by Feng Yue
“I’m sorry, young Master. I’m very clumsy and angered you.” Victor gave a simpering smile while observing the room. In a gentle voice he suggested, “You’ve been on this boat for ten days without going outside. It’s so stuffy in here. Why don’t we go take a walk? I heard that there are many elite ladies here. Maybe you can meet your destiny.”
“Really?” Hearing ‘elite ladies,’ his eyes brightened. But very quickly, the boy threw the cup in his hands at the wall. “No, I won’t go.”
“Oh, why?” Victor froze a little, worried that he would miss this great chance.
“Why are you asking so much? I’m not going out! Do you want me to reward you for kissing up to me?” The young Master rolled his eyes. “You scum always have a reason for wanting to get close to us! Let me tell you, I know what you’re thinking! Don’t think that I’m a charity.”
“Oh, of course not,” Victor simpered. Hearing the door open behind him, he sighed inside. This chance was going to slip away.
“Young Master, I checked and we’re going to land at the pier soon!” the housekeeper said with a smile. “The marquis has received news of your arrival, and is preparing a feast to welcome you back. You must take care to not lose the elite style.”
“This quickly?” Victor thought.
Victor’s chest clenched and felt a few bronze coins fall at his feet. The housekeeper waved. “This is your pay. You can get out now.”
Victor did not bend over to pick up the coins. Instead, he touched the blade hidden in his sleeves and let out a sigh. Did he really have to use it?
He studied the housekeeper and the fatty. But before he could decide which one to kill first, there was wild shaking.
In the sudden thundering, the entire steel boat shook as if it had crashed into a reef. The guests on the ship were flipped over and rolled on the ground.
No, this wasn’t a reef. As Victor pondered, someone outside the door screamed, “Help! Fire!”
“The boiler room exploded!”
“There’s a giant hole in the sideboard. Seal the cabin!”
While rolling, Victor ended up under the bed. Hearing this, his face paled. The boiler room was right over the storage cabin. If it exploded, then it was bad news for those there. If they sealed the cabin, then the people in the storage area would have nowhere to go!
But before he could get up, the housekeeper’s expression changed. Suddenly understanding something, he pushed the fatty toward a cabinet. “Young Master, please hide well. I’ll go outside to check…”
Before he could finish, the room’s wall collapsed.
The alloy cabin doors twisted and bent. A shadow flew into the room and pulled out a sword. The blade sliced through the air, singing.
Like lightning, it flew toward the dazed fatty’s heart!
The housekeeper pushed the young Master down and used his heart to stop the blade. Under his shirt, a complex design flashed. Its glow solidified the air, turning it into a shield.
The sword crashed into the solidified air and pierced into the wall.
The shadow pulled out the blade and ran toward the shield like a storm. The blade created a ripple in the shield. The housekeeper paled, but the shield still stood.
“What’s going on?” Under the bed, Victor was shaken.
“Hmph, it’s just basic alchemy. He branded the rune on his armor. But regular people need to pay for this. The ‘Iron Wall’ uses up blood.”
Rain Artist saw everything clearly and chuckled coldly, “This is an assassination, kid. It’s clear someone doesn’t want this fatty to get back to Burgundy. If I’m not wrong, the assassin will sacrifice blood too…”
As soon as he finished, the shadowy assassination jerked, and the blurry sword finally showed its true appearance. The sword was extremely sharp with a thin and narrow blade. On it, three lines of runes were engraved on the blade. The blade seemed ready to break.
But the assassin fiercely gripped the sword’s blade. Without reserving any strength, it seemed he wanted to cut through his palm. Blood flowed from his hand, covering the entire sword.
The runes on the sword shimmered and a metallic roar sounded. The clash of high and low notes seemed to pierce one’s eardrums. Even the air around the assassin rippled.
“Ha, the assassin has some good stuff. It even has Forging, Dragon’s Attack and Deadly Ivy.” Rain Artist raised his voice, “Cover your ears!”
Victor did so reflexively, but before he could ask why, it felt like he was thrown into a bulwark! An endless tide crashed onto him. He felt the stinging pain, as if his skin was getting ripped to shreds. But it was not a tide—it was the wave created by the wailing in the air. Victor’s mind went blank. The assassin easily pierced the shield.
It was so easily destroyed!
The shield shattered instantly, shards hitting into the wall, creating holes.
The housekeeper’s armor crumbled to dust too, turning his chest into slush. The blade passed through him, piercing into the terrified fatty on the ground.
With a pierced heart, the great shaking broke his vessels, and the fatty died instantly.
Confirming the death, the assassin went through the broken wall and dropped into the ocean, riding the waves away!
In the chaos, no one noticed what had really happened.
Victor was the only one left in the room.
He pulled himself up in a daze, but he reacted quickly.
Rushing to the housekeeper, he pulled open the pockets and stuffed all the jewels and the still-intact money notes into his own pocket.
Then, he found two rings embedded with jewels on the dead fatty. He also found a letter close to the corpse’s body.
He hesitated before quickly scanning it, reading ten lines at once. It was a good thing that the priest had educated him, so that he could somewhat understand French.
