Silent Crown

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

It was like the night sky had turned into a giant mirror. What was reflected in it was the fate of death.

Suddenly, darkness appeared before everyone's eyes, and they involuntarily fell to the ground. In the midst of their fear that they did not know where it came from, they looked up at the sky.

All that they could see was Avalon's reflection.

The reflection was filled with blood and fire.

It seemed as if fate had already been determined, and nothing could be changed.

Then the illusion was torn apart, and lightning…

Countless people's eyes were struck by a light that blazed like an exploding star.

The destruction that had been foretold fell from the sky.

The heavens and the earth roared.

In the next instant, Mary closed her eyes as she sat on the throne. And in the reflection of the sea, in the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, the Queen who had been transformed by the pure Firebird opened her eyes and looked at the sky.

Light shone from the depths of the sea. The tides flowed upwards. Although it was millions of tons of seawater, it moved no slower than lightning falling from the sky.

The sea of light set off a hurricane which swept up into the heavens which resisted the wind and thunder like an iron box placed over a sandcastle.

In the next moment, the sea boiled.

Gungnir collided with the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and the two were locked in a stalemate. Amid the lightning Gungnir hung in the sky, revealing its vague outline through the violent electricity. Even through the water curtain formed by the ocean, the light was still sharp enough to frighten people.

A wind powerful enough to destroy the world brewed in that collision.

The upwards flowing tide quickly collapsed into a torrential rain that descended from the sky and quickly evaporated in the air into a mist that was pushed towards the earth by the hurricane. After the hurricane broke itself against the sharpness of the city, it spread out in all directions.

At this moment the world went dark.

Above the sea of light, a mass of thick, white vapor surged out in all directions. The fog-covered city was illuminated by fierce lightning. A terrible force powerful enough to burn the entire island to ash pierced through, and a roaring sound penetrated the tides and resounded throughout the city, ravaging everyone's eardrums.

In a flash, the tide dissipated.

The first defense that had been set by the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth was annihilated by Asgard's long-planned attack.

But it had struggled on until the most important point.

In that short time, Mary's throne had opened under the twisting of the hub, and numerous thin cables wriggled out of it, piercing deep into her limbs.

The bell rang above the Tower Bridge.

In the silent palace, Dominic silently pushed on the hub, and under the connection of numerous instruments of harmonious melody, the Homeland Defense Front was launched.

"L'etat, c'est moi," [1] Mary closed her eyes and whispered softly.

The shadow of a scabbard appeared in the sky above the city and blocked the path of Gungnir's fall. The vestige of the golden retriever appeared from within the scabbard. The little dog bounded into the sky. After three steps it turned into an all-devouring golden dragon. A pair of wings opened up and the countless scales on them relaxed and expanded. Light reflected off him into the sky, as if he had transformed the whole world into a part of his body.

Heaven and earth became his scales.

The Chapter of the Golden Victory was fully developed.

The gold dragon reappeared, shouted to the heavens, and spewed out a world-ending light.

The powers of catastrophes collided together.

In a flash, the light dissipated.

The lightning disappeared.

Everything vanished without a trace.

The fate of destruction was broken.

The huge dragon shot a cold glance in the direction of Asgard, and then returned to the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth.

After a long time, the people of Avalon revived from the shock of their almost-destruction. They cheered wildly and bowed with respect and praise towards the palace.

"God bless the kingdom, and may the Queen bless us!"

But on the throne, Mary was in severe shock. Blood was leaking from her ears, mouth, and nose, but a cold light gleamed in her eyes, and lips curled up in the cold silhouette of a smile.

"Someone…underestimated me."

In a flash, a terrible and mighty pressure swept through the throne room.

A cold wind blew.

All the officials knelt to the ground, trembling under the mighty pressure. The once kind-looking Mary showed a killing intent powerful enough to daze everyone. The Prince of Avalon was not there at the moment, and there was no one who dared come forward and request the Queen to control the Wrath of Thunder.

Because at some point, the Queen's robes had turned scarlet red.

Her pale white face seemed to have come from the underworld, and the crown on her head seemed to have become white bones. A kingdom of death was revealed faintly behind her, shocking everyone who saw it. Even by kowtowing they could not get rid of the panic and fear in their hearts.

After the past few days of war council meetings, everyone was so tired that they could barely keep their eyes open. But this almost mocking assassination woke them up. Even if all was fair in war, such a sinister and violent attack could not be tolerated.

