by Pavel Kornev
A wave of dizziness rolled over me. The scar that gave feature to my left palm opened up and blood started squirting out, black as tar. My arm started pulling as if, together with the blood, there was some foreign substance trying to break free. My heart, meanwhile, started to beat with long breaks, unevenly and nervously.
The fallen one came to his senses and threw himself on the attack, but by that time, the albino monster was almost as large as he, and as powerful to boot. The behemoths knocked one another to the ground. Globs of flesh and splashes of blood flew in all directions. A few seconds later, the demon was covered in a great many tear wounds. His left wing was hanging down limp, and one of the bites came shockingly close to tearing his throat. The fallen one's return strike turned the beast's snout into a mass of blood. He spit out fangs on the floor.
The opponents started grappling and circling the room, smacking one another against the wall. The creature's will left Elizabeth-Maria; she collapsed to the floor and crawled out into the corridor. I could have followed after the succubus, but didn't. Instead, I tore off some of my shirt, bandaged my left hand with it and unfolded my knife.
The albino was slowly losing to the demon; if at first his skin had a white luster, it now had an unhealthy gray and dirty pallor. His wounds weren't healing fast enough, and his coarse fur was matted with blood.
The fallen one, on the other hand, had caught a second wind. He cast the albino against the wall, and easily caught the clawed paw racing for his face. With a sharp crack, he pulled it out of the joint. After that, the beast collapsed to the floor, and wound up for a finishing blow...
Then, I walked up to him from behind and, like I was in any old bar fight, I stabbed under his left shoulder blade. The titanium knife went in up to the very hilt.
Maxwell's Demon shuddered. I barely managed to dodge the wing that fluttered overhead. The fallen one turned around with a hateful bellow, intending to crush the pitiable mortal into dust, and the albino threw himself on the beast from behind, reached for the knife and pulled the handle down, cleaving the demon's flesh.
The demon cowered in an attempt to free itself, but the leprechaun had hooked its teeth into the beast's scruff, put him in a half-nelson and continued working the knife, widening the wound. The fallen one wasn't giving in. He leaned a bloodied hand on the floor, pulled in his knees and froze, gathering his strength for another bound.
The infernal creature had every chance to break free, and a chill ran down my spine. In panic, I looked around in search of my Cerberus, saw the unloaded weapon among the stone ruins, grabbed it and, with shaky fingers, started changing out the spent cartridge for a new one. I just couldn't get it to click into the slot. I was also distracted by the vexed roar of the albino hacking away at his victim, but I eventually managed.
I pointed the pistol at the demon, aiming at his temple, and then the fallen one looked at me. Just turned his head and looked. His face was no longer the crude mask of a stone golem. Now, he beamed majesty and the unearthly beauty of a true sovereign of the heavens. The gaze of his astonishing eyes, meanwhile, pierced me straight through.
I couldn't bring myself to kill such a wonderful creature. I just couldn't.
So I squinted. With my eyes just barely peeking out, I pressed down on the Cerberus trigger.
With a buzz of electricity, a shot thundered, and my hand was burned by the blood gushing from the head of the fallen one.
The demon went limp. The beast saddling him immediately raised up, gave a swipe and cut straight through the fallen one's back with his clawed paw. He stood up straight, roared victoriously, and pulled out the infernal creature's heart in a confident motion.
In one imperceptible moment, the fallen one turned to ash and fell to the floor as a fine gray dust; all that remained was his heart muscle, pierced through with claws and continuing to diminish measuredly, squirting out the rest of the blood inside. It lashed me with a liquid fire and burned through the stone floor, but that didn't stop the albino – he threw open his fearsome jaws and tore into the heart of the fallen one, which glowed with a gloomy flame.
Without looking at it, I tumbled out of the basement and walked off after Elizabeth-Maria.
"Bugger, that was tasty!" came from the basement, but I could still hear it.
The ringing in my ears was constantly growing stronger. The shirt fabric wrapping my left hand had long soaked through with blood and I was leaving a trail of black drops behind me. The wound on my hand wasn't even considering healing over. What was more – none of my abrasions or burns were disappearing. My whole body ached.
That didn't worry me one bit though. As I was also not worried by the sincerity of my feelings for Liliana, or her feelings toward me. Questions of free will now seemed somehow dreamt up and insignificant; I wasn't even afraid of getting stuck in the collapsed vault.
I simply knew that I would get out. As I knew that everything would be alright.
It couldn't be any other way.
Otherwise, what was this all for?
2016
End of Book Three
Book Four is available for preorder on Amazon Kindle!
CLICK HERE:
The Dormant (The Sublime Electricity Book #4)
by Pavel Kornev
Preorder now!
Author's note
In the time of physical correspondence, getting in touch with writers wasn't quite as simple as it is today. Now, there's no need to go to the post office to send a letter to a publisher's listed address. There really isn't even any necessity to write at all. If you’d like to find out the author's plans, all you have to do is visit his personal website. And if you get the itch to discuss what you've read, or share your impressions, there really couldn't be anything easier. I have just the things for that – the feedback form or the forum.
Come visit www.pavel-kornev.ru
NEW!!
Shaman's Revenge (The Way of the Shaman Book #6)
by Vasily Mahanenko
is now available on Amazon Kindle!
BUY NOW!
Turn the page for more sci fi, fantasy and LitRPG offers and releases!
NEW LitRPG RELEASE!
The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2), the latest LitRPG title by A. Livadny, has just gone live on Amazon Kindle!
