by Feng Yue
“Ye Qingxuan!” In the distance, Torre rode a beastly hound. He yelled, “You’re running out of time!”
“Go! What are you waiting for?” Sam took one last glance at Ye Qingxuan and smiled in farewell. “I won’t thank you even if you stay to accompany me.”
Ye Qingxuan opened his mouth to say goodbye but nothing would come out. He took a step back and another. With one last glance, he pulled Miller left and turned around, direct and unhesitating.
Sam smiled. This was good, this was how it should be… This was very good.
“At least my sacrifice won’t go to waste.” Sam raised his head and looked at the pressing blackness in the sky. Smiling, he murmured, “Sadly, I can’t win with you all…”
The darkness swallowed him.
The fire extinguished.
-
In one short hour, Auschwitz went from stillness to fire. This hour felt like eternity to everyone. More than half of the musicians passed away in this attack. The remaining ones huddled together in the ‘front’ that the grandmasters had left. They anxiously observed the demons writhing in the darkness.
The only sound was a deafening rumble. It was the sound of the giant beast made of hundreds of corpses patrolling in the darkness. The screams and cries of demons traveled from the burning city. After multiple attacks, the dark musicians seemed to have temporarily given up on this difficult prey and retreated. However, the music theory of the ‘front’ showed signs of breaking apart under the pressure of the dark atrium and abyss music score. If this continued and the front collapsed, everyone would be sitting targets for slaughter.
The dark atrium had already recovered from Koch’s self-destructive attack. It had permeated even further. Under it, the abyss gained the upper hand and rewrote the rules of all music theories.
Everyone’s resonance with the aether world was forcefully cut off. All music scores under the Resonance level were distorted and could not be cast. They could not fight against the dark musicians. Plus, the enemies were not average foot soldiers. They were the infamous ‘perishing praise’ from the Dark World.
All was quiet in the small courtyard front. Some girls had broken down and started crying. Everyone’s expressions were dark and heavy.
“Stop crying.” A Revelations musician by the entrance paled. “Something’s coming again!”
Low rumbling sounded in the silence. The bloody corpses fused into something like a giant centipede. It started crawling in the darkness again. Bones stuck out of the flesh and turned into scales. The bony scales opened and moved forward with the giant centipede, crushing the walls with a thunderous noise.
It was attracted by the smell of blood. It wriggled over and paced outside the front. Though it could not see through the illusion, it was still attracted by the dead beings. It moved around eagerly, the many eyes on its ugly head blinking constantly, trying to distinguish the building before it. Finally, it slammed against the wall fiercely.
Under the boom, dust flew and fell from the ceiling beams. The lights flickered and everyone paled.
The centipede seemed to have gone insane. It charged crazily at the defense outside the front, scratching, gnawing, spitting acid, scraping with its scales… Amidst the thunderous booms, it danced like a kid who clutched a gift and could not wait to rip off the wrapping paper.
Then the sounds stopped.
The crazed centipede froze. Its thick and unnatural limbs were broken by an invisible power. An unseen beast was besieging it, causing it to roll on the ground in pain. The countless corpses all cried out.
Then the cries stopped.
364 Where to Go?
The horn rang, signaling the coming of dawn. Flames blazed from every mouth, every eye, every void. After dozens of silver nails punctured to and fro, countless fire drops fell on the demonized bodies, burning exuberantly. Finally, a muffled explosion sounded. The ball blew up and exploded. Minced meat and blood fell down from the sky like sticky rain. Everything was covered with shocking red.
In that dark red, a few figures slowly came. The young man at the front stooped, picked up the silver nails on the ground, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe it, and put the nails in the backpack. He looked bloody like he had just crawled out of a bloody hell, but his hair was pure white like burning silver.
At last, he raised his eyes and looked over. Seeming to see through the illusion, he saw the man behind the door. Then he came forward. “Open the door.” The weary young man knocked gently, and his hoarse voice came from the outside. “I am Anglo’s representative, Ye Qingxuan. Miller and the Hauser Brothers are also here.”
