Silent Crown

“Your Majesty, pardon my lack of manners,” said Ye Qingxuan.

In a haze, Mary’s golden irises lit up dimly. She looked at the man who was close at hand and saw his face clearly, then a smile appeared on her pale face.

Smiling at Ye Qingxuan, she spread her arms, waiting for a hug and death.

Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes.

— The sleeping world · catastrophe resonation!

But this time, what unfolded was not the Wyrmrest enchantment.

He lifted his left hand and slided his finger over the illusion-like sword of moonlight. The incorporeal blade seemingly cut his finger, and the blood of Deva flowed out, washing away the non-existent dust on the blade.

Wherever the finger passed, the pure white sword of moonlight turned indigo inch by inch.

The music theory of the quiet moon covered it, interweaving, and propelled the element of purification to evolve towards the limit. In the end, only a dim glow of dark indigo was left in the hands of Ye Qingxuan.

But an unprecedented bone-chilling cold radiated from it.

As it emerged, an uncountable quantity of aether lost all responsiveness, killed by the indigo glow…

The quiet moon shone here.

It bestowed an equal end upon everything.

“Fear not.” Ye Qingxuan reached out, pulling Mary into his arms while holding her slender waist, and whispered softly in her ear, “I’m here.”

It was noiseless.

The entire sword of moonlight pierced into her heart, penetrated her body, and emerged from her back.

At the moment, Mary’s eyes widened. The goldenness in her irises was ignited and shook violently.

The indigo moonlight advanced along the blade and coursed through her blood. Wherever it passed, everything became quiet. If Firebird was the nemesis of tangible matter, then the Indigo Moon far surpassed it as the destroyer of music theory.

Under the illumination of the moonlight, everything returned to dimness.

The sword of moonlight pierced through her heart, causing the negative personality in the dragon blood to whine in sorrow. The moonlight thoroughly purified all the dragon blood from the inside out, cruelly and coldly wiping off all the traces belonging to the Ripper.

It was purification.

Wherever the moonlight shone, the curse of the dragon blood disintegrated.

Immediately after that, it was the turn of the element of hell that had seeped through her flesh and bones, then the music theory of the abyss… In the dead silence, everything parasitic within were completely removed.

Mary died under the moonlight.

But after the moonlight flowed past, the radiance of the Chapter of the Golden Victory followed. Dragon blood replaced dragon blood, Firebird replaced Firebird, bestowing a brand new life upon her.

Mary was reborn here!

…

In the piercing whines of sorrow, the crystal crown that the scepter of hell had turned into shook and fell off her head.

Then, the golden dragon’s jaws suddenly clamped shut.

Crack!

The incorporeal sun of darkness in the sky suddenly shook violently, disintegrated, and was soon swallowed up by the golden sea of radiance.

As the Chapter of the Golden Victory played, the golden sea of radiance rapidly contracted. In the end, it turned into actual, tangible gold and iron, intertwining with each other, and formed a brand-new crown, which landed on Mary’s head.

On the top of the crown, the deep purple gemstone representing the element of hell shimmered brightly!

The Dark Sovereign gave a blood-curdling scream.

It sounded so sorrowful as if his parents had died.

He spent all his efforts, and even gambled on his scepter. He was already close to success, no, he had succeeded, but ended up losing everything in such an unexpected manner.

Not only did he fail, even his own element was plundered by the giant golden dragon. The scepter of hell that had been consuming the shadow of Avalon was instead consumed by the shadow of Avalon at the moment.

He gained nothing, but Mary became the true and actual king of hell…

“Arthur!!!” His phantom escaped from the mouth of the giant golden dragon at the last moment, and the faint mist regathered into his form in the sky once more.

The Dark Sovereign roared furiously towards the highest point of the shadow of Avalon, namely the silent palace, “What on earth are you doing! How much longer do you want to spectate?! Surely you are not going to betray our pact!!!”

In a dead silence, no one responded.

The Dark Sovereign no longer had time for revenge. He fled in a scurry, dodging the interception by the Mountain of Nomadism in the sky, and exhausted the last of his energy as he cast himself into the palace.

I still have a chance, he thought.

I still have a final chance to turn the tables.

I just have to find Arthur and break his seal to regain control of him through the loophole hidden within the pact we made centuries ago.

But when he rushed into the depths of the darkness, he fell into a lengthy daze.

It was dead silent.

The silence was like a wordless snicker, a mockery from fate.

In the throne room towering at the highest point of the vast, eerie palace, on the throne where one could overlook the entire Avalon… was nothing!

Nothing at all!

