Silent Crown

Chapter 363 The Last Mazeppa

Faceless musician Will screamed because the blood that splattered onto him had turned into burning melted metal! The shattered heart in his hand turned into a furious sun, burning his hand to charcoal. He convulsed in pain and tried to escape, but Sam grasped him as if embracing the dead Baro.

"Aether? Aether…" The faceless musician cried out as he burned. "How can you—no! No—"

"Idiot." Sam hugged him and said hoarsely, "I can't but Agni can. He's so much more generous than your lord!" As he spoke, flames seeped out of his every pore. His flesh burned into a rosy crystal. He sublimated in the fire into something that the average person could not speculate… He had become a beast more terrifying than any demon!

Since you killed Baro, then witness it for him! Witness this last Holy Spirit Transformation! This was the ultimate resonance, sacrifice, and offering.

For years, musicians had used pure Modifications music theory to create Agni, the holy spirit that represented fire and destruction. It only responded to the most aggressive thirst for strength—those who reached into the fire even if it meant burning themselves.

It was the strictest holy spirit. Only musicians who sacrificed everything for Modifications could receive its acknowledgement. At the same time, it was also the most generous spirit. As long as you were determined, it would give you unlimited strength and transform you into the physical incarnate of destruction. You would become this flame until you were burnt to nothing!

At that moment, the alchemy array under Sam's feet lit up. The melody from the darkness thundered. Aether from the deep abyss burst forth from all directions and entered coherence. It integrated music theory changes from the abyss and fused with the dark atrium. Transforming into an invisible shackle, it pushed the fire down.

However, the illusion of the Copper Mountain appeared in the flames. It was the dazzling harp amidst the roaring of the fire. He used fire as his body and thunder as his instrument. Blazing Foehn wind blew and swept in all directions. Countless thunder and lightning appeared. They collided against each other, playing the majestic music notes. Thus, the sleeping hero of legends woke. He attached onto Sam, making him invincible. Heavy armor appeared out of thin air. Countless music notes sang of destruction and miracles.

Fire turned to water, water turned to wind, wind turned to earth, and fire burned within the earth. The original sin could transform into salvation! This was the music score that Saint Liszt had written based off a legendary hero. It contained the ultimate desire of transforming death to life, allowing the immortal hero to appear in the world. It was Mazeppa!

"The state after the Distortion level…" Besieged by dozens of dark musicians, Sam opened his eyes in the fire and murmured, "I see."

The earth cracked apart. Scalding lava swept up from the ground like a reversed waterfall and soared into the air. The extreme modifications path appeared in his hands and descended into the world. The world shook in anger and the red pillar that represented disaster rose. It would reduce everything to nothing.

Shrouded by flames, the alchemy array instantly turned to ash. Firelight permeated and swallowed the dark musicians, turning them into a mass of redness. The moment the fire and destruction descended, Anna and Benny embraced. They turned to ash, the dark musicians followed, and then everything else…

For an instant, practically everyone in Auschwitz could feel the scarlet glow pour out of the Earth's crust.

It was fire. Fire seemed to transform into a red pillar that continued to rise, extending inch by inch to the sky, crashing against the dark atrium of the abyss. Then the skies and earth shattered.

-

"Sam?" Ye Qingxuan looked up at the pillar of destruction. His face paled. With no time for hesitation, he bolted. But when he finally arrived, everything was over.

At the center of Auschwitz, there was a tragic patch of black burnt dirt. There were no more traces of demons there. There was only a figure on the ground that seemed to be burning like a candle in the wind. The half-burnt Miller knelt on the ground, healing him in panic. But it was useless.

Ye Qingxuan could barely recognize Sam's face. The broken face looked like dying ashes. It was inexplicably ugly and menacing. Hearing the approaching footsteps, he seemed to see Ye Qingxuan's arrival and he smiled in regret. "Ye Qingxuan, you're late."

"The holy spirit's incarnate?" Ye Qingxuan finally understood what happened. He looked down blankly. His mouth opened but he did not know what to say.

