Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  go there to have a look? It is so beautiful, Maxwell, very beautiful.”

  Looking at the broken figure of the old man, he said, “I beg you, please have a

  look there! You would regret it if you don’t go there.”

  “If the garden is empty, plant some roses there for me.” Maxwell said his

  farewell, smiling gently, “I’ve always wanted to see some flowers with Elizbeth.

  Pity I won’t have the chance. If I can leave a place full of flowers after I die, it

  would be great.”

  Boom!

  Maxwell’s body broke into pieces. The cracked body disappeared, leaving

  only the farewell smile in Ye Qingxuan’s mind.

  Ye Qingxuan stood transfixed.

  Arthur screamed and the path of godly ascension shivered and collapsed. The

  dark sun in the sky shook violently and crashed onto the earth.

  “Don’t you dare! Maxwell! You son of a bitch!” Arthur shouted, ignoring the

  huge wounds on his body. He opened his mouth and swallowed the broken

  pieces of the stone sword into his stomach. The power of the path of godly

  ascension was all devoured by him, captivated in the deformed body.

  Arthur didn’t die.

  He was still alive!

  Yet, before even Arthur could crack his hideous grin, Ye Qingxuan shouted,

  “Arthur, you son of a bitch!”

  Furious, Ye Qingxuan pressed forward and held high the staff of fate. A pure

  white moon raised in the sky.

  The stone of the sage, seal of moonlight and catastrophe resonant. All three

  in one strike.

  Jiu Xiao Huan Pei drew the power of the national defense line and infilled the

  hot power into the fate of staff. Then, smashed it on Arthur.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  With all the power of the whole Anglo, the staff of fate smashed onto Arthur’s

  face. The face was smashed so hard that it turned into a meat pie. Before

  Arthur could defend himself, his right hand was also hit and the bones

  shattered.

  Ignoring the firebirds, Ye Qingxuan stepped onto Arthur’s body and hit him

  with the staff of fate again and again. The black blood fell on his furious face.

  “How dare you! How dare you!” Stepping on Arthur’s face which was healing

  quickly, Ye Qingxuan was as crazy as a monster. “Why don’t you just die?

  Why? Why should you live in this world! How dare you hurt Maxwell! Why

  don’t you die! Why don’t you find a dark corner and rot quietly! You son of a

  bitch! Shit! Crap! Garbage! Criminal! Parasite!”

  Arthur screamed horribly. His bones cracked. He wanted to say something,

  yet he couldn’t even move under the crazy attack of Ye Qingxuan and was

  stepped by him like a pile of garbage.

  The usually calm and arrogant young man was completely crazy. He was as

  fierce as an evil monster, torn off his mask of kindness by anger. He spat out

  his poison without mercy and sabotaged Arthur’s dignity.

  “Die! Go to hell!” Stamping on Arthur’s face again and again, he shouted,

  “Why?! Why?! Why?!”

  Arthur screamed. Yet he grabbed the staff, risking his fingers. Raising his

  head, he gnarled, “You will pay for this, Ye Qingxuan! I swear it!”

  then, turbulent burst out from his body and pushed Ye Qingxuan away. His

  body was suddenly covered with blue flames. He roared and his body turned

  into ashes inch by inch. Finally, he turned into a hot beam of light and flied to

  the dark sun.

  In the dark son, cracks spread all over. Then, something moved in the sun.

  Arthur gave up the power he had not yet absorbed and stopped waiting for the

  path of godly ascension to complete naturally. He abandoned the body and

  wanted to ascend on the world as a catastrophe.

  Boom!

  The sun smashed on the ground. In the aether world, a violent sun raised

  slowly into the sky. A new catastrophe was born.

  The path of godly ascension came to its end. In the collapsing sun, a black

  deformed dragon raised its head and roared.

  The seven seas were trembling.

  The dragon spread its wings and covered the whole Avalon under its shadow.

  Terrible firebirds soared and wiped out half of the upper city in a split second.

  Born earlier than it naturally should, the catastrophe still had power beyond

  imagination!

  “Hahaha…Maxwell, can you see? Do you see me?” Arthur rejoiced. “You son

  of a bitch. You cannot stop me. Nobody can! I am the real king of kings!”

  “Is it so?” Ye Qingxuan said coldly. Looking at Arthur, he said, “is this what you

  can do? Is this what you want to say? It was a joke, on yourself.”

  Dark firebirds soared forward and pressed upon Ye Qingxuan. The staff of

  fate moaned and Ye Qingxuan’s hands were again shattered, revealing his

  bones.

  Reborn as a catastrophe, Arthur became so powerful. He almost defeated Ye

  Qingxuan with only one strike.

  Arthur looked at Ye Qingxuan and sneered. “See who is a joke, now?”

  Horrible pressure was inflicted upon Ye Qingxuan. He could not raise his

  head; his bone was whining in pain. The firebirds of Arthur were to crush him

  into ashes.

  “I told you, you will pay for what you have done. I told you!” Arthur said, “I will

  jail you in the broken pieces of the stone sword. And you will regret for the

  rest of your life that you offended the holy king of the world.”

  The pressure surged again.

