Silent Crown

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

A moon of pure white slowly rose, flanked by thunder. In the moonlight that was as cold as steel, countless knives and axes condensed out of thin air, whistling as they flew out. Wherever they passed, everything was taken apart.

At the moment, in Ye Qingxuan's hands, the technique of sword casting had evolved from the music theory of the school of abstinence towards that of the school of modifications. Murderous intentions from the school of heart gathered on them, forming a lethal poison that could rot away and annihilate all consciousness and tenacity.

A horrifying amount of aether was lifted from the sea of aether by Ye Qingxuan, using the staff of fate. Every knife and axe contained a terrifying power enough to suck any musician of the same level dry.

The massive amount of aether was constrained within the knives and axes of nothingness by the music theory of the school of abstinence. From the pure white at the beginning, it gradually turned into a turbulent orangish-yellow, then a dangerous bright red, and in the end, a faint trace of horrifying pure black was already revealed.

Every knife and axe seemed like a horrifying black zone. Electricity lingered on it and was constantly turbulent, contrary to the calmness of the quiet moon. Through the pitch black cracks, it was as if one could see the horrifying scene of the world destructing amid chaos.

"Just with this technique alone, you deserve to be at the pinnacle of contemporary musicians." Paganini softly gave praise, but his figure was so illusory. It fleeted in and out, allowing countless knives and axes to strike him. Wisps of black fog extended from his body.

The light, fleeting mist contained changing music theory, easily distorting the physical world, blocking the inside from the outer. Countless clouds of fog covered the sky and the sun, engulfing everything.

The contours of the fog constantly changed and evolved into vague shadows.

The musicians who had been eroded and transformed by the changing music theory constantly emerged from Paganini's scepter — They were not illusions emerging from the scepter, but were in fact part of the scepter. The more people the changing music theory eroded, the stronger Paganini's scepter became.

The musicians released from the scepter alone were comparable to the scale of an orchestra. In the end, even the shadow of a catastrophe vaguely emerged from it…

The scepter emerged from the Paganini's hand and turned into a short baton.

Countless strands of music theory were connected to the top of the baton, and the inextricably linked strands interwove into a huge net. Like silk threads used to controled puppets, the strands controlled the countless musicians, directing their every move, and they attacked fiercely.

For the opponent, it was like being stuck in a quagmire.

The harder one struggled, the harder it was for one to breathe. One could only watch oneself use up all of one's energy and sink into the darkness.

In Paganini's hands, the whole orchestra was commanded with ease just as he wished. Hundreds of musicians worked together, but not only did the innumerable types of music theory not interfere with each other, they were instead united as one, guided by the changing music theory, and could operate freely and effortlessly.

Ye Qingxuan was facing an entire legion.

Some were in charge of distracting him, some in charge of attacking, and some were in supporting roles… What made Ye Qingxuan even more uncomfortable was dozens of the darkest shadows drifting freely outside the orchestra, lingering around him, looking for an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

They were the most dangerous. Once Ye Qingxuan slackened for the slightest bit, they would rush up to him, disregarding their own lives, and inflict severe damage on Ye Qingxuan.

Or, they might act even more ruthlessly by hugging Ye Qingxuan, then detonating their own Symphonies of Predestination.

The fellas were all projections of Paganini's scepter, and were completely unafraid of death. Even if they died, it would only consume a little energy to regenerate them.

At the moment, hearing Paganini's praise, Ye Qingxuan could not help but snicker.

"Since I am so impressive, why don't you show some appreciation for my talent and order them to capture me alive?"

"Do you still have the mood to joke at such a time?" Paganini waved his baton, attacking ferociously. "With people like you, I can only feel at ease when you are dead — Even if you only have one breath left, I can neither sleep nor eat well."

"Relax, friend, you hold me in such high regards that even I feel scared." Ye Qingxuan waved, and countless knives and axes flew out, crushing the figures into pieces, but the shadow behind him suddenly fluctuated. A dark shadow flew out of it, entangling Ye Qingxuan, swelled up, and detonated its Symphony of Predestination…

Ye Qingxuan's figure flickered. He turned into a bolt of lightning and broke free of his restraints, but still spat out dark blood in the explosion of music theory.

Paganini also wasn't feeling good.

The illusory projection suddenly paused, and a crack suddenly appeared on his chest, but no blood spewed out.

Innumerable wisps of mist lingered in it, trying to repair the crack, but they were annihilated by the moonlight and electricity on the wound.

It was the sword of the moonlight, the technique of which he grasped during the battle with Lancelot.

It was pure light and pure speed.

In the past, it still had a weakness of a lack of lethality, but since the qualitative change of aether was completed, the weakness had totally disappeared as well. The only downside was probably the short and potentially deadly interspace before it was cast.

"See, what did I just say?" Paganini looked down and stroked the crack in his chest, revealing a self-mocking smile.

His body had been hidden in a small interlayer between the physical world and the realm of aether all this while, and was projected in front of Ye Qingxuan via changing music theory. But at that moment just now, through the projection, Ye Qingxuan's power surprisingly hurt his actual body.

In just a few minutes, even though he was disadvantaged, Ye Qingxuan actually found the correct direction to attack amid the changes of the changing music theory…

Even with an absolute advantage in the comparison of both quantity and quality, Ye Qingxuan still felt like a hedgehog to him. He couldn't lay his hands on the young man, and the slightest bit of carelessness would result in a hole being poked in him.