The people in the front still had not recovered from earlier. They looked at each other with fear. Someone hesitatingly went to open the door, but someone screamed, “Don’t open it! Who knows if they are real or not!”
For a moment, the hand that reached to open the door drew back quickly as if touched a red-hot iron. There was still shocking dark red blood on the door and walls—that was the trace left by the last faceless actor who had sneaked in.
Open the door or not?
If they were fake, then…could this front suffer another loss?
“What if they are real?”
“Real? How could someone play music movements in the abyss? They must be fake!”
“But…”
“We need to get rid of them quickly.”
Some people became vicious and touched their instruments. “If we let them stay outside, who knows what they will attract…”
People looked at each other with uncertainty. They whispered, disputing the identity of the newcomer. For some unknown reasons, they subconsciously kept away from the door and dared not approach it. But in the dreary silence, only the leisurely knocking on the door could be heard. That sound was like a hammer beating everyone’s heart again and again.
In the end, someone looked at the back with hesitation. “Colt …”
“Open it.” The brooding musician lowered his eyes and stroked the wooden staff across his lap. He said lightly. “When they come in, we will see if they are real or not.”
“But…”
“I said open the door.” Colt glanced at him. “Or do you not trust my ability?”
The man shut up and stopped talking. It could be said that all the survivors here were gathered by Colt. Even this front was arranged by the Rock Institute. If it weren’t him, all the people here might have been annihilated.
Soon, the door of the front opened a crack. The musicians who had been waiting for a long time slipped in. Then the door was closed, and everything was engulfed in silence.
In the silence, all the people looked toward those figures. They looked very pathetic. Their whole bodies were bloodstained. No one knew what they had experienced along the way. The Choir musician fell down on the floor, exhausted, as soon as he entered. But soon, someone exclaimed. A gentle light lit up slowly in that musician’s bosom.
The Copper Mountain suspended in the air like a gentle sun, dispelling the cold air. Left in it was the symphony of predestination of Agni. The flames not only brought about destruction but could also banish darkness and bring about life.
A glow seemed to light up in the dark. In the land transformed by the abyss music theory, a piece full of order was unexpectedly made. The fractured front also ceased to collapse. It even began to be repaired. They finally understood how these men had survived in the abyss outside.
After seeing the Copper Mountain, Colt narrowed his eyes slightly. Thinking of that huge fire pillar half an hour ago, he guessed where Sam had gone. He had not expected that Sam would die so soon. Although he regarded Sam as a great enemy in the trial, the death of Sam in this dangerous environment was still a bad news to all, including him.
-
On the floor, Miller had been gasping for a while before he climbed up. But soon he noticed the gazes from all the people and the faint hostility in the air. Several musicians had surrounded them, occupying a favorable front. There wer
e faint aetheric fluctuations emitting from their bodies.
A Revelations musician came up with an aetheric ball in his hand. “Excuse me, please cooperate. Don’t fight back.” Ye Qingxuan looked back at him indifferently. The Revelations musician unconsciously stepped back and swallowed. “This, this is the necessary examination.”
Ye Qingxuan ignored him, skipped over those guarded musicians, and looked directly at Colt. “What are you playing?”
“In this time, we have to be more cautious.” Colt looked at him. “We risked letting demons and opened the door. You have to show your sincerity.”
“Don’t scare them, Colt.” Ye Qingxuan sneered. “Real or not, can’t you tell?”
Colt was silent. He looked at surrounded Ye Qingxuan. He looked still the same, but the original gray cloak had been dyed scarlet. The scorch marks all over were very shocking. But for some unknown reason, he felt Ye Qingxuan was a little different… Something had changed. But he couldn’t tell what it was.
The silent staring contest was soon over. Colt waved and motioned all the people back. Ye Qingxuan put down his heavy backpack. After loosening his muscles, he sat opposite Colt and took out his pipe. He filled it with tobacco. “Do you mind?”
