Chapter 26 Chapter 7

Our strengths - many are borrowed. The dark draws strength from the suffering of others, and they are much more at ease.You don't even have to cause people pain, just be patient, watch your surroundings carefully...and then suck other people's pain like a cocktail through a straw, that's enough. We're pretty much the same, just slightly different.We can only gain power when people feel relaxed and happy. There's just one key point that makes this process feasible for the Darkbringers but taboo for us.Happiness and sorrow are simply not two extremes on the scale of human emotion, otherwise there would be no happy sorrow and wicked joy.These are actually two parallel processes, two forces with the same meaning, which can be felt and used by others.

When a dark magician absorbs the pain of others, the pain only increases. When the Magician of Light takes the joy of others, the joy melts away. We can draw power at any time.But we rarely allow ourselves to do so. Today I decided to give myself permission to do so. I get a little glee from couples embracing each other and standing motionless at the subway entrance.They were happy, very happy now.But I still feel that they are about to separate, and it will be a long separation. This pair of lovers still cannot escape the touch of sadness.I judged that I had the right to do it.Their happiness was bright and brilliant, like a bouquet of red roses, so delicate and haughty.

I touched the kid who was running by, he looked good, he didn't care about the unbearable heat, he ran to buy ice cream.He recovered quickly.His power is pure and clean, like chamomile in the wild, I pluck it with my unshakable hands. I see the old woman in the window.The shadow of death was already hovering around her, and she probably felt this way herself.But the old woman smiled.The grandson came to her house today.Most likely he just came to check that Grandma was still alive and that the high-end apartment in the center of Moscow was vacated.She also understands this.But she still felt happy.I was ashamed, unbearably ashamed, but I touched her and took a little strength.A bunch of withered orange-yellow asters and a handful of autumn leaves...

I walked, as I sometimes walk in my nightly nightmares, distributing happiness to the left and right as I walked.Send it to everyone, and let everyone leave without being wronged.It's just that there is a completely different trace left behind me at this moment, the smile that is about to disappear, the wrinkles that gather on the forehead, and the lips that are tightened in an instant. In short, I left visible marks where I passed. Even if I met a patrol team of day watchmen on the road, they would not stop me. Even if the Messenger of Light saw what happened, he would not say anything.

I'm doing what I feel I need to do, what I feel I have the right to do.It doesn't matter if you call it taking, or borrowing, or even stealing.What I do with the powers I have acquired will determine my fate. Or I get it all done, totally done. Or the twilight world opened up before me. A magician of light who began to siphon people's power, betting everything on one card.The general code of conduct for patrol operations is now in effect.The amount of good I do does not have to exceed the amount of evil I do. I shouldn't even have the slightest doubt that I can pay back everything.

Lovers, children, old people.A group of people who just finished drinking beer by the monument.I was worried that their happiness was fake, but it was real, so I drew a lot of their strength. please forgive. I could apologize three times in front of everyone, I could pay for the theft, it's just a lie. I'm just fighting for my love.For your own love first, and then for you, someone is preparing for you new happiness that you have never heard of, people. Maybe, this is also telling the truth? Every time you fight for your love, are you also fighting for the whole world? For the whole world—but not with the whole world.

strength! strength! strength…… I gather strength little by little, sometimes cautiously and carefully, sometimes roughly and abruptly, lest my hands tremble, or my eyes look away in shame, for it is almost the last of the strength gathered. Perhaps for this young man, happiness is a rare visitor, right? I have no idea. strength! Maybe a woman loses someone's love when she loses her smile? strength. Perhaps tomorrow the sturdy, ironically smiling man will die? strength. The talisman in my pocket won't help me.Because there will be no fighting.The boss's talk of "peak form" doesn't help me.These things are not enough.The right to intervene at the second level, which Zaburon so generously granted—was a trap, no doubt about it.He pushes his girlfriend to the front, brings the probability lines close enough for us to intersect, and presents the deadly gift with a mournful expression.I don't see the future so far ahead that my goodness can never become evil.

