Condemned book 7 a progr.., p.1
Condemned Book 7: A Progression Fantasy LitRPG Series, page 1
Vasily Mahanenko
Condemned
Book 7
Lord Valevsky: Last of the Line
A Progression Fantasy Series
Published by Magic Dome Books
Condemned Book 7: A Progression Fantasy Series
(Lord Valevsky: Last of the Line)
Copyright © V. Mahanenko 2024
Cover Art © Lunar 2024
Cover Design V. Manyukhin
English translation copyright © Taylor Elise Margvelashvili 2024
Published by Magic Dome Books, 2024
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-80-7693-331-6
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental..
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Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
About the Author
Chapter 1
“MAXIMILIAN, YOU THERE?”
Naira Jode’s soft voice was melodious, guiding me back to the world of the living from the clutches of darkness. I even opened my eyes to get a look at this vision of divine beauty.
Now that I was no longer under the effects of the First Impressions perfume, I noticed a few flaws in her complexion. A small scar on the forehead, an uneven contour of the lips, a mole on the cheek. However, this not only did not spoil her appearance, but on the contrary, it turned the artist’s depiction into something real, human.
“As if I could be anywhere else,” I replied and tried to get up. It didn’t work — my body responded, but somewhat begrudgingly, as if not yet fully recovered. Raising my hand with difficulty, I saw a bag of skin-covered bones. The level thirty-one rift had taken its toll. And then some. I opened my map and chuckled in surprise. If the point marking my location was to be believed, I was in the very epicenter of the Light’s power.
“Since when was the Citadel open to grey humans?” I asked.”Magister Meram warned us that you wouldn’t remember your meeting with the padishah,” Naira suddenly declared, making me fall silent. “Maximilian, you were killed. By Karina Fardi at a dinner with Bayazid the Third. You really don’t remember any of this?”
Naira did not look like a person who was ready to joke about such topics. I tried to get up again and this time I almost managed to sit up, but a sharp pain in my lower back made me groan, collapse back onto the bed and roll over on my side. It felt like my entire lower back had been branded with a hot iron.
“Lie down. Burns from destroyed symbols don’t vanish just like that. You will need to visit my cousin. Our clan has a device that allows you to remove deep burns. Including those that remain after the dark fire.”
“How’s our patient doing?” Kimal Sarento entered the room. “I’d heard you could lose your mind over a girl, of course, but I didn’t realize it would be so dreadfully literal. Naira, my love, please leave us. I need to have a talk with one of my careless students, who somehow managed to die in a place where it was simply impossible to do so.
Naira looked at me as if asking permission. I nodded, and only then did she leave the office.
“Gentlemen, please leave us. You have thirty seconds,” he said, addressing the air, and I bared my teeth angrily when the door opened and closed on its own. The invisible men still dogged me, and I no longer had the hoop to identify them.
“Yes, Maximilian, you certainly gave us all a challenge.” Kimal Sarento sat down in a chair not far from my bed. Because I was lying on my side, I didn’t have to bend over or raise my head to see him.
“Why don’t I remember anything?”
“Because for you, everything that has happened since awakening after the thirty-first level rift, including the conclave of the Citadel, our reconciliation, and also the journey to the palace of Padishah Bayazid III, does not exist. When you were dragged out of the infected rift, per his agreement with the Citadel, Magister Meram applied one of his sigils on you. I was unaware of this. I thought that your fate would be decided at the Conclave, but it all ended much earlier. As I managed to discern, our mutual friend, the High Priest of the Zarak Empire, tried. Father Urg described your usefulness in terms of searching for dark ones and converts, so removing the dome at the conclave was a completely conscious step, and not some kind of whim. Brother Lin had long suspected that there was a dark one among the cardinals, but there was no evidence. So that beautiful episode when you heroically defended your right to life, in fact, was an ordinary Citadel farce, crafted to determine which of its highest hierarchs had surrendered to darkness. And besides, you so favorably called the Inquisitor yourself, accepting whatever his price may be. A true servant of the Church of the Light. Although you recall nothing from this meeting. Right?”
I strained my memory, but the very last thing that emerged from the depths was the terrible Master of the infected rift. Everything that happened after that was one continuous curtain of darkness for me.
“Magister Meram placed a fixation cast on you, as he called his creation. The concept is simple as a dimple: if a person dies, but their body remains intact, the cast allows one to restore life from the time the sigil was cast. A very painful procedure — you were lucky you were unconscious. When you were killed, the cast burned off, so you won’t be able to lie on your back. Everything below your shoulder blades and all the way to your behind has now turned into one huge burn. By the way, it took twenty human souls to create such a protective sigil, and the Citadel agreed to it. Be grateful! But seriously, everyone got a pretty strong rap on the knuckles. Starting with Magister Meram, who was allowed to see the padishah without being checked, to the padishah, who did not provide adequate protection to his guests.
