Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  “Since everyone wants to cooperate, why don’t we exchange some information first?” Ye Qingxuan pointed at the knight in white that he could see through the lens. “Why don’t you start by telling me what the h*ll that thing is?”

  The old musician was silent for a moment as if he was hesitating or trying to order his thoughts. After a bit, he said, “I’m afraid that Paganini has already completed the Apocrypha of the Abyss that he inherited from Hyakume. It’s a tool for transforming the Originator made by distorting the Holy Bible and stealing elements. What we’re seeing now is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that was born from the apocrypha. Hyakume imitated the Three Wise Men when they designed their prototypes, intending to use them as a way to initiate the prelude to the ancient darkness.”

  “Horsemen of the Apocalypse?” Ye Qingxuan could tell this was not good news.

  “The Three Wise Men refused to cooperate with Hyakume, so it prepared a substitute.” The old musician sighed. “As far as I know, they are the White Knight of conquest and domination, the Red Knight of war and death, the Green Knight of plague and hardship, and the Black Knight of business and famine. The Green Knight appeared in the Western Deserts, and we have just recently seen and heard signs of the Red Knight in the Sacred City. We don’t know where the Black Knight is, and the one we are facing right now is the strongest among them: the White Knight.”

  Ye Qingxuan frowned. “Hyakume had the power to create the greatest of catastrophes?” This was absolutely impossible. The greatest catastrophes were the ones that flowed out from the Originator. Unless Hyakume had been thoroughly immersed in the Holy Cauldron and exercised control over the Originator, it could not have possibly achieved such sensational results.

  “It didn’t create them. It transformed them.” The old musician looked at him. “Have you ever seen anything like that before? Before Hyakume fell, it turned its four incarnations into their prototypes. Now the Abyss is probably trying to use the Ultimate as a furnace to finish forging the four of them.”

  Ye Qingxuan pondered for a few seconds and then looked up again. “So, what does the Abyss want after paying such a high price? To turn four catastrophes into one? Wouldn’t that be a waste? Was Hyakume crazy?”

  Silence. The old musician did not reply.

  Ye Qingxuan looked at him, and his eyes went cold. “I’ll say it again: if you really want to cooperate with me, it’d be best if we were open and honest. Otherwise, we’ll have to break up.”

  The silence was broken. The old musician finally made up his mind. He gave a long sigh and then replied, “This has to do with a secret of the next epoch. All I can tell you is that according to the Three Wise Men’s prophecy the Ultimate will be a key turning point in the next epoch. Whoever controls the Ultimate will become the most important person then. Do you understand now? If the Ultimate really falls into the hands of the Abyss, then the Golden Era of humanity will come to an end, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will bring about the age of darkness that Hyakume dreamed of. A new era that belongs to demons and catastrophes.”

  As he focused on the old musician’s words, Ye Qingxuan felt his headache getting stronger and stronger. Obviously, speeding up time like this came with a cost. Even if it was only his consciousness that was entering, it was still difficult to bear the separation of body and spirit. If it had not been for the formation of the aether cycle, his mind would already have been destroyed.

  One of the side effects was that the more he thought, the more it hurt.

  No, this side effect was already taken into account, right? If he used it to deal with himself…

  He could only say that he had considered it carefully.

  Unfortunately, the only thing that the old musician had missed was Ye Qingxuan’s ability to withstand pain. The more Ye Qingxuan hurt, the more the old musician couldn’t bear the look in his eyes.

  He was thinking.

  “There’s at least one thing you didn’t tell me…” Ye Qingxuan pointed at him. “Your catastrophe weapon shouldn’t be inferior to the Three Pillar God. So why are you so afraid of the White Knight? If you were able to deal with the present situation, would you even need to consider cooperating with me?”

  The old musician looked at the Second Emperor.

  This secret involved Asgard itself, so he needed the Second Emperor’s permission. The Second Emperor was silent for a while, then answered, “Odin has its own flaws, it can’t be used to oppose the original kings.”