If you don't have a weapon in your own hands - take it from your enemy's. strength! strength! strength! If the thin thread between me and Gesar had remained that connects the young magician to his mentor, he would have sensed what was going on, would have sensed that I was full of There is energy, insanely large amounts of energy, energy taken without thinking and for no apparent purpose. So what would he do? There's no point in keeping a wizard who's already started down this path. I walked towards the station "Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy" on foot.I know everything is going to happen there.When the senior magicians command, there will be no surprises.An ugly "box with brackets" - where Zaburon lost the battle for Svetlana, where Gesar found his puppet, brought him to the Inquisition, and trained For a while Svetlana.

Provides the center of the field for the whole scheme. This time is the third time. I don't want to eat or drink anymore.But I stopped anyway and bought a cup of coffee.The coffee was tasteless and seemed to have no caffeine at all.People started to give way, even though I was walking in the normal world.The pressure of magic grows all around. I did not hide the traces of my arrival. And I didn't want to tiptoe out of my ambush. A young pregnant woman walks cautiously.When I saw her smile, I shuddered all over.And when I knew that her unborn child was also smiling in her reliable little world, I almost turned and ran away.

Their strength is like the white peony - a big flower in bud. I should absorb all the strength I encounter on the road. Without hesitation, without mercy. Something seemed wrong with the world around me, too. The heat seemed to intensify, to the point of a fit of despair. It is probably not without reason that dark magicians and light magicians try to banish the heat these days.I don't know what will happen.I stopped, raised my head, and looked at the sky through the twilight world. Rings of slender clouds in rings. There is a glimmer of light on the horizon. Fog rose from the southeast.

