by Feng Yue
This was the origin of the School of Stone Heart, the work of Sigmund’s life’s work, the precious knowledge he gained by burning his soul in his pursuit of the Originator. In his resurrected body, his everlasting wish was urging him to show Ye Qingxuan the profound wisdom he had gained, even if it will burned his life out, again.
Finally, the last note was played.
The realm of Holy collapsed. Surrounded by the moonlight, the six sub-originators were all covered with cobweb-like cracks and would break at any moment.
The battle was over.
Sigmund raised his head, revealing his face which was like chinaware that had cracked. Despite the horrible face, his hollow eyes were shining with hope. He looked at Ye Qingxuan, as if expecting a reply.
Have you learned what I showed you just now?
In silence, Ye Qingxuan lowered his head and bowed to Sigmund. “Please rest assured that the School of Stone Heart will not die out. It will be passed down and last a long time. There will be a day when our souls will meet again in the Originator.”
Hearing what Ye Qingxuan said, Sigmund’s lips curved up a little as if he was smiling. The smile disappeared instantly, but his hollow eyes were shining more brightly.
In the last hours of his life, he was burning all his power.
Impassioned melody played again. The six sub-originators submerged into his body and burst out huge aether fluctuations, increasing his power to an ever-high level. Then, he struck back at Ye Qingxuan and the realm of Holy with all his might.
In that instant, light and shadow mingled together.
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes and waved his hand.
The moonlight turned into swords.
Everything became quiet.
Under the moon, Sigmund stood still, bathing in the moonlight. The cracked body shattered and turned into ashes and dust, falling onto the ground. The smile on his face disappeared.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Sigmund, the founder of the School of Stone Heart, went back to the embrace of death for the second time.
Looking at the ashes, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but heave a sigh. Then, he unleashed another round of attack with his sword of moonlight, shouting, “Until when do you want to hide?”
581 The Spirit Won’t Pass On
The moonlight was like a phantom, piercing into the ashes soundlessly.
But at that very moment, a faint cloud of black smoke rose from the ashes, gathering into a fuzzy human form, and pounced at Ye Qingxuan. A palm made of ashes extended towards his face suddenly.
Bang! A sword of flames emerged from Ye Qingxuan’s hand and blocked the palm. The flames of nihility collided with the ashes, but it was as if iron and stone were scraping against each other. Sparks flew, illuminating Ye Qingxuan’s eyes and the incomplete face lurking in the black mist.
“Have I been discovered?” The broken face looked at Ye Qingxuan from above. “You never fail to humiliate me, Ye Qingxuan.
“What a pity, I’ve finally gotten mentally prepared to abandon my dignity for this one time and pull a sneak attack you, but it turns out, after killing your forebear with your own hands, it seems like you aren’t even feeling one bit of guilt and sorrow? You do indeed have a stony heart.”
“How should I address you?” Ye Qingxuan gazed at the face, expressionless. “Your Majesty, Hyakume? Or… the Dark Sovereign?” As his name was spoken, the face that looked familiar gave an odd smile. He was indeed the incarnation of Hyakume which had once descended upon the shadow of Avalon—the Dark Sovereign!
Ye Qingxuan had not expected that when Hyakume cut off all forms of connections with his incarnations before his death and gifted the abyss and all his powers to the demons, his actions even caused the Dark Sovereign, who had been obliterated a long time ago, to be resurrected from Avalon.
“Your spirit just won’t pass on, eh.” Ye Qingxuan asked coldly, “Is all of this your doing?”
“Who knows?” Upon hearing Ye Qingxuan’s words, the broken face of the Dark Sovereign immediately laughed sharply. “Ye Qingxuan, why don’t you use that tiny brain you’re so proud of and have a good think about it?
“Maybe I’m just a part that isn’t even worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things… Or maybe I’m the one that has planned all of this… Surely you don’t think that I’ll stand aside and let you guys stop the resurrection of Leviathan?”
