World War I shakes Europe. Politicians, spies, deal-makers, pseudo-patriots, and other scoundrels of every kind play their part in this bloody game. In such chaos, it’s easy to hide crimes and cover one’s bestial nature with a respectable mask. But what if, behind the mask, there’s something entirely otherworldly at work? Rudnev and his friends set out to solve a mystery that proves too hard even for the secret services—and they face evil whose nature barely fits within the boundaries of reasonable reality.