The halo around the summit of the Ostankino TV Tower. It's going to be a weird night. I touched the little girl who ran past, and robbed her of the simple joy of her father coming home not drunk. She was like a thorny and fragile briar that was snapped off. please forgive. It was almost eleven o'clock at night when I approached the "box with stand". The last thing I touched was a drunk worker leaning against the wall of the gate where I first killed the vampire.He almost lost his self-control, but he was very happy. I took his power too, a dusty, spat-up plantain flower, an ugly drab candle. This is also strength. As I cross the street, I understand that I am not alone here.I called out the shadow, and entered the twilight realm. The building is surrounded by blockade forces. This is the weirdest blockade force I've ever seen, Darkbringer mixed with Lightbringer.I saw Semyon, nodded, and was answered by his calm, almost reproachful look.I also saw Little Tiger, Big Bear, Ilya, Ignat... When were they all summoned?When I'm wandering around the city, drawing power?The holidays aren't over yet, folks. And the dark messenger.Even Alyssa is here.She looked strange: the witch's face was like a crumpled paper mask stretched out.As if Zaburon wasn't lying, he had talked about punishing her.Standing next to Alyssa was Alisher, and I felt his eyes, and I knew that when these two met, there would be a desperate struggle.Maybe not now.But it will definitely unfold. I cross the blockade. "The area has been cordoned off," Alisher said. "This area has been blocked." Alyssa continued echoing. "I have the right to go in." I have enough power in me to get through the blockade without permission.Only great wizards can stop me now, and they are not here. They didn't stop me.That is to say, someone—Gesar, or Zaburon, or perhaps the two leaders of the inspection team—had ordered them to just warn me. "I wish you success." I heard a whisper behind me.I turned around and noticed Xiaohu's gaze.I nodded. The gate was empty.The whole house fell silent, just like when the unprecedented hostility hovered over the little tiger's head, that kind of evil was brought on by herself. I walked through the gray darkness.The floor vibrates muffled beneath your feet: here, in the Twilight, even the ground responds to magic, and even the shadows of human buildings respond to magic. The cleaning hole in the roof was open.No one intends to hinder me in the slightest.The most depressing thing is, I don't know if it makes me happy or sad. I walked out of the Twilight Realm, so I don't need to stay in the Twilight Realm anymore, I really don't need it now. I climb up the stairs. I saw Maxim first. He is not what he was before, this born light magician, wild man, who has been killing the dark messenger for so many years.Maybe, they transformed him, maybe he changed himself.There is a kind of person who can make an ideal executioner. Maxim was lucky.He becomes the executioner, the judge.Whoever is above light and darkness is serving everyone, that is, serving no one.He folded his hands on his chest, and hung his head slightly.Something about him was from Zaburon, reminding me of how I felt when I saw him for the first time, and something about him was from Gesar.Seeing me coming, Maxim raised his head slightly.He glanced at me with clear eyes, then lowered his eyes. That said, I did have permission to be close to what was going on. Za Wulong stood aside blankly.Wrapped tightly in a thin coat, he paid no attention to my presence.I'm coming, he knows, that's it. Gesar, Svetlana and Yegor stood together.Then they were very happy to see me coming. "Are you still here?" asked the boss. I nod.I look at Svetlana.She was wearing a long white dress and her hair was loose.A holster gleamed in her hand—as if it had once held a brooch or a choker, and it was made of the finest goat leather. "You know, Anton, don't you?" Yegor shouted. If anyone present was happy, it was him.He is very happy. "I know." I replied, walking up to him and ruffling his hair with my hands. His strength is like a yellow dandelion. Now, I seem to have gathered all the power I can. "Is it about to start?" Gesar asked, "Anton, what are you going to do?" I didn't answer him.Something alerted me that something was wrong. Ah, yes!Why isn't Olga here? Have the instructions been given?Did Svetlana already know what she was facing? "Chalk," I said, "short piece of chalk, sharpened on both ends. You can use it to write anywhere you want. For example, in the Book of Fate, to cross out old words and write new lines. " "Anton, what you said is not news to anyone present," the boss said calmly. "Have you got permission?" I asked. Gesar looked at Maxim.The interrogator seemed to notice his gaze, he raised his head and said hoarsely: "Accepted." "The Patrol Team of the Sun Watchers has an objection." Zawulong said dryly. "Objection is invalid." Maxim replied indifferently, and then lowered his head to his chest again. "A great sorceress may hold chalk," I said, "but each line of the Book of Fate will take away a small part of her soul. Taken—to counteract altered fate... only Only by selling one's soul can one change one's destiny." "I know," Sveta said.She smiled slightly. "With your