“Dear Don Juan, fate’s cruel arrangement made you leave me when you were born. How are you in Anglo? My health has had some problems these days and I think of you more and more… It’s been seventeen years. You must have grown up now, right? …The one with this letter is my close housekeeper. He will take you back to reunite with me. But please remember to keep a low profile on the road. I’m worried people will cause you trouble because of me… I’m waiting to reunite with you…”
Seeing the letter, Victor sunk into a long silence. He was frozen, as if he had been fossilized.
“Hey, kid, what happened? Stop spacing out!” Rain Artist called from his arms. “There must be a secret compartment in the drawer by the bed. Elites love that trick. Hurry up and get it before other people discover!”
Rain Artist froze before he could finish.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
He watched as Victor quickly took the jewels out and stuffed them back onto the housekeeper. Those that would not fit, he threw them into the sea. Rain Artist screamed every time Victor threw something away.
“Are you crazy? Don’t you want to succeed? That’s the capital for your future!”
“No, I’m not crazy.” Victor shook his head, looking at the dead young Master under the housekeeper’s corpse. He had died without his eyes closed, the whites showing, but this was the first time Victor found him cute. Seeing him, he could not help but laugh.
“—This is what’s crazy.”
“What do you mean?”
Victor studied the youth and his similar body and asked, “Old guy, don’t you think that ‘Don Juan’ is a nice name?”
Rain Artist suddenly understood. He yelled, “You’ve gone crazy wanting to succeed!”
“Haha, you’re funny. Who doesn’t want to succeed?” He quickly exchanged their clothes and dumped Don Juan’s corpse into the ocean.
Very quickly, the corpse was taken away by the rolling waves. The burning oil from the boiler room would disfigure it too. As for Victor, he had already changed into the luxurious clothes, and shoved Rain Artist’s bottle into a pocket.
Lastly, he looked at the
hole before on his left breast pocket. He was still missing something.
Outside, the distant noise of people sounded. Someone had found the source of the boom and had come to investigate.
“It seems that the opportunity to succeed is everywhere.” Victor took out the knife he had prepared and aimed it toward his heart. Pressing against his check, he took a deep breath. “Sadly, it always takes some investment.”
Hiss! The small knife was pushed through to its handle.
Victor threw the knife into the ocean and collapsed onto the floor. Blood was flowing too quickly, almost spurting onto the ceiling. He was a little dazed. Did he gamble too much this time?
Using the last of his strength, he crawled to the housekeeper and pulled the corpse over him. He felt his life slipping away in the growing puddle of blood, and lost consciousness.
The moment before he passed out, the door was forced open.
“My God, what happened here?” the sailor yelped. The panicked footsteps that entered the room destroyed every last bit of evidence.
The men checked the corpses. Pushing past the dead housekeeper, someone found the barely breathing youth. Reaching out to feel the pulse, he called, “Someone come! He’s still alive! Doctor! Doctor!”
Hearing this, Victor—no, young Master Don Juan—smiled sweetly.
He calmly closed his eyes.
“Father, I’m coming,” he thought.
57 Battle of the Abyss
Darkness.
Black clouds covered the sky like complex layers of lead overlapping, solidified in the sky.
Between the sky and the earth, a mighty city rose above the barren land.
Dim starlight came from somewhere, illuminating the city’s sharp turrets. But even in the darkness, it was easy to discern the high luxury and and dignity of the city.
Perched on a copper and black iron foundation, its body was made of white silver, with gold decorating its tip. Created by iron, it was a legendary miracle.
When sunlight passed through the sky, the entire city would bathe in the radiance of the sun—sacred but grave. But now there was no sunlight, and everything was covered shrouded by the darkness of the night.
Ye Qingxuan observed the city.
—
In the darkness, he saw the earth shake and rumble.
Blood-red light flowed through a crack, like blood seeping out from the earth under the city. It seemed to want to flow up and submerge it all.
The rumbling grew.
The mighty city shook as if something hidden under was about to be unearthed.
The sound of thunder arose, continuous like an avalanche. But the sound was unclear, like thousands of people wailing together.
Hell collapsed and Avīci1 called!
At that moment, the thundering seemed to explode. The rippling across the earth could be seen by the naked eye. Even the sacred city shook with it.
Quickly, a crack appeared on the iron wall.
It was the first crack.
—
The top of the city’s highest point, the place closest to the clouds, was also the darkest place. Someone looked down at the city from that point. Angry winds blew from the distance. The eye of the tornado enveloped this city. The storm wind blew at his robe, it fluttered loudly.
His cigar stayed lit, despite the wind.
He stood at the edge of the tall tower, looking down at the sacred city and the redness seeping from the ground, watching the earth shake.
“The third layer of the Wailing Wall has been breached!” someone reported behind the smoking man when a third sound rang across the skies and earth.
The pale secretary clung on to a pillar, his eyes full of fright. “Fifteen minutes ago, it had already entered the Sunrise Path, but the ‘Hell’ and ‘Purgatory’ left by Grandmaster Ding have already been destroyed. All that remains is ‘Heaven’.”
“Heaven cannot stop it.” The smoking man shook his head.
“The temple knights and anthem battalion are ready. They’re arming at the armageddon now.”
