Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  As if grasping his last salvation, it was filled with hope.

  -

  The shaking grew in intensity. Deep under the secret territory, in the lowest level of the purgatory, Wolf Flute stood with his lantern. The light illuminated the top secret archive. The dust-filled room was completely silent. Not even a ghost would stay here.

  Wolf Flute walked in the darkness. Following the signs, he opened a door and studied the files stored there. After all these years, the files had aged. Shelved by category, the documents smelled like old paper and had all yellowed. These records of past experiments were placed here, sleeping where no one would ever visit.

  Wolf Flute murmured the numbers in his mind and pulled out the innermost document. Confirming that it was the right one, he nodded and brought the lantern closer. The flame crawled onto the paper and swallowed it.

  Wolf Flute let go, allowing it to fall onto the ground. The flames spread like an insatiable creature, gradually sweeping the entire archive into its belly. Thus, the last trace of the past disappeared with the fire.

  Wolf Flute turned and left.

  In the spreading fire, in the ashes, the remaining ink marks seemed to come to life. They danced in the fire. Wind came from somewhere and the picture between the pages floated out.

  The woman who had died danced in the fire like a butterfly.

  The buried stories disappeared. No one would ever know about them.

  481 Thou Shall Bow

  The world shook. The vast iron city seemed to be stifled. Water rippled across the land and an illusory moon rose up.

  Alarms rang throughout the Central Church. The sudden burst of aether released enough danger signals, frightening the surveillance musicians. They looked up in shock and studied the starry sky above them that represented the Sacred City. Amongst the glittering stars, there was a shocking white space.

  There was nothing there but it glowed hotly.

  “What is that?”

  “Why is it blessed by the Bell Tower?”

  “It was a request from the Silent Authority one hour ago! Wait…” The worker in charge of recording froze and looked up blankly. “The blessed is…Ye Qingxuan?”

  Ye Qingxuan? Who was Ye Qingxuan?

  Everyone sank into confusion. This was beyond the range of a grandmaster. The aether waves were practically into the scepter territory…Which school’s representative had stepped out? The name sounded like an Easterner.

  “Is it the one who murdered someone at the city gate?” someone murmured in the silence. He made himself laugh before he even finished. But no one around him laughed. He continued awkwardly in the dead silence until finally, he stopped. Everyone stared at each other with pale faces.

  “He is only the Disturbance level. This should be impossible. Even with the Bell Tower, he shouldn’t have that ability.”

  “Most importantly, what is he doing at this time?” someone muttered. “I remember…isn’t he on the wanted list?”

  Dead silence.

  “F*ck!” someone yelped. “Alert the Papal Chamber!”

  The alarms went off.

  Chaos spread.

  -

  Two minutes ago, the white moon rose up from the ruins of the Judgement Tower and hung in the air. Material objects had a gravitational pull. The Moonlight score was performed with a grandmaster’s power. Integrated with Ye Qingxuan’s sub-originator, it turned into something terrifying. Absorbing the immense amount of aether, it turned into a beast.

  Innumerable music theories were born, destroyed, and evolved in the moon at any given second; finally, it turned into a terrifying ‘gravitational pull.’ It distorted reality, pulling all rules toward it.

  The territory under the moonlight became uninhabitable. Under the rumbles, Passion and Moonlight clashed. Instantly, it seemed that two large vortexes collided in the aether sea. Thunder, fire, and the earth crashed. At the core, no one knew how many horrible explosions occurred.

  Reality was torn apart instantly. Countless strange illusions came out in the turbidity. It seemed to become an absolute vacuum with nothing in it. However, it had a stifling sense of murder.

  In the void, something seemed to still be alive. It fought against the white moon without falling back. Terrible waves spread instantly, destroying all aether waves in the proximity. The musicians flying in the air dropped to the ground. They would have turned into ground meat if not for the timely rescues.

  The white moon was still rising.

