Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (read ebook pdf .TXT) 📕

“All right, I’ll mull this over. I need time.” I decided to play a little trick. I needed to evaluate the situation and possibly contact the Magister. Maybe he could come up with the right course of action.

“Think. How much time? Will five minutes be enough? You need to choose now.”

The messenger number given by Balabanov wasn’t answering for two minutes. Was he sleeping? It was almost 2 AM. At that rate, I would have to make the decision myself, and I had no idea what to do. On the one hand, Svechkin might be telling the truth. On the other, the Magister’s people were already watching me in real life. If I started to fret, the outcome would be unpredictable. What a dilemma!

The Magister: I’m here. What’s wrong?

HotCat: I found Svechkin. He’s not asleep. He doesn’t want to give up the Compass. What should I do?

The Magister: Got it. He’s probably bullshitting you.

HotCat: I have no time! What should I do?

The Magister: If you can’t convince him, then kill him, Cat. Kill him and bring me the Compass.

Chapter 17

The Magister: Oleg, film everything and send me the video. Got it?

THE MAGISTER’S ORDER was clear and couldn’t be misinterpreted. Chills went down my spine, and I realized that it was worse than I had thought. Most likely, Svechkin had told me the truth—the Magister didn’t even try talking to his former colleague. He must have known that it was pointless. Kill him, bring the Compass... The worst thing was, I couldn’t act up. I still remembered Mr. Leo’s cold eyes behind the glass of his stylish pince-nez.

But the developer’s argument was weird, too. Destroying Sphere because it was hypothetically dangerous seemed like overkill. It was an entire world—hundreds of worlds—with millions of living NPCs scarcely different from us. How could we simply butcher it? Why? Weldy’s sad face flashed before me, her green eyes wide with fear.

“Why? It’s our destiny,” Svechkin said. “It’s essential for the survival of millions of players. Do you realize that their lives, including yours, are at the whim of the procedural generator? Do you want to one day leave your capsule as a drooling vegetable? This isn’t speculation but a realistic outcome. We did research; there were secret projects with codenames...”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t trust idealists,” I interrupted him. “You’ll die here, too. What’s your profit?”

“Profit? You mean my reasons?” Rocky chuckled. “Personally, I’d love to derail Andrei’s plans at any cost. Avenge what he did to us. Prove that we can fulfill our mission even beyond the grave.”

His only eye flashed through the bandages, and I realized that he truly hated Balabanov with the blind all-consuming hatred that drove a man to unspeakable things. It was unhealthy and frightening.

Well, Cat. It’s time to play. I had always been proud of my composure, the ability to hide my emotions. I turned around, feigning hesitation and rubbing my chin, and burst into movement, immediately drawing Aelmaris. A traitorous sideways slash! I had no other way of defeating the developer other than catching him unaware.

Miss! I had honed that attack, trying to make it unstoppable, but Rocky—Svechkin—managed to react in time. The sword cut through the air, and he side-stepped it, quickly moving aside and answering with a sharp stab aimed at my face.

The Gravekeeper was clearly a master fencer. Esperanza, the deadly art, the dance of flying steel... I would be dead if he hadn’t given me a few lessons. I already knew his signature attacks and tricks and dodged the blow almost automatically, mirroring his movements. The blade missed my cheek by half an inch.

I had only one chance—spam him with a barrage of quick strikes, forcing him to use his weapon to parry Aelmaris, and push him to the wall, depriving him of the ability to maneuver, as the cave was too small.

The burning blue blade furiously swished through the air, pressing on Svechkin despite his pirouettes and swerves. He couldn’t block my attacks without risking losing his dagger and rapier and had to show off his miraculous dexterity. With quick lunges, I blocked off his escape route, driving him into a corner. Even a master couldn’t stand against the flaming sword in close quarters, and realizing it, the Gravekeeper sharply pushed forward, counter-attacking. I had expected that, immediately parrying the sneaky blow from his curved dagger. The triangular blade disappeared in a bright flash, and Svechkin threw the scorched hilt aside, screaming in pain.

And I, having received a powerful kick below the belt, bounced to the entrance of the cave and fell on my back, holding my sword above me. How had that sly dog managed to do that?

“Just one question, Cat.” I heard Svechkin’s voice coming from the depths of the cave. “You seemed like a good guy... Why?”

“Nothing personal. The Magister told me to kill you and take the Compass. Sorry, I really didn’t want to do that,” I replied, scrambling to my feet and activating Flaming Bolide. However skilled the former developer was, he couldn’t survive an explosion of True Fire in the cave.

“Idiot! Why did you tell him that I wasn’t in stasis? I thought you were smarter.”

The fiery bead at the tip of the sword swelled to the size of a soccer ball and kept growing. Svechkin saw that and rushed through the open passage into the room with the Key, pressing something and diving under the falling fake wall with the symbols of the Seven Brothers that used to disguise the entrance. Damn trickster! A second later, my Bolide hit it and loudly exploded. The stone floor beneath my feet shook, and a cloud of fire, dust, and debris flew out of the mouth of the cave. I easily dodged it, pressing my back against the cliffs outside.