Silent Crown Read online

  531 I Hope So

  532 Nightmare

  533 For Victory

  534 Breakfas

  535 Disappointmen

  536 Long Lives the Elegy

  537 Sain

  538 The Mountain of Nomadism

  539 Keel and Virtue

  540 Night Battle

  541 The Moon in the Water, the Person on the Heavens

  542 The Singing

  543 The Ocean Abyss of Suffocation

  544 The Wind and the Moon

  545 Flying

  546 The Presen

  547 Learning Makes One Happy

  548 The Remnants

  549 Qualifications and Conditions

  550 Power and Glory

  551 Making Good Use of the Remaining Value

  552 The Defense Line

  553 An Unfamiliar World

  554 The Dark Future

  555 A New Legend

  556 I Love Studying

  557 Learning Makes One Happy

  558 Addicted to Studying

  559 The Day of Setting Sail

  560 Avalon Part 1

  561 Avalon Part 2

  562 Gif

  563 Counter-attack

  564 Avalon, I’m Back

  565 Return

  566 Thames

  567 I Am the Country

  568 The Evil of Humanity Part 1

  569 The Evil of Humanity Part 2

  570 Friend, Please Wait for One…

  571 Here’s to the New World Part 1

  572 Here’s to the New World Part 2

  573 It’s Been a While

  574 Trus

  575 The Iron of Decay

  576 The End of Solomon

  577 The Vacuum Sun

  578 The Blood of Amber

  579 Sub-originator Showdown

  580 The Inheritance of the Stone Hear

  581 The Spirit Won’t Pass On

  582 The Arrows

  583 I’ll Be Back in a Momen

  584 Time to Leave

  585 Protection

  586 Tomorrow

  587 Redemption Part 1

  588 Redemption Part 2

  589 Before the Coronation

  590 King of Hell on Earth

  591 Banquet Part 1

  592 Banquet Part 2

  593 Clichéd Ambush

  594 Never Give Up

  595 Kingslayer

  596 Pledge Allegiance?

  597 The Chapter of the Golden Victory

  598 Betrayal

  599 The Holy Operation

  600 The Way of Relief

  601 Welcome Back

  602 The Path to the Top

  603 The Dragon and the Dog

  604 Does It Feel Great?

  605 Still Plenty of Time

  606 Speed and Strength

  607 Light of Pureness

  608 Words to Say

  609 The Old Gods Are Dying

  610 The Final Absurdity

  611 The Staff of Destiny

  612 May the God Bless the Kingdom and My King Bless Me

  613 Judgmen

  614 Dawn

  《Silent Crown》 Volume 10615 Homeland Patrol

  616 Wild Ambition

  617 Sorry, No Way

  618 Think with Your Brain…

  619 The Carnot Cycle

  620 An Ingenious Idea

  621 A Happy Beginning

  622 It’s Getting Light Out, Time to Get to Work

  623 Talen

  624 Cheers to Friendship

  625 The Preposterous Ways of the World

  626 The Whole Family Is Disappointed with You

  627 Can You Give Me a Hug?

  628 Prototype Part 1

  629 Prototype Part 2

  630 The Essence of Aether

  631 A Storm is Coming

  632 In the Name of the King

  633 The Second and Firs

  634 Escor

  635 Misgivings

  636 Negotiate

  637 Misunderstanding

  638 Assembly

  639 Kings of the Sea

  640 If You Say You’re Going to Do It, Then Do I

  641 Under the Witness of the Various Kings

  642 Let’s Negotiate

  643 Provisions

  644 Stone Plate

  645 Strange Circumstances

  646 Command

  647 And It Was So

  648 Even the Dark Musician would not have Tolerated

  649 I’m a Good Friar

  650 I’m Just Gonna Rub Against I

  651 Keep Pushing

  652 Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dus

  653 Borrow a Chicken to Lay Eggs

  654 A Good Man

  655 I Am Everything

  656 I Do It Often

  657 Pray

  658 Believers

  659 The Next Destination

  660 Just Be Yourself

  661 Metage

  662 What Are You Looking At?

  663 I Don’t Care

  664 Eulogizing in the Ashes

  665 Electricity

  666 Crack

  667 A Better World

  668 You are Finally Here

  669 Blunder

  670 The Valuable Asset of the Abyss

  671 War

  672 Wormwood

  673 Bridge

  674 Please Forgive I

  675 Depths

  676 Reformation

  677 Ultimate Skill

  678 The Right Time

  679 Don’t Eat Pies That You Are Not Supposed To

  680 Quenching Thirst with Poison

  681 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

  682 Dies Irae

  683 We Meet Again

  684 I Look Forward to Your Triumphant Return

  685 Is It So?

  686 Trial

  687 Miracle

  688 Wheel of Balance

  689 The Plague Returns

  690 Collapse

  691 The City in the Sky

  692 Burp~

  693 I Have a Rough Plan

  694 It Should Not Be So

  695 A World Where Nothing Really Exists

  696 Catastrophe Net of Aether

  697 It’s Settled Then

  698 Beneath the Roses

  699 The Wheel of History

  700 Goodbye

  《Silent Crown》 Volume 11701 The Land, the Sky, this World

  702 Gospel

  703 The Black Box of His Royal Highness the Prince

  704 Water Tank

  705 War and Daybreak

  706 Value

  707 The Crux of the Issue

  708 As It Is in Heaven

  709 Competing to Be the Most Terrible

  710 Thinking

  711 The Perfection in Theory

  712 Victory and Defea

