210 Tragische Ouvertüre

The game was about to begin. Soon the two lowered their hands and returned to their original positions with smiles. They rotated their wrists and knees as they began to warm up.

"Banner, what happened?" Cullen could feel the faint coldness in Banner’s eyes when he returned and whispered, "What did he say?"

"Just some ridiculous joke," Banner said slightly. "No need to care. Are you ready?"

"We’ve finished warmups."

"Good." Banner lowered his head and chuckled softly. "Tell everyone to get ready. No matter whether it’s him, his friend, the little girl, or the dog ... I'm going to make them kneel outside and watch their own defeat!"

He clenched his still painful fists, with his eyes full of rage. The residual pain in his palms seemed to penetrate into his bones, making him feel the long-gone humiliation. It felt like a flame burning his heart.

He glanced across at the enemy. When he saw the last musician with his weird headgear, his expression became guarded. If there was anything in the music history department that deserved their caution, it would be this guy who did not show his face. From the beginning to now, the guy had not exposed himself to them. He hid his powers and dealt with matters easily, no matter what the situation was. An unknown enemy was the most worrisome.

"Countdown begins now," the referee's voice sounded. "Five, four, three, two...one!" In an instant, the whistle rang, and the game finally started.

Everyone's body tensed, but then Banner saw Ye Qingxuan’s suddenly spring forward and steal the ball! At the beginning, all the musicians prepared to play, in favor of defense, but this guy gave up his defense and took the initiative.

Banner sneered. The musicians of the other departments might be intimidated by his trick, but the School of Summoning would not, let alone someone from the School of Royalty who studied both.

He closed his eyes. In the darkness, a pair of beastly eyes seemed to light up. It was the phantom beast that grew in his brain—the manticore.

"Marchosias!" he whispered its true name and suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils, quickly, elongating into the slender pupils of a beast.

With the swing of his hand, the ring on his finger lit up. He pressed his palm down, and crisp piano sounds burst into the air. The piano was sharp and grand, like a lion’s roar. Five shadows sprang from his body. They were the projections of the demons in his mind. But then, a sharp sound burst from the arms of the young man opposite him.

Jiu Xiao Huan Pei!

Bang! Countless strings were played at staggered times, but the sounds overlapped, becoming sharp and harsh, and piercing ones eardrums!

This was composite note playing, but at a more advanced level, because all the notes were played simultaneously. This was a complex technique that could only be done with multiple stringed instruments. The musician controlled the sound of all the strings according to the different order and level, and mixed the sounds into one chord with absolute control. The more strings, the harder the chord was.

After Jiu Xiao Huan Pei absorbed the large amount of spirituality, Ye Qingxuan managed to achieve the level of six chords, which meant...Six notes were released in an instant.

In a sudden, layers of mirrors proliferated behind the youth, forming a looming mirror matrix. Fierce light shone from it immediately after.

In a sudden, it seemed that everything dimmed. Pure light rushed forward like a canon and everything seemed dim in contrast. The sharp light stung everyone’s eyes. The light came like a tidal wave, causing Banner to freeze. His mind became blank for a few seconds due to the intense stimulation.

Just in an instant, the manticore, who was in the middle of projecting, screamed. The shadow trembled under the intense interference of the light. The strong light disappeared, but the world was still dark.

The soccer ball was already under the youth’s foot.

"Ye Qingxuan!" Banner roared while the beastly shadows around him paused. They screamed and the five shadows instantly turned into a consolidated blackness.

The five dark shadows quivered and suddenly rushed toward Ye Qingxuan’s direction. Although they were the manticore’s projections, they were all different. Some were like giant scorpions, some like pythons; others were silhouettes of dragons, or had the posture of a lion, the determination of eagles...These were the five animal characteristics that the manticore contained.

The five completely different kinds of beast fused together and formed the manticore’s strength. Now they split up and projected out, charging at the youth with five different forces. This was one of Banner's special techniques.

In the previous games, Banner used this trick to defeat the other team’s offense right at the start. When he charged forward, his teammates also showed their abilities, pulling out instruments and alchemy equipment to play melodies surrounding the rest of Ye Qingxuan’s teammates.

In an instant, the whole frontline pushed forward like a boulder rolling from the top of the mountain. The history department’s situation became grave, but this was what most people had expected. With the music history department's strength, it was taken for granted that they would be defeated at the opening. But this time they were destined to be shocked.

