At stake is fate— the denouement is near. Fyodor Degtyaryov doesn’t know what awaits him ahead. His goal is to finish the academy and reach greater heights—but along the way someone always gets in the way, and the events unfolding around him threaten to bury all his dreams from the very root. And while that happens, the empire is gradually sliding into bloody chaos in the run-up to the war of all against all.