Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When faced with the Emperor’s rejection, the old musician was stunned for some time before he regained his senses and tried to persuade him, “But, Your Majesty…”
“There are no ‘buts’ about this.” The Emperor looked at him and countered, “Did we declare war against Anglo because we wanted to conquer their lands? No, we did so because we don’t want Anglo interfering in the subsequent battles!”
The old musician was confused. “But… that’s…”
“It’s very simple.” The Emperor smiled. “As long as Anglo no longer exists.” With that, he waved his hand in a sweeping motion, which left the old musician feeling chills all over his body. The old musician understood what he meant. He trembled in fear and finally knelt on the ground. “Please think twice, Your Majesty!”
Unlike what he had thought initially, the reason why the Emperor was not upset was not that the plan was a long-term one, but because Anglo was as good as gone to him. He had already given Anglo the death sentence. Now that they had Gungnir in their possession, they had control over destruction. Since Anglo had chosen to be troublemakers, then there was no need to waste any more energy on trying to conquer or invade it. All they would have to do was use Gungnir against Anglo and wipe them off the map completely!
With regards to the old musician’s plea, the Emperor was indifferent. “My mind is already set.”
The old musician was silent for a long time. When he finally looked up at the Emperor sitting on the throne, he shouted in a hoarse voice, “Your Majesty, have you gone mad?!”
The Emperor laughed coldly. “Are there any emperors in this world that are not mad?”
The old musician shook his head. “This… this is going overboard!”
The Emperor countered, “Are there any battles in this world that do not go overboard?”
“No, no…” The old musician shook his head. “Even if we wanted to, the Church would never allow Asgard to do this.”
“They will.” The Emperor’s face was solemn. He looked at the report of the Stronghold on Sea that had been placed beside his hand. His gaze became cold all of a sudden. “After all, we have already indulged the Church before in the past, haven’t we?”
The old musician kept quiet for a long time. “Since Your Majesty has already made up your mind,” with tears in his eyes, the old musician, who had served Asgard his entire life, continued, “please allow me to carry out this order.”
If someone has to be punished for this, then let me be the one to be burned at the stake after all this destruction is over. I will do anything for Asgard.
…
At the foot of a desolated mountain range in the World of Dark, a saint, by the name of Wagner, was seated on a chair and was staring at the lightning cloud in the distance. The lightning cloud obscured the sky and sun. In the darkness, there was thunder and lightning. Countless roars could be heard from some distance away. He had no idea what might be going on over there.
Compared to the time when he was chased away from the Sacred City by Ludovic, he looked much younger now. The closer he was to the brink of death, the better he looked. In fact, he had not had to take his asthma medicine too often now. Perhaps, this was terminal lucidity. Even he knew that he did not have much time left in this world.
He sat on the chair beneath the trees and stared into the distance as if he was guarding the broken wooden house behind him. There was only silence in the dim wooden house.
The lamp swung slightly as the old Bach was cooking his dinner. He was using the wooden staff in his hands as fire plow as they fiddled with the flames in the stove. The food spun around in the metal pot. They had a weird smell that was unappetizing. Behind him, countless shards appeared out of nowhere before piecing together to form the image of the King of Red. It was like a miracle that he traveled across tens of thousands of miles to reach this wooden house. He looked at the back of the King of Blue. “At this stage, do you still intend to sit by and do nothing?”
Bach lowered his head and looked at the fire before adding two more pieces of wood. After he was sure that the flames would not be extinguished, he stood up and tossed the wooden staff aside before sitting in front of the King of Red. “God should not appear in this world. Isn’t that the lesson that the previous Kings of Blue has been trying to tell us?” He looked at King of Red in the face and asked calmly. “Besides, haven’t I already tried to do something about it? It’s just that I did not succeed.”
King of Red chuckled. He was clearly ticked off by the pathetic excuse. “This is your excuse for sitting by and doing nothing?”
“Even if I were to do something, who should I help?” Bach asked, “According to bloodline, the person sitting on the Anglo throne right now is my long-distance niece and is the only person in this world I can call family. Do you think I should help Anglo?”
The expression on the King of Red was cool. “What kind of fool are you? Don’t you know what is going on? Stop deceiving yourself and stop deceiving me. Bach, compared to the previous King of Blue, you know better than all of them, so stop using that stupid excuse. Tell me, why have you not tried to reign in Caucasian? Isn’t that your duty?”
Bach was silent for a long time before he shook his head slowly. “The wars of mankind should be started and ended by them. As for other aspects, we don’t have much influence over them even if we really want to.” He looked at King of Red with a stern expression on his face. “The more we do, the more mistakes we make!”
The expression on King of Red softened. “I don’t wish to see something like this happen but right now, you are the only who can solve this problem.”