  Ye Qingxuan shook, and blood oozed out of his mouth. He fought against the

  pressure with the staff of fate, and said, “no, Arthur. Quite the contrary. I will

  defeat you. I will save this country. I will make this world better. You are not

  worthy to rule this world!”

  At that moment, the Symphony of Predestination abandoned by Arthur – the

  Symphony of Golden Victory - was played loudly in the Heaven on Earth.

  As the path of godly ascension collapsed, the Heaven on Earth absorbed all

  the power remained of it.

  The music theories of the Genesis radiated to all directions and filled every

  corner of the Heaven on Earth. Then, great changes happened.

  This city used to be a phantom in the mirror. Yet now, with the power of the

  Leviathan, it ascended into the aether world and turned into shining stars.

  It became a real city.

  On the throne, Mary fell into sleep, her eyes closed.

  In her bosom, numerous music theories weaved together, and the golden

  sheath was absorbing the power of the national defense line.

  The phantom of a golden hunt dog appeared and absorbed the violent power.

  The dog soon turned into a giant dragon, magnificent and powerful.

  Finally, the dragon turned into a blurred figure of man. Wearing the three-layer

  golden crown, he raised his golden eyes and looked at Arthur.

  Suddenly, the Heaven on Earth shone brightly. The world fell into silence.

  The curtain on the stage was drawn open. every creature was waiting for the

  final show.

  A figure as magnificent as a king walked out of the Heaven on Earth. With

  cheering from the people and the booming of horns, the gates opened one by

  one. The figure walked up into the sky.

  Heavy armors appeared on him, and then, the sword was there in the sheath.

  And finally, the strong red drag
on-horse galloped out from the void.

  The man with the sword rode on the horse. It was as if there were an army

  following him. The world was shaking.

  Upon his arrival, the whole Anglo resonated with him and transmitted power

  onto him. The phantom of the golden dragon loomed, spraying firebirds like

  water of the sea.

  At last, the figure stopped by Ye Qingxuan’s side.

  He glanced at Ye Qingxuan. It felt so familiar, arrogant yet helpless, like that of

  a king.

  Holding the staff of fate, Ye Qingxuan wiped the blood off his mouth. He

  raised his head and looked at the figure, and heaved a sigh. “Who is the real

  Arthur?”

  “I don’t know.” The king shook his head, his expression complicated. “Maybe I

  am, maybe I once was.”

  “Let me guess. It’s because of Ye Lanzhou?”

  “Yes…”

  “All right. We can talk about that later.” Ye Qingxuan pointed at the black

  dragon. “Do you regret it? It turned into such a mass!”

  “A little.”

  Feeling awkward, the king scratched his nose. “Thank you.”

  “You’ve been taken care of me for so many years.” Ye Qingxuan shook his

  head. “Next time you want a girlfriend, find someone reliable. It doesn’t matter

  even if she was ugly.”

  The king didn’t speak and looked elsewhere, apparently not knowing what to

  say.

  “Old Phil?” Ye Qingxuan said.

  “What?” He turned back and saw the eyes of the young man. He was serious

  and solemn.

  “Thank you. It has been so long.”

  The king smiled and patted him on the shoulder, as usual.

  “Thank you, too.”

  -

  The war horse neighed.

  The king drew his virtual sword from the sheath. The sword was as it had

  been before, with seven virtues decorated on it. After so many years, it was

  as majestic as ever.

  “My time is running short…” Looking at the black dragon in front of him, the

  king was proud and disdainful as usual.

  “Let’s go.” He said.

  “OK.” Ye Qingxuan nodded.

  The next moment, he was like waken up from a dream and opened his eyes.

  It was as if nothing had happened at all.

  The time began to flow again. The cold intention of killing of the dragon was

  felt even stronger.

  In the shadow of the wings of the catastrophe, the dark firebird devoured Ye

  Qingxuan like flood. Yet, next moment, golden light began to shine in front of

  him.

  The staff of fate boomed. A blade was forged in the golden light and pierced

  through the air forward. The blade clashed with the catastrophe, and the flood

  of destruction was cut through from the middle.

  In the light, horses neighed and the Pomp and Circumstance (March) was

  played. The king walked from the light toward Arthur and raised the “Stone

  Sword” in his hand.

  Bright light radiated from the sword like the beams of the raising sun,

  brightening up the whole world with an ocean of light.

  The banner of red dragon was raised high up again.

  The war horse neighed. The king held his sword.

  “King of Anglo!”

  A low voice filled the space between the sea and the sky, and lingered over

  the seven seas. It reached every inch of the land and transmitted through

  time, waking up the dead who were sleeping in the silence to pursue their old-

  time glory.

  “My soldiers! Follow my banner!”

  Then, numerous beams of light came from every direction to the red dragon

  banner. The ghosts rubbed with the sun, generating thundering light.

  The aether sea boiled. Countless fluctuations of aether movements surged,

  yet succumbed to the same melody and the same main theme, playing the

  Chapter of the Golden Victory together.

  Numerous figures emerged from the light and descended onto the world in the

  form of firebirds.

  Then, the heaven and the earth both cheered with a deafening booming

  sound.