If she had been a little slower, Mary, along with countless innocent people in Avalon, would have been buried under Gungnir. She was so upset that she no longer suppressed the tide of anger and desire to kill in her heart. After firmly suppressing it for so long, her dark side that had never been shown to others appeared in all its majesty.

It seemed as if the balance was slowly sliding from the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth to the other side…

The solemn, majestic landscape of the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth was gone, replaced by an atmosphere unimaginably terrifying to humans. The beautiful, majestic oceans revealed their cruelty at this moment.

Death was under the sea!

The golden Firebird turned pitch-black. In a flash, it seemed to have become nighttime, and violent wind and rain swept over the entire Anglo Kindom.

A terrifying breath rose up from Avalon towards the sky.

"…Leviathan?"

In the black box, Shi Dong, who had been woken up right after he had fallen asleep, did not have time to say anything. He looked up in amazement. "I can understand Her Majesty's wrath, but isn't this too much?"

Under Mary's power, the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth which had originally been inherited from a catastrophe was being transformed back into its original state.

It was like Leviathan, the Lord of the Seven Seas, the member of the four living creatures who occupied the ocean and who ruled over all the beasts of the sea had been reborn. The darkness that had once slept in Mary's heart was revealed by the dark Firebird.

It was as if she had been reborn as a nocturnal predator. Her long, slender fingers covered her face that was distorted by the darkness. The tyrant Queen looked up at everyone with scarlet eyes.

"Render that which is unclean unto the world, that it might be cleansed. This is the only way!" She raised her left hand, and the door to the throne room was suddenly thrown open as violent wind and rain swept in, drenching the terrified officials.

Amid the thunder and lightning, the darkness upon the ocean spread out like a living creature. In a flash, it had wriggled off into the distance.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed, but the ocean's surface was frighteningly calm. Under the seemingly tranquil surface, numerous undercurrents surged. A line of darkness stretched out from Avalon. The snakelike gray line pulsed for thousands of miles, sweeping away towards Asgard in a flash.

Five seconds later, all of Asgard felt terrible tremors.

Numerous dykes and dams ruptured with a roar. Amid the surging water, a phantom wearing a scarlet robe and a crown of bones appeared above the surface of the sea, looked towards the Golden Palace and raised a finger. Then, the sea and the stars were reversed, washing away the world's filth.

The vast tides rose up into the sky, and numerous varied sea monsters emerged from the depths. The sea beasts that had once ravaged the Anglo Kingdom climbed towards the Golden Palace. Countless giant cuttlefish and other sea monsters rushed through the water towards the World Tree.

Amid the trembling of the earth, currents rose up from the chaos under the ground at Leviathan's command. The city's defensive enchantment opened instantly, and the sound of hymns rang out one after another.

The on-duty musicians occupied towers all around the city. Numerous movements poured forth from them, quickly clearing away the demons in the sea.

Although the demons had died, the catastrophe's transformation was not delayed in the least. It was as if the terrible power of Leviathan's personal arrival ran through the sea, rolling towards the land. Everywhere it passed the earth and stone turned into flesh and blood, as if it had been infected by a parasite that was spreading around.

This was the most terrifying place.

The catastrophe's presence itself was enough to cause irreversible changes to the entire world.

Whether they won or lost, the land that was covered by war would be uninhabitable. It was just like the Naica Nest of the Crystals, which hundreds of years later was still stuck in the hopeless situation of being crystallized.

And this was just the beginning.

The bloody queen above the waves once again raised her finger and prepared to launch another attack, but her figure suddenly flickered and became indistinct.

Her cold figure quickly vanished without a trace.

All that was left was the raging tide, and countless monsters and sea demons wandering beneath the Golden Palace.

"Who is it?" Mary opened her eyes from the throne and saw Ye Qingxuan before her.

His palm was placed against his forehead as he tried to soothe the uncontrollable fury.

Her blood red dress slowly faded, and the crown of bones disappeared.

The kingdom of death was gone.

The Queen of Avalon had returned, but her face was pale, and she was weak and exhausted.

"Didn't you promise not to reveal this side of you ever again?" Ye Qingxuan sighed and let go. He waved his hand behind him, indicating that the ministers beneath the steps should leave.

"If I hadn't got back just in time, would you be prepared to fight with Asgard? Although the power of the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth comes from Leviathan, it's too easy to lose control. If you don't pay attention, you'll turn from Mary into a second Leviathan."

"I'm sorry, I was angry." Mary lowered her head and unconsciously avoided his gaze.

