by Feng Yue
As if being struck by lightning, Ye Qingxuan was unprepared and thoroughly frozen. What followed was a heavy heartbeat echoing in his brain like the deep sea. The sound was unprecedentedly clear.
With the support of Lola’s resonance, Ye Qingxuan’s range of induction was instantly enlarged a lot. Too busy to be startled, he seized the opportunity to send his mind into the Elizabeth Tower. For a moment, all he could see was…utter destruction.
Avalon’s enchantment had been forcibly destroyed from the core and was completely out of control now. The layers of music theory were deadly silent and falling apart. They were like giants who had been beheaded and were rapidly collapsing and dying.
Working in concert Spring Song, Ye Qingxuan put his mind into it. He could also feel the pain but, at this moment, there was no time for him to lament.
The world was cruel. People with pain should always help each other since they were suffering together!
Relying on the power borrowed from Lola, Ye Qingxuan suddenly pushed the stagnant enchantment forward. His will ran through the center of the disintegration. Since the moonlight that he drew by himself was not enough, he just looked for something bigger.
With his own bell authority and the music theory of the School of Stone Heart, Ye Qingxuan obtained the control of the enchantment effortlessly. Then, his will rushed into the complex music theory cycle and began to reactivate the movement!
Wasn’t it just fixing something? He had fixed things in Luther for three years!
The enchantment began falling apart more rapidly. Under Ye Qingxuan’s violent maintenance, the collapsed notes and movements were directly removed from the entire system. Ye Qingxuan demolished those things violently and removed those that could not be fixed. Since there was no possibility to repair it completely, he just robbed Peter to pay Paul!
The weakened enchantment truly suffered in the hands of someone like Ye Qingxuan. A large amount of music theories in the core were mercilessly demolished to mend the parts that were comparatively complete. He forcefully activated the dead silence.
Protection music score? Demolish! It was already so damaged that there was no use in protecting it! Climate adjustment movement? Demolish! Did anyone need a rainstorm for entertainment at this time? Contact score? Demolish! Control movement? Demolish!
Demolish! Demolish! Demolish!
Ye Qingxuan practically demolished all the music movements engraved and constructed by hundreds of past musicians. Through unprecedented high-speed interpretation and manipulation, and the help of so many materials, Qingxuan quickly repaired the remaining areas. He reconnected the relatively complete music theories with each other.
Fortunately, he had the experience in manipulating the Requiem enchantment and was not nervous before such a large operation. The enchantment instantly contracted. Two-thirds collapsed while almost the whole downtown district was abandoned.
Next, the dying enchantment began to recover rapidly and was activated. Broken movements lit up continuously from everywhere in the tower. The Elizabeth Tower, which was originally falling apart, stood again on the ground.
A mass of aether approached and gathered on the enchantment to ignite the flame at the top of the tower again. The enchantment, sewn back together and now horribly ugly, was finally restored to its full. Then, next…
“If I die or live all depends on you now!” Ye Qingxuan gritted his teeth, clenching his fist. The Elizabeth Tower began to tremble.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The thunderous bell suddenly rang, producing a desolate and hoarse yet grand sound. Sound waves were set off and spread to all directions. A faint curtain of light suddenly lit up in the sky. The enchantment riddled with holes had finally unfolded again! Avalon’s enchantment had resurrected!
The moon that hung high in the sky suddenly came down. As if suddenly pulled to the ground, the moon enlarged as if it was falling. In the end, it covered half the Avalon’s sky. Light illuminated the entire city of demons. The darkness trembled and dispersed. Both the sky and the land became an ocean of moonlight.
Endless moonlight surged into Ye Qingxuan’s body along with the enchantment, making him roar hoarsely. Jiu Xiao Huan Pei produced a gloomy but unique melody.
The moon was still falling! Falling! Falling! Ye Qingxuan laughed and spread his arms to greet the moon’s arrival. Come here and invite the moon into one’s arms!