"I accidentally killed people I shouldn't have killed," Sam murmured. "Sorry. People like me, we only know how to set fires. We try to do the right thing but we can't… If only you were here. There must've been…a better solution…"

Miller gritted his teeth. He choked with sobs. The burnt dirt cracked apart and a bloody dark musician crawled out. However, he abruptly screamed. In Sam's hand, the Copper Mountain glowed with blinding light. It burned him completely like fire.

Far away, roars sounded one after another. A mournful melody played in the sky. The dark atrium fell inch by inch, bringing with it a mighty pressure.

In the bed of flames, Sam stared up at the sky. He chuckled weakly and closed his eyes. The Copper Mountain harp descended slowly into Ye Qingxuan's hand, bathing him in warm firelight. As if returning to land from the deep sea, the terrifying pressure and shackles disappeared. The sense of aether was clear again.

"They're coming soon. Go," Sam said quietly. "Take the Copper Mountain with you. Remains of Agni's symphony of predestination are still there. It can help you… If you can leave this place alive, bring it to my teacher. The School of Destruction will repay you." As he spoke, the firelight in his eyes lit up again. He seemed to be totally fine. He had revived his spirit and stood up again. No hardships could knock him down. But that was just a reflection of the light. The darkness in the sky thickened. Pressure of thousands of tons fell quickly, about to completely seal everything off.

"Ye Qingxuan!" In the distance, Torre rode a beastly hound. He yelled, "You're running out of time!"

"Go! What are you waiting for?" Sam took one last glance at Ye Qingxuan and smiled in farewell. "I won't thank you even if you stay to accompany me."

Ye Qingxuan opened his mouth to say goodbye but nothing would come out. He took a step back and another. With one last glance, he pulled Miller left and turned around, direct and unhesitating.

Sam smiled. This was good, this was how it should be… This was very good.

"At least my sacrifice won't go to waste." Sam raised his head and looked at the pressing blackness in the sky. Smiling, he murmured, "Sadly, I can't win with you all…"

The darkness swallowed him.

The fire extinguished.

-

In one short hour, Auschwitz went from stillness to fire. This hour felt like eternity to everyone. More than half of the musicians passed away in this attack. The remaining ones huddled together in the 'front' that the grandmasters had left. They anxiously observed the demons writhing in the darkness.

The only sound was a deafening rumble. It was the sound of the giant beast made of hundreds of corpses patrolling in the darkness. The screams and cries of demons traveled from the burning city. After multiple attacks, the dark musicians seemed to have temporarily given up on this difficult prey and retreated. However, the music theory of the 'front' showed signs of breaking apart under the pressure of the dark atrium and abyss music score. If this continued and the front collapsed, everyone would be sitting targets for slaughter.

The dark atrium had already recovered from Koch's self-destructive attack. It had permeated even further. Under it, the abyss gained the upper hand and rewrote the rules of all music theories.

Everyone's resonance with the aether world was forcefully cut off. All music scores under the Resonance level were distorted and could not be cast. They could not fight against the dark musicians. Plus, the enemies were not average foot soldiers. They were the infamous 'perishing praise' from the Dark World.

All was quiet in the small courtyard front. Some girls had broken down and started crying. Everyone's expressions were dark and heavy.

"Stop crying." A Revelations musician by the entrance paled. "Something's coming again!"

Low rumbling sounded in the silence. The bloody corpses fused into something like a giant centipede. It started crawling in the darkness again. Bones stuck out of the flesh and turned into scales. The bony scales opened and moved forward with the giant centipede, crushing the walls with a thunderous noise.

It was attracted by the smell of blood. It wriggled over and paced outside the front. Though it could not see through the illusion, it was still attracted by the dead beings. It moved around eagerly, the many eyes on its ugly head blinking constantly, trying to distinguish the building before it. Finally, it slammed against the wall fiercely.

Under the boom, dust flew and fell from the ceiling beams. The lights flickered and everyone paled.

The centipede seemed to have gone insane. It charged crazily at the defense outside the front, scratching, gnawing, spitting acid, scraping with its scales… Amidst the thunderous booms, it danced like a kid who clutched a gift and could not wait to rip off the wrapping paper.

Then the sounds stopped.

The crazed centipede froze. Its thick and unnatural limbs were broken by an invisible power. An unseen beast was besieging it, causing it to roll on the ground in pain. The countless corpses all cried out.

Then the cries stopped.