  The abominable object was crawling up into the sky. With each inch, its wild attraction multiplied. At this moment, it was trying to push the purple-eyed griffin beneath. The strength of the white moon’s disturbance was heavier than a mountain. If not for Passions’ effect, the griffin would have been squashed long ago!

  The music theory changed and under the intense disturbance, the white moon ‘stepped’ on the griffin to rise up into the sky. The immense attraction pulled at the aether sea, transforming it into something tangible. It turned into a sea of moonlight that protected the moon.

  It was like a mountain.

  In that case, the purple-eyed griffin was like terribly sturdy alloy. No matter if it was blades, lightning, or thousand-time magnified pressure, his self-protection and music theory were still unmoved.

  This was extreme self-preservation. No matter how the outside world changed, he could still keep the music theory in order and unaffected. Inside the ‘vacuum,’ the griffin released the grating melody. Flames danced around him.

  Under the griffin’s mask, the purple eyes burned with cold light.

  Among the countless wails and noise, a hoarse voice began singing. “Rest in peace! Rest your tired body!”

  Riding the terrible sound, the griffin guided the solemn melody to the climax. Thus, countless people began roaring in the cacophony.

  “Eli, Eli, lama-asabthani!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Ye Qingxuan was aghast. Blood trickled from his nose.

  “It is…”

  The moment Passion was played fully, the still-tangible and solid music theory shot out from the griffin’s limbs and buried themselves in the air. The response came from the Sacred City’s enchantment.

  Under the shrill alarms from all the departments, his music theory forcefully entered the enchantment! Just as how Ye Qingxuan had once tried to control Avalon’s enchantment, the griffin was now trying to steal the Sacred City enchantment’s power?

  What a madman!

  The nature was the same but the difficulty was day and night. One was a failing enchantment that had not been maintained n years. The other was the incomparable weapon and the largest object in the world!

  Since its establishment, the Sacred City enchantment had been absorbing the endless power of the aether sea. It continuously adjusted all rules and music theory in the city. At its peak, there had been more than two thousand musicians working for it… Even a scepter would be unable to take a shred of its power without permission!

  But Ye Qingxuan began sweating.

  A gust of power rose out of thin air and gushed into Passion… It was a success? Such a fast and easy success?

  While he was sensing, the territory of the Judgement Tower separated from the Sacred City enchantment and became something individual. The griffin had used some sort of authority and key to snatch the Central Church’s control command. Before they could react, he had used Passion to break into the outer shields and decipher the core music theory, turning it into his own…

  Ye Qingxuan clenched his jaw and swore. This was getting bad!

  “How dare you!” The auras of countless saints in the wind tunnel above the Papal Chamber raged.

  The music theory operating in the air unfurled. Under the control from the other end of the wind tunnel, the attack came. Dozens of blazing light streaked past. The world rumbled and shook as the lights were swept into the duel between the moon and griffin. Light bright enough to burn eyeballs shot out.

  In an instant
, the enchantment the griffin stole was completely defeated!

  Next, the aether density rose. The laws and temperament had already been distorted by the two. Now, they broke apart. This area had become something far more chaotic than a black zone. Countless music theories were born and destroyed, turning it into an absolute zone.

  “Take him down!” Wagner’s order rang in the ears of all musicians in the bell towers. Before he finished, countless musicians flew to the sky.

  Seeming to use specialized music scores, the one at the front had turned most of his body into a thunderbolt. He galloped in the air and paced, pouncing in an instant.

  “Don’t come in!” Ye Qingxuan turned in shock and yelled. “This is—”

  Too late.

  Ye Qingxuan’s words were swallowed by the chaotic environment. Then, dozens of figures dropped from the sky, pouncing toward Ye Qingxuan and the griffin.

  Idiots.

  Ye Qingxuan looked away, not bearing to look.

