Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  Werner whimpered as his arm suddenly went numb, and he could no longer feel his palm.

  “Don’t move!” Ye Qingxuan aimed his clenched fist at the palm. “Otherwise I’ll punch downwards and your right hand will shatter. If you don’t move now, you can go find a Chorale musician at the church, it might be cured…”

  “Haha…can’t believe I lost to a kid who’s too scared to kill.” Lying on the ground, Werner laughed at himself, his weary smile showing through the blood on his face “What’s the use of letting me go? You think I’ll let you go just because you didn’t kill me? Don’t be naïve…everyone in downtown wants you!”

  “I’m innocent!” Ye Qingxuan roared.

  Werner scoffed. “And innocent people can’t die?”

  Ye Qingxuan froze.

  “I’ve heard these words so many times before. The people who don’t want to pay, the people who broke rules, the people who were sold by others, they all say a bunch of pretty words before death, but it can’t save them. Where do you think we are? This is Avalon!” Werner licked the blood on his face and laughed. “You won’t be able to escape as long as you have the treasure.”

  “You lunatics.” Ye Qingxuan punched his face one last time and stood up. The murderous cries were getting closer, and he did not want to waste anymore time on this psycho.

  But behind him, Werner with a frozen hand laughed coldly. He grabbed a small dagger from his boot with his left hand and aimed the green blade at the youth’s back. The Indians were not the only people who knew how to use poison.

  But then a commotion rushed past. Stunned, Werner felt the world grow dark, and the wall beside him suddenly collapsed. Before he could even scream, he was buried in the rubble.

  The loud crash made Ye Qingxuan jump in fright. When he turned around, all he could see was red, and the bloody beast. The street behind the collapsed wall was covered with corpses. They were scattered all over, and all of them were mutilated. Standing above the fallen bricks was a wild figure covered in blood—the Bloody Butcher!

  He had followed the youth’s scent here, massacring everyone in his path. Now, his blood-soaked apron had new liquid from the sewer. The bone saw in his right hand was filled with dents. Ye Qingxuan did not want to know what he had been hacking in order to have dented the bone saw. In his left hand was a severed head. It seemed to have been carelessly yanked off of someone. There was still vertebrae connected to the head.

  —

  In the stillness, he tossed the head away and roared! Following it was faint singing like the cries of an angry spirit. The bulging muscles on his red arms pulsed according to his heartbeat and faint runes glowed. The runes lit up, attracting a tidal wave of aether. They entered his body turning him into a true beast!

  His heartbeat turned into drum beats, and the sound of blood pulsing turned into chanting. The screams in the air became the rhythm, and his breathing turned into a wild chorale as the aether grouped inside him, “God, please give me mercy. I kneel in the river of souls, attempting to wash away the dirtiness!

  “God, please give me salvation. I am waist-deep in curses. Can you hear my pleas?

  “God, please give me your blessing. I am neck-deep in blood. I beg for relief.”

  Blood surged, and transformed into a menacing face. He cheered like a child along with the singing, “Lalala! Lalala! Lalala! The god in the song, take me back to heaven!”

  —

  “What…what is this creature?!” Ye Qingxuan muttered. He stumbled back in disbelief, the hair on the back of his neck rising in fear. The beast had turned his own body into alchemy equipment, an entire music score was tattooed on his skin! Only an inhumanly strong body could withstand the consumption of a music score. Hariti’s implants were nothing in comparison to this.

  Now, aether flowed through his vessels, turning into a power wilder than blood, hotter than fire, turning him into something not human. He was not a demon. His wild murderous intent made him something more terrifying than a demon—he was a killing machine!

  Amidst the crazed and painful singing, the Butcher raised his head. Two bloodshot eyes stared at the youth from behind the mask. The bone saw was raised. “The hunt is here. Are you praying?” he seemed to ask.

  100 Fight to the Death

  It was finally falling dark. The night sky was shrouded with black clouds. It was a lightless night. Everything was enveloped in darkness. Somewhere in the complex downtown, Ye Qingxuan curled into himself inside of a shoddy hut, breathing painfully.

