Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  But now that this power had been clamped down by the Wheel of Balance, any scepter-level users would be banished from the upper tiers, which was also the realm of aether, to become ordinary humans once again!

  To lose immortality and unlimited power only to be trapped within an insignificant body.

  This was the real terror of the Wheel of Balance!

  It was an obstacle that had been set in the sea of aether, and a door that guarded against musicians from crossing over to the realm of aether from the physical world. No amount of scepters would matter if one could control it. When the realm of aether and the physical world have been forcefully separated from each other, only the physical body could be used and the power that could be wielded would be close to pathetic. By then, under the attack of tens of thousands of soldiers, even saints would not be able to do much!

  Right now, it merely existed and was forcing the physical world and the realm of aether to be held in a balance. It might not have been completely sealed, but within its domain, all the musicians felt as if they were wearing an extremely heavy shackle, so much so that they would never be as relaxed and free as they were in the past.

  In an instant, everyone was shivering in fear. Soon after, countless beams of light streaked across.

  In the instant that everyone understood its nature, almost all of the Masters dashed towards the Ultimate as fast as they could. At this moment, the Ultimate was no longer an advantage but a potentially fatal problem.

  If it was an artifact made for killing, then countless people would have rushed head-on into danger; if it was an artifact made for protection, then a number of Schools would go all out to gain control of it for their own protection. But now, the impact of the Wheel of Balance was too overwhelming. It was so terrifying that no one dared to interfere.

  For the longest time, all musicians had enjoyed the privilege of being treated like Gods. But with the appearance of the Wheel of Balance, everyone knew that all of this might just change completely. Its mere existence was a shackle on the musicians.

  No matter who managed to gain control of it, this person would highly likely be attacked by all the other musicians. There were very few people with the abilities to accomplish such a feat. One would have to rely on absolute power in order to gain complete control over it and turn it into one’s own source of power, otherwise, it would just become a problem.

  The further it flew, the more fearful they became. Before it flew beyond hundreds of miles, the Wheel of Balance was still able to exert influence over their powers. The power that had been summoned from the realm of aether seemed to be passing through heavy rubber and was difficult to control. The shackles seemed to have been loosened slightly.

  The Masters turned around and looked behind them. There was a collective sigh. Terrible light was rising from within the Ultimate and there were heavy and dense aether waves from a hundred miles away. They felt an indescribable sense of relief. If they were one step slower, they might not have been able to escape in time.

  “It has finally begun…” All the Masters looked at each other. Their hearts were heavy and they could barely breathe.

  “Since we were lucky enough to escape, let’s not think too much.” A Master shook his head while laughing bitterly. “We should count ourselves lucky to still be alive.” For some reason, his voice became thin and high-pitched all of a sudden. He was stunned as he became conscious of how everyone was looking at him. Shock, confusion, and even… fear?

  “What’s wrong with all of you?” the Master asked but before he could finish his question, his body began to spasm in a queer manner. His old and frail face began to disintegrate, as if a ball of clay had been flattened and was about to be shaped into something else again. Slivers of grey fog rose from his pores, until they eventually shrouded him completely. White hair turned to black and his wrinkles had completely vanished.

  He was returning back to his youth.

  But he was not at all happy with this transformation. Instead, he sank into despair as he began to scream. When the screaming stopped suddenly, he raised his head again. The expression on his face had changed completely.

  Paganini!

  All the expressions of shock, blank and confusion were all frozen. Very soon, similar spasms spread like a plague amongst them. Their screams grew louder and louder until they stopped very suddenly. By the time it was silent once again, all of them wore the same expression on their faces.

  …

  Infection.

  The terrible infection was spreading like mad within a circumference of several thousand miles. In the instant that the Wheel of Balance appeared, the musicians that had entered the Ultimate before or even approached the Ultimate had been under the control of that queer violin sound. The bizarre music theory that had been embedded in their bodies was now beginning to grow and replacing all their powers inside out.

  In the blink of an eye, the infection was spreading at a terrifying rate. Even those Masters, who had been purified by Ye Qingxuan’s purifying music theory and had signed contracts with the court, were not spared. This was despite the locks of purification instantaneously exploding within their bodies to completely seal the “diseased region” of the infection and igniting the flames of destruction.

  The entire Sovereign was filled with the foul smell of burning. Flames that were usually hot enough to burn an ordinary person into complete ashes could not even kill them, but the pain was more than enough to break them. What made this even more terrifying was that the ‘lesion’ would live and die with them. They had completely fused with their Symphonies of Predestination so much so that they could no longer be separated.

  Mable had no choice but to command the Firebird to seal them by force and keep them frozen completely. They might not be dead but they were not truly alive either. Although they had tried to prepare themselves for this scenario, the terror of Paganini was still beyond their expectations.

  Even outside of the Ultimate, countless musicians were being transformed as they howled in despair. No one knew when did Paganini plant the seeds of the Changing Music Theory in them to turn them into disease carriers. Prior to the disease finally acting up on them, the Changing Music Theory in their bodies had already spread to countless others.

