Silent Crown Chapter 134

“Not me.” Wolf Flute shook his head and moved aside. “Someone wants to see you.”

Ye Qingxuan saw the old man with a lowered head among the various clergymen and nobles. Ye Qingxuan knew him.

Constantine?

After the sermon, the pope would give him the archbishop’s red robe before everyone’s eyes. At that time, he would be the most well-known cardinal of the Sacred City.

Why did he come to meet Ye Qingxuan at this time?

“Mr. Ye, there’s a small problem,” Constantine said directly. “Wolf Flute suggested you to me, thinking you would be able to help. Hopefully, you will.”

“Help?” Ye Qingxuan was confused. “To be honest, I can help in many aspects with my skills but none of them are what a cardinal would be interested in.”

People like Ye Qingxuan were famous, but in the eyes of a cardinal, unrelated to any musicians, he could only help kill some people. Was Constantine planning on getting a killer to make some drama in the Sacred City before he took office?

“Don’t worry. You will definitely be able to help.” Wolf Flute did not dare to smoke in this formal event so he could only chew gum. “You just need to find someone in this square.”

In this square? Find someone? Ye Qingxuan glanced back at the mass of people and laughed involuntarily. “Wolf Flute, do you know how many people there are here? Probably tens of thousands! Unless you want me to find a dwarf or giant, it’ll be impossible to find someone.”

“What a pity. That person isn’t a dwarf or giant.” Wolf Flute stood beside Ye Qingxuan as if enjoying the scenery. His lips opened and a voice poured into his ears like thunder. “His name is Gaius.”

“Wait!” Ye Qingxuan almost yelped. Eyes opening wide, he asked quietly, “Didn’t he already leave?”

Wolf Flute shrugged. “He might come back.”

“Gaius would never leave,” Constantine sighed. “He would never let me live until I became a cardinal. He’d never let me, the ex-deputy commander, be blessed by the pope in front of the entire world’s eyes.”

“It’s just changing jobs! Why is he so petty?” Ye Qingxuan’s expression twisted. “Can’t he just let it go? Why does he have to kill you?”

Constantine could not help but shake his head. “Do you know what it means for me to betray the Revolutionaries?”

After a moment, Ye Qingxuan asked curiously, “An extra traitor?”

Rather than becoming angry or responding to Ye Qingxuan’s irony, Constantine answered, “Let’s put aside the horrible consequences or whether their reputation will be damaged. You must know that no interior of organizations is all united, even something as idealistic as the Revolutionaries.

“There’s an Eastern tale of using thousands to buy horse bones, right?” he asked lightly. “To the king, I’m just a horse skeleton. Yes, my betrayal will damage the Revolutionaries greatly but they might be able to withstand it. However, they have to face something else after I betray them.”

There seemed to be a fire burning in Constantine’s eyes. He said in a low voice, “Whether it is the political significance or the plan right after, if it is done correctly, they can destroy all of Gaius’s efforts now and ruin him!”

Hearing all this, Ye Qingxuan suddenly had a headache. Why did he keep getting into things like this?

“Gaius might not come though, right?” he asked. “This is just your guess.”

“There’s been at least ten assassination attempts on me these days. There was one when I was just coming here.” Constantine stared at the crowd as if looking for that familiar face. “I know Gaius just as he knows me. He will come. If he wants to kill me, this will be his last chance.”

–

A few minutes later, Constantine was taken inside for preparation. Ye Qingxuan glanced at Wolf Flute. “So you gave me a troublesome task again?”

“Isn’t it good that I always think of you for work?” Wolf Flute asked in return. “We don’t actually need you but adding you in helps give you more stuff in your CV. And it’s not just you. Do you know how long the Silent Authority spent to make this trap? There are at least four hundred men hiding in this square, all working under the Silent Authority. If Gaius is found, you won’t need to be on the front lines.”

“It sounds pretty set in stone already?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

“Who knows?” Wolf Flute shrugged. “It’s Gaius after all. No one can be sure.”

Ye Qingxuan looked back at the reverent faces in the sea of people. He could not help but ask, “If Gaius really comes, he’ll do something big. At that time…what will happen to all these believers?”

Wolf Flute glanced at him but did not reply. Ye Qingxuan understood.

“Right,” he murmured, frowning. “Who knows?”

–

Ye Qingxuan quickly returned to the crowd and found Bai Xi.

“I’m going to look for Charles,” he said quietly. “And you go back to the embassy. Don’t stay here.”

“What’s wrong?” Bai Xi glanced at him in confusion.

Ye Qingxuan petted her hair. “Be good. I’ll tell you later.”

Bai Xi glared at him unhappily. Though she was unwilling, she still followed Ye Qingxuan out. Forcing their way through the crowd, Ye Qingxuan stuffed her inside the embassy’s carriage.

The carriage went off into the distance.

“You want me to go too? What about you?” Lola asked. “Are you going to get involved?”

“I have to at least find Charles. If they kill him, it’ll be a seriously sad death.” Ye Qingxuan waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m just helping instead of going to my death. If anything happens, I’ll be the first to run. No one would catch me.”

“How come you’re only confident when talking about running?” Lola sighed but the faint figure disappeared.

“To be honest, I wish I know,” Ye Qingxuan muttered to himself.

He walked toward the crowd and suddenly, there was an explosion in the distance! The ground shook. Under the boom, a tall tower in the distance broke in half. Flames and smoke rose to the sky. Pained cries traveled over. The square instantly fell silent. Everyone looked up in shock, staring at the pillar of black smoke.

“Keep alert! Do not become disorderly!” Wolf Flute’s voice came through. “Someone will take care of it. We must watch the square! Watch everyone around you!”

Under the explosion, panic had spread to the square. Heads all shot up and the commotion was impossible to keep down. Even at the podium, the pope stopped speaking.

And then he reached out.

And a miracle descended.

Ye Qingxuan instantly felt a large undercurrent in the depths of the aether sea, far below his sensory range. It seemed to be an echo coming from the deepest part of the aether world. Focusing on it, he could hear a glorious hymn in his ears.

A spirit emerged from thin air. It was born from nothingness.

Ye Qingxuan could not observe the detailed process or even imagine it. He could only guess the miraculous method from the waves in the aether sea.

It was like creating a soul in an instant.

The spirit filled with benevolence and gentleness flowed in everyone’s hearts. Without sound, it instantly soothed the panic. Then the King of Red pointed and time flowed backward.

The black smoke in the sky disappeared and the flames extinguished. The giant broken tower was pushed back up by an invisible force. Countless bricks flew back from all directions, instantly becoming seamless.

Light shone from the void. Falling on the wounded, the blood flowed backward and the injuries healed. Broken bones regrew and the torn limbs went back to normal.

Other than those who had died immediately, everything was back to normal.

Yes, things were exactly how they had been, neither better nor worse. It was so precise that every detail was recovered without missing a single millimeter!

It was this precise control that terrified Ye Qingxuan. With Jiu Xiao Huan Pei, he could do precise manipulation on a small scale. However, what the pope had done was more than a hundred times out of his range.

This was not a competition of strength but a grasp on music theory and control of aether.

Now, Ye Qingxuan finally understood the terrifying difference between common musicians, saints, and the three kings. Even at the Scepter level, a musician’s power depended on the music theory system constructed in the Holy Cauldron’s Originator.

Saints who were given a title could use the entire system’s power directly.

But the three kings…they had melded into it and become one with it! Their bodies were the physical incarnate of the musician path and the mysteries of aether. They were the projection of the Originator in the human world. Every move was like a miracle.

The prepared chaos was instantly extinguished.

“Therefore, what excuse do we have to not be in awe?” The pope’s sermon continued. The calm and holy voice rang in everyone’s ears, shaking their souls. “Look up at the blazing sun, look down at the vast earth. This is a portion of all miracles. We are not attacked in this dark world, we are not attacked in the chaos… Then why are we so arrogant toward the only truth?”

Under the somber words, the believers grew lively. They fervently yelled out the names of saints. The sound waves transformed into a tide that swept in all directions.

Ye Qingxuan stood outside the crowd but he still felt his body shaking from all the sounds. The square was loosely guarded outside but heavily guarded inside. Though the enchantment did not restrict musicians, it was undoubtedly under the surveillance of the Central Church.

And not only were the high levels of the Church here today, there were also officials from the various nations. There was more than one Scepter too. What did Gaius have planned if he dared to come?

Deep in thought, something suddenly flashed through Ye Qingxuan’s mind and he winced.

“Wolf Flute.” He glanced at the young musician guarding beside Constantine in the distance. “Do you still remember how we were suspecting that there’s a mole in the Silent Authority?”

“Huh?” Wolf Flute didn’t understand.

“After I couldn’t find any evidence, I thought the spy was just our misconception,” Ye Qingxuan said quietly. “But now, I think that…the spy probably exists but we haven’t found him yet.”

“The possibility isn’t high.” Wolf Flute shook his head. “After your suggestion, Mr. Handel personally investigated every critical member in the Sacred City.”

“And?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “Everyone is as clear as water?”

“They found a lot of corrupted guys and there were some who were bought out by the Church and other departments but there weren’t any spies of the Revolutionaries. In addition, the Silent Authority has high requirements for members. Those who can’t pass the investigations cannot enter the core.”

Ye Qingxuan asked, “What if they became a spy after entering the core?”

Wolf Flute was silent.

“If a spy really exists,” Ye Qingxuan studied the mass of people, “Gaius probably knows everything about the Silent Authority’s plans and solutions.”

Wolf Flute chuckled wryly. “But we still can’t confirm if there is a spy or not.”

“If there is one, then that man is very powerful,” Ye Qingxuan replied. “Because even when you are defeated, you won’t know how it happened. You won’t even be sure of your own people while you’re suspecting everyone. This must be why you came to find me, right? You have no clue who you can still trust.”

“Is it good that you’re so confident?” Wolf Flute sighed. “That’s basically it so work hard and help me watch carefully.”

“You think I’m an all-powerful god?” Ye Qingxuan pointed at the crowd outside. “I have a good solution. Arrest all of them and one month later, I’ll tell you if Gaius is there.”

“Are you dreaming?” Wolf Flute replied, annoyed. “Do you know how many people there are? If I really arrest them all, do you know how many parties are involved? How much pressure I’d have to bear? I’ll be thrown into the Mithril Cellar before you find Gaius!”

“Then no can do.” Ye Qingxuan stepped back. “At least give me the authority of the Bell Tower. Otherwise, you think a Disturbance level musician like me can get Gaius?”

“And you wait for me here?” Wolf Flute grew helpless. “Fine, I’ll lower myself for you…”

Ye Qingxuan watched from afar. Wolf Flute seemed to be communicating with someone. His expressions changed dramatically and it was clear that he was getting screamed at. But in the end, Ye Qingxuan heard a low bell. It rang from the holy city in the aether world, crossed through the aether sea, and fell in the material world, bolstering Ye Qingxuan’s body. It instantly melded into his sound of heart score and created a large structure.

In a blink, the new sound of heart score evolved into something similar to a symphony of predestination. It had grown at least five times. Ye Qingxuan probably would be unable to control his power if the majority was not still sleeping. However, Ye Qingxuan’s heart jumped. He could use this immense power at any time.

The Bell Tower Blessing!

It really was the Bell Tower Blessing!

The countless towers of the Sacred City were all paired with a sacred projection in the aether world. They could bless a musician, allowing him to temporarily become a grandmaster. Its core power came from the support in the aether world’s holy city. It was the power that only the King of Red could wield—the Fifth Symphony!

It was the Emperor!

Only the music score known as Emperor could pull someone up and give him unimaginable power. If this score was played fully, it could even open up an empty territory in the aether world with upper-level elements for the musician, allowing him to advance toward the Scepter without obstacles. It was that powerful.

Because it could create a grandmaster at any time, every tower was an extremely precious strategic resource. The various departments guarded them. They also had different levels and the one blessing Ye Qingxuan now was undoubtedly the most powerful.

Wolf Flute’s weak voice quickly sounded in his ears. “I really put down my dignity. Please work and don’t slack off.”

“Thanks!” Ye Qingxuan waved and started walking toward the square.

It was crowded even outside the square. It felt slow to push through them. Ye Qingxuan walked among them and felt the countless people brush past him. He looked carefully but after a few minutes, he was dazed. He couldn’t tell who’s who at all.

