Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  A wisp of grayish white mist rose from the ashes, convulsing in pain. It flew backwards, falling into the moonlight of nothingness, and disappeared.

  The bright moon in the sky remained the same, not the slightest bit influenced by Ye Qingxuan’s death.

  It was a fake.

  Lancelot turned abruptly.

  At the very moment, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer suddenly stabbed forward.

  The moonlight of nothingness shattered silently, revealing Ye Qingxuan who was hiding behind it, and the wisp of gray mist in his hand.

  The shattered and badly damaged music theory gathered together and took form. As it turned out, it appeared to be the clothes of original sin.

  On the constantly changing appearance of the clothes of original sin, Ye Qingxuan’s face faded in and out, smiling mockingly at Lancelot.

  Under the armor, Lancelot’s pupils shook slightly, and immediately contracted, as he came to a sudden realization in his mind. “From the very beginning… It’s a fake?”

  Ye Qingxuan nodded.

  In this regard, he had nothing much to deny.

  From the very beginning, the clothes of original sin had taken on Ye Qingxuan’s appearance and engaged in combat with Lancelot in his stead. It was also part of the reason why he did not intend to counterattack, but stuck to evading and dodging attacks.

  Regardless of how good the Changing Music Theory was at imitating him, it had lost its spirituality after all. As a tool, it could still somewhat be considered convenient, but when compared to an actual musician, it had its share of weaknesses in terms of sluggishness and stiffness.

  When the opponent in question was Lancelot, even a minor slip would probably result in the plot being immediately seen through.

  Ye Qingxuan had never hoped to defeat Lancelot just by remotely controlling an alchemy equipment. The only thing he had hoped to achieve was to lure Lancelot to use his trump card, so that he could see clearly… what was the ace in the hole that Lancelot had been hiding.

  He succeeded.

  Unfortunately, he paid a rather high price.

  One can only say that the stars are not in favor of the clothes of original sin. First, I forcibly plundered it and washed away the spiritual personality in the movement. After finally managing to maintain its own grade, it then encountered an artifact destroyer, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer, and is now badly damaged from head to toe.

  Had Paganini seen it, he would definitely be crying out of anger on the spot.

  In only an instant, all its music theory was on the verge of shattering, and it had no way of recovering within a few years. Even if it recovered, without the use of a lot of precious materials to repair it, it would be difficult for it to regain spirituality.

  Under Ye Qingxuan’s control, the clothes of original sin that was on the verge of shattering slowly changed shape. Countless broken strands of music theory were pieced back together by the perception threads of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei, and converged into a slender bundle, like the baton used by leaders of orchestras when they were conducting resonances.

  Before it is repaired, if I want to use Changing Music Theory, I’m afraid that this is the only possible form.

  I might as well use it for as long as it can still be used.

  I stole it anyway, it won’t be a pity even if it gets broken.

  After smoothly waving the ‘Baton of Change’ in his hand, Ye Qingxuan nodded with satisfaction, and when he looked up at Lancelot, his gaze became one of realization. “What occurred just now was the ability of the armor of Lancelot?

  “No wonder it is known as the most powerful Round Table Armor — Ignoring the rest and purely speaking in terms of ability, it is indeed an unparalleled combination when paired with the combat method of knights. “

  Coordinating moonlight perception threads and aether sensing, he finally saw the true appearance of Lancelot at the moment clearly.

  Under that layer of cold and heavy steel, the scorching hot alchemy circuit was like the vast root system of the banyan. Like blood, it operated wildly within, turning the entire armor into a whole.

  The whole Included Lancelot in it.

  If not for the protection of the black Firebird, Lancelot would have already burned to ashes under the horrifying heat at the moment — It was exactly because of such a huge price he paid that enabled him to control the armor as a human and reach a level beyond Ye Qingxuan’s imagination.