“What of the Holy Spirits?” the man asked.
The secretary listened with his eyes closed. Voice trembling, he replied, “Fire God Agni was hurt in battle and has fallen into a coma. Jupiter is waking up. The Wind God and Thunder God have entered the abyss. Hopefully, they can stop it.”
“It’s pointless. That is the Doomsday Dragon with seven crowns.” The man shook his head again.
“When it was sealed and confined by the three kings of the past, one-third of stars fell into the abyss with it. A double-bodied Holy Spirit is nothing to it. Send out the command, under the name of Nibelungenlied2—awaken all Holy Spirits.”
The secretary was stunned. Thinking of the consequences, he grew even more pale. “But if the Emperor Qing is angered again, the sacred city might…”
In the darkness, the man turned around and gazed at him like as if looking at a cowering idiot. “Then use a blood sacrifice and let him see the battlefield clearly.”
“…” The secretary’s lips trembled, but he could not speak.
“Even if he’s scared, he should be scared after the sacred city is destroyed,” the smoking man said lightly. “If the abyss under the sacred city is set off, the city won’t be the only thing destroyed.”
“Yes, my Crown” The secretary lowered his head. Mumbling to himself, it was as if the wind had carried his voice, sending it to the city below him.
“Also…” the smoking man suddenly said in the darkness, “notify all priests to get ready in the Bronze Hall. It’s time to start ‘Fate’.”
The secretary looked up in shock. But he only saw the man put out his cigar and push open the door behind him. At his waist, the sword, Gate of Heaven, shone with a cold light.
In the wind, his voice was like the ringing of a blade.
“Tell them, the Pope will personally join the battlefield.”
—
The world shook, and the overlapping melodies could not subdue the thundering.
The calling from Avici, nine levels under the ground, cut across the skies and earth. It pushed the black clouds, lightning brewed. The wild flashes of light were like an evil spirit’s whip, falling on the sacred city again and again.
The entire city bathed in the glow of the lightning.
A huge crack spread from the ground under the city, like an open mouth wanting to swallow it.
Ye Qingxuan stood above the crack, looked down, and saw the swirling flashes of metal within it.
It was the reflection of the Temple Knights’ formation.
Tons of heavy armor covered the bodies of these warriors. It was impossible to imagine that armor this heavy could be moved by humans. When they moved, it was unstoppable, like the Gaia giant in the Bible.
Now they numbered thousands upon thousands. All held their chains and spears over their heads as they charged into the darkness.
Along with the thundering footsteps, as the steel shoes hit stone, the music notes carved on the armor shone, and began singing sacred hymns.
This was the sound of Heaven. The Chorale’s power spread with a burning light. The light illuminated a huge eye.
Under the cracks of layers of seals was a beastly eye at least ten meters wide. It looked past the darkness and light into the sky.
For a second, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes met with it, and he felt as if he were spying at a beast from afar. An indescribable coldness poured into his eyes like a tide. He yelped.
Suddenly, a loud noise sounded, shaking the earth. The sacred city seemed to scream in distress.
Layers of metal were torn. Under its eyes, an indescribably heavy pressure spread out. The knights charging toward it were flattened by the pressure, their heavy armor clanging.
Very quickly, it was flattened by the pressure as well. Blood spurted out from between millions of metal shards.
Before the seal, the Hymn Battalion was almost completely wiped out.
In that moment, the sing
ing from the Chorale was cut off. Their aether was out of control. The holy strength had been taken by the monsters in the seal and turned into a group of bloody crows.
The endless tide of crows flew from the darkness. Beating their wings and shrieking, they devoured the musicians.
“Woe!”
“Woe!”
“Woe!”
Countless wails suddenly emerged from the emptiness, like countless sinners singing together in Hell. Under the aether’s influence, the blood glowed and swallowed everything it touched.
This was the power of Catastrophe.
Four hundred years ago, the strongest Catastrophe that the Three Kings sealed—Doomsday’s Dragon—woke from within the deep abyss. It tore away the layers of seal, and was about to fly into the sky and pour bloody fire from its wings.
But just at that moment, white-hot light began to flow from the sacred city.
The sleeping dead in the holy temple, turned into Holy Spirits by musicians, were finally awake!
Like millions of stars, they soared to the sky!
In the Pope’s hand was the sword named Gate of Heaven. He pointed it at the abyss, and those spots of light fell, falling into the dark abyss.
Within the light, the awakened Holy Spirits. They raised their staffs, radiating light.
In the endless darkness, these spots of light were like weak candlelight in the wind. They lit up one after another, creating a halo that stopped the progression of the darkness!
In the abyss, the overlapping notes became a symphony, and an unimaginable strength rose from the dark abyss. The legendary music scores that could only be found in ancient literature appeared once again.
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan thought that the Doomsday’s Dragon was under control, but Avici’s call sounded once again from the abyss.
In the darkness, the angry red dragon opened its eyes. The seven crowns radiated with a terrifying blood-red glow.
The earth shook.
To Ye Qingxuan, time was no longer continuous. The world kept changing, and it was hard to see clearly. Endless light blinded him.
In the light, dragons danced crazily.
—