Silent Crown

In the darkness, a regretful sigh sounded from the throne. “It has more or less reached its limit.”

“Mhmm,” a voice replied.

“Thanks for taking care of me since birth, Maxwell,” the person on the throne said.

“Mhmm,” the old man responded.

In the silence, the sound of the tide could be heard from afar.

“Maxwell, is that the sound of the sea?” the voice asked.

“Mhmm,” the old man answered in affirmation.

“I have been listening to it for more than 30 years, it’s really annoying. After being imprisoned for so long, I really want to abandon this position to go travel around. Will you accompany me?” the voice asked again.

“Your Majesty, I will always stand guard by your side,” Maxwell replied.

“Where would be a good place to go? How about Burgundy? Although the people are very annoying, the wine is not bad and the food is good. I heard that it’s also quite warm in autumn. Asgard is beautiful, but it’s too cold,” the voice said.

“Anywhere’s fine,” Maxwell responded.

“Yeah, anywhere’s fine.” The person on the throne murmured softly, “It has already come to this point in time, yet I’m still thinking about living freely. Having entrusted the throne to me, my father and brother must surely be very disappointed?”

“No.” Maxwell said, “You are the fully deserving ruler of Anglo, the master I approve of, the unparalleled empress.”

The empress giggled, like the girl she had been when they first met. Her laughter was freed of shackles. Having shed its dignified pretenses, it was light-spirited, like a flying bird. “Maxwell, are you still here?”

“I’m here,” he replied.

She reached out and fumbled about in the darkness. Her fingertips touched the man kneeling before the throne and stroked his cheek, lovingly and gently. “Maxwell, I am so sleepy, can I sleep for a while first?”

“Mhmm,” he said.

“After I wake up, please give me a hug,” she said.

“Mhmm,” he affirmed.

She smiled. “Goodnight, Maxwell.”

“Goodnight.” In the dark, tears were shed. “My queen.”

…

In the nation in the shadows, the throne room in the palace of Avalon, Ye Qingxuan silently gazed at the empty palace. Looking around, he could only see dust and broken weathered remains. What was once the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth had fallen into the shadows. The magnificent city back then had already become ruins occupied by demon parasites, and even the throne room was dilapidated.

It was like a cage.

Under the guidance of an alchemist, an armored knight lifted the sledgehammer and smashed it on the spot before the throne with all his might. The floor cracked, and a hollow echo was heard. It didn’t take long before a huge gap appeared on the ground. Under the illumination of the lantern, the darkness in the crack dissipated slightly, revealing the vast space hidden underneath.

“Is it here?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“It should be right.” Shi Dong nodded, lifted the bottle, and shook it. “Anything else that you want to add?” The figure in the bottle screamed in distress and pleaded, but didn’t provide any more useful information.

Soon, the knights let down the ropes. Two organists hung their lanterns at their waists and descended along the ropes into the dark space below. It didn’t take long before they sent a signal indicating that the coast was clear.

The alchemists and the armored knights slid down one by one. Finally, Ye Qingxuan held on to the carabiner and slid into the space that had been sealed for hundreds of years along the ropes.

“Wow, it’s big indeed.” Shi Dong made his descent shortly after and saw the vast underground palace illuminated brightly by the giant searchlights. He examined the countless foliage-like alchemy arrays on the walls. He said, “By right, Avalon and its shadow correspond to each other, anything that Avalon has must exist in the nation in the shadows as well. There’s such a large space under the throne in the nation in the shadows, then what about in the palace of Avalon?”

“The final homeland defense front,” Ye Qingxuan replied. “Its physical body is placed there and consists of three hyper gigantic instruments of harmonious melody named after archangels. The entire palace is actually a huge alchemy musical instrument, like a giant organ. It is connected to various parts of the country via the aether flow in the leylines, and the entire Anglo is under its control. The king simply has to sit on the throne to play it, with Firebird as fingers and the territories of the country as the instrument.”

“What about the power source?” Shi Dong asked, “Where is the aether furnace of such a huge war weapon? I doubt it can operate even if ten orchestras of musicians propel it?”

Ye Qingxuan had a complicated expression on his face. “I didn’t know it before, but now I have a vague idea.”

Where is the aether furnace? Where else can it be? The heart of the Mountain of Nomadism can be converted into an aether circuit, so… why can’t Leviathan’s? Especially since all of Avalon is Leviathan’s original body.

Shi Dong understood what he meant and couldn’t help but smile mockingly. “The kings of the country are crazy indeed, can I say that it runs in their blood?”

