Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  The wilted branches left scratches in the dark air, like the remains of evil thoughts. Under the pressure of the fierce malice, Wolf Flute’s symphony of predestination fell into chaos. It was as if weird static suddenly appeared in a light allegretto melody. Amidst the cold singing, blazing darkness shot out, attacking the foundations of Wolf Flute’s scepter like a tidal wave. It forced the whimsical silver wolves back as well.

  The fallen musicians sang an ode to Hyakume—Péchés de vieillesse. Sins of old age. With the hoarse singing, it was as if Hyakume had truly arrived. Even if the god did not speak, the will of the chaotic abyss would restrict all melodies, causing them to collapse onto themselves.

  Wolf Flute trembled; his face paled. The wolves flew through the air, endlessly appearing beside Crowley. However, the branches of the giant human-faced tree swept across. Even if they were touched by only a shred of darkness, the wolves would lose control and decay. Finally, they would be pierced by a branch and become fertilizer for the tree.

  As they died, Wolf Flute’s expression grew uglier. With every loss, a crack appeared on his flute. They were all parts of his scepter’s territory. The wolves’ deaths were undoubtedly a grave damage to the scepter.

  But for Crowley, he had an unlimited supply of power after the Garment opened the well of the abyss. He would cut off the parts tainted by beastly nature without hesitation because they would grow back immediately.

  It was a competition to see who would burn out first. Crowley used his years of attainments to force Wolf Flute back.

  The younger musician furrowed his brows. The melody of his flute grew more mournful. The wolf at the head suddenly swelled. It gathered all of the scepter’s power and became as wispy as smoke. It pounced at Crowley.

  Rather than teleporting, it bolted toward Crowley with incredible speed. Along the way, the branches swept at it but it was as insubstantial as smoke. It broke apart at touch and then regrouped like an untouchable spirit.

  In an instant, the silver wolf jumped like a wraith with sharp fangs and pounced at the tree. It gnashed the face and tore it off. The tree cried out like an infant and trembled, having been gravely injured.

  However, in the shadows, Crowley sneered. The bait had finally been taken!

  The tree branches instantly closed in like thousands of arms going for a hug. It closed around the somewhat imaginary wolf. An enchantment rose from the shattered face and locked all of Wolf Flute’s power within.

  Wolf Flute’s face turned white and he spat out blood. In the next moment, he could retract the power forcefully and summon the wolf again. But would Crowley give him the chance?

  The answer was…no!

  Cackling, Crowley controlled the solid darkness. It transformed into a giant hand that grabbed at Wolf Flute. The Garment’s power sealed the surroundings, blocking all paths of retreat.

  Wolf Flute was stuck there with nowhere to run to. His expression froze.

  Then the hand of darkness tore through the illusion. The air rippled and Wolf Flute’s figure shattered, disappearing. In his place, within layers of locks and murder, was a white-haired youth. He played Jiu Xiao Huan Pei with his eyes closed.

  Sensing Crowley’s blank expression, he looked up and smiled. “Yup, it’s me.” Now, Crowley finally realized that Ye Qingxuan had fused his music score into Wolf Flute’s scepter, entrusted onto the rim of moonlight in the air!

  What the f*ck? When did they go into coherence? Crowley thought in shock. He started doubting his eyes. This guy had only just become an official musician! How could a third level musician go into coherence with a scepter? They had worked so well together as if they were one person and totally fooled Crowley. And more importantly…If Ye Qingxuan was here, then where was Wolf Flute?

  In that instant, another howl rang out. Under the crescent moon, flanked by a pack of wolves, an aggressive and large figure walked out slowly. The alpha had appeared!

  For a moment, Ye Qingxuan could hardly believe his eyes. It was a bare-chested dark youth covered in scars!

  Flanked by the wolves, he sat high up on a throne. His eyes shone with green light just like the wolves and radiated with a bloody and cruel aura. His face was like Wolf Flute’s and his flute had transformed into a tooth, hanging at his neck. The scepter’s power had converged in him.