Helpless, Ye Qingxuan sighed. He pulled out his key and dug the sharp end into his finger. Clenching his jaw, he made a cut.

Who hadn’t bled for the Sacred City, right?

The key sliced his finger and scarlet blood flowed out. However, the blood had a weird feeling. It was like mist or a hallucination and seemed to float. After his heart of sound had combined with the Philosopher’s Stone, it started adjusting Ye Qingxuan’s body. Even the Deva’s blood changed subtly.

If one looked carefully, his blood was now comparable to precious alchemy material. The unique nature could make an alchemist go crazy.

Apparently, there was an Eastern ascetic monk long ago that was extremely knowledgeable in music theory. After creating the symphony of predestination, even his flesh began to change and attracted demons.

His blood could be made into precious pills to give someone longevity. That was why rumors started that eating him would make someone immortal.

Thinking of this, Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh dryly. Would he turn into food in the future?

Soon, his thoughts turned and the blood at his fingertip evaporated. What replaced it was a very faint moonlight perception thread.

Bolero!

This time, Ye Qingxuan threw all the pressure to the Bell Tower without worry. He pushed into Bolero’s ninth measure. Under the hallucinatory boom in his ears, thousands upon thousands of perception threads cast from his fingertip. They were shapeless and colorless. Thinner than spider webs, they floated with the wind and covered more than half of the city.

Countless information stormed into Ye Qingxuan’s mind, almost bursting his head. Panicking, he quickly recalled most of the perceptions and focused on the square. Thousands of threads snaked out of the sky, the ground, and the cracks of the walls. They wove into a huge net.

Many of the clergy felt the waves on Ye Qingxuan’s body and looked over. Seeing the emblem on his collar, they looked away, thinking he was just a guard. However, Ye Qingxuan did not find Gaius from the mess of information… He did find Charles though.

In the very center of the crowd, the place with highest density of fervent believers, under the somber atmosphere, there was someone messing everything up. Charles pushed forward without caring about all the people. Like a wild pig, he left destruction in his wake.

“Sorry! Excuse me! Old man, let me pass. Hey friend, can you move your leg? Bro, can you pick your kid up? Hey, friend, excuse me, excuse me…whose kid is this? He doesn’t have any manners. Can his parents deal with him?” Like a salesman selling low-quality food on a train, he struggled and made his way to the Tablet of Fate in the center of the square.

Anyone with common sense knew not to go to any popular tourist attractions during holidays. You’d be looking for misery. However, Charles just wanted to make life hard for himself. Ye Qingxuan could only applaud his courage and pray that he would not be beaten by the furious believers.

But while advancing, Charles suddenly toppled over and fell onto a frail figure. The seemingly old man was wrapped in a long robe. His hat hid his features but flattened under Charles, his eyes turned cold.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t notice you.” Charles quickly climbed up and pulled up the old man who tried to leave. “Hey, don’t leave. Wait, let me take you to the doctor. You’re so old now, what if something happens? Don’t think nothing’s wrong now. Last year, I heard that an old man fell down the stairs and guess what happened that night? He had a stroke!”

The old man shook him off angrily. “Let go!”

“Okay, okay, okay!”

Charles awkwardly let go and helpfully dusted his shoulders. But he hit something and there was a soft clink.

Clunk! A weird metal thing the size of an arm fell from the man’s sleeves.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Charles quickly picked it up and played with it curiously. “What is this? The newest foldable cane? The quality looks nice but it’s easy for people to misunderstand. It looks just like an alchemist’s assassination crossbow. Thankfully there’s no trigger. Otherwise, I’d be so scared, ha!”

As he laughed, he patted the tube. Under the old man’s uncomfortable expression, there was a crack. Something like a trigger popped out.

“Uh…” Charles froze. His smile stiffened. “This…”

“Catch him!” Wolf Flute yelled. “Don’t let him get away!”

Before he finished, the old man started running. His speed was incredible. Snaking through the crowd, he put dozens of meters between them instantly. The musicians hiding in the crowd rushed over but they could not get to him. People constantly helped cover for him or even block the pursuers. The old man quickly melted back into the crowd.

“F*ck! Useless!” Wolf Flute yelled angrily.

The man wore a Vatican-style robe. Once hidden in the crowd, he would be impossible to find. But in the chaos, Ye Qingxuan suddenly jumped out. He grabbed an average-looking man at the edge of the crowd. It was a young man who looked nothing like the old man. Even the clothes were different.

“Don’t move!” Steeling himself, Ye Qingxuan shattered the joints of his limbs and sealed him with an Abstinence score. While struggling, the man’s mask fell off, revealing the hawkish old face.

It was that old man.

But after studying him again and again, Ye Qingxuan frowned.

“Wolf Flute, it’s not Gaius.”

“Huh?!” Wolf Flute froze.

The old man was quickly taken away and the unrest was settled. Of course, they took the crossbow in Charles’s hands, of course. Thankfully, he was not dragged away for interrogation.

And then, Wolf Flute started cursing.

“F*ck, it wasn’t Gaius. We arrested some guy who wanted to assassinate the Asgardian ambassador! Because of blood revenge!” Wolf Flute roared. “Why do they bring their family arguments to the f*cking Sacred City?”

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan could not help but sigh. No matter what, the prime time to capture Gaius had passed. The sermon was about to end and Constantine would be given the title before everyone’s eyes. It would be troublesome then.

“Hey, young man, what you spacing out for?” A teasing voice came from a carriage in the distance. “What, you only had enough money for a standing ticket? I have an empty seat here! VIP seat, you want it?”

Ye Qingxuan looked up and his expression changed. It was Hermes.

The elegant carriage was outside the square. It was covered with a sheepskin rug with two comfortable-looking sofas. There was even a small table with glasses and a bottle of liquor. It looked like a box at an opera house, attracting shocked gazes.

“Come, it’s boring to watch by myself. Come watch with me.” Hermes patted the seat beside him welcomingly.

“Uh…”

–

“Wow! The Tablet of Fate is truly impressive!” In the crowd, Charles had finally squeezed to the tablet. He plastered himself against it and exclaimed, “This feel, this material, it’s amazing. Hey, bros, look at this. It really is the Church, it’s amazing!”

The pilgrims in the crowd rolled their eyes. “Another country bumpkin.”

Ignoring the disdainful looks, Charles happily squatted before the tablet. Rubbing his hands, he started observing it. But his eyes quickly grew doubtful and he dragged someone over.

“Hey, am I wrong?” he asked. “Is this really the Tablet of Fate?”

“Yeah.” The believer frowned in annoyance. “What’s wrong?”

“Really?” Charles scratched his head. “Why do I feel that…the music score…is really easy?”

“Ha, you’re funny.” The believer rolled his eyes and stopped talking. In his mind, he cursed, Keep bragging! Brag as much as you want! You won’t get fined.

Charles did not care about the mockery. Instead, he pressed his hand down excitedly and tried to perform the music score.

“This is Fate?” he murmured.

Some sort of anxiety appeared for a moment as if something was about to happen but he was unprepared. Confused, he shook his head. Shaking away the weird feeling, he focused his attention and pressed down.

Cold music rang from his fingertip.

First, there were three world-shaking sounds from his chest like heartbeats. He felt a metallic hammer knocking on his skull. The pain shot into his bones.

It was fate!

It really was fate…

Fate was knocking!

On the podium behind him, the pope seemed to notice. He looked into the square in confusion. Seeing Charles try to play the score, he smiled as if watching a young man who overestimated himself.

The weak music of fate was drowned by the loud cheers. Under the cheers, the pope raised his hand and ended his sermon. However, he did not leave like before. Instead, he remained on the podium and raised his head slightly, showing that he still had something important to announce.

Before the either relieved or confused eyes, the pope raised his hand. He announced, “On this holy day, other than you and I, there is another who was blessed by the lord, a man of justice who had adhered to the beauty of God!

“To commend him for his efforts toward the Sacred City, I will award him with the crown of the cardinals and thank him for his devoutness! And I wish to tell all the devout, those who follow justice and God’s decree, if you bring glory to the Lord, He will also bless you!”

There were deafening cheers.

Under the commotion, Constantine, dressed in a red robe, walked up the steps. He walked to the peak, step by step. In the crowd, the Silent Authority was nervous to the max. They all watched their surroundings with hawk eyes.

Wolf Flute wiped at his sweat. Seeming to be nervous, he looked around and breathed heavily.

Time had become so slow and yet so fast.

Constantine soon stepped onto the podium. He bowed to the pope and lowered before the awe-inspiring robe.

Now, he finally saw the heart of the Sacred City, the agent of God, the King of Red, the king in charge of humanity’s souls and final resting places.

“Constantine, today I shall bestow the Lord’s blessing upon you.”

The pope raised the navy holy ribbon in his hands. It was a scarf-like accessory. It was embroidered with fine and detailed scriptures in gold thread. It was indescribably majestic, like the representation of all things holy. He placed the ribbon on Constantine’s hands. “Be in awe. Your contributions and sacrifices are carved into the holy throne.”

Thus, Constantine reverently lowered his head. He placed the ribbon around his shoulders and replied seriously, “I am beyond grateful to receive the Lord’s grace.”

Now, the ambassadors and nobles under the podium could not help but sigh. The Sacred City had a new cardinal with true power and the Revolutionaries probably would not give up.

More troubles were coming…

–

Outside the crowd, Ye Qingxuan had been tense for so long for so reason. He finally let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. It seemed that Gaius truly had not come.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Hermes glanced at him while drinking and pointed at the podium. “To be honest, I haven’t gone out in a while. What’s going on? I didn’t understand this since the start. When did the Revolutionaries and Sacred City become such good friends?”

“Boss, do you still not get it?” Ye Qingxuan was shocked. “Constantine, the deputy commander of the Revolutionaries, has sided with the Sacred City. I thought you knew him.”

“Constantine?” Hermes was shocked too. “Deputy commander? Side? Sacred City?” He had a weird look of confusion. Then, suddenly understanding, he burst into laughter as if he had heard an incredible joke or witnessed the funniest comedy in history. He almost cried from laughing so hard.

And Ye Qingxuan was unsettled.

“Ye Qingxuan, I know him but that’s not Constantine.” Hermes hit the table, tears almost coming out. “The Revolutionaries has always been a dictatorship. There have never been any deputies! Those who represent the Revolutionaries have always been fakes and cannon fodder… You…you…hahaha…did you really think it’s real? As expected, humans are so interesting hahaha…”

Ye Qingxuan gaped at him. He watched as Hermes gasp from laughter without reacting. Finally, he understood Hermes’s words and shuddered. “It’s not Constantine?” He turned stiffly toward the man bathed in the audience’s cheers on the podium. “Then who is he?”

“Who else can he be?” Hermes clapped, applauding for this satirical play. He mocked, “The one you just turned into a cardinal is obviously the most despicable deserter, the blight of the Sacred City, and the ambitious guy that so many dream of killing. However, many also refer to him as…His Highness, Gaius!”

Ye Qingxuan felt like he had been struck by lightning. Without hesitating, he jumped down from the chair and looked at the podium.

“Wolf Flute!”

–

At that moment, Gaius opened his arms wide, bathing in the golden sunlight. Under the holy light, it was as if God’s blessing had truly descended upon him. He looked so majestic, holy, and awesome. He looked down and studied the crowd but his eyes fell on the heart of the square. He looked at the young man immersed in the music score. Thus, he heard the heavy and gloomy piano music. It was not a musician working under aether but rather a pure music performance. It was like a symphony performed at countless celebrations under the cheers from thousands of listeners. However, this symphony was too cold and distant. Rather than a melody that humans could enjoy, this was a music score written by God for the world’s only truth.

Fate.

This was Fate…

“Charles, you really comprehend it…” Constantine—no, Gaius—lowered his eyes and sighed. “But without the surface, what kind of empty shell would the so-called Fate become?”

But Charles could not hear his voice anymore.

–

He could not hear anything; he was so immersed in that wild melody. It was as if a voice was urging him from the depths of his soul. It pushed him forward, making him drown in the performance. He became practiced at an incredible speed until the melody finally became an instinct.

An unprecedented pain blossomed deep inside his head. It cut at his consciousness and soul like a dagger, trying to tear apart the body he had created these years to show his soul’s appearance to the world. It rustled in the darkness; it was about to awaken. It impatiently wanted to be reborn in this world.

