Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  Hearing this, Colt laughed. He pounded his staff and asked quietly, “So you’re set on going alone?”

  “Stop the nonsense, Colt. Haven’t you been waiting for that?” Ye Qingxuan arched an eyebrow, his lips twisting into a smirk. “But are you confident in winning against me? Or are your teammates really that useful? Think carefully. Since I’ve come here, how many times could I have put a hint in your minds? Or put down fulcrums? Plus…”

  Plus what?

  Behind him, Casper’s figure slowly expanded. A wild shadow scurried up the wall like a burning flame, emanating with beastliness. The music note key on Torre’s arm had appeared. He could activate the ‘humanity seal’ instantly.

  “Are you ready?” Ye Qingxuan asked. Are you ready to make chaos in the front? Are you ready to face self-destructive methods? Or rather, are you ready to make this broken front completely fall apart?

  Colt fell silent. He grasped his staff with a dark expression. Then everyone’s vision went black.

  Boom! A sharp sound shattered all their eardrums. Messages from the darkness sounded outside the front. Countless girls screamed in despair but they sounded so beautiful. Their screams were gentle and graceful, inexplicably lovely. Music theory descended from the dark atrium, slamming against the shields of the front. The music notes and theory of the front cracked with tiny fissures. It was close to the end. In the air, the firelight within the Copper Mountain dimmed, close to going out.

  “Dark musicians!” the musician on guard before the window yelled. “The dark musicians are here!”

  “Don’t panic. How many…”

  “I think-think there’s only two?” The Revelations musician looked down at his aether ball but his vision spun. “No, there’s seven, eight…twelve…there’s more than thirty!”

  “Give it to me!” Ye Qingxuan snatched the aether ball. Glancing at it, his expression darkened. “There’s only two and only one has acted but there are more than thirty aether waves. This is the largescale symphony that dark musicians specialize in!”

  Boom! The aether ball exploded.

  Outside the front, the hooded musician who had just overseen the transformation ritual of the Dark Gaia sensed that someone was watching and mercilessly cut off the connection.

  He immediately played his French horn. The shields around the front groaned and twisted. A hand reached out of thin air to get rid of these annoying obstacles! The slender and feminine hand tore at the front frantically but it was somehow beautiful, like a girl waving at her lover. Under the strange melody, girls reached out from the abyss, searching for their dance partners.

  Then blood rain fell from the sky. The bloody thunderstorm converged into a rumbling river. It burned like a river from hell. Brides in their wedding dresses emerged from the bloody river. The skeletal faces were covered in pure white veils. They looked gentle and lovely but their slender fingers had no warmth. The aura of death wrapped around them.

  “Skeletal brides?” Ye Qingxuan froze, remembering something.

  But then, a high and energetic song started. “Ah, ah, you worry so much. You’re young and beautiful, gentle and kind. You’re like a piece of gold shining in the mine. True love awakens here beside the Danube River, beside the beautiful Danube River of blood!” The hooded musician opened his arms wide and sang loudly. His sonorous voice was unusually attractive, making one envious. But there was no time to envy him.

  The world was shaking.

  Above the boiling blood river, the front was quickly covered in a layer of red. The redness seeped into the music theory outside the front, aiming to upend the entire yard. Tiles scraped and twisted, the walls shook and collapsed, the ground roared and quaked…

  A ghastly crack appeared on the earth and the bloody river sprayed out. A slender and white hand instantly reached out. Then a white veil and skull shot out with a smile. A blazing silver nail burst forward.

  Boom! The nail went straight into the forehead, embedding into the bone.

  Ye Qingxuan held the silver nail with one hand. He clenched a fist with the other and slammed down.

  Bang! With a tragic wail, the silver nail broke through the skull, digging into the bride’s core. The music notes burning on the nail burst forth with a horn.

  Flames exploded! The skeletal bride was nailed into the blood river. She struggled but the blazing fire was like a four-sided sword. It exploded above her skull and rose up in flames to the ceiling. Within the pillar of fire, the bride wailed and screamed, turning to ash.

