When Angor was little, Jon once told him that a truly beautiful piece of art always left a lingering sound in people's minds at the moment it was finished.
Now, when Angor heard the end of "Black Sheep Confession" and saw the priest and the Church of Elysium dying in a sea of fire, he too felt "unsatisfied".
Angor did not witness the whole process. He only arrived at the end of the song, but he could still feel the lingering aftertaste of the song.
"Luigi's performance improved again …" Angor muttered to himself.
Back at Shank's Haunted House, Luigi's performance was not as good as this. But now, even Angor, who had listened to "Black Sheep Confession" many times, could relate to it.
It was not about improving one's skills. It was about improving one's emotions.
Angor once read a comment about singing on his hologram tablet: "No technique, all emotion". But Luigi's performance was not only "emotional" but also "natural".
Even with Angor's level of appreciation, he believed that Luigi's performance was much better than "Yi Yang", "Night Sparrow's Rhapsody", and "Sbro's Three Chapters".
I wonder what kind of arrangement Uriel will make for this performance?
Angor looked at Uriel again.
But when he saw the look on Uriel's face, he was taken aback.
Uriel's expression was too strange.
His eyes were filled with tears, but his expression was still indifferent.
It was as if there was a barrier between his tears and his calm expression. It was as if they belonged to two different worlds.
Angor was confused at first. But soon, he realized what was going on.
Uriel's "dream" state was gone.
Uriel must have been moved by the song's meaning, and he couldn't help but shed tears. However, when he shed tears, he was still in a "dream" state. Now that the song was over, the "dream" state was gone, and Uriel was back to being a normal NPC.
Tears from the "dream" state were left on the face of an ordinary NPC.
That was why Uriel's "dream" state was different.
Even though Uriel's dream state had been lifted, his tears suggested that he was very satisfied with the Black Sheep Confession.
He wondered what position Uriel would place Luigi because of this piece of music.
Would he amaze the world with a single brilliant feat and enter the top three?
With that in mind, he stared at Uriel and waited for his decision.
…
At the same time, far away in space and time.
Great Tasman Empire, Dawn City.
Under the cover of the night, Dawn City was not as lively as it was during the day. Instead, it was deathly silent.
There was only the cawing of the night crows, and the cries of the pigeons from an unknown place.
In a corner of Dawn City, on the second floor of a dilapidated attic, a man who was lying on a pile of dirty clothes suddenly woke up from his sleep.
He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the dark ceiling.
"I-I think I heard a piece of music. I also saw flames, churches, and countless corpses … as well as a demon singing a sad song in the flames?" The bearded man shook his head. "No, it's not a demon. It's a human."
The man mumbled and sat up from his bed.
Looking around, he finally confirmed that he had just … had a dream.
It was a beautiful dream, but also a cruel one.
So cruel that he was willing to drown in it.
"Uriel …" The man mocked himself. "Are you already looking for value in your dreams?"
Uriel chuckled bitterly and climbed down from his messy bed. Wearing only a pair of pajama pants, he pushed open the door of his bedroom and walked to the balcony naked.
He wanted to wake up.
Great Tasman Empire was currently in the middle of summer. Even so, he still shivered when the night wind blew past.
It was also because of this shiver that his muddled mind became a little clearer.
He leaned against the railing of the balcony and lit up a cigarette. He looked at the sleeping Dawn City and took a puff of smoke in silence.
Dawnlight City was vast, but most of the buildings were low. Even from the balcony of the second floor, Uriel could see the silhouettes of the buildings in the distance.
At this time, almost all of the buildings had fallen asleep. Only the iconic building in the center of Dawnlight City, the Church of Radiance, was still lit.
Uriel's gaze was drawn to the Church of Radiance.
"Set against the backdrop of the Goddess of the Night, it is so holy and beautiful." Uriel sighed softly. His dispirited eyes were filled with indescribable complexity. "But who knows what lies in the depths of such a holy temple …"
Uriel exhaled a ring of smoke.
The smoke slowly dissipated in the darkness.
When the smoke dissipated, Uriel saw the faint light of a gas lamp in a building a dozen meters away.
Through the open window and the faint light, he saw a woman crying, hugging her knees.
The faint sobbing sound in the air was coming from her direction.
As a neighbor, Uriel recognized the woman. He even knew why she was crying.
It was because her new husband was a gambling addict.
Her new house had four bare walls. Her husband had sold almost everything that could be sold. If her gambling addict husband still wanted to sell, then the only thing left to sell was herself.
She was crying not only because of her husband's incompetence, but also because of her bleak future.
"If she can cry, then her husband is not home. If he's not home this late, then the only place he could be is the casino. Tonight's outcome will determine her future. "Uriel shook his head. He could not bear to watch.
They were all people with hard lives. Uriel was no exception. Other than pity, there was nothing else he could do.
His gaze moved away from the light of the leader's house, and once again looked at the Radiance Church that was still incomparably bright under the night sky.
A thin layer of fog had descended and shrouded the church.
From afar, this thin layer of mist looked like … exhaled smoke.
Uriel's eyes darkened at the thought of this.
Tobacco and gambling. Anyone who lived here knew that they were the source of darkness. They were the root of all evil.
Even the Church of Radiance promoted them as such.
But anyone with a bit of social status would know that tobacco and gambling were the two pillars of Dawnlight City's economy. And the master behind them was … the Church of Radiance.
