Boom!
The Staff of Fate clashed with the Stone Sword.
From the very beginning, the fight had not been about strength or combat
skills but some higher-level power. What were in conflict were the different
natures of their power.
Having converged the matrix of the whole path to godly ascension, the stone
sword was no long the mere key to the path to godly ascension, but the path
itself. It was because of this change that Maxwell had been able to wound
Arthur so badly and seal him for several hundred years when he betrayed
Arthur.
Arthur didn''t make the same mistake again. All the music theories were out of
Maxwell''s control and were deployed by Arthur himself.
In the term of its nature, the stone sword had turned to something more
profound and powerful. It didn''t only represent Arthur''s Chapter of Golden
Victory, but also could utilize the power of Leviathan. To some extent, it might
be said that it was the carrier of Leviathan''s power.
A coarse voicing was heard from the stone sword, singing a sad song. It was
as if the dead Leviathan had come back in the form of a ghost, hovering in the
sky and feeding the sword with its power, which made Arthur stronger and
more violent, yet more non-human.
Compared with the stone sword, the staff of fate looked like an iron rod. It was
so shabby!
It didn''t bring Ye Qingxuan any ability or power, and it didn''t have the frightful
lethality of the lance of the dragon slayer. Forged with the broken pieces of
the spear of destiny, it integrated all the music theories passed down in the
Religious Court of Inquisitors for centuries and became almost the
reincarnation of the miracles of the holy temple. The holy emblems on it was
proof to that. Since it was created, it was listed in the profound music theory
system of the holy caldron and accepted by the caldron as a symbol like the
Gate of Heaven.
Since the holy caldron created the new system in the originator hundreds of
years ago, the human race had been building on this system to become
stronger. The three kings and the saints were the defenders of this system, of
which the "Holy Bible" was an indispensable part.
Apart from sheepherding the souls of all living creatures, the legend created
by the Holy Bible was enhanced and upgraded. With it as the main theme,
countless "elements" were created, benefiting almost every single musician.
Except the black musicians, all musicians, after becoming a master, would
choose a chapter and an element most suitable for him and integrate them
into their symphony of predestination to upgrade to the scepter level.
Once they succeeded in that, they would become part of the system, through
which they could reach the aether world and even directly use the power from
the originator.
Besides that, there were holy tools created to carry the elements, such as the
gate of the heaven, the holy horn, and the staff of fate, which was forged with
the broken pieces of fate and integrated the core music theories of the
Religious Court of Inquisitors and accepted by the Holy Caldron.
That''s why Shi Dong was so happy when it was created.
Thanks to it, the Religious Court of Inquisitors was no long a subordinate of
the Church, nor the church could dissolve it as they wish. As long as the staff
of fate was in Ye Qingxuan''s hands, the Religious Court of Inquisitors would
be a holy organization and Ye Qingxuan''s title – the hand of god – would be
beyond reproach.
The reinforcement by the holy caldron on the staff of fate was directly from the
Holy Bible – follow the will of god, crush all rebellions, like an iron staff
smashing earth ware under the instruction of god.
The distinct feature of this staff, was the unique "stability". It clashed against
the stone sword without any protection or preparation when it was just born,
yet its music theories were so stable that they were not scratched or wavered.
It was almost indestructible. It seemed to be able to survive alone when
everything else in the world was destroyed.
There was nothing more suitable than this staff for Ye Qingxuan, as he was
very good at utilizing powers not his own to achieve his own goal. With this
staff, he could allocate power hundreds of times mightier than his own on this
staff without worrying the staff might broke.
This staff was a perfect lever! Even if he inflicted all the power of the national
defense line upon it, the staff showed no sign of stress at all.
Being simply was being powerful.
With Ye Qingxuan''s skill of borrowing powers from other sources, the staff
would need no other ability at all. The only thing it needed to do, was to be a
"lever", with Ye Qingxuan as its pivot point, to pry up Anglo and Leviathan.
Boom!
The sound of the dark sun collapsing was even louder.
Arthur was angrier. Under his skin, the turbulent firebirds multiplied and
revealed signs of inhumanity. Ye Qingxuan looked at him coldly with a
mocking sneer.
The power of catastrophe surged in the stone sword and Arthur pressed
forward. Stating at Ye Qingxuan with blood-shot eyes, he shouted, "how dare
you stare at me?"
Ye Qingxuan didn''t flinch. "I''m wondering who you really are."
