No Tenderness Beneath the Crown

Before him was pitch-black darkness, where he could not see his hand before his face.

Fang Heng endured the pain and took out his matchbox—only half remained inside—and gently struck a match. The weak flame illuminated a small area. Holding it up, he rolled over on the ground and could not help drawing in a breath. His entire body hurt as though it had fallen apart.

The firelight revealed his surroundings. The platform above was six or seven meters higher than where he had landed. He saw his Magic Furnace still lying quietly at the platform's edge, completely motionless. The Vengeful Spirit above had vanished by then. Its earlier shrill laughter seemed like an illusion, lingering only in the darkness.

Fang Heng vaguely felt that his body might have been strengthened. Falling from such a height had not broken any bones or torn any muscles. He examined himself carefully and found that he had neither fractures nor any serious injuries. That would have been almost unimaginable before. His constitution attribute must have increased significantly.

But without a character interface, he had no way of knowing exactly what had happened.

Fortunately, Fang Heng was used to it. When he had studied alchemy in Kapuka, had he not been different from everyone else as well, unable to freely allocate points? He had made it through in the end, though his beginner phase had been somewhat long.

Raising the flame, he noticed a blackened skeleton not far away. It should have belonged to a woman. The frame was slender, its body hunched and leaning crookedly against the wall. Its head was not attached to its neck, but had rolled off to one side.

This was a corpse that had died from depleted Star Radiance.

Fang Heng found that surprising. Anyone who could enter this place should not have been a Chosen. Since the Zone of Silence only affected Luminous Matter, this skeleton could only have been a native who had died here after her Star Radiance completely faded away.

A Numenor Elf?

But it did not quite look like one. According to the books in the Artificers' Association collection, ancient Numenor Elves were tall, averaging two meters or more. This skeleton was delicate and petite, even shorter than him.

This was probably the Vengeful Spirit's former body. Fang Heng thought to himself. He happened to know some obscure facts about this kind of undead—Vengeful Spirits were a type of earthbound spirit, usually bound near the place of their death. They liked luring others into repeating their experiences and stepping into death's embrace.

So she had fallen to her death?

He raised his head and looked up. That height was enough to kill someone in a fall, but it was rather absurd for the head to be flung so far away. He looked at the corpse again. It did not seem to have landed headfirst either.

Unless she had broken her neck, then crawled back up from the ground—

The strange thought that suddenly surfaced made Fang Heng laugh at himself. He felt he was merely scaring himself. How could that be possible? Even if she had become undead, she would not revive immediately. Besides, she had already become a Vengeful Spirit.

At that moment, the match burned down to his fingers. He hurriedly shook it out.

Darkness descended again. Standing in that deep, sightless void, Fang Heng instinctively reached for a second match, but suddenly froze. He abruptly felt that the Vengeful Spirit's behavior was strange. Undead did not understand pranks. These twisted beings ruled by evil consciousness held extreme hatred for the living. Their sole purpose was to create as many of their own kind as possible.

Where had it gone?

Just as he thought that, a strange sound suddenly came from the darkness. Click, clack. It sounded like something crawling along the ground, crisp as bones striking stone.

Fang Heng's blood froze.

The sound was coming from behind him—

He lunged forward. Something clawed at his back, slicing a huge gash through his robe. His back felt cold, while the wound burned with pain.

Ignoring the pain, he hurriedly struck a match and spun around. In the darkness, a gaping bloody maw lunged toward him. Of course, calling it a bloody maw was not quite right—it was a huge iron mouth, its saw-toothed jaws filled with metal components.

A giant Construct Dog, nearly as tall as a person.

Fang Heng instantly understood how that skeleton had died. One bite from this thing, and a broken neck would be perfectly normal. Those "kind and lovable" big dogs had definitely been lured here by that Vengeful Spirit. Damn it!

He hurriedly rolled backward, making the Construct Dog bite at empty air.

Perhaps because it had been left idle for too long, this antique was somewhat unsteady, and its movements were less nimble than he had imagined. But before Fang Heng could feel relieved, red lights began flickering to life in the darkness.

Seven or eight Construct Dogs slowly emerged from the dark. Click, clack—the sound came from their metal claws striking the ground.

The match in Fang Heng's hand had already burned halfway down.

Without hesitation, he turned and ran. Whether he could escape or not, staying here meant certain death. But before Fang Heng could take more than two steps after getting up, something beneath his feet suddenly tripped him. He lost his balance and flew through the air.

He crashed face-first onto the ground.

Fang Heng nearly cried from the fall and cursed inwardly at whoever had carelessly thrown things around. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled to his feet, only to suddenly notice a faint glow behind him.

Fang Heng paused, then instinctively turned around.

He saw the thing that had tripped him. It was actually gleaming in the darkness, giving off light.

It was a crown, made of twenty-one stars arranged side by side. The other stars were all forged from Mithril, while only the central star was carved from crystal. At that moment, a clear azure light shone from within that crystal.

Fang Heng was stunned by the light—blue and cyan radiance flowed through the darkness, beautiful as a dream. But was that not exactly the same light that had shone from the dagger? Only this light was far purer.

