Silent Crown

At the highest point of Avalon, a mighty melody rose from beneath the ground.

It was Leviathan.

The deceased soul buried deep under the soil and rocks woke up from its long slumber. The demised catastrophe was singing, the husky and cold tune latching onto the melody. Like flesh and blood growing on a skeleton, it gradually filled out, outlining the embryonic form of the catastrophe.

The alchemy array hidden deeply beneath the entire territory was awakened.

The path of godly ascension was reopened once more.

Forcibly controlled by the stone sword, the two halves of the path of godly ascension, which had been split, attracted each other forcefully and gradually came together, about to return to the original state.

The sky shook.

Countless stars dimmed and swayed. Flame-like glows fell, floating between the sea and the sky, surrounding the vast sun of darkness.

The sun gave off a horrifying radiance, but at the edge of its dark outline, a blood-colored substance gathered, then dripped, spilling down towards the mortal realm and turning into red rain.

“Come back! Come back! Come back!” Arthur laughed, ecstatic. Like a tide, the dark Firebird filled the entire palace and covered the entire sea.

In the nation in the shadows, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth whined sorrowfully.

On the throne, Mary gritted her teeth, her face pale, and panted weakly.

After the power of the entire Avalon and the whole of the power of Leviathan were combined, they gathered to form the path of godly ascension. The power that had initially been split into two converged towards the same destination once again at the moment.

Just like the two ends of the lever, if balance couldn’t be maintained, then one side must sink into the darkness and become part of the winner’s resources as a stepping stone.

At the moment, through the Firebird, Mary had merged as one with the alchemy array left from the past. Once the power of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth was completely extracted, she herself would cease to exist as well.

As the golden Firebird broke, the buildings in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that had just been restored also cracked gradually into gaps, and the glory was no longer.

If the domain of the scepter didn’t have Genesis as its core to forcibly suppress the powers that were ready to cause trouble, Mary’s powers and life forces would have probably been sucked dry by Arthur long ago.

It was like the pain of her whole person being torn apart was expanding from the inside out.

In the fiery radiance, Mary gritted her teeth, a hoarse, sorrowful whine sounding from her throat.

Countless flickering strands of music theory wove, and a fuzzy outline appeared. It seemed like a hound, but also resembled a blurred human figure. The figure reached out, gently stroking Mary’s long hair.

It seemed to be comforting her softly. Fear not, I’m still here.

Mary forced out a smile, opened her mouth, and softly whispered something in reply. The vague figure seemed to sigh and looked up at the highest point of Avalon.

The starting point and focus of the path of godly ascension.

How much more does one have to pay to end the sins of the past? It thought.

…

“Who’s there?” A voice sounded in the palace that had been swallowed up by the dark Firebird, at the core of Avalon.

In the throne room, Arthur, who was immersed in the path of godly ascension, suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had sensed something. The pitch black eyes looked coldly at the ground below the steps, a cold glint shining from them.

Below the steps, on the floor that had shattered in the fight, faint glows lit up within the grains of the marble, like streams of water converging along the riverbed. In the end, the dim glows gathered on the step where the subordinates would position themselves when presenting themselves before the ruler.

It was an alchemy array built into it according to the natural texture of the stone. If an alchemist was to witness it, he would surely be shocked by the ingenious conception.

Relying on the original appearance of the material, with some additional adornments, the embedded alchemy array could almost be said to have been naturally formed and had an unparalleled concealment ability. Had it not been activated in a special method, no one could possibly spot it.

Exactly because of how concealed it was, the array that could be set up was also relatively simple, and the most it could do… was just to project.

It was the projection of light and shadows that were left here in the past.

In the flickering light, a familiar looking youth walked out of it, and went down on a knee on the steps, like he was presenting himself before the ruler. As Arthur gazed at him coldly and darkly, the youth lifted his feminine, ladylike face, revealing his signature mysterious smile.

On the back of his right hand, the emblem of two snakes slowly emerged.

— Hermes.

Without the king’s permission, he rose at his own discretion and looked towards the throne. He sized it up in an almost offensive manner, but the focus of his gaze was slightly off, as if he wasn’t looking at Arthur, but had his gaze on somewhere empty instead.

“Oh, I see.” The youth pinched his chin and slowly nodded. “The situation has already deteriorated to such an extent. I must say that it is one of the most troublesome situations within my expectation… Also, it’s been a long time, Your Majesty.”

“Merlin?” Arthur frowned. “It’s you?”

“Ah, it’s me.” Hermes nodded casually, his smile becoming more and more annoying. “But as you can see, the ‘me’ at the moment is just a projection that has fixed responses preset and will select the corresponding segment to display according to the situation.

“When you see this series of images, I’m probably no longer in Avalon?

“No, I don’t think I will be so incompetent as to allow the situation to deteriorate to such an extent, so I’m most likely dead? Aha, will I die too? Although it does indeed sound quite ridiculous to say so, but Your Majesty, I’m afraid that when you see this projection, I am already dead. ”

Arthur frowned, and a gloomy coldness spread from him, but it only served to make the projection blurry and failed to change Hermes’ expression in the slightest.

“Dead?” Arthur asked.

“Yup.” Hermes nodded, a matter-of-fact expression on his face. “Although disappointing, such is the truth — Catastrophes will die too.