  The moonlight was above his head. He looked down at Crowley and sneered like a wolf. He howled, commanding the wolves, and burst forward with silver light.

  The fulminations were like wolf howls.

  In shock, Crowley forgot about Ye Qingxuan who he could squash easily. Instead, he turned to stop Wolf Flute. The problem was that the Garment’s power was all used to shackle Ye Qingxuan right now. It could not protect Crowley! Without it…he had never been so vulnerable!

  Cold silver light rose around Wolf Flute. Then, like a phantom beast, he jumped into the aether world and seemed to teleport. He was so close! He reached out!

  Crowley screamed.

  Wolf Flute used his bare hands to tear Crowley’s chest apart. As if devoured by a pack of wolves, the internal organs turned into mashed pulp. Then the wolf poison poured into the abyss music theory within him. It imploded and the music theory broke apart!

  Flesh fell in chunks. Crowley turned into a skeleton, cutting off connection with the abyss. He opened his mouth and rasped out, “Wait—”

  Pop! His skull shattered and his brains flew out. The fire within him extinguished completely.

  Crowley was finally dead!

  Without its owner, the Garment of Original Sin and dark atrium caved in. They exploded and the endless darkness disappeared. Wolf Flute stumbled back and practically collapsed onto the ground. The scepter’s power retreated and the wolves disappeared. The frail youth changed quickly until he was back to normal.

  Ye Qingxuan steadied him but looked at him with troubled eyes. “What just happened? You’re a demon?”

  “Ha, you saw it?”

  Wolf Flute barked out a laugh. “That…was probably what I looked like before. Don’t worry, I’m not a demon. Just a kid raised by wolves. Mature men all have some dark history. Don’t ask.”

  Ye Qingxuan was stunned but he obeyed.

  Without the dark atrium’s protection, the dark musicians were forced to use their own symphonies of predestination to fight against Faust’s power. They instantly fell back. Already, two of them died. The victor had been determined. But Ye Qingxuan kept looking at Wolf Flute and their surroundings. He still felt unsettled. “Wolf Flute, are you sure you killed that guy?” he asked quietly.

  “Don’t worry. Am I the type to be merciful?” Wolf Flute made a face. “That guy is a failure who relied on a special weapon to upgrade. Without it, he’ll be completely dead in my hands. He can’t even leave an impact. Don’t worry, there’s no way even if their god wants to resurrect him.”

  “But…” Ye Qingxuan’s mouth opened. Before he could finish, he felt his hair standing up straight. He pulled Wolf Flute back reflexively.

  A dark shadow rose up under their feet and melded into a dark musician’s body. His power exploded and instantly pushed the destructive thunder back. Reaching out, he grasped a grandmaster’s head. His fingers closed and the skull shattered.

  The grandmaster from the School of Dragon Rock died instantly and tragically. Then his power was sucked into the dark musician.

  Crowley’s sharp laughter rang out, returning from the underworld!

  Ye Qingxuan’s face paled and he looked back. “Didn’t you say that he’s totally dead?”

  Wolf Flute froze too. He was sure that Crowley had died in his hands, so who was this before him right now?

  Solid darkness shrouded this abyss musician’s body. Crowley’s face slowly appeared, totally unharmed. He could not help but laugh when he studied Wolf Flute.

  “Mr. Wolf Flute, I agree with what you just said.” He studied the other with a mysterious smile. “A self-made musician is naturally different from failures that rely on special weap
ons… But sadly, I’m not a failure who used the Garment of Original Sin to enter the scepter level.”

  “Wolf Flute…” Ye Qingxuan’s hand trembled. He stared at Crowley. As if seeing through his disguise and seeing his true nature, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes widened in shock. He muttered, “He…is the Garment!”

  “That’s right.” Crowley opened his arms. The Garment of Original Sin trembled as he laughed and bellowed, “I am the scepter!”

  382 Miracle Crystallization

  In Ye Qingxuan’s eyes, the moonlight lit up, illuminating the reality. The moment the Garment and the flesh became one, he finally saw Crowley’s true appearance.

  Within the solid darkness, countless tiny music notes connected, constructing an entirely different interval like a vast music score.