“What about Fardi?” I tried to say the name calmly, but a note of vitriol still slipped into my voice.
“What about Fardi? Nothing of the sort happened to your Fardi. Brother Lin forbade anyone from touching her. She’s still the pride of the Citadel. She is already single-handedly closing level-four rifts. By herself! And all the loot goes directly to the Citadel, bypassing any rift conquerors. A true Sweeper…”
“Kimal!” I raised my voice, which immediately caused a sharp pain in my back.
“There it is folks, human gratitude,” the chancellor sighed eloquently. “You raise him, teach him, trust him as you trust yourself, and what do you get in return? He raises his voice at you!”
“What about Fardi?” I repeated my question forcefully.
“Nothing has happened to her. She’s sitting somewhere in the Citadel, waiting to meet with you.”
“I have no intention of meeting with her.”
“And yet, you must. The execution will not take place until you appear.”
“Execution?”
“Of course. There is only one end to the path Karina has taken — the stake. The bonfire has already been built, we only awaited your return to consciousness. So today, in about two hours, she will be burned in a solemn ceremony. You can rejoice — your overarching plan for revenge is beginning to come to fruition. One of the Fardis will be wiped from the face of the earth today.”
“If you’re trying to inspire some sort of warm feelings for this monster, you’re out of luck. True, I don’t remember our encounter, but if everything you told me is right, then she’s getting off light.”
“Maximilian, what’s with the attitude?” Kimal Sarento scowled. “The hallmark of a true winner is not achieving your goal, but achieving it while remaining alive and well. Both physically and morally. What is with this desire to inflict more pain on Karina, when her only crime is being the daughter of the man who committed atrocities against your family? Was your family murdered? Yes, that is a fact. But they died quickly and practically without suffering. Karina doesn’t have to suffer. So show some respect to someone who has followed her beliefs to the bitter end. Yes, she is your enemy, but that doesn’t mean that she’s unworthy of respect. Instead of bending to Magister Meram’s demands, she showed pride, knowing full well what would follow. But the girl did this consciously. Could you have accomplished
this feat? Or would you have complied with the old runescribe’s decision? Although, who am I asking? You don’t remember anything at all. I could tell you that you tried to crawl up Karina’s skirt and received a bolt to the head for it, and you’d have no choice but to believe me.”
“Although there’s one thing I still don’t understand — how did Fardi sneak a crossbow into a meeting with the padishah? She could have been attempting to assassinate him.”
“I’d like to look into that,” Kimal chuckled. “Magister Meram and Padishah Bayazid the Third have certain longstanding agreements, one of which is that neither Magister Meram nor any of his guests are inspected before their meetings. And what is the point of checking when the padishah’s safety has been personally ensured by the runescribe himself? You cast Analyze on the padishah — would you be able to break through his defenses? Perhaps only with vyrma. But even if it reached his body, I think there are so many sigils on his body that even if the padishah was burned to the ground, he would still somehow manage to survive. So no one really took any risks. As for guests and children...who pays any attention to them? But, of course, after what happened, the relationship between the runescribe and the richest man in the world of the Light will be rendered null. What a blow to his reputation! Now anyone and everyone is talking about how the palace of Bayazid the Third is not secure.”
My notebook icon began to flash frantically. I opened it and was stunned — I certainly hadn’t had that many notes before. It seemed as if all the books in the world had suddenly been uploaded and organized by category.
“I see you’ve opened your notebook,” Kimal Sarento grinned. “Yes, when you regained consciousness after the rift, we had a long talk. We agreed to cooperate on everything, and as a symbol of this cooperation, I sent you this excerpt from my personal notebook. With two integrations, mind you. Even when your book fell into the Citadel’s hands, I didn’t remove the integration, wishing to adhere to our agreement. Incidentally, do you remember how many integrations you had before the rift?”
“One. With Alia.”
“And now?”
“Three,” I frowned. Where had the other two come from? And one of them was one-sided.
“No doubt about it,” Kimal said. “The Citadel and its normal bag of tricks — you have your answer as to why such a rare and valuable artifact was returned to you. Because they hope to replenish their knowledge, and quite for free. I believe it will not be possible to simply remove their integration. You will have to completely cut off all access and start the notebook over. The Citadel has covered itself well in this regard.”
“My notebook ended up in the Citadel’s hands? We agreed to cooperate?” I was hearing things that would be impossible to believe, even if I had imbibed recreational beverages. Kimal Sarento was clearly being disingenuous, but the huge amount of data in the notebook, as well as the presence of two additional integrations, about which I remembered absolutely nothing, said otherwise.
