by Feng Yue
“You want me to become the next Archbishop of Westminster Church?” Hua Sheng understood what he meant and began to laugh in a strange manner. “You are sure you want me to take up the position of a clergyman?”
“No, not at all. But just like you said, music theories can’t change a person, but it’s the person that fulfills the music theory.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly asked, “By the way, are you interested to become the Pontifex Maximas of Protestantism?”
Hua Sheng was stunned. After a long time, he finally burst out laughing.
…
Ten hours before, on the desolated northern region of the sea outside of Anglo, this entire region was now devoid of any presence of humans after the short battle. The seas were dark green in color and were foul-smelling. Fog hung in the air like cotton as the remaining toxins of the Cup of Virtues could not be removed.
Amidst the eerie silence, the elderly musician stood above the waves. He was holding onto a wooden staff that was even taller than him. His body, which was slightly hunched, leaned against the staff. He was clad in a black long robe as he surveyed the desolated sea.
“How long are you going to continue looking?” He stared through the emptiness ahead of him. His expression was calm, as if he had always been able to see Anubis, who had been concealing himself in emptiness.
There was awkward laughter before a musician, who transformed himself into a God with a wolf’s head, stepped out of emptiness and bowed to the old man in front of him. “We meet again, Teacher Bach.”
Bach looked at him from head to toe for a long time. “Looks like you have been well. Gaius has been pretty good to you.”
Wolf Flute nodded. “As he should.”
“Sacred City has not treated you too shabby either.”
Wolf Flute touched his long nose as his mouth cracked open to reveal two rows of white teeth. “There’s no other choice. I was raised by wolves after all. When I am ungrateful, I may just bite the hand that feeds me.”
Bach was indifferent. “Wolf Flute, you have a human name.”
“Didn’t all this happen precisely because Teacher had given me a name?” Wolf Flute countered, “Just like you once said, one was bound to err if one was to work hard. Sometimes I wonder, what if I had continued to live and die as a wolf, I may have been more fortunate compared to my current state.”
Bach listened but remained unmoved. “Why do you deceive yourself with the excuse of a beast when you made the decision as a human?”
“Teacher is right.” Wolf Flute lowered his head.
“Since you dare to appear in front of me with a projection, does that mean you are prepared to fight me?” Bach stared at him as he raised his wooden staff before striking down.
Boom! The wooden staff struck the surface of the sea as if it was whipping metal. There were no traces of ripples, but the massive ocean trembled slightly. Wolf Flute’s projection began to vibrate violently and Anubis’ skin began to crack to reveal the severe internal injuries. But shortly after, the trembling stopped.
There was a pair of bare feet. Bach turned back and looked behind him to see a young man. Realization finally seemed to dawn on him. “You must be Charles from Caucasian.”
“It is good to see you for the first time, Your Excellency.” The young man nodded and bowed politely.
Back looked at him. “Are you confident in defeating me?”
“Although I cannot defeat you, can you not go to Anglo for my sake and stay behind for a chat?” Charles smiled widely. “This is our first meeting with each other. How unpleasant it would be if we were to end up fighting and killing each other.”
Bach shook his head indifferently. Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing sound, which was a result of a melody that had been produced by countless movements piling on top of one another. In an instant, it was as if the entire sky and sea were roaring in resonance. The entire northern sea region was sealed up in an instant. The entire place was trembling under Bach’s will and in a rhythm that he was controlling. The will of the King of Blue controlled the elements from the realm of aether and everything else. It was as if the vault in heaven had suddenly collapsed and the ocean had risen. The sky and the sea seemed to merge into one.
Boom! The shrieking sound stopped suddenly. Charles stretched out his hand and pressed his palm against emptiness, as if he was pressing onto the trembling sky and sea, and by doing so, forced a stop to the trembling and roaring. It was as if he had completely stopped a wheel that was rolling at full speed. The skin on his palm broke and the wound, which had yet to heal, was torn again, and blood began to ooze out of the cut on his little finger. The blood dripped into the seawater and began to infect it. A single drop of blood was enough to dissipate the ominous aura that surrounded the entire region of the sea.
In an instant, the sky was cleared and a clear breeze blew over. Bach remained motionless. He only looked at Charles’ little finger silently and frowned, as if he was troubled over something.
Charles’ face was completely flushed. He managed to force out a smile. “Mr. Bach, back then when my junior enrolled in school, we even had to use your referral letter. There is some affinity between us. Why resort to this?”
Bach kept quiet and only continued to stare at him. He looked at Charles walking on the surface of the sea. He did not seem to be using any movement but was able to control the seawater easily. It was like a miracle. After a moment of silence, Bach seemed to have finally understood something and suddenly asked, “Charles, do you really think that you are a God?”
Charles was taken aback and began to smile awkwardly. “I don’t think I look like one either. I am so shy and awkward after all. If God was really a child like me, how blasphemous that would be.”
“Is your finger hurt?” Bach asked.
