Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  But the remaining eye on that terrible face was now flowing with majestic golden light. It was like a miniature version of the sea of lightning. The divinity of Odin already seeped into his Symphony of Predestination. He was gradually reaching the stage of gaining the favor of the king of kings…

  Half of his body might have died, but in that part of the body, there were signs of the rebirth of divinity. At this moment, the Third Prince was no longer just a normal human, but a hero in the fairytales and demigod who inherited the blood of Gods. Now, those terrible wounds were healing rapidly as flesh and muscles and skin were all growing back. Only the left eye that he had lost remained empty. But on the other hand, the lightning in the other eye was becoming sharper and more powerful.

  “What is this?” The Third Prince leaned against the black-gold door and looked at the elders before him. There was joy in his eyes. “Did I make another mistake? Why would all nine electors of the Senate put aside your pride and come all the way here to find the Third Prince?”

  “You are now the second.” Helmut said, “You have already proven your abilities to the Senate. From this day on, you are now the ‘Second Prince.’ We hope to see more of your improvement.”

  “Not the first?” The young man cackled and raised his head. He looked around him and asked, “Where is my useless elder brother? Surely he has come along too?” With that, he looked behind the nine elders and said, “Is that you? Brother, I can see your crutches. My eye can no longer see as clearly as before. Please come closer.”

  “You are right, my dear brother. It is me,” a deep voice said, and a middle-aged man hobbled forward on his crutches. He was only middle-aged yet he looked much older than that. His hair had already turned white and his congenital spine condition made his back hunched. There were developmental issues with his right leg so he always had to depend on his crutches in order to walk independently. As he got closer, the contrast between the two of them became stronger. One was as handsome as a God while the other was ugly and hunched. They were two polar opposites. It was hard to imagine that this was the First Prince, which was also the person that was closest to the throne of Asgard.

  Every decade, the Senate would select young men that possessed qualities of becoming the Emperor from all the clans. They would be gathered together to form a brotherhood. They would abandon their original parents, their original names, and become the sons of the Emperor. Over a long period of time, they would compete against each other for the chance to become the Emperor of the entire West.

  At this moment, this hunched First Prince was the person closest to that throne. There was no other.

  “It has only been a few years but you have gotten older, brother.” The Second Prince stretched out his hand rubbed his white hair teasingly. “Take care of your body. Don’t die of old age before I can defeat you.”

  The First Prince almost tripped from the shove. The senators frowned. But the First Prince was not upset. He only looked at him, almost smiling, “Do you really want my title that badly? My brother…”

  “Don’t slack off, elder brother.” The Second Prince replied coldly, “I will not allow a deformed person to stay ahead of me for too long.”

  “If that’s the case, then bring back the Ultimate.” The First Prince looked at him and said quietly, “I vow, in the name of the nine electors, that if you are able to bring it back successfully, I will give you everything that is mine.”

  After a prolonged silence, the Second Prince was stunned. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course.” The First Prince looked at the nine electors behind him. “The Senate shall be my witness.”

  “Very well.” The Second Prince laughed uproariously as he glanced sideways at the elders, “I will prove to all of you who is the real ruler of this country!” He patted the First Prince’s shoulder before turning around to leave. “Please wait patiently, elder brother. In the future, I will prepare a chair beside the throne so that it will be easy for me to touch your intelligent little brain whenever I want to.”

  Very soon, the electors of the Senate left, leaving behind Helmut and the First Prince. Helmut looked in the direction where the Second Prince had left and was filled with disappointment. “He is too proud.”

  “But he is powerful enough, isn’t he?” the First Prince countered.

  “This is what I’m worried about.” The old elector sighed. “Asgard is already powerful enough. It doesn’t need a powerful Emperor. His arrogance will destroy him and if he is made Emperor, his arrogance will destroy this country too.” With that, he looked at the First Prince. “Why are you giving up now? Trust me. You are the only person who is closest to that throne in the past century… No one else. You still have enough time. Try again.”

  “So does he.” The First Emperor was in deep thought. “There is enough time for him to change slowly. I will help him.”

  Helmut shook his head. “I don’t know how you managed to convince the Senate to accept your suggestion but you are too pessimistic. Even if there is no Emperor, the Senate is more than capable of running this country as it is.”

  “No, the Senate might have protected Asgard when this country lost its ruler but it can no longer depend on the Senate any longer.” The First Prince leaned against his crutches and his voice was low. “The times have changed, Helmut, everything is changing every moment. We can no longer rely on the previous method of governance, where we can have debates and meetings at our own pace… Too many voices will ruin this country. It only needs one leader. A powerful, authoritative leader who is capable of leading Asgard.”

  The old man countered, “And that person is not you?”

  The First Prince laughed and lowered his head, patting his deformed right leg. “From the day I realized that I was a deformed child, I knew that person would not be me.”

  Helmut was silent. “In any case, to Asgard, it doesn’t matter who the Emperor is, right?”

