Delusions' Melody and Classical Art

"Please, everyone... shout out your wishes!"

On the stage, Sunna held the microphone, a trace of tension in her voice!

That was because she knew Astra Yao would come tonight, though of course right now she felt mostly excitement.

Tonight, Angels of Delusion had a secret weapon, after all!

"Even the craziest [delusion] is fine, you know~"

Aria followed up, tilting her head sweetly, and the audience instantly erupted into a chorus of wails of "awsl".

Aria looked toward the auditorium; she also knew—her admired older sister, Vesper, who was fellow intelligent constructs, was inside!

"Because we are—" Nangong stepped forward, delivering the final slogan, "the ones who make all delusions descend—[Angels of Delusion]!"

Lights burst forth...

Music burst forth...

The entire auditorium boiled over.

On the stage this time, there was no bouncing figure of Griseo.

Griseo sat quietly at the piano behind the stage, her two small hands resting on the black-and-white keys, playing with absolute focus.

Notes flowed out from her fingertips, supporting Sunna's arrangement, supporting Aria's singing, supporting Nangong's drumbeats, filling the entire venue to the brim.

Down in the audience.

"Waah—!! Aria-mama's timbre is professional as always!!!"

A touched fan pressed their hands together, eyes watery.

"Sunna actually didn't trip this time!! Her dance moves are getting better and better!!!"

An excited fan grabbed a lightstick, shaking it frantically.

"Griseo—!! Nangong—!! Step on me—!!!"

A suspicious fan suddenly burst out with a wolf howl from the corner.

The whole venue went silent for a second, and host Ari's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Security. Drag that lolicon out of here."

"Aah aah—you can't treat me like this—!!!"

The fan was hoisted up by two security guards and dragged outward, still struggling desperately and shouting loudly.

"Being a lolicon isn't a disease! It's a lifestyle—!!!"

"It's not because I like lolis! It's just that the people I happen to like are lolis!"

Ari took a deep breath, her face livid as she added a sentence: "Contact the Public Security Department for me. Prepare the stun batons."

As the song ended, thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and cheers rose one after another.

The three members of Angels of Delusion panted on stage, their faces flushed with excitement, waving and greeting the crowd below.

In the corner of the auditorium, Vesper crossed her arms and stared at the stage, while Belle and Astra Yao applauded and cheered happily.

"Astra, Vesper, how does it feel?" Cecilia turned her head to look at the two.

Vesper was silent for two seconds, then evaluated: "...For their age, the dance and musical standards are both passable. Sunna has improved a lot."

"Rare to hear you praise someone." Astra Yao smiled faintly at the side.

"I didn't praise. I'm just stating facts."

Vesper looked toward the tiny, quietly sitting figure in front of that piano, adding:

"If this piece was the work of that Griseo... then she truly can be considered a genius."

"At just over ten years old, not only can she write music like this, but her piano technique is also quite solid." Astra Yao's tone carried a fair bit of seriousness as well, yet she left herself a little leeway.

Griseo was just getting down from the piano bench, her two little feet dangling and swaying in the air.

She seemed to sense the gaze from this side, raised her head to look over, and smiled at Astra Yao and Vesper.

"Still, Cecilia, just like this—you said her talent is greater than the three of us combined, isn't that a bit too exaggerated?"

Vesper pulled back her gaze and looked at Cecilia, but the other woman didn't speak, instead revealing a meaningful curve of her lips.

"Vesper, don't rush," Astra Yao patted her shoulder. "The performance isn't over yet, is it?"

And the situation was indeed as Astra Yao had said.

Due to various factors—the lights being too dim, the position being far back, and the audience's gazes all focused down front.

No one noticed that Griseo's aura on stage had changed; right between her brows, a streak of golden light flashed and vanished.

Then, Griseo opened her eyes as if something had possessed her.

The host's voice rang out from the front: "Next, please enjoy Angels of Delusion's brand-new performance type—the opera The Sleep-Cap King's Demise!"

When I wrote a certain section, I discussed with many people what kind of level Eden's talent would be if placed in Zenless Zone Zero.

I don't deny that Sersi, Astra Yao, and the others are heavenly queens, but Eden's halo is too heavy and she can represent an entire era, so it's hard to gauge Eden's level.

Let's see what opinions everyone has to determine how to write the rest.

The soothing prelude sounded, and Griseo's fingers landed on the keys.

This time, it was no longer the tranquil and beautiful melody from before, but classical music, filled with elegance, romance, and splendor.

Notes poured out from her fingertips, piling up layer upon layer to build a resplendent palace, building a distant and brilliant dream.

In the auditorium, below the stage, it felt as though the pause button had been pressed.

The entire venue fell still; only the music flowed, and only the stage lights drifted.

Sunna stepped forward, her voice as clear as the first star in the night sky: "When the starry sky dims, and the wine cups run dry... My king, why must you still linger in this barren land?"

Aria followed up, purposely bringing a sense of weathered age: "To wait for that song of triumph to ring out... to seek out that truth."

Finally came Nangong, her voice low and solemn, like an ancient wandering bard.

"Go and illuminate everything you can illuminate."

"Go and obtain everything you can obtain."

"Gather the wealth and glory yearned for by the world, all upon yourself."

The piano music climbed tier by tier, pushing toward a climax. The three little ones stood side by side, reciting in unison: "May civilization endure like a spark, may this world be as brilliant as gold."

The final note dropped, and the lingering echoes reverberated in the auditorium for a long time.

The whole place fell silent.

And then—applause like thunder.

Inside the auditorium!

Whether it was Astra Yao, Vesper, and Belle watching for the first time, or Cecilia who had seen it many times, all fell into deep shock.

They felt as though they were looking at a brilliant vocalist raising a toast from afar with a golden cup, a bygone splendor unable to return, sounding the final chapter of [Gold]!

"Cecilia, this is a song you wrote, right!"

After a long while, Vesper slowly spat out a sentence, and along with her, Astra Yao also looked over. At this moment, whatever Vesper was thinking was what she was thinking.

If just now's program came from the hands of the princess of [The Stars], then this was simply too mind-boggling.

Or rather, they would rather believe New Eridu would fall like the Old Capital tomorrow... if they weren't crazy, then this world was crazy.

"Regrettably, you two." Cecilia also shook her head. "The first song was made by Sunna, and the second came from Griseo, that 11-year-old girl."

"Uh..."

Belle, who had been hiding in the back the whole time, didn't know how to break into the topic at this moment.

Right now she was shivering, because the three people before her were the ceiling of music. Of course, this didn't stop her from being shocked by Griseo's musical talent.

Oh, there was one thing she wanted to say but couldn't—actually, Griseo's age wasn't 11 as shown on her citizen card; her true age might be over 20 years old.

Of course, this was also Belle's idea based on Trigger's intel.

Griseo's age should be over ten years old—over ten years of more than forty thousand years...

(Ahem, since readers are asking, let me bury a patch first.

That is, if I write Big Griseo later on, it'll be set as a power-suppressed form.

If I don't write it, then she hasn't reached 50,000 years yet, and remains Little Griseo in her Elysian Realm form.)