pardon, Anton, I think it's right. It's good—good for all." A wary look flashed in Yegor's eyes.He sensed something was wrong. "Anton, you are a soldier of the night watch patrol," Gesar said, "if you have objections, you can say so." Objection?Seriously, against what?Is it against Yegor not becoming a dark magician, but becoming a light magician?Is it against trying to bring goodness to people even if it fails a thousand times?Is it against Svetlana to be a great witch? Let her sacrifice the humanity she still has temporarily... "I have nothing to say," I said. I think—perhaps Gesar's eyes showed surprise. It is difficult to understand what the great magician was actually thinking. "Let's get started," he said, "Svetlana, you know what to do." "I know." She looked at me.I took a few steps to the side, and so did Gesar.Only the two of them remained now, Svetlana and Yegor.They were equally dazed and nervous.I squinted at Zaburon—he was looking at me too.Svetlana opened the case—the clasp of the case snapped like a gunshot, and slowly, as if resisting a force, she took the chalk out of the case.A very small piece of chalk.Had it been so worn out during the thousand years that the Light had tried to change the fate of the world? Gesar sighed. Svetlana squatted down and began to draw a circle around it, enclosing herself and the little boy. I have nothing to say.I have nothing to do. I've gathered so much power that it's about to spill out of me. I have the right to do good. The smallest thing is missing - understanding. The wind breathed out timidly and cautiously, and then stopped. I looked up and shuddered.It seems that something is going to happen.Here, in the human world, the sky is covered with dark clouds.I didn't even find out when the dark clouds came. Svetlana finished drawing the circle and stood up. I tried to look at her through the twilight, but turned away immediately.It was as if a red-hot coal was burning in her hand.Will she feel pain? "A storm is coming," Zaburon said from a distance. "It's been a long time since there was a real storm." He laughed. No one heeded his words except the wind - which was blowing more steadily and growing stronger.I looked down—it was still quiet down there.Svetlana was drawing something in the air with a piece of chalk, a rectangle that only she could see, with a pattern inside. Yegor hummed softly.He threw his head back.I took a step forward - and stopped again.I can't cross the line.Besides, there is no need. That's not the problem. When you don't know how to act, you can trust nothing, neither a cool head, nor a pure heart, nor a fiery hand. "Anton!" I looked at Gesar.The boss looked a little worried. "It's not just a storm, Anton. It's a hurricane. There will be victims." "Victim of a dark power?" I asked succinctly. "No. Natural." "Don't we draw something from the center of power?" I asked a little curiously.The boss ignored my ridicule. "Anton, how many levels of magic can you use?" He must have known about my agreement with Zaburon. "Level two." "You can stop a hurricane," Gesar said.He is just confirming a fact. "Let it all end with rain. You gathered quite a bit of power." The wind picked up again.It's not going to stop.The wind was blowing hard, as if determined to knock us off the roof, and then it rained again. "Perhaps this is the last chance," added the chief. "However, it is up to you to decide." With the sound of glass, a strong protective cocoon appeared around him—Gesar seemed to be covered from head to toe in a body armor made of soft cellophane.Never once have I seen magicians shield themselves from the normal ravages of nature in this way. Svetlana continued to paint The Book of Fate in a fluttering dress.Yegor stood motionless, as if nailed to an invisible cross.Maybe he's unconscious now.What happens to man when he loses his old destiny but has not yet gained a new one? "Gesar, you want to arrange such a typhoon, and let this great change compete with it-nothing..." I shouted. The wind swallowed my words. "It was unavoidable," Gesar replied.His voice seemed to be very soft, but every word was clearly heard. "It's—it's already being done." The Book of Destiny began to appear, even in the human world.Svetlana certainly didn't describe it in the ordinary sense of the word, but took it out of the deepest layers of the twilight world.When copying it, any changes made to it will be reflected in the original.The Book of Fate turned out to be a model, a model made of flaming wire that hung motionless in the air.When the raindrops hit it, it flashed. Now Svetlana began to change Yegor's fate. Later, after ten years, Yegor will change the fate of the world. As always - be kind. As usual - futile. I faltered.In an instant, completely unexpectedly, the violent wind turned into a hurricane, and unimaginable conditions arose around.I saw cars on the main road away from the trees, parked on the side of the road, and I couldn't hear a sound—the howling of the wind drowned out the rumble of the cars.At the intersection a huge billboard collapsed with a bang.Some passers-by late at night ran towards the house, as if hoping to find a hiding place by the wall. Svetlana stopped in her tracks.A red-hot bauble was burning in her hand. "Anton!" I