  As the crutches knocked against the ground and the middle-aged man turned to leave, he said, “As long as he is not crippled…”

  634 Escor

  Upon the endless ocean, there was only the sound of the distant tide.

  In the thick cloud of fog, all was quiet.

  A vast and mighty fleet was hidden in the mist, moving silently forward. They had cut off all contact with the outside world, entering a state of total silence. They kept a minimum distance between ships in the fog, only communicating with each other through primitive lamp signals.

  The thick fog covered everything. The ships’ engines were set as low as possible, and the slight sounds that they produced were covered up by the chaotic noise of the black zone. They advanced towards the Ultimate as silently as ghosts.

  Sylvaine sat in the command seat on the bridge of the Royal Navy’s flagship, silently staring at the nautical charts.

  “We’ve already passed beyond our nation’s borders, Commander,” the navigator reported. “In ten minutes we’ll be leaving the black zone and coming into the range of the Ultimate.”

  Sylvaine nodded. “Prepare to exit stealth mode.”

  A crisp voice came on the receiver, “Commander, we’ve received a message from the Anglo Kingdom. It has the Privy Council’s ID.”

  Soon, the Secretary of the Navy’s voice came through, “Viscount Sylvaine, the fate of the nation rests on this mission. This battle will decide which of the nations will achieve naval supremacy in the future. You absolutely cannot let down your guard.”

  “I understand.” Sylvaine saluted. “I will not let Her Majesty down.”

  “Excellent,” the Secretary of the Navy said. “Four hours ago, His Highness the Prince and the Royal Musician Division left the harbor with the second wave of warships. They will rendezvous with you soon. All military affairs are still under your command, His Highness will abide by your decisions.”

  The Secretary of the Navy’s spoke very tacitly. Military affairs were under Sylvaine’s control, but any big decisions would have to recei
ve the Prince of Avalon’s approval. Sylvaine had no objections to this. After all, he was one of the Prince’s most ardent supporters. Moreover, the Prince of Avalon was coming as a representative of the royal family. As the crown prince of the Anglo Kingdom, it made sense for him to come and supervise the fleet in place of the Queen.

  And what was more, presently, the Royal Navy lacked any heavy warships like the Mountain of Nomadism, leaving Sylvaine a little nervous.

  The Royal Navy had of course performed admirably in the aftermath of the Leviathan War, but the glorious sacrifices that they had made could not be taken lightly.

  Most of the warships had been damaged in the process of defending the homeland and purging the demons afterward. Many more ships were unable to leave port because they had not been properly maintained. He estimated that it would take two years to refit them all. And even more ships had been retired. After performing a cost analysis, the Kingdom had decided to build new ships to replace them.

  Although the core of the fleet, twelve legendary warships, had not sustained much damage, this was not enough to constitute an entire fleet. They also needed longships, clippers, and even armored merchant ships to shore up their numbers.

  Creating a fleet in such a short time had already exhausted the Department of the Navy. They had scraped what they had together to form this fleet. But they had no actual combat experience, which did not inspire much confidence in their warfare capabilities.

  Sylvaine had set out earlier with six of the legendary warships and a few light clippers in order to seize the initiative. The rest of the fleet had been divided into two waves that were to come in succession.

  Since he had to wait for the Mountain of Nomadism to be refitted and temporarily aid the court with additional matters, Ye Qingxuan had come with the second wave. By then, many of the merchant ships had been fitted for war and were shoring up the weak points in the fleet, giving the Royal Navy the ability to fight any foe.

  When he heard the Ye Qingxuan was coming, Sylvaine breathed a silent sigh of relief. After reporting all the routine military affairs, he ended the transmission. He looked at the sea chart again but soon realized that something was wrong. “Navigator, how long ago did we leave the black zone?”

  “15 minutes ago,” the navigator answered. “We’re still six hours of sailing away from being in the range of the Ultimate.”

  Sylvaine raised his eyebrows. “If we’ve already left the black zone, why is the fog still so thick? Transmit these orders to the musicians on the ship: find out what’s going on around us. I hope we haven’t run into a problem.”

  Fog was a common sight on the ocean, especially around the edges of the black zone. Sylvaine’s family had been in the Royal Navy for generations, and there was nothing unusual about this. But, just to be safe, it would be best to have a few musicians and a clipper check it out.

  To be honest, he’d had enough of this fog.

  The musician sitting on the iron chair beside the navigator quickly opened his eyes and stared into a chaotic ball of aether. “Commander, there’s still too much noise from the red zone, I can’t find anything. It might be because whatever happened is still going on, and it’s causing changes in the red zone. The call to recover Leviathan didn’t end too long ago, maybe there are a few sea monsters that still haven’t gone dormant.

  “Tell the fleet, all warships are to be on high alert and to prepare for combat.”

  Soon, the sound of warship engines firing up at Sylvaine’s orders filled the red zone, rippling out in all directions. Amid the hurried movement, each member of the crew…

  It was at this point that the distant wave of aether suddenly disappeared. The Revelation Musicians who had lifted off the deck to investigate entered the silence with a slight feeling of unease. Suddenly, a shrill noise burst forth. In the deepest part of the fog, the musicians’ sound of heart burst forth, giving off a terrifying flame and aetheric turbulence.

