by Feng Yue
Hellish fire spewed from the nails. It overtook Dagonet’s body from inside out, transforming it into ashes and burning the countless demons.
The nails were the chant material the Shaman had given Ye Qingxuan. Alchemists had created these pure silver nails in the short few days. They were customized alchemy equipment for Night on Bald Mountain. Now, the music score’s fatality had more than doubled!
Dagonet struggled in the fire but was unable to free himself. The flames ate at him from the inside. Sticky bodily fluid spewed from the cracks of the armor. Trying to escape, the demons poured out like a fountain. However, they were already burning. After the violent spasms, not even ashes remained.
Through the heavy firelight, Dagonet’s body returned to brink of death. He protested pathetically and pounded the wall that restrained him. The cracks extended. Finally, he stopped moving. The aether waves disappeared. All that remained was the armor that was red from the heat.
Ye Qingxuan could finally let out a sigh of relief. Cold sweat seeped from his back but he smiled. “I’m not an official musician but I’m pretty good, huh.”
While he spoke, a scoff sounded in the wind. His expression froze but he comforted himself, “A normal person can’t compete with those beasts. Gotta compare myself to people below me.”
As he muttered things others could not understand, he walked forward and yanked the silver nails from the red armor. The already crumbling wall now shattered and revealed a giant hole.
The damaged wall and the armor in it fell into the night sky outside the tower. They broke apart in mid-air.
“I’m already this high up?”
Cold air from the high elevation rushed into the room. Ye Qingxuan stood beside the crack and gazed at the clouds. Looking down his expression froze. Between the gaps of the clouds, Ye Qingxuan saw a bustling and busy city. It was covered in lights. Carriages raced down the streets.
There was the solemn graveness of uptown, the bustling song and dance of midtown, and the messy chaos of downtown. Countless ships were anchored in the harbor. The departing ship sounded its horn, which rang in the night sky. This lively city was like a pearl shining in the night. Everyone who saw it would be genuinely shaken by the sight.
“Avalon?” Ye Qingxuan looked back blankly. He felt the thick aura of natural catastrophes in the room and then glanced at the flourishing city outside the crack. His expression was filled with shock.
He was in the heart of Avalon’s Shadow so how could he be looking down on the real Avalon? If he was not looking at an illusion then…where was he right now? In the Shadow? Or…
-
Under the same night sky, the clock shop was filled with light ticks. Hermes had finished his late night snack and rested on the sofa. He had loosened his belt and his impressive belly bulged.
He had a vintage floor mirror before him. Resting his double chin on his hands, he gazed at the scene in the mirror. In it, demons and barren sites flashed past. Finally, the image stopped on an overlooking angle. Demons surge in the dark city. A white tower rose to the sky with a strange aura.
“Avalon’s Shadow?” Bai Xi, passing by, stopped before him and knocked against the mirror curiously. “You can see another world with this?”
“Sorry, no.” Hermes shrugged. “But Avalon’s Shadow isn’t in another world. At most it’s just a difference of ‘here’ and ‘there’.”
“What does that mean?”
“Would you believe me if I said that we’re in Avalon’s Shadow right now? Okay, you won’t, but that’s the truth.” Hermes smiled his trademark evil smile. “Everyone knows that when King Arthur failed, his Sword in the Stone split apart. He lost control of his scepter ‘Kingdom Come.’ It dragged broken pieces of Avalon deep into the sea of aether and buried everything, creating Avalon’s Shadow. But a shadow must be behind light. So how far is the shadow from the city?”
Hermes raised his hand. The light passed through his arm and left the shadow of his hand on the wall. The shadow changed as he moved his hand, causing Bai Xi to shudder.
“The answer is that it’s right here.” Hermes studied his shadow. He pressed his hand onto the shadow and the two became one. “It’s funny, isn’t it? In Avalon, hundreds of thousands live, die, breathe, eat, sleep, mate…but nobody has realized that they’re only a step away from the deep abyss.”