  His leg felt like it was broken. He could not run at all, but he was still surrounded by coldness. That feeling was called…fear. Grinding his teeth and swallowing blood, the beast paced in the darkness, following the prey’s trail.

  Ye Qingxuan did not know if he had really escaped. The cursed singing was still in his ears, making it impossible for him to relax.

  “God, please give me mercy. I kneel in the river of souls, attempting to wash away the dirtiness! God, please give me salvation. I am waist-deep in curses. Can you hear my pleas?

  “God, please give me your blessing. I am neck-deep in blood. I beg for relief…Lalala, lalala!, lalala…The god in the song, take me back to heaven…lalala…”

  The demonic song sent shivers down his spine and he could not stop trembling.

  How much time had passed? He did not know. He did not even have time to think about how long the ridiculous hunt had gone on for. The moment he saw the beast, he realized that every unbelievable story in the files and records were true. Only something so terrifying could leave behind those stories. Why did something so messed up exist in Avalon? And why would it want him?

  As heavy steps sounded nearby, he stopped breathing. He had been trying to get rid of the creature for the entire afternoon to no avail. Whether he charged into a crowd of people, jumped into the sewer, or hid inside an abandoned factory, nothing could get rid of the creature on his tail.

  A bloody trail would be left from the crowd of people. When he snuck out of the sewer, he heard the scary song that followed like a shadow. When he ran into the abandoned factory, it was like he had stepped into the beast’s hunting ground.

  He tried everything to kill the beast with frost arrows, fire hand. He had even fired a military bow and arrow at the beast, but nothing had worked.

  He had hit the mark. The arrow had buried into the beast’s chest completely. But the creature had methodically sawed open the wound, plucked out the arrow in his stomach, and tossed it onto the ground. That was when Ye Qingxuan understood that the beast was a beast because it could not be killed!

  —

  In the darkness, the pacing footsteps finally faded. But the song was still ringing in his ears, and he could not relax. Panting, he felt the gaping wounds on his body. Just getting scraped by the bone saw would be enough to turn him into a bloody pulp. If he did not grit his teeth and freeze the wounds, he would have died from blood loss long ago.

  The beast had had multiple chances to kill Ye Qingxuan throughout the afternoon, but it kept toying with him, making him run along the line between life and death as if playing with food on its place.

  “F*ck,” he muttered, clenching his fist in anger. But before he could finish cursing, familiar vibrations thudded in his chest and he looked down reflexively. Then he heard a shattering sound. Behind him, the hut was being demolished by the bone saw!

  Everything in the saw’s path was split into two. If Ye Qingxuan had not lowered his head, he also would have been demolished.

  In the darkness, the voice sang and blood flowed. A ghastly light shone down from somewhere, illuminating the angry shadow. No matter where Ye Qingxuan ran, he would be under the beast’s shadow with nowhere to escape.

  “Motherf*cker, I’m going to fight you!” He suddenly stood still and glared at the beast. “What’s the point of chasing me? Kill me if you can!”

  The beast seemed to be shocked by his courage and froze in it’s spot.

  Eyes full of anger, Ye Qingxu
an quickly began to chant. Shimmering aether gathered from the sky. A blurry rune sharpened in his heart. He secretly pressed the button on the Double Snake Time Meter in his pocket, activating the power within. In an instant, his sense of aether had doubled, and the aether in his hands grew restless.

  As the aether grouped, the youth clenched his fist and charged toward the beast with a roar. As if applauding his courage, the Bloody Butcher did not move.

  The eerie song became clearer. The creature raised his bone saw, waiting for the youth to run to his death. But Ye Qingxuan suddenly halted and threw something at the beast.

  Under the mask, the Butcher’s eyes squinted, blinded by the sudden brightness. As the aether left Ye Qingxuan’s hand, it had finally formed a rune. Rubbing against each other, the aether radiated gloriously. Increased efficiency application—Light! “Fight? Watch me throw all my runes at your face!” Ye Qingxuan thought.

  The Butcher reflexively shielded his eyes with his hand, but the youth stayed where he was. He raised his hands and frantically began to chant again. Instantaneous rune—Mirror!

