742 Apologies (1/2)
Shortly after, the sea of aether appeared for the first time in the Physical World. At this moment, the old musician relied on the armor of divinity and connected the Tree of World to Vanaheim, and almost transformed himself into Asgard. As he pushed at full force, the sea of aether was completely sucked up and pumped into the mortal world.
It was a density that was tens of thousands of times greater than that of the black zone. Countless beams of light gathered together to form boiling mercury, which was capable of melting the streams of light that were coming together from all directions. This was the first time that Ye Qingxuan was experiencing the feeling of drowning in the sea of aether. It was like being thrown into a pool of strong acid.
The illusory aether torrents were filled with cries of pain and despair as the remnants of hatred and insanity of the dead were mixed within. Countless broken faces began to surface. They were screaming and crying and tugging at him with hands that did not hold any form or weight. At this moment, Ye Qingxuan and the incarnation of the catastrophe had both been completely submerged within this ocean of hatred.
It was just like how one needed to submerge minerals in decomposition liquid so that they would be completely disintegrated before proceeding to create some special alloys. Leave? No way! Of course, the old musician was never going to let Ye Qingxuan leave. The stove had already been built and the fire had already been lit. If he let their meal go, what would they eat for dinner?
Seeing how they were being pinched and nipped all over like soft persimmons, Ye Qingxuan calmed down instead. Only his eyes turned icy cold.
”Your Majesty, how are you with swords?” he suddenly asked Mary out of the blue.
”Ooh…” It was rare for Mary to reveal an awkward expression. ”I'm not very good with royal swordsmanship. If I tried my best against Christine, who will only spar with me a single arm, it would probably be a draw match. Why do you ask?”
”Nothing much.” There was a complicated look on Ye Qingxuan's face.
Although her swordsmanship was nowhere near the level of Lancelot, for her to be on par with Christine, who would only fight her with a single arm, this meant that she was already rather proficient when compared to the Knights of the Round Table. At the very least, she was hundreds of times more powerful than someone like him, who wielded a sword as if it was a stick.
He sighed and seemed to make up his mind. ”In that case, the key to our victory lies with you, Your Majesty.”
”Hmm?” Mary looked confused. Although she possessed the power of catastrophe, all this while, she had always played the supporting role to Ye Qingxuan. It had never been her habit to rely on others but now that she was being thrust into the role of being key to the outcome of the battle and was about to face Odin, who was clad in armor of divinity and was on the brink of stepping into the domain of the Three Pillar God, she could not help but feel flustered.
”Even if we wish to leave now, I'm afraid the host will not allow it. We have no choice but to stay and play the role of a horrible guest.” Ye Qingxuan spoke coldly, ”That old fellow's plan is for everyone to fight on the aether engine, just before it explodes. We cannot sit by and do nothing about it.”
He did not bother to conceal his tone. In fact, the situation was clear. After gathering Asgard's power for the past few centuries, Vanaheim had now become an enormous alchemy caldron. A huge amount of music theories were evolving every moment and could explode anytime if one was not paying enough attention. Not only would Asgard be completely destroyed, but the rest of the world would also suffer catastrophic consequences.
Right now, the old musician was half-threatening and half-extorting. By tying the entire world to his molten lead bucket, his intention was to put Ye Qingxuan in a situation where he would have no choice but to hold back in order to avoid harming the innocent. In order to defeat him, there must be no hesitation and panic. It must be done decisively and cleanly. In order to do so, Ye Qingxuan had to exploit his only weakness.
Right now, all the power was being connected to the armor of divinity through the Tree of World and the person that was in control of all these was not necessarily Odin, but the old musician. Without a doubt, this was his only weakness. In order to win, they would have to gather all the power in a single line, penetrate through it, and thoroughly yet accurately evaporate the old musician that was hiding within the armor of divinity.
”Will this…really work?” Although there was nothing wrong with the theory, Mary just did not feel confident. She kept feeling as if something was wrong somewhere. ”With my level of swordsmanship, I'm afraid I may just make things worse.”
Ye Qingxuan laughed bitterly and looked at Mary, ”Later, I will use the New Testament to break us through the aether current and domain of Vanaheim. After that, we will just have to count on Your Majesty.”
