Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  The dragon of catastrophe howled in fury. Dark golden light began to shine from within the broken metal light. After travelling such a long distance, the warhorses were breathing hot steaming air from their nostrils. The Emperor screamed as he slashed with the sword in his hands.

  The giant dragon’s right eye was slashed and burnt into charcoal by the flame of the light but in the next moment, flesh was already growing and the wound was healing. Arthur did not even have time to laugh before hissing in anger. Light exploded from within the healing wound once again, creating another fresh wound. This was the power of bestialities from the same origin fighting against each other. As long as the Emperor was still alive, the remnants of Firebird in the wound would keep tearing at the wound so that it would never heal.

  “Trash! A bunch of trash!” The dragon of catastrophe was in great pain. It howled with rage and was breathing at the army with dragon fire. “Bunch of traitors! I made all of you into who you are today! Don’t you all know what is ‘gratitude’?”

  The Emperor laughed coldly, “Haven’t we come to repay our debts today?”

  Sharp claws tore at the air before smashing the swords into pieces. The dragon of catastrophe flapped its wings and howled, “If I can kill all of you once, I can do it a second time!”

  In the blink of an eye, he flew into the sky and turned into a dark sun. Countless horrifying beams of light shone on the world, as if the entire Avalon would be burnt into ashes. But all of a sudden, the sun collapsed and the countless beams of light vanished. The black dragon reverted to its original form. It was struggling to fly and was falling straight from the sky.

  Boom!

  The ground shook and Arthur screamed in fury. He only saw the idle young man at the rear of the army. White hair was flowing in the wind like silver. He was holding on to a staff. His eyes were lowered but there was a smile on his face, as if he had sunk into the greatest depths of dreams.

  The Sleeping World!

  The power of the Dreamweaver was fully activated, establishing a forbidden zone across the entire sky. Fractions of a few hundred meters covered the entire sky, including the changes that were taking place within them so that they could no longer be seen by the outside world. In the moment that he closed his eyes, this place has already been separated from the realm of aether. Nine layers of sea of aether was split up into gigantic fractions to form a barrier from the outside world, turning into a giant cage.

  Unfortunately, this situation was not as unique as the one at the Sacred City. The clash of Holy Caldron and Hyakume allowed Ye Qingxuan to summon the real Quiet Moon. Under the pure cleansing light, any catastrophe would be subjected to a massacre and reverted to emptiness. Now, Ye Qingxuan did not dare to do the same, no matter what.

  Previously, the silent warning from the departure of the Quiet Moon had left behind a terrible memory that Ye Qingxuan would not forget. Usually, Ye Qingxuan would use the musical theory of the Quiet Moon to dream or to put harmless fear in other people. But if he was to drag out the Quiet Moon from the Originator again, he would probably be killed by the Quiet Moon without any mercy. Even so, it was already very effective.

  Now, the Quiet Moon has already formed fractions in the sea of aether, separating the Physical World from the world of aether. Other than Ye Qingxuan and the rest, who could make use of the homeland defense front to receive replenishment continuously from the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, Arthur could no longer gain any power from the world of aether. Was there any difference between a dragon of catastrophe, that has been trapped on the ground, and a bug?

  “Bastard!” Arthur growled in anger. The black giant dragon screamed as countless Firebirds emerged from his scales, sparking a black flame that could not be extinguished. The melting mud turned into a sticky and half-transparent fluid that was so hot that its burning temperature could be felt from a hundred meters away. Amidst the thousands of armies and horses, the giant dragon raised its head and stared ferociously in the direction of Ye Qingxuan.

  In the next moment, it pounced forward. The ground shook and hurricanes swept across the land. The wind was so hot that it could set fire to lungs. The golden sea was split apart by the black trail. Without a care for the swords and weapons that thrusted at him, Arthur kept pushing forward with a vengeance. The power of catastrophe exploded from the body, bringing about a terrible cry that shook and twisted the Physical World.