As his gaze grew colder and colder, the melody sounded stranger and stranger.

It was as if the tens of thousands of melodies had been superposed, but the countless notes were compressed within the same instant. In the blink of an eye, as if countless movements were contained in it, they evolved and unfolded.

In just a moment, a small point expanded from Paganini's fingertips, and turned into a fleeting figure behind him.

Moto Perpetuo!

It was a terrifying technique that compressed countless changes of music theory in a moment, a horrifying power that could twist time around one's little finger. It would take only a moment to complete a movement of a few hours long.

At the moment, as the orchestra played, what relied on the technique of Moto Perpetuo to form was the core of the scepter, the movement that had once forcibly withstood the complete form of the Gate of Heaven.

— The Witches' Dance!

The act of using the word 'witch' as its name in itself contained an intention to tarnish and revolt against the music theory of the Sacred City. It cast aside the original idea of distinguishing between good and evil, and demonstrated its power with pure beauty.

He had slightly detached himself from the music theory of the Holy Cauldron and the abyss, and was no longer bound by common sense, but instead formed a path that only belonged to him.

It was a path that seeked to plunder external power constantly via changing music theory to achieve success for oneself, and he seeked to achieve the position of god with his own path!

At the moment, the perfect body he created abruptly changed as the phantom attached itself to it, and it became blurred and huge, as if countless stars had gathered. Hundreds and thousands of hands unfolded, his figure lithe and graceful.

In the silence, it seemed like someone was dancing and twirling.

It was breathtaking.

Just by reaching out, the incorporeal hand held the moon in its palm and abruptly tightened.

Bang!

Countless metals wailed forlornly, and the electricity dissipated.

The anomalous phenomenon formed by Ye Qingxuan's Symphony of Predestination shattered completely. Then, the changing music theory advanced straight forward, fully controlling Ye Qingxuan's domain. In the end, the horrifying power abruptly converged.

Just the pure collision of music theory formed the ultimate destruction pursued by the school of modifications — the annihilation singularity.

The black vortex instantly ripped Ye Qingxuan's figure apart and devoured him.

But in the whirlpool of annihilation, a hoarse laughter rang out.

Abruptly, a glaring electric light erupted, and countless strands of music theory evolved from it, gathered together, and turned into an incorporeal blade. It compressed, compressed, compressed, and compressed itself further.

In the end, the blade that seemed to be condensed from black zones had no more color on it, but instead it returned to its original clear and transparent appearance.

However, the murderous intent contained therein had skyrocketed by hundreds of times.

What Paganini found to be even more terrifying was the kind of power preserved within that… sufficed to really hurt him.

He was stunned.

In the sensing of the changing music theory, he finally understood thoroughly the true essence of Ye Qingxuan's Symphony of Predestination, the actual core of the strange electricity, Ye Qingxuan's true desire.

It was a wildfire-like will and rage that was hidden in the deepest part of him.

— A desire to negate everything in the past, destroy everything in the past, and bury everything in the past!

Destroy completely everything old, decaying, and rotting, punish them with thunder and lightning, ignite them with flames, ending them with destruction, and then sprinkle new seeds on them, open up a new world, and establish a new order…

It was a total negation of all existing music theory.

It was…

"Reformation?" Paganini couldn't help but exclaim.

The next moment, the sword of reformation whistled as it soared towards him.

As compared to the Witches' Dance and the scepter of Paganini, the blade that the Symphony of Predestination had transformed into was as small as a dust particle, but at the moment, the dust tore the layers of palms apart, stubbornly negating all the music theories of the past, completely wiping out everything wherever it passed.

It traced back to where Paganini was actually located, burning itself, piercing through the layers of the sea of aether, and finally thrusted towards his body!

Paganini's eyes widened. He reached out, clenching the blade firmly.

A sharp noise sounded.

The blade was smashed, and countless flashes of electricity erupted. From within, Ye Qingxuan's figure appeared.

Then, he gave a wave of his hand.

Smack!

The echo was loud and clear.

At the very moment, Sylvaine, Mabel, Chopin, Auden…

The Ultimate, the sea, underwater, in the sky, on the fleet, on the Stronghold on Sea.

Anglo, Burgundy, Asgard and even the Sacred City.

Musicians, saints, demons, catastrophes, oddities…

Countless beings watching the battle from afar were stunned, and they looked at the red print appearing on Paganini's face with surprise, going in shock like Paganini.

It was a… slap in the face?

In front of the whole world, Ye Qingxuan deftly lifted his hand, and just like the countless times he had done so in the past, he gave the enemy a heavy slap in the face.

Smack!

The slap that sufficed to crush stone and iron only made a red print on Paganini's face, leaving clear finger marks, but it smashed Paganini's dignity and will into pieces.

In a flash, Paganini reached out and tore all the defenses of Ye Qingxuan apart. He tugged on the incorporeal electricity, and his five fingers balled up, crushing the electricity and returning Ye Qingxuan to his original state. Paganini firmly clutched the young man's throat.

Both of Paganini's eyes were bright red.

They were like the fire of purgatory.

"Ye Qingxuan…" he bellowed.