by Feng Yue
“Allowed.”
Sir Lancelot stood below the throne. The seal in his hands, created by royal blood, instantly began to shake. The bell at the top of the Elizabeth Tower began to ring. The ringing cut across the skies and earth, resounding nine times.
Dominic stood before the door of the Jianlan Underground Palace. The bell slowly pushed the door open. Darkness no longer resided in the world behind the door. Endless light rolled out like a tidal wave.
The sound of a choir singing in a low voice resounded in everyone’s ears. The tide of light surged and shot into the black sky. The fog was swept away and the aura of the abyss no longer remained because an immense sun was rising slowly. The world was instantly brightened.
A ray of red light brewed within the sun and descended from the sky. The frozen world was shattered by its power and light fell into the Shaman’s palms. He clenched his hands.
It was as if all the power in the world was in his hands. The light illuminated the true appearance of the beam of radiance. It was an ancient and majestic sword! The hole in the Shaman’s chest was quickly repaired. His bones grew and mended the crack. He instantly recovered.
Blazing wings of light burst from his back. The large wings created a flood in the aetheric sea. Endless strength converged above the Shaman, transforming into a halo. Now, the Shaman was no longer the lord of darkness. He was now the only king of the world—the noble one who ruled over the world with dignity. It was as if King Arthur had come back to life.
After centuries, the absolute power given to Anglo by the heavens, the legendary weapon that had killed the natural catastrophe Leviathan—the Sword in the Stone—had finally re-appeared! This world had changed drastically.
In the mud, Ingmar finally processed everything. He gaped at the glowing figure. His muddled mind was somehow stimulated. He shuddered and finally became clear-headed again. However, he felt ineffable fear.
How could this be? How could this be? How could this be?!
“Ma-Ma-Maxwell!” His features twisted. Pointing at the one shrouded in light, he shrieked as if in a nightmare, “How can you be here?! You clearly…this is impossible…this is impossible!”
“It’s simple.” The majestic man with wings stood in the light and looked back coldly at him. “Because I am the Shaman.”
The wings of light flapped. Ingmar’s body sagged and scattered like dust. The Shaman—no, Maxwell—flew into the sky, reigning from between the heavens and earth. He asked gravely, “Where are the knights?”
The sound of swords unsheathing came from every corner of Avalon like thunder. Eight beams of light shot into the sky. The knights clad in armor had finally regrouped.
Galahad, Geraint, Gareth, Bedivere, Kay, Lamorak, Aglovale, Tristan…The knights of the Round Table were ready to fight!
“Good.” Maxwell nodded. “Royal Musician Division.”
In an instant, overlapping waves of aether flashed from every corner of Avalon. In a hidden room, six grandmasters and hundreds of musicians resonated with the sword. There were even two Scepter-level waves that surged from the end of the sea. They came from thousands of miles away and contained all the strength.
The light around Maxwell burned brighter as if he truly was the sun.
The sunlight shrouded the Round Table Knights. It cut the barrier between the aetheric and material world and fell into the black shadow realm.
Immediately afterward, wild thundering resounded in the air. “Men, follow me to kill the god!”
-
The shadow realm instantly shook. Amongst the earth-shattering thunder, a blazing sun rose from the eternal night. It illuminated the world from its place high up in the sky. Blazing sunlight fell and swept the gray fog away from the city.
The countless black dust wailed and shook. They shot up into the sky and scattered under the violent brilliance. The still city awoke again under the light and finally resonated again.
At that moment, Maxwell had already descended from the sky. The Sword in the Stone played the Chapter of the Golden Victory, awakening the lost royal power in Avalon’s Shadow. Four immense shadows emerged under the brilliance. They carried terrifying auras and slammed down on the aether world. They said, “Come.”
The sun that descended from the sky contained the king’s crown and descended onto the ground. The control of Avalon’s Shadow was instantly robbed. Maxwell entered the shadow world easily and swung his sword down with might.