  “This is a trap…” Before he finished, pained cries sounded. Around Ye Qingxuan, the grandmasters who whistled past shook and screamed. The air turned into sulfur. Sizzling, it poured into their lungs and attacked them from the inside. Abnormal music theory grew inside them, destroying the equilibrium. In an instant, their flesh was eaten away and skeletons dropped from the sky.

  Clenching his jaw, Ye Qingxuan looked at the ground. The griffin had never planned on taking the enchantment. There was no point in a tug-of-war over the control. He had just wanted to distract the saints and completely destroy the enchantment! Now, it had collapsed. The moment everything fell into frenzy, the territory of Passion swelled. It took over the collapsing music theory, regrouping them in the chaotic territory. Now, this was his world! Even the gravitational pull lost effect in this world. Countless broken things floated in the air, blown by the gales of wind. Stones ignited eerily.

  Two grandmasters charging toward the griffin died instantly.

  A counterblade had slid out of the griffin’s sleeve at some point. He swiped it with a finger and a string of command notes lit up. In the sudden whistle, the blade left his hand. It slashed through several layers of shields.

  The first musician stopped abruptly. A hole opened up in his chest. He stared at the griffin’s cold eyes in shock. His mouth opened to speak but his body swelled up like a ball. The music theory inside him had been ignited by the music theory and overloaded.

  He exploded!

  Before the others could react, a black shadow attacked!

  The first to be snapped in half was a semi-elementalized grandmaster. During the exchange, the music theory encroached with nature disturbance. The thunderbolt was turned into a rock. The power turned from Abstinence into Modifications and shot out, turning him into a steel rock.

  It shattered and fell to the ground.

  The griffin sped up and pounced toward someone else. No one expected the griffin could be so aggressive and violent in the air. No, he probably chose this mask because he specialized in aerial fighting.

  “Don’t fight closely!” A musician quickly reacted. Ferocity flashed past his eyes. “Pull out!” But before he could finish, the griffin was before him.

  The old grandmaster huffed. His body dissipated into fog and he pounced in return. In the venomous blood fog, his remaining body flew backward without hesitation. It was like a gecko breaking off its tail. But before a satisfied expression could emerge on his face, it froze. Ignoring the terrifying corrosiveness and poisonous of the blood fog, the griffin broke through. He clamped a hand on the musician’s head and clenched. Five steel fingers scraped. Flesh dripped out from between the fingers.

  Above his head and outside the chaotic territory, three expressionless musicians from the School of Destruction huddled together. They went into coherence and sang in unison. A black seed fell from their held hands silently.

  It was the Hole of Destruction!

  This was the trademark score of the School of Modifications. It was a black hole that could destroy everything! The seed fell from the sky. It swelled with each inch it descended. After a few seconds, it had become a black vortex meters in diameter.

  In the erratically changing world, only the vortex was pure black. In its path, everything was destroyed as it forcefully opened up a tunnel. It pressed down on the griffin!

  The six late grandmasters regrouped with the survivors. Without thinking, they went into coherence and surrounded the griffin. The leading musician activated nature disturbance and entered the ‘vacuum.’ He displayed an unimaginable attainment in the School of Abstinence.

  In a blink, an invisible prison crisscrossed in the air. This was the way of discipline from Abstinence!

  Music theory from all directions sealed off the griffin’s escape routes, imprisoning him in place. Then the black Hole of Destruction fell from the sky.

  The griffin seemed to sigh and raised his head. In that instant, there was a shrill sound.

  Wild wind blew from all directions. The sudden burst of aether pierced everyone’s sense. In the ‘blindness,’ Ye Qingxuan could only see the sun-like black hole shake violently. Meters wide, it shook and fell apart as if dissolving.

  The wild tide of aether crashed forward, upending everyone. The discipline musician locking the griffin looked aghast.

  The next moment, the purple-eyed griffin’s eerie face appeared before his eyes. The counterblade moved and in an instant, a head fell from the shoulders. Blood dyed the burnt griffin mask. The purple eyes under the black and red seemed so menacing.

