Everything will be my way!

The thin guy was slowly but surely making his way through the narrow ventilation hole – the square tunnel inside the pyrobloin wall. No sane person would even think that it is possible to get in there at all, so there are no traps.

Kyon cleverly used his full body control ability. However, it wasn't just that. If his bones had not been replaced with carbon ones, it would not have been possible to soften them with the earth element, and in this case the scout would have been stuck at the first turn, of which there were thousands.

By the way, the 5th floor seemed huge not only because of its long corridors, but also because of the chaotic location of the premises, that is, an earthen layer often lay between them, therefore, it will not be easy to find a secret room, if one exists.

Moving through the ventilation, he saw a man in a mask below through a small gap… In black, not gray! The servants of the empress wore gray masks, and the servants of the 0th general wore black masks.

{What does it mean?! What the fuck is going on here?!} – Lovr tried to somehow connect the drop of blood and the presence of the 0th general's servants here, but he had too little information. Is it possible that the head of the department was planning the same thing as him?

Kyon shook his head, discarding unnecessary thoughts. Now it all makes no sense. He needs to focus on the main thing: on the search for the empress, who is transforming her soul at this moment!

He crawled through the dusty ventilation to the next room, and then to another and another… During the day, Kyon examined 50 rooms out of 100, but they all turned out to be empty, which was somewhat depressing, suggesting disappointing thoughts that Lanatelle might not be here at all.

These damn dark, cramped vents are hell for those who are affected by claustrophobia and mysophobia. Even a mentally healthy person crawling here all day long would experience incredible stress and anxiety, and maybe even a panic attack.

The second day was coming to an end, and Kyon was becoming increasingly frustrated. After examining the hundredth empty room, he groaned bitterly – she was nowhere to be found! Had he been taking unnecessary risks all this time? Will all his efforts go down the drain?

{Stop… In all this time, I have never seen the zeroth general. But then where is he?} – Lovr suspected that there was still a secret room on this floor, not indicated in the plan of the palace. So the man found her, but he didn't! Or, perhaps, this insidious manipulator was not looking for her, but, for example, sent a spy to Lanatelle… In any case, the secret room definitely exists, and it must be found somehow.

{No matter how secret the room is, it will still have to be supplied with oxygen…} – Kyon logically assumed and analyzed all his movements through the ventilation. Of course, he did not visit all the places, because some sections were looped.

Having drawn a new route for himself, Lovr continued to pretend to be a snake.

Crawling took half a day, and he finally found a passage in the ventilation that was not specified in the plan of the palace. Where could it lead, if not to the secret room?

In anticipation, Kyon vigorously crawled in an unknown direction until he hit a dead end. There was an opening at the bottom, but it led to a corridor, not to a room, which was somewhat puzzling.

Lovr, keeping the utmost vigilance and attentiveness, went down and began to move step by step towards the door, throwing pebbles in front of him to make sure there were no hidden traps, as well as launching subordinate rats forward.

Finally, he approached the door and caught the familiar incomparable burning aura emanating from the other side. There's no doubt Lanatelle is there! But how did it happen that there is no ventilation in her room? What is she breathing in there?

Thoughtfully scratching his temple, Kyon came to the following conclusion: she installed formations there: the first one releases compressed air, the second one absorbs it, the third one ventilates. In other words, you can get inside only through the door, and to open it you need either a password, or a formation, or maybe even that very drop of blood! This would explain why the 0th general gave the young man that impossible task.

Having scanned the door with pure energy, Lovr did not see anything, but echolocation allowed him to find out that in front of him was a door a meter thick.

After pondering, Kyon decided to get inside not from the entrance side, but from where no one would definitely expect his appearance – from the back of the room.

However, a few hours later he came back without achieving anything. The fact is that the entire "secret zone" is walled up in a huge pyrobloin cube more than 3 meters thick (the echolocation did not allow him to see further). Of course, it is possible to move there, but it is too risky: if he materializes inside something as durable as his own body, he will turn into mincemeat. It's not worth the risk. He'll have to get in through the main door.

Kyon stood near the door, mentally prepared for anything and, taking a breath, accelerated and entered the astral… He appeared in a large room, illuminated by a bloody radiance. Lanatelle was sitting in the center of the room in the lotus position with her eyes closed, and a fiery barrier was shimmering around her – the source of radiance.

But he was now worried about something completely different: there was an abyss under his feet!

Kyon immediately tried to pour a spatial attribute into his body to teleport, but inexplicably the energy refused to pour in.

He tried to take the Scourge out of the ring to push away from it, but for some reason the black bubble didn't even form. An attempt to create something from the element of the earth underfoot also had no effect.

{Enriched pyrobloin!} – he realized with amazement.

Pyrobloin is an extremely rare rock, it is also known as a bottomless stone that absorbs any elemental energy with which it comes into contact. It can be filled, but in 10-20 years it will balance its state, regaining its original properties. In addition, this stone is extremely durable, and the higher its quality, the stronger it is, and therefore, the more energy it can absorb. The limit of its quality is unknown.

As for the enriched pyrobloin, it differs from the usual one in that an energy deficit has been artificially created inside it – a vacuum, which is why it absorbs all elemental energy, except neutral, at a distance. The enrichment process is extremely expensive, and the effect lasts only a few years.

~boom~

Kyon landed at the very bottom of the abyss. He saw a huge circular room, like a jug 30 meters high, carved inside the enriched pyrobloin.

{What the fuck was that?!} – Lovr clenched his teeth indignantly. Only an idiot would leave an open pit right in front of the entrance! Even a drunkard won't fall into such a trap! And yet the guy got into it… But there was no way for him to dodge the trap, considering that he appeared right above it!