Charles only felt that he had escaped from that insignificant body. He was standing there but it was as if he was in another dimension. He had a refuge from the narrow senses. He saw colors he had never seen before, heard the echoes of material colliding with consciousness, and smelled sadness and happiness. He reached out and touched thousands of miles of land. His spirit turned and rose into the sky, joining the stars.

An illusory yet holy city hovered there. Countless spirits rested there. If he looked down, he would see the endless abyss. There, shadows squirmed in the darkness and thousands of eyes opened. It was a terrifying sight.

Strands of cold yet indifferent moonlight snaked between them. It seemed to be shapeless and nonexistent yet tangible and real at the same time. He saw countless broken worlds pacing between the three. They were attracted by the strong gravity, transforming into brilliant star clusters.

Behind these clusters of stars, some shapeless matter was emerging.

It was a giant vortex.

Everything came out of it and it destroyed everything. It contained endless mysteries but was also like a void where nothing existed. It was the essence of all, the beginning and end of all.

It was the Originator!

The intense pain could not stop Charles. He was immersed in the shocking performance. He had transformed into aether and could finally see the true nature of the world!

The pain was burning, breaking the lock on his consciousness. It pounded his soul like a hammer, recreating his entirety. It tore the membrane between his tendons, the grooves on his bones, and the weakness in his blood. It pushed them into the kiln of nothingness and made something new.

He died away during the performance.

However, the new him was reborn from the ashes.

It was the key. After waiting for so long, it finally opened the lock on his body and released the restrained nature, allowing him to live again. Thus, he poured the pain and joy through his fingertips. While playing, he pushed the melody to the climax.

Everyone heard the majestic song he was playing.

For the first time, Charles expressed the true nature through this pure performance. Even though it did not respond to aether or contain music theory, an unpreceded spirit was born from it.

All musicians present—no, all musicians in the Sacred City and even the world—trembled instinctively. They stared into the crowd as if facing their worst enemy and looked at the young man playing wildly before the stone tablet.

They seemed to see the world fall apart.

This was the first time the terrifying melody was played in public ever since the establishment of the Sacred City. Even Handel could not control the shock and…desire to kill at the bottom of his heart.

It was Fate!

Despite not having any aether waves, music theory, or even the power of music notes, no one could predict what changes the music would bring.

This was the Sacred City!

If a tiny bit of the aftershocks of Fate was leaked, it could flatten everyone present! Everyone was debating whether or not they should stop this performance!

But then they no longer needed to struggle or hesitate.

The melody had reached the climax. The spirit and consciousness trembled in the melody and fate descended!

–

At first, there was a suffocating silence.

The world froze.

Then pure terror came.

Countless people let out almost tangible wails at the same time. The wailing grouped into a music note. It pierced everyone’s eardrums, shattering their sanity and pushing them into the deepest darkness.

Screams and roars of despair spread. Everyone broke down by what they saw. Their minds shattered. The flesh body that remained wallowed in this cold world.

At that moment, no one realized that perhaps it was fate that changed this world.

When Charles snapped out of his reverie, he gazed around in confusion and saw the shocked pale faces. He followed their gazes and looked to the podium. Then, he saw the shadow fallen from the podium.

It was a patch of red that had darkened.

It was dried blood.

The fall had been so short but the heavy thud had been so terrifying. The crowd retreated instinctively and shrieked in panic.

Stunned, Charles seemed to understand something and rushed forward like crazy. And so he saw the blood.

Amongst the blood was dyed red clothing. The awe-inspiring crown was on the ground. Warped, it tumbled and stopped beside his feet with a sharp yet heavy echo. It was like the echoes of a tragedy.

In the puddle of blood, the thing that had once been a human was now a distorted mess of blood and flesh. Obviously, anyone who turned into that would have no chance of surviving.

It was a corpse.

And on the corpse’s back was a black dagger.

No miracle happened; no resurrections happened. None of the precautions had been used. It was just a simple stab to the back—a simple death.

It was so simple that no one could refute it. There was no possibility of luck.

He was dead.

Using all his strength, Charles tremblingly walked over. He reached out to test for the dead’s breath but only felt coldness. He still could not dare to believe that…

The majestic pope, the controller of all souls, the sole agent of God, the King of Red had died so easily?

As if struck by lightning, he stumbled back and raised his head with difficulty…he looked up at the old man who looked down from the podium. He was still bathed in the glorious light like a man of justice from the Bible.

“Why?” he murmured. He could not believe what he saw. He yelled with all his might, “Mr. Constantine, why?!”

Why…why did you…do this?!

Gaius looked away. He stared at the sky and made the sign of the holy emblem before his chest.

“I shall replenish this river of souls so that it flows for eternity,” he murmured with his eyes closed. “For you, my Lord, for you.”

–

“Capture him!” The first to react was a cardinal. He glared at Wolf Flute. “What are you doing! Capture him!”

Instantly, dozens of black shadows rushed out from the chaotic crowd and pounced onto the podium. A heart-shaking music score rose from thin air. Countless different melodies shot out at once.

Handel was furious and his eyes reddened. The cane in his hands cracked apart. A blazing glow emerged from it. This was the true nature of the cane. It was a weapon created with the music score Messiah and given a saint’s title.

No one had ever seen its true appearance through the glow nor could they describe what it was like. When it appeared in Handel’s hands, it thudded on the ground.

A terrifying tremor spread.

The city that had been melded into a piece of metal also started shaking under this indescribable quake. It whirred and clanged. The cold and powerful boom swept across, piercing everyone’s ears. It attacked their minds, causing the panicking pilgrims to fall to the ground, shaking.

Unless allowed, all music scores were defeated now. Perhaps the savior of the world promised by God was in this boom and had descended upon Earth.

And who is bearing the day of his coming? And who is standing in his appearing?

For he is as fire of a refiner, and as soap of a fuller.

In the Sacred City, the thousands of towers responded at once. The echoes converged and exploded in the aether sea, instantly transforming into a terrifying whirlpool. It went through the aether and material world, creating a tunnel. The majestic city deep in the aether world shone and its light fell onto Earth.

Inside the archive of sacred objects, the dull gold sword quivered and keened. Heaven’s Door appeared!

There was boundless brilliance.

At this moment, everything in and under the sky was covered by the pure light. Layers of restrictions went toward the podium, sealing it off. The furious power cast punishment immense enough to destroy the world.

However, Wolf Flute was faster than him. He had started acting the moment Ye Qingxuan roared. Beastly nature broke from his consciousness instantly, transforming into a solid wolf pack. After integrating the element, the wolf pack’s magnitude was unbelievable. There were hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands…

Wolf Flute’s body disintegrated and moved thousands of steps in a blink. He flashed and acted without hesitation!

Behind him, the wolf-head deity appeared. He slammed his golden cane down and destroyed countless barriers instantly, digging a hole in the enemy’s body.

Blood spurted out, splashing onto the faces of the archbishops and nobles. They gaped at the cold-eyed Wolf Flute and the one with a gaping hole in his chest…Handel!

No one had expected that the core member of the Silent Authority, Wolf Flute, would kill Saint Handel now. Thousands of wolves emerged from thin air and blocked the attacks flying toward the podium. In the last moment, they destroyed the dozens of bodies leaping up.

Blood rained down from the air, dying the silver wolves red.

Heaven’s Door disappeared. The weapon Messiah faded and fell from Handel’s hands, clattering. Handel looked down dumbly at the hand poking out of his chest.

The hand clenched, shattering the heart. Blood dripped down.

Thus, he finally accepted reality. He looked back at Wolf Flute.

“Why?” he asked, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“Isn’t this obvious?” Wolf Flute sighed. “I’m the spy.”

Handel smiled with difficulty. It was bitter and full of self-mockery. He looked at Wolf Flute’s face and the deity behind him.

“You’ve hid it from me for so long…”

The power that Wolf Flute demonstrated now was far beyond that of a typical Scepter. No one expected that the supposed ‘weakest scepter’ had kept so much hidden. Everyone thought that he was a slacker and had used the lowest level beastly element. However, this was not the element of some wild beast. It was something way beyond the upper-level elements and was practically something legendary. He had combined the jackal, death, and Hades into a new scepter…Anubis!

“I cannot believe I died in the hands of my successor.” Handel finally managed a smile and closed his eyes.

He collapsed.

He was dead.

In the chaotic square, the sprinting Ye Qingxuan stopped with fatigue.

Too late.

He was still too late.

The moment Hermes revealed Gaius’s true nature, the first thing he thought of was not what Gaius wanted, but Wolf Flute…

He should have thought of it long ago. Other than the abnormal skill of passing through worlds that Wolf Flute had only shown him before, who else could teleport prisoners away from the Judgement Tower? Other than the warehouse that he said was for the wolves, where else in the Sacred City could shelter a few dozen escaped prisoners?

Other than him, who else could continue supplying information about the Silent Authority to the Revolutionaries?

Other than him, who else would become nervous at noticing Ye Qingxuan here and do everything to distract him from noticing these flaws they’ve always had?

Only Wolf Flute.

Only he could do this.

“Why?” Ye Qingxuan stared at Wolf Flute who was standing on Handel’s corpse in the puddle of blood. “Aren’t you Bach’s student? Wolf Flute! How could you do this?”

Hearing him, Wolf Flute looked up. He smiled but it was tired and complicated. However, he did not explain anything. He just said, “If you have the chance, apologize to my teacher for me.”

The communication cut off.

Wolf Flute looked back. He studied the archbishops and nobles held hostage by the wolves. Gazing at the pale faces, he smiled.

“Let’s trade,” he said. “I swear to the Originator that if you let Mr. Gaius go, I won’t kill you.”

Everyone surrounded by the wolves looked uncomfortable. The archbishops exchanged glances with dark eyes. Without a doubt, this was the worst possible scenario. The situation was more powerful than people.

The pope was dead.

If Wolf Flute wanted to, he could destroy the Sacred City easily. The people present were seasoned politicians and merchants. They knew when to lower themselves. Surrendering temporarily was not shameful.

But who would do it?

In silence, someone finally walked forward. The old cardinal sighed. “I am old and useless now. Let me take the vow.”

Wolf Flute smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my word.”

“No, you don’t need to surrender to them.”

In the chaos, Ye Qingxuan’s voice rang out.

Wolf Flute looked back. His emerald eyes seemed to be burning with true murderous intent. If Ye Qingxuan took another step forward, he would be killed on the spot.

“Yezi, don’t force me.” Wolf Flute sighed. “The only one I don’t want to fight here is you.”

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the choice.” Ye Qingxuan stood outside the pack of wolves. Instead of stepping forward, he…closed his eyes.

He entered the Dreamscape! Instantly, silence descended. The central square sank into dead silence. The wolves shook and disintegrated. Finally, only Anubis remained behind Wolf Flute. The apparition roared and withstood the encroachment of the Silent Dream, stubbornly refusing to fade away.

Even the Scepter-level strength could not hold on under this terrifying silence.

“Protect his highness!” Soon, someone reacted. The guards pulled out their swords and pounced on Wolf Flute. “Protect the lord!”

The nobles and archbishops present always had warriors and musicians for protection. Even though the musicians were useless now, the warriors could do something! In addition, these warriors had all been modified by Choir surgeons to some extent. Their limbs, skeletons, or organs had been replaced by manmade objects inspired by demons or machines. Their instant power was dumbfounding.

While Wolf Flute was restricted by the Silent Dream, countless shadows flew toward him and arrived before his face. However, he was still looking at Ye Qingxuan.

“This is the Wyrmrest Enchantment you’ve newly acquired, right?” he murmured and smiled wryly. “No wonder it’s known as the prototype of the Ultimate.”

Boom! There was an explosion. No one knew what just happened.

But when the moment passed, everyone saw that there was a giant hole in the chest of the warrior at the front. The metallic bones were warped and his organs flowed out like mud.

Wolf Flute’s sleeves had ripped from the swelled muscles. His arm had become dark green with a terrifying metallic gleam. He seemed to have transformed into a demon. A golden knuckle had appeared on his hand without anyone realizing.

He looked at Ye Qingxuan through the body and smiled. “But did you think that I wouldn’t be prepared?”

Boom!

There was another explosion. This time, they could see clearly.

Wolf Flute swung his fist. His fist tore through the air with a loud boom and someone’s skull was pulverized.