CLICK HERE to grab your copy!
And Another LitRPG RELEASE!
BUY NOW!!
Dear Readers,
Our authors have co-written a LitRPG anthology which contains tons of spoilers about their books. To read the stories and find the planted clues, check out our
LitRPG anthology You're in Game! (LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors)
You're in Game! is a collection of seven LitRPG novellas and short stories from V. Mahanenko (two stories set in the worlds of The Way of the Shaman and Galactogon respectively), M. Atamanov (a story set in the world of Perimeter Defense), A. Osadchuk (Mirror World), A. Livadny (a novella set in the world of The Neuro and Phantom Server), Andrew Novak (a story set in the new world of AlterGame, to be released on May 09 2017), and a LitRPG novella Countdown by P. Kornev.
To check out the anthology, CLICK HERE!
ALSO BY PAVEL KORNEV
The Sublime Electricity Series:
The Illustrious (The Sublime Electricity Book #1)
The Heartless (The Sublime Electricity Book #2)
The Fallen (The Sublime Electricity Book #3)
The Dormant (The Sublime Electricity Book #4)
Leopold Orso and The Case of the Bloody Tree (Sublime Electricity: The Prequel)
About the Author
Pavel Kornev is a popular Russian author whose writing crosses the boundaries of the sci fi thriller, fantasy adventure and steampunk. Genre mashing has long become his signature style.
“His books are a page-turning mix of non-stop action and hard-boiled detective stories in the edgy atmosphere of steampunk noir. Far from being a knight on a white charger, Kornev’s typical protagonist is an
everyday man with his fair share of flaws who puts his talents to good use. His heroes struggle to survive and win their places in the sun; but most importantly, they manage to preserve their humanity even in the direst of circumstances.”
Pavel is a professional economist who spent years working for a large bank – until his first novel, The Ice, became an overnight bestseller, allowing him to quit his day job. In his spare time Pavel jogs, swims and is an avid beer brewer.
Want to be the first to know about our latest LitRPG, sci fi and fantasy titles from your favorite authors?
Subscribe to our New Releases newsletter!
Thank you for reading The Fallen!
If you like what you've read, check out other LitRPG, sci fi and fantasy books and series published by
Magic Dome Books:
NEW!
Clans War (The Way of the Shaman: Book #7) LitRPG Series
By Vasily Mahanenko
Buy now!
NEW!
Restart (Dark Paladin Book #3) LitRPG Series
by Vasily Mahanenko
Buy now!
NEW!
The long-awaited
The Shadow of Earth (Expansion: The History of the Galaxy, Book #2)
by Andrei Livadny
Buy now!
NEW!
The Dormant (The Sublime Electricity Book #4)
by Pavel Kornev
Buy now!
NEW!
The Secret of Atlantis (Citadel World Book #2)
by Kir Lukovkin
Buy now!
NEW!
A Trap for the Potentate (The Dark Herbalist Book #3) LitRPG series
by Michael Atamanov
Buy now!
NEW!
The Reapers (The Neuro Book #3) LitRPG Series
by Andrei Livadny
Buy now!
NEW!
The Twilight Obelisk (Mirror World Book #4) LitRPG Series
by Alexey Osadchuk
Buy now!
NEW!
Expansion: The History of the Galaxy. A Space Saga Series
by A. Livadny
Buy now!
Citadel World Dystopian Series Books 1 and 2
by Kir Lukovkin
Buy now!
AlterGame LitRPG Series Books 1 and 2
by Andrew Novak
Buy now!
The Way of the Shaman LitRPG Series Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
by Vasily Mahanenko
The Hour of Pain (The Way of the Shaman Bonus Story)
by Vasily Mahanenko
Dark Paladin LitRPG Series Books 1 and 2
by Vasily Mahanenko
Start the Game! LitRPG Series (Galactogon Book #1)
by Vasily Mahanenko
Phantom Server LitRPG Series Books 1, 2 and 3
by Andrei Livadny
The Neuro LitRPG Series Books 1, 2 and 3
by Andrei Livadny
Perimeter Defense LitRPG Series Books 1, 2, 3 and 4
by Michael Atamanov
The Dark Herbalist LitRPG Series Books 1 and 2
by Michael Atamanov
Mirror World LitRPG Series Books 1, 2, 3 and 4
by Alexey Osadchuk
AlterGame LitRPG Series Books 1 and 2
by Andrew Novak
Point Apocalypse (a near-future action thriller)
by Alex Bobl
The Lag: LitRPG Fantasy (The Game Master Book #1)
by A. Bobl and A. Levitsky
You're in Game!
LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors
Buy Now!
Moskau (an alternative history thriller)
by G. Zotov
The Sublime Electricity Books 1, 2, 3 and 4
A steampunk crime mystery by Pavel Kornev
Leopold Orso and the Case of the Bloody Tree (Sublime Electricity: The Prequel)
by Pavel Kornev
The Naked Demon (a paranormal romance)
by Sherrie L.
More books are coming out soon!
In order to have new books of the series translated faster, we need your help and support! Please consider leaving a review or spread the word by recommending The Fallen to your friends and posting the link on social media. The more people buy the book, the sooner we'll be able to make new translations available.
Thank you!
Be the first to know about our new releases!
Visit our
Facebook LitRPG page
to meet new and established LitRPG authors!
Tell us more about yourself and your favorite books,
view new book covers and make friends with other LitRPG, sci fi and fantasy fans!
Follow the latest LitRPG news on Twitter!
Till next time!