could barely hear her cry. "Anton, what should I do? Tell me! Anton, should I do this?" The chalk-drawn circle shielded her—poorly, perhaps: the clothes were almost ripped off her—but still allowed her to stand. Everything seemed to have disappeared.I looked at her, at the red-hot chalk that was ready to change the fate of others.Svetlana waited for my answer—but I had nothing to say, nothing, because I didn't know how to answer myself. I raised my hand towards the blustery sky and saw the illusory flower of power in my hand. "Can you handle it?" Zaburon asked sympathetically. "The wind is getting stronger." His voice was as clear as the boss's in the roar of the wind. Gesar let out a long sigh. I opened my palm and stretched it out toward the sky—there were no stars left in the sky, only dark clouds, streaks of rain, and lightning. Moral reconstruction. This is the simplest kind of mantra.It seems to have been learned at the very beginning of the training. No explanation is required. "Don't do that!" Gesar yelled. "Don't do that!" He moved, changed his position, blocked Svetlana and Yegor from seeing me.As if this could stop the spell.No, it cannot be stopped now. A ray of light that no one can see shoots out of my palm.Shooting out all the little powers I have mercilessly gathered from the human body.Light blue cornflowers, fiery red roses, yellow asters, white lilies of the valley, black orchids. Zawulong smiled softly behind his back. Svetlana stands on top of the Book of Fate with chalk in hand. Yegor stretched out his hand and stood motionless in front of her. Pieces on a chess board.The power is in my hands.I've never had so much power, it's unchecked, overflowing power, ready to go to anybody. I smiled at Svetlana.Then slowly, slowly move the palm of the rainbow-rayed hand toward your face. "don't want!" Zaburon's screams not only broke through the hurricane, but even suppressed its roar.A flash of lightning split the sky, and the leader of the dark force rushed towards me, but Gesar stepped forward, so the dark magician stopped.I didn't see it, but felt it.My face glowed with color and I was dizzy.I can't feel the wind anymore. There was only a rainbow left, an endless rainbow, and I was drowned in it. The wind swirled around without touching me.I looked at Svetlana and heard the invisible wall that had been between us crumbling.The wall came down to keep us walled in.The flowing hair hung down Svetlana's face in slight waves. "You used it all on yourself?" "Yes." I said. "Used all the power you absorbed?" She doesn't believe it.She still can't believe it.Svetlana understood what a price to pay for the power borrowed from others! "Used up to the last drop!" I replied.I feel very relaxed, very relaxed. "Why?" The sorcerer held out a hand. "Why, Anton? You can stop this storm and make a lot of people happy. How can you—spend it all on yourself?" "In order not to make a mistake," I explained.This statement was even embarrassing, she, the future great witch, did not understand such trifles. Svetlana was silent for a while.Then she looked at the fiery red chalk in her hand. "What should I do, Anton?" "You have opened the book of destiny." "Anton! Who's right? Gesar, or you?" I shake my head. "It's up to you to judge for yourself." Svetlana frowned. "Anton, is this what you want to talk about? You took so many other people's happiness for this? Wasting level two magic interference for this?" "You see," I don't know how much confidence there is in my voice, and even now I don't have enough confidence, "sometimes it's not what you do, it's what you don't do. There are things you should Judge for yourself, don't listen to other people's opinions. Don't listen to mine, Gesar's, Zaburon's, light, or dark opinions, only judge by yourself." She shook her head and said: "No!" "Yes. You'll have to judge for yourself. No one can take your responsibility for you. And no matter what you do—you'll still regret what you didn't do." "Anton, I love you!" "I know. I love you too. So I won't say anything." "Is this your love?" "Only this is love." "I need advice!" she yelled. "Anton, I want to listen to your advice!" "Each man creates his own destiny," I said, even more than I could say. "Let's decide." The chalk in her hand shone like a thin needle of fire as she turned to the Book of Fate.Between her waves I heard the rustling of the pages beneath the glorious feather satin. Light and dark - just blotches on the book of destiny.With a wave of her hand, a line of cursive characters appeared in the pen. Lines of fiery red characters are running fast. Svetlana let go, and the chalk of fate fell to her feet like a lead bullet.The hurricane made it roll all over the ground, and I bent down to hide the chalk in my hand. The book of destiny began to melt. Yegor tilted his body, bent down, put his knees on his chest, and fell sideways.He lay curled up in a ball. The white circles around them had been washed away by the rain so I could get closer.I knelt down and carried the little boy on my shoulders. "You didn't write anything!" Gesar shouted, "Svetlana, you just erased the writing!" The sorceress shrugged.She looked at me from top to bottom.The rain broke through the disappearing barrier, soaking the white