  The teachers and their disciples in the institutes were being destroyed together while the elders and students in Schools were falling… the terrible plague was spreading!

  “These are… the four knights!” The old musicians looked at the ‘black spots’ that were surfacing in their scepters. They finally understood why their defenses were completely ineffective. Only the four knights that had been created by Hyakume were capable of transforming Changing Music Theory into poison to be spread like the plague!

  This was similar to how he managed to cause the downfall of half of Sacred City back then. Even if the sages were guarded against him, he was still able to infiltrate with his four knights by infusing them into his own scepter.

  “It’s very simple, isn’t it?” A gentle voice rang beside his ear, “It may seem difficult, but all you have to do is to set a simple target.”

  No one knew when had Paganini’s power infiltrated the lens. At this moment, he was clad in a green robe and was riding on a green horse. He did not come closer. He merely continued to stare from far away, even as the black spots began to spread. The old musician was in a daze. He felt as if he was being split into two. One of him was degenerating rapidly and was in incredible pain, while the other seemed to be awakened in the darkness. It was growing rapidly while hungrily devouring whatever rationale that was left behind so as to switch to Paganini’s scepter eventually.

  The old musician raised his hands helplessly and pressed them on his forehead. He was going to kill himself. He could not live like this. There were too many Asgard secrets in his head, and these included the codex of Asgard and even the design of the most powerful object on earth, which was the giant armor Hercules. Even if only one-tenth of these secre
ts were leaked, Asgard would still be in big trouble.

  Fortunately, in order to protect this information, he had preset a command in his own scepter that would destroy everything with the slightest trigger. Everything, including himself.

  The moment he sensed that he was in danger, streaks of angry lightning shot out of God’s eye.

  “How dare you!” Endless lightning streaked into the lens. The illusion of Odin appeared and struck Paganini with a devastating blow. There was turbulence in the elements and Paganini’s face began to crack.

  This Asgardian knowledge and information had been accumulated and passed down by musicians for thousands of years. Based on the ability to cause damage alone, no catastrophe would be a match for Odin.

  “Your Highness! Don’t come over…” The old musician knew that he was about to be saved but there was no joy in his eyes. Only fear. “His target is you!”

  …

  Time had come to a standstill and no one knew just how long had passed. Nevertheless, only a moment had passed in the outside world. And in that single moment, the lens was broken.

  The Second Prince shot up into the sky and set himself above the lightning throne and transformed into Odin. With a single wave of his hand, countless bolts of lightning struck. The nature of God in his left eye was burning furiously but his right eye, which was originally blank, had lit up with a mysterious glow…

  690 Collapse

  The Ultimate was ignited.

  After the Ultimate gave birth to a catastrophe, it lost all its value. As the interfaces to the Originator were hidden the island made of aether had also started to become unstable and fall apart. It was like a stage that had lost all its use after the performance was over. No one cared about it.

  With just one blow Odin cut through layer upon layer of defenses like a hot knife through butter, plunging the Ultimate into the Thunderfire Hell.

  Up in the clouds, Paganini looked upon the results of this attack with satisfaction and nodded slightly. “To offer humanity as a tribute to divinity and to attain godhood through sacrifice shows great devotion. Most excellent. Unfortunately, in the final analysis, this is all through divinity rather than humanity. It is ridiculous to retain human weaknesses in order to control catastrophes.”

  Although it had risen from humanity, divinity was far above it. It was to leave the world and live forever, to show no compassion for good nor be moved by evil, to not be changed by time nor compromise for anything.

  But what was the use of this catastrophe for Asgard?

  What could this out-of-control creation of the gods do?

  Because of this, Asgard had left one weakness: human will could enter into the catastrophe. Thus, Paganini had been able to seize control of it and hundreds of years of blood, sweat and tears were wiped away.

  “It’s over, it’s over. I can’t beat him.” Outside the Ultimate, Chopin had already returned to the Church’s fleet. He looked up at Paganini who had transformed into Odin and weakly sent forth his power. “What are you all standing around for? Hurry!”

  “We’re just giving up like this?” The bishop could not accept this sudden turn of events. One second the Lord had sent down a miracle, and the next it had fallen into the hands of others.

  “Didn’t I tell you that the one generally acknowledged as the strongest sixth-generation Chopin died at his hands?” A smirk appeared on half of Chopin’s face. He could do no more, as the other half had been burnt off. When the Thunderfire Hell had descended, he had been the first to suffer its effects. “I’m best at wide-ranging mental interference. I can’t do anything against such a destructive catastrophe. What if I really die?”

  His shameless words enraged the bishop. Who was it who was shouting every freaking day that the end of the world was coming, and that those who died early would go to heaven early? Now when asked to give his life in this situation he wasn’t willing? What on earth did he want to do?

