Silent Crown

Chapter 372 This Is War

The moment the Garment of Original Sin tore apart, the dark atrium trembled. The invisible cage in the abyss was at the brink of collapse. A crack appeared and six beams of light shot into the sky. Within a few hours, Auschwitz turned from a barren city into Hell on Earth. The grandmasters gazed at the tragic state with furrowed brows. After closing their eyes and sensing, their faces darkened.

"At least half are gone…"

"I can't sense Grandmaster Koch. He was probably slain."

"Is this Knights Templar from the Sacred City? Have they already started fighting? It's too fast. The young musicians haven't left yet!"

The grandmasters exchanged glances. During their confusion, a bell rang vaguely. A light projected here from thousands of miles away, falling into the hands of the lead master. The blockade music theory came undid automatically. It attracted the aether and transformed into a scroll. The end was stamped with the Pope's seal.

"An order from the Sacred City?" Stunned, he looked up. Broadcasting his voice, he announced, "The order decrees for all nations and the Sacred City to call for all musicians. The trial's goal has been changed: defeat the dark musicians, foil the plan of the natural catastrophe, and safeguard humanity from the Dark World!"

The survivors who had been dumbfounded and helpless were now ecstatic. They quickly shrugged off their disguises to reveal their aether waves and approached the Knights Templar. They either went for protection or to join the battle.

In the city, the dark musicians and knights fought furiously.

The knight on the mountain outside the city galloped in on his eight-footed horse. Covered in armor, he lowered onto one knee in the bloody dirt before Bann. He looked extremely tragic. He reported something quietly. Bann nodded and waved. He turned and joined the battle again.

Beside Bann, something downcast flashed past Caligula's eyes. "Still haven't found her?"

"The knights have already searched within a hundred meter radius of the location you provided. Sadly, they still have not found Miss Elsa." Bann glanced at him. His words were emotionless. "You should be prepared. She is probably dead already."

"I know." Caligula hung his head sadly. "I know."

"Actually, the Sacred City has another question that we hope you can answer for us." Bann supported himself with his sword and looked down at Caligula coldly. "What did the King of Yellow do in Auschwitz behind the Sacred City's back?"

Caligula froze but quickly laughed. "I am equally confused. However, no matter what he did, isn't the result as you see now? As sinners, we Romulusians were born with curses and fated to fall into darkness. Now we are shrouded by the disease and will never be cured."

He looked down and said hoarsely, "The average mortal cannot guess what the high and mighty three kings wish to do. But for the Romulusians who live under others' mercy, we can refuse neither your torture nor blessing. After all, our demon blood is our original sin."

After a long silence, Bann shook his head. "What the King of Yellow did has nothing to do with the Sacred City. Before he disappeared, he had forced his way into the palace and discussed with the two other kings. However, things ended unhappily. We could not find him after that.

"Before I arrived, Nibelungenlied told me that the 'lighthouse' had observed that the King of Yellow's scepter has been in Auschwitz all these years without moving. I believe he has been hiding and observing us. Or even worse."

Bann stopped and did not continue. Without a doubt, the Sacred City had already suspected that the king who had never gotten along with the others had joined the natural catastrophes in anger. If this was the case, then it would be the biggest betrayal to humanity. No nation or the Sacred City could allow this to happen!

"If I may ask," Caligula suddenly said with a troubled voice, "if the worst case scenario truly happened, what will the Sacred City do?"

Bann looked down at his sword of punishment in silence. His eyes reflected the cold sharpness of the sword. He had never hesitated or weakened.

Ever since the Dark Age had ended, the three kings were the pillars of the human world. If a king betrayed his throne, there would only be one solution for the Sacred City—kill the king!

-

As the destructive light shattered the dark atrium and fell into Auschwitz, it seemed to come to life. It moved in the air, continuously refracting into thousands of small rays. The light that was attracted by the abyss music theory fell onto the shocked dark musicians. It was as if a bucket of boiling oil had been poured into a jar. Pained cries sounded one after another.

The strongest beam crashed down onto Naberius. Even hundreds of meters away, the heat was enough to make his hair curl. The power was terrifying. The Battle Mass contained a requiem for heretics and demons. Under this glow, everything burned.

This was great. The problem was…Ye Qingxuan was right next to him!

In that moment, Ye Qingxuan felt his scalp go numb and his vision go black. Coldness jumped from his toes to his head and exploded. Every pore was screaming for help. Without waiting to think, he subconsciously activated the Governor. To increase his strength, he even added the power of Indrah's Eye!

He shot back like an arrow! The electric current was enough to burn him to crisp. The Governor acted with the overload, each piece radiating with strong magnetic power. If he had not worn the Governor outside and anchored his bones, this movement would probably have dislocated his neck. However, the destructive light started falling before he could get far enough away.

Gritting his teeth, Ye Qingxuan activated Holy. An invisible realm descended and covered him. Then chaotic light swallowed everything.

There were piercing screams that cut off abruptly. The shattering sounds did not stop. There was extreme heat but Ye Qingxuan could only see whiteness.

Wild aether lifted him into the air and threw him back, crashing into a wall. He rolled out in the rubble. Thankfully, he was able to cover his face. However, he was now as ragged as a beggar.

The explosion still rang in his ears. The blazing light seemed to have forever stopped before his eyes. Every pore on his body was screaming in pain. The air seemed to be burning. He could not breathe; every breath was like swallowing lava.

After a long, long time…

Ye Qingxuan finally recovered. He crawled out of the rubble but everything was spinning. Images flashed by. It sounded like he was underwater. He could vaguely make out cries and fighting.

When his mind was finally clear, he bent down. With difficulty, he found a surviving vial of green medicine from his broken first aid kit with his left hand and drank it all. As if cold water had rushed into his brain, all murkiness was gone. Then he gasped and stopped himself from crying out.

Clenching his teeth, he held his right elbow and yanked it up. After the crack, Ye Qingxuan gurgled in pain. He was seriously crying but his dislocated arm was back in place. Thankfully, his body was still complete. Nothing was missing even though he was now as pathetic as a beggar. Without a doubt, the Governor had taken the brunt of the attack and was now…destroyed.

Hissing from pain, Ye Qingxuan yanked out the metal shards stuck in him. The bent plates were still red from heat. They fell onto the ground with sounds like ice shattering. Breathing in the burning air, he climbed up.

He saw that Auschwitz was burning!

-

The dark atrium had been completely shattered. The earth that had been transformed by the abyss now smoked with black steam. Demons crawled out of caves of flesh and roared to the sky. And in the sky, an immense shadow moved, roaring.

Like giant whales swimming in a red ocean, they continuously rained down seeds. When they landed on the ground, they broke apart. The 'fruit' jumped out.

Fully armored knights wielded swords of fire and fought the demons and dark musicians. Blood, screams, and explosions were everywhere. The blood fell onto the scorched earth like a black river within the fire. Other than the redness of fire and blood, all that remained in the world was the cold metallic light of swords and aether.

Black figures walked in the glow. Whether burly or frail, they seemed to dance in the fire. The world was instantly thrown into hysteria.

"Is this…war?" Ye Qingxuan gaped at everything. He seemed to have left his familiar world and gone into hell. That was why the world so unabashedly showed its ugly side.

For some reason, the Sacred City's aid had finally come but he could not be happy. It did not feel good to be saved. Instead, he felt exhausted.

In the rubble, he lowered his head and gazed at the fire burning in the distance. Everything here was destroyed. Everyone he knew was most likely dead. His friends, his enemies, and even strangers… They would all be wiped from this world.

But under the chaotic din, he heard a gentle song. It came from afar.