Faced with all these warriors, Wolf Flute held his ground. He stepped forward and squeezed into a fully armed warrior. Then there was the sound of bones cracking. The arm and armor were both broken in half. The heavy sword fell into Wolf Flute’s hand.

Like a bird, Wolf Flute jumped from the body. The sword sliced through the air.

Under the chilling whistle, sparks flew from scraping metal. The enemy before him was split in half and fell down to both sides. Dyed red from the flying blood, Wolf Flute charged at Ye Qingxuan.

He instantly felt his vision lowering. Then the immense pain reached his brain belatedly. The brass knuckle had punched his gut mercilessly. No, there was some mercy. Otherwise, Ye Qingxuan would have been snapped in half rather than thrown backward.

But then Wolf Flute’s body chased over like a shadow. He stomped down with his right leg. Ye Qingxuan only had time to raise his arms before his face.

Boom! It felt like a carriage had galloped over his body. He flew back and smashed against the ground. During the great shaking, he felt like throwing up. Bittersweet blood sloshed in his throat.

Then he felt Wolf Flute yank on his hair and drag him up.

“Here, I’ll teach you something.” Wolf Flute gave a bloody smile. “The hidden card is called a hidden card because it means there’s a weakness. All hidden cards do. When you can turn the tides, that means the enemy can turn the tides too. Especially this technique…when facing an enemy who’s ten times more powerful than you in a brawl, never reveal your weakness voluntarily…”

And he punched again!

Boom! Ye Qingxuan’s vision went black. He dropped to the ground, unable to fight back.

But Wolf Flute did not stop; he grew more violent instead. This was no longer a duel anymore. It was an aggressive beating. Ye Qingxuan felt like he had been thrown into the furnace of an iron-smelting factory. It felt like he was being burned alive.

Wolf Flute’s hoarse voice continued in his ears.

“Did you know? I was raised by wolves.”

Crack! He snapped Ye Qingxuan’s arm with practiced ease, producing a scream. “Ten years ago, when I was fourteen, I was the best gladiator in Canaan.”

Boom! He punched backward without looking. With a muffled noise, the enemy’s heart exploded. Innards bleeding, he dropped to the ground.

“Ever since I injected wolf blood in me seven years ago, no one dared to fight against me because…it’s hard for me to control myself. Sorry if I hurt you,” he said. “I can stop if you surrender.”

Boom! Ye Qingxuan lowered his head. He spat out some broken teeth and cursed.

Wolf Flute smiled. Without saying anything, he just raised the left hand without the knuckle and smashed down on the back of Ye Qingxuan’s head. The concussion shook his mind. He didn’t even know where he was anymore.

Concussions through the skull could cause a musician’s mind to go blank. If handled badly, the entire brain could be damaged.

The Dreamscape finally fell apart. The Wyrmrest Enchantment disappeared.

Under Anubis’s calling, the wolves walked out of thin air again. They instantly tore apart the nobles who were fleeing under the guards’ protection. Tossing aside the barely conscious Ye Qingxuan, Wolf Flute turned back to the ashen archbishops.

He smiled. “Now, would you like to consider my suggestion?”

After a moment of silence, the old archbishop sighed. “Let them go. I will pay for it.”

Everything became simple once someone was willing to take the blame. It had always been like this through history, whether it was in the East or West, for humans or demons.

A path quickly opened up in the crowd. Gaius walked through the blood and primly stepped down the podium. He welcomed the murderous and hateful eyes with a smile.

“It’s earlier than expected and the situation is worse than predicted.” Ye Qingxuan glanced at Ye Qingxuan on the ground. “I didn’t want him to interrupt but I didn’t think…”

“It’s not your fault.” Gaius shook his head. “Maybe some old friend who likes drama wanted to give me more trouble.”

Hermes’s carriage at the end of the square had vanished.

Ignoring the army that had come from afar, Wolf Flute looked at Gaius. “The Sacred City will unleash the enchantment. I must go prepare at the planned location. We’ll leave immediately when you all arrive.”

“That is good.” Gaius nodded. “Help me leave first. Someone will protect me afterward.”

Wolf Flute nodded. Taking Gaius’s hand, he stepped forward. There was a streak of silver light and then, nothing.

The square was in ruins.

Under the pounding of metal boots on stone, the late soldiers finally arrived. Order was quickly instilled. However, loud booms and explosions continuously sounded in the Sacred City. Thick black smoke rose to the sky, turning the sky black.

The sun was shining but the Sacred City was filled with dark clouds and smoke.

“The headquarters of the garrison was attacked. Casualties unknown.”

“General Duke Wilson encountered an assassination and was grave. He is in treatment now…”

“The central water system was attacked. There is a large amount of poison in our drinking water. We are organizing a team for purification.”

“Countless bombs went off in the Papal Chamber. Specific details are still unknown.”

“The Sacred Court was attacked. The situation is unclear.”

Bad news streamed continuously. The panicking nobles were all pale. The archbishops who had just become safe were now in chaos again.

“Failures! You lot of failures!” The Amnesty Department was hurt the hardest. The deaths of six important officials had been confirmed and the archbishop in charge was livid. “How can you let the Revolutionaries come in so easily?! Why didn’t the secrecy protection of the Silent Authority work?! Did all the resources we put in go to the Revolutionaries all these years?!”

The deputy of the Silent Authority remained silent with a dark expression.

Saint Handel had died at the hands of traitor Wolf Flute. He probably knew what color underwear they wore, let alone the Silent Authority’s plans and secrets!

Now, the Sacred City was paralyzed. Reconstruction would take a long time.

All these years, it seemed that the Revolutionaries were failing gradually. However, they did not know how much power was accumulated secretly. Today, it exploded at once and produced such terrifying results.

It seemed that the colony in the New World had fallen completely. The Revolutionaries had gone from a blight to something immortal.

In the chaos, there was suddenly a calm voice.

“Everyone, please return to your positions so all institutions can restart work.” Old Ludovic walked out of the crowd and opened his rheumy eyes. “At this time, the most important task is to pursue traitor Constantine—no, Gaius—don’t let him escape!”

“Archbishop Ludovic is right!” Yunlou Qingshu nodded in agreement. “Yunlou City is willing to provide manpower and resources to help the Sacred City regain order.”

Those who had been quiet among the cardinals now stood out to support Ludovic. The nobles and ambassadors finally realized that the Ecclesiastical Order had subtly grasped most of the power. After the pope died, they naturally took over the institutions.

It could be said that within half a minute, the Sacred City had fallen into the hands of these old monks. The ascetic monks who had not garnered much attention before now suddenly rose up during the pope’s decline. They seemed…well-prepared?

Was this a coincidence?

Or…

“The Sacred City is in chaos right now,” Ludovic said lightly. “To avoid aggravating the problem, the Ecclesiastical Order will temporarily take control before the cardinals choose the next pope. I hope the nations will cooperate and help settle the unrest.”

Those with fast reactions quickly started to follow the tide. “It seems that it’s our fortune to have the Ecclesiastical Order take this risk. We will definitely support you and not disappoint Mr. Ludovic.”

F*cking b*tch! Those who reacted slowly started cursing in their minds. However, their bodies were obedient and all started professing their support.

Of course, there were also those who did not understand the current situation and disagreed. However, those idiots probably were already given the death sentence in the minds of many. They also prayed at the same time that the Revolutionaries would not involve them.

The trend was set.

Faced with everyone’s support, a smile appeared on Ludovic’s old face.

“Very good. If everyone supports it, the world will start running again soon.”

Without the King of Red, the world would continue spinning. This time, it would be under the Ecclesiastical Order’s control.

“It seems that your friend always stabs you in the back at every critical time.”

In the hidden safe house, Lola overlooked the pathetic Ye Qingxuan gloatingly. “Gavin did so at that time. This time is the same. If I were you, I would consider maybe I’m not good at choosing friends. And who told me that if there was something, he would run faster than anybody? If I wasn’t paying attention this time, you may have…”

In the bed, Ye Qingxuan was covered with a thick layer of ointment which exuded the pungent smell of medicine. Medicine was also injected into his hands. He was at the edge of death but his breathing was smooth and normal. There was not even the slightest dullness or panic in his dark eyes. There was only calmness.

“You have been sarcastic enough. Just get down to business.” He stretched out his hand and spoke with a hoarse voice. “Where is the thing?”

Seeing that he was not repentant, Lola grunted and threw out a badge from her bosom. “You’re really creative to have a demon help you keep this thing.”

The pure silver-forged emblem sizzled in her hands, clearly hurting her every moment. However, when Ye Qingxuan held it in hand, a faint light was emitted. Soon his bruises faded.

“Wait. Use it after I go out. Do not affect me.”

After giving that thing to him, Lola went to the door as if she was avoiding pests.

In Ye Qingxuan’s hand, the pure silver-forged emblem was engraved with a healing movement of the School of Choir. It was the most advanced kind, claiming that it could cure anyone as long as he was still breathing.

This one-time badge could be sold for a stunningly scary price on the black market.

After all, it was precious alchemy that could save a life.

Even when the door was closed, Lola could still feel the sting like a thorn in her back. She walked further. Even so, she could still sense the breath that had made her so uncomfortable in the secret chamber.

Then, huge aetheric waves that she had not anticipated were set off. In a blink, she felt a roaring melody burst from the aether sea. The tremendous waves swept everything, pulling a huge amount of aether into it.

That was definitely not the degree that Ye Qingxuan could reach. It was far beyond his ability.

Divine light was produced from the aether. The blazing light was beyond what Lola had expected. Through two walls, more than ten meters in distance, Lola could still feel the heat.

Even breathing was like chewing blades and needles.

If Lola had not purchased this all by herself, she would have suspected that one of the masters of the Choir was treating Ye Qingxuan personally here. Fortunately, the power came and went quickly. Soon, she heard the door open.

In her startled eyes, the completely healed Ye Qingxuan walked out of the door. Although his body still smelled strongly of medicine, he had fully recovered. Not even the slightest slight wound could be found. The guy who had just broken more than ten bones, covered in bruises, and lost half of his lungs now stood right before her.

“What drugs did you take?” Lola gaped. “How did you recover so quickly?” Even after the treatment, an average person would have only recovered from immediate danger. No one would be like Ye Qingxuan who was recovered as if he had changed a body!

“The biggest mistake that Wolf Flute has ever made is to forget to cancel the bell tower blessing that the Silent Authority gave to me.” Ye Qingxuan looked at his intact hands. He snapped and substantial aetheric light burst out. “Don’t forget, I’m still a grandmaster.”

Lola frowned. “What tricks are you going to play? Ye Qingxuan, you have been involved in this matter too deeply.”

“That’s why we have to catch Gaius.” Ye Qingxuan’s answer was emphatic. “If Gaius isn’t caught, then the Scared City must have a man to be blamed… Do you think it’s going to be better for me and Charles?”

Lola was silent.

“I was unexpectedly cheated. It’s so embarrassing.” Ye Qingxuan rolled his neck. “No matter what, he needs to pay me.”

“I’d like to say that although I am happy to kill Bach’s students, I was crippled for so many years so I am definitely not the guy’s opponent.” Lola looked at him like she was looking at a madman. “Or do you think you can handle this by yourself?”

“Wolf Flute did teach me a lesson.” Ye Qingxuan asked, “When have I had a head-on confrontation with my enemy? Don’t I always rely on dirty tricks? Why would I fight with a scepter so formally?”

Lola had no words but shook her head. “It’s been half an hour now. Are you sure you can catch up?”

“I can.” Ye Qingxuan raised his hand. At the fingertips, a dim and slender moonlight thread extending from the never healed wound. “To tell you the truth, it’s the first time I was beaten to such embarrassed and miserable extent all these years…”

He gazed at his fingertips and sneered. “Fortunately, my blood has not been wasted. What is the best thing to say? He is really the leader of the Revolutionary Army, bolder than I had imagined…Gaius did not leave. He is still in the Sacred City.”

–

The noise of chaos was coming from afar. People were screaming and running on the street in chaos. In the silence of the Judgment Tower, a lonely figure stood on the ruins. After being attacked by the Revolutionaries, all the criminals were transferred to other prisons. This tower had been temporarily abandoned. According to the plan, a new construction team would come here in one month.

But now, there was only rubble.