  Ye Qingxuan had once suspected that the inscription on the armor was the movement of Faust. Once activated, the whole world would be completely frozen, all molecular movements forcibly paused.

  But after observing it twice, he rejected the speculation firmly.

  If the Physical World was distorted to such an extent, as a musician, he couldn’t possibly be unaware of it. Moreover, as one of the ultimate products of research, since its development, no one had ever dared to use Faust in a battle between musicians of the same level.

  The gravitational forces of music theories will repel each other.

  If the other party’s Symphony of Predestination is strong enough to fight against Faust, the effect of time stopping will also be canceled.

  What’s more, for existences like the Dark Sovereign which was born from the essence of the abyss, unless Hermes arrives in person, no one can possibly rely on Faust to play any tricks.

  So, only the other method is left…

  If the outside world cannot be interfered with, just conduct interference on oneself instead.

  In the seven questions for musicians, the proposition of the school of modifications is known as the ‘eternally unchanging object’. The core element and argument is that movement and stillness are relative.

  Therefore, one simply needs to apply the principle of Faust in reverse, to make the changing outside world still relative to oneself.

  With the concept as the core, the array was constructed and the armor of Lancelot was created. It is undoubtedly a terrifying power that has achieved the ultimate result of movement.

  Using the armor, one’s speed can be increased up to thousands of times of the initial speed in an instant. Using the alchemy array, the knight’s reflexes and consciousness are made to operate at a rapid speed, freeing the knight from material and time through a method that is close to burning and destroying the pericranium, and attaining a sensation close to the freedom of chasing after the speed of light.

  For Lancelot, to make use of the limit of the reaction time of the human eye and complete a thrust in one twenty-fourth of a second is just a walk in the park! As long as he is willing to, he can perform the same thrust for hundreds of times in one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a second!

  In the shadow of Avalon, the flowing stream of light that Ye Qingxuan witnessed shattering the Scepter of Hell was in essence the thrust of the sword that had been superimposed for God knew how many times in a flash.

  Each blow landed on the fragile critical weakness of the Scepter of Hell. After countless hits, even the Scepter of Hell could only become a sandcastle on the beach, collapsing at the slightest touch.

  From that, I can imagine the tragic treatment that the clothes of original sin went through.

  Plus, Lancelot is also holding the Lance of the Dragon Slayer.

  Surprisingly, it did not fall apart so completely until no residue is left. It can only be said that Paganini must have spent an awful amount of resources back then in order to create the clothes of original sin.

  “Oh right, what did you want to tell me just now? Don’t regret, feel free to say whatever you want to say.” Ye Qingxuan gazed at the armored knight who was emitting a horrifying amount of heat, and slowly raised the black, broken baton in his hand.

  His smile also grew more and more mocking.

  He said, “In any case, we still have plenty of time.”

  [1] It refers to the part of the body of the lance from where Lancelot’s left hand gripped it to the end of the lance. The part is effectively useless when the lance
is held that way.

  606 Speed and Strength

  The way that knights fight a war was straight-forward – no matter what the tactics were and no matter what the strategy was – its only goal was to “destroy the enemies physically”.

  Therefore, their strengths lied differently with the musicians. They didn’t need to be multifunctional, nor did they require long time study and research, and they didn’t even need a teacher to guide them.

  Like everyone in a war, they need combat skills and experiences, good weather conditions and mental and physical conditions, favorable general situations of the war and luck. But what’s most important for them, were two simple factors: speed and strength.

  Those who were faster and stronger would always win the battle. Therefore, since the invention of the armored knights, everyone had been trying all means to pursue speed and strength. And that philosophy had caused the creation of numerous monsters by the workshops.

  At that time, the most powerful machine was the Courtyard Snake published several months ago by the Asgardian National Alchemy Lab. It had drawn the attention of the whole world even before it was made, as it surpassed the previous most powerful machine – the Hercules.