"I am Arthur, king of kings! The eternal godly king of the earth!" Arthur roared,
the path of godly ascension was continuously sucking the power of Leviathan,
which made him stronger and more horrible. Ye Qingxuan was pushed back
by his surging strength.
Ye Qingxuan shook his head with a sneer. "I guess now you are very angry,
right?"
With the path of godly ascension in operation, Arthur''s appearance changed.
The madly multiplying dragon blood modified the weak body, on which scales
grew out of the skin and bones pierced out of his back and turned into a pair
of huge dark wings.
"This is the eternal godly king of the human world?" Ye Qingxuan sneered,
"you should really look at yourself in the mirror before you say that. Your love
for the lady of the lake was only greed and lust. The love of Leviathan for you,
I''m afraid, was not without her own purpose. The dragon blood brings you
power, but it also turns you into a monster like this. Right?"
Looking at the ugly face, Ye Qingxuan heaved a sigh. "You''ve only found this
out when it was too late. It only turned you into a monster as she was instead
of the king you want to be! That''s why you are so angry, so mad…"
"Shut up!" Arthur roared, angrier than ever before.
Yet in the booming noise, a coarse laugh was heard. The laugh was mix of
mockery and helplessness.
"Give it up now, your majesty. Don''t you understand now?" On the edge of the
stone sword, Maxwell''s face emerged with an expression of mixed feelings.
"The world has never been yours since the very beginning."
"You bastard!" Arthur''s face twisted. "I created you! How dare you offend your
king!" The firebirds tore Maxwell into pieces.
Yet the figure emerged again, even clearer. But the figure was cracked and
torn and might collapse at any moment.
"I''m pretty sure the courage to offend you was all mine." Maxwell said in a low
voice, "thank you, your majesty. I was only a piece of iron, but you gave me a
soul. It was a great honor for me. I may be not so good as a weapon, but I''m
proud of having this free will of mine. It was so great that I could live in this
world as a human."
"How you dare!" Roared Arthur. The stone sword moaned, and blade breaking
into pieces. Maxwell''s phantom shivered and began to collapse, yet his eyes
were even more determined.
Arthur gritted his teeth and softened a little. He snarled, "if you like it, after
this, I''ll allow you to live in the world as a man forever. As long as I was alive,
you can share my throne."
Yet Maxwell was not tempted at all. He stretched out his hands, and
numerous music theories extended out from the stone sword and pierced into
Arthur''s body and become integrated with of him.
"Forget it, your majesty. After so many years of miserable life, I''m really tired
of it." Hugging his creator, he murmured, "the new time should be handed to
the new generation. Please get off this stage with me."
Boom!
A huge crack appeared on the stone sword and the path to godly ascension
moaned. Cracks covered the who path and the balance among the for layers
were lost. The path might collapse at any minute.
Trembling in pain, Arthur roared and screamed.
"Maxwell!" Ye Qingxuan shouted, "what are you doing?"
"I need to finish what I didn''t finish before." Maxwell raised his head and
looked around at the shivering world sentimentally. "I should have done this
before, but I didn''t dare to. This world is so beautiful. Ye, I don''t want to go.
But it suffered so much pain, and it was all because of my cowardice."
"Stop! Maxwell." Ye Qingxuan shouted, pressing the staff of fate madly
forward to interrupt Maxwell. But he could not touch Maxwell at all.
"Don''t you want to retire? I have kept the house in Asgard. Don''t you want to
go there to have a look? It is so beautiful, Maxwell, very beautiful."
Looking at the broken figure of the old man, he said, "I beg you, please have a
look there! You would regret it if you don''t go there."
"If the garden is empty, plant some roses there for me." Maxwell said his
farewell, smiling gently, "I''ve always wanted to see some flowers with Elizbeth.
Pity I won''t have the chance. If I can leave a place full of flowers after I die, it
would be great."
Boom!
Maxwell''s body broke into pieces. The cracked body disappeared, leaving
only the farewell smile in Ye Qingxuan''s mind.
Ye Qingxuan stood transfixed.
Arthur screamed and the path of godly ascension shivered and collapsed. The
dark sun in the sky shook violently and crashed onto the earth.
"Don''t you dare! Maxwell! You son of a bitch!" Arthur shouted, ignoring the
huge wounds on his body. He opened his mouth and swallowed the broken
pieces of the stone sword into his stomach. The power of the path of godly
ascension was all devoured by him, captivated in the deformed body.
Arthur didn''t die.
He was still alive!