There should be guards still, but when the chaos widened, the guards had been evacuated. In the end, only a lonely old man was left on the stairs of the broken tower. He sat on the steps with a cloak and smoked his pipe in silence, his eyes gazing at the black cloud rising from afar until a sharp dagger was pressed against his back.

“I didn’t think you would be the first to find me, Charles.” Gaius put down his pipe, sighed and raised his hands.

“You’ve thought of this already, right, Mr. Constantine?” Charles stood behind him blankly. “Why do you pretend to be shocked?”

On the back of his hand, a disembodied vapor line dissipated in the wind.

Bolero.

Ye Qingxuan was not the only one to attach his perception thread to Gaius. Charles was even earlier. Moreover, he was better at this movement than Ye Qingxuan thought he was.

“Did you come to ask me why I did that?” Gaius turned slowly and gazed at the young man behind him.

Charles was silent and smiled with self-deprecation. “I wanted to ask, but now it seems meaningless.” He shook his head slowly. “I thought you had difficulties. Even as a spy, I still felt pity for you. But now it seems that I should leave the pity to myself.”

“This is actually the funniest part, Charles.” Gaius looked at him. “When you are alive, there are always times when you need to act. You act, I act, everybody’s acting… Over time, you will revel in your own drama. I’m sorry that I lied to you.”

He apologized but Charles did not feel any relief or joy. He wanted to laugh. “Sorry? You stay here just to talk to your scapegoat? Say some more, sir?” His tone turned cold. “Say something so that I’m willing to take the blame for you. Let me believe you as I used to.”

“You’re wrong about something, Charles.” Gaius shook his head and whispered, “I’m not here to make you my scapegoat. I just want to tell you that you don’t have to be anyone’s scapegoat. You could have lived in this world fair and square without the need to listen to anyone…”

Charles cut him off. “The taste of these kind words has gone bad overnight, sir. I’m going to puke. Can I have something else?” Charles’ smile dissipated and an unprecedented indifference appeared on his face. “Yezi will probably come here in three minutes. If possible, I don’t want him to see your body. So, say something to let me drop the knife willingly.”

Gaius bowed his head, gazing at the dagger on the neck. The dagger had cut the skin of his neck and a faint tinge of blood came out of the wound.

“Charles, have you ever doubted your own life?” He sighed and suddenly murmured, “You should have realized at a very young age the difference between yourself and others. You are different from mortals. You are born to have talent, have a gift, and all kinds of incredible miracles, but you have ever thought of where you came from? You shouldn’t have sunk in this ditch, Charles.”

Gaius gazed at the young man in front and said word by word, “Those wastes do not know how horribly powerful you are. The Silent Authority even treated you as cannon fodder. Those idiots have no idea what they have missed! If your mother saw you now, she would feel pity for you!”

Charles froze. “What are you talking about?” His face grew gloomy. “Don’t waste my last shred of patience, Mr. Constantine!”

Gaius raised his hand and showed him a yellow old picture. It seemed to be from long ago. In the picture was a young Gaius, an Easterner with white hair, as well as the hybrid of demons and all the rest. But Charles’ sight was set in the corner.

There was a young woman with a vague face. Her hair was flaming red like ancient times burning. Her beauty was so thrilling.

“Have you ever dreamed of her?” Gaius whispered, “She protected you to her death, even if she was tainted and swallowed by the ogre… Charles, don’t you want to know where you are from?”

He slowly stepped forward and took down the dagger in Charles’s hand.

“Come with me, Charles.” He pulled Charles and went to the broken tower. “I will tell you all the secrets… about you…”

They had only taken a step forward, yet the world was completely different. The blazing light and shadows seemed to have all disappeared. Everything became dark and ambiguous like a blurry dream.

Under the high tower, before the sealed black metal gate, Charles watched Gaius take out a key. The man placed it into the lock carefully and used all his might to turn it. Gears began creaking and grating and the door opened.

Charles froze.

There should have been a spiral staircase in the large room behind the door. Now, the room was still there but the staircase was not. The originally solemn room was eerie as if it had been abandoned for decades. There was a giant crater in the ground.

Charles stood at the edge and looked down, feeling the eerie breeze from the abyss. The steel staircase extended brokenly to somewhere deeper underground. There were faint lights but had all been covered by dust and cobwebs, making everything dark and subtle.

“Where…is this?” Charles did not know where they were but he knew this definitely was not the Judgement Tower.

“Here? Just somewhere abandoned for a long time.” Gaius walked to the end of the room and pushed open the door to the lift. Behind it, metal grated and countless scraps of rust fell down the deep well like dead bugs that were still dancing in the air.

An ancient lift slowly rose up from the darkness.

Gaius turned and motioned for Charles to come over.

There was a corpse-turned-skeleton leaning in the corner of the lift. Half of its body hung outside and its legs were gone. His nametag seemed to still hang from his ragged white uniform. However, the name had faded through time.

Gaius squatted down. Studying the skeleton’s broken face, he sighed. “Long time no see. I thought you were living under a different name. I didn’t expect that you’d died here.”

He pulled open the skeleton’s old clothes and pulled a key out.

“Thanks, old friend. I used to not like you but I didn’t think that you could help me again after so many years.”

He rose and kicked the annoying skeleton off the lift. He walked onto the panel and inserted the key. He twisted it to the bottom.

“Such good luck,” he said to Charles. “With this, we can save a lot of effort.”

Under the grating sounds of the lift descending, Charles looked around in confusion. After a while, it finally dawned on him. “This isn’t a pure material world anymore?”

“This is a piece left behind when establishing the holy city in the aether world back then. It’s scrap waste…the material and aether world overlapped, creating a stable area.”

Gaius inhaled the cold and rotten wind. He murmured, “Abstinence musicians of the territory way turned the scrap into this. It overlaps with the Judgement Tower. Or rather…this is the true Judgement Tower.

“Charles, what you see is the secret that the Sacred City wants to hide under the Judgement Tower. If people find out, they’ll probably send you to the stake to be burned even if you’ve only heard about it.”

“The Sacred City?” Charles was confused. “What did they do here?”

“Many things. Human experimentation, mutation surgery, forbidden research… Humans must make immoral sacrifices for the future. This is something a Choir musician told me. Perhaps madmen have more common topics. I always thought he was right until someone woke me from my beautiful dream.”

Gaius stared at the changing levels outside the lift and said lightly, “Here, they imprisoned the most dangerous criminals, dark musicians, and…natural catastrophes. I had once created this with my own hands. The nations and Sacred City ordered it.

“I created this hell for the future heaven. Later, too many things happened. I betrayed, Ye Lanzhou went crazy, Bai Heng left, and even this place was abandoned. Otherwise, I would probably have to serve a sentence in the institution I once commanded…”

Charles was silent. He gaped at the levels flashing past. There were signs he could not read and should not appear here.

Clinical Experiment Zone.

The Sixth Practice Office.

Extinction.

The Fourth Incubation Room.

Dogma Institution.

Sacrifice Office.

Finally, they descended into the deepest darkness. The lift stopped at the lowest level. Dust danced and Gaius took the lantern under his cloak. He lit it and dim light illuminated his face.

“Come with me,” he said to Charles. “All the secrets you want to know are here.”

There were six steel gates. Standing before them, Charles looked up blankly. The gates reached into the darkness. Compared to them, humanity was as insignificant as dust. This was like the home of deities that had been abandoned. It had once been as glorious as heaven but now, it was so dilapidated.

These gates had been created with the Church’s alloy technology. They could withstand sieges without any damage. However, when Charles walked past them, he saw that there was a gaping crack on all of them. Some places had melted and solidified but riddled with holes. Some places had been torn with giant fingerprints still visible. Other places had been crashed through with a crude hole.

The last door had been yanked out of the wall and crumpled into a ball. It was tossed to the side like a rusty hill.

“Where exactly is this?”

As he advanced, he witnessed unbelievable scenes. There was even the skeleton of a demonic whale in the ruined square. But he didn’t understand what this all was.

“This was the first generation ‘purgatory.’ It’s a prison the Church created to realize God’s punishment in the human world,” Gaius explained. “Even though they made a better one to replace it, its significance is irreplaceable.”

“The Sacred City created a purgatory themselves?”

“Why not?” Gaius asked in return. “Didn’t they create heaven themselves? Charles, this isn’t anything shocking. Compared to their biggest mistake, this place isn’t even worthy to be brought up.

“Here, the world’s best musicians and scholars once grouped. There were prophets from the Rock Institute, cursers from the Mirage Islands, alchemists from the School of Destruction…even Indian monks and Eastern Devas…

“This was once the highest point of the human world. The Trinity College’s research room can’t even be compared to it.” Gaius halted in the center of the dark empty room. “We’re here.”

He suddenly stopped, causing Charles to trip and fall backward. Gaius caught his collar and pulled him over. Meeting Charles’s confused eyes, he lowered the lantern and illuminated the mottled yellow lines on the ground.

“Remember to step outside the yellow lines. Inside it…is a world humans cannot understand.”

In silence, Charles seemed to understand something. He looked into the darkness before him. His vision seemed to pierce through the solid darkness and see the true appearance of the shadows.

His face paled.

Sweat dripped.

Gaius bent down. He placed the lantern by his feet and reached out. Pulling out a burner, he broke it and tossed it into the darkness. Blazing light burst forth, illuminating everything. Beyond the yellow line was the deep abyss! Light bloomed from the burner. It spiraled and fell deep into the darkness, illuminating the terrifying cage before them. It looked like shackles made for a giant. Dozens of thick chains dropped from hundreds of meters above but they were now broken and scattered on the ground.

The burner fell from the podium Charles was at to the ground. It dropped into the dirty water and dimmed. But the dim light still illuminated the terrifying shadows everywhere.

The cage was obviously empty but the light still cast a menacing shadow that filled the entire cage. It was just a shadow but it was horrifying. It was impossible to describe the thing. It seemed to be curled up asleep in the cage but its mere existence was an interrogation on a human’s sanity. All beliefs were shattered.

Three unclear and abnormally shaped heads looked in all directions. Thousands of limbs cast odd shadows, slithering on the metal walls like snakes. As they moved, the metal would sizzle. The shadow was like a beast that radiated with a corrosive aura.

It was just an afterimage. This was a shadow left behind through the ages. It caused this place to lose control completely, turning into an inhumane territory.

“Scared, Charles?” Gaius studied the blurry afterimage with nostalgia. He reached out as if wanting to embrace it. “Here, we achieved something that could never be bested. We defeated, captured, imprisoned…and even dissected a natural catastrophe!”

Charles gaped at the black shadow. It felt like his head would split apart. He stumbled back. After a long while, he murmured, “Hecatoncheir?”

“Charles, this was the cage for Hecatoncheir before it fell.” Gaius looked up at the large shadow as if meeting the eyes of the natural catastrophe that had long gone.

“Humanity captured it while it was in its century-long slumber and placed it here. We racked our minds and put in our blood, sweat, and tears…Finally, we put in all the effort we had, paid every cost we could, to understand something of a natural catastrophe’s nature.”

In the silence, Charles finally recovered from his shock. He looked around in disbelief.

“You…made this?”

Gaius laughed at himself. “Me? I was just a logistics supervisor in this, a supplier. If they wanted blood, I’d give them blood. If they wanted a knife, I’d give them a knife. If they wanted everything, I’d give them everything.

“My job was to satisfy all their requests with all costs. The nations opened the paths for me and the Sacred City vouched for my soul. Everything I was doing was for humanity. That’s what they all told me.”

Gaius smoked his pipe and said quietly, “The one who truly controlled and was responsible for this program was known as the best of the School of Mind in this millennium. He was once one of the nine Eastern royals, a complete Deva. You might have never heard of his name before—Ye Lanzhou. He was the most terrifying creature I’ve met.”

“Ye…Lanzhou?” Charles murmured. This name was familiar but Ye Qingxuan’s face kept appearing in his mind.

“From the surface, his job was to test if it’s possible to communicate with natural catastrophes and give Hecatoncheir a human language,” Gaius said. “He did it well, both his surface and true work.”

“What was he really responsible for?”

“Through communication, humanity learned how to use languages. Through languages, we created souls…” Gaius laughed. “Ye Lanzhou’s goal was Hecatoncheir’s soul. His mission was to instill humanity in Hecatoncheir and bring a natural catastrophe’s power to humanity. He did a good job. He completed something no one could in history and made a huge breakthrough. That was how we stole inhuman power.” He paused and glanced at Charles. “Telling you like this is not direct enough. Follow me.”