“Human beings which make up the majority in the world are existences that are even more terrifying than catastrophes. Surely it’s not surprising that one day they could develop technologies of killing catastrophes. ”

He paused and couldn’t help but sigh. “I regret to inform you that in the years that you were sealed, the world has changed drastically. You may be… somewhat out of date.”

Bang!

The Firebird shook in fury. The step where the subordinates would position themselves when presenting themselves before the ruler was torn apart and turned into dust from the inside out. Hermes’ figure dissipated. But soon, a similar projection shone from the ceiling, and Hermes sighed resignedly. “So many years have passed since we last met, but your temper is still as bad as ever, Your Majesty.”

The assh*le had probably known how Arthur would react long ago and had even prepared countermeasures ages ago, making Arthur’s expression turn more and more impatient.

Arthur was unwilling to waste his words on the troublesome guy anymore, and asked coldly, “Regardless of whether you are dead or alive, you went to so much trouble to leave these things here… for what?”

So, Hermes laughed. “If I haven’t made the wrong guess, you must have lost patience and asked me what the heck am I plotting, right? Such words are so saddening, Your Majesty, I am already dead, what effect can I still have on your mighty rulership?”

The projection spread his hands helplessly, “If nothing I envisioned has gone wrong, the only thing I can do at the moment is to play to my nature as court jester and come to provide my king with advice?”

Arthur’s expression became uglier and uglier, his cold eyes fixing the incorporeal projection with a death stare. After a long time, he asked coldly, “Merlin… Do you know what you are saying?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty,” Hermes sighed and said, “although I was indeed the one who provided you with the holy operation back then and also the one who crafted the whole plan. In order to satisfy my curiosity and desire to research, I created such a huge monster, it is my mistake… To be honest, it is one of my few regrets in life. But to this day, it is already irreparable.”

He was silent for a moment, then looked up in the direction of the throne, revealing a sincere expression unprecedented on him. Letting go of the superior, arrogant demeanor he wore in the past, he bowed reverently and implored, “If you must, take it that I have lost my mind, but for the sake of the world and yourself, please give up on the holy operation, how about that?”

Dead silence.

Arthur said nothing.

He simply looked at Hermes.

As if he was looking at a fool…

Hermes remained bent over in his posture of pleading for a very long time. In the end, the image trembled. He resignedly lowered his head and sighed. “Of course, for such things, I don’t even have to think with my brain to know that you definitely won’t agree to it.

“Therefore, I simply didn’t bother to set an option for the case in which you give up. Please forget about the imploration just now, it is one of my few shameful moments in life. Losing so much face even in death, I’m afraid that I can be considered the only one to do so. As for you…”

He shrugged resignedly. “Just do whatever you want.”

In the dead silence, even the dark Firebird was frozen under the terrifying chill.

On the throne, Arthur silently looked down at the virtual projection below, his fingers tapped the armrest lightly, engraving his fingerprints into the iron. “Merlin, I once gave you my trust — A trust that no one else has ever had!”

“Isn’t the holy operation the reward you received in return for this trust of yours?” Hermes asked indifferently. “Pardon my frankness, your trust in me should not have existed from the very beginning, Your Majesty, you and I have both been affected negatively by it, unable to have peace.

“Your descendant, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, once said to me — Perhaps I shouldn’t have interfered with anything from the very beginning. Regardless of what I have done, it would only make matters worse.

“Just give up, Your Majesty. It is the only advice that me as a court jester has for you.”

Arthur was extremely furious, but sneered. “What if I say no?”

“You will die.” Hermes looked at him and said, pausing between each word, “Like me.”

Arthur snickered, as if he had seen a boring buffoon. “Hermes, have you been reduced to pretending to be a shaman like a beggar, going loony in front of clay figurines and small papier-mâché people, and saying some sensational words to attract eyeballs?”

Hermes shook his head, and his gaze… turned to one of pity.

“Let me guess, at the moment, how you are faring.” He counted on his fingers, self-absorbedly. “You have controlled the blood of Leviathan, controlled Avalon, restarted the path of godly ascension, and the final result may even be in sight already.

“Even your condition now, with the Firebird and your own strength, is enough to surpass ordinary saints, and may even suffice for you to be comparable to some small-scale catastrophes… If the time comes when you succeed, after gathering the powers of the entire Anglo and the catastrophe, in one go, you will surpass the Three Wise Man and the four living creatures in the Physical World, and will even be abreast with the Three Pillar God far away in the realm of aether.

“Then, the entire Physical World will become your territory. You will obtain power from the hands of the various nations, gain faith from the Sacred City, and turn the world into your eternal heavenly kingdom, where you are the only supreme lord… I must say, you calculated your plot well. If it was a few centuries ago, I’m afraid that it might really work.”

Hermes paused and sighed regretfully. “But now, such a plan can no longer work, Your Majesty. For the sake of our many years of knowing each other, how about I tell you some bad news?”

As he said so, the projection lowered his head, extended a hand, and fished out a well-sealed copper tube. He unscrewed it, pulled out the tobacco leaves sealed within, sniffed it carefully, ignited it with some trouble, then inhaled and exhaled the smoke.

He looked pretentious, but when he did so in the past, he was always high-spirited, but at the moment he seemed a bit defeated and dull, even dejected.

After a good while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice, “— The old gods are dying.”