Charles looked at his palm and quickly hid his little finger and smiled. “No worries, it’s just a minor injury.”
“Is that so?” Bach asked coldly. “You are wasting yourself. I don’t know what you have exchanged it for, but you should know that such a sacrifice is not normal for you nor Caucasian.”
Charles was quiet for a moment before replying, “In critical situations, someone has to step up and solve the issue.”
“Let men solve their own problems. Let them bear their own consequences, not you.” Bach’s voice was direct and straight to the point. “Charles, no matter how much you sacrifice, all they will realize is just how vastly different they are from you. You should know your own body and nature the most. Don’t do any unnecessary things. The more you do, the more mistakes you are going to make. Now, leave this place and stop blocking my way. If I am to show you any compassion, then this is it.”
“Mr. Bach, have you heard the sound of people crying?” Charles asked suddenly.
Back kept quiet.
“Have you seen what ‘suffering’ looks like?” Charles asked quietly. “Those homeless people would wander around in the wilderness and feed themselves on wild grass. They are living like dogs. They lie sprawled on the ground and will look up whenever someone passes them by, hoping that they can be saved. Can you bear to turn and walk away? Have you ever begged others for help before? I did. I begged for someone to come and save me, to be my friend, to tell me that I have not been left behind by this world, that there is a purpose to my existence in this world…
“I was like this in the past, but now I’m not. This is why I will not give up. If I can do it, I will. If someone seeks help from me, I will help him. I don’t want anyone else to make sacrifices for me anymore. I want to help them open up a path on can lead them to continue living.”
Charles stared at the silent Bach. He was no longer smiling and his expression was stern. “Mr. Bach, I don’t want us to become enemies and neither do I wish to leave this place. But if you continue forward, then that will make you my enemy.”
Massive wings of light spread open behind his back and covered the horizon, raining down glorio
us beams of light. Behind him, Eden appeared gradually and cast light on the young man, who was reputed to be the most powerful musician.
Bach closed his eyes. After a long time, he sighed quietly. “Do you know why all the Kings of Blue of the previous generations left the human world, Charles? It’s not just because of developing the lands of men or to defend against the catastrophes from the World of Dark.
“It’s because humans do not need Gods.” Bach raised the wooden staff in his hands against the young man. There was no longer any compassion in his eyes. Instead, they had been replaced by electricity.
“Now, let’s cut the crap and let ‘your enemy’ have a taste of your abilities.”
726 Miracle
No one knew the outcome of the battle.
It was not until 21 later that the invisible wall that shrouded the northern seas completely disintegrated.
The musicians who had come from every nation beheld an apocalyptic scene.
The sky was broken. Even though it was daytime, the crack in the atmosphere revealed the darkness of the universe. The stars were faint. Brutal rays shot through the dry air, shining upon the cracked seabed.
The seabed was barren, having already deteriorated into grey-black sand. Above the sand, an undying crimson flame burned day and night, with no end in sight.
The sea water roared, wanting to heal the terrible scar, but it was blocked by the invisible forces that remained there.
The cracks in the Physical World and the realm of aether could not be repaired naturally, and a large amount of strange gas that leaked out of the realm of aether lingered above the sea, forming a strange yet splendid rainbow.
Most of the musicians who entered it never came out.
Afterward, the King of Black still remained in the world of dark, and the Son of God had never left the Commonwealth of Caucasian, as if nothing had happened.
Two hours later, the lighthouse’s analysis report was sent to the Golden Palace and placed on the desk of the old musician.
The old musician stared silently at the results of the analysis of hundreds of musicians combined with the lighthouse’s observations without expression.
Many people expected that the King of Black had been lightly injured and that Charles had been gravely wounded. But the lighthouse’s analysis indicated that the King of Black had not been hurt at all, although he had not killed Charles. As far as the old musician was concerned, the most important thing was the aetheric linear diagram of the course of the battle.
From the very start, it had risen to the scale of a catastrophe. The violent fluctuations created a terrible power strong enough to destroy dozens of cities. By the end, hundreds of elements had collided, been destroyed and dissipated.
The collision of Eden and the Holy Cauldron had been even more disastrous. Fortunately, the opponents had stopped before the consequences got out of hand, otherwise, there would have been a repeat of the battle at the Sacred City.
After the collapse of the Abyss, the reason for the quiet moon’s existence had disappeared, and by this point, it may have been completely hidden in the Originator. No matter how out of control the battle between the Holy Cauldron and Eden got, it would not come out to obstruct it anymore.
The King of Black and Charles were themselves the representatives of the Holy Cauldron and Eden. As they fought, the two systems collided behind them. If the two of them entered a full-scale war, the aftermath of that conflict would probably spread throughout the entire world.
Now the King of Yellow had disappeared without a trace. The last battle at the Ultimate had probably been the last time he would get involved. It was unrealistic to expect that he would once again appear to tidy things up.