The Dark Sovereign was stunned. Because of the ridiculous joke, even his body composing of mist was frozen.

After a long time, a very long time, a hoarse sound rang out from his throat.

It seemed like a cackle, but also resembled a sorrowful whine of an enraged beast.

“Nothing at all?” He roared madly and smashed the entire throne into pieces. “Why is there nothing at all? Arthur! Get your *ss here! Where are you!

“In accordance with our pact, I have come here at your invitation to bestow upon you a position as a catastrophe, but where are you! You liar!! Liar!!!”

In the silence, a sigh sounded.

A crude aether ball rolled out from beneath the shattered throne, the light within flickering along with the voice. “I have advised you long ago, no?”

The voice said, “What a pity, you still messed up everything.”

“Lancelot? It’s you?” The Dark Sovereign couldn’t believe it and roared in fury, “Why did you betray me! Why!!”

“Betray? It can’t really be considered so. Have you ever planned to comply with the pact?” Lancelot responded coldly, “From the very beginning, you have wanted to control everything. You did not hesitate to start the plan on your own behind my back. Until now, you still want to take a chance and even risk putting His Majesty in danger…”

“Lancelot! What on earth are you trying to do!!!” the Dark Sovereign shouted.

“You failed, and you have been abandoned. Isn’t it clear at a glance?” Lancelot said calmly, “Although the days of cooperating with you have not been very pleasant, but out of politeness, I wish you every success in the days to come.”

Bang!

The aether ball shattered in the Dark Sovereign’s hands.

He stamped on the pieces and roared in rage.

At the door, a sigh of relieve sounded. “It nearly scared me to death thinking that I’m one step too late…”

Shi Dong stepped into the throne room and gazed at the Dark Sovereign, then smiled cheerfully. “Although I don’t know what happened, you should have no way out now, right?”

In the numb look of the Dark Sovereign, dozens of purification musicians walked in from the door and surrounded him.

“I didn’t expect the Religious Court of Inquiry to usher in a VIP just after reopening…” Shi Dong rubbed his hands anticipatively, gazing at the heretic in front of him, the look in his eyes enthusiastic and hungry. “Sure enough, the old saying is right — A living dog is better than a dead lion. As long as one stays alive for long enough, what odd incidents are there that one cannot encounter?”

The mist surrounding the Dark Sovereign shook violently. He was enraged by Shi Dong’s impudent gaze, and his eyes were red.

But soon, the look in his eyes turned into one of nervousness and alarm.

It was because Shi Dong took a small bottle out slowly.

The fist-sized bottle seemed to have been kept by his side for a long time. It was often taken out from time to time to be wiped diligently and wasn’t even stained by one single speck of dust, being very well maintained in an unparalleled manner.

With a poof, the cork was pulled out.

The crisp sound caused the mist that made up the Dark Sovereign’s body to shake, as if it was trembling.

“This way please, Your Majesty.” Shi Dong’s steel vocal cords vibrated, and he cackled. “Our good days are still aplenty…”

…

As the scepter of hell shattered, the ocean of radiance gradually dissipating as well. In the end, the shadow of Avalon returned to silence and seemed even more dilapidated, no longer being as brilliant as it was moments ago.

The golden dragon also dimmed gradually, and became blurred. In the end, something seemed to stick out a small paw from the radiance and put it on Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder, tapping it to express approval.

Well done, keep up the good work!

Then, the golden dragon disappeared without a trace.

Ye Qingxuan reached out and caught the weak Mary.

Mary woke up from her dazed state, saw the face that was close at hand, and forced a smile.

“Take a rest first, Your Majesty, it has ended,” Ye Qingxuan said softly.

“I saw… the memory of that thing…” Mary whispered softly, “Be careful, the one that has resurrected… is not Leviathan… It’s not…”

She still wanted to say some more, but the last of her willpower had been exhausted. Her eyes closed weakly, and she descended into a long slumber.

Ye Qingxuan was momentarily surprised and frowned.

He did not understand what Mary meant.

But obviously, when the Dark Sovereign was parasitic on Mary, she must have seen something, something that she insisted on reminding me even if it would exhaust all her strength doing so.

The one who has resurrected is not Leviathan? Then who would it be?

Too many questions in his mind received no answers, making him dare not relax for the slightest bit after defeating the Dark Sovereign, and an ominous feeling still lingered in his heart.

It didn’t take long before Shi Dong returned once more.

Ye Qingxuan looked up. “Is it settled?”

“Yep.” Shi Dong nodded and lifted the palm-sized bottle in his hand.

