Oleg Sapphire

  Yuri Vinokuroff

  The Order of Architects

  Book 9

  A Portal Progression Fantasy Series

  Published by Magic Dome Books

  The Order of Architects

  Book # 9

  Copyright © Oleg Sapphire, Yuri Vinokuroff 2026

  Cover Art © Vladimir Manyukhin

  English translation copyright © Christopher Michael Jarrett 2026

  Published by Magic Dome Books, 2026

  ISBN: 978-80-7702-303-0

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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  Table of Contents:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  About The Authors

  Chapter 1

  MY MAGIC ENFOLDED all the space beneath Vaduz like an invisible vise, forcing out and eliminating any invasive energy. Every grain of sand, every pebble, and every layer of rock submitted to my will as they intertwined to form the intricate pattern I was weaving with my magic.

  The earthquake that had struck the city had, of course, not been caused by natural phenomena, but by artifacts imbued with Shadow energy. They were powerful and dangerous… The artifacts had been hidden deep underground in one of the vaults of the ancient catacombs, and they were no joke. Making the earth move and generating an earthquake takes an immense amount of experience, not to mention the ability to control Darkness.

  I frowned. I didn’t like the fact that the Shadows had weapons like those, not to mention followers who were willing to go to such lengths. Destroying the entire center of Vaduz was a step too far.

  “Are you okay, Theodore?” came Grimrock’s voice from nearby. “What happened here? What can I do to help?”

  I opened my eyes and broke out of my magical trance. Grimrock was standing next to me and looking at me with some concern.

  “It’s fine, Uncle Kirill,” I replied, trying to speak calmly even though my head was ringing from the stress. “There are some ancient catacombs down there. The rebels and Shadows got into them and were using artifacts to try to destroy the center of Vaduz.”

  “Those bastards!” Grimrock ground his teeth and clenched his fists. “Our guardsmen are on their way. I’ll send them down there to smoke out those scumbags…”

  “No, there’s no need to mobilize our men,” I said, shaking my head. “It’d be better to have them cordon off the entire city center in case there are any further attacks. Bring the golems here to take care of matters underground. They’re in the special crates I prepared.”

  Grimrock nodded and headed off to give the necessary orders.

  I, meanwhile, closed my eyes and focused on my magical Gift. I could once again sense the foreign energy currents coursing deep in the ground, as well as the artifacts that were pulsing down in the catacombs where they were hidden. I urgently needed to take them out of action.

  I clenched my fists and directed my power into the bowels of the earth. I reached down to the vaults of the catacombs and stumbled upon some protective artifacts that had been set up down there. Under the influence of my magic, they began to melt and transform into useless scrap metal.

  I took particular care in sealing up the hall containing the artifacts that were causing the earthquake. I created a multilayered sarcophagus around it, made of the sturdiest rock I could find, and imbued every single layer with my magic so as to block any energy currents. Now entombed deep underground, the artifacts could no longer cause anyone any harm.

  Just to be absolutely sure, I also closed up the nearby tunnels that led to the vault where the rebels had conducted the ritual. The Shadows had managed to escape, but my golems would take care of hunting them down. Almost all of the rebels who’d been down there had died. Only a handful of them had survived. They were fleeing so fast that they were soon out of range of my magical vision, so I was unable to reach them. Nevertheless, it had taken a huge amount of power to put a stop to the earthquake and avert the disaster that would have otherwise unfolded in the city.

  About half an hour later, the trucks transporting my golems arrived. I activated them and sent them underground. There were a hundred of them — patrol golems, all equipped with metal nets for catching their foes and automatic bolt launchers on their backs that could fire four hundred rounds each. Alongside the golems that were already roaming underground, these little guys would serve as my very own underground army, capable of eliminating any threat the Shadows posed.

  In addition to all that, my guardsmen also dumped some crates of ammo down the manholes so that my golems could replenish their arsenal when necessary.

  “Okay, that’s that done,” I said to Grimrock once the last few golems had disappeared beneath the manhole cover. “Can you take me home, Uncle Kirill?”

  Grimrock nodded, and, having gotten into the car, we headed back to the estate.

  When we arrived, I found Ana hard at work. She was bent over her desk, intently focused on sketching something on a large sheet of paper. She seemed utterly lost in her own world.

  “How are you, honey?” I asked, walking over to her and kissing her tenderly on the crown of her head. “You still working?”

  Ana flinched in surprise, lifted up her head, and looked up at me with tired eyes.

  “Oh, Theodore, you’re back already… I didn’t hear you arrive.”