The darkness shook. Infinite light pierced into the depths along with the blade. It instantly crossed thousands of miles straight to the heart! Before the palace, the Dark Lord froze. The ancient sword pierced his chest and shone with royal power, imploding. Lit on fire, he roared.
One moment he still had control. The next moment, Kingdom Come’s strength fell from the sky and fatally wounded the Dark Lord who had been focused on opening Avalon’s Shadow.
“Sword in the Stone?” he asked hoarsely, looking down at the sword in him with shock.
“Yeah, you didn’t expect it, right?” Maxwell sneered behind him. “It’s finally awakened after being hidden away for so many years. The sheath was even repaired. Mr. Deity, are you surprised?”
It suddenly dawned on the Dark Lord. “This was all your plan.”
Maxwell leered from within the flames. His smile was filled with malice and craze.
For centuries after Arthur had fallen, this Dark Lord’s influence had been seeping into Anglo and snooping from the shadows. For all these years, the royal family had cast a blind eye, allowing it to become stronger.
Downtown, the Parliament, the Blood Path, Avalon’s Shadow, the Bell Authority… Everything—all the years of quiet endurance and waiting—were done in order for this deity to lower his guards and walk his incarnate into the prepared trap. For this, so many people had lost their lives, so many had died soundlessly. They even used Arthur’s corpse as bait just for this moment to arrive. They uprooted the evil hand that reached into the mortal world and destroyed it completely! They would even kill the incarnation of a deity! This was a battle between men and gods. After centuries of planning and decades of acting, it was now…just starting!
Boom! Flames shot from the Stone in the Stone. It shattered the Dark Lord’s chest. The strength from the abyss shook and collapsed. The root was cut off.
“You’ve been watching from the side all these years, making everyone panic. We put in so much to invite you down so we’ll definitely welcome you warmly.” Maxwell asked, “What do you think about my Starry Sky? I personally made it. Does it suit your taste?”
The Dark Lord growled. His broken chest seemed to contain a bottomless abyss. Inside it, countless faces continuously appeared and hoarsely chanted a blasphemous song. Darkness swept through again.
Light and darkness battled amidst the turmoil. Tsunamis were formed in the aether sea. The aftershocks and waves shook the shadow world, pushing it close to collapse. The war was only just beginning in the realm of the fallen scepter, before the aether and material world.
Amidst the resonance, Ye Qingxuan hid under the Elizabeth Tower. He closed his eyes and cut off all communication with the aether. Even so, he was practically paralyzed by the wild ripples from the core.
Lofty beams of light hacked down from the Sword in the Stone. Each movement caused floods that disappeared once it flowed into the darkness. The sun and dark night crashed and wrestled in the sky. Everything swept into the air waves were scattered like dust.
But this was Avalon, after all. It was the home turf of the Sword in the Stone. Even faced with the majestic incarnation of a god, Maxwell was able to have the upper hand for a bit. In addition, he had the Round Table Knights to add some hits in between. The phantom beast in the holy armor had been completely awakened too. Nine different beastly features materialized.
The claws, eyes, flames, teeth…the nine features combined and formed the Red Dragon. It let out an earth-shattering roar. Spitting fire, its majesty became tangible and spread.
It destroyed all the demons in its way and restrained a portion of the abyss’ power.
It was nine against one. The royal musicians were also sending reinforcement from the outside too. All of Anglo’s strength was united to fight against the god.
Soon the world shook and the darkness was furious. A giant crack opened leading to the abyss. Countless demons swarmed from the crack. Dozens of big demons appeared and wrestled with the Red Dragon.
The Dark Lord’s figure flickered and dissipated.
“You want to leave?” Maxwell scoffed. “The door’s closed. How can I let you escape? That guy over there, stop wasting time! It’s time for you to shine!”
Ye Qingxuan froze. He flew toward the top level of the Elizabeth Tower. Pressing down onto the center of the enchantment, his heart flashed behind the crack in his chest. The core had been activated. He immediately felt immense power surge into the enchantment from the outside world. He could barely control the waves from the aether sea! He looked around carefully and realized the power was right beside him.
