359 The Gift of Life

The symphony of predestination instantly solidified and transformed into a cold star, practically leading the stars outside the Dark Atrium to move. The starlight was murderous and the twelve constellations rotated unstably. One could faintly see music notes surging and a grand melody shooting out. There seemed to be a muddled world within the glow of starlight. The Originator opened and all organisms began growing. The sight was splendid and dazzling.

This was the amazing miracle in Akasha's Book created by countless Recorders who wove music theory through the centuries. Now, it was called forth, bringing strong murderous intent.

Then the music score stopped abruptly, shattering.

Crowley reached out. His figure went past the star map and pressed onto Koch's neck, raising him slowly. The explosive starlight fell on him and was swallowed by something, disappearing without a trace. This was the artifact weapon that fallen saint Paganini had made from Crowley's body and instrument—the Garment of Original Sin.

Back then, Paganini's heart was captured by the abyss due to his greed for power and the Originator. He had sealed the secret of the abyss into his instrument, thinking that he would not be tainted by it. However, the listeners would see a demonic shadow when he played the instrument.

His appearance looked normal but the abyss had already devoured his insides. When he joined the natural catastrophes, his body and instrument had practically become the abyss's physical incarnate on earth and led to the gates of hell.

He had transformed his body into a fallen instrument. Those who wore this garment would be wrapped in the abyss and supported by the natural catastrophe. One must have a killing artifact of the same caliber to penetrate it. Though the Recorders had passed Akasha's Book down the generations, it was still not used for killing and could not penetrate the garment's defense.

The power of the Garment of Original Sin immediately counterattacked. Layers of black aura seeped into Grandmaster Koch's face, moving under his skin like a snake menacingly. The darkness was eroding him.

"Do not struggle." Crowley gripped Koch's neck and looked down with a cheerful smile. "You must know that there is a grand future in the abyss."

Koch raised his head with difficulty. Staring with his bloodshot eyes, he suddenly laughed. "It was hard to have you come closer… Then, as you wish."

Crowley's expression changed.

Koch surrendered and allowed the power of the Garment to taint him, transforming him into a dependent of the abyss. However, his symphony of predestination on Akasha's Book still in his hands quickly moved and released explosive starlight. In the gales, the book recorded by countless musicians from different schools slowly opened and flipped to the last page. There were only eight words on that page: The stars will fall. The world will end.

Printed with Koch's symphony of predestination, it now contained his scepter. Now, the prediction of the world's ending had arrived. Boundless starlight shot from the page and swept toward Crowley who was so close by.

Koch had ignited his scepter so Crowley could die with him!

The School of Revelations had always lacked the power to kill. It was the same for grandmasters such as Koch. The best way to use his shortcoming was to be decisive, even if it was deadly to himself.

Burning light instantly swept through the sky, engulfing Crowley. Even with the Garment's protection, he was still gravely injured at once. Half of his body was burnt to crisp, turned into a torch by Koch's self-sacrificing attack. His symphony of predestination was also damaged. The Dark Atrium that covered Romulus shook.

Koch, burnt to crisp, fell from the clouds amongst the blazing light. The burning Akasha's Book flipped in the wind, recording the life of the last user and burnt away with him.

Grandmaster Koch, the second clerk of the Sacred City Parliament, passed away.

-

In the sky, Crowley's expression was dark. His burnt face twitched.

The shaking from Koch's self-destruction of his scepter had caused the Dark Atrium, Crowley's scepter that had sealed Romulus, to practically break apart completely. The one attack had stirred the music theory. Even the general structure had become slightly warped.

If he could not fix it, he would not be able to maintain the Dark Atrium's lock. Not only had the self-destructive attack created a big problem for Crowley, it also revealed his arrival to the other musicians. Even worse, these were all the small details. Koch had actually wanted to create a hole in the Dark Atrium, break through the lock, enter the aether world, and transform into a lighthouse to warn the Sacred City.

Thankfully, the Garment of Original Sin had sealed the last beam of energy. Otherwise, the problem would be worse.

Knights Templar, the Sacred Choir, and the saints could not hurry over because they were thousands of miles away. But the Pope of the Sacred City was apparently a demi-god!

