The other demonia in the room were also entranced, their eyes glazed over as they watched Zephyrus play.

They all listened, swept away as he brought his low, gravelly tone to the mic

"This one’s called ‘In shadows deep’," Zephyrus crooned.

A low, tearful guitar intro followed his introducing the song.

In shadows deep, where sorrow dwells,

I wander through these endless hells,

A fiery-eyed demonia with a red tower unbuilt.

Seeking hate's embrace, bring my soul to still"

The crowd started howling in pain with his song—not because they were in pain, but because they could feel his pain.

With a hole in my chest and no hate to find,

My torment grows within, consuming my mind.

Yearning for hate that forever eludes me,

Lost in this darkness, desperate to be free

A demonia that was little more than a giant eyeball began to weep violet blood into a glass being drunk by a sapphire-eyed tengu who was also crying. Every time he drank the glass down, the eyeball cried and filled it back up.

Through the desolate night and pale moon's glow,

I search for solace amongst curses I bestow.

But each touch turns cold, as ice upon my skin,

Oh cruel fate! Where shall I begin?

More demonia were sobbing their eyes out by now. Ji-a wiped a tear from his eye, watching Hyeon-U crying, wailing really, while hugging a harpy demonia.

Hate, like whispered dreams, fades with time,

Yet some have towers blessed with hated affection divine.

My own was condemned from its very start;

To suffer alone—oh agony! Tear me apart!

Two swan demonia were dancing to the beat of the song, weeping as they dipped and twirled one another. The alpha of the two males bore a black crest of feathers around his neck; the omega bore a white one. They were dressed in a black and white suit and a black and white gown respectively.

With a hole in my chest and no hate to find

My torment grows within. Consuming my mind.

Yearning for hate that forever eludes me

Lost in this darkness, desperate to be free

Ji-a checked to look at Hyeon-U, who had gathered a bunch of demonia around him to wave candle demonia in their hands while they had a crying contest.

The bartender was filling everyone's drinks with his tears....

What the fuck was going on?!

Wandering numbly through realms so bleak

Echoes of joy play hide-and-seek.

Eyes blazing inferno with desires untamed

But doomed am I; inside remains unnamed

Hyeon-U won the crying contest and pocketed several heavy bags of a type of demonia currency—what type of currency that was, Ji-a couldn’t recall. Hyeon-U then carried on, starting a crying contest with a demonia that was a head and torso with needles sticking out of his flesh.

Until the end of nights, may I roam alone-

A fiery-eyed demonia with a red tower unbuilt,

Will my hatemance ever unfold?

Forlorn is the path that lies ahead of this wraith-

An eternal dance drenched only in sorrow and death untold.

Hyeon-U won this contest as well as the performance reached its climax, his true purple tears staining his lavender-ish white face paint.

As the song ended, Zephyrus threw his head back, shaking his hair around in slow motion before doing so, his heavily tattooed, ghost-pale flesh glistening with fiery purple sweat as he let out a deafening scream that shook the room. His earrings, six in each ear, jangled violently. The piercings in his face were more visible than ever—two in his eyebrows, three on the bridge of his nose, a bar in his nostrils, and several dozen in his lips, some dangling from chains. His black eyeshadow ran a bit and his blackish-purple lipstick was shining.

The demonia in the room erupted into cheers and applause and shrieks and screams of praise as Zephyrus finished his set.

Ji-a and Hyeon-U looked at each other in amazement, both realizing that they had a long way to go before they could reach the level of a musician like Zephyrus.

As Zephyrus stepped off the stage, he caught Ji-a and Hyeon-U's gaze. He strode over to their table and leaned in close. "You two have potential," he said in a low voice. "I can see it in your eyes. Keep practicing, keep pushing yourself, and one day you'll be up here with me."