by Feng Yue
Jiu Xiao Huan Pei’s strings surged with lightning. Layers of electricity lay on the blade in his finger’s path, forming music notes. It instantly wove into a complex yet majestic symphony of predestination. Then the blinding electricity disappeared, replaced by moonlight as blue as water. The sword seemed to reflect the nonexistent moonlight and cast a tangible murderous spirit.
All grandmasters within ten steps felt the hair-rising murderous intent converge on that sword. Even the fierce green gold sword could not bear the heaviness and clacked as if it would crack soon.
Ye Qingxuan gripped the hilt and hoisted the sword up. Scalding heat sprayed from the plate of armor on his back, giving him unprecedented power. Then he thrusted the sword forward.
Under the chilling melody, the sword of moonlight whistled and flew out! It was the symphony of predestination of Moonlight—the eighteenth measure Sword! The sword that seemed to be singing buried into the darkness. Like a pair of scissors, it cut apart the black velvet. The darkness cried out and evaporated.
The moonlight left a straight slash in the air. White waves rushed forward.
Everything was collapsing!
An explosion followed.
Pained cries sounded again.
One could vaguely see a grandmaster hidden in the darkness get slashed by the blade. A hole burst in his chest. The sacred bell in his hands was pierced too. It shattered, destroyed by the explosive moonlight, and transformed into black shards that flew in all directions.
The Styx called forth by the bell shook and disappeared.
Ye Qingxuan was more surprised that he had hit the mark. The moonlight was destructive against demons and dark musicians but was uncertain against people at the grandmaster level. A properly trained knight would never give his enemy to chance to aim at him.
The purification music theory within the moonlight could be sensed in a hundred-foot radius. Without waiting for the dark musician’s reaction, the abyss music theory within him would turn on its own and try to avoid the moonlight. It could instantly destroy Ye Qingxuan. However, despite the odds, he had hit his mark and even pierced the weapon that controlled the Styx.
He quickly saw the answer.
The spreading moonlight illuminated a silver arc that swept back and forth. Its speed was incredible. It jumped and spun in place like a beam of refracting light. Everything in its path was ripped apart. No obstacle was an obstacle to it.
The dark musicians did not expect that a music score could cross the Styx and be used on them. Shocking gashes appeared on them.
The one who had been fatally wounded by Ye Qingxuan’s Sword had his legs bitten. Unable to dodge, the silver light returned and pulverized his head. All that remained was a pile of writhing meat. It could not resist the moonlight’s corrosion. It was instantly close to death.
“What the f*ck is this!” Crowley roared.
The Garment of Original Sin appeared to swallow the silver light. Darkness closed in instantly, blocking off all escape. However, the silver light disappeared strangely and the Garment missed.
The light appeared behind its master. This time, Ye Qingxuan finally saw the true nature of the light…It was extremely familiar. It was a seemingly real, seemingly illusory silver wolf!
In that moment, it flashed freely within the aether sea while appearing in the aether world and material world at the same time. Then it disappeared at once, ‘jumping’ out of the surroundings. With this power, it was understandable that the Styx could not block it. All enchantments, obstacles, and defenses were useless before this silver wolf!
“You?!” Ye Qingxuan gaped at the familiar flute in the grandmaster’s hands. It finally dawned on him.
“Who is it?” Crowley roared. He stared at the man hidden in the darkness of the hood. “I know all the information of the grandmasters from these thirty years. There is no symphony of predestination from Summoning like this! Who are you?!”
“Grandmaster? I’m not a grandmaster anymore?” The man lifted his hood, revealing his hidden features. Facing everyone, he grinned. “You flatter me. I’ve only recently entered the Scepter level. You all can call me Wolf Flute.”
Wolf Flute! Ye Qingxuan’s mouth dropped open. His shock was partly due to the pleasant surprise of meeting an old friend and partly due to Wolf Flute’s abilities.