  Before that, Ye Qingxuan had already collected the Copper Mountain, stuffing it into Miller’s arms. He yanked the dazed boy up to get the h*ll out of there. He was confident in his bad luck but he never thought his predictions would come so quickly.

  The dark musician was almost there. Who knew what would happen if they stayed here? It was better to make a definite choice. After all, these guys were adamant on going toward the dead end. Ye Qingxuan would just let them be.

  “Leaving again?” Miller froze and looked at the dark shadow in the distance. “There’s only one. If we all fight, we might win, right?”

  “You know…anyone who says that in novels fail.” Ye Qingxuan chuckled dryly. He did not know how to explain the sense of danger that finally besieged him. He could only drag Miller up. While everyone was still dazed, he kicked down the swaying wall and ran out from the side. Hesitating shortly, Torre and Casper followed behind him.

  “Ah, I thought you’d live and die with them.”

  “Living with them is okay but I’d pass on the dying.” Torre sighed. “You ran without even thinking after seeing him. I’d be stupid if I stayed there.”

  “That makes sense.”

  Torre glanced at his troubled look. “You know that dark musician?”

  “I don’t but I have my guesses. I can’t believe it.” Ye Qingxuan chuckled dryly. “If I’m right, then we’re in trouble.” Before he finished, a frail figure appeared in the ruins before them. He was a boy around thirteen or fourteen years old.

  “Uncle said I can’t let you leave.” The youth put his doll into his pocket and looked up. His eyes were gold, pure gold like a dragon, and wildly bloodshot. He said, “You must stay.”

  366 See Enough and You’ll Know

  “You have to stay…” Just before the teenager finished his words, Casper roared furiously. For the first time, Ye Qingxuan saw Casper become so furious that he even broke free from Torre’s control. He seemed to have sensed something very dangerous. The roar of a beast resounded through Auschwitz. Then, countless beats’ giant mouths suddenly loomed toward the boy.

  Casper rushed forward and his body expanded crazily in the midair. He even slightly broke free from the ‘seal of humanity.’ Swallowing the beastliness in his consciousness, he forcefully evolved into the three-headed hound.

  It was a veritable fusion of beastly nature. Dozens of species of phantom beasts were fused in his body. Each one was a huge phantom beast from the remnants of his ‘beastly inheritance.’ In the blink of an eye, he turned into a half-human, half-beast covered in fiery flames. Immense toxicity spread.

  Not expecting the enemy would attack directly, the teenager was shocked for a moment. He watched as Casper rushed to him. Then, he reached a hand out to Casper’s forehead and suddenly pressed down!

  Bang! The earth trembled. It was like a falling rock crushing Casper’s skull from high above. Casper was crushed into the ground by the boy’s palm. The huge fulmination spread and the trembling earth made one’s vision go black. Dust flew but soon froze in the air.

  The teenager suppressed Casper’s fury merely with his own strength. An invisible power extended out from his hands to freeze the air and formed twisted shackles. Casper frantically struggled in the shackles but was unable to move.

  Ye Qingxuan was drenched in cold sweat. He knew this power; he was so familiar with it…

  “I said you all have to stay.” The youth looked up. There seemed to be melting gold boiling in his eye
s. “No one can leave.” This feeling was definitely it…

  “The dragon breath…” Ye Qingxuan whispered softly.

  This was the ‘dragon breath’ that only phantom beast ‘Dragon’ could produce. It could interfere with reality at will by attaching the thought to the aether, condensing it into substance, and transforming into an intangible but qualitative force.

  That power could turn into a bone-picking knife and completely tear the body into shreds, but it could also attach to the body and strengthen the human flesh to an unimaginable level. It was said that at its extreme, one could turn into the wind, into clouds, into a fire or even thunder and lightning! But in this youth’s hands, it was used as skillfully as his arm. Ye Qingxuan had never seen such powerful dragon breath that could suppress Casper’s outbreak in an instant.