“Who are you trying to fool? Do you think there’s someone else in the world who knows you better than I do?” Ye Qingxuan remained indifferent. “Only a small amount of residue is left of you, yet you still fail to master the art of going into hiding. Instead, you linger here, clinging on obstinately, entangling yourself in such matters for the sake of friendly sentiments between catastrophes…
“If Leviathan knew that you were so altruistic as to dedicate yourself selflessly, I’m sure it would be very touched. But why don’t you take a guess, after it resurrects and finds out about how miserable you are now. Will it extend a helping hand selflessly?” Ye Qingxuan paused and examined the silent face, and his gaze turned cold. “Your real target is still Arthur, right?”
The face that was made up of dust still wore a mocking expression, but it was just an appearance displayed by music theory. Ye Qingxuan could detect the music theory under the disguise undergoing changes at a high speed. Notes were quietly emerging and vanishing one after another, like countless emotional ups and downs.
He had guessed correctly.
Ye Qingxuan was very relieved. It was as if a large stone suspended in his mind had finally landed. Then, he came to a sudden realization.
The shadow of Avalon is a natural maze.
After so many years of being constructed and destroyed by each generation of the royal family, it resembles the overlapping of numerous design drawings even more. Even the ones who have originally designed it may not be able to find their way around.
For the Dark Sovereign especially, who has lost most of his powers and is only barely resurrected, it is an absolute predicament.
He isn’t even capable of getting out of here.
In the past, he wouldn’t have minded lurking there for centuries, waiting for a perfectly sound opportunity to come by. But as Leviathan’s seals are breaking layer by layer, and it is about to descend completely, he has to start making plans for himself.
Catastrophes have never cared about sh*t like friendship and the glory of victory. They have only abided by the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest, just like how his real body, Hyakume, had reigned over various catastrophes back then.
To avoid being eaten, the Dark Sovereign has no choice but to leave this place.
He must leave as fast as possible.
Or, he can take advantage of this critical juncture, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and complete his original plan—break the core seal of the palace in the shadow of Avalon and completely destroy the final line of defense of the country. In the end, he will be able to transform Arthur, the source of all the powers of Anglo, into a catastrophe.
Regardless of which plan he has in mind, he must first obtain the blood of the royals to be able to move around freely in the forbidden areas within the shadow of Avalon. After Maxwell’s act of treason, in all of Avalon, no one is of a purer bloodline than Mary…
After making sense of his motives, Ye Qingxuan could not help but snicker. “Putting aside other factors for now, do you really think that you are still capable of turning Arthur into a catastrophe with your current ghostly form?”
He could sense the current state of the Dark Sovereign.
Weak, broken, and suffering.
The Dark Sovereign even has to hide in stone figurines, like a shattered soul. Even though White Crow has reappeared and may be providing him with various manners of support, he is still barely able to sustain himself.
Managing to resurrect the first generation members of the Royal Musician Division with all his efforts, albeit difficultly, is probably his
limit. Plus, in the light of the present situation, it seems like the thirteen masters of the Royal Musician Division are not as easy to control as the Dark Sovereign imagined.
Otherwise, Nigel wouldn’t have been killed immediately in my one-shot sneak attack, and Sigmund wouldn’t have been able to impart all his knowledge of music theory upon me during our duel.
Then, where is the Dark Sovereign’s confidence coming from?
As if the Dark Sovereign had perceived the young man’s puzzlement, his incomplete face revealed a smile that made Ye Qingxuan somewhat uneasy.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” He whispered in Ye Qingxuan’s ear, “Arthur is voluntary in the whole matter.”
For a moment, Ye Qingxuan was frozen on the ground in shock.
Arthur is voluntary? Voluntary in being transformed into a catastrophe?
Why? Wait, if that’s the case, a lot of things make sense now…
But if it’s true, in other words… Everything the royal family has been doing is not to protect Arthur, but to imprison him?!