  “Victory! Victory! Victory!” The huge army transformed by firebirds followed the

  banner forward and shouted wildly, “I sacrifice myself to the great emperor!

  May the god bless the kingdom and my king bless me!”

  613 Judgmen

  Millions of beams of light shone across the horizon. The Emperor drew his sword and slashed ahead. The pitch-black giant dragon opened its mouth and breathed a destructive trail of flame that destroyed every physical object in its way, even tearing apart the glorious golden beam of light. However, the golden beam of light pounced again. The army gathered once again before charging ahead, without any concern for their own lives. They attacked again and again, like tidal waves.

  The dragon of catastrophe remained unmoved. It merely flapped its wings casually to whip up chilly hurricanes, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its path. The Emperor raised his long sword once again and pointed at his enemy.

  “It’s you? Ah, it’s you again…” Arthur looked at him and could not contain his laughter, “Hahahaha, look at you, look at you! Don’t tell me you have gotten used to being a dog?” The black Firebird sweep crushed all the incoming ants into dust. Arthur laughed maniacally, “You have really picked up all the unwanted trash that I had dumped! What is this? Are you finally feeling guilty, and now you are trying to seek comfort from your band of brothers?”

  The Emperor stayed silent. He looked around his own army that was surrounding him. He looked at his old vassals, and the knights that only knew to continue the onslaught against the dragon of catastrophe. The Banner of the Red Dragon has been unfurled and the Knights of the Round Table rose to attack once again!

  “If only that was the case?” He gripped tightly onto the illusory long sword that he had lost long ago and spoke quietly, “If I can get them back just by being a dog, I wouldn’t mind being a dog forever. But what is lost can never be found again, and the dead can never be revived.”

  He closed his eyes and could not bear to look. “They are all not real. They are only illusions created from my own memory. They are all dead and they had hated me to the core. They have only returned to help because I made them. You might as well say that I am truly shameless for doing what I did.”

  “But I have no other choice…” When he opened his eyes once again, there was a steady gaze of determination. “This was my mistake, so they need to be here to see it come to an end!”

  The sound of metal clanging against each other rose along with what he said. Amidst the sea of light, countless figures appeared. They were screaming with rage and hatred. After taking over the power of Leviathan from the path of godly ascension, the Firebird that had transformed from the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth was not filled with the same aura of destruction as the dragon of catastrophe. Conversely, its ability to deal damage was drastically reduced in exchange for incredible agility. Every single person seemed to have gained total control over themselves and their own lives. The hatred and rage were clear in their eyes. This was the result of deserting the Path of Catastrophe.

  Musicians who chose to destroy their own consciousness to adopt bestiality would find that in the end, they would merge with bestiality and elevate themselves into imaginary creatures that only existed in myths. Creatures such as giant dragons and giant snakes would eventually turn into real catastrophes. But the thing that would go against this path was that the bestiality would be cleansed and purified in order to extract the real humanity. Turning ‘beasts’ into ‘humans’ would mean giving up control
over them, so that their lives and their wills were their own. What he had done was to summon an army of the dead, infused their souls with hatred and rage, and given them their bodies with Firebird.

  Now…

  “The time for revenge has come.” The Emperor declared quietly, “This is all that I can do for you.” In that split second, there was only frenzied screams and howls from the formation.

  “Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!” The iron giant screamed as he walked out from the army. His entire body was clad in that heavy and humongous armor, as if he was trapped in a cage. Every single linkage has been hammered with a heavy rivet and every gap has been filled with burning liquid metal. The armor was like a coffin that would send him to his grave. He would die from torture and he would find no peace even after his death.

  The First Generation of the Round Table – Dagonet.

  Soon after was the screeching of warhorses. No one was howling in rage but everyone was filled with fury. On the pitch-black warhorse rode a headless knight who was wielding a great sword and was charging at the dragon of catastrophe. The great sword was full of cracks and the head cradled at his chest opened its bloodshot eyes.

  The First Generation of the Round Table – Percival.

  Invisible air current gathered from all directions. There was the rising sound of cries of a child and in the next moment, a blurry figure rose from the Firebird. There were two rows of tears streaming down the delicate and effeminate face. He bowed to the Emperor before drawing his long sword and walking towards the battlefield.

  The First Generation of the Round Table – Gawain.

  Behind him was a melancholic middle-aged man. He was the most complete person amongst the Knights of the Round Table. But due to the effect of the musician, countless bestialities have transformed into devious thorns that grew out from his body and even into his blood vessels. The knight lowered his head and after a moment of silence, he heaved a gentle sigh before putting on his iron mask and held on to his long sword tightly. He took a step forward and activated a bolt of electricity.

  The First Generation of the Round Table – Lancelot.

  Following closely behind was the silent Galahad, who set off a giant wave of metal and wind… There was a rising crescendo of the tightening of metal chords and beams of metal light rose high into the sky before crashing down heavily on the giant dragon. After the knights at the rear had finished launching three rounds of arrows, they threw down their giant bows and drew their heavy halberds and axes before charging into the battle. The clash of metal light and catastrophe produced an earth- shattering roar and blood spilled everywhere.