off the wall. Cassandra? She wasn’t promising instant death, so I first poked the haze with my finger, and then stepped through it.
Attention! The Temporal Barrier has been activated!
You are in a closed area!
I looked behind me, where the air now wavered much more strongly. Seriously?
“You will die! Die!”
I jerked my hand back, which I’d raised automatically, and the whisper instantly subsided. I’d nearly been caught. These prophecies were convenient, but one shouldn’t get used to them.
I could now see an elongated sphere enveloping the tower, as well as a decent portion of the wall, while the world outside had frozen. Even the bird had stopped moving midair.
“Looks like there’ll definitely be no help now. No one is coming, as they say…”
The enemy didn’t appear, but the door to the tower stood invitingly open, like in some cheap horror movie. Damn, damn, damn. There was no one inside, only stairs leading up or down. Which way to go? The answer was obvious — the sniper obviously wasn’t shooting from the basement, and I preferred open spaces.
I went up to the landing and found a melted sniper rifle. Hard to say what it had been during its lifetime, but clearly something locally made. I didn’t touch the weapon — why risk it? I gripped my spear. Now what? Should I go down?
“You’re here, right? I was starting to think that you wouldn’t come.”
I turned towards the voice, but there was no one there. A walkie-talkie? Or... Invisibility. And True Sight couldn’t help me this time.
“You’ve probably guessed what’s going on by now. You’re not the only one who likes to play hide and seek.”
The spot where the voice was coming from was pretty obvious, but I didn’t move. It would be a dangerous and predictable step.
“You don’t want to reappear? Come on, on the count of three? One, two, three…”
Naturally, I ignored the suggestion, and my opponent himself was in no hurry to appear.
“Oh dear. It never works. Okay, shall we do it differently?”
The figure of a monk appeared near the rifle, with three glowing lights circling him. They were probably the ones that had almost devoured the ghost, yet Bri hadn’t mentioned one thing. Based on the fact that the enemy was now looking directly at me, they cast a True Light. The monk’s cassock had been badly damaged in the fire, with the player’s clothes peeking through in places, while his face... showed that he was also in combat form. What an ugly mug.
“You’ve come.”
“How could I ignore such an insistent invitation?”
In his left hand, the monk held the statuette, while his right pressed a gun to the raven’s head. I would have laughed, if it wasn’t so sad. Identification.
Player. Rank: D. Level 18
Parameters: hidden (Great Izur).
Skills: hidden (Great Izur).
Temporary effects:
— Divine Protection (Great Izur).
— Divine Protection (Thousand-Legged Giz).
— Divine Protection (Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys).
— Divine Protection (Ancestor of the Frost Monkeys).
* * *
“Long time no see, Vasily. You’ve reached Level 15 already! Looks like you’ve been flying a lot in your sleep?”
I wasn’t the only one with scanning skills. The monk spoke Russian, and although the combat form obscured his features, there weren’t many people who fit the criteria. Only one stood out among them…
“I’d like to say that I’m glad to see you alive, Saint, but then I’d be lying. Have you taken up in cosplay and terrorism?”
He was a player from the first wave, who hadn’t chosen a patron and who had disappeared during a single mission. No body, no evidence. We had long considered him dead but, apparently, that he had been captured and defected. I’ve never liked pretentious conversations before a fight, but the gun in the bastard’s hand wasn’t conducive to sudden movements. The raven had no divine protection. Nor did I.
“Terrorism.” The monk grimaced. “I’ve never liked that word. You can use it to label almost anything.”
“Like a mass shooting at a cemetery, for example. You’re not going to claim this is simple coincidence, are you?”
“It’s plan B,” he shrugged. “I had to lure you out somehow, didn’t I? By the way, how about you drop your weapon? Or do you think this statuette can withstand a Magnum fired at point-blank range?”
Actually, Magnum was a cartridge, while he was holding a Smith & Wesson revolver in his hand, but I didn’t correct him. It wasn’t important right now.
“You came here to kill me,” I shook my head. “We’re not in some soppy drama, so I’m not going to play along. Even if you swear that you’ll burn down this convent and rape all the nuns, I’ll just have more reasons to kill you.”
“Ew, how tacky. Yet I’ve always respected you for your pragmatism. And disliked you for it. If you had agreed, I would have been disappointed.… You didn’t give a damn about all of us in the first place, right? Saint. I have a real name that my parents gave me, after all. Did you visit them when I disappeared? Did you offer your help, or were you “too busy”? You didn’t go beyond formal condolences and a pathetic pension. Come on, call me by my name! Or has too much time passed?” The finger on the trigger twitched, showing what would happen if I delayed or made a mistake.
“Sergey.”
“You’re wrong!” The gun swiveled away from the raven and pointed at me.
“Sergey Dmitrievich Sudakov,” I repeated, taking a short step forward.
“I’m surprised.” The enemy stepped sideways, now aiming at my chest. “I thought you didn’t care about anyone else. We were just pawns meant to protect you... the owner of a unique skill... the strongest player in Russia… Oh, yes, a close servant of one of the seven gods. Although, I heard that you tricked everyone in regard to that. Right?”
