Silent Crown

Chapter 480 Holy Son

The rumbling came from above. In the darkness, the steel 'purgatory' shook. Dust fell in clumps.

"Time is running short. Follow me." Gaius walked forward. "There are many more things to show you."

But Charles remained in his spot. "Sir, I've seen enough."

Gaius looked back in confusion.

"Thank you for letting me see so many secrets and know so many things but I didn't come here for them." Charles clenched his fist and said quietly, "I came here for my mother."

Gaius was silent.

"I only want to know what her name was, where she came from… If you want me to beg you, I will. If you want me to kneel, I will. I just wish you will tell me about my mother." Charles lowered his head and pleaded to the man before him. He had no smile or any frivolous expressions. He used all the lowliness in his life to beg the man.

"Sir, that's all I want."

Gaius smoked and breathed it out quietly. After a long while, he sighed. "Charles, didn't you already see it? Isn't this hell that you're looking at created by your mother?"

Charles froze. He stared at Gaius and started shaking involuntarily in fear from the words. In the silence, Gaius walked up. He touched Charles's shoulder with pity.

"You should've guessed it already. Have you started lying to yourself again?"

Charles shook his head and squeezed out, "This…is impossible."

"How is it impossible, Charles?" Gaius looked at him with pity. "Did you think that your mother lived in a fairy tale? Stop kidding yourself. Since the beginning, she was the developer of the purgatory. All the plans had to go through her. She personally participated in more than half. Your mother created all of this, including you…"

"Stop!" Charles interrupted him and glared. "My mother…she…" He did not know what to say or how to refute Gaius. He wanted to say, my mother isn't like that. She's so gentle and pretty when she smiles and was so happy even before death. She's great. Please don't compare her to scum like you. But he could not say it. He knew that, perhaps, what Gaius said…was true.

"I'm sorry, Charles. I want to make your mother seem kind and benevolent, gentle as the moon, but she isn't. She is the madwoman that the nations and Sacred City chose for this purgatory." Gaius walked forward, forcing Charles back until he was against the wall. The old man's voice was quiet yet so, so cruel.

"You haven't even seen one-third of everything she's done, Charles. There's still the eighth plan, the ninth, the tenth, and the most inhumane eleventh plan…

"Did you know how horrible the virus your mother created to research the bacterial theory and let loose in the faraway cities was? She personally created the laboratory for rabies mutation, turning many commoners into cannibalistic demons…But that is not all. There are many more records buried underground. Much more that hasn't been uncovered yet.

"Ever since she entered this organization, all her past records were wiped. The Sacred City vouched for her purity and soul. No matter how dirty the deeds were, as long as she contributed to the city, they would fulfil all her desires."

"Enough…" Charles gritted his teeth, wishing Gaius would shut up but he continued.

"Were you anticipating that she loved you? Impossible, Charles. Your mother, Lilith, is a devil born from power. She did everything to climb upward. 'Family' was a negative word for her. To her, only the ignorant would use bloodlines to find refuge.

"Love was nothing to her. She only needed to wave a hand and countless people would be fighting to crawl into her bed. Even the archbishops were obsessed with her fiery hair and beautiful looks.

"Even if she was disabled and could not speak, just her eyes were enough to intoxicate someone. Even in the end, she used the Sacred City's trust in her to take one more step and created you…"

Boom! His words stopped suddenly. Some kind of power was unleashed as Charles screamed. It was like thousands of hands scratching at everything in sight. Under the piercing noise, the power shot out and lifted Gaius, slamming him against the wall. It wanted to break every inch of his body. Sticky blood trickled from his nose.

The old pipe fell down and was pulverized by the pressure. Sparks flew, falling among the shattered pieces of the lantern, igniting the oil. Thus, firelight appeared in the purgatory again.

"I don't believe it…I don't believe it!" Charles panted heavily under the horrible noise. He glared at Gaius with his reddening eyes. He roared with all his might, "You've lied to me enough from the beginning!"

Boom! Horrible strength shattered the steel ground and walls. It spread out like an earthquake created deep underground. Everything cracked under the faint ripples. Charles did not know what was wrong with him. He just…turned into a beast for some reason, turned into…a creature he did not understand…

Furious, he roared. The terrible strength could shatter Gaius in a moment but pressed against the wall, he smiled mockingly.

"Don't believe me?" Gaius smiled and jutted his chin forward. He rasped out, "Then look back, Charles. Look at her creation."

