Silent Crown

Chapter 387 Pull

When the blazing object fell, it created a thunderous dragon-like roar. It shook the entire temple. The ground trembled, the walls vibrated, and the air seemed to solidify. Clashes sounded like giant stones rubbing against each other, setting off the acrid smell of something burnt.

"What is that?!" Paganini\'s head shot up. His eyes narrowed, trying to distinguish the thing that had fallen before him.

The darkness around him swelled. Layers of music scores emerged; strange melodies overlapped into a grating cacophony. But there was still an odd rhythm and completeness.

It was as if the beast in the darkness had revealed a scale or claw—shocking but unable to see the entirety.

"Haha haha!" Wolf Flute danced, pointing at Paganini excitedly and yelling, "Die, f*cker! You\'re dead now!"

Paganini\'s face darkened. The surrounding darkness thundered. The falling object was approaching.

From the distance, he could feel the sudden sharpness. It was terrifying. The object tore through the air, causing gales of wind and thunder. It was closer, closer, and closer! And then…under everyone\'s dumbfounded gazes, it cut a beautiful arc and fell somewhere on the edge of the city.

Boom! Something exploded in the distance. And then silence.

It missed the target? It f*cking missed?!

Wolf Flute\'s smile stiffened.

The silence dragged on.

Paganini looked down at the two with a mocking yet sad smile. "Seems like your savior got lost. And what did you just call me?"

"I-I…" Scratching his head, Wolf Flute chuckled awkwardly. "What did I just say? Maybe you heard incorrectly. I didn\'t say anything. Mr. Paganini, you look so nice and merciful. What if you let us go?

"We will do anything to repay your kindness. If others hear of this, it\'ll be a great story and reputation for you as well. What do you think?"

Ye Qingxuan almost cried. "This is the help you\'re talking about? Bro, where\'s your dignity? Can you not just surrender like this?"

Paganini laughed heartily. He gazed at Wolf Flute in satisfaction. "Well said." He slammed his hand down and darkness surged. "But sadly, it\'s meaningless!"

In that moment, there was light.

-

Hundreds of miles away, moonlight illuminated the crater in the barren land. The giant ditch was shocking. The gravel moved and a hand reached out.

"My…old bones…" A raspy voice sighed helplessly. A hand reached out of the dirt but nothing else could be seen. There was only a wrinkled hand covered in age spots moving around, picking out his broken body.

Finally, the dirt was wiped away, revealing half a burnt face. It slowly recovered and regenerated. Looking at the moonlight, he sighed.

"Business trips are seriously difficult. If I knew…I would\'ve stayed in the underground palace…watching the door… Getting the principal to say the truth is harder than persuading the natural catastrophes to be good people."

Trembling, he pieced his body back together. Finally, he was back to normal. There was a rag stuck on his body and a rock embedded into his head. He looked pathetic as if he had just climbed out of his grave.

It was Dominic.

"Seriously old now." Bending down to look, he coughed violently as he talked to himself. "Sent the package to the wrong place, got too excited and almost crashed when I saw those familiar faces. But how come Paganini still looks like that after all these years? He doesn\'t even get some surgery…"

As he rambled, he finally dug a hole in the ditch and used all his energy to drag something out of it. The narrow steel case clanged onto the ground. It buzzed as if something was struggling furiously inside.

"Thankfully the case\'s quality is pretty good." Dominic checked it over and sighed. "If the thing is broken, I\'ll probably get tossed into the Queen\'s boiler to take a bath."

With that, he picked up a rock and slammed it down. The lock cracked.

The sleep case shook and was pushed open from the inside. Radiant light shot into the sky like a reversed meteorite. The flash illuminated his withered face.

"Open up, delivery\'s here!" He grinned. "Who\'ll sign for it?"

-

The light flashed soundlessly. Paganini\'s laughter cut off. A few seconds later, the boom exploded belatedly. The terrifying speed that overpowered the air created wild wind pressure. It felt solid and swept in all direction, leaving ghastly cracks on the stone tiles. The temple\'s door shattered. The Garment\'s enchantment shattered as well.

With a thud, something fell onto the ground. It was a hand…

Paganini looked down dumbly and saw his stub of a wrist. Then he looked ahead at the thing that was sticking out of the floor. It had cut off his hand. Now, it poked out of the tiles, waiting silently as if it had sprouted roots.

Ye Qingxuan gaped at it. He could only hear his heavy breathing. He walked forward involuntarily. His blood had become calm after moonlight was added but now it bubbled. His blood screamed with an indescribably urge. He studied the seemingly familiar thing. Realizing what it was, his eyes almost rolled out of their sockets.

"Why are you…here?" he murmured. He seemed to hear it speak in his ears, "Pull me! Hurry and pull me! Come pull me!"

Wolf Flute laughed, shattering the silence. He literally rolled on the floor laughing. Before coming, Wolf Flute had gotten a seemingly average whistle from the principal. He had fallen silent.

"Mr. Principal, is this truly useful?"

"Yes." Maxwell had smiled. "You have to know that his blood isn\'t just Deva\'s blood. Half of it comes from Lancelot and…his mother\'s identity is very special."

"What do you mean?"

"The Lancelot family has always been a pillar of the kingdom with unwavering loyalty to the royalty. The royal family does not stop at rewarding them and pulling them closer either. For example, the simplest way…marriage."

Maxwell\'s smile grew mysterious. "Few people know that his mother\'s mother—his grandmother—is the sister of the previous Anglo king. Do you know what this means, Wolf Flute? One-eighth of his blood is royal blood. That means that he is qualified to be the thirty-seventh successor of the throne!

"That is why he has the rights to represent the School of Royalty. That is also why he could be chosen by \'it\' for his accomplishments in Anglo and have the right to control its power."

In that moment, understanding flashed past Paganini\'s eyes. He finally recognized the thing that had only appeared in legends and fairytales. "Wait!" he roared.

A hand reached out of the crack and pressed down, weaving wild melodies. He wanted to destroy that youth and burn him to dust.

But at the same time, Ye Qingxuan reached out and applied pressure. He pulled out the dusty, average-looking, rusted, and chipped…

Sword in the Stone!