  “Don’t worry.” Chopin’s face twitched, peeling off some of the scars encrusted on his face. “This is but a grand performance. Don’t you understand drama? Our role is to simply act from the sidelines. Our part has already ended, now it is the Lord’s turn to take the stage.”

  The bishop was shocked. “What do you mean?” Just as he finished speaking, a sigh rang out from amidst all the roaring.

  A tiny black spot appeared between the sea and the sky. It was like a hole had been punctured in the air. A hurricane swept over it, enlarging it into a huge, deep cave. Cold and foreboding music theory flowed out from within, covering the whole area in an instant.

  Even the Ultimate was covered.

  All they could get a glimpse of was a bit of a sky blue color. That thread of light blue spread silently, covering everyone in a flash. Wherever it passed all of the chaotic music theory became peaceful and fell into silence.

  All the musicians felt themselves lose control of their accumulated power, and their waves of aether dissipated involuntarily.

  In what seemed like an instant, all their weapons were shackled, and they had no way to use them.

  The Thunderfire Hell melted away instantly as if it had become an illusion, leaving only a dazzling light that was gradually extinguished.

  Fighting was forbidden here!

  Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events. They obviously knew what this was—the Forbidden Zone! It was the supreme power of the King of Black, subjugating all music theory and controlling all movements. It descended upon the area like some majestic god, turning it into a holy area, a Forbidden Zone where no rash actions could be taken.

  The structure of the King of Black’s Forbidden Zone had been completed with the appearance of the hole. In a flash, his power had traversed the unimaginable distance and affected the whole area.

  Everybody stopped what they were doing. All was calm and tranquil.

  An indistinct figure with a blurry face appeared from the hole.

  Although he had never personally been there, the King of Black had invested his power and will in this area and made himself really appear.

  Next, someone wearing red appeared from the void. Shattered rays of light converged into the contours of a human body until finally the crown of the Sancta Sedes was revealed.

  It was a transmission that had been hailed as a miracle for centuries. In the country of Nibelungen, the King of Red’s body had been broken down into millions of particles under the will of dozens of popes throughout history and then put back together again.

  Finally, his eyes slowly opened, and the light of life emerged from them.

  All was silent.

  Suddenly, the illusion of a hand appeared from the void with a seemingly helpless sigh. Its fingers stretched out and smoothed out the chaos of the area around the Ultimate.

  It went from the black zone to the red zone in a flash, until finally, it entered the white zone.

  The entire place was completely stabilized.

  The King of Yellow!

  At the urging of the two other kings, the long-lost King of Yellow had no way to pretend he did not exist and had to show his hand.

  The balance of power depended on him, so he naturally had the ability to interfere with it.

  In a flash, the realm of aether and the Physical World were connected by the music theory of the Holy Cauldron. A bridge was forcibly set up, one end in the mysterious Originator and the other falling in the boundary created by the Three Kings.

  After a moment of shock, the King of Yellow’s will left his strength behind, and he left once again, vanishing without a trace.

  Amid the silence, everyone was still panic-stricken by the appearance of the Three Kings. A mocking smile appeared on the face of the god above the clouds. He clapped slowly. “What a grand occasion. How long has it been? It’s a great honor to be dealt with by all three kings at the same time.”

  “Paganini, if you have any sense left in you, you won’t stay here.” The King of Red shook his head. Without waiting for a respon
se he reached into the void. The sound of soft piano music spread out from his fingers as notes like ice crystals collided with each other. As the first note was played, a melody like flowing water followed immediately.

  The trancelike state was like the dawn after a long night.

  It was the 21st song: Wallstein.

  The smooth and clear melody carried both tranquility and joy as it quietly spread out in all directions, shrouding the entire Ultimate within it. It roughly outlined the entire area, and then the melody changed from smooth to rushed, as it changed constantly. The vast night slowly grew thinner, as if it was being diluted, as a faint light was revealed.

  The light of an illusory sun broke through the clouds. Although they knew it was just an illusion, the sun gave everyone a feeling of suffocation. It was like they were wearing broken glasses. Everything in front of them was bizarre and motley, unclear, and impossible to discern. In the scattered, colorful light everything was distorted by that sun.

  Everything was distorted in this dawn.

  It was difficult to breathe in the quietness. Everyone felt themselves begin to go faint as if they had been working hard for a full month without sleep. They could not even distinguish what was happening in front of their eyes.

  They just felt like everything was distorted, changing, just like…

  Heaven and earth were colliding!

  Everyone screamed and tried to retreat from this strange area, but Paganini blocked their path.

  Everything that had once been three dimensional began to flatten as if it had been pulled off of its bones and stuffed into a hastily drawn painting.

  The world was collapsing!

  691 The City in the Sky

  The collapsed world pressed downwards.

  It was as if the sky that seemed like iron curtains was smashing down. In the indescribable feeling of suffocation, intense pain came from every part of one’s body, resulting in a sensation that could hardly be put into words.

  Even divinity could not exempt one from such dramatic changes.