  713 Gungnir

  714 The Wrath of the Queen

  715 Three Fronts

  716 War

  717 Surprise Attack

  718 God Bless the Kingdom

  719 Confrontation

  720 Why Are You So Strong?

  721 From the New World

  722 Truce?

  723 Discussion

  724 Inspiration

  725 Compassion

  726 Miracle

  727 Confidence

  728 Fruit of Destruction

  729 Catina

  730 New Testamen

  731 Age of Chaos

  732 Victory Is in Me!

  733 Mercy and Cruelty

  734 Afterimage

  735 Magic Gold

  736 Mission Accomplished

  737 Witness

  738 Mistake

  739 Who is the Monster

  740 Everlasting Friendship

  741 Trade

  742 Give Me a Noble Status or Give Me Death

  743 Apologies

  744 I’ll Give You All of I

  745 Sublimation

  746 The Path of Fire Sword

  747 Have a Taste of Your Ow
n Medicine

  748 An Evil Balance

  749 God

  750 Heaven

  751 Alpha

  752 Beneath the Long Skir

  753 Reptiles

  754 Weigh

  《Silent Crown》 Volume 12755 On the Road

  756 Cloud Tower

  757 Bon Voyage

  758 Let Me Do I

  759 Wait!

  760 Rebellion

  761 The Cat and I Are Not Going Ou

  762 The Real Thing

  763 Clouds Follow the Dragon and Wind Follows the Tiger

  764 Understanding

  765 I Trust You’ve Been Well

  766 Entering the City

  767 Acceptance

  768 World of Rising Floods

  769 World of Rising Floods Part 2

  770 Hero

  771 Hero and Death

  772 The Hero’s End

  773 Think about I

  774 Illusory Joy

  775 Before the Landing

  776 God

  777 Monarch and Subjec

  778 The Pas

  779 Special Pardon

  780 The Loser’s Last Words

  781 Why Bother?

  782 Broken Sky

  783 Meeting

  784 Pay Back in Kindness

  785 Secre

  786 Unknown Objects

  787 The End of Human Nature

  788 I’m Sorry

  789 Joke

  790 Ye Xuan

  791 In the End

  792 Choice

  793 Salvation

  794 Negotiation

  795 Mistake

  796 Funeral Part 1

  797 Funeral 2

  798 Funeral III

  《Silent Crown》 Volume 13799 Judgment Part 1

  800 Judgment 2

  801 Judgement III

  802 Judgment Part 4

  803 Observation

  804 Future I

  805 Future Part 2

  806 Choice

  807 Goodnigh

  808 Wait and Hope

  809 Hell

  1 The Well of the Ultimate

  In the dead of night, rain was pouring from the sky.

  A man wrapped in a large coat held up his lantern in the dark street.

  The rain poured down on his long coat relentlessly, with a cold, insatiable drive chilling him to the bone and soul.

  The cold air frosted the lantern, making the light dimmer than it already was. In the dim yellow light, the path a few feet ahead was visible to him, but anything further along faded into pitch blackness in the rain.

  The surroundings were distorted by the rain and darkness. Only when lightning struck could the towering castle be revealed. Stone statues of beasts covered in green moss sat on the rainspout, rainwater streaming out from their mouths.

  When the lantern was held up, the man’s face was also faintly illuminated.

  He was an old looking man with emerald eyes and a silver beard.

  There was a sense of abnormality in the air. A twisted weirdness lurked in the rain falling to the ground, in the lightning that cracked through the clouds, and in the deep breaths that the old man let out.

  There was not a single sound anywhere!

  In this world of silence, even the realness of breaths and heartbeats were fading as time passed. Not even a coward would fear this world, because all fear had already been frozen by the dead silence.

  Gaius had been here many times before, but each time, he felt ruined city was assimilating him, making him as cold as the city—turning him into a walking corpse.

  This dead silence may not even be a good place for a ghost to live.

  When he raised his head to take a deep breath, he could feel all the invisible beings that filled the city. They were the “aether” that roamed the atmosphere and the earth. Aether resonated within his internal organs, and harshly pulled away all existing sound.

  When he looked down, he could see the rain water on the ground flowing with aether. Among the waves and streams, the aether spread out beautifully like Eastern silk laid before his feet, flowing to the end of the darkness.

  This was a gorgeous, extravagant cage.

  Sound was devoured in this city by the enchantment, a magical force field. Aether slept here eternally. Not even the musicians that understood the heavens and earth could communicate with it—this was the Wyrmrest Enchantment.

  In the silence, Gaius raised his head suddenly. He felt a presence approaching. The darkness thickened.

  _

  Through the twisted screen of rain, the darkness looked as if it were a living being. It tried to tear itself apart, struggling with its teeth and claws, wanting to break free, wanting to get the thing out.