Yet, before even Arthur could crack his hideous grin, Ye Qingxuan shouted,
"Arthur, you son of a bitch!"
Furious, Ye Qingxuan pressed forward and held high the staff of fate. A pure
white moon raised in the sky.
The stone of the sage, seal of moonlight and catastrophe resonant. All three
in one strike.
Jiu Xiao Huan Pei drew the power of the national defense line and infilled the
hot power into the fate of staff. Then, smashed it on Arthur.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With all the power of the whole Anglo, the staff of fate smashed onto Arthur''s
face. The face was smashed so hard that it turned into a meat pie. Before
Arthur could defend himself, his right hand was also hit and the bones
shattered.
Ignoring the firebirds, Ye Qingxuan stepped onto Arthur''s body and hit him
with the staff of fate again and again. The black blood fell on his furious face.
"How dare you! How dare you!" Stepping on Arthur''s face which was healing
quickly, Ye Qingxuan was as crazy as a monster. "Why don''t you just die?
Why? Why should you live in this world! How dare you hurt Maxwell! Why
don''t you die! Why don''t you find a dark corner and rot quietly! You son of a
bitch! Shit! Crap! Garbage! Criminal! Parasite!"
Arthur screamed horribly. His bones cracked. He wanted to say something,
yet he couldn''t even move under the crazy attack of Ye Qingxuan and was
stepped by him like a pile of garbage.
The usually calm and arrogant young man was completely crazy. He was as
fierce as an evil monster, torn off his mask of kindness by anger. He spat out
his poison without mercy and sabotaged Arthur''s dignity.
"Die! Go to hell!" Stamping on Arthur''s face again and again, he shouted,
"Why?! Why?! Why?!"
Arthur screamed. Yet he grabbed the staff, risking his fingers. Raising his
head, he gnarled, "You will pay for this, Ye Qingxuan! I swear it!"
then, turbulent burst out from his body and pushed Ye Qingxuan away. His
body was suddenly covered with blue flames. He roared and his body turned
into ashes inch by inch. Finally, he turned into a hot beam of light and flied to
the dark sun.
In the dark son, cracks spread all over. Then, something moved in the sun.
Arthur gave up the power he had not yet absorbed and stopped waiting for the
path of godly ascension to complete naturally. He abandoned the body and
wanted to ascend on the world as a catastrophe.
Boom!
The sun smashed on the ground. In the aether world, a violent sun raised
slowly into the sky. A new catastrophe was born.
The path of godly ascension came to its end. In the collapsing sun, a black
deformed dragon raised its head and roared.
The seven seas were trembling.
The dragon spread its wings and covered the whole Avalon under its shadow.
Terrible firebirds soared and wiped out half of the upper city in a split second.
Born earlier than it naturally should, the catastrophe still had power beyond
imagination!
"Hahaha…Maxwell, can you see? Do you see me?" Arthur rejoiced. "You son
of a bitch. You cannot stop me. Nobody can! I am the real king of kings!"
"Is it so?" Ye Qingxuan said coldly. Looking at Arthur, he said, "is this what you
can do? Is this what you want to say? It was a joke, on yourself."
Dark firebirds soared forward and pressed upon Ye Qingxuan. The staff of
fate moaned and Ye Qingxuan''s hands were again shattered, revealing his
bones.
Reborn as a catastrophe, Arthur became so powerful. He almost defeated Ye
Qingxuan with only one strike.
Arthur looked at Ye Qingxuan and sneered. "See who is a joke, now?"
Horrible pressure was inflicted upon Ye Qingxuan. He could not raise his
head; his bone was whining in pain. The firebirds of Arthur were to crush him
into ashes.
"I told you, you will pay for what you have done. I told you!" Arthur said, "I will
jail you in the broken pieces of the stone sword. And you will regret for the
rest of your life that you offended the holy king of the world."
The pressure surged again.
Ye Qingxuan shook, and blood oozed out of his mouth. He fought against the
pressure with the staff of fate, and said, "no, Arthur. Quite the contrary. I will
defeat you. I will save this country. I will make this world better. You are not
worthy to rule this world!"
At that moment, the Symphony of Predestination abandoned by Arthur – the
Symphony of Golden Victory - was played loudly in the Heaven on Earth.
As the path of godly ascension collapsed, the Heaven on Earth absorbed all
the power remained of it.
The music theories of the Genesis radiated to all directions and filled every
corner of the Heaven on Earth. Then, great changes happened.