“Outside Avalon’s Shadow?” he murmured. An old man stood under the moonlight at the top of the white tower outside Avalon. He seemed to be meditating. The young musician beside him lowered his head respectfully. “Grandmaster Hadyn, you can begin now.”
302 It Is Always Here
“Well, things can’t be delayed.” One of the thirteen present saints, the greatest musician who inherited the name of ‘Haydn,’ opened his eyes and spread an ancient scroll from his hand.
On the ancient scroll, there were dark strokes that made up the notes and composing mysterious movements. They suddenly turned into several scenes with the aetheric fluctuations. They changed from emptiness to the darkness of the abyss, to an indescribable existence above the water, to…a glimmer of light!
“Let there be light,” said Haydn. And so there was light.
In the middle of the sky and earth, nine layers of the aetheric sea resonated. Everything sang for the birth of light. The countless light blended into the collapsing enchantment of Avalon, and completely integrated with it. The miracle was here.
“Genesis?” Ye Qingxuan looked up blankly at the light falling from the sky. This was the peak of the School of Abstinence, the origin of the universe observable from the nature of aether, the origin of all, the movement of creation and destruction—Genesis!
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan almost melted and integrated into the light. On the top of the tower, the bell thundered, singing for the creation of this world! Infinite power sprouted from the depths of the enchantment, almost crushing his tiny consciousness into pieces. Ye Qingxuan only had the time to trigger Jiu Xiao Huan Pei. He used all his effort to guide the endless mighty torrents and gather them in the sky.
“So this is how it is!” Ye Qingxuan was ecstatic. His mind had melted into the enchantment to help the enchantment absorb the light. It was as if he was experiencing the magnificent changes in Genesis by himself. It was the peak of the School of Abstinence, the origin of all music theory, the essence of the aether. Creation or destruction was just the difference of a thought!
Instantly, his understanding of the School of Abstinence’s Nature increased. His confusions about the School of Stone Heart’s music theory were also solved. The movement in his mind fell apart and reassembled. His view of the world was suddenly offset but soon recalibrated.
This feeling was unprecedented. His soul seemed to be infinitely magnified and he was drunk in the light of creation. It was like observing the world with the eyes of aether. The world became brand new.
Next, time seemed to be reversed! The dark cellar under the Elizabeth Tower had been silent for hundreds of years. The alchemy had long disintegrated and fallen into silence. Now, it was revived. On sixteen dark stone tablets, layers of notes lit up. The melody of the movement roared.
This was the control center that the alchemist made for Avalon hundreds of years ago. The alchemy technology that transcended that era created the world’s largest ‘tuning instrument’ at that time. No ‘differential machines’ or ‘analyzers’ in the world could be more efficient than it. The ‘aether ball’ was only its research sub-product. Its control of movements meant nothing when compared to this tuning instrument.
Only such a behemoth could perform the accurate control that the vast enchantment of Avalon and kingdom required when running. When ‘Kingdom Come’ shattered hundreds of years ago, it also fell apart with the city and became legends and secrets hidden in the ancient scrolls. But under the shining light, it seemed that time had become an ancient book whose pages could be turned arbitrarily. The past, which was recorded in the aether, was drawn out to be rewritten. It was reflected in this space, returning to their glorious moment.
Thus, the tuning instrument lit up again. Countless notes flickered on the sixteen tall. Countless complex music theory flashed until, finally, the notes re-accessed the enchantment under the control of the core.
Bang! The enchantment quaked under that wisp of mysterious light. It was intensified and even took over Avalon’s Shadow. The kingdom of shadows was completely sealed and isolated from all interferences outside.
In Avalon’s Shadow, the magnificent melody and voice sang the song of creation. The enchantment and Scepter field gathered in one place and were upgraded endlessly.
The extinguished stars lit up again one by one and started running. The zodiacs released dazzling light. In the end, a ring crossed the sky like a river of stars. Endless starlight converged into the lofty sunlight and moonlight. In a moment, the oppressive scorching sun and cold moonlight descended from the sky.
