Silent Crown

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

The shock hit him suddenly.

Stunned, Arthur stood where he was.

Arthur had never taken this fellow who thought that he could do whatever he pleased just because he had an artifact in hand seriously, even when Ye Qingxuan detonated the Lance of the Dragon Slayer on his own accord.

But he didn't expect that, with the artifact in hand, Ye Qingxuan really did as he pleased…

After expending so much effort, not even hesitating to use the Lance of the Dragon Slayer as a consumable, what Ye Qingxuan desired was not victory, but to walk up to Arthur and give him a crisp slap in the face?

A slap in the face!

After the shock that didn't even last for an instant, what rose as an immediate effect was an unprecedented violent fury.

Arthur roared.

His rage possessed material form, with Firebird being the medium. It caused the huge sun of darkness in the sky to tremble wildly, and a loud rumble burst forth.

He broke out in roars, shattering gloomy clouds. The stars swayed, trembling as they went out. The pair of dark eyes had been covered in blood red streaks at the moment, like the fiery fire in hell.

Eroded by the wrath of the Firebird, even the blade of the stone sword turned pitch black.

It didn't look to be made of tangible matter that really existed, but seemed to have turned into a crack leading to the World of Dark after a certain sort of collapse had occurred. Through the body of the sword, one could faintly glimpse the darkness ravaging and sweeping like the ocean.

Simply by standing within three steps of it, one could feel the severe pain of being dismembered by the blade. It was especially so for Ye Qingxuan, who was targeted by the stone sword, and every inch of flesh and blood on his body trembled as a result.

"What's the hurry." Ye Qingxuan waved his hand nonchalantly, the look in his eyes full of malice. "It has just begun."

The world stood still for a moment.

Then, Arthur saw the Lance of the Dragon Slayer, which had been suppressed by the stone sword, stab into the ground after leaving Ye Qingxuan's hands.

Shortly after, a terrifying hiss sounded from the depths of the earth.

Innumerable clouds of dust rose, and a bloody torrent spewed out of Avalon's sewers. It flowed upwards toward the sky, dyeing the entire of the pitch black night sky scarlet.

Avalon shook, and the frenzied tides swept in all directions.

The Lance of the Dragon Slayer pierced the earth. The brilliance gathered into a ray that pointed straight down, penetrating the soil and the rocks. Wherever it passed, everything evaporated, and even the activated flesh of Leviathan was completely torn open, revealing a huge crack.

The music theory of destruction erupted, killing the activated earth once more. It left eternal scars which were thousands of meters or even tens of thousands of meters long. Even though the brilliance went out, the horrifying quakes turned into waves and propagated in all directions.

In the World of Dark on the other side of the earth, silent mountain peaks cracked, spurting out lava of destruction.

In the whole world, thousands of aether balls burst in an instant. The large-scale instruments of harmonious melody near the surroundings of Anglo all lost responsiveness. Almost all the musicians were able to sense the terrifying fluctuations rising.

It resembled the horrifying aftermath of stars exploding.

However, the peak of Avalon had descended into a strangely calm silence.

The hand print left from the slap on Arthur's face had yet to fade, but an unconcealable panic rose in his eyes.

The path of godly ascension!

The path of godly ascension shook, like a collapsing building. In the vast alchemy array, countless fine circuits were rapidly losing their sense of aether, disappearing without a trace like ice cubes melting in the sea.

The inexhaustible power abruptly stopped flowing, and the sun of darkness brewing up in the sky tremored in pain, producing a sound that resembled glass breaking. The catastrophe that had yet to be born was about to die prematurely…

It only took an instant for everything to change.

At the moment, Arthur felt an unprecedented weakness and fear.

Amid the ruins, the remaining body of the Lance of the Dragon Slayer was deeply nailed into the ground. The steel body of the lance was covered in countless fine cracks. As its music theory dissipated and the array in it ruptured, it no longer possessed its mightiness like before.

However, then only did Arthur saw the two intersecting marks, which had appeared without him noticing, on the ground cast with black gold and wrought iron before the throne.