Thus, without this safety valve, the survival of the human world rested in the hands of these two opponents. It could only be said that fortunately, in the end, both sides had stayed their hands. Otherwise, before winners and losers could be decided, winning and losing would already have been rendered meaningless.
After a while, the old musician lowered his head wearily and sighed.
The Commonwealth of Caucasus’s Son of God had already risen to this level…
No, it would be better to say that according to the observed speed of his improvement, he should be even more ridiculous than he was now. There must be something dragging him down so that he could not fully exert his power…
All along, other than its unparalleled national strength, the greatest potential of Asgard was the support of the Three Kings. But now their opponent, even while unconscious, could resist the King of Black.
And, he could do so to an extent where it was not possible to determine a winner or a loser.
In the silence his expression remained impassive, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Then there was a knock on the door. A soldier of the Scarlet Bird Clan stood at the entrance, his face ashen. He held a military report from the frontlines.
“Your Excellency, news from the frontlines…”
“Mm, I understand.” The old musician did not let him finish, just pointing to the table. “Put it here.”
The soldier left, and the silence returned.
The old musician glanced at the report. He didn’t even have the strength to open it.
Did he still have to read…
Total defeat! Utter, crushing defeat!
Not only did all their naval lines collapse, but the supposedly unbeatable Asgardian navy was completely crippled, and the sea fortress had even been captured by the enemy. Klein, who had been commanding the frontline, was even said to have committed suicide after surrendering.
If it had not been for the fact that a small part of the fleet had not gone out with the main force, the invincible fleet would have had to be completely disbanded!
Not only that, at the same time the Frost Giant Corps of the sea fortress had been defeated by the vengeful Knights of the Round Table. Under the power of a senseless weapon like the Firebird armor, they had taken more than 50 percent casualties, and now they could only barely maintain their defense and wait for reinforcements.
Asgard had spent a huge amount of money and manpower on this war. He had imagined breaking the Anglos’ majestic military power within ten days, but now all that was in the gutter.
Although Asgard’s production capacity could replace the warships lost by the navy in less than a year, it would be difficult to find something that could match up to a weapon like the sea fortress.
Within three years, Asgard would lose their advantage in the ocean.
You could not say this was not serious.
But the most important thing was to recover their morale after such a setback and win a huge victory!
At any cost!
It was not like the Anglos could conquer the whole world in a single war. Asgard could afford to lose.
For a foreign war like this, Asgard could mobilize more than four more times!
Since the naval battle was already lost, they would defeat their army!
The old musician had already started considering how to get one of the nine divisions of armored knights who guarded the borders to reinforce the Frost Giant Corps, or how to send out the domestic forces of the Western Military Region.
Replenishment, provisions, training, morale, combat capability…
In the silence, the old musician mournfully stroked the few hairs on his head as he tried to pick the best method out of the thousands available.
This time, no matter what, they must completely crush the Anglos with the power of thunder, even if they had to pile their men up until they reached as tall as the sea fortress!
After this painful decision, the old musician suddenly relaxed.
Dedication required courage and determination, but the subsequent implementation required only experience and skill, and he had never lacked for ideas and ability. In terms of mass-scale mobilization for war, the old musician could head most of the political and military offices resp
onsible for it. Without this ability, the Emperor would not rely on him as his deputy.
Before sunset, he had figured out a general strategy. He leaned back in his chair, carefully thinking if there were any holes in it.
But at the moment, the harsh sound of alarms rang out from the foot of the mountain the Golden Palace was on.
The sound of the alarm was mixed with the lighthouse’s bell ringing.
Three long and three short.
The old musician was stunned, and he suddenly leaped out of the chair.
This was… a homeland security alert!
The bell would only be rung if Asgardian soil was threatened.
The slight uneasiness in his heart was magnified infinitely. The crisis that had been created by some leak made him nearly lose his composure as he pushed open the door and dashed towards the Ministry of Military Affairs.
A clerk in gray rushed forward with chaotic footsteps and saluted the old musician. “Your Excellency, the Military and Political Affairs Office requests an emergency meeting!”
“His Highness?” the old musician asked without thinking. He could not lead a meeting that dealt with homeland security. The Emperor himself must preside. But where had the Emperor gone?
“His Highness is meeting with the Burgundian ambassador, and has ordered you to represent him,” the clerk answered. “His Highness will come as soon as he can.”
The old musician did not dare to hesitate anymore, and he rushed towards the central conference room.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Three minutes ago, the Commonwealth of Caucasian officially declared war on us. At the same time, the Caucasian Redemption Corps landed on our soil from Port Norman, and has already engaged with Clear Seas Squadron.”
“The Commonwealth of Caucasian?” The old musician was stunned and went numb. “How is this possible?”
How was this possible? How was this possible? How was this possible?
This question echoed around in his mind: how could it be the Caucasians?
Why? Nowadays, the Commonwealth of Caucasian had no ability to mobilize for war! They didn’t even have any provisions, much less weapons and supplies. Where would they get them?