Immediately afterward, the stage lights shifted to a dark, fathomless blue.
The second pair to take the stage were Hotaru Takekawa and Gin, who wore the Fox Mask, from Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light.
There were no extravagant instruments, no thunderous sound system.
There was only Gin, sitting beneath a lone spotlight, raising the bamboo flute in his hands and slowly playing that ancient, tranquil melody.
Hotaru Takekawa stood beside him in her school uniform, tears brimming in her eyes as she hummed softly along with the flute.
The flute's notes were ethereal and mournful, like a breeze drifting from secluded valleys deep in the mountains.
Yet everyone present heard something in those faint notes that struck straight at their souls: an overwhelming sense of fate and grief!
It was the despair of being so close, yet never being able to embrace; it was the tenderness and resolve of wanting to finish playing a song for someone, even knowing you might crumble into dust the very next second!
What shocked the audience even more was that, beneath the lights, translucent specks of light began to shimmer around the edges of the masked boy's body, as though he might scatter on the wind at any moment.
"Oh my god... how did they pull off that effect? It looks so real!" an audience member exclaimed.
But only Lin Xiao and the others knew that it was no special effect. Death's scythe was already pressed against Gin's neck, and he was burning his soul to complete this final farewell.
When the song ended, the entire hall fell silent before breaking into uncontrollable sobs.
And when the third pair-Kousei Arima and Kaori Miyazono from Your Lie in April-walked onto the stage side by side...
The emotional intensity of the entire music festival reached