Silent Crown

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

The Evil Maternal, the Source of Beasts, the Vortex of Evolution…

For centuries, humanity had given the Dark Mother many names, but to the entire world the most dangerous was none other than the Dark Mother.

When the Dark Ages ended hundreds of years ago, the Three Kings chased it to the northern tundra. It wandered in the dark world, reappearing every now and then, leaving behind mutated organisms in its path.

It did not even have a shape that people could fully describe. It was difficult for mankind to specify what it really was, so it had never been completely destroyed, but had regenerated instead.

It was like a virus in nature. One could sense its presence by seeing the ruined environment, but could never truly touch it. In many descriptions it was depicted as a writhing ring.

Some philosophers believed that its true state was an indescribable ring, but everyone knew that philosophers were useless. In current descriptions, it consisted of many natural catastrophes, made up of countless beasts, animals, and mutated monsters.

But this description was not accurate either because the Dark Mother did not even have a substantial state.

People could feel where it was. Like a boundary drawn by an invisible force. It was difficult for any organism in the boundary to leave. There was a biological longing and fear of the outside world.

But in the circle, all organisms would feel free, and experience wild growth and evolution. Then they would swallow each other or mutate into a mixture of both.

All animals would evolve at a speed a thousand times faster than normal, turning into something different depending on the food chain or natural environment.

Ultimately, even a regular forest would become a den of monsters. If there were humans there, it would be even more problematic because compared to those bloodthirsty beasts, monsters who were human were much scarier.

When the priest and Wolf Flute opened the stone coffins, they saw the corpses of many strange animals. Despite dying long ago, they still had signs of struggling and fighting.

The centuries of this bloody history proved only one point-blind evolution was disastrous.

And yet, the "Evolution Ring" would collapse sooner or later. Using up all the energy in this round of "birth," the Dark Mother would then "die."

At that time, the deformed beasts would massacre each other to become the most powerful, and would win the title "Child of the Mother." When the constraints lost its effect, the beasts would escape from the cage and spread in all directions…

The dead Mother would then reappear from the darkness after brewing for years.

—

This deformed evolutionary ring had existed for hundreds of years. It did not have any meaning by itself. It only wandered in the dark world, planting its seeds along the way. But the Children of the Mother inherited the Dark Mother's hatred toward mankind, and thirsted for human blood and bone.

They were like the most deadly cyst in the world, full of endless poison. Not even the deformed beasts that the Dark Mother left in this world centuries ago had been killed completely.

If one tracked the bloodlines of all the monsters in the world, it would become clear that they all had the same mother. Because of this, it was known as the most dangerous of all natural catastrophes in existence.

Any musician that discovered its presence must report to the church. A Scepter ranked musician would then lead a hundred-man group to attack it.

Of all of the living natural catastrophes, the Dark Mother was undeniably the representative.

"But not all natural catastrophes are as annoying as the Dark Mother. In actuality, some don't even know what they're doing…maybe they don't know why they exist either." After all this, the professor's tone became more relaxed. "An example would the most harmless natural catastrophe. When we look up at night, we'll see it shining in the sky like a laurel…"

"The Star Ring?" Ye Qingxuan could not help but ask. "That's a natural catastrophe too?"

"Correct." The professor nodded and drew a map of stars on the blackboard. Using chalk, he drew a horizontal line from west to east.

This was the celestial phenomenon known as Star Ring.

Whenever there was a clear night sky, without clouds, people would be able to see the countless shining stars in the sky. There would also be something that looked like a glowing river formed by stars that ran from west to east across the sky.

Some called it the Sky Track. In line with the Earth's axis, it became an important coordinate. All astronomy and geology in the world had been based on this coordinate.

It had hung in the night sky for thousands of years. Everyone thought that it was the reflection of a star cluster. But according to research, this phenomenon was due to an impossibly high concentration of aether.