  This was the most troublesome part.

  The existence of the original kings had long been written of within the Holy Bible, which was the basis for determining what was sacred and what was not.

  The White Knight had devoured the remains of the kings and usurped their power. He was now an incarnation of the kings, so naturally, he did not fear Odin’s divinity, which had developed from the Master of the Golden Palace.

  “We are all nothing to him. We can’t resist him.” The old musician sighed. “Once the Ultimate is completely lost, he will become the lord of death, and king of all the world. He will replace Hyakume as the shepherd, the dictator, and the destroyer of all life.”

  Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh bitterly. “So, since you can’t do it, you want to send me out to die?”

  “This is your job, after all. Otherwise, why would the White Knight seek to deal with you first? Because you’re the greatest threat to him!” retorted the old musician. “Have you forgotten who the best at dealing with people like us are?”

  Who? It could only be the infamous Inquisition!

  It was true that purging demons and burning heretics were the Inquisition’s duty, but one of its purposes since its inception was dealing with “people like them.” They were to completely destroy all heretics who would pervert the Holy Name to lead the people of the world astray, and maintain the purity and innocence of the Holy Cauldron.

  If it wasn’t for Paganini corrupting a large part of the Holy City, the Church would not have drawn such a painful lesson from such a bitter experience and taken the hard decision to release a monster like the Inquisition.

  Although the functions of the Inquisition were clear, there was one thing that Ye Qingxuan objected to. “Although they are both heresies, catastrophes are completely different from Dark Musicians. In order to handle this kind of thing, the Inquisition had to break away from the Church and strike out on our own. Otherwise, the Sacred City would have tossed us aside once we had outlived our usefulness.”

  “That’s because the Church had already taken away your Catastrophe Movement.” This old musician who was at the heart of Asgard’s power clearly knew all about this secret. “A mad-dog institution like the Inquisition had to be put on a leash, otherwise everyone would be in danger. The Church couldn’t really confer the Catastrophe Movement upon you, they could only let you use it for them. Your Purifying Music Theory is just a derivative of the Catastrophe Movement. They would only give you temporary authority to use it when it was necessary. The rest of the time they’d leave you empty-handed. That’s how the Church kept control of you.”

  Ye Qingxuan was silent. He could not deny that there was something missing from what the Inquisition had inherited. Although Purifying Music Theory was subtle and profound, it clearly lacked the next level of power.

  It was like there was a locked door in the middle of the road. Although there were infinite mysteries beyond, there was no key, making it difficult to enter. One could only daydream about what lay beyond.

  Shi Dong had once told him this and suggested that he find an alternative. He had always continued to work on the music theory of the quiet moon, but unfortunately, he had never had the right materials and had never put in enough effort.

  It was not that he had never thought of trying to make up for it, but unfortunately, there was no one in the world who could make up for the Inquisition’s drawbacks, since the one who was able to open that locked door had long since quit…

  Th
e most irresponsible musician king in history, the world’s foremost expert in shirking one’s duty, the one who after having shifted the blame and hit the road had left behind a pair of lazy b*stards… the King of Yellow!

  After hearing this, Ye Qingxuan finally understood what the other party had to offer. “You have the movements left behind by the King of Yellow?”

  “Not just his movements.” A pure white clay tablet slowly appeared in the old musician’s hands. Layers upon layers of cuneiform notes wandered around on it, interweaving with the flamelike projections of elements.

  Ye Qingxuan’s eyes went wide.

  A Heart Mark!

  A Heart Mark that had been inherited from the Three Kings!

  “This is the bargaining chip that we have to win over the Anglo Kingdom,” said the old musician. “The Catastrophe Movement that the King of Yellow once gave to the Inquisition, the true heritage of Purifying Music Theory.”

  He did not need to confirm it. The way his internal music theory echoed off the elements on this clay tablet instantly showed him the power engraved upon it.

  The Requiem!