In the blink of an eye, that moon flowing with white and blue light had covered Avalon. Carrying a cold melody, it descended silently. The closer it came to the tower, the more unreal its silhouette became. Countless music theories were interwoven with each other inside the light as it played the eternal movement.
Through the layers of aetheric waves, the moon’s ‘spirituality’ descended from the aetheric realm to the material realm. The huge moon gradually shrank, until it finally became into a ball of faint light and entered Ye Qingxuan’s arms.
In Ye Qingxuan’s chest, a heart as illusory as the moonlight quietly emerged. It beat silently, leading the Deva’s blood to flow.
The sub-originator was created!
At that moment, a new pulse was born. It was the sound of a heart beating. Together with the bell’s ringing that resounded through Avalon’s Shadow, it spread to all directions. In its path, waves were created in illusory moonlight, and later became the tides!
The rumbling bells echoed, roaring and melting into the ripples of the heartbeat. It abruptly transformed and became erratic. It was vaguely between the real and the unreal. No one knew whether it existed or not. But no matter where it passed, there was always a terrible roar.
All the demons screamed, crawled, and trembled. They tumbled under the moonlight tides and illusionary bells. Numerous demons were startled in the shock of the bell. Their skulls burst and they died on the spot.
The dark musicians were not better either. For a time they unexpectedly felt the bells penetrating into their own consciousness to control their pulses. They could feel their heart swaying. They sweated and breathed heavily in the shock of the ringing.
“Who’s there?” In the midst of the bells, the Dark Lord’s footsteps stalled. He turned back, looked behind him, and gazed at the thin figure on the top of the tower.
Under the pale moon, the youth awoken from his sleep. Moonlight burned in his eyes. His figure looked like the man from back then.
“What a pity that it isn’t him.” There was a glimmer of disappointment in the Dark Lord’s eyes. However, it soon became disgust. “But the eyes are also unpleasant. Gavin, it seems that you didn’t finish your job as well as I thought.”
Gavin listened to the bell blankly. He seemed to have not yet processed it. After a long time, he lowered his head and gritted his teeth. “I’ll take care of him.”
Hyakume waved. Behind him, the dark musicians retreated while kneeling. Demons and beasts were called out and pounced toward the tower.
“Do not let me down, Gavin. Don’t let your deeds be defiled by folly.” The Dark Lord looked away and went ahead to the dark mist. The palace was not far away. Under his feet, the earth trembled faintly.
Darkness gushed in his path and turned into the soil of the abyss. In the sky above, moonlight surged.
297 Deva Sensing
Above the tall tower, Ye Qingxuan studied the rift in his chest with a shocked expression. The heart of the enchantment of Avalon’s Shadow had somehow moved into his own heart. A heart created by the royal capital’s enchantment? A one-of-a-kind sub-originator? No one would believe him, right? It was too theatrical…
He closed his eyes and connected to the rhythm beating within him. He was instantly intoxicated by the heavenly heartbeat. His vision seemed to leave his body and rise up to the sky with the moonlight.
It rose, rose, and rose…until it was at the top of the heavens. Avalon’s Shadow instantly became too small to see. His mind hovered above the sky and looked down on the large world.
Light dotted the endless land. Above him, stars dotted the
heavens. The stream of aether created a large “star ring.” It shone like stars and ran across the skies and earth like rivers and streams. For a moment, he could not tell the sky and land apart and was lost. Then, he heard the song.
Waves of aether rolled between the two extremes and formed a faraway song. It spread long and wide but was fleeting and untouchable. It disappeared within an instant. However, it left an odd enlightenment in his heart.
“Is this Deva sensing?”
When it dawned on him, Ye Qingxuan reached out toward the world. The complex music theory weaved at his fingertip and played the melody. Small ripples formed in the aetheric sea. The ripples spread in all directions and instantly reached thousands of miles away. Melting into the endless lights, the stars were touched as well before the ripples disappeared.
