Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Iberia was the peninsula that had once looked at the Anglo Kingdom from across the sea. Now, a roar came from the reefs that waves had crashed against for millennia.
An earthquake shook the dark cliffs made of various kinds of metals, and cracks appeared.
A thin stake of iron floated in the air. It had a bone-like texture. Under attack from some invisible power, it wedged itself into the deepest part of the mountain.
It created a hole as thick as a person’s waist. One could hear it echoing in the depths of the earth.
It pierced through the mountain nearly all the way from top to bottom. After passing through rock formations, mud and stone, the iron pillar with the black gold core reached a depth of hundreds of meters below sea level.
Cold wind blew out from the depths of the earth as if a crypt had been opened.
“There were no errors in the leyline survey.” The prospecting musician standing at the mouth of the cave lifted the construction blueprints in his hand and nodded to the engineer behind him. “The third Iberian branch range is here. The target exploration is complete, and the equipment can be prepared to enter.”
And so, a sharp, high pitched scream came from the heavy steel ship on the sea.
After smashing through reefs in the shallows, it came under the cliff. Soon, the transformation musician on the deck waved and caused dozens of containers to float up and hang in the air.
As the containers opened on all sides, the heavy steel that was sealed within them scattered into the air and were quickly caught by an invisible hand. Under the support of the aether, dozens of mass production musicians manipulated the iron material and equipment into the air with great strain. Finally, they aimed them at the cave on the cliff.
The musician presiding over the project lifted his terminal and dialed the illusory module. After quickly verifying his sound of heart and identity, he connected to Avalon, which was thousands of miles away.
A low voice rang out through the chaotic noise, “This is Stein Chamber zero. In the records, this is listed as node no. 5684, Iberia no. 3 branch connection project site. The leyline survey was correct. Requesting central second-tier interface and construction authorization.”
After a brief, silent wait, the answer came, “Second-tier relay authorization has been opened up. The Iberian main leyline has been confirmed. Gentlemen, you may carry out your construction. I authorize you in the name of the supreme network.”
Through the complicated music theory that was transmitted from thousands of miles away came a calm and cold voice, “Establish the foundations of the earth, prop up the tent of the sky, the eternal world will be created here!”
Quiet movements played along with the calm voice, and the music theory from Avalon unfolded with it, awakening the sleeping steel in the sky.
Among the flying sparks and electricity, steel and iron grinded together, producing a sharp sound that expounded the chaotic tides of the movement. When it fell to the ground it caused the earth to tremble, turning it into a huge drum.
Main stake, foundation, hydraulic damper, aether diverter valve…
Layer upon layer of steel fell from the sky at gravity’s pull, taking root in the cave. Rivets wedged in, screws fastened, and in a flash, the steel rose up.
It was like a sharp skeleton that would pierce the sky.
Then a layer of attached facilities was put together.
In the long roar, steel buildings dozens of meters high were growing at an incredible speed. In the end, they were full-grown, and their outlines were hideous.
“Sound the first bell!” The royal musician who presided over the project ordered. “No. 5684, synchronization sequence!”
The steel tower trembled as a huge shock ran through it from top to bottom, reaching the depths of the earth and causing a huge roar in the cavity.
The magnificent bell rang through the thick earth.
The ocean trembled.
Far away in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, the Net of Aether high in the sky still maintained its calm operation. Only one of its small modules was slightly turbulent. Thousands of miles away across the sea of aether the first reverberations passed to the country across the sea.
A blazing light shone above the tower.
“Sound the second bell!” the musician shouted excitedly. “Begin verification!”
The earth trembled again as the bell in the cavity in the leyline made a loud sound, conveying its message to the distant country and accepting brand-new music theory.
“Sound the third bell!” the musician shouted. “Confirm the music theory protocol!”
The enthusiastic engineers pulled the cables quickly and waited for the final echo.
Far away, a blazing torrent appeared above the ocean, shining like the sun. It was an endless stream of aether flowing into the deep sea. The fixed leyline, guided by sea markers, ran across thousands of miles of the ocean. The intense light penetrated the ocean, forming a golden stream.
In the end, it gathered up in the cave in the leyline and rose to the sky along an established path. It gushed out from the top of the instrument of harmonious melody towards the sky and gathered together with thousands of beams of light.
The light was like a drifting aurora. A silver ribbon danced in the night sky, giving a thrilling magnificence to the sky that had been burnt red by the flames.
That was how the bell rang.