In Dawnlight City, or even in the entire Great Siman Empire, the Church of Radiance had a glorious image. But no one knew that such a glorious image hid so much filth.
"Religion, church, are they all so filthy?" Uriel muttered under his breath. Suddenly, he froze. "Why did I say 'all'?"
Just as Uriel was questioning himself, two images flashed through his mind.
On one side was the church that represented the heavens. It was also the backing of the rich and powerful.
On the other side were the poor people and devout priests who listened to their suffering.
The two images kept changing in Uriel's mind. The memories of being trapped in the Sea of Tranquil Dreams rushed into his mind, accompanied by intense music.
He remembered.
In his dream, he saw another religion wreaking havoc.
In his dream, he smelled blood covered by flames.
In his dream, he heard the priest sing a sad song with his life.
Although it was another religion, it was no different from the Church of Radiance in the Great Siman Empire.
Even the "Pure Priest" and the "Believer of Death" could be found in the Church of Radiance. In fact, Uriel knew such a person himself.
And that person was his partner.
But his partner did not take the priest's script. Instead, he walked the path of a believer who was bullied to death by the rich and powerful.
"Why am I dreaming of this … Is it you?
Is this the music you played for me?
Are you asking me to let it go, or do you want me to be like the priest and burn the last of my madness? "
Uriel closed his eyes. He was silent for a long time on the balcony.
It was not until the cigarette burned to the tip of his finger that he snapped out of his daze. He muttered to himself for a moment, then flicked the ash off his finger and returned to his room.
It was still midnight. Logically speaking, he should be in bed. But at this moment, he did not feel like sleeping at all. He walked unconsciously to the piano beside his bed.
Ever since he came here, he had not turned on the piano.
Dust had settled on the piano frame.
Uriel was silent for a long time. He sat on the stool and opened the piano cover.
After so long, the desire to play was reignited. He wanted to reproduce the performance in his dream.
Whether or not this was a reminder from "him", Uriel wanted to remember it and hide it in his heart.
The piano began to play.
The flowing notes seemed to have wings as they reverberated in the darkness.
From gentle to intense, from naive to cruel, from cold to burning flames …
When Uriel finished playing the last note, his face was covered in sweat. His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead.
He had not played for a long time. His stamina was not as good as before.
However, after giving it his all, he was able to play to his heart's content.
Uriel gasped for air. His body was exhausted, but his face was full of smiles.
His exhaustion did not affect his mental joy.
"It's been a long time since I wanted to play a piece so much …" Uriel whispered to himself. His eyes were filled with nostalgia. "The chief will like this piece, right?"
"I wonder who played this piece of music in my dream."
Every time Uriel thought about the person who played this piece, he felt an indescribable force cut off his memory.
The only thing he remembered was that the person played this piece with a harp. It was not the first time he played it in front of him.
"Such a frequent and enthusiastic performance. It's a bit like the Imperial Music Troupe's selection test," Uriel muttered to himself.
"Speaking of which, if it's this piece, the selection should be at least …"
"Top three?"
…
"Top three?" Luigi's eyes flashed with surprise. "Really top three?"
After Luigi finished playing "Black Sheep Confession", his eyes were fixed on Uriel.
He could see that Uriel was weeping silently. He seemed to be affected by the Flaming Elegy of the Black Sheep Confession.
However, no matter how hard Uriel cried, the result did not show up.
This was different from when Luigi was here to reserve a seat. Every time Uriel finished his performance, a notification would pop up. This time, it had been almost ten minutes, and Uriel still did not move. It was as if he had turned into a wooden statue.
As Luigi waited anxiously for the result, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"If there are no accidents, I should be in the top three in the selection test this time."
Angor was the only person who could talk to him directly in a dungeon.
Luigi was not surprised that Angor was "watching" him. What surprised him more was the number of seats Angor mentioned.
This was why he asked Uriel in the first place.
He was not talking to the dumbfounded Uriel. Instead, he was talking to Angor, who was looking at the attic from outside.
Angor was not joking when he said he would be in the top three.
Instead, he saw the messy information coming out of Uriel's body.
As the challenger, Luigi could only passively accept the Wonderland notifications. He could not see the various Wonderland notifications surrounding Uriel.
But Angor could.
As the wielder of Immortal's Authority, he could see all kinds of notifications popping up above Uriel's head.
Strangely, though, these notifications were just like the letter Uriel had given him. The contents of the messages were constantly changing.
Perhaps only when "Xin" was truly handed over to Lu Yiji would the notification in the Immortal Realm stop being fixed.
However, even though the notifications in the Wonderland were constantly changing, judging from the existing information, Luigi's position should have been fixed in the top three.
The reason for this was because the first sentence of all the different fairyland notifications was the same: [Special Dreamland, Uriel's Choice, Main Mission 3, Challenge Successful. ]
In the past, every time Luigi challenged a seat, the first sentence would always be: [Main Quest 3 of Special Dreamland "Uriel's Choice" failed.] ]
In order to succeed, he had to be in the top three.
Since the first sentence of the notification had changed to "success", it meant Uriel had decided to place him in the top three.
However, the exact position of the top three was still in the process of being "changed".
But no matter which seat it was, Angor already considered his challenge a success.
Angor did not want to tell Luigi the result in advance. But for some reason, Luigi's face was pale, his eyes were blank, and his lips were trembling. Angor thought about it and decided to give Luigi a spoiler.
(End of Chapter)
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