In that moment, Archbishop Albert, who was sleeping inside the Sacred City, was startled from his sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw the full moon rise from the darkness that had covered Avalon and enter the musician’s world.
“What…is this?” he murmured.
Deep within the aetheric world, the sleeping minds opened their eyes and looked at the ripples in the starry sky with confusion. It was a small greeting. Someone was saying, “I am here.”
-
“An official musician now?” Lola, layed weakly on the ground and asked softly.
“Yeah.” Ye Qingxuan chuckled and helped Lola up. “Thanks to you, I’m finally on the third level.”
“You’ve just become official but you made a bigger commotion than when I went for the scepter level.” Lola coughed quietly and spat out fresh blood.
“Are you injured?”
“I accidentally embarrassed myself. I could’ve succeeded but that guy committed suicide.” She managed a smile, revealing a bit of disappointment. “And then he dragged that big thing down.”
“You’ve worked hard.” The youth took off his long robe for her. “Take a rest and hand everything to me. Old Phil will come find you after it takes the Butcher away. Just follow it.”
“You’ve finally survived and now you want to die again?”
“To collect my debt.” Ye Qingxuan rose and patted the wound on his chest. “He broke my heart. I should express something.”
Lola managed a smile and closed her eyes. “Remember to run if you can’t beat him.”
“Don’t worry, I’m the best at running.” The youth pushed the brim of his hat down. He slammed his cane on the ground. “But first let me act cool.”
Boom! The white tower trembled and the twelve zodiac gates fell open. Moonlight swept into the darkness like a tide! Amongst the dark musicians, Naberius froze. Seeming to think of something, he subtly retreated and hid inside the darkness.
“What is this?” The dark musician in the front wrinkled his brows. He shook his head when the broken moonlight fell upon him and he looked at his companions. “It looks like…like…”
Like what?
Suddenly thinking of it, he raised his hand to pat his head. However, his arm loosened and a clump of sand fell onto his face.
He was stunned. His companions stared at him as if they had seen a ghost. The dark aura of demons flowed in that place covered by moonlight. The aura writhed like a dying snake and dissipated.
The moonlight surged like waves that destroyed the castle on the beach. It destroyed the dark musician’s body as well. Shrieking, he stumbled back. However, his companions could see that his mutated body parts were rapidly deconstructing and scattering in the wind and moon.
“What…curse is this?” he stuttered.
His face became weathered, baring the goat-like skull. Three eyeballs trembled in the eye sockets as they were invaded by moonlight. Horror, panic, despair…and finally, a terrifying serenity.
“It’s so beautiful.” The dark musician had eroded into a skeleton but he bathed in the moonlight. His remaining flesh smiled and waved at the others. “Come on, come look! I-I sublimated!” He abruptly yanked out his demonized heart and then put a hand to his forehead. His sound of heart was activated and his body shuddered…he had killed himself!
What kind of f*cked up sublimation was this?!
Freaked out, the other dark musicians hurriedly avoided the moonlight but it was too late. The semi-realistic, semi-illusionary moonlight fell upon each person equally.
Agonized cries sounded one after another. The abnormal power quickly eroded under the invasion of the moonlight. The music theory that controlled the power extinguished as if its spine had been yanked out. It collapsed without a sound.
Practically every dark musician had undergone the ritual to strengthen themselves with demonic blood. While receiving power, they were also tied to this power. When the power began to dissipate, it was undoubtedly the end of their lives.
“Hurry and release the nightmare fog. Hide yourself!” someone finally reacted in the silent horror and yelled. “Push down your strength! Leave here!”
The dark musician had cruelly broken the lower half of his own body. Gray mist rolled out of his body and covered the moonlight, allowing him to recover his strength. His body quickly regenerated.
Overjoyed, he called a shadow wolf to carry him. “Leave this place! That guy had transformed the enchantment’s power into a curse! If you leave, he’ll be powerless.”
A hand reached out from the moonlight and yanked him off the shadow wolf by the collar. A smiling face appeared before him.
