At the very edge of the settled lands, where the grim Ob carries its waters and an emerald glow blazes overhead, stands the city of Yurgut. Here, amid marvels and monsters that appeared after the fall of the Comet, a ritual murder has been committed, shaking the entire empire. Ariadne and Viktor are tasked with immediately launching an investigation, but the partners do not yet suspect what their return to the capital will bring. What will prove more terrible โ the crimson taiga and the servants of alien gods, or a powerful adversary in Petropolis, ready to take from Viktor everything dear to him?