?What a surprise…? – an icy voice filled with bloodlust rang out.

{For fuck's sake…} – Kyon slowly turned around and looked gloomily at the pale face of the man. The last thing in the world he wanted right now was to meet him, but, as it usually happens, the worst assumptions came true: the trap was activated by the 0th general!

?You look disgusting… Did you get in here through the ventilation? Not bad, not bad… Your abilities are really impressive. Especially that trick with passing through the pyrobloin. How did you do that? Will you repeat it? Oh, yes… Before using it, you poured the spatial attribute into yourself, which means you can't go anywhere now.? – he concluded with a ferocious grin, slowly heading towards the young man.

It is quite obvious that with such a skinny body and without weapons, Kyon cannot cope with the sovereign phaser with physical strength alone. The developed right hand and head will not help here. The only option for salvation is to somehow force the 0th general to change his conviction.

?Bastard, I knew you were up to something against my master…? – he hissed.

The zeroth general suddenly burst out laughing. It took him a minute to calm down: ?I have never seen a more stupid attempt to put the actions in the best light! Who are you trying to fool, boy? I see you through! You, like me, came down here to enslave Lanatelle!?

It is universally known that there are only two obstacles to the successful imposition of a subordinating formation: the mind and the soul. The will of the mind can prevent submission, but a person can always be put to sleep. But the immunity of the soul will not go anywhere. Even if the practitioner is on the verge of death, the formacist must have an advantage in at least two phases in order to succeed. The soul still has immunity even in the case of deeper wounds affecting the soul, as during that battle of Gina and Lana. However, the transformation of the soul is a process during which the practitioner becomes extremely vulnerable, because his mind and soul are concentrated on an extremely laborious task. During this period of time, they are completely defenseless against outside interference.

Kyon really plotted to enslave Lanatelle. With his recent words, he pursued another goal: to distract the man's attention in order to get closer to the wall.

?The disciple decided to subdue the master… Well, well. But I'm not judging you. I don't think she told you that your wife would die after the ritual, so you're holding a grudge, right??

Lovr narrowed his eyes: ?How long had you known that I was "The Dark Baron"??

?Who do you think I am, sucker?!? – the general suddenly barked. – ?I had known about it even before you became one!

?That's not the answer.? – Kyon replied coldly.

?Do you need the answer? Do you really want to know what exactly you failed at? This is a brazen attempt to buy yourself time!? – the man smiled coldly.

Lovr looked around, threw back his head and shrugged his shoulders: ?Are we in a hurry??

?That's right…? – the general agreed with a nod, realizing that there was still about a week before the end of the transformation of the empress, and the messenger of the goddess would still not go anywhere. – ?So be it, I'll help you understand the real state of things…?

The conversation was going to be long, so Kyon leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

?Listen carefully: ever since you were the prince of the Grands, I suspected something was wrong when you hired a formacist from Dantes to enslave Julia for Franz. Why should a selfish person like you waste his precious time and money on some jerk? Headmaster Nulan's punishment for raping Franz? Bullshit. Obviously, Franz was your friend. Or your servant. And the fact that his last name is not real is proof of that.?

?For a long time I tried to understand how Franz married princess Haya… What happened between her and you that forced her to marry him? How is it interconnected? And as soon as someone robbed the Feruzs treasury, everything fell into place: you sent a spy to the Feruzs in order to get to the treasury later.?

?Just these conclusions were enough to understand that "The Dark Baron" is you. But this conclusion can be reached in other ways. To begin with, let's take into account your amazing ability to flawlessly change your personality, and that it took you not a day, not two days, but more than a week to get from Cernos to Dantes… During this period of time, "someone" robbed the Feruzs, as well as Zosimos, the future "Dark Baron", registered at customs as an "active citizen". Coincidence? I don't think so.?

?Okay, okay, let's make it even simpler: did he knock you out with a blow to the head? I would never believe this nonsense. And yet your escape with Valeera impressed me. You've arranged everything so well… You not only pretended to be a victim, but also saved your wife… You're really great. Your mistake is that you sincerely believe that only a madman will believe in all your grandiose tricks.?

?Anyway, while you were trying to atone for Valeera, helping her clan by working in the department, while you thought you were playing on both sides of the chessboard, suddenly it turns out that our young genius has been a pawn in someone else's game all this time! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Ignorance is happiness, isn't it??

{For fuck's sake…} – Kyon did not expect that the 0th general had been following him all this time. The guy, of course, knew that he was leaving a lot of evidence and clues, but he simply refused to believe that the man was so sneaky. And did he have a choice? He wanted to repay Valeera too much. Everything went on as usual, and it was not possible to change something without crossing everything out at once.

It turns out that the only right decision was to leave Rosarrio, leaving Valeera to the mercy of fate; forget about Vladimir's letter of recommendation and all that he did to get it; forget about the Feruzs treasury; forget about the dwarfs with their weapons and about the expulsion of demons - two significant services rendered to this empire. Indeed, he should have just rushed off somewhere to Saturn, where every first detractor would be able to knock him out with a single blow… He should have been a small boat in a stormy ocean.

However, while the 0th general was talking, Kyon was wondering: ?And why didn't you kill me right away? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Nonsense. Knowing my potential, you couldn't afford such risks.? – the freedom-loving guy didn't like such questions at all. The fact that he is still alive because of some obscure reason is not a reason for joy.

?Don't you understand yet?? – the man grinned, baring his fangs, and leaned against the wall.

Kyon frowned thoughtfully. He couldn't find an obvious answer, no matter how hard he tried.

?I'll give you a hint: the killer Alexander worked for me.?

Lovr's eyebrows went up – awareness fell on him like a waterfall.