Chapter 260: Wormwood

A horn sounded from the end of the sky.

The people on the turbulent sea outside of the Ultimate could not help but look up at the violently changing heavens.

It was as if a huge brass horn had been sounded, but when they looked in the direction that the sound came from, they could see no one. It was even difficult to sense with their aetheric perception.

It was a sound that had come from outside of the Ultimate.

In some distant place people were burning, and this blowing horn warned of that disaster.

Then, everyone saw a huge crack open in the firmament, and everyone beheld the original darkness off the universe that had been hidden behind the blue sky.

To the naked eye, it was nothing but a magnificent fissure. But to a musician’s senses, it was a huge crack that led into the realm of aether.

Something terrible began to rise slowly from the fissure.

It was a star.

The crimson star rose from the chaos behind the fissure like an indifferent eye slowly opening, and then casting itself over the world. Starlight gathered together and then descended towards the north.

Even if they didn’t look directly into that strange eye, everyone could feel the hairs all over their body stand up. Their hearts were heavy, and there was nothing they could do to relieve it.

Aboard the flagship of the Royal Navy, Sylvaine stared at the horror scene revealed in the ball of aether and could not help but gasp.

“What is that?”

“…Wormwood!”

“The great star Wormwood!”

The Revelation Musician who served as lookout was stunned for quite a while before he screamed, “The Sacred City has blown the Horn of Disaster!”

Everyone on the ship was plunged into dead silence as everyone’s uneasiness grew.

Several minutes before this had started a great chaos had erupted from the Ultimate, and the sea outside was likewise thrown into turmoil and horror.

The tide had sprung up out of nowhere, causing all kinds of ceaseless turbulence, and the sound of neighing continued.

In a flash, the sea that had once been dark blue with faint traces of black turned blood red. The scarlet color stung everyone’s eyes. The sea monsters lurking in the depths floated up to the surface and began madly attacking everything.

After drinking the blood red seawater, the sea monsters began to change rapidly, becoming more and more ugly. There were giant fish with human faces, enormous sea snakes with four limbs, deformed turtles covered in barnacles…

Fury rose up from the bloody water.

High-pitched alarms sounded out one after another. At the musicians’ warning, each fleet commander had already ordered all of his men off deck. Those unfortunate few who were too slow were bathed in blood and were soon either covered in strange tumors and cysts, died painfully, or were transformed into monsters.

Military officers wearing heavy armor, gas masks and hazard clothing walked onto the deck, coldly killing those who had transformed. Then the musicians called forth fire, burning them all together. But their deformed skeletons screamed in the flames. Even when they were nothing more than ash they still clung to the deck like moss, and were very difficult to clean off.

Soon, the ocean was boiling.

The hot temperature was accompanied by a scalding wind. The lookout turned his head, and could see nothing but a red-hot city of steel.

It was the Asgardian sea fortress.

After the alchemy arrays had been adjusted, thousands of waves of aether burst out from the sea fortress one after another. After the numerous waves had combined into one, the city of steel on the sea began to glow red-hot.

It did not need weapons, for it itself was already the most terrible weapon of all.

It didn’t even need to move. Just by sitting on top of the sea it was able to boil all the water in the area, killing all of its enemies.

The other fleets did not hesitate to launch their own defenses, and various elements emerged from them. Music theory distorted the Physical World, causing everything around it to mutate.

The world outside the cabin had turned into hell.

Everywhere was covered in strange blood, and breathing in would fill your lungs with steam. Iron sand floated in the wind. When the iron sand fell into someone’s flesh, it would accumulate quickly, until the whole creature was transformed into a deformed shape. Even the air pressure began to change, fluctuating between high and low, causing vacuums from which burst forth hurricanes and a roaring sound…

No one could worry about anyone else. First they had to arm themselves to the teeth and transform the environment around them, even if it meant that the ocean they were in would truly become hell.

This was war.

This was nothing new to any of them.

If this hell, then all the soldiers were creatures that had long existed there.

On the bridge, Sylvaine eyed the changes in the fleets in the distance coldly, but did not rush to immediately set up his defenses.

Starting and running the giant aether furnaces was a difficult process. In the face of such a tremendous amount of aether flowing around, even if they continuously replaced the coolant the aether furnaces lifespan would be quickly reduced.

The good steel should be used on the blade.

If there was anything to be envied about the Royal Navy, it was that after battling with catastrophes and sea monsters the sailors were used to such strange sights, and would not fly into a panic so easily.

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When the faint warning finally reached the observation deck, Sylvaine tore his gaze away and waved his hand. “Play the melody of the Emperor’s coronation! Wherever we are is the glorious land of the Anglo Kingdom!”

The glorious, mighty melody began to play.