As the five shadows attacked, Ye Qingxuan leisurely advanced with the ball, going straight toward the shadows. His fingers played in the air. The next moment, a dark melody was produced unexpectedly.

Like sadness surging from the heart, it swept through the field, instantly chilling everyone’s hearts. The music sounded tortured and brought melancholy that was engraved in one’s mind. The five shadows froze abruptly. In the sound of the music, the beastly spirits became sluggish under the influence of the aether...

The stands were silent. Ludwig suddenly stood up with a startled expression. "Tragische Ouvertüre?" he mumbled blankly. "What's going on? How can that kid play the Tragische Ouvertüre from the School of Summoning?"

Silence overcame the professors’ seats. Most of the professors who had identified the song were astonished. At the very front, Ingmar of Revelations seemed to think of something, and his face grew serious.

No way...

-

At the same time, a startled feeling overcame Banner. In the School of Summoning, Tragische Ouvertüre was practically a compulsory course, but its extreme difficulty was also a big problem for graduate students. As an auxiliary music score, it could greatly enhance the phantom beast’s nature so that it could transform and enter into an upper level. It also produced the same effect on enemies. But now, the effect had been reversed. It was degeneration...degenerating in sorrow!

In that cold and sad melody, the five shadow beasts suddenly shook and involuntarily began to tremble. In the end, the shadows gradually blurred under the influence of the melody. The originally strong beastly nature was consumed bit by bit until it was eaten away and could not be maintained anymore.

How could he...How was it possible?

Banner’s face changed and he subconsciously swore. His eyes grew cold and he slammed his hands down. It was the same melody, the same Tragische Ouvertüre, with the same sound. The two melodies overlapped each other, but Banner's performance was more intense and sharp.

"Marchosias!" he roared the phantom beast’s true name in a low voice. The aetheric wave strongly fluctuated around him. In the midst of the wave, a fire was ignited.

The illusory silver firelight tossed violently, and a large figure emerged from it. It was the demon named Marchosias, which was the most powerful phantom beast bred and fed by the Adrian family through the generations—the manticore!

The lion suddenly roared. Ye Qingxua’s melodies in the roar’s path shook violently and then collapsed?!

In both the East and West, lions had their own unique status. The monks said that a lion’s roars could silence all heretics.

Then the manticore jumped out of the void. This time, Banner no longer used projection, but directly put the phantom beast‘s seed in the aether and gave it a physical shape. After centuries of inheritance, it seemed to have grown abnormally old, but there was still a fierce light in its eye was a fierce light. It was a burning fire.

When it trampled on the field, the grass withered. When it breathed, a lion’s fierce roar echoed in the wind. This was the monster created by combining the generation power of the Adrian family and deep research of Summoning music theories. People familiar with it knew that it was created by the musician for their enemies—it was a musician killer!

It was good at finding the living and it could disturb the enemy’s music. With sharp claws, it could easily tear shields. Its speed was swift as a shadow...It was best at jumping from the dark, tearing through shields, putting all strength into one blow, biting off the enemy’s throat and pulverizing his skull!

The moment the old manticore landed, coldness flashed in its eyes. Suddenly it blurred and disappeared. Banner looked at the enemy and sneered. When the manticore appeared once again, it would be the moment the enemy was killed!

But Ye Qingxuan was not panicking as he had expected. Instead, he seemed to be hesitating, but soon, his hands swung down again. This time, he performed a sharp sound.

The disorderly music echoed around his body. It was like countless swords rubbing with each other, a wire being pulled by a winch, and nails scratching the blackboard. It made one’s scalp prickle. There was no rule to it. It was neither a music score nor a melody—it was pure cacophony. 

The noise influenced the aether disorderly so that the aether zone in his perception fluctuated suddenly. Countless faint silver points of light collided with each other, producing crackling sound.

No one could understand his performance. Was this guy going to blow himself up?

But in the irregular melodies, the disappeared manticore vaguely revealed its figure. The illusory figure quietly moved forward. In the extremely chaotic noise interference, the aether changed without pattern and revealed the manticore’s trace.

The youth raised his wrist and put two rings on the forefinger and middle finger of his left hand. He pointed the two fingers at the manticore. Then, the two separated fingers slowly closed like a pair of small scissors.