Dean Nikolayevich (2)

When Felch asked Saint Tower Academy for help, he had held out little hope. It was only a formality. He never expected Dean Nikolayevich to come in person! Relief washed over him, but his heart also bled. The dean would never have come for nothing. His family had probably paid a tremendous price, and Count himself must have intervened to persuade the dean to set aside their past grievances and save Faerun City.

Nikolayevich had an eccentric temperament. He ignored Mayor Felch and Major General Gaddafi entirely, staring instead at the Absolute Divine Domain not far away. His face was grave as he frowned and said, "This is worse than I expected. An Absolute Divine Domain this large, and a projection of a Divine Kingdom is about to descend... What has happened to the God of Nature? Has he lost his mind and decided to give up his divinity?"

As he spoke, a sharp gleam flashed through Nikolayevich's seemingly cloudy eyes. He raised a hand and flicked a finger. A black line that sliced through space shot out.

The black line struck the Light Screen surrounding the Absolute Divine Domain, and a sphere of intertwined black and white light erupted. Half a second later, the sphere contracted and vanished. Cracks spread like a spiderweb across the point of impact, as though the Light Screen were glass. With a sharp crack, a hole over a meter wide broke open.

Everyone was stunned. That barrier sealed off the Absolute Divine Domain. It looked like a translucent Light Screen, but it was immensely sturdy and contained the laws of space and time. Yet someone had punched a hole through it with a flick of his finger. Such power defied belief!

But Nikolayevich, the one who had done it, looked graver than ever.

While