Silent Crown

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

What kind of person is Mary? Ye Qingxuan realized that he had never thought about this question.

They first met in the kitchen of the Royal Academy of Music. He was banging on the lids of pots and pans, with his dog, in high spirits. She stood at the end of crowd, watched quietly, then left quietly, making nothing of it. Perhaps it was because of her pride and arrogance as a member of the royal family.

After that, in downtown Avalon, he saw the blood-stained Ripper. With her completely deviant version of mysophobia, she wanted to kill every single dirty person and make the city clean again.

He once danced with the princess in the shadow of Avalon and got a close-up look at her pair of eyes, which were as exquisite as jewels and full of pain and emptiness. He could see the deepest scars and blood.

In Stein Chamber, the two were alone for a short while, but no communication of a deeper level took place between them.

She had become a qualified successor to the throne. And just like that, the self-restrained, noble princess and the wanderer brushed past each other and parted ways.

Ye Qingxuan had not expected to be reunited with her one day. Nor did he expect that she would be crowned so soon.

She had become an empress, distinguished and powerful, but it was not how Ye Qingxuan imagined.

…

The new ruler's tour in the nation in the shadows had begun.

The King of Hell would descend.

When Ye Qingxuan entered the shadow of Avalon, the tour had yet to end, but hell had already revealed vaguely its grotesque appearance. Mary did not hide her whereabouts, or rather to say, she had no intentions of hiding at all.

The king toured, dignified and rightful.

She entered the gates of the city, walked along the winding streets, stepped on roads stained red by blood, made her way uptown, passed through the broken city, towards her palace. Everywhere she passed, all buildings and streets fell apart and collapsed into pieces. A huge aether wave radiated from her.

On her head, the image of the city reflected off the crystal-like crown, casting everything in the dim yellowish light from hell.

The kingdom of shadows had ushered in sunshine for the first time in centuries.

But the sun was born of darkness.

The huge sun of darkness responded to her singing and rose from the top of the palace, illuminating the city of demons and accelerating its collapse.

Countless pungent particles of sulphur dust fell from the sky, burning and resulting in specks of fire, like scorching hot rain. The rain of fire covered every corner, igniting everything.

Countless demons hissed in the fire, shaking and dying. They maintained their posture of worship even in death, dedicating everything to the supreme emperor, the ruler of the mortal realm and hell.

At the moment he saw her, Ye Qingxuan immediately understood what happened.

Although he had no idea what deal the Dark Sovereign and Lancelot had struck up, at the moment, there was no doubt that Mary, as a sacrifice, had become a pawn of the Dark Sovereign.

Ye Qingxuan could see countless movements extending from the scepter of hell and immerging themselves in Mary's limbs.

The Dark Sovereign implanted the essence of himself, the movement of hell, into Mary's body, controlling Mary's will via her dark side born of the curse of the dragon blood.

At the moment, through Mary's body, the Dark Sovereign could move around unimpeded in the shadow of Avalon.

He could even turn the tables… by absorbing the power of the shadow of Avalon to make himself whole.

The movement that was once damaged badly by the stone sword was constantly extracting the power of the shadow of Avalon at the moment, undergoing evolution and rebirth.

Upon her arrival at the palace, the movement of hell would replace the power left by Arthur and seize all the bases, completely turning the shadow of Avalon into a hell on earth.

Meanwhile, King Arthur would be completely freed from the palace and descend upon the world once more as a catastrophe.

"What a crafty plan you have devised, Your Majesty the Dark Sovereign." Ye Qingxuan sighed softly, and couldn't help but raise his hand to suppress the faint headache in his temples. It was a strange feeling of mixed irritation and anger which filled his brain like a flame.

In the gap between his fingers, cold moonlight lit up in the black irises.

"Let's say hello first and see what happens." He whispered, "It's rude enough to come unsolicited, at least we should let the host know who is knocking at the door."

"Yes sir." Behind him, Shi Dong nodded and unsheathed his epee, piercing it into the ground. The blade scraped against the iron and the rock, making a harsh, low-pitched whistle that dragged on.

Then, a thunder-like roar burst forth.

It was deafening.

"— Deus vult!!!"

