The big-bellied executioner was dying of antic.i.p.ation to hear the charming nymph moan in pain. A joyful smile played on his greasy lips. He had long noticed that punis.h.i.+ng criminals on heaven's name was his true calling! Torturing beautiful girls gave him particular pleasure, and the beautiful lady sitting in the torture chair was charming beyond words! He was approaching the torture room, dancing clumsily and whispering something under his breath:

«I love what I do! Give me a high five!

I'll chop you into bits after skinning you alive!

I'll shave off your hair, I'll pull out your nail,

And then I'll twist your fingers! Come on, why so pale?

The screams fill the night,

The b.l.o.o.d.y rivers run,

Facing the pain, taking the last inhale

We all become one...

I feel like dancing, doing my job well,

Give me your hand, it will hurt like h.e.l.l!»

Suddenly, Chuggington stumbled and fell in the dark corridor of the dungeon. When he stood up, he was horrified to find an immobilized guard. – «b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l!» – He touched his wrist at once and yelled. – «Alarm! Guards! Murder!» – Before he could take another step, he saw an approaching shadow.

Valeera's eyes flashed when she said coldly to her uncle:

«Kill the a.s.shole! Make him suffer like h.e.l.l!»

Leon nodded. The golden flame flared up again.

Chuggington got scared. He suddenly turned and dashed off, his belly flapping like that of a little hippo. He tripped over a dead body and rolled head over heels down the corridor. A weird burst of flame reached his ankles like living fire and started eating his flesh. It looked like a hungry wolf stuck his sharp teeth into juicy meat.

«А-а-аа-а-аа-а-ааh!» – The bald executioner squealed in h.e.l.lish agony. The flame pa.s.sed from his legs to his arms, and then reached the stomach and the neck... The torture lasted two minutes. The mutilator didn't die too soon, though. He had paid tribute to all the victims of his blood-chilling atrocities before meeting his own death.

The alarm went off. A howling siren rang in the ears. All the security forces of the department quickly mobilized and cordoned off the building. The escaped criminals fell right into their clutches.

«d.a.m.n it!» – Leon cursed when he saw a group of relatively weak guardsmen. He broke their bodies with his legs like dry branches, without giving them a chance to react.

They could hear the rumble of footsteps of several dozen security officers ahead. They were much more powerful than the previous ones.

Leon ran into one of the dungeon chambers that the well-wisher had told him about. He kicked the rotten floor, and it opened the way from the - 3d floor to the lowest - 4th floor. He could hear yells and orders coming from above.

Leon rushed into a specific direction. There was nothing left to do but trust the well-wisher completely, no other options. He wasn't powerful enough to break through the elite security forces on his own.

«There he is! Get him!» – A security officer ran around the corner. Two dozen more armed people followed him. There appeared more and more of them.

«d.a.m.n it!» – Leon ran along the winding, tangled corridors until he reached the dead end. He knocked down the door to the toilet, laid Valeera and Timoshka against the wall, and then began to kick the toilet with all his might as if trying to crush it. The entire ministry could hear the racket.

~bam~

The floor under the toilet collapsed.

Leon breathed a sigh of relief. The well-wisher hadn't deceived him! Leon had found the sewage system of the department. Without help, he would never have figured out under which room to look for the pipe.

Leon grabbed Valeera with Timoshka and jumped down.

A nasty rotten smell hit their noses. The foul scent of decay hung thick all around them, a dank chill filled the air.

The fugitives saw a completely frozen waste pipe, the height of a very tall man in diameter. In the distance, they noticed about a dozen of Leon's subordinates, waving to them. They had been waiting patiently for their boss to come. They had created a thick icy wall with a single purpose to protect the escapees from the sewage.

A sewage led into the open sea. If Leon had tried to get into the department through this pipe, it would have set off the alarm at once. If he had tried to get from the - 4th to the - 3d floor, he would have had to turn everything upside down... It wouldn't have worked.

Suddenly Leon turned pale. – «I can feel someone powerful approaching here!» – He handed over Valeera and Timoshka to one of his most reliable subordinates and gave the order. – «Get them to headquarters now! The rest will stay with me!»

«Leon!» – Valeera exclaimed anxiously. – «What's on your mind?!»

He kindly looked at her and smiled:

«My moon! No matter who comes here, they won't pa.s.s. Your uncle will protect you at all costs. It's my parental responsibility…»

«No! You can't leave me! I can't live without you! Please, stay with me! I beg you, don't leave me!» – Valeera's eyes filled with tears. Her feelings that seemed to have faded away forever were running rampant like a hurricane sweeping away everything in its path. She didn't want to lose her uncle again!

Leon froze, taken aback. Then, after a little hesitation, he took out a mirror locket from his bosom and put it on her thin, ivory neck. – «This trinket keeps a fiery spark of my soul that will burn forever... If you feel lonely, sad, desperate, just hold this locket close to your heart and remember that even if I am not there anymore, my love and faith in you will never die.» – Leon wiped a tear from her cheek with a gentle touch. – «Take care of yourself, darling. Never cry again.»

An a.s.sa.s.sin named Alexander caught the signal and rushed down with the two fugitives in his arms. Valeera and Timoshka were exhausted beyond belief.

«No-o-o-o-o-o-o! Leо-оо-о-оо-оn! Don't leave! Lео-о-оо-оn!» – Valeera tried to scream, straining her raspy voice, clutching the mirror locket in her hands.

When she looked back at her uncle disappearing in the distance, she had a bad feeling. Was Leon leaving her forever? She thought she would never see him again, but she tried hard not to give up hope.

After several miles of the speedy escape through the pipe, they could detect the salty smell of the sea. The moonlight fell on the refugees. A deafening explosion thundered somewhere far behind. The pipe cracked all the way through. Leon had met someone incredibly powerful.