  The turbulence swept through the fog, throwing it into chaos.

  The flame disappeared quickly, but it threw faint shadows all around.

  Sylvaine shot up out of his chair. Before he could say anything, the navigator had already pressed the warning button and an ear-splitting noise rose out from the ship. Red warning lights flashed all around the fleet. Then, huge waves appeared one after another in the ship’s observational ball of aether. They were ship aether engines.

  One by one, the hazy outlines of ferocious shadows emerged from the fog. They were warships, several dozen warships that had been hidden in the fog, almost like they were melded into it. The faint traces of more could be seen behind them through the thinning fog.

  At some point, the Royal Navy had been surrounded!

  On the Sovereign, silence reigned.

  “Is that the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy?” Sylvaine was livid. “How did they know we were here?”

  In order to hide all trace of themselves, they had sailed in full silence. Even the government in Avalon didn’t know their exact location, especially while they were in the red zone. It was like they were hidden in a dark forest without so much as a torch to give away their position. How had the d*mned Burgundians managed to surround them? Had they already prepared for war?

  Two red flames suddenly lit up under the first mate’s skin. He rushed at Sylvaine as his body started to quickly swell. “The Anglos have left the path of righteousness. They will be cast into hell to suffer the consequences of their actions!”

  Bang! An ice-cold sword flashed out of the cabin. It slashed vertically and horizontally, cutting the swelling attacker into pieces. In the next instant, a formless wind gathered from all around, forming a cage that blocked the flames from his explosion, completely snuffing them out. All that was left was a pile of ashes that fell silently to the floor.

  Sylvaine’s face was white as a ghost.

  “Alright, now I know how the enemy found us.” He turned and saw the suit of cold iron armor that had appeared in the air beside him. “Thank you, Sir Geraint,” he said. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Just doing my duty.” The knight of the Round Table sheathed his sword. “Watch out next time.”

  Soon, damage reports came in from the other ships. It was not only the Sovereign that had had double agents hidden on it, but the same thing had happened on two other ships. Fortunately, the fires had been swiftly extinguished, and the captains had only suffered light wounds.

  The Burgundians must have been planning this for a long time. Otherwise, they would not have been able to achieve such shocking results in such a short time.

  But the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy did not launch an offensive, but instead stayed in their original places, trapping the Royal Navy between them. All of their main guns were aimed at them, but they did not fire.

  Instead, a message came from them.

  The operator looked at Sylvaine, who nodded. “Answer it.”

  A stranger’s cold voice filled the bridge. “This is the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “In a moment we will begin escorting your fleet, in order to improve relations with your honorable country, and for our mutual safety. Please do not take any actions that might cause a misunderstanding.”

  The message ended.

  Sylvaine’s face was ashen. He made a fist.

  Escort? How was this an escort? This was a capture!

  “Tell the fleet…” Sylvaine’s eyes flared with anger. He raised his fist and was about to give the order to attack, but an ear-piercing alarm sounded again. Soon, it was a cacophony of overlapping noises. It was the sound of cold iron rubbing together. It was like the roaring of the sea.

  The fog parted. The chill that rushed into the sky came from the bottom of the ocean. Countless broken icicles rose up from the waves, looking like tree branches. It seemed like the ice crystals were being poured out of some storehouse. They froze and expanded, stretching out in all directions. The crisp sounds all joined together causing a loud roar
.

  In an instant, the sea was completely frozen. The surface of the water had become a flat sheet of ice with numerous sharp ice crystals sticking out of it. The fleet was like an insect trapped in amber, frozen in place.

  Looking all around they could only see countless ice-crystals that were as sharp as knives pointing towards the sky.

  In the blink of an eye, the mighty movement hidden in the vast roar ended. A tremendous wave of aether rose up from the flagship, no longer concealed, but plain for all to see. It was hard to imagine that a musician could have frozen an entire ocean in an instant, not to mention to do so in the red zone.

  It was like the gods had taken fire away from the world, leaving only eternal cold and bone-chilling north wind.

  “The fifth… the fifth symphony.” On the bridge of the Sovereign, a crack had appeared in the musician’s ball of aether. His face went pale. “Commander, it’s a saint!” he stammered. “St. Schubert!”

  Suddenly, the entire Royal Navy was plunged into a deathly silence.

  A saint? Why had a saint appeared on a Burgundian warship?

  635 Misgivings

  At the same time, on board the flagship of the Phantom Fleet, the commander exclaimed in amazement, “It’s just like a miracle.”

  He turned back. “Lady Schubert, thank you for your work.”

  In a quiet corner of the bridge, the old nun kept her eyes low. She said nothing and simply recited the scriptures in a low voice. Beside her, the bishop named Raymond said a few modest words on her behalf. He looked at the fleet of Anglo on the frozen sea with satisfaction, and his expression turned more and more delighted.