  At the same time, behind them, in the distance of the crushing position, the breath of the abyss pierced into the sky in the distant crushing front. Blood fire burned. In the dismal song, the skeleton brides danced with desperate grooms. They embraced their partners tenderly and immersed themselves in the burning blood river. In the chaos, the frantic musicians were determined to surround him at all costs.

  ‘The Hole of Destruction’, ‘Catalysis of Beastly Nature’, ‘Mimicry Illusion’, ‘The Eyes of the Exterminator’… These strange movements and alchemical equipment emerged endlessly, but no matter what kind of power, they were all jokes to the hooded musician even though he was only at the Resonance level.

  Holding the Hole of Destruction from the sky, the figure seemed to suddenly teleport. The figure easily took away that strangely glowing ‘eyes’ and swallowed them. Then an arm grew out of the shoulder, playing a gentle tempo. However, a Modifications movement cut into the beat, forcibly causing the music theory’s backlash. The musician instantly swelled and turned into dust.

  He seemed to have anticipated what would happen next.

  Using only the Danube River of Blood and countless strange music scores, the hooded musician was able to sweep the stage with his destructive power. He seemed to be toying with the musicians with his skills. Thus, the musicians sank into the blood river one after another and were sealed by the skeletons, waiting to be transformed.

  “Is that all you got?” The hooded musician chuckled. “I was expecting all the school’s elites to have some new tricks, but you all play the same trick? I saw nothing different from what I learned when I came into your school with a disguise.”

  “Well, then, try this!” a voice said behind him. It was a dark-skinned youth with a head of braids. His body was painted with all kinds of strange tattoos. Under the tattoos, layers of notes flowed. He was like a phantom treading on the blood river. He crashed through the air and set off a white blast. Then that frantic speed brought by his left foot was thrown into the blood river, setting off frenzied waves.

  The power went into his body with this action. It crossed his waist and went along the shoulders. His muscles fluctuated like waves as if they were alive. They grew and expanded three times so that he practically became a giant in that moment.

  Then the power that was enough to break a wall gathered into his fist and he punched forward! The fist broke through the air again with a blast. The speed even went beyond the speed of the sound. It penetrated layers of shields before the movement changed, smashing through layers of defense and slashing toward the hooded musician’s shoulders.

  Boom! The hooded musician’s shoulder and even half of his chest was blown up. His body flew out but he recovered in mid-air and landed slowly on the ground. A hint of pleasant surprise flashed in his eyes.

  “That attack was a bit like ‘nudge inside’ of Eastern martial arts, but the speed and strength…” He gazed at the young musician and muttered, “One’s body would have vaporized in this speed. Hey, young man, what’s your name?”

  “Paul Bunyan.” The young musician with braids rolled his neck. His joints cracked and popped. His muscles had turned into an abnormal dark color.

  “The strengthened Choir?” The hooded musician recognized the power in his body but immediately shook his head. “No, there is also strengthened Modifications. That’s it!

  “You combined it with the music theory of the school of Choir and transformed your body with the power of Modifications so that your physical fitness could almost be improved endlessly… Was it inspired by the dark musicians?”

  He applauded with joy. “New theories and levels produced after just a few decades? Amazing! I am impressed. I never thought that the weak human body could be strengthened to this degree. You are almost like steel—no, you’re far beyond steel! If we didn’t appear, you would surely be able to shine in this trial! Becoming the elite of this new generation musicians is also possible for you!”

  “It is the same even with your appearance!” Paul Bunyan suddenly flashed and his body came like thunder. He seemed to grow three heads and six arms. His fists smashed forward like storms. Every fist would penetrate through the air and bring about an explosion.

  There was thunder! The strength and fist were pushed to the limit. He solved all the problems by meeting them head on. No matter if it was a shield, walls, or anything else before him, everything must be mercilessly destroyed! During battle, Paul Bunyan’s blood almost boiled. Strands of blood gushed from his pores like burning flames.

  In an instant, the hooded musician was beaten into mud but then recover soon as if he had endless vitality. However, he could not fight back against Paul Bunyan. “…My weakness was…found…?”