  And so the darkness was separated.

  In this silence, the rain and the wind blew wildly. Gray shadows emerged from the darkness. The color was like boiled lime, or the sharp edges and corners of a marble.

  There had been thirty-one of them when they set off but only nine came back, their gray robes almost completely covered with blood. The leader staggered, his hands holding a slender object. It was wrapped in a dirty white cloth, supporting his body so he did not fall.

  When Gaius saw him, he could not help but take a step back.

  Half of his face was charred. The wound had not yet healed, white and clammy from the rain. Water dripped from the side of his face—even the droplets had a faint tint of blood.

  “Hein?” he mumbled in dismay, but suddenly realized that he could not make any sound.

  Hein made an effort to pull the corner of his mouth up, as if he were smiling. This man was once known to have the face of an angel, but now it was as hideous as the Asura in hell.

  There was no time for Gaius to say anything. He turned in a rush to save time, and pushed open the door of the fortress.

  For a moment, he watched behind Hein carefully.

  Behind Hein, the grey friars stood silently, carrying something large and heavy. The object they carried was wrapped in layers of white cloth, revealing only a sharp edge.

  Gaius felt a sting in his eyes, and did not dare look again.

  The door closed silently, devouring the trail of the group.

  Lightning flashed in the clouds and on the fort. The stone beasts stared at the sky, their grinning mouths almost sneering.

  The creeping wind blew from the darkness as if it were walking into the Underworld.

  They walked down as if there was no end.

  The torch on the wall illuminated the long corridor. Gaius led the way in the front. The heavy copper keys shook at his waist but made no sound when they collided.

  As the key twisted, the sixth black iron door opened. Every time, Gaius could feel the bronze hub in friction with the huge structure behind the door. There was a violent tremble, like a key going into his own body, attempting to completely destroy his weary bones.

  With every step he took, he could not help but want to look back at the thing Hein carried. That thing was calling to him, telling him to turn around quickly, to look carefully, and imprint its image into his eyes.

  Immersed by the object’s call, his mind was shaken up. It was like an invisible hand was pulling at his soul from within his body, softly urging, “Turn around.”

  The voice said, “Come and turn around quick. Look at me. Look at me now. Look at me!”

  He trembled as the silent murmur summoning him spoke relentlessly, echoing in his ears!

  He felt a hand on his shoulders, calming down his wildly beating heart. He was sober, but felt himself soaked with cold sweat.

  It was not until now that he realized he had been standing in front of the last door for a long time, immersed in a hidden temptation, unable to extricate from it.

  That thing had magic!

  Gaius turned and tried to smile, but Hein just took his hand off him, and gestured him to move on.

  When the last key was inserted into the keyhole, Gaius felt so tired that he thought he
was about to die.

  The gate, three meters thick, opened with a tremor as the machine twisted. The torch was lit, and the darkness dissipated. Cold wind blew in from behind the door, with a pungent and hot scent enough to make one dizzy.

  Yet Gaius was slightly relieved. He was finally about to complete his mission, just like the others.

  He looked up at the inscription on the gates: The Well of the Ultimate.

  Behind the mighty iron gate was the abyss.

  In the darkness, the light rose from the abyss, swung, and illuminated their pale faces.

  According to legends of the East, at the end of the ocean, there is a whirlpool called the Ultimate. It is the remains of the last world after its demise, representing death. The fallen stars and the dead waters converged in the whirlpool, into the endless darkness, never to be recovered again.

  But if only darkness existed within the Ultimate, where did this light come from? It seemed able to burn the world.

  Blazing light burned in the black abyss.

  Like silver and gold melted together, or hot copper and hot iron rolling in the kettle, the light converged into a whirlpool, forever twisting. The silver and gold light lit up every one of their faces.

  Looking into it for a long time, they began to feel dizzy, but along with the dizziness was an urge to lose themselves to the light and jump into the whirlpool.

  This was the Well of the Ultimate, the end of the world—where all life withered.

  Even the aether would be killed here.

  Elements with divine power floated within the Ultimate, like spilt ashes. But before they died, they converged together, like molten iron boiling with its steam rushing up to the air, into a swirl of pain.

  Under the whirlpool was death.

  “We’re finally here,” Gaius silently whispered and looked back again at Hein, but saw amusement and fear flashing in his eyes.

  There was suddenly a faint sound in the dead silence.

  The sound itself was very subtle, but in this terrible silence, it was very clear. It roared, surging like a tide. It spread through the air, creating layers of ripples.

  On the shoulders of the friars in gray, under the layers, that thing was…breathing!

  Gaius and Hein’s faces froze in shock. They turned back, only to see the following scene—among the injured friars in gray, one friar had suddenly collapsed and slumped to the ground.

  Just a swift moment beneath the ripples and his face had been crushed. His body collapsed to the floor like falling gravel. There was no blood on the ground because all the blood had vaporized and merged into the breathing sound!

  Thus, the breathing sounds became a raging tsunami!

  Boom!

  A sharp shriek broke out from the breathing like metals screeching against each other. It was a high-pitched scream, yet tender as well. Their eardrums were shattering but, at the same time, they felt that someone was singing.