This is really…
“Enough of the gossip, Ye Qingxuan.” The Dark Sovereign laughed, his body of ashes flew upwards, floating in the sky. He waved, and the melody of Requiem VI blared. The shrill and mournful music echoed in the dark city. Red light lit up in the eyes of the 11 remaining masters, as they were completely dominated by the Dark Sovereign.
“I hope I have made the last of your time enjoyable for you just now.” The Dark Sovereign cackled. “Since you’ve jumped into this trap out of your own initiative, then let’s bring an end to the shallow grievances between us once and for all.” The body formed of ashes suddenly underwent a series of changes, and the ashes fell into the body of the principal conductor of the first generation of the Royal Musician Division.
Then, violent aether waves burst forth from his body. Countless music theories gushed out of the body of the principal conductor, entangling in the air, combining with each other and evolving. Finally, it formed a spectacular and magnificent scene. As if the mythical door to the nine layers of hell had been opened, countless phantom-like sights intertwined and condensed into a huge threshold.
It was… a scepter!
As one of the Three Pillar Gods, Hyakume naturally exerted a certain level of influence on the Originator. As a vital incarnation of Hyakume, the Dark Sovereign naturally benefited from the bounties bestowed upon him by Hyakume. Right from birth, the Dark Sovereign contained elements that Hyakume had extracted from the Originator.
The incarnations were born with natures similar to that of catastrophes. They differed from living things, like humans and demons, and were instead closer to pure creatures born of aether, such as the oddities brewed up in the realm of aether. To a certain extent, each of them could be considered a living artifact, a humanoid scepter!
The element of legend inherited by the Dark Sovereign was the concept in direct opposition to humanity’s concept of the kingdom of heaven. It was the kingdom of darkness where all sinners would go after death.
It was the top-ranking element of mythology—the King of Hell!
582 The Arrows
The sleeping Avalon suddenly shook when the scepter appeared. With infinite power surging from the deepest darkness, the city that had been destroyed seemed to be in operation again. Huge waves of aether burst out from the king’s palace towering above the city, which was enveloped by black mist, devouring everything in the city. The scene was like a dark sun giving off light and fire.
Numerous buildings that had been floating in the air cracked, exploded, and shattered. Tortured by the scepter’s power, the moans of numerous people came from everywhere, filling the whole space.
Even at a time when it was at its most vulnerable, a scepter was still incredibly powerful, not to mention that he was the Dark Sovereign, the most powerful one among the dark chancellors. For centuries, before Hyakume became personified, he had been showing himself as an abyss, conveying the god’s will to the world.
The key elements of the scepter were the essence of the abyss, the final destination of all sins, the real hell. When he was in his prime, once the scepter was deployed in the aether world, it would pierce through the nine layers of the aether sea and smash the physical world. It would twist the physical world, destroying more than half a country, leaving nothing but hell on the earth.
Last time Maxwell, under all favorable conditions, managed to defeat him only by ambushing him before his scepter was fully deployed, with the full support of Saint Haydn and betting on the hundreds of years of wealth and resources.
Now, it was Ye Qingxuan’s turn to fight against him.
“Fight against him? How?” Raising his head, Ye Qingxuan looked at the scepter that had penetrated the whole shadow of Avalon and couldn’t help but heave a sigh. “It’s impossible to defeat him.” Now that the scepter was fully deployed, the shadow of Avalon became Dark Sovereign’s “home court.” With the Stone Sword, Ye Qingxuan had no chance to win at all.
In the Clothes of the Original Sins, Ye Qingxuan’s Symphony of Predestination surged, accumulating power with numerous music theory changes to combine the Stone of the Sage, the Seal of Moonlight and Catastrophe Resonance.
A glint of ruthlessness shone in his eyes. Run if I cannot defeat him. If that is not possible, I will drill a hole through his scepter with my Wyrmrest enchantment!
At that moment, a hoarse voice was heard from the end of empty street in the north, “Protect the princess, Christine.”
Ye Qingxuan looked back in surprise and saw Lancelot standing there.