  This was a power that humans had made, that the Holy Cauldron had exchanged with the Originator.

  It was said to have the power to heal all the pain in one’s soul, to erase all chaos, and to direct everything onto the right path. Thus, it could mend and maintain the music theory system of the Sacred Cauldron.

  As far as the nations were concerned, there was nothing uncommon about its music theory: it had laid the foundations for the music theory of hundreds of different schools. What was precious about it was that it held the elements of the King of Yellow’s inheritance.

  The Requiem’s music theory was all-encompassing, having seeped into almost all of the musicians’ seven systems. But it was different than the foundations of all the other holy fields. What was engraved on this clay tablet was the most violent force of the Requiem.

  A movement consisting of the elements of The Final Judgement.

  Dies Irae!

  “For this, I will accept your conditions.” Ye Qingxuan raised his hands without hesitation and opened up his own Symphony of Predestination. He used the path of commandment to make a treaty with the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth. “If I deal with the White Knight, then you must deal with Paganini and the catastrophes.”

  Answering him was a god that appeared in a flash of brilliant lightning.

  The Second Emperor made an oath, “Then, with Odin as my divine witness, Asgard formally allies with the Anglo Kingdom. We will share the Ultimate!”

  Suddenly, the world froze.

  In the next moment, time started flowing again. The ocean was like a wild beast, with huge waves rolling and a great deal of mist rising up. A violent rain appeared high up in the clouds and spilled down towards the earth.

  Upon the dragon’s back, Ye Qingxuan looked up. His dark eyes were bloodshot. A chaotic light hovered in his bloodshot eyes, reflecting the Ultimate, as if the scarlet lightning had enveloped the ruins.

  Above the altar, the White Knight suddenly turned back and looked in Ye Qingxuan’s direction. White flames burned in his eyes that were full of chilling murderous intention as he locked them on Ye Qingxuan. Then, he pulled a non-existent bronze arrow out of his empty quiver and drew his bow once again.

  The killing machines of heaven and earth had gathered together at the frontlines.

  This time, Ye Qingxuan finally understood.

  An element of nothingness was projected on the bowstring, transforming it into a death sentence. It would erase everything that Ye Qingxuan was. The terrifying music theory created an astounding vortex in the sea of aether.

  In the next instant, the arrow whizzed towards him, setting off wind and thunder.

  Everyone’s vision went dark. No matter if they were in the Ultimate or not, they were crushed by this terror. The arrow took away all their willpower.

  But as he faced the arrow, Ye Qingxuan merely smiled and slowly raised the clay tablet that had appeared in his hands at some point. Without any prompting, the secret language for the movement to awaken catastrophes began to pour from his mouth, turning into a proclamation to raise the curtain of judgment.

  “Deus vult!”

  God wills it!

  682 Dies Irae

  At the moment, the mud board in Ye Qingxuan’s hand silently broke.

  The elements slumbering within were awakened, rising from the ashes. They shone in the long night like stars telling of the fates, quietly embedding themselves in Ye Qingxuan’s Symphony of Predestination.

  Next, a blazing light spewed out from the incorporeal Symphony of Predestination.

  In the movement, every section was operating wildly, colliding with each other. The music theory tangled and surged, revealing violent electricity. Like countless branches, the electricity extended in all directions.

  In a flash, the core of the Symphony of Predestination had quietly shifted.

  The operating elements deeply permeated the space between the three parts, namely the sage stone, the movement of the moonlight, and the catastrophe resonation. Countless strands of purifying music theory connected to it without any hindrance or conflict, as if they were born as one. With it as the core, the Symphony of Predestination that decomposed was done reconciling once more.

  The next moment, impressive thunder erupted from the crown of light on top of Ye Qingxuan’s head. It consisted of endless electricity madly whipping the foundation of the physical world, and it tore the nine-layered sea of aether apart. Guided by the elements, the purifying music theory evolved wildly.