One could vaguely identify it as the projection array that Hermes once set up. The array was set up within the grain of the stone and iron. As the projection dissipated, the array was also destructed.

The only part exposed outside the stone and iron formed an odd scorch mark.

It was like a pre-drawn target. Just looking at it would make one feel that one couldn't help but itch to poke it, just once…

And at the moment, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer was precisely nailed into the ground on the spot where the marks intersect.

Right in the bull's eye!

"It's you…" Arthur suddenly looked up and fixed Ye Qingxuan with a death stare.

In the air behind Ye Qingxuan, the handsome and feminine face appeared for the last time and took his hat off politely at Arthur, silently bidding farewell.

From the beginning to the end, the corners of his mouth curled with a mocking smile.

It was the last prank.

Arthur roared in fury, and the stone sword rumbled, forcefully wedging into the array of the path of godly ascension. The power originating from the catastrophe propelled the vast music theory and forcibly regathered the array that was falling apart.

But he immediately felt the huge array shook.

It was as if the keel that was the most important part of the foundation, which was eternally unchanging initially, seemed to have been taken away at the moment. The foundation became so fragile like a building that would collapse upon the blowing of a breeze.

Like a fire, the Firebird burned in mad fury.

"What on earth have you done!!!" Arthur reached out, and the Firebird condensed, materializing and turning into a dark hand. It tore apart layers of protection, grabbed Ye Qingxuan by the neck, and pulled him up.

As if he was pressured by ten thousand tons of water, the sharp pain of body parts breaking came from all over his body.

Ye Qingxuan raised a brow, his eyes looking to his side.

There, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer that had lost its brilliance laid motionless quietly, making no sound. In its brokenness, it resembled an unloading lever used by dock workers.

What have I done?

Is there still a need to ask?

Ye Qingxuan's smile was full of pleasure. "The obvious answer is — to pry your kingdom away."

As he said so, wisps of mist flowed out of the cracks on the Lance of the Dragon Slayer. Before the throne, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer suddenly tremored violently. Innumerable scar-like cracks rapidly closed up amid the lingering mist.

As if it had returned from the underworld, the dead artifact came back to life once more!

The Changing Music Theory from the clothes of original sin resided within, unceremoniously occupying the body of the lance which had lost its spirituality. It forcibly united all the remaining music theory in it, then immediately flowed in the alchemy array that was falling apart.

Like a turtledove occupying a magpie nest, the Changing Music Theory had taken over the lance.

The Changing Music Theory that had lost its form and the Lance of the Dragon Slayer that had lost its music theory merged as one, and a faint light radiated from it once more. It was the flowing moonlight.

A moon of pure white emerged.

It was the Ye Qingxuan's Symphony of Predestination!

'As if you are above, as if you are below, and so all can begin.'

The music theory inherited from the Emerald Tablet flowed within. Under the smelting of moonlight, the music theory consisting of thousands of strands and loose ends was quickly reorganized with the way of deciphering. Under the forceful suppression of the three-in-one structure, the two were completely combined as one.

In the body of the lance, the fragments that had originally belonged to the gun of fate were awakened, and gave off a fiery glow once more. After being reactivated, like wilted branches that were almost dying, they absorbed aether wildly.

Even the Changing Music Theory of the clothes of original sin, as well as the array and music theory that originally belonged to the Lance of the Dragon Slayer, were swallowed up without mercy. The fragments reacted crisply, like monsters, and were still totally unsatiated.

The Symphony of Predestination trembled, and the Night on Bald Mountain was played. Then, hundreds of purifying movements passed down from the Religious Court of Inquiry all poured into it.

Only when the reserve in Ye Qingxuan's Sub-originator was completely drained also did the lance stop its feast.

After obtaining such a vast amount of resources, a new aura radiated faintly from the body of the lance, dissipating quietly without a sound, and the blade rapidly dimmed.

In the end, what remained in the original position was only a black iron staff that looked roughly made.