”I will try my best.” At this moment, the incarnation of catastrophe was shivering slightly. These dialogues had not been carried out without the old musician's knowing. Although there was a barrier, the distance was so close that to the armor of divinity, it was no different from screaming beside his ear.
Ye Qingxuan was doing this on purpose. He was stranded between heaven and earth and within the armor of divinity but deep down, he was laughing to himself. Carry on, carry on putting up a front.
Right now, he was focused on tinkering with divinity in order to achieve a drastic miracle. It was not enough even if he devoted his full attention to it. It was already difficult enough to spare part of his attention for suppressing Ye Qingxuan and the incarnation of catastrophe, much less attacking them. In other words, before he could complete his preparations, there was no way he could retaliate. He had no choice to take whatever blows that would come.
Ye Qingxuan did not care to hide this point. Instead, he would lay out his plans openly and clearly for the old musician to see. I am going to poke at your heart. Are you going to block it or not? Can you block it or not? Am I purposely saying these to distract you from something else I have up my sleeves or is this all there is to it?
Guess. Keep on guessing. Ye Qingxuan was filled with cruel intentions.
This situation of being walled in by one's worries was both a test and torture for both sides. Whoever gave up first would lose. Ye Qingxuan was used to exploiting others when they were at their weakest so this was nothing to him. At this moment, the old musician pretended not to hear what he was saying.
The Tree of World transformed into the iron giant and spewed out wings of light. The wings connected heaven and earth, turning itself into Asgard. Shortly after, it began to push against the immense power of divinity as Asgard. Above the glorious and majestic crown of light, divinity was devouring the endless aether continuously. Countless music theories would clash and be annihilated until they gradually appeared out of the alchemy caldron in a pristine state.
The element of ancient runes! Six rows of elements that glittered like stars transformed into gemstones and were on top of the giant's crown.
With the appearance of the six elements, each representing different powers and orders, the silhouette of a final element gradually surfaced amidst the intertwining of the countless music theories. Compared to the six terrifying powers, the last element was a complete blank that contained none of the powers of runes.
Amidst the emptiness, there seemed to be endless possibilities. This was the key to creation. Six ancient runes surrounded this tool, that was created from the most crucial blank slate. This blank slate was the only one that was capable of carrying the terrifying power of the creation of the world by God. It did not exist in any physical bodies yet it was omnipresent. The supreme element, void!
But right now, the void was congregating very slowly. Under the pressure of external forces, it was moving very slowly and was almost coming to a stop. This was due to the flawless light that was gradually congregating ahead. It was the sword blade that subdued catastrophe with mercy and justice, and solidified the foundation of the crown with the most sublime traits of humanity. It was the sword of coronation, Catinat! Only the most selfless people with compassion and justice would be able to wield this sword. Only those that showed mercy and kindness to all living creatures would deserve to raise that sword of glory.
Power flowed within the incarnation of catastrophe. Endless dragon fire gathered in a single line and lit up the glow of the sword blade. It was so pure that there were no flaws and it was so bright that there was not a single spot of darkness. It was so righteous that there could be no distortion and it was so gentle that it would not hurt any eyes that looked at it. It was as if all the most beautiful things in the world had been gathered here, and only light as pure as this could prove the value of justice and mercy, as well as declare to whom victory belonged to.
At the same time, a deep voice rumbled across the earth, ”Build the foundations of the land and lift the vault of heaven. Renew everything in this world so that nothing will ever decay.”
As the New Testament Sword was stabbed into the ground, Ye Qingxuan made his declaration while gripping tightly onto the sword. The deep voice reverberated amongst the torrents of aether. The exquisite yet powerful glow of the blade of New Testament sword began to rise and split apart the ocean made up of torrents of aether. It chased away all howls of despair and curses.
Compared to the purity and harmlessness of Catinat, the glow of the New Testament was powerful and cold. It was as hot as flame and its edges and corners were clear-cut like metal. Just like justice and truth, it would not be gentle because of one's kindness nor cruel because of one's evilness. It would draw a clear and objective line between right and wrong, hence becoming a yardstick that all creatures would be measured against.