  Staggered mirrors appeared out of thin air. Grouping together, they created a matrix surrounding the Butcher. The explosive light magnified, shooting down. There was nowhere for the Butcher to run!

  Roaring, the Butcher swung his saw. As the mirrors shattered, the light source also disappeared. But when the light dimmed, the youth was gone. He escaped?!

  His proud laughter still rang in the air. It felt so f*cking good to pretend to be powerful and then run away!

  The Butcher roared and swung the saw crazily, obliterating the hut. After a long time, the beast finally calmed down. He walked soundlessly into the shadows, and followed the faint trail of breathing straight in the direction of the youth. The maze-like downtown was his hunting ground, and there was no way a lost youth could escape! But as he followed the smell of blood and finally tracked the youth, his steps halted.

  —

  The Butcher stood outside a cluster of abandoned buildings, looking at the ground. Under his feet were meandering cracks like something left behind by the chaotic slashing of knives. Blood seeped from within the cracks. A tinge of sweetness snaked into the air.

  At a glance, there was nothing special about the cracks. But the Butcher bent down to study it. Regret flashed through his eyes. It was a mark.

  Like beasts marking their territory, the creatures of Avalon did the same. This was the sign of the predators. Once past it, it would be a fight to death.

  The Butcher straightened and left. His scratchy sigh floated in the wind, as if pitying the youth who had voluntarily jumped into hell. The Butcher may have prefered to eat quickly, but there were some creatures that liked to carefully prepare their meals.

  —

  In the rubble, Ye Qingxuan collapsed onto the ground panting, unable to get up again. He had used all of his strength. If the creature caught up to him again, he would not have the energy to run anymore. He would probably just give up.

  Lowering his head in despair, he closed his eyes and waited for death. But after a long time, the Bloody Butcher had still not arrived. He prepared himself to see the beast right in front of him when he opened his eyes. But when he opened them, there was nothing before him. The Bloody Butcher was gone. He had escaped?

  Unable to believe it, he froze. After a while, he could not resist the urge to laugh. It was seriously like a joke. He had gone to buy marbles, but somehow run into a gang war, somehow been chased, somehow was carrying a hidden treasure, somehow was chased by a beast for so long. “What the f*ck even is all this?”

  Restraining his anger, he pushed himself up with difficulty and walked, holding the wall. No matter what, it was over. But reality quickly slapped him in the face. Over? Keep dreaming!

  In the deep night, he gazed around at the rubble all around him, trying to find out where exactly he was. And then came an eerie sound. His footsteps halted and he turned back, listening carefully.

  Carried by the wind, it sounded like crying, full of sadness and pain. The cries spread in the darkness, wrapping around him like strands of hair. Staring into the direction of the cries, Ye Qingxuan decided quickly to stop. He turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. F*ck cries! He had had enough!

  Gradually, the crying disappeared, but his steps also slowed. In the end, he could not even raise his foot. Was it really good to leave like this? Shouldn’t he at least go take a look? Even though that was how characters died in horror stories. Why was someone crying with the lost souls in this empty place so late at night?

  He stood wordlessly in the darkness, looking back. It was empty and silent behind him.

  “If I die, it’s going to be because I’m stupid.” Ye Qingxuan scratched his face in frustration and kicked over some garbage while screaming. He turned toward the direction of the cries.

  The painful cries sounded again. Closer and closer. Closer and closer. Ye Qingxuan held his breath as he crept nearer. Flattening himself against the wall, he peered out from the corner at the source of the cries. The ground was covered in blood.

  101 Calling from the Dark

  A naked corpse lay on the ground, fresh blood pooled around it. The eyes of the cold body stared up into the black sky. She looked like a typical prostitute from downtown. Her cheap dress was torn and had been dyed red from the blood. The deep red made the ragged dress seem more expensive, full of stunning beauty.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” A frail figure kneeling in the puddle of blood choked out, “Sorry…” The voice was weak and in pain. It sounded like a girl, but her thin figure was hidden under a cloak. All Ye Qingxuan could see was a strand of golden hair that fell from under the hood. But she was a living person. Thankfully, she was a living person.