When Valeera heard this sound, she moaned desperately and lost consciousness. Her weak mind could cope with emotional stress. The endless sorrow and despair had undermined both her body and her mind.

…

Timoshka, the young professional thief, had already realized that the girl he had to thank for escaping his impending execution was Lanai, the impeccable head of the thieves guild.

He couldn't calm down, looking at her beautiful pale face, his heart beating too fast in his chest. He had imagined different beautiful faces behind her graceful mask, but Valeera exceeded all his wildest expectations! She was beautiful like a moon G.o.ddess! He felt himself falling, tumbling head over heels in love with her...

Timoshka was afraid that they had caught Lanai because of him (he cracked under torture). He feared her anger. He would have to pay for the rest of his life working for her. However, it didn't upset Timoshka, not in the least. He dreamed of being near her all the time. It was more than he could ever wish for. What if he could prove himself, show his wits and talents, pique her interest with his charisma and charm? What if they might...

…

Alexander brought Valeera and Timoshka to the a.s.sa.s.sins guild headquarters. Timoshka was given clothes and ordered to wait, and Valeera was taken to the bathroom where the female a.s.sa.s.sins carefully washed her.

Valeera woke up pretty soon and remembered all the horror that she had experienced. She immediately got up and ran out into the main hall, looking around in panic. – «Where's my uncle?! Where's Leon?!»

«We haven't heard from him yet…» – Alexander, the deputy head of the a.s.sa.s.sins guild, said gloomily.

«No… It can't be…» – Valeera looked at Timoshka, then at the other a.s.sa.s.sins and shook her head in disbelief. – «He couldn't have left me…»

The members of her guild kept awkward silence.

Devastated, she turned back and trudged to her room.

Timoshka reflexively followed her.

Three men rose from their seats, intending to stop the insolent guy when they suddenly heard Alexander's warning. – «The lady had a reason to save her former student. Leave him alone. Only he can comfort her now.»

The gloomy a.s.sa.s.sins silently returned to their places. She was absolutely out of his league! But if the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had the guts...

The a.s.sa.s.sins furiously clenched their fists at the mere thought that the handsome jerk had a chance to be near the magnificent head of the guild.

…

Timoshka slightly opened the door leading to Valeera's room and saw her sitting by the window, looking mournfully in a little mirror. She was crying quietly. Her tousled hair and wrinkled, casual clothes added a certain charm. His heart was pounding in excitement as he approached Lanai. He wanted to hug and comfort her so much. The experienced lover knew it was either now or never.

Valeera saw the mirror crack in half. The man who had taught her to stop at nothing to get what she wanted, who insisted that she should have no regrets. Her wonderful uncle who had always supported her, who had always been there for her; her amazing mentor who had forged an unbending, powerful leader from a miserable, weak girl; the closest person to her in the whole world... died. His soul had left this mortal world.

She could stand it no more. Valeera fell to her knees, her hands covering her face. She let out a breathless silent scream. She was ready to give up on life. It couldn't go on like this! She had suffered a loss of a dearest person, and now she was all alone against this huge, cruel and so ruthless world...

Valeera slowly pulled a dagger from the sheath and pointed it straight to her heart. One movement would end her suffering. The last Weber would die, and the great family would be interrupted, all according to Lanatel's and the 0-th general's plan.

When she remembered her sworn enemy, Valeera felt a dull hatred in her heart. This feeling had always kept her moving forward, helping her overcome any difficulties... But now it seemed so weak compared... To what?

Valeera recalled Kyon the demon. It was his fault that the thieves and the a.s.sa.s.sins guilds had been destroyed... He had made her experience pain worse than death. And, the most terrible of all, because of him, she had lost her uncle. This enemy had brought her more suffering than the Russels, the imperial family (0). The mere thought of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d filled her with horror and agony at once. But then a strange and new feeling began to rise up from deep within her. It was more than a primitive and raw fear.

Fury. Hatred. Anger. They went through her wounded soul like fire, burning out the unnecessary feelings like self-pity or powerlessness, and saturating her whole body with dark, scorching, poisonous energy. Now she had a burning desire to live. It was the only way to quench her thirst for revenge.

With a quick move, Valeera put the dagger back into the ring. She didn't need it anymore.

Valeera wanted to leave everything and look for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d right away. However, killing him, she would lose her motivation to fight. She might give up the idea of avenging her parents. She had to destroy the Russels first... She should go to the capital of the empire and find the means for further cultivation. Only then could she proceed to the main task and deal with Kyon.

Somewhere deep inside of her tormented mind, in the consciousness of the former leader of the two most dangerous guilds in the entire kingdom, there was a naive, cheerful girl who had believed the insidious deceiver, the scoundrel. She didn't just believe him, she let him stir up the feelings she had avoided for so long. This naive girl was no longer destined to wake up...

Valeera's cold aura spread to the entire headquarters, sending chill even down the most seasoned killers' spines. It didn't depend on the level of cultivation, it all came down to the willpower and mental strength. Alexander was the only one who managed not to tremble. They say it's so cold at the very bottom of h.e.l.l's abyss that even a soul could freeze through. Valeera's aura resembled this mythical frost a lot.

Meanwhile, Tymoshka sobbed frantically with horror, leaning against the wall behind the door. He was trembling all over, his eyes twitching nervously. Dark liquid began to flow from his trouser leg just as he got an acute bout of hiccups. He looked like he had just survived his death. He had been gathering the courage to hug her when she suddenly flared up with an icy glow so heavy and gloomy that he could not breathe. He missed his only chance… Anyway, to h.e.l.l with it. It wasn't worth dying for…