  After being destroyed and reborn tens of millions of times in an instant, what emerged from it was a vast tenacity so mighty that one couldn’t look directly at it. The atmosphere it exuded was as cruel as iron and as majestic as the sun. It was mighty, like the operation of the world, and grand, like stars shattering.

  The power known as God’s wrath was waking up here.

  Its existence alone made everything tremble.

  Just by overlooking them, it made all evil shudder.

  Just by operating, it aimed to cleanse the whole world, redefine everything, and put everything back on the right track.

  At the moment, against the incorporeal arrow of element, Ye Qingxuan raised his palm. A mighty power operated, but what burst forth was not the grand melody that everyone had imagined, but the harsh sound of endless electricity breaking through the air. The electricity lashed out in thin air one after another, and the sharp sounds converged, yet forming a symphony that sounded like the heavens and the earth colliding.

  It was a qualitative change of aether unique to Ye Qingxuan.

  Propelled by the qualitative change of aether, the movement named Dies Irae began playing loudly. “Day of wrath and doom impending, heaven and earth in ashes ending!”

  The roar of crowds screaming rang from the strange melody, gathering in Ye Qingxuan’s hand, and crashed downwards with a rumble.

  Bang! The sound of steel scraping against each other burst forth in an instant.

  At the moment of the collision, everything seemed set. But everyone clearly felt an invisible impact spreading out from here, like the pricking of needles, like Föhn wind, making the dust dance wildly and the water vapor rise up, making the mind tremble and become difficult to maintain.

  As the aftermath subsided, the bright golden sun in the sky was still shining.

  The musical movement of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth turned into a large circle of light, floating behind Ye Qingxuan. It continuously extracted the Firebird breaking through the air and originating from Anglo, pouring it into the element of Dies Irae.

  The arrow of elements of the White Knight had completely disintegrated, and it dissipated under the whipping of the electricity.

  Meanwhile, in Ye Qingxuan’s hand, the staff that was originally simple and pitch black had quietly proliferated amid the sound of iron crystals growing, turning into a long flamboyant s
taff more than three meters in length.

  Complicated music theory twirled around it, guiding the element to embed itself in it. The two combined into one and became inseparable as if it was born as one. The transformed purifying music theory rose like flames, forming an incorporeal blade.

  It was a long sickle.

  It was as if it intended to harvest all living things like they were straw and to guide all souls to return to an eternal nothingness and slumber.

  Holding the brand new Staff of Fate, no, the Sickle of Fate, even Ye Qingxuan was surprised by the terrifying degree of compatibility between the Staff of Fate and Dies Irae.

  “How do you use this thing?” His gaze shifted away from the long sickle and landed on the White Knight below. He couldn’t help but whistle. The long sickle was slowly lifted, and the blade of the element took aim at the big skull. “I guess I’ll give it a try first!”

  The next moment, electricity galloped. The Sickle of God’s Wrath and Ye Qingxuan rushed at the knight!

  …

  “Dies Irae!!!” At the moment when the slate appeared in Ye Qingxuan’s hand, on the copper plate, the head widened his eyes and roared in fury. “So it’s here!!!”

  A frenzied aether wave rose from the incomplete head. One could vaguely see incorporeal tentacles convulsing in rage in the gap between the cheekbones and the cranium, but it also seemed as if they were trembling out of fear.

  It was as if a parasitic octopus was kept in the skull.

  “Kill him!” The withered head screamed and ordered the abyss sages, “At all costs! Kill him!!!”

  Not only the abyss sages, but the black musicians also began to take action under the command of the incomplete head. In the hecticness, Naberius, who was hiding in the shadows at the corner, did nothing. Instead, he couldn’t help but shake his head gloatingly. “I have suggested it a long time ago…”

  Obviously very displeased with Naberius’ unconcerned remarks, the skeleton cast him a cold look, a cold gloomy gleam shining in his eyes.

  “It is Dies Irae… the Religious Court of Inquiry… We… How can it be… How can it be Dies Irae!… Dies Irae…”