  Ye Qingxuan let out a sigh in relief and walked out from the corner. He gazed around in caution, but besides the girl, the place was empty. It was good; he could attack and retreat.

  Taking a deep breath, he walked over carefully, ready to flee at the smallest sign of danger. But nothing strange happened, even as he approached the girl.

  She was still kneeling in the puddle, sobbing and choking out an apology. “I wanted to help you, I’m sorry…”

  “Hey, are you okay?” Ye Qingxuan gulped and lightly touched her shoulder. The crying girl flinched in shock. Her entire body stiffened, trembling with fear.

  Taken aback, Ye Qingxuan withdrew his hand awkwardly. “Don’t be scared. I’m not a bad guy. I just saw you crying. Can I help you?”

  “Did you touch me?” The girl spoke with her back facing him. Her voice was fragile, but there was no longer any trace of fear. Instead, there was unrestrainable anger.

  “Huh?”

  She turned her head stiffly, her neck cracking. The voice that came from the dark hood was distant and scratchy, like delirious cries after waking from a nightmare. “You-just-touched me?”

  “I’m sorry, I…” Ye Qingxuan reflexively tried to explain himself, but his voice suddenly broke off. When the girl moved away from the corpse, he finally saw the whole body.

  The dead prostitute stared up lifelessly at the sky. Under the dim light, two shriveled breasts sagged limply on each side because her entire chest had been carved open. Two rows of ribs reached out to the sky like an infant’s hands. The intestines were placed neatly on the ground beside the body.

  Still in the puddle of blood, the girl held a shriveled heart in her hand. The heart was almost squeezed to the point of bursting in the angrily clenched fist. The scene seemed so familiar to Ye Qingxuan.

  Shadowed by the hood, the face slowly rose. Fury filled the two beastly eyes, “You want to dirty me too…you dirty…”

  Ye Qingxuan ran without hesitation.

  —

  Not even ten minutes after getting the Butcher off his heels, he had began to run for his life again. He probably broke the record for the worst luck in Avalon today! First, he had run into a gang fight and was chased by the Bloody Butch
er. Then, because he was stupid, he had run into Avalon’s legendary Ripper!

  Avalon’s Ripper! The murderous monster from Whitechapel Church! The one who liked to dissect victims while they were still alive and take their inner organs. He could never forget the pictures from the files! First the Bloody Butcher, then the Ripper…were these lunatics so bored that they all came downtown to play?

  Before he could take three steps, a crazed scream sounded behind him. The piercing sound was filled with fury and murderous intent, almost breaking his eardrums.

  Ye Qingxuan really wanted to cry, “What are you angry about? I’m too tired to be angry, alright! This isn’t the East, where a girl can’t be touched by a stranger, and you’re not some lady either. How are you going to live if you get this angry just because I touched you?!” he wanted to yell back. But before he could speak, a crash sounded from behind. Ye Qingxuan looked back in shock to see the wall and floor shatter under the frail figure’s bare hands!

  As if hacked by an invisible ax, cracks appeared under the furious scratching. A sharp crack snaked toward Ye Qingxuan. If not for his fast reflexes, he would have been split in half by the invisible ax.

  Inhaling the cold air, Ye Qingxuan sped up, but the shadow behind him stayed in its place. Watching him run away, she murmured to herself, “Purify, purify…”

  When he had finally lost the shadow and made a few more turns, Ye Qingxuan let himself relax. But before he could catch his breath, he heard footsteps getting closer.

  “Purify…” The figure was suddenly there, walking toward him with empty hands. As “he” or “she” or “it” walked, everything—stone tiles, walls, abandoned houses, insects on the ground—in its path was sliced into tiny pieces.

  “What do you want?!” Feeling a gust of cold air hit the back of his head, Ye Qingxuan turned and started running again. As he had predicted, the Ripper was in front of him again after a few hundred meters.

  “…You dirty monsters must be purified…for this world…” the Ripper murmured, walking toward Ye Qingxuan.