  The griffin reached out. There was a deep echo in the absolute domain. Indescribably pressure crushed all the converged aether and robbed all enemies of the ability to fight back.

  Without hesitation, without sympathy, the bloody counterblade was lifted and brought down!

  There was a chilling wail.

  “Activation keyword: 7984611.”

  He seemed to have finally made up his mind. He was tired of the endless waiting and unrealistic dreams. In this absolute domain, a hoarse voice rang out.

  He said, “Foreword—thou shall bow and fear God!”

  There was a crisp crack.

  The griffin suddenly stopped. The bloody counterblade stopped before a musician. The musician paled and stared at the blade before him, unsure if he would survive.

  In the silence, something like a sigh came from the purple-eyed griffin’s mask. It was like sadness.

  For the first time, he had human emotions.

  But in the air, Ye Qingxuan stared at his arm, eyes filling with disappointment and sadness.

  “It really is you, Professor.”

  482 Path of No Return

  Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock… The only sound in the dead silence was the ticking of the clock. It came from the purple-eyed griffin’s arm, sharp and clear. Time seemed to race ahead step by step, leaving the present behind.

  Everything became unrecognizable.

  “Before the principal left, I asked him for your activation password,” Ye Qingxuan said quietly. “Anglo had wronged me so he told me after I asked even though he knew what I wanted to do…I had wanted to take you to an unreliable guy so you could get rid of it.” He paused and laughed at himself. “I didn’t expect that I would read it aloud for the first time in a situation like this.”

  The griffin held the sword without saying a word. The intense aether attack had burned his glove, revealing the steel prosthetic under it. With Ye Qingxuan’s recitation, the sleeping timer was activated. The outer shell cracked, revealing the complex machinery that slowly unfolded. The gears spun and the springs pushed the alchemy material from the cooling chamber into the reaction chamber. A beam of blinding electric light lit up from a thumb-sized siliconized crystal tube. If Ye Qingxuan moved his finger, he could free the circuit and release the red liquid inside the reaction chamber.

  This was the ‘light of purification’ created by alchemists with an all-purpose solvent as the base. After activation, th
e liquid would instantly react. It would rush into the flesh through the prepared tube and inject into the heart, brain, and kidneys at the speed of light. A second later, the body would be completely purified and melted without leaving any trace behind. It was the best poison in the world. If overloaded, it could cover an entire street.

  Decades ago, it was buried inside the purple-eyed griffin’s body, connecting with his veins and arteries. All tools had a weakness. No matter how powerful it was, it would still be grasped in someone else’s hand. Otherwise, it would be unstoppable if out of control.

  This result had been destined from the start. Now, the winner was obvious.

  “Surrender, Professor.” Ye Qingxuan walked forward in the pool of blood, his eyes hardening bit by bit.

  He had decided.

  “It’s too late, Yezi.” An old voice came from under the bloody and scorched mask. As if revealing his weakness to Ye Qingxuan, the griffin sighed. “I taught you how to be decisive but you always make your decision too late.”

  He took off his mask, revealing that wooden face. It was so familiar but had a foreign coldness. The coldness seemed to seep out of his bone marrow. Like a missing puzzle piece, it fit perfectly into his features.

  He was no longer the professor of the history department of the Royal Academy of Music. He was the purple-eyed griffin, the general of the Dragon Riders. He was an executioner who had killed countless people—Abraham!

  “You made the decision too late.” His eyes were regretful and disappointed. “You should have tried it earlier even if you only had a shred of suspicion. But you kept swaying back and forth. You really are the worst class I’ve ever taught, Yezi, even though I’ve only taught one class before.”

  Ye Qingxuan never expected that the face behind the mask would be so calm. It was so calm that Ye Qingxuan suddenly felt he was still sitting in the library, listening to his teacher’s patient admonishing. But this was not the academy. This was not the examination room either…