I winced inwardly. I’d known that some members of the squad had disliked or envied me, especially early on, but how had it come to this? Apparently Saint had decided that I was the main culprit of his problems after his capture.
“I can’t change your mind, can I? So, let’s skip the part where I urge you to surrender and promise forgiveness.”
“That’s a shame, I was going to tell you to get lost. I must admit, when I was ordered to kill you, I was scared at first. The invincible Vasily… but it’s stupid to fear the shadows of the past. I’ve grown much stronger. Invisibility, healing, telekinesis, levitation… I have everything you have, and even more. I have long surpassed you, and now I have the chance to prove it! How could I miss this opportunity? I am the strongest player of this world.”
So, the System still considered him one of us? He was the reason why I was the second. Well, this was a good opportunity to correct this injustice.
“You’re a traitor,” I pointed out. This whole circus, reminiscent of Hollywood films, was tiring, but I couldn’t catch a good moment to attack.
“That’s right, a traitor,” Sergey nodded contentedly. He’d apparently been starved of conversation in recent months. “I don’t regret anything. It’s easy to judge others when you don’t know what they’ve been through. You know, I’m actually glad that you refused the Immortal Emperor’s offer. You’ve always been a sneaky bastard. Maybe we could have achieved more together, but I don’t care. I can do it myself. I don’t need any competition at the top, so I’ll skip the part where I invite you to join us.”
I stepped forward, striking with the spear — he reflexively shifted the revolver out of the way, but I redirected the blow to the hand clutching the raven. The statue fell, rolling across the floor, and I shifted, covering it from the enemy. Shit… The gun fired four times, and while the first three bullets were deflected by the Kinetic Field, the last one hit me square in the chest, throwing me back a few steps and making me growl in pain. The worst thing was that I had no mana left again…
I dodged the revolver thrown at me, but a poleaxe, or war hammer, appeared in the Saint’s hand. A mixture of axe, hammer and spear, which had been quite popular in the Middle Ages. It seemed he didn’t really want to talk, since he immediately tried to take advantage of my confusion and impale me on the spike. There was nowhere to retreat, so I deflected the blow and took a small step sideways when he tried to hook me with the curved part of the weapon. My arms were aching since the bastard’s weapon was much heavier.
“Sorry, sorry. Reflexes. It’s your own fault.”
“Cool weapon. What’s it called?” I chuckled, trying to buy some time.
It was bloody painful... but not as much as if the bullet had gone right through me. Yesterday, I had finally checked what would happen if I filled all the armor slots with cards. The answer was disappointing — nothing had happened. No magic to transform the jacket into armor of a higher rank. But the cards themselves made excellent armor: light and very, very strong, they could stop a bullet from a handgun, while most of the inertia was extinguished by the combat form. But my ribs seemed to be broken…
“It’s the Monster Hammer! Remember how you showed us how much weaker we were when we first met? Well, now I’m a master too! My school is a mixture of three styles and has absorbed the very best!”
A master... that meant he might have a trick up his sleeve, like my Split. Putting my hand to my chest, I poured the mana that had accumulated into Healing.
“Is that so?” I took the opportunity to step back and, slowly crouching down, pick up the raven figurine and put it in my bag. Even that hurt. The Saint watched my movements without trying to interfere.
“Enough games. Surely, you’ve already noticed that help isn’t coming. How do you like my skill? You won’t be able to escape either — as long as I maintain this field, there is no way out. Anyone who tries to cross the boundary will turn to dust!”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“So that you know that only one of us will leave here alive. This is the decisive battle. But I want to make it beautiful. You have the Duelist skill, don’t you?”
“You want to steal a piece of my power?”
“One can never have too much power. Especially since you nabbed it even from the gods. I suppose you have plenty of interesting things in your possession, don’t you?”
“You’re mad.”
“Perhaps. Reaching my current level wasn’t easy. I had to spill a lot of blood. Rivers of blood... Easy to go a little crazy.”
Attention! Transfer to the Personal Room is impossible!
I smiled wryly, realizing that the bastard had me trapped. Oddly enough, this thought calmed me down, resolving all doubts. Why be afraid of something you can’t change?
“Well? I, Sergey, Master of the School of Monster Hunters, challenge you! Will you name your school and accept my challenge? Or should I simply kill you like a mangy cur?”
Even so, where had he spent the past two months? Such habits didn’t come from nowhere. I was beginning to develop a taste for these cheap theatrics and false illusions.
“You’re wrong. It is I, Master of the School of Seven Stones, who challenges you. Accept it and I will spare your reputation. I promise, no one will learn of your betrayal.” I took a mask out of my bag and brought it to my face. “As for my name… You can call me Cain.”
* * *
Attention! Player Saint (Level 18) accepts your challenge!
Duel type:
— To the death.
Conclusion:
— Death of one of the participants.
Circle diameter: 12 m.
The fight will commence in 30… 29… 28…
“Wow, it worked. Once I kill you, I will not only receive a reward, but will also become a junior priest. Could you take off the mask? Why soil such a nice thing with your blood?”
“You talk too much.”
Perhaps someone else would view the open platform on top of a tower as a good place for a duel, but not me. His weapon was heavier, and there was too little room to maneuver or retreat.
