At last, the longest two minutes in the history of the Demon King’s Gifted Theater ca to an end.
Lan Qi and the Poet of Great Love finally finished their performance.
On stage, everything fell silent again.
The Poet of Great Love turned back toward Lan Qi with a sly smile, then, content, rested his gaze upon him once more.
anwhile, in the audience, the fusion of hellish sound had already been completed—as if it would never stop reverberating.
Lan Qi rose from the piano and stepped to the center of the stage. Bathed in the spotlight, his figure stood solitary and transcendent. The air itself still seed to echo with the traces of that earth-shattering performance.
Amidst the lingering notes and singing, Lan Qi slowly raised his hand, bowed his head, and gave the audience a deep bow.
It was the bow of an artist—sincere, grateful, and humble.
“Thank you, fellow students and esteed judges, for your recognition.”
What answered him was another wave of deafening voices.
——
“Stop now, Lan Qi… turn back while you can still preserve your humanity…”
Huperion buried her face in her hands, leaning against the hard back of her chair like a ship battered by storms that had at last made harbor.
Her voice was weary to the extre, her soul feeling as though it had been endlessly scourged. That long, torturous performance still haunted her heart.
If not for her prior experience with the Poet of Great Love—and her deliberate preparations to guard her spirit—she too might have been trapped in that deathly cycle, unable to escape!
At the side of the stage—
The silver-haired head of the Music Departnt, who had been hosting, now appeared disheveled, as if he had just stumbled out of a hurricane. His face was pale; he had witnessed a calamity.
Below the stage, the four music ntors and demon students lay collapsed, so twitching in their chairs, others screaming in hoarse, piercing cries. Their faces twisted, they had completely lost their minds, trapped in hell with no way out.
Now, in this Demon King’s Gifted Theater, besides Lan Qi, only the Music Departnt Head—highest in rank, and bearer of the academy’s strongest resistance to sound-based magic—remained standing.
“Teacher, are you all right?”
Seeing the condition of the departnt head, Lan Qi hurried over to support him.
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
The departnt head pushed away Lan Qi’s hand. His voice trembled slightly, but his resolve was unshaken.
As the head of the Music Departnt, if he couldn’t withstand even a student’s performance, he’d lose face before the high-ranking demon nobles!
Lan Qi seed to recognize his pride, and nodded.
“Then… may I ask, did I earn the recognition of the ntors this ti?”
His gaze swept toward the four music ntors, now lost in delirium, before turning back sincerely to the departnt head.
“…”
The departnt head clenched his teeth, his eyes darting between Lan Qi and the four incapacitated ntors. For a long ti, he could not speak. His expression grew increasingly complicated until, at last, he admitted:
“According to the oath the four ntors swore to the Demon King before the performance… you are entitled to their full recognition.”
Finally, he acknowledged it, placing four credit tokens into Lan Qi’s hand.
His voice was hoarse, his words filled with reluctant acceptance.
One way or another—
That performance, enough to be recorded in the annals of demon musical history, though not without its… accidents, had achieved an effect unparalleled. The nobles of the demon realm would surely shower it with praise.
It was just… a bit hard on the students and teachers.
“Give your student ID.”
The departnt head continued.
Since he had presided over this grand performance for the demon nobles and made his promise, he would not renege.
Hearing this, Lan Qi fished around in his pocket and quickly produced a black tal card, handing it over.
The departnt head left the stage through a side door.
Over ten minutes later, he returned. Besides Lan Qi’s student ID, he now held a delicate little naplate and a silver-glossed card.
“This naplate signifies your status as a staff mber of the Music Departnt. This teacher’s card works similarly to your student ID, but it’s mainly for collecting your salary. From now on, you’re one of our teachers.”
As he handed over these rewards, officially making Lan Qi part of the faculty, his tone softened.
This genius of spectacle might be just what the Music Departnt needed.
Perhaps, even, he had the potential to rise as a great demon.
Lan Qi accepted the teacher’s ID and the black-tal naplate—its rim encircled with carved musical notes, with golden letters inscribed in the center: “Lan Qi, Music Departnt Teacher.”
“What teaching duties will I have?”
He admired the credentials in his hand as he asked.
The departnt head did not answer. He looked at Lan Qi, then at the scene of infernal chaos that was the audience.
The aning was clear: let him see for himself.
“Start next sester. This term, there aren’t enough students left for you to ruin.”
The head spoke coldly.
“Uh…”
Lan Qi couldn’t help but feel regret. Tomorrow morning, he would have to return to the human world.
Like a dream—ending before the happiest part—he would have to wake up and face reality.
If he could stay at this academy, he almost didn’t want to return to Icrithe Academy.
“So… could I just drop out now and beco a full-ti teacher?”
He thought for a mont before asking.
He rembered from Bachel’s explanation of school rules: students who failed to pay five credits every morning would be expelled outright—and expulsion ant execution.
Still, under special circumstances, the school allowed voluntary withdrawal.
Being recruited by an important institution or powerful figure of the demon realm was one such case.
“You could apply to the headmaster. But not today—he happens to be away these days. Also, if you want a diploma from this academy to secure better prospects in the demon world, I’d suggest you continue your studies. Manage your ti well, and you can both attend classes and teach here.”
“I see.”
Lan Qi understood. It was sowhat like a PhD student’s life: studying while teaching on the side.
But then he caught sothing in the departnt head’s words—
The headmaster wasn’t at the academy?
That was a crucial piece of intelligence, discovered by accident.
It might well tie into Mission Objective 2: Investigate the source of tonight’s danger.
After all, with the academy’s highest authority absent, loopholes were bound to appear.
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