Ye Qingxuan said nothing. He simply observed the huge facilities in the underground palace silently, as well as the countless alchemy matrices extending outwards, and his brow gradually furrowed.

“Alright, now the problem is,” Shi Dong remarked beside him, “although I barely know alchemy, I think that whatever is placed here is definitely not the one you were talking about.”

Ye Qingxuan said nothing and withdrew his gaze after a good while. “Yes, it’s different from outside. Neither instruments of harmonious melody nor other related equipment can be found here.” He said softly, “It’s a smelting cauldron.”

“Smelting cauldron? What alchemists use to smelt alloys and potions?” Shi Dong asked.

Ye Qingxuan was silent for a long time and suddenly ordered, “Every one of you, out.”

The entourage of knights of the Witch Hammer standing guard around them and the alchemists studying the arrays were surprised, but after seeing Ye Qingxuan’s expression, they said no more and obeyed the order. Soon, they had all climbed up along the ropes.

Shi Dong stayed, and with a smile, he refused to leave. Ye Qingxuan glanced at him and did not shoo him away, but simply looked down, analyzing the alchemy arrays rapidly along their veins. Using the way of deciphering to perform induction, Ye Qingxuan rapidly deconstructed the complex surface layer of the alchemy array. He proceeded on to the outflowing layer, forming layer, creating layer, and finally the circulating layer. In the end, the huge array connecting the entire shadow of Avalon converged into one point.

Ye Qingxuan’s steps stopped and he looked up. Above the ceiling was the wreckage of the smashed-up throne.

“Sure enough, it’s here,” he murmured softly.

Shi Dong seemed to have gotten into the role of a professional sidekick and asked in a timely manner, “Have you gotten a lead?”

“More or less.” Ye Qingxuan said in a low voice, “The style is very familiar: classical deconstruction, orthodox alchemical formulas, and induction process, as well as traces of music theory of the earliest period. I can more or less guess who was the one to set up this place…”

Who is it?

Who else can it be?

In all of Avalon, all of Anglo, no, the whole world, who else would cause such trouble? Who enjoys causing trouble so much? And who is so good at causing trouble?

There is only one answer.

Hermes, that asshole. Even after his death, so many problems remain.

Ye Qingxuan pressed his faintly aching temples, and remarked in a low voice, “You do people great harm, boss…”

The core of so-called alchemy was the basic formula of the school of modifications—equal exchange. Hermes abided accordingly and laid the foundation for alchemy. With alchemy, a goal could be achieved by replacing everything via formulas and passing them through the four layers of interface, such that they would undergo blackening, yellowing, greening, whitening, and finally reddening.

It could sublime usual items of the mortal world into miracles and turn black iron into gold.

It could be considered a pioneering creation that set the world on fire.

But ultimately, its original essence was just about turning one thing into another.

Even the alchemy array that Hermes had inscribed here was nothing more than that.

It was just that its scale was too large and the assumptions involved were too terrifying. It even combined all seven systems of music in it, with various types of music theory and propositions within the seven systems intertwining and entangling into one inextricably. If not for the Heaven Ladder in his hands, Ye Qingxuan probably couldn’t make sense of it either.

Even for Hermes, it probably wasn’t an easy task to set up such a large and complex alchemy array? So, what else is there in the world that is worthy of being smelted so troublesomely using an alchemy array of such an incredible scale by who was once Merlin? The answer is so obvious that it’s going to reveal itself anytime now.

Ye Qingxuan exhaled a deep breath along with the agitation in him and squeezed out a few words, “The holy operation…”

Such was the truth of Arthur’s holy operation. Using Avalon, it extracted the aether flow in the leylines of Anglo, almost making use of the whole of the country’s territories. It united the vast country as one, truly bringing together the power of the entire country to produce the miraculous system. After it was completed, even Hermes regretted his past recklessness and frivolity, wanting to bury it completely. Provided that Ye Qingxuan’s guess was correct, even the homeland defense front was adapted from it.

“This is where Arthur built the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, where he sought to ascend as God after gathered the human, material, and financial resources of the entire country.” Ye Qingxuan stood in the core of the alchemy array, overlooking the surrounding area. Countless perception threads of moonlight extended from his hands, allowing him to observe the entirety of the huge system. Countless formulas were solved by induction using the way of deciphering. In the end, the array became pure numbers, and a simple conclusion was drawn.

“Nine equals two?” Ye Qingxuan was almost amused by the answer, but he failed to muster a laugh.

“What is that? A strange formula?” Shi Dong asked.