Amid the sound of everyone cheering, the musician in charge of the project looked silently at the sky. After a while, he turned and said, “How many are there?”
“Counting the time, shouldn’t there be 27?” His assistant flipped through the schematics and smiled bitterly. “According to the schedule, by the end of tomorrow, our six teams will have to repair forty in Iberia. It’s a big project. The superiors run their mouths and we have to run around. They’re talking about saving the world, but in fact, all we can do is work overtime.”
“I’m not asking about us.” The musician shook his head, and the light from the sky glinted off his chin. “Look at that. Nobody knows about that.”
The assistant’s bitter smile froze, and he shook his head slightly. “Probably even that group of executioners couldn’t figure that out. The tower that we’re building here would be enough for them to light a hundred stakes.”
“Yes.” The musician nodded and put a match to his cigarette. After taking a deep puff he put out the match. “Bring about a new order, then offer up to God a hundred times as much destruction. Sometimes I wonder how future history books will evaluate us?”
The assistant shrugged.
No one knew the answer to that.
But if Shi Dong was there, he would probably answer with his “Savior of the World.”
Unfortunately, Shi Dong never paid attention to these kinds of boring questions while he was working.
The Inquisition had never cared how awful their reputation would be in the history books; they only cared about their work.
…
At the same time, also in Iberia, when the royal musician threw the silver stream of light representing the new order into the sky, the purification musicians on the ground threw ten times as much fire into the sky.
Shi Dong walked under the stakes, and his boots trampled on the ashes. The sounds of crying and screaming came between the innumerable hustling firewood teams, as the burning flames seemed to intertwine with dying breaths.
His footsteps were calm and determined, not like a dying old man. Even though he was dragging an obese man by the collar, who was struggling fiercely, he did not sway at all.
“No! Not like this! The Sacred City gave me permission! I am pure!” His face contorted as tears ran down. “I am pious! You can’t do this!”
Shi Dong smiled. “So, who can prove your piety?” He looked down at the man, casting a hideous shadow over his distorted face.
Against the burning flame, his old face could not be seen, but his eyes seemed to be two deep cracks leading to a world of lava and fire.
“This benevolent cardinal?” Shi Dong pointed to a charred corpse on a stake.
The once expensive red robes had been charred and twisted in the fire. Only the holy symbol around his neck still shone in the burning.
Shi Dong pointed to another stake.
“This prince?
“This party leader?
“This king?” He smiled like he was chewing charcoal.
Amid the cries, the grease coated stakes suddenly shook as the sound of a pine knot cracking rang out. The flames leaped up, and the person on the stake was completely consumed.
A burning wind swept through, dragging way the ashes and the spirits of the dead, sending their sorrows into the sky. Finally, they turned into a fine black dust that drifted back down to earth like rain.
Amid the cries of a judge as he suffocated, Shi Dong began to sing hoarsely.
The hoarse voice that came from his steel vocal cords did not carry a tune, but it entangled in the flames, accompanied by the sound of pine knots cracking. It was given form by the dust and plaintive cries, and gained fullness as the flames rose.
It was as if the world of suffering had been revealed, and those on the stakes piously offered it the cries of their suffering.
It was a chorus of thousands.
Under the thousands of stakes, countless purification musicians sang the sacred song of judgment. It gathered together into a mighty wave that seemed to shake the sky and lash against the souls on the stakes. It would burn all the evil to nothing but ash in the fire.
Shi Dong walked forward, treading through the flames.
A fiery glow seemed to rise in his blood vessels, making his eyes turn an insane red.
The grand judgment seemed to give him a new life. He walked in a hell that he had built himself, bathed in the fire, put the sinners into the flames one by one so that they could sing the song of God in the fire.
The firelight dispelled the night.
The grand bonfire lit the sky, spreading light to the surrounding countryside, making the darkness retreat before this raging flame of revenge.
The last important person was put on the bonfire before dawn.
“I’ve done nothing wrong! I’m in the right! You wild dogs! Don’t touch me!” The man wearing a crown and robes yelled at the Witch Hammer. “How dare you do this! How dare you, Shi Dong! It is us, the heads of the 16 families, who have funded you! It was my grandfather who saw your potential! We were the ones who gave you such great authority, and gave the highest glory to the Inquisition! We signed an agreement and a covenant with God as our witness! How dare you do this!”
Under the stake, the old man who was bathed in a scorching wind looked up at him.
He smiled.