  The making of the Courtyard Snake consumed tens of thousands of tons of steel and precious materials and a total of 300,000 men were hired to labor in the workshops for 5 years. Around the site where it was assembled, a new heavy industry city was generated during the 5 years. The amount of black gold consumed for the interior wirings and piping was equal to two years of total black gold output of the whole world.

  A mere prototype of the Courtyard Snake had cost half of the money that Asgardian’s national treasury had accumulated.

  Powered by at least 6 super aether engines and piloted by 16 grand knights and 40 musicians, the Courtyard Snake was above 100 meters tall and heavier than a battleship. It was a walking fortress once it was in operation.

  What’s more, it also had with it 3 military divisions, 6 special armored cavalier forces and a general military unit of more than 1,000 men.

  It could function as a decisive factor in any direct conflict. No one knew exactly where its limit of strength lied. However, for the Courtyard Snake, it was as easy as a child stamping a sand fortress on the beach to push down the wall of a well-guarded city. As a gigantic war machine of its size, it was born to fight a catastrophe. Its power represents the best of the nation, to which the strength of a mortal man could never be comparable.

  Yet the armor that Ye Qingxuan was facing, was equally tough to handle to the Courtyard Snake.

  Different with the Courtyard Snake, the biggest advantage of Lancelot’s armor was its speed, which could almost defeat time. The alchemy armor was built at the peak time of Arthur’s reign and had cost the country countless treasures and money. It was the guard for Arthur’s path to godly ascension and his eternal reign.

  The alchemy armor had capabilities far beyond the reach of any mortal man, and it could only be used by the best knight who could bear the terrible pressure it inflicted upon him. The one who was wearing it now, was one of the best knights in the western world – Lancelot, who was called “the one favored by victory”.

  In terms of explosive force, when Lancelot drew his sword, even an aetherized scepter musician could not dodge the fatal strike. Luckily for Ye Qingxuan, Lancelot couldn’t maintain that sort of speed for long. Ye Qingxuan was not sure how long would it take for the armor to resume that speed, but if he didn’t seize the opportunity and let the armor accumulate power for the next acceleration, he would have to gamble his life on his luck.

  Fortunately, Ye Qingxuan was quite good at gamble with his life.

  “No hurry. Let’s sit down and drink some water. We could talk thing over.” Facing the golden light roaring toward him, Ye Qingxuan smiled and dipped the Baton of Change on the ground to play the first note of his movement.

  Instantly, endless ocean waves of magnificent melodies burst out of the baton clashing against each other, the booming of which shook the whole battle field. Everyone on the battlefield was terrified by the horrible images included in the melodies.

  It was like ridding on a shabby boat in the sea, where towering sea waves raise above and cut out the sun light. The waves bulldozed forward on the sea surface, casting its shadow all over the space. The sea water generated deafening noise like the sound of iron rubbing against iron, which was causing unspeakable pain in everyone’s ears.

  The shadow pressed down. And suddenly, there was nothing but silence. All the roaring, shouting, screaming and whining were gone. As if isolated by the thick wall of sea water, silence devoured everything. The light went out, and darkness fell. Only when they raised their heads and looked above could they see the sea surface and the dim light. The storm was still raging the sea surface, yet the battle field was buried down into the bottom of the sea.

  Everyone was suffocated. They breathed hard, but no air was there. Their faces turned green due to lack of oxygen. Despair seized everyone.

  Then comes the terrible undercurrent and the massive water pressure.

  They were falling, falling down more and more quickly as if there would be no end to the falling.

  It was like several years had elapsed, or was it only a slip of a second? Finally, they saw the bottomless ocean abyss under the sea, which was like a giant monster opening its mouth widely, waiting for any prey trapped in the illusion to devour them into the deepest darkness.

  The darkness seemed tangible, as if it was grinding the bones of everyone enveloped in it. Everything in the darkness would finally dissolve and fall into eternal sleep.

  The Ocean Abyss Symphony!