  At just a glance, Ye Qingxuan knew this music theory was too far beyond him. It contained the School of Modifications, Revelations, Summoning, and even Abstinence… These different theories were combined under one wild rule, transforming into the power of the abyss.

  It revealed itself using the aether. This was the true nature of the Garment—a weapon carved with a symphony of predestination and even containing a scepter!

  But amidst the complex music theory, within the rising and falling notes, music theory intertwined and countless music sheets twisted together. They vaguely formed a menacing face that changed with Crowley’s expressions. It seemed to cry, laugh; it seemed to be furious or depressed. It was tempting, luring one into its emotions.

  Just as the Romulusian alchemists had used a music score’s spirit to replace a man’s will, this music theory had created something comparable to a man’s will.

  No, this came from a man’s will!

  The moonlight traced the roots and Ye Qingxuan used the interpretation method to find a critical point among the messy music theory. The point was using the way of raising beasts by the School of Summoning to cut a person up psychologically and join the pieces into the music score…

  This was where Crowley had come from. He was a beast born from the pieces of a man’s personality and soul! But who could create the Garment while cutting himself apart and joining it at the same time?

  Here, Ye Qingxuan’s expression grew bitter. Who else could it be?

  “You’re ‘Paganini,’ right?” Studying Crowley, he said haltingly, “You’re made from the pieces of Paganini… He cut out the wildest, darkest part of himself and you were born!”

  Crowley studied him in return. He seemed to smile and his eyes changed. Under the menacing mockery, a shred of pleasant shock flashed by. However, it quickly turned into an unnerving murderous glare.

  “You must be Ye Qingxuan.” He looked at the young man behind Wolf Flute and lowered his head slightly. “As expected of the genius highly recommended by Naberius. That picky fellow was right.”

  “What did he say?” Ye Qingxuan felt a chill.

  “For people like you, if you can’t become a right hand man, then one day you would become a scourge!” Crowley narrowed his eyes. “But sadly…you won’t get the chance!”

  Wolf Flute’s expression changed. He shoved Ye Qingxuan to the side.

  Ye Qingxuan stumbled but silver light flashed before his eyes. The light changed, flitting past countless images in a second. In the last instant, he saw darkness swallow him. The armor of the Blade Dancer instantly rusted as if a millennium had passed.

  The moonlight only held on for a moment before breaking down. He spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his organs fail. During this dizziness, he saw Wolf Flute jump into the aether world with the help of his scepter and land back in the material world. He crossed hundreds of meters in an instant.

  Darkness swallowed everything. However, this time, the power was like a blazing sun. It created storms in the aether sea. The darkness rushed into the sky, practically enveloping the entire city. It called for the abyss’s power and activated the huge wind tunnel again.

  It was like a ring of darkness. It loomed over the city and pushed down!

  At the city’s peak, the Sacred Fire wavered.

  “F*ck, is this shirt high on crack? It’s too powerful.” Wolf Flute’s hoarse voice sounded in his ears. “Leave us and run! These guys must’ve planned something. The entire city will sink into the abyss. You have to find that d*mn Romulusian girl!”

  “And then?” Ye Qingxuan froze.

  “And then you know what to do.”

  Wolf Flute’s answer was calm—calm to the point of being chilling. Then the voice disappeared. The moonlight threads snapped. Wolf Flute had cut off the coherence between the two.

  Ye Qingxuan could only sense that terrifying changes were happening on the other end.

  -

  In the darkness, Wolf Flute’s lower body had already been corroded. The silver wolves’ hair were gray and mottled as they continued killing.

  “You sent the kid away like that? You might be too confident in him.” Crowley snickered. “Without your protection, he’ll be devoured by the city.”

  “No, he doesn’t need my protection,” Wolf Flute said indifferently. “He’s the representative of the School of Royalty and is the future of all of Anglo…”

  “Really?” Crowley shook his head in dissatisfaction. Something fierce flashed past his eyes. “Then let’s have the future of Anglo be buried with you!” The plaintive melody sounded. The darkness swallowed everything.

