Void Dragon - A God among Gods

Cristine then approached me with a smile and greeted me.

- "H-hello... My name is Cristine," she said, with a big smile.

- "Don't worry about Lyrielle, she has that demeanor, but she's a good person," she affirmed.

- "...I-I'm not worried about her... It's you," I said, stepping back a bit.

- "Hahaha... me? Do you have so many things hidden to be that afraid of me?" she said, laughing genuinely.

- "...Ugh... let's say maybe," I said, embarrassed.

- "But don't worry... If you lose, I'll only get information related to why you were here or not... I won't use it to delve into your life," she said.

- "Shall we go then?" she turned and headed towards the stage.

- "...Sigh... May the universe help me," I sighed, as I followed her to the stage.

Then, Lyrielle spoke, loudly, to everyone there, the rules of that bet.

- "Very well... Remember our bet. If you win, you can leave without any issues... BUT... If you lose, we will find out everything about you," she said, with a malicious smile.

At that moment, I looked at Cristine with a doubtful look, as if questioning what she had said before about not investigating more than necessary. She turned her face, embarrassed.

- "...Sigh... Okay," I responded.

- "So, are you ready?" she asked.

- "Great... Let's start with Cristine, so you can understand your situation," said Lyrielle, while smiling maliciously.

- "...TSK... You..." I murmured, angry.

Cristine then waited for everyone to sit down and soon began to sing. Her voice, as expected, was incredible, leaving everyone there almost in a trance. It was a beautiful voice that would definitely be very difficult, if not impossible, to beat.

After Cristine finished her song, everyone there applauded. I, however, did nothing but sigh, knowing I would have to put everyone to sleep, as I probably wouldn't win.

Then, I climbed the stage to sing, decided that I had already lost and that, once the results were given, I would have to put everyone there to sleep and then escape.

Up there, before starting to sing, Cristine waited to help me understand how to handle an item called the "divine music box."

...Sound of applause...

- "Tsk... Sigh... Honestly, I can't believe I really have to put everyone here to sleep..." I thought to myself, while sighing.

- "Very well, Cristine... Incredible as always..." said Lyrielle, while applauding her, with a big, satisfied smile on her face.

- "Well... Let's move on to the next show?" said Lyrielle, looking at me with a malicious gaze.

- "...Sigh... Okay," I said, as I got up and walked to the stage.

- "Kyrion... right? Do you know how to use the divine music box?" she asked, showing me a golden box with several engraved symbols that seemed to float.

- "...No... could you teach me how to use it?" I asked.

- "Of course... You just need to place your hand here on top, think of the song you want to sing, and the box will make the sounds of the instruments as if they were real, but there will be no singing voice, you will be responsible for that," she explained, showing me.

- "Oh... yes... One more thing... You can think of any song, from those in our dimension to those in lower dimensions, okay?" she said, as she walked down the stairs to the audience.

- "Okay... Thank you very much," I said, placing my hand on the box.

Then, I started thinking of a song I had heard and liked.

- "...Sigh... A song, huh?... What could it be..." I thought.

- "...I got it!" I thought, remembering a song I had heard some time ago from the human dimension and liked a lot.

Then, I placed my right hand on the box and, after a few minutes, all the information related to the musical notes had been absorbed by it, which would start playing those notes as soon as I commanded.

- "...Sigh... So let's go, huh?" I said, preparing vocally and mentally for what was to come.

At that moment, everyone in the audience was anxious, without exceptions, waiting for what was to come. After all, could I be better than Cristine?

When I finally felt ready, I ordered the music to start playing.

At first, I thought it would be something terrible, something that would destroy everyone's eardrums there, because, contrary to what many thought, not all divine beings had an angelic voice. However, when I began to sing, I realized that the music flowed well, and, to my surprise, the audience seemed confused. My voice, far from being bad, was... very good?

That left me extremely impressed, but, although I was surprised, I couldn't get carried away, after all, I still had a mission to accomplish.

So, I kept singing. My voice improved more and more as time went by. At that moment, the audience couldn't take their eyes off me, but I didn't even pay attention to this detail. For some reason, at that moment, my tiredness disappeared completely, and I felt completely alive, without needing to sleep.

When I finished my song, I remained silent for a moment, looking into the void, trying to understand what had just happened.

- "B-but… what… was that?" I thought.

Then, I began to hear the applause, which started slowly, one by one, increasing until it became a true ovation.

…Applause…

- "Ugh… Damn…" I thought, shyly.

- "Tsk… How is this possible? He… rivaled Cristine?" thought Lyrielle.

- "Humpf… That was a good performance, Kyrion…" she said, reluctantly acknowledging it.