“It’s a method of expression in alchemy, the format used by the earliest alchemists.” Ye Qingxuan’s kept his eyes low. “Alchemists regard the whole world as an organic transformation process, and in the process, each existing being has its own Case, be it human or something else…

“The higher the Case, the more important the role it plays in the overall process, and the more precious it is. Alchemists use formulas to derive results and name all things on earth according to the numbers obtained.

“It is one of the important reasons why the early Church has always unwaveringly attempted to finish the alchemists off for good: Only God can measure the value of all beings.

“Be it an ordinary human, a demon, a musician or even a saint or a catastrophe, it is nothing but a sheer unit in the process of alchemy.

“The value of an ordinary person is too little, and the person can only be used as blank material, so the Case is ‘zero equals zero’. Further up would be musicians and demons capable of controlling aether, or the alchemy equipment and special metals… Only items with a Case equal to or above ‘one equals ten’ are worth creating.

“Meanwhile, ‘nine minus two’ is already the maximum that can be achieved in the mortal realm. A ‘ten equals zero’ item only exists in theory, and it is an existence that has combined all meanings, powers, the past and the future. Humans usually refer to it as the Originator.

“Such is the truth of the holy operation. Arthur, whose attainments had stopped at the Level of Scepter, was unwilling to bow to the Church. He wanted to have powers comparable to the three kings, or even powers greater than that, surpassing that of catastrophes. He wanted to be the one and only emperor of the mortal realm, a being only one step away from the Originator.”

After listening to his words, Shi Dong was silent for a long time and finally remarked, “It’s quite terrible indeed.”

“There’s more.” Ye Qingxuan looked down, expressionless, and tapped a few times on the alchemy array under his feet with his boots. “Keep in mind the basic principle of alchemy, equal exchange. The value of an item has already been defined by its Case. If you want to create gold, you have to pay a price equal to that of gold.

“Even in his heyday, Arthur was merely at the peak of the Level of Scepter, so how could he be comparable with an existence almost surpassing a catastrophe? And who was the one who paid for the price difference in between?”

Shi Dong was stunned. He understood what Ye Qingxuan meant, and with how dark his thinking was, it was only natural for him to be able to understand Arthur’s intentions. With Ye Qingxuan’s explanation and his own knack for stratagem, it was of course not difficult for Shi Dong to think of the only answer.

It’s very simple. Too easy even…

Hermes had paved the way, Arthur only had to walk down it.

If the materials are not enough, just make up the deficiency.

If the value is not enough, just add more value.

If the Chapter of the Golden Victory does not suffice, there’s still the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. If the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth does not suffice, there’s still Avalon. If Avalon still does not suffice, just offer all of Anglo up. Since he wanted to become a catastrophe, then… he only had to find a catastrophe to pay the price for him! Coincidentally, everything he needed was available around him, at his fingertips…

“For example, Her Royal Highness the Queen who was close at hand is Leviathan,” said Ye Qingxuan.

Such was the truth of the holy operation. He killed a catastrophe and robbed it of its power to make himself a catastrophe. He sacrificed the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, sacrificed Avalon, sacrificed all of Anglo, sacrificed his love, sacrificed everything for his own accomplishment. Right from the beginning, he had already completed all the necessary preparations for the day of his ascension as a god.

Everything was ready.

“The king and his accomplice kidnapped the queen and jailed her in the dream…” Ye Qingxuan softly sang the song that had once echoed in Avalon in the dead of the night, and his gaze gradually turned cold.

Shi Dong sighed. “So in other words, the reason behind Leviathan’s obsession with Anglo for so many years is retaliation against what Arthur did back then?”

“Retaliation? What for?” With his head low, Ye Qingxuan gazed at the alchemy array on the ground, and his voice became hoarse. “Surely you are not thinking that the alchemical process could begin once they had tied Leviathan up, put it here, and closed the cage? Super-large alchemy arrays that involve God knows how many fine, precise details like this one can’t operate like that. It requires the absolute cooperation of the participants. In other words,” he looked at the alchemy array at his feet and could only feel a deep sense of being ridiculed by reality, “Leviathan was voluntary…”

As the inferring reached this step, the conclusion was already clear as day. For centuries, Leviathan’s targeting of Anglo had definitely not been an act of revenge. She was so deeply in love with Arthur, despite him robbing her of power, life, and everything else…

Although the holy operation failed at the last juncture for reasons unknown, once the alchemy array was activated, the first to be destroyed was definitely Leviathan itself. This much could be established beyond any doubt.

The real Leviathan had died a long time ago. It had died a few centuries ago…