“Although it is regrettable that it has come to this, I must say, the 16 families, including yours, total 179 direct descendants. Long before the Inquisition was founded, they were on the first purification list.” Shi Dong grinned, his distorted face flushed with red. “Even though I can’t issue an arrest warrant for you for various reasons, today really is the day dreams come true.”
He spread his arms like he was receiving a new year’s gift and cheered, “Why don’t you sing for me, friend? On this day when dreams come true, even the air is as sweet as honey!”
The man on the stake’s face twisted and he snarled, “I curse you, you heretics who have forsaken the path of God! You beasts of indulgence and slaughter! You are led by traitors, and you have lost the correct path! You have broken our covenant! God will cast you aside! He will cast you aside!”
“Ah, perhaps.” Shi Dong smiled and raised his torch. “If he really cares about a paper covenant.”
He let go.
The fire swirled down from his hand onto the wood.
In the fire that was catalyzed by aether, the special seat that had been tailor-made for nobles was ignited. It burned up, throwing thick smoke into the dawn sky.
Light danced in the firewood accompanied by Shi Dong’s harsh singing. He clapped out a beat, making for a majestic and wild figure that had a fleeting beauty.
The fire was reflected in his bloodshot eyes.
It almost made him hold his breath.
This was the most devastating thing in the world.
Since everything had been transformed, the brilliance had been revealed by suffering, and all ugliness had been turned to ash… The fascinating brilliance seemed to be alive.
Even in this cold and cruel world, it could bring warmth.
“It’s so beautiful.” He stood between the flames like a child, gazing at the dancing light.
Just as he had countless times in the past.
Except only here and now he could feel he was with the deceased who had once spent such a long time with him.
They were reunited.
They had not been separated by cruel time.
It was not until the fire died down that he awoke from his long reverie. He felt the morning dew condensing in the corners of his eyes. He slipped on the ashes and fell on the ground.
“Next one!” he yelled.
A calm voice came from behind him, “There is no next one.”
He turned back in shock and saw the young man in the wheelchair and the countless extinguished stakes. He suddenly realized. “It’s… finished?”
“Mhm, it’s finished.”
“Then where are we going next?”
“There’s nowhere to go, Shi Dong.” Watson looked at him. “Anglo, Asgard, Burgundy, then from Navia to Iberia. Shi Dong, our path is finished.”
“Truly? The bonfire party is over?” Shi Dong sat dejectedly on the steps to the woodpile. He finally felt exhausted. He finally felt like an old man. “It’s a pity that I was just having one a moment ago.”
Watson shrugged. “Maybe you should complain to our boss later and have him give the next list to me. I’m sure it will be very long.”
Shi Dong said nothing. He just looked up in silence at the sun rising from behind gray clouds.
“Watson, do you think it was good for me to get the righteous Inquisition to pursue my private wishes?” he suddenly whispered. “Now I don’t know whether my choice was right or not.”
“Isn’t it too late to be thinking of regret?” Watson couldn’t help but shake his head as he whispered. “The times have changed, old man.”
“Yes, I’ve lived too long. The world has changed so fast, and I’ve been left in the past.” Shi Dong smiled self-deprecatingly and patted his iron knee. “It seems just like yesterday that the Inquisition was established. At that time, wouldn’t I have cast aside the ugliness of my own degeneration? But when I think about it seriously, it seems there was nothing wrong with my descent.”
He looked at Watson, and his eyes that had once been so cloudy were clear. They reflected his face as if he were staring back at himself. “If I like chasing the light, am I not a shadow?”
Watson was stunned.
“Even though I am so old I don’t even have the strength to put up a stake, there are still many things that are not as I wish. But those things are no longer important.” Shi Dong lowered his head and said softly. “It really was a carefree expedition.”
Under the numerous stakes, he took in a breath of refreshing ash. He smiled and closed his eyes as if he was sleeping among the flowers.
In the flame of death, he returned to his hundred-year dream.
“Shi Dong? Hey, Shi Dong!” Watson reached out to shake him, but when he touched his cold shoulder he stiffened. After a while, he lowered his eyes and forced a smile. “You’re really sleeping here? You’re so old, I guess it’s important to sleep somewhere warm.”
He pushed his wheelchair forward and carefully placed the thin blanket on his knees over Shi Dong’s body. He reached out and gently hugged him, saying softly, “Goodnight, Shi Dong.”
Goodnight.
May you reunite with the deceased before the eternal bonfire in the endless night.