Colt gestured to him that he did not mind, and just asked, “Is there anyone else out there?”
The teenager lowered his head to ignite the pipe. After a whiff or two, he exhaled the blue smoke and sighed with his hoarse voice. “The grandmasters left behind six fronts that can be used as shelters. Only this place has people,” he said. “The other two places had people…” He didn’t finish his words but Colt could obviously understand what he meant.
Two places had people. How about now? They must have died. Only ruins remained.
“Do you have any information?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “You know what I’m asking.”
“The ‘perishing praise’ is a music division of those dark lords. The head is Crowley, a fallen musician of the spirit level. He inherits Paganini’s music theory. The dark atrium, you see it? That’s what the saint’s scepter looks like, known as the Devil’s Shelter…
“If I am right, the dark musicians wanted to seize this opportunity to turn all the people of Romulus into a dark race. Just like the Moon Spirits and Half Dragons. Anyway, they were already eroded by the Dark Gaia. They have the demon bloodline by nature. They can be said to be the demons’ reserve.
“The reason why they didn’t act is to leave a nail in the human world before the fruit was ripe. Now they have no time to wait for the fruit to ripen so they planned to catalyze it forcibly.”
“If you see any cocooning Romulusians, you’d better kill them, or else they’ll all turn into monsters when dawn comes,” Colt said coldly. “It’s a pity the Sacred City was too kind to clean up this group of variables earlier.”
Ye Qingxuan listened and smiled weakly. He just nodded. “I see.” In the silence, only smoke rose. “Where are the grandmasters?” he asked, “Still not in touch?”
“There is no news yet. I’m afraid they’re trapped in the deeper areas of the dark atrium. We can do nothing,” Colt said. “We still have fronts here. Now we need to assemble all the forces to defend it.
“It is impossible for the Sacred City to have no interest in Auschwitz, especially as there are so many masters here. As long as the Sacred City reacts, we can be rescued. Just make it through this period.”
“Defend here?” Ye Qingxuan raised his eyes and looked at him. “The dark musicians have noticed here. When they have cleaned up the rest, they will come back and concentrate their efforts against this place. We can’t stop them. Staying here is to wait for death.”
Crash. In the silence there came a noise of chaos. It was a frightened musician who had knocked down a cup. Under everyone’s scrutiny, he scrambled to pick up the cup. “S-sorry…” But everyone looked at each other with fear. They totally ignored his apology.
“Ye Qingxuan, do not overstate.” Colt’s voice was serious. “Everyone can criticize, but those who tell the story are often the most unrealistic. Do you have a better idea?”
“Go to the underground palace,” Ye Qingxuan suddenly said. “Hades’ Door can still be repaired…”
“Do you know how far the palace is from here?” Colt sneered. “The dark musicians will let you go into the underground palace? Although it is big in the mine, there are not so many ways for you to escape. Even if we manage to get into the underground palace, we’ll be in another trap. What’s the difference between here and there?”
“I know a secret chamber.” Ye Qingxuan lightly said. “It’s the chamber left by the King of Yellow”
Hearing this, everyone fell into dead silence. Colt’s lowered eyes turned up like he was struck by lightning. He stared at Ye Qingxuan and subconsciously clenched his wooden staff. His muscles pulled taut as if he was going to crush it.
“You…” Everyone looked at Ye Qingxuan in shock. Even Miller did not expect that he would find the secret chamber that didn’t exist in the underground palace.
“The sacred flame. Everyone forgot the sacred flame.” Ye Qingxuan said, “There are all together twelve gods in Romulus, but there are only eleven in the hall. One was hidden the secret chamber. It is Mercury, the god of travelers and messengers. There was also a clue that the King of Yellow left before.”
Colt tightly pursed his lips. He sneered after a long while. “I see. So I’m a step behind. It seems that the people of Romulus choose you? It really didn’t occur to me that Caligula, that old man, would take so highly of you… Unfortunately, you can’t save them.”