While he was still wondering about it, he unexpectedly discovered that the Construct Dogs seemed afraid of the light and hesitated in the distance.

Fang Heng was overjoyed, like a drowning man grasping a lifeline. He hurriedly climbed up, dashed over, picked up the crown, and raised it in both hands. The crown blazed brilliantly, and the Construct Dogs indeed shrank back a step.

There really was always a way out!

Seeing this, Fang Heng finally let out a long breath. But when he instinctively looked again at the light flowing through the crystal—it truly was identical to the light the dagger had emitted. Waves of blue occasionally rippled through the clear azure glow. It was extraordinarily distinctive, dreamlike and unreal.

Could there be some connection between them?

The question had barely crossed his mind when a shriek came from afar. A Construct Dog flew past Fang Heng as though it had been struck by a cannonball, then slammed into the metal wall behind him.

After a deafening crash, scattered parts rolled over from that direction—including one of its metal eyes.

Another streak of white light flashed through the darkness, and the huge head of another Construct Dog fell in response. Only then did Fang Heng realize someone had arrived. He looked up just in time to see two more giant dogs collapse.

Too fast. He estimated these Construct Dogs were at least creatures above level ten, yet they were utterly helpless. Their attacker had to be at least level twenty. If they were at the fourth tier, they would still be a full tier above Scarpe and Quilod.

But Fang Heng vaguely felt the newcomer might be even stronger.

Construct creatures possessed basic intelligence. Seeing this, they understood that their enemy could not be defeated and scattered in all directions. The unknown attacker did not pursue them, merely walking slowly out of the darkness.

By the crown's light, Fang Heng finally saw the figure clearly.

Miya wore a fitted outfit, and the star-shaped pendant between her collarbones glimmered, identical to the crown in his hand. Starlike light reflected in her pale silver eyes upon her flawless face as she quietly watched him.

The two long Battle Blades in her hands gave off a faint glow in the darkness, one worn on each side—they were the very blades Fang Heng had repaired himself.

She said softly, "I didn't expect you to come here."

"Miya, you..."

Fang Heng had countless questions in his heart, but the moment he saw Miya, they all turned to ashes. His mind was a mess, like seven or eight tangled balls of yarn had been stuffed inside it. He blurted out an incoherent sentence, then had no idea what to do next.

He suddenly felt that he really was an idiot—

"Give it to me, Ed. It's useless to you."

Miya looked at the crown in his hands, her voice gentle and unhurried.

Only then did Fang Heng react. He lowered his head, turned the crown halfway around in his hands, studied the patterns on it, and touched the turquoise crystal.

It truly was an exquisite work of art. Its silver surface was engraved with flowers and birds—ivy, wild roses, heather, mountains and caves, cities. Yet it did not resemble Elven craftsmanship. It seemed more like the work of Dwarves.

After a while, he finally looked up. "This is?"

"The Crown of the Sea Forest."

Fang Heng froze, then looked again at the crown in his hands. "...This is the Sea Forest Crown? The Dwarven holy relic forged alongside the Holy Sword of Morning Light, one of the two great symbols of Kaolin-Ishurian? It has been missing for more than four hundred years... How could it be here?"

"That is quite a long story," Miya replied. "If you want to hear it, I can tell you."

"That won't be necessary." Fang Heng shook his head. He knew something of the crown's story as well. "...Is it important to you?"

Miya nodded gently.

Fang Heng hesitated, but still handed it over. Yet when he released it, the crown did not leave his palm. Instead, it floated in the air, suddenly blazing with light. Fang Heng saw a crown emblem gradually appear on the back of his hand, already half-formed in the blink of an eye.

"This is..."

He suddenly stopped. The vision from before appeared again: dense streams of data fell across his sight, windows opening page by page before closing again after the self-check was complete.

It was the complete Chosen interface. This time, Fang Heng saw it clearly.

"I... I can't let go of it..." He was too shocked to control himself and was about to ask Miya to help him, but before the words left his mouth, Miya suddenly moved. She stepped forward in a single stride and covered his mouth with her hand.

This was Fang Heng's first time being so close to the goddess in his heart. He could almost smell the faint fragrance between her fingers, like flower petals. He felt his heart nearly stop, and he forgot all about the vision before his eyes. At a complete loss, he stared at her.

Miya stared steadily at him. Her eyes were as clear as lake water as she abruptly asked, "Do you still have the dagger on you?"

Fang Heng did not understand what she meant. The dagger had been lost underground. But recalling what had happened before, he still nodded. At that moment, he suddenly saw Miya lower her head slightly and murmur something.

What? Fang Heng paused.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt a chill in his chest.

With one hand covering his mouth, Miya raised her right hand and thrust upward. Her sharp Battle Blade pierced directly through his chest and through the heart beating there. Arterial blood sprayed out, flowing down her blade in a torrent, dazzlingly red like wine.

That blinding red reflected in Fang Heng's eyes. He looked again at Miya's calm face. Both began to blur, yet he still could not believe it.