dress and turning it into a thin powdery paste that couldn't cover the body.Just now Svetlana was a priestess in a snow-white dress, and in an instant—she became a drenched girl standing in the storm with her hands hanging down. "This is a test for you," Gesar said in a low voice. "You missed your chance." "Bright Gesar, I don't want to work in the Night's Watch," replied the girl. "Forgive, bright Gesar. This is not my path, not my destiny." Gesar shook his head sadly.He stopped looking at Zaburon, who was just a few steps away from us. "Is that all?" asked the dark magician.He looked at me, at Sveta, at Egor. "Can't you do anything?" He cast his eyes on the Judge - who raised his face and nodded at him. No one answered him again. A sneer appeared on Zawulong's face. "It took so much effort...and it all ended in farce just because hysterical women don't want to abandon their indecisive sweethearts. Anton, you're disappointing me. Svetlana, you're making me happy. Greg Shell," the dark magician looked at the boss, "Congratulations for having such a colleague." The door behind Zaburon opened.He smiled and walked into the black clouds. There were sighs around the building, I didn't see it, but I knew what was going on there.The dark power inspection team walked out of the twilight world one by one.Some rushed to the cars parked nearby and hurried to drive them away from the woods; some bent over and ran towards the neighboring houses. Next to leave the blockade were some Lightbringers.Some of them—due to small things that only humans should care about; but most of them, I understand, stayed where they were, staring up, at the roof of the building.Xiaohu had a look of shame on his face.Semyon, who had never experienced such a severe storm, had a wry smile on his face, Ignat—with an expression of sincere sympathy that never changed. "I can't do that," Svetlana said, "Gesar, please forgive me, I can't." "You can't," I replied, "and you shouldn't..." I opened my hand and looked at the short piece of chalk. It turned into a piece of chalk that was not only wet but also sticky in my hand. One end was sharpened and the other end was broken off neatly. "Did you already understand?" Gesar asked.He came over and sat next to me.His protective cocoon stretched over us, and the whistling of the hurricane died down. "No, I just figured it out." "What happened?" cried Svetlana. "Anton, what happened?" Gesar replied to her: "Everyone has their own destiny, girl. Some people rule other people's lives, or destroy empires. Some people just live in ordinary life." "While the Watchers Patrol awaits your action," I elaborated, "Olga takes the other half of the chalk and rewrites someone's fate, just as Svetlana was about to do." Gesar sighed.He stretched out a hand and touched Egor.The little boy moved and tried to stand up. "Soon, now," said the chief softly, "it's over, over." I put my arms around the little boy's shoulders and put his head on my lap.He was quiet again. "Since you can foresee any situation, please tell me, why do you want to do it?" I asked. "I don't know everything." "why?" "Because everything should be natural," Gesar said a little excitedly, "Only Zaburon will believe what happened, believe in our plan, and believe that we will fail." "That's not all the answers, Gesar." I looked him in the eyes, "far from all the answers!" The boss sighed: "Okay. Yes, I can do things in another way. Then Svetlana will become a great witch against her own will; and the patrol team will not be so indebted to Egor. , let him be our tool." I waited, wondering if Gesar would tell the whole truth, even just once. "Yes, that's all I can do," Gesar sighed, "that's it, my child...everything I've done, except the Great War of Light and Darkness...what I've done in the twentieth century All for one thing... Of course, it will not harm the cause..." I suddenly felt that he was very pitiful, unbearably pitiful.Perhaps, for the first time in millennia, the great magician, Gesar of the Supreme Light, destroyer of demons, defender of the state, is compelled to speak the truth outright, and not to speak the beautiful and sublime truths to which he is accustomed . "Stop talking, I already know!" I said loudly. But the great magician shook his head. "Everything I did," Gesar said clearly, "was also for another purpose: to force the leadership to completely withdraw the punishment of Olga. To give her back all her strength and allow her to hold the chalk of fate again. She and I Should be equal, otherwise our love will die. And I love her, Anton." Svetlana laughed, slightly.I thought she would give the boss a slap in the face, but maybe I haven't fully understood her yet.Svetlana knelt in front of Gesar and kissed his right hand. The magician was shocked.He seemed to have lost his infinite power—the dome protecting the cocoon shook and slowly melted away.The roaring hurricane enveloped us again. "So are we going to change the world all over again?" I asked, "In spite of those little personal things?" He nodded and asked: "Do you not regret doing this?" "No." "It's okay...Anton, everything will not go well. I can't do this, and you can't do it either." "I know," I said, "of course I do, Gesar. But anyway, I really want to do it."