Never before had anyone expected that the shriveled body of the dying old man still had such strength left in it. It was strong enough to support him to roar like a dragon with all his might and shake the heavens and the earth, as well as all the nations in the world, with his roar.

It was the language passed down from before the Age of Dark, a blood-stained vow inscribed in the Religious Court of Inquiry and their crusade to the east.

Deus vult, God wills it.

It was God's decree, it was the wish of all things. It was where justice and glory lay.

It was hereby declared that the Witch Hammer had set foot on the battlefield!

Following the roar, the heavens and the earth rumbled.

The holy emblem in flames rose slowly from Shi Dong, illuminating the dark clouds.

The huge warship of steel broke through the clouds, the searchlights penetrated the luminous flares of the dark sun, and a ghastly white radiance spilled onto the ground. Dozens of steel stakes shot out from the catapult track. With a roar, they wedged deeply into the collapsing buildings. Then, flame pillars so high they touched the sky rose from the ground, and interwove into a huge cage of flames.

At that very moment, the King of Hell stopped advancing abruptly and slowly turned back, making Ye Qingxuan smile. "Yes, that's right, look here."

Facing her gaze, Ye Qingxuan slowly walked forward into the cage of flames and bowed to the girl wearing the crown. "Mary, Your Royal Highness, it's been a long time."

The girl's gaze was empty, her delicate face full of indifference, and she did not response.

It was as if she was looking at nothing but air.

In the projection of the scepter of hell, the image of the Dark Sovereign slowly emerged. He looked around at the surroundings, and finally looked down at Ye Qingxuan, wearing a mocking smile. "It's been a long time since I last witnessed such a scene indeed… The Religious Court of Inquiry? I remember you all dragging out your ignoble existences, as miserable as stray dogs, after the Church gave up on you. Surprisingly, you all managed to wait it out until the day of your resurgence has come?

"What is this? A miracle? "

"Isn't it exactly because goddamn things like you still exist in the world?" Ye Qingxuan looked at him and responded coldly, "After all, someone must remind you — that you still have undefeated enemies, that there are still people in the world who will fight against you until one side perishes."

"You want to slay your king?" The Dark Sovereign clapped his hands in glee. "Just like what your superior, Maxwell, did. Ye Qingxuan, he really didn't get it wrong about you. The saviors of Anglo actually all want to kill their king? How ironic.

"Too bad Her Majesty even admired you once. I wonder if she'll be heartbroken if she sees you now… Am I right, Your Majesty? "

Mary's eyes trembled.

As if she was awakened from a long nightmare, in the empty gaze, a dim light resembling that of a candle flickering in the wind emerged.

She looked stunned, unsure, and fearful.

After getting a clear look at Ye Qingxuan's face, she couldn't help but want to hide and run away.

In the end, she seemed relieved.

She did not question him demandingly, nor was she enraged, as if she had understood her end.

"Mr. Ye, are you here to kill me?" she asked softly.

Ye Qingxuan was silent.

After a long time, he slowly nodded. "Yes."

"It's really great to be able to die in your hands." As if the time of her liberation had arrived, she cracked a smile, suppressing her tears of fear, and softly bid farewell. "Please save the country and cut off this bloodline of disaster completely."

"I give you my word that the Ripper will die here." Ye Qingxuan looked into Mary's eyes and promised her, one word at a time, "— Mary and the country shall be reborn together."

"Then… I'll leave it to you." Mary smiled and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her eyes were already covered in a grotesque, beastly red.

Horrifying Firebird erupted from her body and evolved into a flame-like substance, spreading in all directions. Under the strengthening of the scepter of hell, her tenacity materialized, and its operation itself was enough to cause the shadow of Avalon to whine forlornly as it collapsed further, distorting the Physical World.

The cage of flames shook.

Invisible knives and axes swiped at Ye Qingxuan, and the barrier in front of him cracked, revealing countless gaps, and shattered instantly.

Ye Qingxuan sighed, and when he raised his eyes again, they were already full of cold moonlight.

Against the frenzied Firebird, he raised his arm and issued an order. "Deus vult!"

The wish of all things, the decree of God.

— Hereby executing the righteousness of the world, the eternal justice!

Flames and iron descended from the sky!