  -

  At an altitude of thousands of meters above sea level, wild wind raged. Ye Qingxuan thought he was being blown by the wind like a leaf. He had never hated his weak body more than now. Why didn’t he exercise more? Even if he was not a muscular pig, he would at least not be blown by the wind.

  Every element in Faust’s world should be frozen. However, Ye Qingxuan still felt aether flooding around him like furious tides in the ocean. Here, the aether and material world overlapped. The ripples of the aether sea had seeped into reality. Inside the large temple, it was as if a thousand ton sluice had opened. The aether formed a hurricane and wind, sweeping in all directions.

  The aether density was far beyond a black zone. It was almost solid and within it, Ye Qingxuan was suffocating. He yanked out a steel nail form his damaged armor and anchored him to the steps. He trudged forward like a lonely mountain climber.

  The steps spanned thousands of meters. The two sides were filled with delicate yet dark statues—suffering saints, lonely travelers, meditating girls, dying old men, tired merchants, terrified officials, furious kings…

  The weakest parts of a human’s heart were presented here, transformed into realistic statues, frozen as beautiful pieces of art. Every statue was flawless and touching. One could feel the hearts of the characters.

  At the end of the steps was the temple at the highest point of the city. Ye Qingxuan forged on, going against the aether flood. He approached it step by step but did not dare to make any sound.

  In a black zone, a sound slightly too high could create abnormal changes. In a place where the aether was as terrifyingly dense that it was, even a cough could probably cause a chain reaction. The most common being explosions…

  He climbed amongst oil that the alchemists had created. The slightest spark could cremate him. When he reached the last step, his armor had crumbled under the aether flood. His revealed clothing weathered until he looked like a beggar.

  Thankfully, he could still use the sub-originator. In fact, it worked better than before. The surging aether filled the empty sub-originator, replenishing his energy. Now, his condition was unbelievably good.

  At the temple gate, the flood disappeared completely. Like the eye of a storm, there was not a ripple. He could feel the thing burning like a star within the temple, even through the thick doors.

  Dumbfounding music theory was being born within the Sacred Fire, creating something awful and awesome that Ye Qingxuan had never seen before.

  This was something that was far beyond a symphony of predestination, the Garment of Original Sin, o
r anything he could imagine. If this thing could still be called a music score, it was undeniably a terrifying power that sat above all knowledge.

  However, the larger a music score was, the stronger of a spirit it needed. It was like how a symphony of predestination’s spirit could replace a man’s soul and control him. So where the spirit of the Sacred Flame come from?

  He held his breath and gaped. As expected…in the large hall, atop the altar, the Sacred Fire that contained all family flames and the countless souls of Romulus burned. It absorbed the power of both heaven and the abyss, unleashing a grand melody.

  Elsa slept within the flames. The Sacred Fire had already become tangible in the crack of her chest. It had transformed into the crystals of a miracle. The crystal came from the fire where countless memories and souls were burning—including herself.

  Everything was to create a realistic miracle within the Sacred Fire’s flame.

  “Those Romulusians wanted to use this to make a scepter or even a more terrifying thing. It can be called…” The hoarse voice paused to find an apt description. “The core of a natural catastrophe.”

  383 Heavy Responsibility

  The moment he heard the sound, Ye Qingxuan’s expression changed. The dagger in his remaining leg armor popped out from his movement. The blade was strangely twisted like a snake. It tore through the wind and left a chilling metallic light in its path. Finally, it landed in his hands and spun, stabbing into the front. The movement was crisp and practiced. Ye Qingxuan used up all his remaining strength to be extremely fast.

  It was only one moment.

  When the dagger pierced through someone’s body and came out the other end, there was no sound. There was no feeling as if he had pierced thin air. But he had not missed.

  “Young man, brashness is poison.” The stabbed man shook his head and sighed. “It’s even more poisonous than so-called ‘bravery’.” He reached out, grasping Ye Qingxuan’s wrist, and pushed it out. It was not strong but it was filled with a stability that could not be defied. He gradually pulled the dagger out.