  Ye Qingxuan’s eyes were still lowered and he remained unmoved. He merely tapped the ground gently with his Staff of Fate as the corners of his mouth turned into a snigger.

  “… Anglo hopes that everyone will carry out duties with full dedication.” The First Royal naval fleet of the homeland defense front has been activated! The seven seas roared. The deafening crash of the sea was accompanied by the gushes of torrents of aether on the surface of the sea. In the blink of an eye, the peaceful satellite island has been torn apart once again and a huge and ferocious-looking silhouette appeared.

  It was a combat vessel!

  The legendary fleet that had once sailed across the seven seas had appeared from the depths of the sea once again. It looked glorious and brand new. Amidst the rampaging aether waves, iron roared and the main cannon was warmed up. The majestic melody rose.

  In the next moment, a terrible light of fire exploded from the main cannon. The cannonball fired through the air, creating blinding streaks of light. It was as if 24 meteors were descending onto Avalon from the sky. Even the speed of sound could not catch up. What pleased Ye Qingxuan even more was that the old main cannon did not utilize the current mainstream aether crystal. Instead, it made use of the compression of air current so that the alchemy array would produce a unique alloy prism that would provide a terrifying boost of speed.

  Even though it has been soaked under the sea for centuries, its lapis surface remained in good condition. From the terrible boost of speed brought about by the alchemy array, the prism shot out sparks of electricity and in an instant, it penetrated through tens of miles of the sea and reached Avalon.

  What followed next was the sweeping of hurricanes. As the winds roared continuously, the horrifying air compression swept across and left everyone suffocating. The incredible power of the wind almost whipped Ye Qingxuan away. The ashes rose into the sky, obscuring everyone’s sight.

  The metal prism was made of alloy and was incredibly sturdy. It was already as heavy as a few tons on its own. With the addition of the increase in speed provided by the alchemy array, a direct hit would be more than able to create a hole in the city wall that even combat vessels would be able to sail through. All 24 metal prisms were right on target. Even the immortal catastrophe, with its formidable body, would have to obey the rules of the Physical World. Any physical object, no matter how resilient, would not stand a chance of remaining unharmed from such a terrible impact.

  In actual fact, Ye Qingxuan could already see the pathetic state of Arthur through the fog. The metal prism might look solid but once the external layer of plating has been stripped away, its interior was actually made up of complicated metallic structures being pieced together. It was the amazing result of mechanical engineering.

  Its only purpose was to cause more damage to its target.

  Immediately after the impact, the metal prism began to transform. Its exterior split open as the countless paper-thin metal pieces flew out from the interior. The purpose of this design was to attack the enemy fleet so that half of the enemies would be shredded into minced meat. In the howling wind, the metal pieces fell at Ye Qingxuan’s feet, covered in blood.

  Horrible. Really horrible.

  Ye Qingxuan sighed. His mood was improving. He raised his hand towards the sky. A gigantic shadow burst through the layers of clouds in the sky and descended, revealing an iron silhouette. On the deck of the iron ship, Chief Engineer, Bishop Carroll, was wiping the sweat across his head as he adjusted the direction of the cannon for the last time. Under layers of armor and protection was the gigantic heart of the
Mountain of Nomadism that was beating away frantically. Beside the boiling aether pond, all the mechanical engineers were in cold sweat.

  The Ninth Drive!

  Ever since it was created, it was the first time it was being operated in such a terrifying way. Carrying an amount of load that was on the brink of exceeding the maximum weight limit and the gushing of torrents of aether underneath the deck, the entire ship was warm and the railings were burning hot. This way of operation, that was close to self-destructive, seemed like it would only be used at the very last moment, when one has decided to perish along with the enemy.

  In actual fact, when the Eighth Drive was activated, the engineers that were responsible for maintenance were already protesting heavily. But where was this place? This was the Religious Court of Inquiry! It was a place where no one has ever dared to say ‘no’ to the Grand Inquisitor. Neither would anyone ever think of saying that the enemy was a real and authentic catastrophe!