He raised the lantern and walked deeper into the darkness. Charles followed behind him. After who knew how long, they entered a long hall.

“Where is this?”

“You can say it’s the showroom for the failures.” Gaius smoked and pushed the door open emotionlessly. “All the failures are displayed here to serve as a warning.”

Behind the first door, a giant corpse was sealed behind transparent albino steel. The odd corpse was like the combination of beasts of the sky and land but it looked more like a human. Ashes remained on the bones as if it had just been taken out of the fire and tossed in the molten steel to be sealed here after solidifying.

“This was the first test product created from the manmade natural catastrophe plan,” Gaius muttered. “With Ye Lanzhou’s genius mind, we created this from Hecatoncheir’s flesh. Unfortunately, demonic things are too hard to control. It went crazy and killed hundreds. Finally, Knights Templar pushed it into the furnace with no regards to cost. The flesh evaporated and all that remained was this skeleton that had turned to steel.” He put down his pipe and glanced at Charles.

“You can see it as…your predecessor.”

Charles froze.

Gaius continued forward and opened the second door. Behind it, there were thousands of embryos. Immersed in antiseptic liquid, they still looked alive and every detail was so lively. However, it could not change…their demonic nature.

They were all demons.

Innumerable demon embryos.

Even Charles only recognized one-third. He had never even heard of the rest.

“The second plan used lessons learned from the first. We gave up on using demons similar to natural catastrophes as a breeding ground. Instead, we used the bacteria forging furnace of Choir musicians. With no need for foreign mediums, we developed Hecatoncheir’s flesh directly to find its original appearance.”

Gaius looked indifferently at the embryos immersed in the glass tubes. “The result is what you see now. As one of the four living objects, Hecatoncheir represents the living organisms of the world. Its blood is also the source of all.

“With his blood, we can observe the nature of demons. Even with a replicate, it can help humans improve tremendously on transformation technology. It was at that time that people realized human and demon blood could be fused after birth to create superhuman soldiers.

“The research information was divided by the nations. Perhaps you have heard of what Anglo took.”

After a pause, Charles asked quietly, “…the Dragon Riders?”

“That’s right.” Gaius nodded. “Under my command, the armies all over the world chose the six hundred most suitable soldiers. After the experiment, two hundred and one survived. Twenty-five percent. With the sacrifices, we received the first legion that could move freely through the Dark World. They did not need to be resupplied or even commanded. But unfortunately…”

Gaius did not finish saying what was so unfortunate. However, Charles could guess what it was. The Dragon Riders were abolished and all members were imprisoned, still not free even today. It was also the start of Abraham’s tragic life.

“Let’s go.” Gaius pushed the door open and stepped into the hall. “Next one.”

The third room was empty. There was nothing in the silence but there was a hot sour smell in the air. It was like the cave of a beast but he saw nothing. Gaius stood in the corner and studied the hole in the wall while smoking. After a while, there was the faint sound of sticky trickling water. Dark sap rushed out of the crack in the wall. The shapeless liquid radiated with a sour smell and writhed on the floor like a living thing.

Under the dim lantern light, Charles saw what it was and tried to stop himself from throwing up.

It was a pile of…ground meat.

Like mud, the flesh rolled on the ground. It circled Gaius like a pet, making weird chirping sounds. When it writhed, faint ripples would go through the dark red body. It flowed and crawled on the ground.

Gaius studied it. After a while, he sighed and petted it. “Little thing, you’re still alive. How’ve you been?”

The writhing flesh made a noise in reply.

“This was the third plan,” Gaius said to Charles. “It’s the only successful one.”

Charles stared at the meat and shuddered. “What…is it?”

“The first and most important step of the manmade natural catastrophe plan,” Gaius said. “We turned man into demon and gave it strong vitality like Hecatoncheir. It has weakened these years. You haven’t seen what it used to be like. Blades, ice, acid, even decomposition had no effect on it.

“In low temperatures, it could grow a shocking insulation layer. In molten steel, it can grow a thermal shell. In a vacuum, it can survive more than four years…It won’t die. As long as it’s alive, no one can kill it.”

“But it…used to be a human…” Charles’s teeth clattered from fear and disgust. He almost threw up. Gaius laughed mockingly and didn’t reply.

“It’s been alive all these years?” Charles asked.

“I’ve said before that it won’t die.” Gaius pointed to the empty room. “There used to be many things here. And the hole in the wall, it must’ve eaten it, right? It’s very obedient. It won’t eat what you tell it not to. Which means, it’ll eat everything else.”

Charles studied the chirping flesh. He could not imagine how it used to be a human… Whenever he thought of this, he wanted to vomit. Goosebumps pricked at his skin.

“Let’s go.” Gaius rose. Looking away from the flesh, he walked out the door.

“Just…leave it here?”

“Let it live here.” Taking one last glance, Gaius murmured, “Other than these ruins, nothing in the outer world will accept it anymore.”

The fourth plan was a withered brain. Apparently, it once contained boundless intelligence and the sparks of inspirations. It could enter a state that humans could not know.

But seven days after its death, it died.

The fifth plan was a strange box…

The sixth plan…

Charles followed Gaius numbly until the man opened the seventh door.

“Charles, this is the seventh plan,” Gaius said. “And the first one that your mother participated in.”

In the darkness, he raised his hand and illuminated what was before him. Behind the large glass wall was some sort of decayed liquid. It was filled with moss and parasites, turning it dark green. They seemed to be standing outside a giant bottle. Through the glass, Charles could see the giant that had been transformed by the liquid.

No, it was not a giant…

Through the moss and other matter, there was a giant object immersed in the foul liquid. The short and fat limbs had turned black. Parts had even crystallized. Half a head of the swollen and stubby body had come out of the water. Outside the liquid, the head had already decayed. Inside, the face had turned white from the water but was still complete.

Charles finally saw it clearly. He stumbled back. Holding onto the wall, he started throwing up. Tears and snot streamed out embarrassingly. He vomited like he wanted to spit out his organs.

It was not a giant.

It was a meters-tall…baby!

“Every time I see how it died, I feel sad,” Gaius murmured to himself as he smoked. “The child of the future, the baby of endless times, the eternal fetus…”

If the other displays scared Charles, this one disgusted him and made him want to retch. This creature was hundreds of times larger than a regular baby. Immersed in the foul liquid, half of it was skeletal while the other half still looked so alive.

Finally recovering, Charles gathered his courage to study the thing. “What the f*ck is that?”

“As you can see, it’s just an infant.” Gaius looked away. “It’s an infant with longevity that had the blood of a natural catastrophe injected into it as an embryo and born after a series of large surgeries.”

“Longevity?” It sounded ridiculous. “How many years do you think that can live?”

“The life expectancy for the average man is fifty years,” Gaius suddenly said. “The rich and powerful nobles take care of their bodies, have healthy meals, and have good doctors that can treat them at any time. Their life expectancy is eighty years. In some places, it can be up to ninety.

“The base life expectancy for musicians is similar. Resonance musicians can live up to one hundred twenty years. After becoming a Scepter, aether transforms the body and they can live up to two hundred years. You can try everything after that and manage to live five more years. If you sublimate into a holy spirit and go into hibernation, you can live three hundred more years. After that, the light goes out and the ashes fly, just like Emperor Aeneas recently.”

Gaius said, “Charles, the maximum number of years humans can preserve their consciousness is five-hundred years. Only five-hundred years. It sounds long but compared to the entirety of the world, it is like dust.

“The rocks under our feet, the dust on our body, the rivers beside us, even the iron we mold, and those terrifying undying natural catastrophes all live much longer than us. In fact, we still don’t know their limits… You are still young and have not yet experienced the fear of aging and terror of dying.

“For sixty-year-old men like me, we feel how we age day by day. Wrinkles crawl like bugs and I must be careful even when walking. I can break a bone just by falling and be overtaken by illness, never to recover. You do not understand the value of longevity and have never had the chance to face this choice.” He stared at Charles. “You can only have one life. If anyone dies, they stay dead. There is no heaven or hell. All that is waiting for you is an eternal void. In that cold eternity, even death loses meaning. Everything we struggle and yearn for in this world is just so we can live a bit longer.”

Eyes cool, Charles pointed at the infant. “How long can it help you live?”

“Decades ago, so many musicians slaved to create it. According to our calculations, it can live more than two thousand years…For the first three hundred, it would look like an infant. It was known as the baby of endless times, the future giant.”

“But it’s dead,” Charles said coldly. “It doesn’t seem to live very long.”

“Infant mortality is unavoidable. You must understand that,” Gaius said. “But the Sacred City already received enough results and data from it.

“According to information, after I left the Sacred City, they found a way for humans to break through the limit and even remain on this world as a regular human. This news has always been locked but to the big figures in the high levels, it’s not much of a secret.

“You only need to pay some things and go through a surgery, and a dying old man would go back to his prime… Didn’t you see it at the square? Archbishop Ludovic that stood beside the pope is the best proof.

“He was the first to undergo the surgery. Twenty years ago, he accepted it at the brink of his death and disappeared. Five years later, he reappeared as an ascetic monk. He walked through the Sacred City with the Holy Grail containing ashes as if he had returned from the kingdom of death.

“All who understood this knelt before him, begging for his blessing and mercy for longevity. That was how the Ecclesiastical Order rose so quickly. Compared to the insubstantial rebirth, nobles care more about living longer now. Ludovic displayed his ability and the dying men raised him up like a god…

“Within a few years, Ludovic grasped more than half of the Sacred City’s power. Now, he has complete control over the city.”

“With your help…” Charles added for him. “You’re his great benefactor.”

“Things aren’t that simple, Charles.” Gaius shook his head, seemingly mocking himself. “I’m just a primer. Even if I hadn’t assassinated the pope, someone else would have. Everyone must become accustomed to their role. Isn’t this something the Revolutionaries must do?”

Charles remained silent.

Boom!

Great shaking came from above them as if the Judgement Tower was about to break apart again. Gaius looked up thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes at the ceiling.

As expected of Ye Lanzhou’s son, he thought.

It was much faster than he had expected but thankfully, he was prepared.

–

Five minutes ago, the Sacred City was still a mess. Explosions happened constantly, throwing the city’s most festive holiday into turmoil.

From a bird’s eye view, cold reflections of armor flowed through the streets like rivers and quickly covered every inch of space. The high towers all began ringing. Musicians constantly rose up into the sky. Everyone radiated with the same aether waves. Following previous training, they instantly connected and went into coherence with the bell towers.

More and more went into coherence until there were hundreds of musicians! Hundreds of grandmasters!

If they attacked any nation, it would be flattened completely within a day. Now, several scepter auras also appeared in the secret depths of the Sacred City. In the Papal Chamber, a majestic aura also rose and transformed into metallic light.

It was an armed shadow riding a giant horse with eight hooves, wielding a spear of lightning, and enveloped in electric light. His mere appearance chased away the layers of fog over the city. It was suffocating.

Saint Wagner!

This saint had retreated to the Papal Chamber due to his age, but now he had been awakened. He guided the countless musicians and created a subtle net. It covered the entire city and divided into several zones, sweeping back and forth.

Next, a giant wind tunnel opened in the Papal Chamber.

In the tunnel of light guarded by furious winds, dozens of auras as powerful as Wagner flowed out. Clearly, the saints outside had received the news and opened the wind tunnels from thousands of miles away. Wind tunnels could not teleport living objects but they could send their powers over.

The auras waited tensely for the worst case scenario. If anyone dared to act brashly, they would be attacked by the combined strength of these saints.

The dust of unrest quickly separated under the net and the situation began settling. However, it was clear that there were still many more problems. Now, they just needed time.

But among the various investigatory waves and ripples, a ray of dim moonlight flashed past. It was agile and fast, going under radar. Even when brushing past the grandmasters, it was like a breeze that did not alert anyone.

Covered by moonlight, Ye Qingxuan flew in the air. He was using the same technique as the purple-eyed griffin from days ago. He used the music theory system within him to construct a territory, isolating him from the outside world. Using the nature disturbance’s repulsion, he flew up.

However, compared to the griffin’s skill of landing and moving lightly like dust, Ye Qingxuan was still inexperienced and awkward.