When he first met Wolf Flute, he thought the man was a highly skilled musician. Ye Qingxuan never thought that he was a grandmaster! Within eight short months, he had upgraded his ‘symphony of predestination’ to a ‘scepter.’ Rather than a grandmaster, he was closer to a saint!
This was different from ‘mock scepters’ that masters such as Koch made from combining their symphonies of predestination with sacred weapons. The difference was like that of a sword and plain metal. They were both weapons but worlds away.
This was the first guy Ye Qingxuan had met who upgraded faster than him!
“Scared?” Wolf Flute whacked the back of his head. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even come this time. So, the letter of recommendation I gave you was pretty good, right?”
“Ha, yeah, pretty good.”
Pretty good? No, it was f*cking amazing! Other than a document stamped by the King of Red from the Pope’s hall, nothing was more highly regarded than a letter of recommendation from Bach! Thinking of this, Ye Qingxuan almost coughed out blood. It was rare for Wolf Flute to be reliable but that was too reliable!
But as they spoke, an abyss musician suddenly shot out a green beam. Ye Qingxuan rolled back reflexively. Then he felt dust falling from his helmet—it was all rusted flakes!
The green gold that was touched by the green light instantly rusted into dust. A foul odor lingered in the air. If Ye Qingxuan was not covered by the Blade Dancer and breathed using the liquidated oxygen within it, his lungs would probably be rotten now.
Wolf Flute’s face changed, darkening considerably. The most infuriating thing in the world was someone coming up and slapping you when you’re happily pretending to be cool…
“Yezi, stand behind me. Let me kill these failures!”
380 Wolf
“Yezi, stand behind me. Let me kill these failures first!” Wolf Flute rolled up his sleeves and suddenly joined the fighting. Behind him, the silver shadow flashed constantly. It transformed into a shooting beam of light that swept a melody of wind and sand. With its speed, it could travel thousands of miles in an instant.
The body of the translucent silver wolf was like smoke. It would disappear under a slight breeze. However, it ripped off a large chunk of flesh from the musicians whenever it appeared. When it closed its teeth, it was filled with undisputable beastly aggression. It did not come from a man’s wild thoughts. The wounds it created was only secondary. The biggest concern was that whenever it gnashed its teeth, everything around it would be shattered.
Demonic flesh was chewed!
Mutated organs were chewed!
The dark music score was chewed!
The abyss music theory was chewed!
The silver wolf’s beastliness contained a strange music theory. The damages it created could not be recovered as if it was forever gone. It was terrifying. The dark musicians subconsciously scooted deeper into the dark atrium.
The musicians from the abyss instantly fell back.
With Wolf Flute’s scepter, the grandmasters fought even more fiercely. They were even able to surround the musicians within the dark atrium.
However, Crowley who had been quietly observing now looked up with a strange smile. “That’s it?” He reached out. Layers of music scores lit up on the Garment of Original Sin. The dark atrium shifted and a black cubic enchantment appeared out of thin air. The cube closed in, swallowing the silver wolf, and spun wildly.
With a flash of light, the silver wolf jumped out of the cube. However, when it jumped again, it realized that it was still inside the enchantment. Under everyone’s eyes, the strange black cube caved in and contracted. Then another cube appeared outside it.
In an instant, it doubled, tripled, quadrupled, octupled, sexdecupled…it endlessly caved in and regrew.
Before composing a symphony of predestination, a musician must go through a completion stage. During this stage, he would learn the basic theories of all schools in addition to his own to complete his shortcomings. However, Crowley’s attainment of Abstinence was far beyond Ye Qingxuan’s expectations.
The compound enchantment of sixteen layers was a masterpiece and top skill even in the ‘territory path.’ In addition, he was inside the dark atrium and was supported by the Garment of Original Sin!
The silver wolf continued to jump inside the cube to avoid being destroyed by the collapsing enchantment. However, it could not escape.
Wolf Flute’s expression stiffened.
So what if the beast could jump freely through the material world like a wind tunnel? As long as it could ‘jump’ faster, all of the wolf’s destructive power could only be wasted on endless jumping.