Hermes glanced at Bai Xi cheerfully. “You live in the same city as demons. You brush past each other and live in the same houses. You interact every day but neither knows. For example, right now, there’s a spider mother above your head.”
Bai Xi’s expression darkened and she smacked Hermes with the dictionary in her hands. “How would a clean freak like you let demons into your house? Do you think I’m a three-year-old kid?”
“Ha, as expected of my student!” Hermes reached out and caught the dictionary with a chubby hand as he laughed loudly.
“Explain clearly if you’re going to talk about it,” Bai Xi said coldly. “Don’t beat around the bush.”
“I’m getting there, be patient.” Hermes shook his head and sighed. Drawing in the air with a finger, he stated, “The three kings of ancient times called their place the material world. The place of the Originator was the aether world. There were nine levels of the aether sea between the worlds.
“However, there isn’t such a large distance between the material and aether world…Rather, it overlapped long ago. The nine levels of the aether sea have connected the two.
“The saints used their scepters to create music theories and used the formless territory as a high tower that reached into both worlds. They wanted to create unbelievable miracles and hoped they could enter the Originator one day.
“King Arthur was not an exception. In reality, Avalon was the foundation he created for his scepter Kingdom Come. Everything was done to increase his strength to the max. Thus, he practically became a demi-god. When he died, the piece of heaven that had descended onto earth fell apart as well and sank into the aether sea with him. It entered eternal sleep in the darkness.
“At first, the demons hiding in the shadow would have the chance to cross the door and appear here whenever fog shrouded Avalon. But as Avalon’s Shadow sank deeper and deeper into the aether sea, they became further away from ‘here.’ In the end, only the Blood Path connected them. For centuries, only the royal family would use their blood to open this path for some unspeakable secrets.
“Unfortunately, some people have been meddling recently…this demonic world that had sunk into darkness is awakening again.”
Hermes paused and his face twitched. “In the end, you have to blame that troublesome guy. The Ye family had almost died out in the east and they still wouldn’t rest in the West. It’s been thousands of years and none of them have been normal! Including that cousin of yours.”
Bai Xi fell silent. She stared at the world in the mirror. Her slowly-maturing face was heavy and unreadable. However, Hermes arched an eyebrow.
“Are you worried for him? Don’t be. Why don’t you worry that your Yunlou daddy has finally decided to snatch you back to keep his cause alive? His life is sturdier than yours.”
Hermes huffed in annoyance. “Ye Lanzhou had used all his tricks to hide many good things. Unfortunately, he didn’t know his son would be so stubborn. He looks colder and more realistic than anyone else but he’s actually so naïve.”
As he spoke, he grew gleeful and sighed, “I’m really excited. I wonder how interesting Ye Qingxuan’s expression will be when he finally realizes that he’s always been purposely overlooked because of his naivety.”
288 Took the Bait?
Actually, Ye Qingxuan’s facial expression was already rich now. He quickly hid his astonishment and calmed down again, continuing his path of exploration. After Dagonet’s interference, his progress was behind. He walked across a number of rooms in which there were traces of battles, including a wide room where there were a large number of corpses.
Those corpses were dark musicians who h
ad turned out to be the hideous monsters as well as royal musicians who turned themselves into elements and died without leaving behind a corpse. All that remained were their broken instruments.
Ye Qingxuan spent a long time in that room identifying their cause of death one by one. He carefully deduced the battle process and frowned. If he was right, he was probably going to run into the two teams soon. If they were dark musicians, then of course he could fight or just run away. If they were royal musicians…they would probably not regard him as a friend either.
The royal musicians had come so strangely that Ye Qingxuan had not yet figured out their purpose. The Royal Music Division’s concertmaster position had been vacant for so many years. It was still a question as to how much control the royals had over their own team of musicians.
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He continuously superimposed several layers of illusion disguise. He did not move on again until his figure was completely disguised into a vague outline and blended in with the surroundings. Soon, he finally saw someone alive in this d*mn tower. It was a dark musician who was left behind.