A golden glow began to spread out from the Fire of Nirvana surrounding the fleet, as a real Firebird appeared. Under the control of dozens of musicians it swept out, and everywhere it passed everything was shredded to dust by its majestic will.

When the melody started, the waters of Avalon suddenly became as smooth as a mirror.

A toll sounded from the huge clock tower, and a stream of light reflected off the sea fortress and flew silently out, quickly merging with the Royal Navy’s Firebird. The sign of the golden retriever appeared from within, blessing the elements.

After all this, Sylvaine saw that the situation outside had grown even more unstable. After a moment of silence, he issued another order.

The situation was already chaotic, they might as well mess it up even more. The more chaotic the better!

Since everyone else was already messing around, the Anglo Kingdom must show their own temperament.

Soon, a musician who was completely covered by the Firebird slowly rose into the air. He carefully lifted the Holy Grail that he carried.

Clear spring water spilled out from the Cup of Integrity in all directions.

The sweet spring watered scattered in all directions and evaporated in the air. But it did not become steam, instead turning into thick, sticky clouds that covered everything all around. In a flash, the once hellish seascape turned into a fairyland.

But the thick clouds were neither perfume nor rain, but a deadly weapon.

When the commanders of the other fleets saw the white mist suffusing the air around the Firebird, and the figure holding the Holy Grail above the Royal Navy, their faces went pale.

But soon, an enormous stirring from the Ultimate caught everyone’s attention.

A horrifying illusion appeared from the turbulent flow of aether, covering the whole sky.

The thunder transformed into a one-eyed spirit, and lightning erupted from the spear in his hand. It burst through layer after layer of chaos, forcibly opening up a gap.

Dozens of musicians cried out, and a bolt of lightning fell upon the Asgardian sea fortress.

The Second Emperor took his subordinates and was the first to withdraw from the Ultimate!

Many of the keen-eyed musicians could not believe what they were seeing.

In that moment, as the musicians called out to the Second Emperor who was calling forth yet more lightning, a huge hole opened in his chest! His bones were torn, and a dark arrow pierced through his heart. No one could tell who it had come from.

Then there was another roar.

A huge Eudemon unfurled its wings. On its back it carried a wounded musician away from the Ultimate. The Eudemon looked like a cross between a bird and a deer, and it was gaunt and haggard. When it came out the Ultimate it looked like it could barely stand.

This was the second thing to emerge from the Ultimate, followed by a third and a fourth, until finally stars came whistling out of the Ultimate and flew out in all directions.

It seemed like they had encountered something awful and were running for their lives.

In the end the two Scepters and sixteen Masters seized the opportunity to use all their rare treasures to escape from the Ultimate.

However, there was no sign of Ye Qingxuan.

Sylvaine’s face was ashen.

“What happened?” He looked at the revelation musician. “No news from His Highness?”

The revelation musician shook his head in a panic, and his face looked pained. “Your Excellency, Asgard sent us a notice, asking everyone to leave the area quickly. In three minutes they will begin shelling the Ultimate, until there is not even an inch of land left in it…”

“They wouldn’t dare!” Sylvaine roared. “What about His Highness? Warn them that this is murder! This is blatant murder of the Prince of Avalon! Have them immediately cease all actions, or the Anglo Kingdom will make them pay!”

There was no response from the Asgardians.

Amidst the turmoil, a loud sound emitted from the sea fortress that shook the seas. A forest of organ pipes rose from the steel fortress. They pointed straight at the sky and spewed hot steam.

Countless buildings rose and fell like piano keys. Millions of gears and hubs began to revolve, all at the same rhythm.

The terrifying steel fortress had become an instrument. And at the very center of it the huge main road began to withdraw to each side, and from the darkness, huge, awe-inspiring main guns slowly emerged.

This was a threat that was terrible enough to destroy a city, a forbidden weapon that had been banned and locked away at international conferences.

The Dora Organ!

The shadow of a Scepter rose up over the fortress. Under the impetus of hundreds of overloaded aether engines a terrifying light began to brew under the guns. The slowly targeted the Ultimate, with clear intent to kill.

The final countdown had begun.

“Those d*mn…” Sylvaine’s face twisted as he gritted his teeth. “Tell the fleet to engage all aether engines, overload them – from this moment forward, the Anglo Kingdom officially declares…”

At the moment, gasps of surprise sounded from the bridge.

“Your Excellency, we’ve received a message from the Mountain of Nomadism!” The revelation musician shouted ecstatically. “His Highness has sent us orders from inside the Ultimate!”

He paused, and his voice caught in his throat. His expression went blank, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

“His Highness has ordered us to not worry about the Asgardians, and to…withdraw…ten nautical miles?”