“Why don’t you stop interrupting me, and I’ll try to tell you everything that happened two days ago, alright?”
All I could do was nod and plunge into the wonderful world of fairy tales. There was no other way to describe Kimal Sarento’s speech. What was saddest was that almost immediately, all the chancellor’s words were confirmed by notes in the notebook, at least the Analyze data on people I didn’t have before. And two of them turned out to be dark, including the commander. The meeting with the padishah was also reflected in the book — according to the pattern that had become a habit, I cast Analyze on everyone who crossed my path.
“The final moment of your previous life was relayed to me by Brother Lin. Karina Fardi got so close to you that she fell within the radius of your Golden Dome of Protection. For some time she showed no signs of aggression, so your ability began to perceive her as part of the interior. When Magister Meram announced that you were now the same student, Karina lost control and pointed her crossbow at you. You didn’t have time to react, and you paid the price — your soulless body collapsed to the floor, and a whole mountain of artifacts formed next to it. Including, mind you, the notebook that had been integrated with mine. Fortunately, Brother Lin was present at the meeting. The head of the Citadel security service immediately stated that everything that fell from you belongs to the church and if any item goes missing, the family of Bayazid the Third will be punished. Can you imagine what it means to say such words in the house of the padishah? You have made yourself an enemy, Maximilian.”
I opened my inventory and began to breathe heavily — I didn’t have a single artifact left! Not even my recipes for the items from the Thunderer set. Although no — there was still one artifact. The notebook that Kimal Sarento spoke of was on his belt. And in its real incarnation. I put my hand on the item and pushed it into my inventory, leaving only a flickering decoy on my belt.
“If I reset all integrations now, will you help me recover my data?”
He grinned. I almost heard him voice the phrase, “And what do I get in return?” but suddenly the chancellor nodded:
“Yes. Regardless of the fact that you do not remember our agreement, I intend to honor it. And I don’t really want to freely offer up my knowledge to the Citadel. So, of course, I will help restore the part that I managed to take away as part of the two-way integration. But...You see, Maximilian, the Citadel will expect new knowledge from you, and its absence, even if they interfered with your artifact in such a brazen way, will be regarded by them as open hostility. Are you prepared for this?”
“A wise man once said that the only thing in this world of true value is information. If I leave the book as it is now, the information will become available to too many people.”
“It’s nice to be called wise.” Kimal’s back straightened a little. “But, besides wisdom, there is also such a thing as sanity. And sanity stubbornly insists that under no circumstances should one break off the connection with the Church of the Light. The data must flow. But it is only up to you to decide what specific data will go to the clergy.”
“The book is automatically updated as soon as some new knowledge appears.”
“That’s right, automatically. What if there are several of these books?”
I didn’t have an answer.
“Here,” the chancellor handed me another flickering artifact.
Upon accepting the gift, a message immediately appeared before my eyes:
A new notebook has been discovered. Would you like to set it as the default?
I agreed and discovered that the data from the previous book had disappeared. The new knowledge repository was empty.
“Now you will have to get used to the fact that some part of the information will need to be transferred to the clergy. To do this, you take a pencil, which is attached to the side of the notebook, and manually write down new data there. In this way, the wolves will be fed and the sheep will be safe.”
“At the same time, I won’t actually give anything of value to anyone.” I realized Kimal Sarento’s elegant solution. A funny thought flashed through my mind and I opened my old notes. This had to be done live, through the embodiment of the book and flipping through its pages.
“There aren’t any pictures here,” I said and looked at Kimal Sarento. “Two-sided integration, you say?”
“What was it you said about a wise man?” His smile was disarming.
“So all this information is just fluff?”
“Fluff? This is meticulously structured and crafted fluff. In some places it is outright falsehood and misinformation. You don’t think you were the only one I had synchronized with, do you? Father Urg still believes that he has his finger on the pulse and controls my every step. You will have to learn to set aside at least ten to twenty minutes every day to fill out your book by hand. It will be annoying at first, but gradually you will get used to it. And one more thing: no more integrations. Including with Alia. Don’t even tell her that you have a second book. Just fill it out manually. Remember, Maximilian, you are a doomed soldier, and the church is not going to rid you of this title. Now you play by their rules, and you have no choice. Get stronger and you can start making your own rules. But being strong doesn’t mean obtaining stones of level thirty or higher. Becoming strong is raising an entire army of people with level-Thirty stones and higher. The will of one man will not be considered. It’s easier to kill than to negotiate. When there are hundreds, they become more difficult to kill.”