The dead Scepter field was resurrected?
In that glimmer of light, a new world seemed to be created.
“Of course this is here,” someone said. “It is always here.”
Boom! The Dark Lord, who was about to disappear, was suddenly ‘bounced ‘ back into the world and was almost chopped into two pieces by the sword that followed. He growled furiously and enlarged the narrowing world. The intensity of this realm was enhanced. This meant he could use all his strength!
But before Maxwell’s frenzied onslaught, his actions had been constrained as if he was afraid of something exceedingly dangerous—something even more terrifying than the Sword in the Stone. Only another natural catastrophe could scare a natural catastrophe. He could perceive that there was another natural catastrophe, another one in this realm… But who was it?
This incarnation of God quickly pondered. Continually ruled out other clues, he finally located the target.
“I see…” The Dark Lord ground his teeth. His face became hideous. His angry voice spread from the aetheric world. “Hermes! Why did you betray the contract?”
“What! Watch your mouth, Hyakume. How can you just accuse people like that?” a frivolous voice responded. “I’ve followed the contract well. I never meddled in the war between man and natural catastrophe. So far, I did not say a word, nor did I touch a hair. I haven’t even been to Avalon’s Shadow for many years. Sorry, it’s not my fault!”
“Liar!” Hyakume roared.
“Well, if you insist, I did interfere a little in this, but…what can you do to me?” Hermes’s tone became cold and vicious. “You are on the wrong team, Hyakume! You think I don’t know that you’re secretly hooking up with that son of a b*tch East Duke to make a mess in the East?
“Three wise men, three pillars of God, four living creatures. There are so many other natural catastrophes, and I don’t care who you hook up with. However, if you dare to help him, I will definitely object!
“I advise you to stop quietly. Don’t meddle in the things between us two. Otherwise, I’ll throw away my dignity and partner with Sacred Blood.”
“Someday, you’ll pay for this!” Hyakume was so furious that hundreds of waves crashed in the aetheric world.
Hermes just sneered. “Take care of yourself first! I’m also curious as to who’s watching you.”
The communication
was cut off. But in the abyss, Hyakume’s rage did not stop, but…his incarnation had fallen into the physical realms. The connection between him and the incarnation had been severed. He could not do anything, even if the incarnation was sealed, imprisoned or even killed! It was one of his nine incarnations. It was also one-ninth of his essence. This was not only one-ninth of his strength. This was like one-ninth of his shadow.
Just as human beings had different images from nine directions, each one was vital. None was dispensable. With the loss of the one, the other eight incarnations would surely be weakened.
Over the years, it had not been easy to accumulate so much strength in order to occupy more large tributaries and create a complete River Styx. But now he had taken a hit.
For a time, dark musicians all over the world could sense the murderous intent and rage condensed in the Abyss. But there was a more disturbing question in the midst of chaos. If the other natural catastrophe was not Hermes, then…who was it?!
There was one possibility. But that possibility may even make the abyss tremble. Countless secrets were hidden deep in the darkness.
-
In Avalon’s Shadow, the Dark Lord was defeated. Cracks staggered across his body. The complex music theory in the depths of his body continued to crumble. He could barely suppress it anymore. This body made of aether and movements had reached its limit.
He roared hoarsely, took off his right eye, and angrily crushed it. In the darkness, a shadow suddenly projected and infiltrated into the Sword in the Stone. The flame suddenly dimmed from the pollution of curse.
The Dark Lord opened his hands and suddenly smashed his chest. The wound made by the Sword in the Stone cracked again. Under the tear, his whole body split into two. One pounced toward Maxwell, burning its own power to keep Maxwell in place. The other rushed to the collapsing palace!
Here was the home of the Sword in the Stone. With the incarnation’s strength, it was difficult to contend with the power accumulated by Avalon, so he would just…solve the root of the problem! Since this incarnation was on the verge of collapse, he just used another one.