"Are you hurt?" Ye Qingxuan stared at her waist and saw that a blood red color was spreading through the silk.

"Mm."

"Let me take a look." Ye Qingxuan shook his head helplessly as he placed his hand gently on the bloodstained dress. On the white silk, numerous slender threads were thrust out in all directions, revealing the wound underneath. When the Homeland Defense Front was launched, it turned the Queen into her country. But if it was damaged, the scars would be reflected on her body.

Just like they were now.

"This is a little tricky…" Ye Qingxuan's fingers fell upon what seemed like a spear wound. As he stroked the scorch marks left by lightning, her lower abdomen shivered, although he didn't know if it was because his fingers were cold or because of the pain of the wound.

"Hold on." Before he had finished speaking, Ye Qingxuan's fingers suddenly pierced into the wound fiercely and cruelly, causing Mary's to twitch as she gnashed her teeth and emitted a faint whine.

He quickly pulled a blazing thunderbolt out of the wound. It wrapped around his fingers like a living thing, constantly searching for gaps, but could not find anywhere to break through.

It was clearly only a glimpse of its full power, but it was still tricky to deal with as all different kinds of methods would be useless. In the end, it was sealed by the power of Genesis.

In just a few short seconds, Mary had grown sweaty and pale. But her vitality was much better, and her wound quickly closed up, until her skin was once again smooth and white.

"That must have been Odin's divinity?" Ye Qingxuan looked at the little cubic seal in his fingertips. When he identified its nature, he couldn't help but laugh. "You really can get a lot of work done with a big household. To turn catastrophes into consumables…"

No wonder Gungnir's power was so terrible. It was composed of a trace of Odin's divinity. Even though it was only a trace, it was still equivalent to a catastrophe exploding in the skies above Avalon. It could only be said that it was worthy of Asgard. This type of self-sacrificing, heroic behavior was both enviable and detestable.

Ye Qingxuan played with the trace of divinity, suddenly ignoring his Queen lying there weakly on the throne, sweaty and uncomfortable.

"Ye Qingxuan," Mary looked up at him and sighed, "haven't you forgotten something?"

Ye Qingxuan was stunned. He immediately smiled and bowed his head. "Your servant arrived too late to escort you, please forgive me."

"Before I forgive you, help me up." Mary reached out and grabbed Ye Qingxuan's hand. She lifted herself up and staggered a bit, almost falling on the ground. Ye Qingxuan could hear her weak heartbeat and faint panting.

"Sorry," Mary forced herself to smile and whispered softly, "I'm just a little tired."

Ye Qingxuan sighed. "I'll call someone."

"No need, just wait a bit and it'll be alright." Mary lowered her head and held his hand as she struggled to breathe. "Don't let them see me like this."

Ye Qingxuan looked at her and could not help but shake his head. There was nothing he could do.

Seeing his helpless expression, Mary couldn't help but smile softly.

"What's is it?"

"Nothing." She shook her head slightly and did not answer, but kept grinning.

For some reason, she was filled with happiness.

…

On top of the World Tree beneath the Golden Palace in Asgard, the course of the starry sky dissipated. The old musician stared at the news that was carried by the glow of the stars and said softly, "The report has come back, Your Majesty. The test of Gungnir was a perfect success."

The hunchbacked musician standing in the shadows looked up at him. "Should we not press our advantage?"

The old musician shook his head. "The time is not yet right…"

Gungnir had great destructive power, but the price was equally high, and it was impossible to use it unrestrainedly. The test firing was enough, for now. Going too far would be just as bad as not going far enough.

Presumably with Gungnir as a deterrent the Queen would not dare to pay attention to anything else. In the coming days, Avalon would not give Gungnir any openings.

And thus the old musician had accomplished his goal.

Losing the support of Leviathan and the Homeland Defense Front, the Royal Navy simply could not compete with Asgard.

Asgard had already seized the initiative in this war.

The old musician pondered for a while, then waved and said, "Send orders to Rommel on the Western Front, tell him not to get tangled up at the border. Within ten days we will take Avalon! Tell him that I will give him a chance to recover from his failure and shame, if he can take it."

Ten minutes later, Rommel received these orders on the bridge with no expression.

"Please tell His Excellency that Asgard will surely win," he replied hoarsely.

He looked in the direction of Avalon, and his gloomy, bloodshot eyes were as red as flames.

[1]: French for "I am the state." A famous quote from French King Louis XIV.