  “What are you doing?” I asked, glancing over her drawings with curiosity. “Is that a palace of some kind?”

  “No, it’s a design for the Liechtenstein National Museum.”

  “A museum?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, so that the people of Liechtenstein can be proud of their history. I reviewed all the complaints that you told me to take care of. Even before the war, lots of people wrote to the prince to point out that Vaduz had no national museum — it was like our history and culture had been completely forgotten. But it appears Boschild completely ignored their requests. That made me sad, so I decided to do something about it.”

  “Hmmm… A museum…” I scratched my head pensively. “I guess now’s the perfect time to build one. The people need to have faith in the future. If we build a museum, that’ll show them that we don’t just wage war, but that we really care about the principality’s culture and its future.”

  “Exactly,” Ana replied, smiling and kissing me. “I know what it's like when you feel abandoned, and no one cares about you. Do you remember how we met? My Dynasty had fallen from grace, and everyone had turned their back on me. You were the only one who supported me. You helped me believe in myself. And now I want to do something good for other people. This museum will be a symbol of our principality. It’ll show people that we’re a strong and proud people. That we have our own history and culture. That we’re not just a bunch of aristocrats who are constantly fighting with one another for power. I also want the museum to become a place where people can find out the truth about our history.”

  She looked at me with hope in her eyes.

  “What do you think, Theodore?”

  I studied her design carefully. The sheer scale of the project was impressive. It was a massive building with numerous hallways, galleries, and exhibition spaces.

  “You’ve done great! I’m proud of you.”

  I embraced her and kissed her.

  “And that’s not all,” Ana added with a mysterious grin upon noticing my enthusiasm. “I’ll be able to lay the foundations, of course, but the rest will be down to you. I’m not quite up to building the whole thing yet. It would take too much energy. I want to create a place that won’t just be used to store museum exhibits but will tell the whole story of Liechtenstein in detail. To show people how great they are. And that their ruler cares about their past, present, and future.”

  Her words gave me pause for thought. A museum… That would indeed be most symbolic — of a new era, a new Liechtenstein, where people could be proud and not ashamed of their history.

  “It’s a great idea, Ana,” I replied, nodding. “I’ll have a think about how we might go about it. I know a thing or two about Liechtenstein’s history, after all. And I’m not bad when it comes to architecture, either.”

  Ana clapped her hands together in delight. I couldn’t help but smile as I began think
ing about the matter.

  We had plenty of resources. Stone, metal, concrete… Thanks to my golem miners and my new production line at Konstruktor’s base, we had tons of all these materials at our disposal. However, things were a little tight when it came to other materials. We were experiencing a shortage of cabling, plastic, and various electronics due to the blockade.

  And plastic sheeting, of course… Yeah, plastic sheeting was a whole other story. We were seriously short of it. We’d been using it to cover buildings while they were being constructed so as to hide our little “magic tricks” from prying eyes. Rumors had already been circulating around the principality about the “miracles” that were being performed at Konstruktor’s building sites.

  People had been whispering that I was able to erect an entire apartment block in a single night or rebuild a ruined building with just a touch of the hand. Some had started calling me a “wizard,” others — an “engineering genius,” while my competitors and those who were jealous of me were just calling me a charlatan. I couldn't care less about all those rumors, though. The most important thing was that work was underway, and speed was our main ally.

  I picked up my tablet from the table and began sketching some rough designs for the future museum. Ideas began to form in my head. I wanted to create a true monument to Liechtenstein’s history and culture. A place where the people take pride in their existence.

  Afterward, Ana and I spent some more time discussing the principality’s future. She was thoroughly inspired by the prospect of building the museum and was positively brimming with ideas — she suggested that we set up some interactive exhibits, conduct virtual tours, and offer educational programs for children. I listened carefully to her, only occasionally interjecting with my own observations and correcting some of her rather more fantastical ideas.

  My head was already full with another no less important issue that no one had thus far deigned to discuss publicly — namely, the exodus of people out of the principality. Given that Liechtenstein was sandwiched in between Austria-Hungary and Switzerland, the country was currently subject to a total blockade. The borders were closed, and virtually all contact with the outside world had been cut off. Shipments of food and medical supplies were limited, and the economy was struggling…

  Many citizens, terrified by the war and the Shadow invasion, were seeking to leave in search of a safer place for themselves and their families. And I fully understood them. I’d have fled, too, if I hadn’t been an Architect. However, at the same time, I couldn’t simply let a mass exodus occur. Every single person, every specialist, was a valuable resource for the principality. If people began to leave, Liechtenstein simply wouldn’t be able to survive.

