Echoes of the Fallen Angels

"Eden".

"Ah, it's you, Feng."

The man seemed hesitant to speak, glancing at the manuscript in her hand. "For Elysia?"

She looked at the man and sighed softly, "Yes, I've always wanted to write a song for Elysia, but now I truly understand everything about Elysia. I want to compose music for it, but I always feel that some of the notes are not harmonious enough to serve as Elysia's elegy."

"Can I take a look?"

"Dang Xin, Feng." She handed over the musical manuscript, hoping to get some advice from him, because he was her listener and her best friend, someone she still thought about until the very end.

This... can be seen as a sign that he still cares about his best friend, she thought to herself.

The man carefully examined the sheet music, then handed it back to her. "The melody of the last section is too somber; it doesn't suit her. Her life was without shadows, her soul pure and flawless... Her farewell, her final piece, shouldn't be so somber. She should have said: 'The curtain falls not, but another beginning.' And in the second section here, you can raise the overall tone of the passage, one level at a time."

She was taken aback, then she took the manuscript from the man's hand and carefully sketched out the general melody in her mind according to what the man said. She felt that what the man said was right, but not entirely right.

Because in the end, it was he who, for the sake of his dearest friend's regret.

She asked with some doubt, "Feng, you actually know music?" Forgive her for not noticing, but the man was a competent listener; she had never seen him touch any musical instruments before.

The man paused for a moment, then said, "No, I... know nothing about musical instruments. Just take it as my intuition."

She frowned. If the changes to the third part of the story were because he knew his best friend well enough, then the changes to the second part of the story proved that he at least possessed master-level musical talent.

It's impossible that they are completely ignorant.

Seeing the doubt on her face, the man felt a little helpless. He could only say, "I... really know nothing about music, which is why I came to you about this."

Although she was still somewhat puzzled, she quickly replied, "What is it?"

He said, "This may be a bit presumptuous... I would like to ask you to write a piece for me and the rest of the Fallen Angel Squad ... I don't care, I just hope that future generations can remember them, remember that they once lived so proudly, remember that even burdened with sin, they still fought for the future of humanity."

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "I will, Feng. But before that, please answer one question for me. Why... didn't you keep your appointment?"

The man remained silent.

He didn't answer the question, or perhaps he didn't want to. But she had to ask; she wanted to know what a man truly thought of his best friend.

She looked at the man, waiting for his answer.

"Do I... have to answer this question?"

You can think of it as an exchange.

"Is that so... Well, I've answered Aponia's question before, and it's the same now. My relationship with Elysia isn't that close."

"... Why would you think that?" She almost blurted out, wanting to tell him, to tell this man, that her best friend, the girl he had confessed to, had only one wish at the end of the world: to see him one last time.

"Eden, you may compose a song for the Thirteen Flame-Chasers besides me. You will find that your fates are already intertwined and mutually reinforcing, but I am not like you."

"You are also one of the Flame-Chasers."

"But I am also the leader of the Fallen Angel, although... I may not be qualified to be this leader."

"Maple..."

"I've already answered your question, so... I'll leave that piece of music to you." The man turned and left, not intending to engage in any further conversation.

Just as he was about to leave, he stopped again. "Eden, although this may be wishful thinking on my part, I hope you can live well in the next era."

No, her best friend was a girl who was afraid of loneliness and solitude. She would stay with her best friend until the very end, when her era had come to a close.

The man didn't look up at her, but said, "Her story needs to be told. She so strongly wanted to leave her mark on this world... I hope that in the next era, there will still be children who know her story and admire her innocence."

"Since you think that way, then why do you..."

"I... will depart as Fallen Angel."

The singer, who had been bestowed the "Golden" title by her close friend, awoke from her brief rest.

"Is it the memory from that time? So that's what you meant back then, Feng..." She sighed softly, looking at the manuscript that had been left by her since it was completed.

She picked up the manuscript and recalled her experience writing the song, though the time was short and it could not be completed until the Finality.

Even now, after her birth, she has finally created it.

In the materials she collected and the stories she knew and experienced, she discovered that, just like him and Elysia, if the story of the Fourteen Schicksal was almost entirely centered around Elysia, then the story of the Thirteen Fallen Angels was centered around Maple.

He guides every Fallen Angel as they step onto the stage, and the story of every Fallen Angel exists because of him.

So it's not wrong to say that this piece belongs solely to him; it's the lingering echo of Fallen Angel in the human world, a microcosm of their lives.

So that's why he couldn't accept the Fourteen Schicksal, right? Little did he know, he was already entangled with the thirteen of them.

That's why he chose to sacrifice himself and leave alone at that time, right? Little did he know that he had long been their irreplaceable best friend.

"I hope you can have a good talk with Elysia this time..." she murmured to herself, and this time, she also hoped to witness all his stories and pass them on.

The Fire Moth (㵑部).

Kevin, exhausted from training again, along with Zhu Yufeng and others, chatted with Elysia about the scene of the Finality battle. Elysia was the one who started the conversation.

"The Finality indeed very strong. Even when I used the Zeroth Power of the Divine Grace Judgment, I could only restrain her for a short time." Zhu Yufeng recalled. He even wondered if it was because the Eleventh Divine Key was destroyed by the Finality in his hands that it was later modified to become Judas.

"That short period of time was incredibly precious," Kevin recalled, still slumped over. "I remember you said something back then..."

Zhu Yufeng: "!"

He quickly said, "It was just some trivial talk, it has nothing to do with the battle at the time, right?"

Kevin, please don't say it.

Kevin frowned. How could he forget? He only remembered that Feng's words were very powerful, because his attention was entirely on Finality, so the impression was not very deep.

"I remember, I remember!" Pardo raised her hand. "Brother Yu Feng was so cool when he said that!"

"Ahem, Pardo, there's nothing to mention, really..." Zhu Yufeng said.

At first, Vill-V looked puzzled, but then, as if she had thought of something, a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.

"Oh, but I think it's very handsome?" Pardo, puzzled.

Elysia was even more curious. "Feng, what exactly did you say back then?" She seemed to know, especially the expression on Feng's face, which made her even more curious!

"I have witnessed the departure of a friend twice. The first time was when she was my enemy, and the second time was when she was my weapon... Michael, as God's apostle, you ultimately briefly surpassed God's will. Even the Herrscher of Finality could not move an inch, though only for a moment. You must be very unwilling, Finality, the step you wanted to take was so heavy." Kosma suddenly spoke.

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Despite all precautions, they couldn't stop Kosma.

He now wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it. For some reason, he suddenly thought of a certain enthusiastic citizen, Mr. Jin, and his good friend, a certain god-like criminal. Then he changed what Mr. Jin had said and blurted it out.

There's no way around it; Divine Grace Judgment is a chain, and it's specifically designed to counter Honkai Energy, which always reminds him of the Chains of Heaven...

Besides, he thought he was going to die in the battle anyway, so he figured a man should stay young until the very end and keep up the act... Who knows what happened...

"Wow, those are some really cool lines." Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng, whose expression seemed so awkward that he wanted to kill her to silence her.

Elysia's tone turned slightly teasing. "I never knew you, Kaede, had this side to you~"

Zhu Yufeng: "... Don't even mention it, please..."

He wanted to swallow a sword and commit suicide...

Kosma looked at Zhu Yufeng with some confusion.

"Speaking of which, Feng also named the Divine Grace Judgment when it was using its Zeroth Power," Sakura recalled. "I remember Feng saying something like..."

Kosma immediately replied, "Man, you wish to bind the gods!"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Hopefully, Mr. Jin, born ten thousand years from now, won't come and beat him up. And... where's the shovel?