Among the bodies, the dark musician leaned against the corner. His legs were broken and had a large hole in his belly. He was probably left behind by his companions because he could no longer fight.
Now, a pair of scissors materialized in his hand. He used it to cut his intestines emotionlessly. Pulling out his broken stomach and liver, he searched good ones from the corpses and put them in.
He drew a thread from his robe and turned the aether into a needle to sew the rest of the entrails together. In the end, he poured a layer of something like frozen fat. Once it entered the body, it combined with flesh and blood to stabilize the displaced gut.
He completed the actions so fluidly. Lurking by the side and watching this, Ye Qingxuan was stunned. Soon, the dark musician was about to close his belly and finish the final treatment. But at that moment, some fine sounds suddenly came from the corner of the room. The dark musician suddenly looked up and his eyes turned into pale compound eyes. This was the alchemy equipment Eyes of Petrification!
Half the substances of the room were transformed into stone and became dreadfully pale. But at that moment, a shadow emerged from the obscurity behind him. Assisted by armor, it came close as swift as an arrow in just the blink of an eye.
The alarm enchantment that the dark musician had casually set around was completely cracked in just a few minutes. It was nothing compared to the difficulty of the enchantment of the Elizabeth Tower. The dark musician’s complexion changed. Layers of shields surfaced around him, but that shadow lifted his palm and suddenly pressed the air.
Boom! The force shield ruptured. His body shot back like a ball, smashed against the wall, and the newly stitched gut flowed from his belly. His sound of heart was in turmoil.
Before he could react, the shadow pounced on him and used a stick-like thing to beat his head. This was a ‘wake-up call.’ He must wake up quickly!
Bang! The dark musician blacked out but felt an invisible river pour into his head and swallow him whole. The invisible psychological attacks infiltrated his brain and scattered all his thoughts. The dark musician was muddled. He entered a state of dementia and became powerless to resist.
The young man standing before him put the cane between his eyebrows. He said in a soft voice, “Surprise! Congratulations! You’ll get a chance to receive a bonus and a mystery gift from the Vengeful Spirit as long as you give the correct answers to my questions!”
The sluggish dark musician struggled but could not think about resistance. All he felt were different emotions raising and setting in his brain—rage, sadness, joy, disappointment…all sorts of emotions. He was about to lose control and die while vomiting blood.
Ye Qingxuan once again triggered another wave of psychological attacks. The skills that he learned from their gods were applied perfectly. “Now, please listen to the first question…”
-
Just as the youth was interrogating in hushed whispers, Naberius silently appeared in the dark shadow of the corner. He stared at Ye Qingxuan’s back with a cheerful smile. He finally took the bait!
He hid into the shadows and moved quietly. His palm changed and multiplied. Five soft and cold tentacles molted from his palm with a ferocious suction cup in the middle. There were also sharp teeth that suddenly pressed to the back of Ye Qingxuan’s head.
The slender tentacles flung out into the air with explosive bursts as the whip unfurled so Ye Qingxuan had nowhere to hide. But at almost the same time, the originally preoccupied youth suddenly turned over as if he had expected this. He looked at Naberius and smiled. He had been waiting for Naberius for a long time!
Stunned, Naberius immediately felt chills all over.
In a twinkling, Ye Qingxuan flipped over and threw the captive into the Naberius’ hand. The five tentacles changed colors with an unexpected gold tint. They crossed and gathered, cutting the unresponsive dark musician into pieces. He died with his eyes open.
One could not accuse Naberius of cruelty. Who dared to catch the thing that the Vengeful Spirit threw over? He also had the habit of making the enemy a bomb and throwing it out. What if that dark musician’s brain was planted with a hint that would be triggered at the time? He would die!
However, he did not understand when he was exposed. He had great confidence in his own illusion. He definitely did not have any flaws. Soon, he found that there was no time left for him to think it over.
After the body was chopped up, Ye Qingxuan grasped the opening. He shot over with a speed at least five times faster than before! What drug did this guy take? Or was it a physical transformation?