The fragments of the gun of fate smelted into it turned into bronze-colored striations spread over it. In the end, they converged at one point and outlined the holy emblem, forming a pattern.

At this point in time, the Lance of the Dragon Slayer and the clothes of the original sin died, and a new, grand chapter was reborn here. What emerged from it was a terrifying majesty so sharp that one dared not even look straight at it.

Everything seemed illusory and as fragile as a dream when compared to it. Only the iron was real, difficult to move in its heaviness.

It was destined by fate.

Unchangeable!

In just a flash, a new artifact was born from the fragments of the Lance of the Dragon Slayer.

No matter how the Firebird charged at it or how the frenzied wind blew and swept, the iron staff seemed to be wedged into the stone, unmoving and unshakable.

And at the moment, it obeyed Ye Qingxuan's will.

A horrifyingly loud bang sounded from it.

The heavy music theory advanced along the crack that the Lance of the Dragon Lance had pierced through, crushing the layers of protection. It caused the moonlight to flow rapidly and instantly reach the deepest part of the whole territory of the country.

The blockade set up by Leviathan was no longer!

The mighty melody from Genesis sounded from afar. In the reflection, the city that was on the verge of shattering emitted a dazzling brilliance. The golden Firebird rekindled, igniting the entire of the dark ocean once more.

On the throne, amid the resplendent flares, Mary, who was properly seated, opened her eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.

The voice echoed between the heavens and the earth, proclaiming the royal decree from the empress to the world.

"In the name of Mary I, the empress of the sacred kingdom of Anglo blessed by God, the guardian of the Church, and the mortal ruler with full rights, I hereby confer the title of the Prince of Avalon upon Marquis Ye Qingxuan of the Dragon Bloodline!"

So, the Chapter of the Golden Victory was played once again. Golden flares descended from the sky, falling on Ye Qingxuan's head, and turned into a fiery halo.

Arthur's hand was flicked off.

The power, which resembled burning everything and giving it all, even managed to temporarily resist the power of the catastrophe.

Meanwhile, in the flares, a phantom of Mary appeared faintly, reached out, and held Ye Qingxuan's hand tightly. She took off the ring representing royal power on her index finger, and put it on his finger. "Ye Qingxuan, I bestow the signet ring of the royal family upon you.

"From now on, you are the deputy ruler of Anglo, the Keeper of the Seal of the Privy Council, and have full command over all affairs of Avalon. Act on behalf of the queen and defend the nation's territories.

"— Thou shalt be with Avalon! "

Ye Qingxuan gazed at her decisive expression and bowed his head. "As my queen commands."

Mary's figure dissipated without a sound, and in the majestic melody symbolizing the emperor's coronation, the halo on Ye Qingxuan's head silently turned into a vague crown.

A crown that should have belonged to Arthur originally…

"In your dreams!!!" Arthur growled darkly and coldly, and the sun of darkness rumbled. The heavens and the earth shook as he reached out and tore the golden Firebird gathering around Ye Qingxuan apart, but he failed to stop the young man in time.

At the moment, Ye Qingxuan's hand rested on the black iron staff.

So, the ground shook, and a frenzied turmoil rose from the deepest part of the earth's crust, causing the whole city to tremble.

Just like what he once said to Arthur…

"It's time to pry Anglo away." Following Ye Qingxuan's words, his Symphony of Predestination unfolded fully, and the gravitational force of the music theory was exerted on the iron staff, causing the terrifying aura of the iron staff to erupt suddenly.

The nine-layered sea of aether was opened up by the power.

The barrier between the Physical World and the realm of aether was completely punched through.

Meanwhile, along with the horrifying power, the music theory of the Heaven Ladder also penetrated the layers of defense and pierced into the deepest part of Avalon.

Facing Arthur's wildly furious expression, Ye Qingxuan laughed. "— In the name of the ruler of Anglo, I hereby activate the homeland defense front. May God bless me, and I shall defend the kingdom!"