  The illusion of the sea sealed the space, leaving no way to escape from it. With the melodies projecting the images of massive tides as its starting point, it implanted into the enemy’s head a powerful illusion. With Ye Qingxuan’s perfect skills, the deployment of the strategic level symphony was finished smoothly, with no flaw in it at all.

  The Royal Music Division was dragged into it instantly. They were pushed down the dark fall even before they could put up a fight. Only it was a very short moment, it was expanded by tens of thousands of times in the mind of the musicians. Almost one third of the Royal Music Division members had been stunned by the ocean abyss that was coming nearer and nearer and lost their will to fight.

  Then, when the chief musician raised his hand to prepare for the summoning of oddities which could consume the illusional realm, there suddenly came the hot alchemy light in the deep sea.

  From the deepest part of the darkness, the knight that had suffered most from the ocean abyss raised the Lance of Dragon Slayer in his hand, which shone brightly and tore up the darkness apart.

  The light then soared high up into the air, leaving a pale white tail along its path. Only within a split second that it crossed the whole ocean abyss.

  Trapped in the core of the illusion, Lancelot, with his unyielding will, was able to negate the illusion which had turned into reality and tear up the illusion by brutal force. He escaped from the trap and trusted his lance at the illusion. Along with the aether interaction, he destroyed all the key joints of the illusion.

  The aether circulation was cut off at the key points by the lance of dragon slayer.

  Ye Qingxuan jumped out from behind the illusion. He immediately felt danger before he could utter a word. He subconsciously moved his head to one side and the next moment, Lancelot was right in front of him.

  The ferocious mask was right in front of his eyes. The blade of the lance, turned into hot red due to the friction in the air, roared past his ear, the deafening sound nearly tearing up his ear drum. The spearhead scrubbed his chick and left a narrow yet long scar on his face, which caused him great pain that he almost trembled.

  There was no way to dodge this strike.

  Leaning close to the lance, Ye Qingxuan stepped one step forward. Opening his arm with a warm smile on his face, he hugged his “uncle
” who was just one foot away from him.

  The Hug of Death.

  The strings of Jiu Xiao Huan Pei tightened suddenly and wrung together, producing a booming sound like the iron drum.

  A music theory seed grew out of the Symphony of Predestination. With Ye Qingxuan’s swift movement, the seed was pushed into the body of Lancelot. And then, began the nature interference!

  The music theory seed integrated into the heart and suck the blood to feed itself. Then, it grew and sprouted. Then, a green fire blossomed on the plant.

  As Over the Burning Ashes!

  The music theories passed down from Abraham came alive in Ye Qingxuan’s hands. Through nature interference, it turned the blood within Lancelot’s body into burning fire, burning him from inside out.

  In Ye Qingxuan’s right hand, the music theories from the Emerald Tablet converged and 36 perception threads stretched out and attached themselves onto the armor.

  The next moment, Ye Qingxuan retreated at lightening speed and rolled on the ground to evade the swiping of the lance of dragon slayer. Yet, the end of the lance brushed past his shoulder and smashed onto the ground. The rocks on the ground were smashed into pieces and bounced onto Ye Qingxuan’s face. It was really hurt.

  What a pity it is that he was not able to embrace Lancelot.

  If the hug was successful, Lancelot might be badly wounded.

  The perception would have connected in parallel with the alchemy matrix and broken the four-layer balance through music theory invasion to overload the aether engine and make it explode.

  Lancelot successfully forced Ye Qingxuan to retreat. But before he could begin his counter-attack, Lancelot felt the fierce fire inside his body. He didn’t hesitate at all and turned the spearhead to himself and cut open the old wound on his chest.

  The steel was pierced through, giving off sharp scrubbing noise. The wound burst open, but, instead of blood, it was fire that spurt out it.

  The fire was cut off by the spear.

  Then, the music theory seed inhabited on the heart was dug out and broke into pieces in the air.