“You want to leave after pissing off the Vengeful Spirit?”
His eyes changed and the shadow under his feet trembled. An immense object rose from it and was instantly shattered by lightning. The pouncing shadow wolf was ejected. Lightning burst from it and it shattered.
The dark musician was now charred. His expressions changed and quickly showed decisiveness. “Let me leave and I promise to be loyal—”
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” Ye Qingxuan glanced over coldly and cut him off.
The dark musician froze. But he saw moonlight shoot from Ye Qingxuan’s fingers and surge into him. The undefeatable purification had begun from inside him.
“To be honest, I’m not good at killing and I never force myself.” He tossed the dark musician to the floor and gazed at the others. “The moonlight only purifies demons. If you cut off the contract with Satan then you won’t die. The asylum and Hell are two places so…you can decide if you want to live or not.”
Darkness rose out of nowhere. Thick fog spewed from the dark musicians. It contained the moans of countless people and snaked into their ears, murmuring endlessly. This was the ‘nightmare fog’ that dark musicians often used. It was aether transformed by satanic power. Not only could it swallow light and sound, it could also create boundaries and suppress their enemy’s abilities.
This was the dark musicians’ reply.
The moonlight that poured from the door was just scrap material left from creating Ye Qingxuan’s sub-originator. It was powerless against the nightmare fog with complex music theory.
“Ye Qingxuan, still alive…” A cold voice traveled in the wind. Behind the Dark Lord, Gavin looked back. He studied the face with steel gray eyes. “As expected, I should’ve been more direct. This is my mistake.”
“You’ve made many mistakes, Gavin. This isn’t the only one.” Ye Qingxuan gazed at him from the other side of the endless wind and moonlight. His face was expressionless. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you fix them all!”
Clenching a fist, Jiu Xiao Huan Pei shot out. The cane thudded on the ground with a crisp echo. Strands of moonlight appeared and scattered in all directions.
“You don’t know your place!” A beastly musician roared amongst the dark musicians. Under the nightmare fog, his figure changed dramatically and fused with his beastly nature. Then he disappeared. This was the upgraded version of the formless ghost—the void predator!
A hoarse song came from somewhere. It left behind a thick decaying aura in its path. Even aether lost its liveliness and fell into
slumber. This was compound beast fusion!
He had fused multiple demonic powers at once. After Modifications musicians turned to Satanism, they no longer needed to worry about the backlash of the beastly nature. They could use the skill to their full extent and was beyond human imagination. He had fused four types, including toxic poison and the curse of burning blood.
He charged to Ye Qingxuan instantly under the nightmare fog’s cover. He opened his invisible arms and embraced! He was able to suck the vitality out of living things with just a touch and enhance the originator within him.
In reply, the youth pulled a long nail from his bag.
The silver nail reflected the moonlight as if it contained hellish fire. Sensing the demonic aura, it began ringing. In the embrace of death, the youth raised his hat, revealing icy eyes. “Since you looked over, then I’ll show you all something nice!” Chaotic aether shot out instantly—but it came from all directions instead of Ye Qingxuan’s hands!
Without communication, pre-planning, hesitation, waiting, or mercy, this was an all-out and aggressive attack with nothing held back.
The dark musicians had begun!
298 That’s All
The dark musicians did not even need to think in order to know what the guy was holding—holy nails from the Silence Governance!
These days, the only ones who would carry these chant material were either ascetic monks from the Church’s Ministry of Faith or silent monks from the Sacred City’s Silence Governance. Either way, it was not good news!
The former were executioners trained by the religious judiciary. They existed to tie everything heretic onto stakes to be burned. The latter were the trademarks of the Silence Governance. They were musician killers—musicians who existed to hunt musicians! Neither of them were anything good.
This guy looked like a newly official musician but everything could happen in this strange place. At this critical moment, they would not have any hesitation or relaxation. If they acted, they would not hold back—they would rip him apart and burn him to dust. Otherwise, they would be the ones being burned to dust.