He flew like a rocket. Not only did the wind whistle, but his turns were sharp and sudden too. He improved quickly within a few minutes but it was just a complete rookie turning into an amateur.

If Lola had not used the ‘illusion realization’ to disguise him, the Sacred City would take him down in a second. This technique could even turn death into an illusion. It was more than enough to disguise him.

Lola had wanted to come too but Ye Qingxuan rejected her. At that time, her expression had been dark.

“Are you sure you don’t need someone to collect your body?”

“Don’t jinx me,” Ye Qingxuan had sighed. “I have something else I need your help with. This will determine whether or not I can go all out, so please.”

“What, help you get reinforcements?”

“In a place like the Sacred City it’s easy to find an enemy, but tfinding reinforcements is harder than finding an archbishop without a lover.” Ye Qingxuan had sighed again. “You have to help me find a place and a person. If he’s not there, then leave the city and don’t look back.”

“Who is that important?”

Ye Qingxuan said a name. After a long pause, Lola sighed and left without speaking.

Ye Qingxuan did not know if Lola had found him, but using his moonlight perception threads, he reached the sky above the Judgement Tower.

Above the silent and broken tower, Ye Qingxuan looked down on the ground. He pulled out the Eye of Silence that he had not worn in a while and exerted all his power. With the help of Anglo’s secret royal artifact, cold moonlight lit up in his eyes, subtly illuminating a wavering shadow.

It was hidden under the tower and rippled as the music theory outside changed. It reached all the way underground. Ye Qingxuan had never seen something like it before.

A hidden territory?

But what attracted Ye Qingxuan more was a figure hidden in the ruins.

In Avalon, the Stein Chamber that contained the royalty’s treasures was more like this. It was created by an individual piece of the aether world. It overlapped with the material world but was definitely not part of the material world.

Even in Ye Qingxuan’s eyes, the figure was wrapped in a layer of water vapor. He was blurry even when Ye Qingxuan stared carefully. He could not tell if the man was a hallucination or really there.

The complex and careful territory had hidden his existence. He was impossible to detect with the naked eye or through observation.

Thankfully, Ye Qingxuan still recognized the griffin mask on his face and those emotionless purple eyes.

“Hey, we meet again,” Ye Qingxuan muttered to himself. He raised a hand and cold moonlight lit up. It solidified; the sharp coldness made his eyes seem fiercer as well.

“Let me greet you again.”

The purple-eyed griffin still had not noticed him. Ye Qingxuan threw down the sword!

In the past, the sword that Ye Qingxuan created with the Sword movement was just an insubstantial shadow. But now, with the support from the grandmaster level Bell Tower, Heaven Ladder instantly crossed an unimaginable distance and extracted power from the depths of the aether sea without creating any ripples or waves.

Ye Qingxuan now held a heavy sword of a few meters long. Once connected to the Heaven Ladder, the music score Ye Lanzhou had created released incredible power. The sword was created by solidified moonlight. Like crystal, it was clear and translucent. However, heart-shaking hallucinations flashed past. After integrating with Ye Qingxuan’s own music theory, the Abstinence music theory framework of Moonlight was combined with the essences of Illusion and Mind. Finally, it used Revelations to lock onto the enemy’s location. Even if he was thousands of miles away, Ye Qingxuan could aim precisely using Heaven Ladder to lock onto the sound of heart.

This was the first time Ye Qingxuan experienced the power given by the Bell Tower. He greedily sucked at the power. After all, with the Philosopher’s Stone, he did not need to worry about the pressure. If he had the Chapters of Golden Victory at hand, he could even cast Kingdom Come.

With Ye Qingxuan’s urging, the moonlight sword’s power increased again. Under the crisp sound of crystallization, the moonlight on the blade thickened. Finally, it was like flowing mercury that radiated with metallic light and murder.

That instant, the purple-eyed griffin in the ruins sensed something. He looked up.

Soon, he saw the abnormal moonlight. He could not tell what happened behind it but the change in music theory he felt sent warning bells ringing.

At that moment, Ye Qingxuan smiled and let go.

Silently, the moonlight sword fell from the sky! Moonlight was not solid, only the grouping of spirits, but anything with a consciousness heard a strange, abnormal, and loud screech!

Merely the whistle of breaking through the air was hair-raising.

Mercury-like moonlight rushed down the crystallized sword, projecting the sight of a rainbow piercing the sun. In an instant, all the murderous intent in the blade came at him!

The purple-eyed griffin shook. Rather than escaping, he extended a gloved hand and pointed at the falling sword. Tremendous waves crashed in the aether sea!

In the air, there was the sound of metal clashing and colliding. The cacophony grated everyone’s ears. The sound that was impossible to analyze unexpectedly began to construct a music theory. It swept the aether into a score that Ye Qingxuan did not understand.

It was that strange cacophony again!

Ye Qingxuan remembered the last failure clearly. After thinking it through, he finally understood what it was. Naturally, he had a solution for it.

Subconsciously, Ye Qingxuan used the interpretation method to hear the noise. The music notes it was made up of were reordered in his mind. Their original appearance was revealed!

Gregorian chant!

It was a Gregorian chant!

The purple-eyed griffin used a strange music interpretation method to extract the essence and structure of the music score. Removing the original chant, he replaced it with the strange noise. He had reinterpreted it with a musician’s understanding of the score. It was like how a talented musician could just whistle without performing to reach a level that regular musicians could never reach.

But what the griffin used was a cacophony that encroached and attacked all music theory. If Ye Qingxuan did not understand this or could not guess what score was used, he could only get beaten and dragged into the griffin’s rhythm.

In a blink, Ye Qingxuan found the music score hidden within.

Its format was…Passion!

His pupils constricted. Passion was definitely one of the highest of the highest level Abstinence scores. Only musicians above the Distortion level could attempt it. None of the scores created with the theme of a saint’s passion were simple!

The original meaning of passion was to be tormented in place of someone else. In the School of Abstinence, its deeper meaning was to replace the world’s rules with one’s own music theory. It would wipe all common knowledge, disturb all laws, and turn the music theory into the spindle of the material world. It would create a space like the aether world in the material world.

Simply put, it was legendary!

In an instant, powerful music theory rushed out of the griffin and swept in all directions. Then, the moonlight sword landed silently. It pierced his palm, his face, and fell, coming out of his feet. However, his body was undamaged like a hallucination.

The sword went through his body and buried in the earth. Finally, it crashed onto the patch of light that Ye Qingxuan saw with the Eye of Silence. It suddenly shattered and shook. However, the strange thing hidden in the Judgement Tower was undamaged.

In the sky, Ye Qingxuan’s expression twisted.

It was nature disturbance!

Again!

Different from the stubborn self-preservation of the Shadow Cereus, the griffin used disturbance to change his own nature. This way, the moonlight washed over his body like true moonlight without any power.

When Passion was unfolded, he became insubstantial. He was right there but so far away. In the School of Abstinence, this type of ‘vacuum’ was a state that all musicians dreamed to reach. Once at this level, only Abstinence musicians at his level could touch him. Everyone else could only get beaten. Therefore, it was comparable to incredible techniques such as ‘element incarnation’ and ‘illusion realization.’ This did not mean that the ‘vacuum’ was undefeatable. It also had its weaknesses and solutions. Sadly, Ye Qingxuan could not do any of it.

The most common was to find a musician from the School of Destruction. The vacuum was nothing before destruction…

Faced with someone who used their attainments so rudely, Ye Qingxuan was pissed but had no counterattack solution for the time being. The simplest was to clench his jaw, stomp his feet, and close his eyes.

He would enter the Dreamscape.

The Wrymrest Enchantment was known as the prototype of the Ultimate. It was the nemesis of all music scores and aether. Unfortunately, it could not distinguish between friend and foe. At that time, the griffin would be powerless but…Ye Qingxuan was still in the sky! Would he try to kill the griffin by crashing into him?

Seeing that Ye Qingxuan was powerless, the griffin’s eyes were still emotionless. He reached out and smashed the air before him. The grating cacophony rose and turned into something that broke down one’s sanity.

The counterattack was starting!

But then he saw Ye Qingxuan shake his head.

In Ye Qingxuan’s eyes, countless streams of moonlight swept. No, it was not an illusion… It was a reflection!

Under the griffin’s feet, deep underground, above the strange territory created by the piece of aether, the mercury sword began falling apart. It was like a spring being dug in the ground. The crumbling sword erupted with endless moonlight. Like water, it turned into a flood and rushed in all directions. It whistled from the earth into the sky.

In an instant, it was like the seas breaking barriers. Countless floods of moonlight seeped from the ground. They grouped into a whirlpool that charged forward. The moonlight sword had pierced the material world and opened a crack that led to the aether sea. So much aether assimilated into the moonlight, turning into a tide that crashed forward.

In an instant, the moonlight swallowed everything, turning into a sea.

It was a sea of moonlight.

Looking down from the sky, the powerful moonlight sea grouped in the ruins of the tower. It instantly went from angry waves to something as calm as a mirror.

On the sea, the griffin looked down in confusion at the calm and deep moonlight underfoot. He seemed to hear the crashing waves at the bottom of the sea.

“This…”

In a blink, the ruins became beautiful. Under the pure light, the moonlight sea was as still as a mirror. It reflected everything in the world. Inside it, he did not know if he was on the ground or in the sky. Compared to it, everything became as significant as dust.

Even himself.

All ugliness and unrest disappeared. Everything was immersed in the quiet and beauty. It was an eerie and cold beauty. It had no emotions or directions. It would never change for anyone, merely existing for itself.

It cared not for the audience’s acknowledgment or criticism.

Thus, it was terrifying in its beauty.

“This is what Moonlight is,” Ye Qingxuan murmured. He reached out and Jiu Xiao Huan Pei played an intense melody. The silence was shattered.

Something began rising from the sea. The shockingly large thing emerged bit by bit from the aether sea. It quickly reached the ‘water surface’ with strong undercurrents. The wild waves and terrifying boom shattered the mirror-like sea of moonlight. It danced frantically with beautiful light and shadows.

The moonlight was evaporating. Countless fleeting illusions dissipated in the sky. In the last moment, so close, the object that had risen from the sea finally revealed itself.

It was a giant moon!

Like an ancient legend replayed, the large white moon would fall into the sea at dawn and rise up again at dusk. It was a cycle.

Thus, a quiet and serene star broke from the still moonlit sea and rose into the sky. Amidst the wild aether waves, countless music theory changed. Some sublimated, others fell apart. The territory created by Passion was destroyed.

It was utter destruction.

The sky and earth, top and bottom, far and near, everything became a blur. Did the rim of moonlight rise up from the sea underfoot? Or had it fallen from up above?

There was no way to think carefully because the moment they discovered it, it was already before their eyes.

There was nowhere to run or hide.

This was the pure white moon that Ye Qingxuan created. Integrated with the sub-originator as the core, he created a vast entity in the depths of the aether sea.

Thus, Ye Lanzhou’s symphony of predestination was reborn.

The Moon Above the Sea!

The rumbling came from above. In the darkness, the steel ‘purgatory’ shook. Dust fell in clumps.

“Time is running short. Follow me.” Gaius walked forward. “There are many more things to show you.”

But Charles remained in his spot. “Sir, I’ve seen enough.”

Gaius looked back in confusion.

“Thank you for letting me see so many secrets and know so many things but I didn’t come here for them.” Charles clenched his fist and said quietly, “I came here for my mother.”

Gaius was silent.

“I only want to know what her name was, where she came from… If you want me to beg you, I will. If you want me to kneel, I will. I just wish you will tell me about my mother.” Charles lowered his head and pleaded to the man before him. He had no smile or any frivolous expressions. He used all the lowliness in his life to beg the man.

“Sir, that’s all I want.”

Gaius smoked and breathed it out quietly. After a long while, he sighed. “Charles, didn’t you already see it? Isn’t this hell that you’re looking at created by your mother?”

Charles froze. He stared at Gaius and started shaking involuntarily in fear from the words. In the silence, Gaius walked up. He touched Charles’s shoulder with pity.

“You should’ve guessed it already. Have you started lying to yourself again?”

Charles shook his head and squeezed out, “This…is impossible.”