Known as the interpreter of the holy message, the master of holy power, the holder of sacred authority, the Pope had inherited ten generations of the King of Red. The most intimidating thing about him was not the countless destructive music scores such as Fate, Emperor, and Ode to Joy. It was the ability beyond human limits to enter unimaginable states. Such as resurrection, incarnation, and teleportation, the extreme wish of the School of Modifications…

He could be at the church the last moment and be right before Crowley the next moment. So many infamous dark musicians had died due to this…

"Reinforce the lock." Crowley's voice was hoarse and vicious. "Tonight, this is the land given to us by our lord. Do not let anyone out."

"Yes." In the empty market of the dark Auschwitz, the hooded musician looked away from the sky. His lips twisted into a sneer and he looked back to the goods in the wagon behind him.

Under the moving of a few muscular men, the precious goods that had been transported thousands of miles were now thrown mercilessly to the ground and shattered. Finally, all that remained was a steel box.

They placed it before the hooded musician. Taking an excited breath, he grabbed a crowbar and pried the box open. Inside it was a writhing piece of flesh. It seemed to have grown into the steel. Veins appeared on the box, fusing the two together.

The lump of purple flesh writhed in the night wind. A girlish face appeared within. It quietly sang a song about life. It sang of all organisms growing, intoxicating all who heard it.

"The Dark Gaia…" the hooded musician murmured, his eyes filling with intoxication. "I am so honored to finally be able to see you."

The steel box contained the flesh of the Dark Gaia. Or rather, it was a 'container' created by fallen alchemists that could bear the power of the Dark Gaia. The formless power had entered it and become one with it so the dark musicians could transport it.

"This power of life…the vitality of the abyss is so touching." The hooded musician caressed it, allowing the flesh to eat away at him. However, the flesh was unable to seep into his skin and was sealed outside. Merely opening the steel box made all dark musicians feel as if they had arrived in heaven.

The demonic blood within them became unprecedentedly active and waited to evolve. Many prepared dark musicians took off their robes and stood beside the box naked. They fervently sang the fallen hymns and praises of destruction.

The flesh boiled under the song. Viscous liquid seeped out and trickled on the ground, crawling up the singers.

The singers ignited. They dance and sang crazily in the fire, letting their bodies burn to ashes and scatter in all directions. Like the seeds of a dandelion in the spring. They would bring the blessing of the deep abyss to all of Auschwitz.

A few moments later, those countless seeds had fallen into the Dark Atrium and mingled among Crowley's scepter territory. It was as if the Dark Gaia had personally arrived to where the Dark Atrium enveloped. She selflessly gave the deformed lifeform to her children.

With their true nature revealed, the dark musicians grew more menacing. However, they were not the lifeform's true target. Its target was the Romulusians who contained the demonic bloodline!

The rich vitality flowed into the Romulusians as a catalyst for their vigor and woke the demonic blood within them. This strong catalyst could complete hundreds of years of change in one night, completely awakening the demon in them.

The panicking Romulusians gradually fell unconscious. A layer of thick horn-like material grew on their bodies, cocooning them within. After this night, they would break through as newborn demons…

This was the true goal of the perishing praise. They dragged the Romulusians into the abyss using the Dark Gaia's flesh to create true dark descendants. At the same time, they could capture the next generation of powerful musicians. It was two birds with one stone!

To most musicians captured within, the danger was much more serious than that. They quickly realized that the density of aether in Auschwitz was quickly rising after the Dark Gaia's power had flowed into the Dark Atrium. It would quickly rise from the red zone to the black zone and enter the zone of absolute danger. The rising trend was not showing any signs of slowing down anymore…

White zone, yellow zone, red zone, black zone…if they pushed through another level, it would be the phenomenon that all musicians spoke of with terrified expressions—sinking.

All of Auschwitz was like how Avalon's Shadow had been. It sank toward the aether world. One night later, Auschwitz would disappear from the material world and fall deep into the aether world to be swallowed completely by Hyakume's territory!

Five short seconds later in the underground palace, Ye Qingxuan snapped out of his shock.