It seemed as if the fire of purgatory was lingering in the bottle, and everything inside was red. At the deepest part of the fire, in the cage consisting of layers of music theory, a humanoid figure that mist had gathered into was convulsing painfully, to the extent that it didn’t even have strength to scream in pain anymore.

“Although it took us some trouble, at least he didn’t manage to run away,” said Shi Dong.

“We finally have one less trouble.” Ye Qingxuan breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, but saw the complicated look on Shi Dong’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Shi Dong sighed. “Our alchemists found something in the palace. If my guess is correct, our troubles have just begun…”

As he said so, he lifted a hand and shook the bottle in his hand — The fire swayed, causing the figure that was convulsing weakly to struggle in pain again.

“Wake up, sir, the storytelling convention has begun.” Shi Dong lifted his hand and pressed his aged face against the bottle, gently prompting, “Hurry up, stand up and share your shameful little secret with everyone.”

“In your dreams!!” The Dark Sovereign hissed. “You think…”

Before he finished his words, Shi Dong started shaking the bottle impatiently. As he shook it, the torture caused by the Purifying Fire became more and more painful, making the Dark Sovereign barely able to suppress his screams.

It didn’t take long before pleas for mercy sounded from the inside.

The Religious Court of Inquiry had always been skilled at torture, let alone torture designed for VIPs like the dark chancellors. They had already prepared the full set of service for the Dark Sovereign long ago. The torture not only consisted of interrogation techniques directed at his tenacity, but also involved the corrosion and destruction of music theory.

The bottle was a cage specially built for creatures like him. In the long period of time since it was created, Shi Dong had been safekeeping it close to himself. It never left his side and had never been damaged in the slightest bit.

As long as the Dark Sovereign was trapped in the bottle, he would never get to turn the tables and could only serve as a plaything.

Unfortunately for the Dark Sovereign, when he wanted to speak, Ye Qingxuan no longer needed his answer.

At the very moment, the earth suddenly quaked.

The sky of the shadow of Avalon suddenly cracked and revealed a gap. A dim stream of flowing light flew in, flying randomly in the sky of the city in the shadows, like a fly without its head.

In the end, it finally sensed Ye Qingxuan’s existence. Tugged by music theory, it fell from the sky and cast itself towards where he was.

Ye Qingxuan lifted a hand and clutched the thing that had taken the initiative to fall into his hand.

It was an ancient scroll.

God knew how much time had scoured it, its colors had become faded and yellowed, and the leather was covered in scratches. It felt heavy in his hand, and Ye Qingxuan’s hand shook, almost unable to hold it firmly.

In the lengthy silence, Ye Qingxuan’s face turned dark, and the hand holding the scroll trembled slightly.

“What’s wrong?” It was the first time Shi Dong saw such a sombre Ye Qingxuan.

Ye Qingxuan said nothing and simply flipped his wrist to show the old man the characters inscribed at the beginning of the scroll. It was the name of the scroll…

— Genesis!

…

Five minutes ago, at the edge of the uptown, under the huge enchantment, the old musician knelt on the ground weakly.

He looked down with difficulty at the blade coming out of his chest. Blood flowed out of the wound, staining his robes red. “Lancelot… Why?”

“Sorry, Sir Haydn.” Lancelot pulled out his sword, expressionless. “Thank you for everything you have done for the country.”

Haydn fell to the ground.

Viscous blood slowly flowed out of his body, taking away the last of his life. Haydn reached out difficultly, dipped his finger into the blood, attempting to write down the last few notes, but the back of his hand was stepped on by an iron boot.

Lancelot lowered his head and looked down at him, casting a shadow of death. “— Anglo will remember your contribution, but it no longer needs you.”

The sword lifted, and the sword fell.

Haydn’s head tumbled onto the ground and stopped breathing completely.

The murky pair of eyes were wide open, unable to close even in death.

Lancelot coldly kept his sword and kicked the hindering head aside. Then, he lifted the heavy iron box on the ground, turned back, and looked at the child who was curled up in the corner.

“Let’s go, Your Royal Highness.” He said calmly, “— It’s time to end all this.”

…

At the moment, Genesis quietly fell apart.

The heavens and the earth rumbled.

In the distance, the loud noise of the ocean boiling sounded.

It was as if the seven seas were cheering and countless demons were hissing.

Avalon shook violently, stirring up terrifying tides, which swept in all directions.

Under the layers of the earth’s crust, the gushing river of blood lost its last restraint and spread rapidly towards the ground. Wherever it passed, all the soil and rocks rapidly became active and started pulsing like flesh and blood.

The last line of defense of the country, the remaining restraint of Leviathan…

— The third seal had been broken!