  Only recently, I’d bought seventy plots of land with houses on them from people, all at the city’s expense. Once they’d been rebuilt and renovated, the houses would be given to people in need. After all, despite everything that had happened, there were still honest, loyal folks in Liechtenstein who didn’t want to flee, simply because they still had faith in their homeland’s future. And I couldn’t leave them without help and support.

  One such person was Anatoly Vigdorov. He had spent forty years working as a surgeon in Vaduz’s state hospital. He had saved hundreds of lives and restored the health of thousands of people. He’d never taken bribes, chased after money, or groveled before figures of authority. Yet for all his honesty and loyalty, he had ended up living in a tiny room in a communal apartment that he shared with two other families.

  I’d seen his file when I was reviewing the principality’s housing program. It turned out that Vigdorov had been on the waiting list for a home for more than twenty years. And six months previously, he’d been informed that the program had been closed down “due to a lack of funding.” Essentially, Boschild had stolen all the money earmarked for the program and used it to purchase real estate abroad or to further enrich his accomplices.

  So, an honest doctor — and a valuable specialist — had been denied a bright future. He probably just wanted to give his children a decent home in which they could live comfortably and make plans for the future.

  To be honest, I was furious when I saw what had really been going on with the “program.” Prince Boschild had basically just been giving apartments and houses to his own people — lovers, relatives, and friends. The reports boasted of entirely fabricated accomplishments that they claimed had “solved the housing problem.” All this had been paid for out of the state coffers, that is, using taxpayers’ money. And now the people who had been deceived and robbed were either fleeing the principality or… had died.

  This didn’t just irritate me — it made me absolutely furious. I knew I had to fix the situation. I therefore decided to revive the program. Except this time, everything would be done above board. I would personally monitor every step of the process — from selecting applicants to handing over the keys to new apartments. And Ana would help me with all that.

  “Ana,” I said once we’d finished discussing the museum project, “I’ve got another job for you.”

  “What’s that?” she asked curiously.

  “I need your help solving the housing problem. I need to find the people who are most in need of housing. Doctors, teachers, workers, soldiers… Everyone who has always remained loyal to Liechtenstein and contributed to the good of the principality.”

  “Gladly!” Ana was positively beaming with joy. “I’ve been wanting to do something like that for a while.”

  “Then you can get started tomorrow. I’ve got lists of the property that Boschild confiscated from people. There are a lot of surnames in there that we could start with for the rehousing program.”

  Ana nodded eagerly. I told her that I had changed my mind about going to my workshop and had decided to attend to other matters first. Having bade her farewell, I walked out of the estate and got in the car, where Boris was already waiting for me.

  “Where are we heading, boss?” he asked, starting the engine.

  “Into town,” I replied. “There’s something I need to do.”

  We made our way to the relevant address. It was a small but cozy two-story house in a quiet neighborhood of Vaduz. It had previously belonged to one of Boschild’s officials who had hastily fled from the principality following the prince’s downfall and left all his belongings behind.

  Hans hadn’t wasted any time, so the house was currently surrounded by scaffolding, to which our construction crew had attached some black plastic sheeting that would hide the repair work from prying eyes.

  “Hi there, Theodore!” said Hans, walking over to me. “We’ve already gotten everything ready, so we can get started right away.”

  I went inside, activated my Gift, and got down to work. I used my magic to reinforce the foundations, straighten out the walls, and replace the roof. I also created new utility connections — water and sewage pipes, as well as electricity cables.

  The house was completely transformed. It no longer resembled an old, ramshackle building, but rather a comfortable, modern residence. Hans and his crew had brought some basic furniture and appliances to the site — all paid for by the city, of course.

  “There we go,” I said, surveying the results of our labors with satisfaction. “Now someone will be able to enjoy living here.”

  I bade Hans farewell, then got back in the car and headed home. I’d spent a fair amount of time at the site, so I planned to get some rest in order to resume work with renewed vigor the following day.

  When I returned to the estate, however, a nasty surprise awaited…

  * * *

  The “Chimera” underground laboratory

  Vaduz, the Principality of Liechtenstein

  The secret “Chimera” laboratory was situated deep underground on the outskirts of Vaduz. Its walls, which had been reinforced with thick metal plating, hummed with the sound of various pieces of equipment hard at work — air pumps, generators, and life support systems.

  The lab had been created for the purposes of carrying out secret experiments, supervised by the Russian Empire’s best scientists. Since Prince Robert Boschild had fled, however, it had fallen under the control of two such scientists — Ernest Schultsev and his friend Valery Krasilnikov.