Wolf Flute furrowed his brows. He let go of the scepter’s power and the silver wolf disappeared. It re-appeared beside him. This time, he did not order it into the dark atrium.
“So that’s your scepter? I’ve never seen such a weak one before.” Crowley peered over amidst the wild melody. “Even though we’re both at the scepter level, there is still a difference! You think you’re qualified to defeat me?”
“Mr. Cowley, isn’t that a fact?” Wolf Flute looked at him with pity. “There’s a difference between those who break through the Barrier of Knowledge by themselves and the cowards who beg gods. There’s also a considerable difference between self-made scepter musicians and fakes like you who need objects like the Garment of Original Sin to reach the scepter level. Don’t you think so?”
“You are overreaching!” The dark atrium shook. Piercing bloody light flashed in Crowley’s eyes. “Then let us see!”
Instantly, the dark atrium that everyone thought had been restricted now expanded suddenly. It combined with the scepter from the Garment and stirred a storm in the aether sea. It instantly swallowed everyone.
Wolf Flute furrowed his brows. Silver light snaked around him and tore the darkness apart. However, the grandmasters had already disappeared. He flashed and reappeared. But the darkness was still around him. There was layer after layer, dimension after dimension.
If he jumped across an enchantment, there would be another one. If he passed through the dark atrium, there would be another one… It was as if he had walked into a kaleidoscope and was lost in the endless darkness.
Now, everyone was separated under the dark atrium. They were all fighting for themselves. However, Wolf Flute was imprisoned in the depths of the dark atrium alone.
It would be so easy for Crowley and the abyss musicians to destroy his helpers and then kill Wolf Flute. His expression darkened. But he quickly smiled in pleasant surprise. “You’re here!”
The melody of wind and sad sounded. The silver wolf pounced and transformed into a beam of light with him. They followed the darkness and shot forward. Their tracks were very strange. Sometimes, they would turn; other times, they went straight or even retreat.
After hundreds of turns, he gathered his energy and burst through the enchantment! Then he saw what the darkness had hid.
The abyss music score rumbled and Crowley cackled crazily. A dim moon managed to rise under the smile but it was quickly pushed down by the dark atrium. The moonlight disappeared completely before it even fully appeared.
Ye Qingxuan spat out a mouthful of blood. The sub-originator within him dimmed.
The Garment had transformed into a quagmire that swallowed him bit by hit. He could do nothing about it. Isolated within the four-fold enchantment, destroying a musician was easier than drinking water for a Scepter level man! But unfortunately, no one would think about his surroundings when drinking…
Wolf Flute smiled. “Your vertebrate is pretty nice.” He poked out of the air and caressed Crowley’s neck. He grinned. “It’s great for teething!”
The man’s expression changed instantly. He charged forward but the silver light followed him closely. The wolf gnashed its teeth and tore a hole through Crowley’s chest.
If not for the Garment’s automatic protection, he would have been hacked apart by now! Even so, he had been still been wounded. Strange silver hair grew around the injury, messing with his internal organs. Half of his body was contaminated, turning him into a werewolf.
It was the beastly nature’s encroachment!
However, the intangible beastly nature was incredibly thick. It seemed to have combined the wildness of a pack of wolves and transformed into a poison! Crowley dodged quickly and the Garment covered his twisted body. After terrifying sounds of scraping bones, blood sprayed but his body recovered.
What truly injured him though was the music theory that had entered his body. Coming from the School of Summoning, it was detailed and complex. It spread the moment it entered his body, wrapping around his muscles to transform him into a wolf.
Like a starved wolf pack charging into a city, it lapped up blood aggressively. The music theory seemed to be alive. Spirited yet cunning, it turned his body into a battlefield.
Crowley had no time to act methodically. He could only use the most violent method and destroy both his own music theory and the enemy’s using the Garment’s power.
It was like burning an entire village to kill the wolves. The wolf poison was gone but his body was still damaged. He could not recover unless he reconstructed the abyss music theory.