“Hey, what are you doing, you’re not going to break the rules, are you?”
I approached the edge and jumped backwards, holding on to the edge for a moment to break my fall, then pushing off with my foot and opening my fingers. My opponent came up to the edge, but I couldn’t read his face.
“That’s a cheap trick, you have nowhere to run.”
“I wasn’t going to; I just changed the battlefield. I like the wall better. Although you said it was a circle, we’re actually inside a sphere. Even a cylinder. Well? Will you jump after me? Or will you come down the stairs? Don’t you have levitation?”
The fight will commence in 15… 14… 13…
“What will you say if I simply shoot you with my machine gun?”
The Saint didn’t dare to jump after me: my hand was clutching the spear, so no matter how skilled he was, he’d be dead if I decided to strike as he landed.
“If you had a machine gun, you would have taken it out already. I doubt you even have any rifle cartridges left.” It was time.
Attention! The duel has begun!
Sergey laughed and spread his arms wide. He wasn’t playing, he was definitely crazy. The lights scattered in different directions and went out, restoring his Invisibility. I immediately followed suit and shifted a little to the side. Great. A duel between two invisible men, what could be better?
I was planning to cheat initially. Summon the goblins to stab him in the back, but the summoning wasn’t working either. I’d have to do it myself, without any tricks. Damn it.
I wasn’t watching the wall — I couldn’t see anything anyway — but the remaining fireflies. If he really was a master, he would undoubtedly take this chance. Now… The fireflies darted to the wall, becoming brighter, and I stepped onto the parapet, striking one of them with my spear.
Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (181/300)
Nevertheless, I became visible and jumped sharply, avoiding a possible blow, then made several hops backwards. I just had avoiding hitting the barrier.
Lunge. I’d guessed right, the enemy had tried to catch up with me and had run into the blade. A pity that I didn’t have time to activate Split. Jumping back onto the parapet and forward again was risky, but I managed to slip through by swapping places with the enemy. Hopefully.
“Shit.” I pulled out my gun on a hunch and fired when I noticed a brief flash. It looked like I had my own fireflies now. This was a good chance to test the other options… I put my hand in my bag and threw two stun grenades into the air at once. They weren’t as effective out in the open, but I knew the enemy’s approximate position, so I scored a bull’s-eye. My vision swam a little, but now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for myself. The fireflies were darting around, and I took this chance to spear another one.
Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (183/300)
“No!”
The last one darted away, but the sphere wasn’t very large, so it reached the border and... went out in a shower of ashes. Hell, I didn’t even get a chance to discover what kind of creatures they were.
“You killed my friends, you bastard! I spared your ghost! I spared the raven!”
“This is a duel between us. No one forced you to cheat.”
“The fireflies are part of my power. They didn’t even attack you!”
Judging by the fury in his voice, neither the bullets nor the grenades had done much damage. Although they must have done something or he would have attacked by now.
“Hey, I have an idea. To hell with all this! Let’s turn off the Invisibility? Let’s have a fair duel, as two masters should!”
“On the count of three?”
“Of course,” he said. “One, two, three…”
I backed up to the tower door and took out… A grenade, I suppose. One could also call it a bomb. Prototype-1. This was a special order, with increased power “against particularly tenacious monsters at relatively close distances if cover is available.” I pulled out the pin.
“Did you chicken out?” My opponent appeared, which made the task easier. The grenade flew slightly to the left, so that it exploded as close as possible…
Even if the divine protection was strong, inertia was still a force. And the Temporal Barrier didn’t reach down to the ground, so… The floor was lava.
I didn’t take any chances by hiding in the tower, but leapt down into the stairwell to the floor below. I hoped there wasn’t a net down there.
It was a powerful explosion, but old buildings were well-built, so the tower wouldn’t be harmed. Damn... my ribs were aching, and along with them, the magical channels I’d been abusing all day. It was hard to say which ones hurt more. Maybe the ribs, after all. Healing.
There was no victory message, which suggested that my plan hadn’t worked. I stood up, raised my spear and, probing the air in front of me with it, returned to the wall. I’d hoped he’d been blown down and... I was right.
My opponent was lying on the ground, a place that his Temporal Barrier couldn’t reach. Unfortunately, I’d expected him to be dead, but although his combat form had disintegrated, he was still breathing. Moreover, he was moving, apparently trying to reach one of the pockets. A return card? It’s always the same thing. Nobody wants an honest death.
I caught myself seriously considering the idea of following him. Madness. I raised my arm and threw the spear, hitting the dying man in the stomach. He continued trying to reach his pocket for several more seconds, then gave up.
Attention! The duel is over! All restrictions have been lifted.
Attention! The attitude of the Great Izur towards you has improved!
Attention! The attitude of the Thousand-Legged Giz towards you has deteriorated!
Attention! The attitude of the Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys towards you has deteriorated!
Attention! The attitude of the Ancestor of the Frost Monkeys towards you has deteriorated!
I took off my mask, returning the artifact to the bag… Unfortunately, there was no time to rest, not if I wanted to reach the corpse before one of the remaining Hellhounds did.