Ye Qingxuan was silent as if he had not heard. He just clenched his fist tightly beneath his burnt sleeve.
365 Cannot Go Anywhere
“Prove your words.” Colt reached out. “Do you have proof?”
“No.”
“Any way to get in?” Colt asked again pressingly. “You came here to take us all into the underground palace but you won’t even tell us how to get in?”
“I’m the only one who can do it,” Ye Qingxuan replied indifferently. “I don’t plan on publicizing the details.”
“Ha.” Colt scoffed. “You must have some results, right? What about the King of Yellow? Any trace of him?”
Ye Qingxuan fell silent. After a long pause, he said, “I don’t know.”
Colt looked at him strangely as if looking at a lunatic. “So, you have no proof and you’re unwilling to provide any details or the exact location and method of entering, yet you want everyone to risk their lives and help you find a possibly non-existent secret room?” Colt raised his voice, “Ye Qingxuan, are you dreaming?”
“Colt!” Miller shot up instinctively and glared.
Torre looked over too, and Casper opened his mouth, revealing sharp canines. Colt stared back without fear. In his corner, a few musicians with clenched fists walked forward silently, preparing to surround them.
“Wanna fight?” Colt sneered and looked at Ye Qingxuan. But Ye Qingxuan stayed silent. He smoked, blowing out plumes of gray. An eerie phantom appeared from the smoke. It was a wisp but wrapped around the two. It seemed that it would appear behind Colt at any time and place invisible swords on his neck.
Colt stiffened. He looked at Ye Qingxuan darkly. “I was kind enough to let you all in but you’ve wanted to fight since the beginning?”
Ye Qingxuan still did not reply. Finally, the pipe went out. The figure in the smoke disappeared. Lowering his head, he knocked off the ashes and wiped his pipe clean with a handkerchief. He slowly rose and put his bag back on his shoulders.
“Since you’re all willing to wait here and die, I have nothing to say.” Without looking at Colt, he said nonchalantly, “We’re leaving in two minutes. Those who are willing to believe me can come.”
Sensing his contempt, Colt’s expression darkened. However, the confused crowd rustled when they heard Ye Qingxuan’s words. Some hesitated but walked toward them.
“Hey, are you really going?�
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“What if it’s true? We’ll just be waiting here anyway. Doing something is better than not doing anything at all. If I go and attract the dark musicians, I can make it safer for you.”
“Then—then I’ll go with you.”
“What about you?”
“I…”
The whispers snuck into Colt’s ears. Coldness flashed past his eyes and his lips thinned. With Ye Qingxuan’s arrival, everyone forgot the things he had done. They’d rather believe that demagogic guy. It was always like this! As long as that guy was present…
Already five or six people were preparing to leave. The others started having doubts too, panicking especially when Miller prepared to retract the Copper Mountain.
Hiding the darkness in his eyes, Colt made his decision. “Wait!” he raised his voice and looked at Miller. Miller turned around, his hand stopping in mid-air. “I’m not against your leaving.” Colt stared at him coldly. “But if you take it away, then what about the rest of us?”
Hearing this, everyone grew anxious. Menace appeared in some eyes. Miller finally realized that he had become surrounded at some point.
“Leave the Copper Mountain behind if you’re leaving.” Colt looked at him with a cruel expression. “With so many people here, any resource is valuable. It can’t go to the grave with you.”
Miller froze. Seeing all these people around him, he was helpless. “B-but…this is Sam’s…”
Ye Qingxuan waved, gesturing for him to stop. “The Copper Mountain is what Sam left behind and I’m taking it. Even if I don’t, I still won’t give it to you all.” He glanced at the people surrounding him. His cane popped out of his fingertip and thudded on the ground. “If you want to fight, then come. If you want to talk about philosophy, then here’s something for you—what does your life and death have to do with me?”