Naberius howled. His musical temperament changed as if dozens of mouths repeated the same tone at the same time. He chanted too fast for people to hear clearly. Screaming, he finished the chant in an instant.
Iron from the void gathered; layers of notes lit up above it. The paper-thin metal skin now seemed to turn into an iron wall.
But the iron wall meant nothing. Ye Qingxuan maintained his speed—even speeding up a bit—and charged toward the wall. When he reached Naberius, he quickly pressed down.
The Sigh!
Boom! He could feel that the armor on his arm was burning red-hot after the three consecutive activations within half an hour. It was scorching like fire having reaching its limit. However, the effect was that the iron wall was broken and burst out toward Naberius with him.
The flying metal shards dug into Naberius and scraped against the bones, leaving ghastly wounds. But then he hid into the void and disappeared. He was lurking in the dark again.
He did not even have a chance to breathe. Ye Qingxuan suddenly turned strangely, followed in his direction, and caught up with him.
Naberius was exposed again?
His scalp tingled. An inexplicable sense of crisis made his figure flicker and dissipated again. Ye Qingxuan unexpectedly caught up once again before Naberius could stand his ground. He was found again?!
This time he had made sure that he had cut off all the ties with Ye Qingxuan. Even the eerie moonlight guidance line had been severed completely. How did Ye Qingxuan find him?
Malice flashed in Naberius’ eyes. Fiery bloody mist spouted from his palms. He pressed the bagpipe in his arms. The instrument gave a mournful wail, releasing the movement contained in it.
The blood mist instantly gushed like a waterfall and engulfed Ye Qingxuan. Where the blood mist fell, everything was torn to dust by the violent forces contained in it.
The walls were instantly penetrated, revealing a strange and twisted room behind them, and left deep ravines on the floor. With a blow, even the air was sucked dry. The entire cone-shaped region became a vacuum. Nothing existed. Including Ye Qingxuan.
The youth’s figure became illusory and broke soundlessly. He disappeared like the moon’s reflection in water. It was fake… F*ck!
Naberius’ expression changed. He finally he
ard the faint chant in the wind. It was the Phantom Suns from Winterreise! He was startled at the moment of the counterattack which gave Ye Qingxuan the opportunity to plant a hint.
“Wrong, I’m here!” Ye Qingxuan whispered behind him. The youth pressed his cane to Naberius’s waist. At the head of the staff, the amber gem shone with glowing light. The Eye of Indrah!
In a flash, frantic electricity engulfed him, drowning him in the glaring light. The destruction had arrived. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed in the air. They became a complex movement, releasing the cool and majestic melody.
A bright moon emerged, hanging right above Naberius, who was now charred. The moonlight swallowed Naberius like fire.
Thunder and moonlight doubled the destruction. Instantly, half of Naberius’ body turned to ashes. However, his flesh and blood quickly withered in the moonlight. His blood gushed and shielded the moonlight.
Next, he molted like a snake. He shed most of his flesh and skin, shaking off the moon’s lock. He instantly jumped dozens of meters out of the moonlight’s range.
Ye Qingxuan did not expect that Naberius could escape in such a way. Tired as he was, he could not easily catch up. However, the Naberius’ eyes showed no calm or mockery; they were full of panic and fear. He was distraught.
289 Six-Sided
For the first time after being punished by the gods for decades Naberius felt humiliation and fear. The thunderbolt was just regular destruction and he did not worry over it. However, the moonlight…the moonlight… Gritting his teeth, he abruptly broke his arm. Moonlight also surged from the arm like fire. It purified the arm, turning it to dust.
He had vaguely heard of this terrifying thing before. It was the natural enemy of dark musicians, the nemesis of all demons—a fatal curse. He only truly understood the horror after experiencing it personally. He did not even know how to fight against the benevolence purification. The only solution was to be heartless and get rid of it before he was tainted. He could still feel the horror of being powerless. How could Holmes possess such a cry power?