As the Garment recoiled, Ye Qingxuan struggled out. Panting, he glared at Wolf Flute. “You’re so slow!”
“Your hints were too vague. I didn’t even discover…” Chortling, Wolf Flute looked at his waist. There, he saw an undetectable thread of light. It was the perception thread made from moonlight. The source was gripped in Ye Qingxuan’s hands. Wolf Flute had followed this thread.
Ye Qingxuan had cast these threads to help with Wolf Flute’s attack but it had unexpectedly saved his life.
“We meet again, Mr. Crowley.” Wolf Flute looked back at his enemy. “How about we decide the winner now?”
“I see now…no wonder you don’t feel the backlash of the beastly nature…” Under the cracked sound, Crowley vomited blood. Looking at Wolf Flute, his bloodshot eyes filled with understanding. “The transformation…between human and beastly nature…You fused your humanity with the beastly nature! The scepter isn’t with your human part but with the beast…You turned yourself into a demon!”
“No, no, no. You’ve misunderstood again. I didn’t turn myself into a demon…” Wolf Flute smiled but it was incredibly evil. His green eyes seemed to glow like a demon ripping apart his disguise. “I turned myself into a human!”
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan had a hallucination. In his daze, wind and yellow sand swept over a barren land. Under the cold moonlight, Wolf Flute grew tall but his back hunched. He grasped a gold cane and a scale; he was clad in white clothing and green gold. Under his grave crown was an indisputable jackal head!
This was the god from Theban myths, the existence who guided the dead to the Underworld, the king who judged one’s sins, the god who represented death and eternal peace!
“Anubis…” Ye Qingxuan gasped.
Wolf Flute lifted his nail and played it with his eyes closed. Blazing wind blew from the desert. Howling sounded in the distance.
The melody’s theme was no longer cold moonlight or burning sand. The hot wind and barren land were all changing under the howls.
The wolves had arrived.
381 Darkness and the Wolf
Wind and sand swept in from somewhere and the cold moon hung in the air. Deep in the dark atrium, Crowley felt that something out of his control was born.
It was fluorescent green light like will-‘o-the-wisps.
One pair, another pair, another pair…
Wolves were coming from the darkness.
Hundreds of silver light arcs lit up.
Huge wolves emerged soundlessly, coming from an unknown place like dream monsters. Anyone who saw them would be terrified. Wolf Flute’s scepter had been completely unfurled. None of these wolves were lesser than that one silver wolf. They could only be stronger.
The wolf that had accompanied Wolf Flute all this time was only one of them. It was more like a scout. Under the wild melody that hinted at the start of a hunt, a chilling and powerful howl sounded in the wolf pack. It was the alpha’s command—the hunt was starting!
In an instant, a chill spread from all directions and came whistling with the overlapping light! Crowley’s disdain was wiped away. His expression stern, he clenched his hands.
A hoarse cry burst forth in the darkness. A disorderly piano melody like steel clanging sounded from the dark atrium. The grave singing began. Above him, the abyss opened up. The boundless power from the abyss swallowed Crowley. Under the deep well, he wore the Garment of Original Sin and bathed in the solid darkness. Behind him, a shadow emerged.
It was a giant tree with a human’s face. It was rooted in the decaying soil of the abyss. The hundreds of branches reached out, heavy with fruits—countless rotting skin and fresh organs. The branches held the strange flesh like hands, gathering different strengths.
An eerie pale face grew on the trunk. The left eye was pitch black while the right was covered in countless compound eyes. The tiny pupils swept around. Everything under their gazes turned half-transparent, revealing the skeleton and veins beneath like a skinned specimen.
Being stared at by those compound eyes was not it. The most terrifying was the black left eye. Evil light shot from it. Under its gaze, Ye Qingxuan felt dazed as if his sanity was snatched away.
Seething sin from the abyss was called forth by the hoarse singing. The tree absorbed the will of the darkness. It sprouted with leaves. Strange and eerie, the countless branches grabbed at the silver wolves like arms.