Silent Crown

The Ultimate was ignited.

After the Ultimate gave birth to a catastrophe, it lost all its value. As the interfaces to the Originator were hidden the island made of aether had also started to become unstable and fall apart. It was like a stage that had lost all its use after the performance was over. No one cared about it.

With just one blow Odin cut through layer upon layer of defenses like a hot knife through butter, plunging the Ultimate into the Thunderfire Hell.

Up in the clouds, Paganini looked upon the results of this attack with satisfaction and nodded slightly. “To offer humanity as a tribute to divinity and to attain godhood through sacrifice shows great devotion. Most excellent. Unfortunately, in the final analysis, this is all through divinity rather than humanity. It is ridiculous to retain human weaknesses in order to control catastrophes.”

Although it had risen from humanity, divinity was far above it. It was to leave the world and live forever, to show no compassion for good nor be moved by evil, to not be changed by time nor compromise for anything.

But what was the use of this catastrophe for Asgard?

What could this out-of-control creation of the gods do?

Because of this, Asgard had left one weakness: human will could enter into the catastrophe. Thus, Paganini had been able to seize control of it and hundreds of years of blood, sweat and tears were wiped away.

“It’s over, it’s over. I can’t beat him.” Outside the Ultimate, Chopin had already returned to the Church’s fleet. He looked up at Paganini who had transformed into Odin and weakly sent forth his power. “What are you all standing around for? Hurry!”

“We’re just giving up like this?” The bishop could not accept this sudden turn of events. One second the Lord had sent down a miracle, and the next it had fallen into the hands of others.

“Didn’t I tell you that the one generally acknowledged as the strongest sixth-generation Chopin died at his hands?” A smirk appeared on half of Chopin’s face. He could do no more, as the other half had been burnt off. When the Thunderfire Hell had descended, he had been the first to suffer its effects. “I’m best at wide-ranging mental interference. I can’t do anything against such a destructive catastrophe. What if I really die?”

His shameless words enraged the bishop. Who was it who was shouting every freaking day that the end of the world was coming, and that those who died early would go to heaven early? Now when asked to give his life in this situation he wasn’t willing? What on earth did he want to do?

“Don’t worry.” Chopin’s face twitched, peeling off some of the scars encrusted on his face. “This is but a grand performance. Don’t you understand drama? Our role is to simply act from the sidelines. Our part has already ended, now it is the Lord’s turn to take the stage.”

The bishop was shocked. “What do you mean?” Just as he finished speaking, a sigh rang out from amidst all the roaring.

A tiny black spot appeared between the sea and the sky. It was like a hole had been punctured in the air. A hurricane swept over it, enlarging it into a huge, deep cave. Cold and foreboding music theory flowed out from within, covering the whole area in an instant.

Even the Ultimate was covered.

All they could get a glimpse of was a bit of a sky blue color. That thread of light blue spread silently, covering everyone in a flash. Wherever it passed all of the chaotic music theory became peaceful and fell into silence.

All the musicians felt themselves lose control of their accumulated power, and their waves of aether dissipated involuntarily.

In what seemed like an instant, all their weapons were shackled, and they had no way to use them.

The Thunderfire Hell melted away instantly as if it had become an illusion, leaving only a dazzling light that was gradually extinguished.

Fighting was forbidden here!

Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events. They obviously knew what this was—the Forbidden Zone! It was the supreme power of the King of Black, subjugating all music theory and controlling all movements. It descended upon the area like some majestic god, turning it into a holy area, a Forbidden Zone where no rash actions could be taken.

The structure of the King of Black’s Forbidden Zone had been completed with the appearance of the hole. In a flash, his power had traversed the unimaginable distance and affected the whole area.

Everybody stopped what they were doing. All was calm and tranquil.

An indistinct figure with a blurry face appeared from the hole.

Although he had never personally been there, the King of Black had invested his power and will in this area and made himself really appear.

Next, someone wearing red appeared from the void. Shattered rays of light converged into the contours of a human body until finally the crown of the Sancta Sedes was revealed.

It was a transmission that had been hailed as a miracle for centuries. In the country of Nibelungen, the King of Red’s body had been broken down into millions of particles under the will of dozens of popes throughout history and then put back together again.

Finally, his eyes slowly opened, and the light of life emerged from them.

All was silent.

Suddenly, the illusion of a hand appeared from the void with a seemingly helpless sigh. Its fingers stretched out and smoothed out the chaos of the area around the Ultimate.

It went from the black zone to the red zone in a flash, until finally, it entered the white zone.

The entire place was completely stabilized.

The King of Yellow!

At the urging of the two other kings, the long-lost King of Yellow had no way to pretend he did not exist and had to show his hand.

The balance of power depended on him, so he naturally had the ability to interfere with it.

In a flash, the realm of aether and the Physical World were connected by the music theory of the Holy Cauldron. A bridge was forcibly set up, one end in the mysterious Originator and the other falling in the boundary created by the Three Kings.

After a moment of shock, the King of Yellow’s will left his strength behind, and he left once again, vanishing without a trace.

Amid the silence, everyone was still panic-stricken by the appearance of the Three Kings. A mocking smile appeared on the face of the god above the clouds. He clapped slowly. “What a grand occasion. How long has it been? It’s a great honor to be dealt with by all three kings at the same time.”

“Paganini, if you have any sense left in you, you won’t stay here.” The King of Red shook his head. Without waiting for a response he reached into the void. The sound of soft piano music spread out from his fingers as notes like ice crystals collided with each other. As the first note was played, a melody like flowing water followed immediately.

The trancelike state was like the dawn after a long night.

It was the 21st song: Wallstein.

The smooth and clear melody carried both tranquility and joy as it quietly spread out in all directions, shrouding the entire Ultimate within it. It roughly outlined the entire area, and then the melody changed from smooth to rushed, as it changed constantly. The vast night slowly grew thinner, as if it was being diluted, as a faint light was revealed.

The light of an illusory sun broke through the clouds. Although they knew it was just an illusion, the sun gave everyone a feeling of suffocation. It was like they were wearing broken glasses. Everything in front of them was bizarre and motley, unclear, and impossible to discern. In the scattered, colorful light everything was distorted by that sun.

Everything was distorted in this dawn.

It was difficult to breathe in the quietness. Everyone felt themselves begin to go faint as if they had been working hard for a full month without sleep. They could not even distinguish what was happening in front of their eyes.

They just felt like everything was distorted, changing, just like…

Heaven and earth were colliding!

Everyone screamed and tried to retreat from this strange area, but Paganini blocked their path.

Everything that had once been three dimensional began to flatten as if it had been pulled off of its bones and stuffed into a hastily drawn painting.

The world was collapsing!