  All the purification musicians that have yearned to step onto the path of crusade ever since they were born were so excited that their eyes were burning red. They wished they could crash the ship straight on.

  The main cannon has been completely warmed up!

  When the terrifying killing machine descended from the sky, even the dust settled, revealing the dragon of catastrophe, who was frantically trying to heal its wounds. Arthur raised his head in shock. He had sensed the fatal killing machine from the above the black ship. He screamed with rage and gathered the Firebird before sending them towards the seal of the Sleeping World time and again, until his dreamland was on the brink of collapse.

  “Now, in the name of the God and I, declare the Original Sin and purification!” Ye Qingxuan raised his hand and pointed towards the sky. There was a burning light from the fiery-red holy emblem on the ship of the Mountain of Nomadism. “The sinner is Arthur and he is guilty of heresy. He will be punished by fire, with immediate effect!”

  In the mysterious silence, Ye Qingxuan’s mouth curled into a cruel smile. “Deus-vult!” As the Gods wished, bolts of lightning, that represented punishment, descended from the sky!

  614 Dawn

  Before Mountain of Nomadism was killed by Ye Qingxuan, it was one of the most powerful vile spawns of the sea. It was a monster that had directly inherited the bloodline of Leviathan and other than its incredible vitality, it also possessed a massive body to complement that immense power. It measured at an unbelievable 1,170 meters in length and was equivalent to more than five times of the biggest combat vessels of each country. For the sole purpose of dismantling it, the musicians of the Religious Court of Inquiry already had to transform an entire refuge into a dissection platform. Through the dismantling, not only did Ye Qingxuan manage to get his hands on the scales, which provided resilient defense, the heart and skull, he also managed to obtain the organ that was responsible for supporting this massive body. Without a doubt, it was the spine.

  On hindsight, the massive size of the Mountain of Nomadism was the reason why the combat vessels were able to be recast into a length of 400 meters long, which was unheard of. The most important component, which was the dragon bone, was pieced together from the most resilient components of the spine. After a couple of developments and modifications, hundreds of vertebrae merged into one. Throughout the entire journey, it demonstrated incredible power and functionality, and this was accomplished with the limitations of manpower and resources. It has not even been modified with alchemy array yet. In other words, it still had the potential to become even more powerful.

  Other than that, most of the remaining vertebrae were put through a complicated and detailed process of modification and were transformed into the combat vessel’s main cannon, ‘Petitioner’. Only 24 sections of vertebrae were left. These vertebrae were not necessarily materials that could not be used. In fact, they contained the essence of the Mountain of Nomadism. They were the important organs that were responsible for the circulation of aether in the Mountain of Nomadism.

  With the power of aether in its blood circulation, the Mountain of Nomadism was able to unleash its power, withstand storms and waves, summon terrible tornadoes and call upon storms that were powerful enough to swallow an entire fleet. They were born musical instruments and were alchemy arrays borne from the musical theory of the catastrophes. Under the suggestion of Chief Engineer Carroll, 18 sections were infused into the alchemy arrays of the ship to combine with aether pond so as to retain its original ability to levitate and its power to summon waves and storms. The remaining six sections were eventually turned into weapons.

  Weapons designed specifically to take down catastrophes.

  After a long period of refining from the alchemists, only three sections have been successfully crafted. They had been transformed from crude-looking bones into glittering crystals. All the alchemy arrays were compressed and rearranged so that every component that was unrelated to its offensive abilities was shrunk to one-tenth of its original size. Conversely, its destructive power was raised by more than a hundred times!