“I can solve this problem? How? Destroy Caucasian? I can do that easily but are you sure?” Bach countered, “You want me to save the Church but that will only show everyone the inhumane side of the Church… In the end, regardless of who wins the war, the Church will have a difficult time maintaining its status as the guide of mankind. At the end of the day, either the Church rules over mankind, or mankind will desert the Church! Regardless of which outcome prevails, the Church would have lost the true purpose and meaning for its existence in the first place! No, from the day when the countries began to rebel, you should have known that the Church’s shackle can no longer hold back the ambitions of mankind…” He paused for a while and sighed helplessly. “Let it go, Sancta Sedes. Let the Church bow out from this in glory while it still can.”
“Are you sure you want to hand everything over to Gaius?” King of Red stared coldly at him. “Bach, don’t you know what kind of a lunatic he is? He doesn’t even know what he really wants. For so many years, he had been like a scale, where more and more people are placing their wishes and weights onto him. He gave up Romulus for the City of Wolf, only to give it up for a greater vision. He gave up the Sacred City for revolution. Ever since he lost sight his own goal, this lunatic had become the wishing well for others. So many people have made sacrifices for him. There is no way he can stop now. That warped sense of duty created a monster like Caucasian. If they are not reigned in, it is only a matter of time before mankind destroys themselves! Now, I don’t need you to destroy Caucasian or Gaius. Let mankind settle their own problems. But it is your duty to eliminate that monster that calls himself the son of God! Stop running away from it!”
“With regards to that child, you don’t have to worry.” There was not a hint of a smile on Bach’s face. He only continued calmly, “In fact, I don’t even need to do anything. He is more naïve than anyone can imagine, and this naivety will cause him to lose sight of his path. One day, he will recognize the distance and difference between mankind and himself. Mankind may create Gods, but Gods are destined to die in the hands of mankind.”
“Are you speaking from experience?” King of Red laughed coldly and his tone was full of sarcasm.
“Perhaps.” Bach stood up and looked at the metal pot that was boiling. “I am going to have my meal now. You should leave. If you believe what I have said, then stop worrying about those problems. Just remember not to interfere.”
King of Red took a final look at him and said, “I will.”
The figure turned into illusion instantaneously as countless shards vanished. He left.
Bach was silent for a long time before he finally pushed open the door. He could hear the roar above the vault in heaven. “It’s going to rain,” he muttered quietly.
…
The lightning clouds gathered. One night later, the sky of Asgard was like a huge bowl that was filled with rust. It hung high in the sky and covered the entire central region. Terrifying beams of light were being cultivated behind the dark clouds. They revealed themselves through small cracks once in a while and were so powerful that they were capable of hurting one’s eyes. At this moment, the sky was occupied by thunder behind the thick layers of clouds.
Under the control of Tree of World, countless waves of electricity rumbled towards the core until they formed rows and rows of Lances of Thunder that aimed in the direction of Anglo. At this moment, under the command of the Emperor, the Tree of World had borne so many fruits of destruction that they filled up the entire branch.
At the top of the white tower, the old musician silently stared down at the lands that were far beneath him. He could feel the final moments of peace before the storm. After a long time, he sighed quietly. “May my sacrifice be worth something.”
He closed his eyes and raised his palms. Hugging tightly to his chest was the mud plate that was in a terrible state. It was trembling and the wedge-shaped music notes began to light up one by one. The music theory and spirituality that had been embedded in the mud plate began to flow out and onto his entire body.
In that instant, he opened his eyes and burning holy light shot out of them. Flaming-red alchemy formation extended from the tower to cover his entire body. He was controlling it with his will and right now, it was turning him into a monster. He took a deep breath in and howled in fury. Countless thunder could be heard everywhere. In the next instant, the fruit of destruction fell from the branch.
…
It was as if countless pieces of glass had crashed against each other. Their screeching and scraping sounds could be heard from the clouds. The ear-piercing sounds were just like a living creature, as if some sort of snake was slithering in the vault in heaven and amongst the clouds, heading towards Caucasian from Asgard. Wherever the invisible screeching sounds passed, there would be countless streaks of lightning left behind above the vault in heaven, as if they were wet traces left behind by earthworms wriggling in the damp earth. Within a split second, it had arrived above the vault in heaven in Anglo.
In that instant, Ye Qingxuan woke up with a start in the black box. He raised his head and looked up at the vault in heaven. The net of aether released an ear-shattering siren! First, it would be three bursts! Three rows of burning lightning struck from the sky and bypassed the highly-guarded Avalon, as if God had tossed Gungnir down from the clouds!
The islands howled in despair. The Dragon of Gold was roaring in fury as the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth began to glow and blocked off the attack of Gungnir. The first burst might not have achieved its purpose but the thunder had yet to dissipate.
Shortly after, nine bursts! The rust in the bowl of destruction turned into a powerful storm that rained down on all of Anglo!
