Silent Crown

Millions of beams of light shone across the horizon. The Emperor drew his sword and slashed ahead. The pitch-black giant dragon opened its mouth and breathed a destructive trail of flame that destroyed every physical object in its way, even tearing apart the glorious golden beam of light. However, the golden beam of light pounced again. The army gathered once again before charging ahead, without any concern for their own lives. They attacked again and again, like tidal waves.

The dragon of catastrophe remained unmoved. It merely flapped its wings casually to whip up chilly hurricanes, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its path. The Emperor raised his long sword once again and pointed at his enemy.

“It’s you? Ah, it’s you again…” Arthur looked at him and could not contain his laughter, “Hahahaha, look at you, look at you! Don’t tell me you have gotten used to being a dog?” The black Firebird sweep crushed all the incoming ants into dust. Arthur laughed maniacally, “You have really picked up all the unwanted trash that I had dumped! What is this? Are you finally feeling guilty, and now you are trying to seek comfort from your band of brothers?”

The Emperor stayed silent. He looked around his own army that was surrounding him. He looked at his old vassals, and the knights that only knew to continue the onslaught against the dragon of catastrophe. The Banner of the Red Dragon has been unfurled and the Knights of the Round Table rose to attack once again!

“If only that was the case?” He gripped tightly onto the illusory long sword that he had lost long ago and spoke quietly, “If I can get them back just by being a dog, I wouldn’t mind being a dog forever. But what is lost can never be found again, and the dead can never be revived.”

He closed his eyes and could not bear to look. “They are all not real. They are only illusions created from my own memory. They are all dead and they had hated me to the core. They have only returned to help because I made them. You might as well say that I am truly shameless for doing what I did.”

“But I have no other choice…” When he opened his eyes once again, there was a steady gaze of determination. “This was my mistake, so they need to be here to see it come to an end!”

The sound of metal clanging against each other rose along with what he said. Amidst the sea of light, countless figures appeared. They were screaming with rage and hatred. After taking over the power of Leviathan from the path of godly ascension, the Firebird that had transformed from the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth was not filled with the same aura of destruction as the dragon of catastrophe. Conversely, its ability to deal damage was drastically reduced in exchange for incredible agility. Every single person seemed to have gained total control over themselves and their own lives. The hatred and rage were clear in their eyes. This was the result of deserting the Path of Catastrophe.

Musicians who chose to destroy their own consciousness to adopt bestiality would find that in the end, they would merge with bestiality and elevate themselves into imaginary creatures that only existed in myths. Creatures such as giant dragons and giant snakes would eventually turn into real catastrophes. But the thing that would go against this path was that the bestiality would be cleansed and purified in order to extract the real humanity. Turning ‘beasts’ into ‘humans’ would mean giving up control over them, so that their lives and their wills were their own. What he had done was to summon an army of the dead, infused their souls with hatred and rage, and given them their bodies with Firebird.

Now…

“The time for revenge has come.” The Emperor declared quietly, “This is all that I can do for you.” In that split second, there was only frenzied screams and howls from the formation.

“Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!” The iron giant screamed as he walked out from the army. His entire body was clad in that heavy and humongous armor, as if he was trapped in a cage. Every single linkage has been hammered with a heavy rivet and every gap has been filled with burning liquid metal. The armor was like a coffin that would send him to his grave. He would die from torture and he would find no peace even after his death.

The First Generation of the Round Table – Dagonet.

Soon after was the screeching of warhorses. No one was howling in rage but everyone was filled with fury. On the pitch-black warhorse rode a headless knight who was wielding a great sword and was charging at the dragon of catastrophe. The great sword was full of cracks and the head cradled at his chest opened its bloodshot eyes.

The First Generation of the Round Table – Percival.

Invisible air current gathered from all directions. There was the rising sound of cries of a child and in the next moment, a blurry figure rose from the Firebird. There were two rows of tears streaming down the delicate and effeminate face. He bowed to the Emperor before drawing his long sword and walking towards the battlefield.

The First Generation of the Round Table – Gawain.

Behind him was a melancholic middle-aged man. He was the most complete person amongst the Knights of the Round Table. But due to the effect of the musician, countless bestialities have transformed into devious thorns that grew out from his body and even into his blood vessels. The knight lowered his head and after a moment of silence, he heaved a gentle sigh before putting on his iron mask and held on to his long sword tightly. He took a step forward and activated a bolt of electricity.

The First Generation of the Round Table – Lancelot.

Following closely behind was the silent Galahad, who set off a giant wave of metal and wind… There was a rising crescendo of the tightening of metal chords and beams of metal light rose high into the sky before crashing down heavily on the giant dragon. After the knights at the rear had finished launching three rounds of arrows, they threw down their giant bows and drew their heavy halberds and axes before charging into the battle. The clash of metal light and catastrophe produced an earth- shattering roar and blood spilled everywhere.

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!