  The Ninth Drive, overload in motion. Ye Qingxuan gave his command amidst the roars of collapse and the Petitioner aimed its cannon directly at Avalon, which was covered in destruction. There was a terrible light and a strong gust of wind was whipped up before being shredded very quickly. The gloomy clouds in the sky have already stopped moving. It was as if the Gods have decided to send down a Sword of Punishment from the vault of heaven. The crystal spine, that has been crafted into the shape of the holy emblem, descended from the sky. There was friction between the surface of black gold and the air and it reached ignition point in an instant, unleashing flaming red light.

  After penetrating through the fractions set up by Ye Qingxuan, its exterior of black gold began to be stripped off and the crystal holy emblem released a terrifying light. Electricity gathered together at one point and unleashed incredible wind and thunder.

  Falling Star!

  The burning light of the holy emblem lit up the contorted skull of the dragon of catastrophe and its stunned expression. In the next instant, its face was mercilessly torn into shreds as the holy emblem penetrated all the way through its head and neck until its abdomen.

  The sounds of the holy emblem’s destruction might have seemed silent compared to the surrounding loud noises but its effects were far more terrible than any physical impact. The dragon of catastrophe was still capable of shrieking in pain despite losing its entire skull. Its body suddenly expanded multiple times its original size. The flaming red light was like molten lava as it sprinted underneath its skin and the burning temperature could still be felt from a distance away. But this was only the beginning.

  What followed next was electric light, that had become so coherent that they were almost in liquid form, shooting out from every single pore. It was as if in the blink of an eye, a massive thundercloud that has been squeezed into its body had finally burst and all the streaks of lightning that had been suppressed within the layers of clouds were completely unleashed. Every physical object they touched were turned into ashes. The section of spine was designed to raise storms and waves so the moment it was unleashed, it would affect the surrounding water particles. In a split second, this would create a thundercloud that was gigantic enough to cover an entire city, thereby triggering a devastating thunderbolt.

  Amidst the chaos, Arthur’s body turned stiff before he was burnt to ashes by the thunderbolt that was streaking out of his body. The vitality of the catastrophe would revive him, only to be destroyed by the storm once again. This was no different from the torture from burning on a stake, or a never-ending death by a thousand cuts.

  In just a short amount of time, how many times has he already been killed?

  The catastrophe that had been evaporated into dust began to scream with rage as the power of Leviathan forcefully extinguished the thunderbolt. The body of the dragon of catastrophe appeared once again, but it was full of holes. On the black and charred ground, the sticky mas
ses of flesh and blood began to wriggle and struggle as if they were alive. They were all desperately trying to make their way towards the skeleton in the middle. The broken skeleton trembled as its cracks were healing rapidly. New mounds of flesh were growing on the skeleton. Its chest cavity was sealed up with membrane and underneath it was a brand-new gigantic heart that was pumping rapidly. Its eyes opened once again. This time round, other than rage and berserk, there was… a sense of panic that could not be disguised.

  Wait. Something was wrong…

  After becoming a catastrophe, he had gained power and immortality. It was only a matter of time before the world was his. His Firebird would cover the entire seven seas and he would become the overlord and the only Emperor of the entire Physical World. But what was happening now was the complete opposite of how things should have played out. Not only has he lost all the bodies that he had prepared, leaving him with no other choice other than to reside in a mediocre body, he has also been forced to reincarnate before he could complete the path of godly ascension. He has never been humiliated like this before, as well as having to fight with such difficulty and enduring such severe injuries. At this point in time, he has already given up hope on this world that was becoming increasingly foreign to him.

  “The old gods are dying, Your Majesty… What happened to me will happen to you too.” Merlin’s snigger rang in his ears. This made him infuriated. He looked around furiously. Bare skeletal claws slapped at the hardened ground and he screamed while battling the golden Firebird. In a moment of frenzy, he broke through layers upon layers of defense. His only thought was to break through this siege. But when he finally broke through that wall of shield, what he saw was not freedom. It was a silent Emperor.

  The exquisite and majestic long sword was held up high by the Emperor. It was only a memory of nothingness, a mere counterfeit made from Firebird but there was a definitive and cool beauty about it.