358 The Fire Will Soon Extinguish

Only the dim family flame burned in the dark room. According to legend, this flame contained the spirits of the ancestors. Now, it flickered unstably like a candle in the wind.

Caligula, sleeping before the fire, opened his eyes and sighed. The dove in the cage beside him had felt the unrest and flapped its wings in fear. Caligula grasped it and slit its stomach open, taking out the thin intestines. He hummed the ancient song lightly and deciphered the obscure sign under the firelight. After a long while, he tossed it into the fire.

"The fire will soon extinguish." He read the message from the heavens. Looking up, he stared in the distance blankly as if he could see the spirit far away in the temple, dissipating into flames.

"Your Highness, I hope your gradually leaving spirit will gallop through the starry skies just as you raced across the lands…But sadly, there will be no family flame for you to rest in…"

Caligula lowered his eyes as he murmured. Thick blood flowed from his nostrils and dropped onto the back of his hand. There, grayness spread with the smell of disease and sickness.

Scales slowly grew on his ankles like an awakening demon. The disease that had been hiding inside the Romulusians had finally awaken and broken out. His vision went black and he stumbled, almost falling.

"Has this day finally come?" he murmured to himself as he pushed himself up. "Whatever, Romulus's era should have ended long ago. The ashes of the old age should be pushed into the garbage."

Behind him, the door was pushed open cautiously, revealing a young face. Elsa had been startled awake from her nightmare. She clutched her doll and looked at Caligula.

"Daddy, I'm scared."

Caligula smiled with difficulty. He hugged her and petted her long hair. "Don't be scared, Elsa, don't be scared." Wiping away his nosebleed, he asked softly, "Do you still remember Mommy?"

"Mommy…" Elsa hung her head. "I dreamed of Mommy. She told me not to be scared but I was still scared. Then she left. Daddy, will you leave too?"

"No." Hugging her, Caligula hid his tears. "Mommy won't leave you either. She loves strong children."

Behind him, the family flame burned faintly. Wind seemed to blow. The fire would soon extinguish. Thus, a mournful song sounded in the flames.

-

The mournful song resounded over Auschwitz during the silent night.

"Come, let me tell you about the future, tell you the honors the descendants of god won, how your descendants will be…" This was a canto from long ago. It recorded the honors the saint had made on this land and the ballads that Romulusian poets had sung. However, these ballads were ineffably sorrowful and bleak.

As the song resounded, the Romulusians woke from their sleep. They saw the gray spots expanding on their bodies and the blood flowing from their nostrils. The family flames went out one by one as if the ancient souls living within them were dying. However, those dying souls were singing of the glory of the olden days, the city, and miracles that the Romulusians had once made.

Finally, all flames extinguished in the darkness as if their ancestors had burned to nothing in the fire. All was in darkness.

Then the earth started shaking. A terrifying rumble came from deep underground. The entirety of Auschwitz started trembling. Enormous slabs of stone collided against each other with shattering roars.

Under the deafening roars, countless cracks spread through the walls and buildings. Intense shaking followed one another.

The musicians startled awake from their dreams, sensing the changes in the world and the roars in the air.

"What's going on?"

They looked up reflexively to the sky.

"Grandmaster Koch?"

In the reflections of those eyes, the black clouds were burning. Pained cries sounded.

Behind the clouds, firelight surged. The frail old man turned into withered bones that fell apart in the air. Dust fell from the sky, bringing murderous intent from the heavens.

Darkness came with disaster.

-

Five minutes ago, the clouds were illuminated by the bright moon. In the sky, Grandmaster Koch opened his eyes, his brows furrowing.

On the ground, aether waves rippled through the entire city. As if gales of wind had swept through, the family flames that had been lit for millenniums suddenly extinguished. The earth was thrown into darkness.

The moment the firelight was extinguished, his head shot up to see the abnormality. Darkness came from the starry sky, extinguishing the starlight. The darkness seemed to be a living creature. It enshrouded Auschwitz, instantly creating an immense shadow. He could not see his own fingers in the darkness.

Grandmaster Koch furrowed his brows. He drew in the air with his pen and a music score emerged on his sheepskin scroll. Gentle starlight rose from his scroll like a small sun. This was the 'glow of insight' from the School of Revelations. It allowed him to see all truth.

The darkness in the light's path faded, shrunk, and revealed the dark music theory within. Under the glow of insight's illumination, hundreds of rays of blood light appeared in Auschwitz.

Koch's face paled and he gasped. Every dot of blood light represented a dark musician… The dots were mostly hidden in the outer inns and around the market. That was where the caravan that entered Auschwitz in the morning lived but how could a caravan be so scary? This place had turned into a demon nest!

Koch did not understand. He had been here since the trial began to supervise everything. How could so many people go undetected from his Starry Eye?

"No need to blame yourself," an easygoing voice said. "They're all believers blessed by the dark followers. They're deeply protected and it's quite normal that you couldn't tell." The voice was polite and filled with chivalry but Koch felt as if he had fallen into an icy gorge. Trembling, his pallor turned ghastly.

Even with the glow of insight, he still did not feel anything behind him. However, an empty hole appeared as the voice spoke. A black hole suddenly opened in the mass of light. An unclear figure came out. It stared at him and spoke in the human tongue. However, the hole seemed to reach into an abyss. The figure was inhuman and terrified him.

"I didn't think the School of Akasha's Book still has inheritors. You must be the current Recorder, yes?" The empty hole 'stared' at the sheepskin scroll in Koch's hand and nodded in understanding. "What a pity."

"Paganini!" Koch's voice was hoarse. He stared at the comer. "Fallen saint Paganini's Garment of Original Sin… No wonder I couldn't tell! Are you all the 'perishing praise?' You're Crowley Ergo?"

"No wonder you're the recorder of Akasha's Book. You even know this." Crowley chuckled lightly. His true appearance was revealed from the Garment of Original Sin. His white face was like a youth but his withered hands were wrinkled.

Centuries ago, the sixth generation Paganini had crossed the forbidden line to search for the essence of music theory and turned to the natural catastrophes, thus becoming a dark follower.

The holy name of Paganini had fallen and was no longer passed down. At the same time, the musicians who had inherited his music theory also fell into the demonic realm. They formed the perishing praise and were third of the sixteen fallen orchestras blessed by Hyakume. They were guided directly by the dark followers.

These fallen musicians wandered through the world. Some even lived inside the dark world. When they acted, they were a synonym to natural catastrophes. Everything in their paths were reduced to ruins. No one had expected this group to dare to appear here!

Seeing Koch's cautious expression, Crowley laughed. "You want to drag things out so the others can spread the news? It's useless. We've obviously made some preparations since we've come so far. We at least have all of your information. There are people taking care of things below. You don't have to worry."

Koch's expression darkened. "Is there something in Auschwitz important enough for the perishing praise to come out for? Or are you planning to declare war against the Sacred City?"

"I didn't think you'd worry for us. How touching." Crowley smiled, his youthful face filling with innocence and joy. He pointed at the land below them. "Look at that flower…"

In the darkness, the world shook. Auschwitz drowned in wails. There was no flower but Crowley was captivated.

"The seed was planted a century ago. Now, it's finally blooming." He reached out as if gently caressing the city. "I thought it would take a few more centuries of care but sadly, His Majesty was gravely injured and we had to put the long-term plans to the side.

"After tonight, other than the mermaids, demi-dragons, and black moon spirits, our lord will have a new race following him… I'm sure the Romulusians will give birth to many demon children."

"Your wishful thinking!"

Enraged, a dazzling light glowed within Koch's wizened body. An immense star seemed to surge from his body, practically burning him to dust and breaking through!