Lancelot? Ignoring the stare full of surprise from Ye Qingxuan, Lancelot undid his buttons and tossed his coat on the ground, revealing his black gown. In his hand was a big bow which was as tall as a man. The bow was made by the Third National Arsenal of Anglo. Composed of hundreds of iron and steel parts, it was called ‘Bagpipe’ by the engineers as the vibration of the bowstring would generate a rhythm that sounds like the melody of home town.
In the three trial fires, the bow proved to be amazingly accurate and powerful. Lancelot raised his bow, which shone coldly in the air. His half-kneeling servant gave him the arrow with both hands. Lancelot took the arrow and targeted it on Flute.
With the creaking sound of the string when it was pulled tight, the muscle on Lancelot’s chest suddenly bulked up under his shirt, revealing the shape of his masculine figure. The thumbwheel on the bow was adjusted by his thumb to allow the maximum power.
30 years ago, before Lancelot was wounded when he was trying to protect the queen, he was the best knight of Anglo. Yet now, he had to gave up his bow and arrow due to his illness in his lung and turned to politics. But his skill in archery was never lost. The posture he took when he was shooting the arrow was just perfect.
He aimed at the hell that was hovering over the city, the head of the first-generation royal musician divisions and the scepter summoned by the Dark Sovereign. He drew the bow to its limit and took his aim, the arrow shining coldly with intention to kill.
Then, the arrow whizzed forward. The sound of the arrow flying in the air was thrilling, piercing through the space like a cannon. However, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but turn his head to the side. The arrow went in the wrong direction! Lancelot was old and had been suffering from his wound for many years. Ye Qingxuan thought it was a miracle that he could draw the bow, considering his illness in his lung.
After the arrow was shot, the wound on Lancelot’s chest burst open and blood stained his black shirt. The arrow flied in the air along a deflected trajectory and pierced through a rock far away into the ground, its tail shaking as if it didn’t want to end up like this.
It was so far away from its target.
Seeing this, other people might have laugh out loud, yet Ye Qingxuan only felt pity for Lancelot. Shooting only one arrow, Lancelot seemed to have used all his strength. He supported himself with the bow and bent down, coughing and spitting up blood.
He was
so pale, but there was no disappointment or upset in his eyes. He raised his arm and wiped the blood off his lips.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Another three shrieking arrows were shot from the west, the east, and the south. The arrows were the same as the one shot by Lancelot. Surprised, Ye Qingxuan noticed that the four arrows formed a rectangular. The arrows pierced deep into the ground, their tails left shaking in the air, giving off scarlet light. At that moment, Christine suddenly understood the situation.
“This is…” Christine wanted to explain what this was but there was no time. She threw herself at Ye Qingxuan and pressed the Galahad armor to activate the remaining power. Then a barrier was generated to envelop them and the iron coffin in a protective space.
“Carpet saturation strike.” Christine finally found time to finish what she had wanted to say.
Coughing, Lancelot said, “Three rounds.” At that moment, hundreds of pairs blue eyes began to shine in the darkness behind him. Those were the masks of the cavaliers! Those eyes were lit up by the aether stoves of the power armor.
With the clattering of iron and steel, numerous armored knights turned off their cloaking mode and got into action. Under the command of Lancelot, they all raised the giant bow toward the sky. Then, they took the heavy arrows from their quivers and put it on the string of the bow. After that, they all drew their bows, generating a buzzing sound like that of a swarm of bees flying. A split second later, there came a deafening boom as if the sky was torn apart. Numerous arrows flew high into the sky, whizzing through the long distance. They landed precisely in the square designated by the four arrows.
The earth shook and wild wind blew. Against the protective shield of the 11 masters, the huge arrows smashed into the ground. Most of the arrows’ coatings peeled off in midair, revealing the alchemy metrics in them; as hot as the core of the earth.
In the heat, the stress in the arrows was activated. The arrows then disintegrated and disassembled into numerous red-hot iron plates. They were so thin they were almost transparent. They rained down like fire storms with their horribly high temperature. And the iron plates gave off a horrible shrieking sound when they ruptured.