Chapter 477 : The Angel’s Symphony
Chapter 477: The Angel’s Symphony
The city of Dordogne was composed of several districts. For instance, the area where the White Tower stood was technically on the outskirts of the Saint Roland District.
Compared to the affluence and prosperity of Saint Roland, the Kumish District was clearly shabby and impoverished.
In Saint Roland, one could see mechanical carriages and aerial tracks everywhere, but in Kumish District, such things were almost nonexistent.
It was as if Dordogne’s alchemical civilization had completely forgotten about the Kumish District. There were no alchemical buildings, and even the residents’ clothing was subdued in dark tones—nothing like the bright and lively styles of other areas.
Moreover, unlike Saint Roland, where the extraordinary gathered in abundance, most of the residents of Kumish were ordinary mortals who had migrated from the lower districts.
Many of them were people like Julie Anne, who came from afar, carrying dreams of breaking free from the chains of class and achieving wealth and freedom.
Of course, there were also those who came out of desperation—some burdened with crushing debts, unable to breathe; others were escaped slaves from noble families, barely clinging to life. For them, even survival in the lower districts had become impossible, forcing them to flee here.
Their means of livelihood in Dordogne depended solely on selling their cheap labor or working in hazardous alchemy factories where the conditions were dreadful and the environment posed great harm to the human body. To sum it up, the struggle and numbness that pervaded the Kumish District were only its surface—beneath lay the deeper tones of pain and despair that defined the lives of most residents. Of course, there were exceptions.
Even amid such agony, Janna could still hear, deep within their souls, faint echoes of yearning—for happiness, for hope toward the future, and for love toward life itself.
“Ding—dong.”
As Janna lightly plucked the strings of the Strings of Flotenath-Moonlight, a melody interwoven with a multitude of emotions flowed from her fingertips like a surging current.
Throughout the life of the play’s protagonist, [Isabelle], though she was born an angel without wings, her heart remained untroubled. Instead, she served the Lord of Heaven with serenity and optimism, faithfully and diligently.
At the same time, she protected her believers with compassion.
Therefore, the early part of the composition was adapted by Janna from the “Sound of the Sacred Bell”—a tone she had once heard from Aph, the Celestial Sparrow—solemn and divine in character.
In the middle movement, however, [Isabelle] rebelled against the Lord of Heaven. She secretly stole the divine fire and gifted it to humankind, who lived amidst the endless frozen wasteland. For this transgression, she was stripped of her divinity and imprisoned in eternal purgatory.
That painful confinement, combined with her refusal to watch humanity perish, drove [Isabelle] into despair. In that darkness, she renounced her faith and embraced the power of the abyss, transforming into a black angel bearing six pairs of dark wings.
This was the story’s most tragic and oppressive chapter—and at the same time, its most vital climax, where [Isabelle] redefined her faith and gained her new wings.
To capture [Isabelle]’s emotions to the fullest, Janna combined the “Sound of the Sacred Bell” with the “Voice of Despair” she had heard from the souls of the destitute in Kumish District.
Of course, this melody was not purely of despair and pain—it also contained love for life, hope for the future, and a desperate resolve to bet everything on one final choice.
While composing this piece, Janna could distinctly feel her emotions resonating with the melody—gradually immersing herself into [Isabelle]’s heart.
That was what one called empathy.
In the latter part of the play, the fallen black angel [Isabelle], under the eyes of all, personally sealed away the false Lord of Heaven and rescued humankind from the brink of extinction.
And at that very moment, her mission completed, [Isabelle] shed all her black feathers and, before everyone’s astonished gaze, grew twelve pairs of radiant, holy wings—ascending to the throne as the new Lord of Heaven.
This was both the story’s conclusion and its grandest climax.
From a “wingless angel”, born incomplete, to a “black angel” despised by heaven, and finally to her rebirth as a “twelve-winged holy seraph” amid the prayers of thousands—this was, without doubt, a baptism of her soul.
For both [Isabelle] and the audience, the ending was perfect, its melody meant to be filled with triumph and joy.
Yet, what Janna heard from the soul of David-Berg, the playwright, was different.
From a worldly point of view, [Isabelle]’s ending seemed fulfilling—she slew the villain, ascended to the highest rank, and earned the faith of countless believers and the admiration of other angels.
However, [Isabelle]’s true heart was profoundly sorrowful.
Though the Lord of Heaven committed atrocities out of selfish desire, to [Isabelle], he was like a father.
It was he who created [Isabelle], and it was also he who had once comforted her when she wept over her “birth defect.”
Slaying the Lord of Heaven was, for [Isabelle], a “righteous act” born of a god’s compassion toward humankind.
But from the lingering human part of her heart, killing the Lord of Heaven meant murdering her own kin.
Thus, for the final movement, Janna set aside her own narrow understanding and chose instead to follow the melody born from the soul of David-Berg, the creator himself—writing the concluding piece, The Angel’s Symphony, filled with grief, sorrow, struggle, and pain, belonging solely to [Isabelle].
“Ding—dong...”
As the final note faded into silence, Janna exhaled a long breath.
If a good story formed the foundation for a successful opera, then its music was the bridge of emotion between the protagonist and the audience.
Just like now—even though each fragment of melody had been pieced together by Janna through clever means, drawn from various soul sounds, once fused perfectly within the story, every time she played, her empathy toward [Isabelle] deepened.
It felt as though she had truly stepped into [Isabelle]’s life—witnessing every step of her journey with her own eyes.