Silent Crown

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The moonlight was like a phantom, piercing into the ashes soundlessly.

But at that very moment, a faint cloud of black smoke rose from the ashes, gathering into a fuzzy human form, and pounced at Ye Qingxuan. A palm made of ashes extended towards his face suddenly.

Bang! A sword of flames emerged from Ye Qingxuan's hand and blocked the palm. The flames of nihility collided with the ashes, but it was as if iron and stone were scraping against each other. Sparks flew, illuminating Ye Qingxuan's eyes and the incomplete face lurking in the black mist.

"Have I been discovered?" The broken face looked at Ye Qingxuan from above. "You never fail to humiliate me, Ye Qingxuan.

"What a pity, I've finally gotten mentally prepared to abandon my dignity for this one time and pull a sneak attack you, but it turns out, after killing your forebear with your own hands, it seems like you aren't even feeling one bit of guilt and sorrow? You do indeed have a stony heart."

"How should I address you?" Ye Qingxuan gazed at the face, expressionless. "Your Majesty, Hyakume? Or… the Dark Sovereign?" As his name was spoken, the face that looked familiar gave an odd smile. He was indeed the incarnation of Hyakume which had once descended upon the shadow of Avalon—the Dark Sovereign!

Ye Qingxuan had not expected that when Hyakume cut off all forms of connections with his incarnations before his death and gifted the abyss and all his powers to the demons, his actions even caused the Dark Sovereign, who had been obliterated a long time ago, to be resurrected from Avalon.

"Your spirit just won't pass on, eh." Ye Qingxuan asked coldly, "Is all of this your doing?"

"Who knows?" Upon hearing Ye Qingxuan's words, the broken face of the Dark Sovereign immediately laughed sharply. "Ye Qingxuan, why don't you use that tiny brain you're so proud of and have a good think about it?

"Maybe I'm just a part that isn't even worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things… Or maybe I'm the one that has planned all of this… Surely you don't think that I'll stand aside and let you guys stop the resurrection of Leviathan?"

"Who are you trying to fool? Do you think there's someone else in the world who knows you better than I do?" Ye Qingxuan remained indifferent. "Only a small amount of residue is left of you, yet you still fail to master the art of going into hiding. Instead, you linger here, clinging on obstinately, entangling yourself in such matters for the sake of friendly sentiments between catastrophes…

"If Leviathan knew that you were so altruistic as to dedicate yourself selflessly, I'm sure it would be very touched. But why don't you take a guess, after it resurrects and finds out about how miserable you are now. Will it extend a helping hand selflessly?" Ye Qingxuan paused and examined the silent face, and his gaze turned cold. "Your real target is still Arthur, right?"

The face that was made up of dust still wore a mocking expression, but it was just an appearance displayed by music theory. Ye Qingxuan could detect the music theory under the disguise undergoing changes at a high speed. Notes were quietly emerging and vanishing one after another, like countless emotional ups and downs.

He had guessed correctly.

Ye Qingxuan was very relieved. It was as if a large stone suspended in his mind had finally landed. Then, he came to a sudden realization.

The shadow of Avalon is a natural maze.

After so many years of being constructed and destroyed by each generation of the royal family, it resembles the overlapping of numerous design drawings even more. Even the ones who have originally designed it may not be able to find their way around.

For the Dark Sovereign especially, who has lost most of his powers and is only barely resurrected, it is an absolute predicament.

He isn't even capable of getting out of here.

In the past, he wouldn't have minded lurking there for centuries, waiting for a perfectly sound opportunity to come by. But as Leviathan's seals are breaking layer by layer, and it is about to descend completely, he has to start making plans for himself.

Catastrophes have never cared about sh*t like friendship and the glory of victory. They have only abided by the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest, just like how his real body, Hyakume, had reigned over various catastrophes back then.

To avoid being eaten, the Dark Sovereign has no choice but to leave this place.

He must leave as fast as possible.

Or, he can take advantage of this critical juncture, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and complete his original plan—break the core seal of the palace in the shadow of Avalon and completely destroy the final line of defense of the country. In the end, he will be able to transform Arthur, the source of all the powers of Anglo, into a catastrophe.

Regardless of which plan he has in mind, he must first obtain the blood of the royals to be able to move around freely in the forbidden areas within the shadow of Avalon. After Maxwell's act of treason, in all of Avalon, no one is of a purer bloodline than Mary…

After making sense of his motives, Ye Qingxuan could not help but snicker. "Putting aside other factors for now, do you really think that you are still capable of turning Arthur into a catastrophe with your current ghostly form?"

He could sense the current state of the Dark Sovereign.

Weak, broken, and suffering.

The Dark Sovereign even has to hide in stone figurines, like a shattered soul. Even though White Crow has reappeared and may be providing him with various manners of support, he is still barely able to sustain himself.

Managing to resurrect the first generation members of the Royal Musician Division with all his efforts, albeit difficultly, is probably his limit. Plus, in the light of the present situation, it seems like the thirteen masters of the Royal Musician Division are not as easy to control as the Dark Sovereign imagined.

Otherwise, Nigel wouldn't have been killed immediately in my one-shot sneak attack, and Sigmund wouldn't have been able to impart all his knowledge of music theory upon me during our duel.

Then, where is the Dark Sovereign's confidence coming from?

As if the Dark Sovereign had perceived the young man's puzzlement, his incomplete face revealed a smile that made Ye Qingxuan somewhat uneasy.

"Didn't anyone tell you?" He whispered in Ye Qingxuan's ear, "Arthur is voluntary in the whole matter."

For a moment, Ye Qingxuan was frozen on the ground in shock.

Arthur is voluntary? Voluntary in being transformed into a catastrophe?

Why? Wait, if that's the case, a lot of things make sense now…

But if it's true, in other words… Everything the royal family has been doing is not to protect Arthur, but to imprison him?!

This is really…

"Enough of the gossip, Ye Qingxuan." The Dark Sovereign laughed, his body of ashes flew upwards, floating in the sky. He waved, and the melody of Requiem VI blared. The shrill and mournful music echoed in the dark city. Red light lit up in the eyes of the 11 remaining masters, as they were completely dominated by the Dark Sovereign.

"I hope I have made the last of your time enjoyable for you just now." The Dark Sovereign cackled. "Since you've jumped into this trap out of your own initiative, then let's bring an end to the shallow grievances between us once and for all." The body formed of ashes suddenly underwent a series of changes, and the ashes fell into the body of the principal conductor of the first generation of the Royal Musician Division.

Then, violent aether waves burst forth from his body. Countless music theories gushed out of the body of the principal conductor, entangling in the air, combining with each other and evolving. Finally, it formed a spectacular and magnificent scene. As if the mythical door to the nine layers of hell had been opened, countless phantom-like sights intertwined and condensed into a huge threshold.

It was… a scepter!

As one of the Three Pillar Gods, Hyakume naturally exerted a certain level of influence on the Originator. As a vital incarnation of Hyakume, the Dark Sovereign naturally benefited from the bounties bestowed upon him by Hyakume. Right from birth, the Dark Sovereign contained elements that Hyakume had extracted from the Originator.

The incarnations were born with natures similar to that of catastrophes. They differed from living things, like humans and demons, and were instead closer to pure creatures born of aether, such as the oddities brewed up in the realm of aether. To a certain extent, each of them could be considered a living artifact, a humanoid scepter!

The element of legend inherited by the Dark Sovereign was the concept in direct opposition to humanity's concept of the kingdom of heaven. It was the kingdom of darkness where all sinners would go after death.

It was the top-ranking element of mythology—the King of Hell!