Charles froze in silence. After a long while, he turned bit by bit as if in fear of the nightmare. Behind him, the giant infant that slept in the foul liquid behind the cracked glass had been shattered. His bones cracked and his decayed flesh fell into the disgusting water like mud. The half-decayed head broke from the neck and sank into the pool like a ripe fruit. All that remained were two white eyes, staring at Charles.

In the dim firelight, Charles saw his own pale face in the reflections on the broken glass. His face had combined with the creature into one.

"Not me…" Charles shook his head and gurgled, "It's not me!" He screamed and waved his hand furiously, trying to prove to someone. He roared, "This isn't me!"The terrible power seemed to vanish along with the strength supporting him. He collapsed and curled up in the corner, crying silently.

"Charles, I was going to reveal the truth at the end." Gaius looked down at him and sighed. "I thought these things would prepare you mentally but it seems that I was too impatient."

Curled up in the corner, Charles buried his face as if scared of the firelight behind him.

"Mr. Constantine…I…" He grabbed at his hair in pain. Broken hairs fell down and burned like fire. He could feel that something terrifying was living inside him. It flowed in his blood, hid in his breaths, felt joy when he cried, and wanted to become one with him.

It was an inhuman strength. It seemed to be a gift from the abyss of death, making him fear himself. Almost crazed, he roared in hysteria, "What…am I?!"

Gaius looked at him, his eyes softening.

Smoke rose up in plumes from his pipe. It seemed that everything buried in the past would now be uncovered. The secrets hidden in the shadows were brought to the light, showing their ugliness.

"Twenty years ago, the failure of the fifteenth plan brought an unprecedented disaster," he said. "The Black Death spanned more than half of the West. In its path, all villages were wiped out and the corpses decayed into white bone. Those bones still remain in the ruins today.

"You've never seen something like that before. Someone could go to the river to drink water, fall sick, and topple in. The river became foul from all the corpses. Black-clothed musicians wore the masks of crows and carried torches to burn all the affected areas into dust. Both the dead and living would burn.

"In a mere half month, three million died before the vaccine was created. Under the strong requests and oppositions from the nations, the purgatory was forced to stop. The Sacred City ended most research and locked the information.

"At that time, Ye Lanzhou finally realized he had been deceived. He realized what his supposedly innocent research had turned into. Therefore, he decided to cut ties with the Sacred City…"

Gaius paused and shook his head with a sigh. "Got off topic again… At that time, your mother was also forced into desperation. The Sacred City stripped her of her rights and experiments, taking over all her research. Then she disappeared.

"When the Sacred City realized that she had taken the new blood in the Holy Cauldron, it was too late. They signed an erasure agreement with me to take the holy blood back and erase all trace of her existence, including herself." Gaius chuckled.

"We underestimated her. I didn't realize until I found her secret lab that she had never thought of using the holy blood as a bargaining chip with the Sacred City. All plans in the purgatory were to pave way for her final goal. We helped her pave this road so that she could…implant the holy blood in her own body! She wanted to create an unmatchable miracle. She personally turned a human into a natural catastrophe and carried it in her womb!

"I used ten months to find her in a village besieged by demons. When I found her, she was close to death and I thought she had failed. I was wrong." Gaius squatted down. Holding Charles's face, his eyes grew wild. "Charles, she succeeded! She created you! Different from the 'vessels,' you're the only physical incarnate of the holy blood in history!

"Don't you feel it? You're different from the others. You were born to rise above all. Your nature determined your difference from the average man. When I saw you again, I knew that she truly had given birth to God's child! The Bible was correct. Charles, you will walk on this earth in place of God, revaluing all.

"You came to this world so we will muster our troops and once again shake the skies, seas, and land. You will shake the world! All treasures will come for you and create the temple of glory for you!"

Charles stared blankly at the fire in Gaius's eyes. He seemed to had heard a horrible joke, so horrible that he could not even smile.

"Liar…" Charles choked. Using all his might, he shook off Gaius's hand. "You're all liars!" Clutching his throbbing head, he mumbled in pain, "Mother… I remember she was pretty when she smiled. She was still smiling when she died!"

Yes, that woman had been smiling.

"When she saw me, she smiled so gently…she's a good person, I remember, she'd rather die than kill me…"

She was not a freak. She was not!

"I remember it…I always remember it…" Charles sobbed in pain. With the last of his strength, he screamed at Gaius, "She clearly said in her last moment…she said she was happy!"

Gaius looked at him silently. He allowed Charles to scream in hysteria and accepted the blows without moving. He allowed Charles to shake him in craze.