Throughout all of the years, few people realized that there was a river of aether flowing in the sky. It was a natural catastrophe, but barely anyone could sense its presence. Throughout history, it never did anything to mankind and never killed anyone. Of course, there were two musicians who grew up gazing at the Star Ring and invented a plane to fly into the air, but it exploded in mid-flight, but they did not count.

What were their names? The Wright Brothers?

For a time, many musicians passed on this joke…

The strange professor at the podium told the joke and laughed by himself, pounding the table for a long time. But no student found it funny at all, and there was only awkward silence.

"Uh, that was to lighten the atmosphere. Don't mind it." He finally finished laughing and dragged a chair over to sit. He propped his elbows on his knees.

He was smiling, but his eyes seemed icy, as if there was a sword in his hands.

"I hope you all will listen carefully to what I am going to tell you next. If an idiot thinks that it doesn't matter, that's okay too. It won't be a big deal to me if they fail the class because of this.

"If the Dark Mother is the source of all fear and disaster of mankind, then the next will be a natural enemy that all musicians must be wary of. Ever since the Dark Ages, it appeared with the fall of the first musician, and became the Church's mortal enemy. For hundreds of years, it has bewitched countless musicians to fall into the darkness and become its talons."

He paused and quietly said its name, "It is Satan Hyakume."

—

As soon as he finished, a commotion sounded outside the door.

Ben had appeared and knocked on the door, "Sir, if it's okay, may we talk outside?"

The professor huffed and rose. Waving at the students, he said, "Read your books and I'll be back later. And that guy…leave some durians for me!"

"…"

—

"Mr. Administrator, long time no see."

At the staircase beside the classroom, Ben put a hand to his chest in greeting. "I didn't think that the representative of the Musician Union would come personally. My apologies for not coming to welcome you."

"I remember you're…Mr. Ben, right?" The administrator glanced down at Ben. "Hurry up and say whatever you need to say. I'm a bit upset at being called out during class."

Ben flinched and his expression changed, but he could not say anything.

Taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice, "The Academy has just learned that the person from the Musician Union would replace the professor of the first lecture. The Union has some control over all musicians, but isn't doing so a disrespect to the Royal Academy of Music?"

"Maxwell asked me to teach this class. If you didn't know, then that's your problem. You can talk to Maxwell about it," the administrator said coolly. "If you disrespect your principal, that is."

"…If it's arranged by the principal, then that's a different matter." Despite his words, Ben looked like he had just swallowed a fly. His expression made his thoughts very clear.

Anyone would be pissed if they met an opponent that always gave them a hard time. Especially those that had the principal on their side. Arguing with them in public was the worst choice. So he chose another method. Glancing in the direction of the classroom, he said, "But Mr. Administrator, isn't it better to teach them about Satan later in their studies?"

"Mr. Ben, have you been staying in the greenhouse for too long?" The administrator glanced at Ben strangely. "When did 'musician' become a fancy title to catch the attention of others at elite parties? If you decide to become a musician, then isn't it natural to step onto the battlefield? Isn't it natural to learn about your enemies?"

Ben's face was almost green from the direct taunt. Working hard to control his anger, he said, "To them, it's still too early. And anyway, the secrecy level of Satan is not something they can understand."

"The material that I arrange clearly has reason behind it. If you have any problems, you can go talk to your principal." The administrator was annoyed. "Did you call me out just to talk about this stuff? I'm going back. You can go do whatever you need to. When did musicians turn into this, plotting against each other all day…"

Face changing between green and white, Ben suddenly reached out to stop the administrator.

"What do you want?" The administrator glanced at him.

"Actually, I'm not the one who called you out." Ben unwillingly let go and looked upward. "Today is the first day of class. An esteemed guest came to observe the new musicians for the Queen. He saw your class and wanted to catch up with you."

"Oh?" The administrator thought for a moment and suddenly glanced at him, chuckling. "So that's how it is…no wonder you sound so jealous. I stole the chance to shine from you."

Ben turned around wordlessly and guided him.