At the moment, the signet ring on his index finger radiated a fiery glow. Advancing along the music theory of the Heaven Ladder, the unique music theory passed through the crack produced when the Lance of the Dragon Slayer pierced into the ground and cast itself into the depths of the earth.

The first note was played.

So, the entire Anglo boomed in response.

After the death of Elizabeth, the vast system that the past generations of the royal family of Anglo had devoted all resources of the nation to setting up was reawakened. In the leylines, silent aether gushed in a frenzy.

The silver brilliance weaved in and out through the depths of the earth, operating rapidly along the leylines. In only an instant, it had connected the entire Anglo along the vast network.

It caused a fiery glow to light up under the deep sea.

Midlands, York, Sussex… The huge alchemy systems buried deep under every county town in Anglo awakened one after another. They drew on the reserves that they had been saving up for centuries, casting a mighty amount of real energy into the leylines and transporting them to where the capital of the nation was.

The power that was gushing like a torrent operated in the earth's crust beneath the sea, but the tremendous amount of heat and brilliance radiating from it shone through layers of darkness, projecting rivers of fiery light on the surface of the sea.

In a flash, the rivers of light came from all directions, converged together, and gathered towards the palace.

"Mere wishful thinking!" It only took Arthur an instant to thoroughly understand what Ye Qingxuan's was thinking.

In the sky, the sun of darkness operated in rage. The horrifying Firebird descended from the sky and penetrated the earth's crust. In just an instant, it destroyed all the equipment buried deep under the palace.

Diverter valves, instruments of harmonious melody, aether furnaces… All the equipment used to control the homeland defense front were destroyed, and the frenzied torrent could hardly be controlled anymore.

In just a flash, the terrifying heat leaking out of it boiled the entire ocean, turning the sea and the sky into a huge steamer.

But Ye Qingxuan didn't panic in the slightest bit, and simply looked at Arthur, his eyes full of pity, as if he was looking at an idiot. "Surely you don't think that… such an important system doesn't even have a set of backups?"

Booming peals of bells rang out.

Right in the center of Avalon, above the dilapidated tower bridge, the old giant bell rumbled and shook, exuding majestic and mighty chimes.

In Jianlan Underground Palace of the Royal Academy of Music of Anglo, an ancient pair of eyes slowly opened in the darkness behind the old bronze door

"Has the time finally come?" Dominic murmured softly, rose to his feet slowly, and walked to the deepest part of the audience hall. He extended a hand, tore his chest cavity open, and pulled out a key covered in copper rust from his shriveled heart. The key stained with viscous blood was inserted into the keyhole. As Dominic turned it with all his might, the whole audience hall produced a loud rumble.

In the sound of countless gears turning, steel shattered.

Stein Chamber No. Zero, activated!

With a boom, the vast machinery that had slumbered in it for centuries was started!

In the loud noise, Dominic sat down on the ground, withered, and sighed softly. "I can only wish you good luck, Maxwell, you old bastard.

"I can only do… so much for you."

At the moment, the launching of the Homeland Defense Front was complete.

Under the surface of the sea, fiery torrents swept through, along the array left from what was once the path of godly ascension. They gathered, and gushed into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, causing the almost-shattered city in the mirror to radiate vibrancy once more.

The melody of Genesis reverberated between the sea and the sky.

In Ye Qingxuan's hand, the iron staff tapped. Loud bangs burst forth, completely breaking the boundaries between reality and illusion, causing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth to descend upon the land, and turned the inexhaustible power into glory, strengthening himself.

In the next moment, the iron staff lifted and struck towards Arthur.

The iron staff collided with the stone sword, producing a high-pitched sound that shook the heavens and the earth. The sun of darkness trembled as a result, innumerable cracks spreading in it, and it was about to disintegrate.

…

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what is saith!"

In the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, Shi Dong gazed fanatically at the iron staff in Ye Qingxuan's hand, and recited the Holy Bible, "And he who is victorious and who obeys justice to the end, God will give him authority and power over the nations.

"And he shall rule them with a staff of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, as he has received authority from God."

He exclaimed, "In accordance with the words of God, this is the staff of fate!"