Finally, Charles had no more strength. He knelt onto the ground like a poor thing without bones. Tears and snot streamed down his face. He bowed his head to Gaius. "Let me go, sir." Kneeling, he tugged at Gaius's pants and mumbled, "Let go of me and my teacher. I can even lick your boots. I just wanted to make some money for Professor. I'm not even a good musician, sir. You must be wrong. I'm not the child of some god. I'm just a failure."

"Charles, why can't you face your true self?" Gaius petted his hair gently. His eyes were soft and filled with pity. "Fate is the key. It had already awakened your true nature. You're different from before.

"The average man cannot choose their fate but you can create a different future. It is supernatural power and the foundation to reach the Originator. It had chosen you. You are now its owner.

"The new era will come. We are all dirt before its wheels. Everything will change because of you. This is a destined revolution and I cannot stop it. No one can."

Charles stopped speaking. He just cooled down as if all warmth was taken away. Finally, he raised his pale face. His eyes were like dead ashes. He begged the man before him as if begging for salvation.

"Mr. Constantine, everything you said to me…you're lying, right?"

Gaius looked away, not daring to meet his eyes. After a long while, he nodded slowly. "Yes, your mother is just a poor mute woman who was taken as a lab rat. Everything I said was a lie." His back was to Charles and his expression was hidden.

A slimmer of hope lit up in Charles's eyes. He crawled up and asked fearfully, "Was her life happy?"

After a pause, Gaius shook his head. "No," he murmured. "She was the daughter of a poor fisherman. She sacrificed herself in exchange for money to cure her brother. She was a kind woman and always had been. She sacrificed everything for you."

"I knew it!" Charles tugged his sleeves. "Was Professor forced like this too?"

"Yes, I used the past to threaten him and force him to work with me."

"I see." Charles smiled. He was clearly crying but he was happy as if finally freed. He embraced Gaius in gratitude and said excitedly, "Then…can I still go home?" He was full of anticipation. "Like before, everyone's happy together. I can still fool around with Yezi, give Professor trouble, mess around with Bai Xi, and scare kids with Old Phil at night… Sir, I can still do that, right? I know you have solutions."

Gaius closed his eyes sadly and did not answer.

"Sir?" Charles's smile froze on his face. Crying, he grabbed Gaius's shoulder. "Sir, why aren't you speaking? You aren't lying again, are you?"

"I'm sorry, Charles. I can't do it." Gaius shook his head. "You deserve everything but only this is impossible."

This was the last judgement.

Charles stopped crying and stopped smiling. It had finally dawned on him; he finally understood the future waiting for him. He hung his head in hopelessness as if he had lost his soul.

Gaius reached out. He wiped Charles's tears and snot with his handkerchief, wiping his face clean. Under the dim firelight, Charles seemed to have been reborn. The blank face was beautiful as if made by God. It was flawless, despite the fact that it was lifeless.

Boom! Another explosion came. The entire place seemed to shake on the brink of collapse. Cracks snaked across the walls. They did not have much time left.

"Come with me, Charles. Come with me." Gaius reached out with solemn eyes. As if he was facing a powerful deity, he requested humbly and gravely, "You are the child born from the holy blood. You are different from the pope. You are the one who should inherit the Holy Cauldron. You will make this world better!"

Staring at Charles's face, he said hoarsely, "I swear to you, I will bring you back some day so you can take back all you deserve! Someday, you will take back the life you lost!"

Charles looked in silence. After a long, long time, fire lit up in those empty eyes again. Like thunder colliding with fire, the power was overbearing. Looking at Gaius's hand, he reached out and grasped it.

As if grasping his last salvation, it was filled with hope.

-

The shaking grew in intensity. Deep under the secret territory, in the lowest level of the purgatory, Wolf Flute stood with his lantern. The light illuminated the top secret archive. The dust-filled room was completely silent. Not even a ghost would stay here.

Wolf Flute walked in the darkness. Following the signs, he opened a door and studied the files stored there. After all these years, the files had aged. Shelved by category, the documents smelled like old paper and had all yellowed. These records of past experiments were placed here, sleeping where no one would ever visit.

Wolf Flute murmured the numbers in his mind and pulled out the innermost document. Confirming that it was the right one, he nodded and brought the lantern closer. The flame crawled onto the paper and swallowed it.

Wolf Flute let go, allowing it to fall onto the ground. The flames spread like an insatiable creature, gradually sweeping the entire archive into its belly. Thus, the last trace of the past disappeared with the fire.

Wolf Flute turned and left.

In the spreading fire, in the ashes, the remaining ink marks seemed to come to life. They danced in the fire. Wind came from somewhere and the picture between the pages floated out.

The woman who had died danced in the fire like a butterfly.

The buried stories disappeared. No one would ever know about them.

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