"Miya, you..."

"I'm sorry, Ed," Miya answered quietly. "But I have to take it."

This time, he finally heard her clearly, but his body also slid down helplessly.

She supported his gradually cooling body, letting him lean gently against her, before speaking softly. "Don't worry, Ed. You won't die. That dagger is an incomplete Dragon Soul vessel. It possesses at least the power of resurrection. Even the Zone of Silence cannot stop it."

"This is what I owe you, Ed..."

She carefully laid him flat on the ground. Fang Heng's eyes had already begun to lose focus.

She said something else. "...The crystal used to make it has a deep connection to this place. I originally thought it would save your life when you distracted 'Cerberus,' but I never expected it to be used here..."

Fang Heng could no longer hear the rest.

But inwardly, he was practically screaming—Gods of Aethelria above, he had already used the power of that Holy Crystal! No! Help! Somebody save him!

Miya finally removed her hand, but all strength had already left his body. Fang Heng opened his mouth, only to spit out a mouthful of bloody foam. He futilely tried to grab Miya's hand, using all his strength to tell her—he could still be saved.

But he grabbed nothing.

Instead, Miya took hold of his hand, calmly watching as his life slowly faded away.

Fang Heng's hand finally dropped. His consciousness rapidly left his body. Only then did the crown fall from the air with a clang, rolling several times across the ground as its light suddenly dimmed.

Only the half-formed emblem remained firmly on the back of his hand.

All sound seemed to recede. Through the haze, Fang Heng saw slender hands lift the crown. That quiet gaze looked at him one last time. Miya's lips moved as though she said something to him, then she turned and left.

Only darkness remained, along with a bone-deep chill that gradually spread through him.

So this was the end of this world.

Fang Heng thought.

Before everything had time to go dark, he suddenly thought of something else.

It seemed there had never been a case of a stowaway meeting with an accident in the Zone of Silence in Aethelria.

Wait—

He had no Luminous Matter equipment. Would he really die in this place?

Fang Heng suddenly thought of that horrifying possibility.

The Star Gate between Earth and Moon orbit had been built in the middle of the century. Its predecessor had been a spaceport used by the European Union to reach mining zones in the asteroid belt, abandoned in the late sixties. After the Suva Declaration was signed, the port was brought back into service and transformed into what it was today—

Viewed from the fourth orbit, the Star Gate looked somewhat like an upright white ring. But during daylight—when sunlight struck it directly—it gleamed brilliantly, appearing exceptionally majestic and magnificent against the deep blue backdrop.

Compared to it, the Russian Federation's Alliance 21 supply vessel was like a shining silver speck.

The spacecraft was entering its docking orbit, though it swayed as if drunk.

Inside the Starport district, port staff were loudly cursing the Russian pilots for ignoring regulations. They had occupied three or four routes already and thrown the daily schedule into complete chaos. Two mechanical arms were slowly approaching, attempting to pull the off-course ship back into a controllable area.

"If they keep doing this a few more times, I think we'll get another vacation," a junior employee said as he watched the long line of docked spacecraft through the control room's glass window.

"The main problem is still the manpower shortage." Another person rapidly flipped a series of switches on the console, then picked up an intercom. "A107 confirmed. Dock Three."

"Things have gotten lively over there again lately. Look, another return request just came in on my end. Another tourist without equipment," the first person said after hearing a beep and glancing at the screen. "The war in the Second World has already affected the First World. This is the second batch of tourists returning this month. Let's see, this guy entered six months ago. Wow, he stayed quite a while."

He casually tapped the touchscreen a few times.

"By the way, where's that friend of yours?"

"You mean Huang?" The man laughed. "That guy took an under-the-table job and got thrown into confinement. He got lucky. If they weren't so short-handed right now, he might have ended up in military court."

"An under-the-table job?" The second man sounded incredulous, as though he had heard a historical term. Smacking his lips, he said, "People still take those? Haven't tourist routes been open for years? There are still idiots like that?"

"There will always be idiots." The man spread his hands helplessly.

At that moment, the second man suddenly stood up and stared incredulously at the port outside. "What's going on? So many people are coming out. Did a whole group get wiped out? This is serious. Who sent so many people without Star Radiance up there?"

"Was there a battle in the Zone of Silence?" The first man reacted and looked in that direction as well.

Meanwhile, in the port district.

Scarpe looked wryly at Quilod as he emerged from the Star Gate.

"You came out too?" she asked with a hint of teasing.

"Yeah." Quilod hugged his girlfriend, his expression deeply dejected. "Where are the others?"

"A few of the girls are crying outside. The others aren't doing much better," Scarpe sighed. The feeling of truly dying once was simply awful. She shook her head. "Did you see Ed in the passage?"

Quilod froze. "He didn't come out?"

At first, he looked surprised. But then he exchanged a glance with his girlfriend.

A delighted smile appeared on both their faces at the same time.

"That kid."

I overslept, I overslept. I'm done for, I'm done for. Please bookmark, please bookmark. There are so few of them, friends.