This world is very similar to ours. It has the same continents and the same peoples, but it has a completely different history, created not only by the sword, but also by magic... Back in the Middle Ages, European countries united and formed the Continental Imperial Union, or simply the Empire. But even in this Empire there is no peace. A monstrous and incomprehensible epidemic instantly turns a sick person into an ominous monster called an ear. There are so many monsters that people are forced to start a war against them. One of the most prominent dignitaries of the Empire, Duke Alexander Steele, also known as the Steel Arbiter, penetrates into the main secret of the Ears - they are created by the Rnaich, aliens who are trying to take over the Earth more than once. The Duke dies in a battle with the Rneichs, but the battle is not yet lost. Quite unexpectedly, Yuri Kirillov, a Russian living in our time and in our world, becomes the Steel Arbiter...