- Split up! - Jumping on another rooftop, Alexander shouted, "Get out of town. I'll stay here for now!
- Good, - Leonid immediately changed his route, following his commander's instructions.
The knight himself did not continue to ride on the rooftops for long and preferred to jump to the streets of the fortress. Some of them were blocked, but their narrowness and intricate architecture gave more opportunities for a successful escape.
An hour later, watching the soldiers from the basement of the merchant's house, Alexander learned that Leonid had successfully left the fortress. The soldiers had already been informed of this several times by their commanders, tipping their tails on the search for the second.
The assassination of the archmage had failed. This could now be stated with all responsibility. The citadel shone like a Christmas tree and there was no doubt that the tunnel, if not already blocked, was at least under such tight control that even cockroaches felt uncomfortable there.
The only thing left to do was to leave nicely, which in these conditions meant that he had to leave not empty-handed. That's what the vampire was doing, watching the patrols, soldiers and the magical artifact tower.
The structure, familiar to this world, was completely autonomous and independent of the fortress' defense systems. With its own energy sources, artifacts, and a small garrison. Such structures could be found in all important cities or fortresses. And all of them had only one purpose - if the enemy took the outer walls, it was such magical towers, packed with artifacts, both defensive and attacking, that together with the citadel were to prevent the city from finally falling.
Zalon had three such magical towers, and the citadel, as it was easy to guess, took the place of the fourth. Surrounded by the square, it stood completely unlit and gave the impression of complete impregnability and steadfastness. And in its cellars lay something that would make the failure of the mission not so offensive.
Alexander planned to acquire an attack artifact. Thanks to their victory a year ago and the looting of the wagon, the vampires had a fair number of defensive artifacts at their disposal. But a pitiful array of attacking artifacts. It was the triumvir's intention to remedy this situation.
Catching the moment when there were no patrols left in the square, Alexander crawled out of the cellar and crawled towards the tower. All the streets facing the square were blocked and there was always a chance that he would be discovered, so he preferred to crawl and slow down rather than run over and fast.
Once at the base of the tower, the vampire wasn't so sure he'd made the right decision. Dirt and horse manure had completely covered the vampire's figure, and now even the last beggar wouldn't do business with him. Before he started climbing the tower, he had to spend some time cleaning himself from the crap. Otherwise, Alexander risked being detected by the smell.
Climbing up the wall, the vampire looked around. There was only one soldier guarding the upper platform. An "ice arrow" pierced his chest, after which the bloodless body was turned to ashes, and Alexander put on his armor and outer clothing.
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