“How is it impossible, Charles?” Gaius looked at him with pity. “Did you think that your mother lived in a fairy tale? Stop kidding yourself. Since the beginning, she was the developer of the purgatory. All the plans had to go through her. She personally participated in more than half. Your mother created all of this, including you…”

“Stop!” Charles interrupted him and glared. “My mother…she…” He did not know what to say or how to refute Gaius. He wanted to say, my mother isn’t like that. She’s so gentle and pretty when she smiles and was so happy even before death. She’s great. Please don’t compare her to scum like you. But he could not say it. He knew that, perhaps, what Gaius said…was true.

“I’m sorry, Charles. I want to make your mother seem kind and benevolent, gentle as the moon, but she isn’t. She is the madwoman that the nations and Sacred City chose for this purgatory.” Gaius walked forward, forcing Charles back until he was against the wall. The old man’s voice was quiet yet so, so cruel.

“You haven’t even seen one-third of everything she’s done, Charles. There’s still the eighth plan, the ninth, the tenth, and the most inhumane eleventh plan…

“Did you know how horrible the virus your mother created to research the bacterial theory and let loose in the faraway cities was? She personally created the laboratory for rabies mutation, turning many commoners into cannibalistic demons…But that is not all. There are many more records buried underground. Much more that hasn’t been uncovered yet.

“Ever since she entered this organization, all her past records were wiped. The Sacred City vouched for her purity and soul. No matter how dirty the deeds were, as long as she contributed to the city, they would fulfil all her desires.”

“Enough…” Charles gritted his teeth, wishing Gaius would shut up but he continued.

“Were you anticipating that she loved you? Impossible, Charles. Your mother, Lilith, is a devil born from power. She did everything to climb upward. ‘Family’ was a negative word for her. To her, only the ignorant would use bloodlines to find refuge.

“Love was nothing to her. She only needed to wave a hand and countless people would be fighting to crawl into her bed. Even the archbishops were obsessed with her fiery hair and beautiful looks.

“Even if she was disabled and could not speak, just her eyes were enough to intoxicate someone. Even in the end, she used the Sacred City’s trust in her to take one more step and created you…”

Boom! His words stopped suddenly. Some kind of power was unleashed as Charles screamed. It was like thousands of hands scratching at everything in sight. Under the piercing noise, the power shot out and lifted Gaius, slamming him against the wall. It wanted to break every inch of his body. Sticky blood trickled from his nose.

The old pipe fell down and was pulverized by the pressure. Sparks flew, falling among the shattered pieces of the lantern, igniting the oil. Thus, firelight appeared in the purgatory again.

“I don’t believe it…I don’t believe it!” Charles panted heavily under the horrible noise. He glared at Gaius with his reddening eyes. He roared with all his might, “You’ve lied to me enough from the beginning!”

Boom! Horrible strength shattered the steel ground and walls. It spread out like an earthquake created deep underground. Everything cracked under the faint ripples. Charles did not know what was wrong with him. He just…turned into a beast for some reason, turned into…a creature he did not understand…

Furious, he roared. The terrible strength could shatter Gaius in a moment but pressed against the wall, he smiled mockingly.

“Don’t believe me?” Gaius smiled and jutted his chin forward. He rasped out, “Then look back, Charles. Look at her creation.”

Charles froze in silence. After a long while, he turned bit by bit as if in fear of the nightmare. Behind him, the giant infant that slept in the foul liquid behind the cracked glass had been shattered. His bones cracked and his decayed flesh fell into the disgusting water like mud. The half-decayed head broke from the neck and sank into the pool like a ripe fruit. All that remained were two white eyes, staring at Charles.

In the dim firelight, Charles saw his own pale face in the reflections on the broken glass. His face had combined with the creature into one.

“Not me…” Charles shook his head and gurgled, “It’s not me!” He screamed and waved his hand furiously, trying to prove to someone. He roared, “This isn’t me!”The terrible power seemed to vanish along with the strength supporting him. He collapsed and curled up in the corner, crying silently.

“Charles, I was going to reveal the truth at the end.” Gaius looked down at him and sighed. “I thought these things would prepare you mentally but it seems that I was too impatient.”

Curled up in the corner, Charles buried his face as if scared of the firelight behind him.

“Mr. Constantine…I…” He grabbed at his hair in pain. Broken hairs fell down and burned like fire. He could feel that something terrifying was living inside him. It flowed in his blood, hid in his breaths, felt joy when he cried, and wanted to become one with him.

It was an inhuman strength. It seemed to be a gift from the abyss of death, making him fear himself. Almost crazed, he roared in hysteria, “What…am I?!”

Gaius looked at him, his eyes softening.

Smoke rose up in plumes from his pipe. It seemed that everything buried in the past would now be uncovered. The secrets hidden in the shadows were brought to the light, showing their ugliness.

“Twenty years ago, the failure of the fifteenth plan brought an unprecedented disaster,” he said. “The Black Death spanned more than half of the West. In its path, all villages were wiped out and the corpses decayed into white bone. Those bones still remain in the ruins today.

“You’ve never seen something like that before. Someone could go to the river to drink water, fall sick, and topple in. The river became foul from all the corpses. Black-clothed musicians wore the masks of crows and carried torches to burn all the affected areas into dust. Both the dead and living would burn.

“In a mere half month, three million died before the vaccine was created. Under the strong requests and oppositions from the nations, the purgatory was forced to stop. The Sacred City ended most research and locked the information.

“At that time, Ye Lanzhou finally realized he had been deceived. He realized what his supposedly innocent research had turned into. Therefore, he decided to cut ties with the Sacred City…”

Gaius paused and shook his head with a sigh. “Got off topic again… At that time, your mother was also forced into desperation. The Sacred City stripped her of her rights and experiments, taking over all her research. Then she disappeared.

“When the Sacred City realized that she had taken the new blood in the Holy Cauldron, it was too late. They signed an erasure agreement with me to take the holy blood back and erase all trace of her existence, including herself.” Gaius chuckled.

“We underestimated her. I didn’t realize until I found her secret lab that she had never thought of using the holy blood as a bargaining chip with the Sacred City. All plans in the purgatory were to pave way for her final goal. We helped her pave this road so that she could…implant the holy blood in her own body! She wanted to create an unmatchable miracle. She personally turned a human into a natural catastrophe and carried it in her womb!

“I used ten months to find her in a village besieged by demons. When I found her, she was close to death and I thought she had failed. I was wrong.” Gaius squatted down. Holding Charles’s face, his eyes grew wild. “Charles, she succeeded! She created you! Different from the ‘vessels,’ you’re the only physical incarnate of the holy blood in history!

“Don’t you feel it? You’re different from the others. You were born to rise above all. Your nature determined your difference from the average man. When I saw you again, I knew that she truly had given birth to God’s child! The Bible was correct. Charles, you will walk on this earth in place of God, revaluing all.

“You came to this world so we will muster our troops and once again shake the skies, seas, and land. You will shake the world! All treasures will come for you and create the temple of glory for you!”

Charles stared blankly at the fire in Gaius’s eyes. He seemed to had heard a horrible joke, so horrible that he could not even smile.

“Liar…” Charles choked. Using all his might, he shook off Gaius’s hand. “You’re all liars!” Clutching his throbbing head, he mumbled in pain, “Mother… I remember she was pretty when she smiled. She was still smiling when she died!”

Yes, that woman had been smiling.

“When she saw me, she smiled so gently…she’s a good person, I remember, she’d rather die than kill me…”

She was not a freak. She was not!

“I remember it…I always remember it…” Charles sobbed in pain. With the last of his strength, he screamed at Gaius, “She clearly said in her last moment…she said she was happy!”

Gaius looked at him silently. He allowed Charles to scream in hysteria and accepted the blows without moving. He allowed Charles to shake him in craze.

Finally, Charles had no more strength. He knelt onto the ground like a poor thing without bones. Tears and snot streamed down his face. He bowed his head to Gaius. “Let me go, sir.” Kneeling, he tugged at Gaius’s pants and mumbled, “Let go of me and my teacher. I can even lick your boots. I just wanted to make some money for Professor. I’m not even a good musician, sir. You must be wrong. I’m not the child of some god. I’m just a failure.”

“Charles, why can’t you face your true self?” Gaius petted his hair gently. His eyes were soft and filled with pity. “Fate is the key. It had already awakened your true nature. You’re different from before.

“The average man cannot choose their fate but you can create a different future. It is supernatural power and the foundation to reach the Originator. It had chosen you. You are now its owner.

“The new era will come. We are all dirt before its wheels. Everything will change because of you. This is a destined revolution and I cannot stop it. No one can.”

Charles stopped speaking. He just cooled down as if all warmth was taken away. Finally, he raised his pale face. His eyes were like dead ashes. He begged the man before him as if begging for salvation.

“Mr. Constantine, everything you said to me…you’re lying, right?”

Gaius looked away, not daring to meet his eyes. After a long while, he nodded slowly. “Yes, your mother is just a poor mute woman who was taken as a lab rat. Everything I said was a lie.” His back was to Charles and his expression was hidden.

A slimmer of hope lit up in Charles’s eyes. He crawled up and asked fearfully, “Was her life happy?”

After a pause, Gaius shook his head. “No,” he murmured. “She was the daughter of a poor fisherman. She sacrificed herself in exchange for money to cure her brother. She was a kind woman and always had been. She sacrificed everything for you.”

“I knew it!” Charles tugged his sleeves. “Was Professor forced like this too?”

“Yes, I used the past to threaten him and force him to work with me.”

“I see.” Charles smiled. He was clearly crying but he was happy as if finally freed. He embraced Gaius in gratitude and said excitedly, “Then…can I still go home?” He was full of anticipation. “Like before, everyone’s happy together. I can still fool around with Yezi, give Professor trouble, mess around with Bai Xi, and scare kids with Old Phil at night… Sir, I can still do that, right? I know you have solutions.”

Gaius closed his eyes sadly and did not answer.

“Sir?” Charles’s smile froze on his face. Crying, he grabbed Gaius’s shoulder. “Sir, why aren’t you speaking? You aren’t lying again, are you?”

“I’m sorry, Charles. I can’t do it.” Gaius shook his head. “You deserve everything but only this is impossible.”

This was the last judgement.

Charles stopped crying and stopped smiling. It had finally dawned on him; he finally understood the future waiting for him. He hung his head in hopelessness as if he had lost his soul.

Gaius reached out. He wiped Charles’s tears and snot with his handkerchief, wiping his face clean. Under the dim firelight, Charles seemed to have been reborn. The blank face was beautiful as if made by God. It was flawless, despite the fact that it was lifeless.

Boom! Another explosion came. The entire place seemed to shake on the brink of collapse. Cracks snaked across the walls. They did not have much time left.

“Come with me, Charles. Come with me.” Gaius reached out with solemn eyes. As if he was facing a powerful deity, he requested humbly and gravely, “You are the child born from the holy blood. You are different from the pope. You are the one who should inherit the Holy Cauldron. You will make this world better!”

Staring at Charles’s face, he said hoarsely, “I swear to you, I will bring you back some day so you can take back all you deserve! Someday, you will take back the life you lost!”

Charles looked in silence. After a long, long time, fire lit up in those empty eyes again. Like thunder colliding with fire, the power was overbearing. Looking at Gaius’s hand, he reached out and grasped it.

As if grasping his last salvation, it was filled with hope.

–

The shaking grew in intensity. Deep under the secret territory, in the lowest level of the purgatory, Wolf Flute stood with his lantern. The light illuminated the top secret archive. The dust-filled room was completely silent. Not even a ghost would stay here.

Wolf Flute walked in the darkness. Following the signs, he opened a door and studied the files stored there. After all these years, the files had aged. Shelved by category, the documents smelled like old paper and had all yellowed. These records of past experiments were placed here, sleeping where no one would ever visit.

Wolf Flute murmured the numbers in his mind and pulled out the innermost document. Confirming that it was the right one, he nodded and brought the lantern closer. The flame crawled onto the paper and swallowed it.

Wolf Flute let go, allowing it to fall onto the ground. The flames spread like an insatiable creature, gradually sweeping the entire archive into its belly. Thus, the last trace of the past disappeared with the fire.

Wolf Flute turned and left.

In the spreading fire, in the ashes, the remaining ink marks seemed to come to life. They danced in the fire. Wind came from somewhere and the picture between the pages floated out.

The woman who had died danced in the fire like a butterfly.

The buried stories disappeared. No one would ever know about them.