This city used to be a phantom in the mirror. Yet now, with the power of the
Leviathan, it ascended into the aether world and turned into shining stars.
It became a real city.
On the throne, Mary fell into sleep, her eyes closed.
In her bosom, numerous music theories weaved together, and the golden
sheath was absorbing the power of the national defense line.
The phantom of a golden hunt dog appeared and absorbed the violent power.
The dog soon turned into a giant dragon, magnificent and powerful.
Finally, the dragon turned into a blurred figure of man. Wearing the three-layer
golden crown, he raised his golden eyes and looked at Arthur.
Suddenly, the Heaven on Earth shone brightly. The world fell into silence.
The curtain on the stage was drawn open. every creature was waiting for the
final show.
A figure as magnificent as a king walked out of the Heaven on Earth. With
cheering from the people and the booming of horns, the gates opened one by
one. The figure walked up into the sky.
Heavy armors appeared on him, and then, the sword was there in the sheath.
And finally, the strong red dragon-horse galloped out from the void.
The man with the sword rode on the horse. It was as if there were an army
following him. The world was shaking.
Upon his arrival, the whole Anglo resonated with him and transmitted power
onto him. The phantom of the golden dragon loomed, spraying firebirds like
water of the sea.
At last, the figure stopped by Ye Qingxuan''s side.
He glanced at Ye Qingxuan. It felt so familiar, arrogant yet helpless, like that of
a king.
Holding the staff of fate, Ye Qingxuan wiped the blood off his mouth. He
raised his head and looked at the figure, and heaved a sigh. "Who is the real
Arthur?"
"I don''t know." The king shook his head, his expression complicated. "Maybe I
am, maybe I once was."
"Let me guess. It''s because of Ye Lanzhou?"
"Yes…"
"All right. We can talk about that later." Ye Qingxuan pointed at the black
dragon. "Do you regret it? It turned into such a mass!"
"A little."
Feeling awkward, the king scratched his nose. "Thank you."
"You''ve been taken care of me for so many years." Ye Qingxuan shook his
head. "Next time you want a girlfriend, find someone reliable. It doesn''t matter
even if she was ugly."
The king didn''t speak and looked elsewhere, apparently not knowing what to
say.
"Old Phil?" Ye Qingxuan said.
"What?" He turned back and saw the eyes of the young man. He was serious
and solemn.
"Thank you. It has been so long."
The king smiled and patted him on the shoulder, as usual.
"Thank you, too."
-
The war horse neighed.
The king drew his virtual sword from the sheath. The sword was as it had
been before, with seven virtues decorated on it. After so many years, it was
as majestic as ever.
"My time is running short…" Looking at the black dragon in front of him, the
king was proud and disdainful as usual.
"Let''s go." He said.
"OK." Ye Qingxuan nodded.
The next moment, he was like waken up from a dream and opened his eyes.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
The time began to flow again. The cold intention of killing of the dragon was
felt even stronger.
In the shadow of the wings of the catastrophe, the dark firebird devoured Ye
Qingxuan like flood. Yet, next moment, golden light began to shine in front of
him.
The staff of fate boomed. A blade was forged in the golden light and pierced
through the air forward. The blade clashed with the catastrophe, and the flood
of destruction was cut through from the middle.
In the light, horses neighed and the Pomp and Circumstance (March) was
played. The king walked from the light toward Arthur and raised the "Stone
Sword" in his hand.
Bright light radiated from the sword like the beams of the raising sun,
brightening up the whole world with an ocean of light.
The banner of red dragon was raised high up again.
The war horse neighed. The king held his sword.
"King of Anglo!"
A low voice filled the space between the sea and the sky, and lingered over
the seven seas. It reached every inch of the land and transmitted through
time, waking up the dead who were sleeping in the silence to pursue their old-
time glory.
"My soldiers! Follow my banner!"
Then, numerous beams of light came from every direction to the red dragon
banner. The ghosts rubbed with the sun, generating thundering light.
The aether sea boiled. Countless fluctuations of aether movements surged,
yet succumbed to the same melody and the same main theme, playing the
Chapter of the Golden Victory together.
Numerous figures emerged from the light and descended onto the world in the
form of firebirds.
Then, the heaven and the earth both cheered with a deafening booming
sound.
"Victory! Victory! Victory!" The huge army transformed by firebirds followed the
banner forward and shouted wildly, "I sacrifice myself to the great emperor!
May the god bless the kingdom and my king bless me!"