  “Sure enough, you’re spent!” Paul Bunyan laughed. “What Colt said was true. You have run out of your strength after fighting with so many musicians! As long as I restrain your change with speed, you have no ability to fight back!”

  “Col…t… Well, he must be the elite of the Rock Institute. I did not expect that I’d be revealed…” After the flurry of beatings, the ball of ground flesh and mud could still talk and even laugh tauntingly. “But where is the Colt that you mentioned?”

  Paul Bunyan was stunned. He turned back but only found several figures behind him. Colt, who had been conducting them, had disappeared. No, he had escaped!

  “Distraction in battle…is very dangerous.” At that instant, the hooded musician’s voice sounded in his ear. His vision went black as if the back of his head was hit by a siege hammer. His body flew out and smashed against a wall. He quickly climbed up and looked over blankly.

  Standing still, the hooded musician had already recovered. The palms under the broken cuffs constantly changed. They were dark as iron and cold as silver. At the end, they seemed to have transformed into dark purple crystal.

  “How could…” Paul Bunyan almost suffocated. He had figured out the method used by the hooded musician. It was the core music theory of his school—Immortal Alchemy! The frail body sublimated into a more solid golden iron, and finally, to an immortal state.

  “Is it really strange?” The hooded musician laughed. “What’s so strange thing? See enough and you’ll naturally know.”

  The next moment, Paul Bunyan’s face turned. The enemy was pouncing toward him!

  -

  In the darkness, Colt was running wildly. His footsteps were silent and the figure was misty. In the huge Auschwitz, he was aware of the existence of many dark musicians and demons. He ran at the edge of their range of perceptions and quietly ran through many battles. No one noticed him. Soon he sneaked into the outside of the mine and hid himself in a half-collapsed building. He held his breath warily and gazed at the demons wandering around the mine in the distance.

  367 Master of Justice

  Since the front was destroyed, they could only venture into the mine, use the complex paths to escape the pursuers, and find the hidden room with Ye Qingxuan’s clues. This was the best solution now and was they were close to success.

  However, the closer to success they were, the more humiliated Colt felt. This was the solution he had looked down upon but now, reality proved Y
e Qingxuan was correct. This guy who was not even good at Revelations! So who was wrong?

  Colt’s face twitched. This guy had used his words to lower everyone’s morale and led all the musicians to run away with him the moment the fighting started. With all the people they had, they would not have been captured by that dark musician if they had stayed!

  He lowered his head. His face hidden in the shadows was livid.

  Ever since Heisenberg returned from Anglo, he no longer praised Colt and instead grew distant and cold. Even when Colt broke through the Barrier of Knowledge and made all sorts of accomplishments to prove his talent, he only received four words: I have no successors.

  “I’m so envious of Abraham,” Colt still remembered how Heisenberg had murmured that day. “If I have a successor like him, the School of the Secret Keepers must have a glorious future, right?” Glorious future…

  From that day on, the future of the secret keepers dimmed because the cloud called ‘Ye Qingxuan’ hung over his head. No matter where he went, those three syllables followed him like a shadow. It wrapped around his ears and took everything from him!

  “That’s the smell of jealousy. Can you smell it?” Behind him, a blurry face reached out of the shadows. He inhaled deeply around him, his eyes intoxicated. “This sweet and heavy smell like wine…I haven’t encountered it in years.”

  Behind Colt, Crowley came out of the shadows. He gently held Colt’s shoulder and said with a soft and curious voice, “Young man, you have not yet fallen. Why is the dark abyss in your heart as deep as the sea?”

  “I…” Colt gaped at him. His hand quietly reached into his sleeve and grasped the dagger’s hilt. His hand tightened and tightened until it loosened weakly.

  “What are you scared of? Me? Or…someone else?”

  Crowley chuckled meaningfully. He pressed onto Colt’s forehead with an eye-crinkling smile. “I see… The Rock Institute? Why help those old gatekeepers?” He paused, looking down at the shocked Colt. “I allow you to become the concertmaster of the perishing praise within five years.”