- "But… there can only be one winner here…" she added, now with a malicious look and smile.

- "And the one to decide that is the audience…" she pointed to her friends, who were sitting there.

- "Well… with that, cast your votes. Whoever thinks Kyrion is the winner, raise your hand…" she said, with a threatening look.

At that moment, everyone looked at each other and, with a timid look, decided to keep their hands down.

- "Oho… And those who think Cristine is the winner, raise your hands," she said, looking at me with an evil smile.

At that moment, everyone raised their hands.

It was obvious she was using her position to force those who wanted to vote for me not to do so. Not that I thought there were many who would actually vote for me.

- "...Sigh… Seriously?" I asked, running a hand through my hair.

- "Ha… Well, you sang well, Kyrion, seriously… but… there can only be one winner, as I had already said," she spoke with a sarcastic tone.

- "So, it's time for you to commit to our bet…" she said.

- "Cristine… could you do that?" she looked at Cristine.

Cristine then stood up, still with a somewhat sad look, and approached me.

- "...S-sorry, Kyrion… it's nothing personal, but… I have to do this," she said, while her hand glowed with the mark of desire and approached me.

At that moment, I already knew that I wouldn't be able to reason with Lyrielle and that any attempt would be in vain. So, as Cristine approached, I prepared, with a serious look, to release an unexpectedly powerful pressure over everyone there, making them faint, so I could escape. However, when Cristine was just a few inches away from me, and I was beginning to move to activate my power, something unexpected happened.

- "Tsk… seems like I really have to do this, huh?" I thought, starting to circulate my power through my body.

- "This is it… sorry, but I have to-" I was thinking when I was interrupted by someone calling at the theater door.

- "...K-KYRION?" the voice said.

At that moment, everyone stopped, as if we were frozen. For some reason, at that instant, I knew that everyone recognized that voice, and that's why our reaction was the same. It was Aurëalis who was at the door, entering the theater.

- "...K-KYRION?" she said, surprised.

- "I-is that you? What are you doing here?" she asked, approaching.

- "...A-Aurëalis? … I-I…" I said, struggling, so great was my surprise to see her there.

- "Well… I was here… taking a nap and ended up having some problems with these people, so we are resolving that," I said, with a shy smile.

- "...Problems? What problems?" she asked, as she approached.

- "W-well… it's that-" I was saying when I was interrupted by Lyrielle.

- "Aurëalis… do you know this person?" she asked.

- "Huh? Yes, I've known him for a few days, why?" Aurëalis responded, confused.

- "...So… can you tell us…" Lyrielle began.

- "Tell what?" Aurëalis asked, still not understanding.

- "If he is, or isn't, a spy from Myrrith's group," she said, with a look of certainty that I was a spy.

- "...Huh? A… spy?" Aurëalis said

- "Pfff… hahahaha." Aurëalis laughed.

- "...Sigh… a spy, huh? … N-no… he's not someone like that..." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

- "...W-what? … B-but then..." Lyrielle said, looking at me.

At that moment, I was staring at the void, tired, wanting to sleep.

"...Sigh… let me guess… he came in here to sleep, and you thought he was a spy, is that it?" Aurëalis asked.

- "W-well… yes…" Lyrielle said.

- "...Believe me… if there's anyone at this school who would not make a good spy, it's him..." She said, looking at me and laughing as she saw me almost falling asleep while they talked.

- "...Look at that… while we're talking, he's already almost asleep..." She said, looking at me with shining eyes, blushing slightly.

- "...I-I..." Lyrielle said, unable to respond.

- "I'M SORRY, KYRION..." She said, bowing.

- "...Uaaagh… huh? W-what happened?" I asked, startled by the loud tone of the apology.

- "...It's nothing, Kyrion… you can go back to sleeping on the armchairs if you want..." Aurëalis said, with a big smile.

- "Hmm… but… what about the bet… has everything been resolved?" I asked, when, suddenly, Lyrielle intervened.

- "AAGGHH… YES, KYRION… IT'S ALL FINE, YOU CAN GO… HAHAHA." She said, scared of something.

- "...O-ok... then I'll go…" I said, finding it very strange.

However, before leaving, Aurëalis called me again.

- "Kyrion, don't you want to stay and watch the rehearsals?" She asked.

- "After all, I'm here for that too… Lyrielle and Cristine are great friends of mine who joined the school before me… and now I can watch them." She said.

- "S-stay ? … Ha… haha… N-no… let's leave it for next time…" I said, embarrassed, as I hurried out of the theater.

- "...O-ok? … Then okay..." Aurëalis said, finding everything very strange, and with a sad tone, as she lowered her hand.

- "...Strange, I've never seen him act like this… Did something happen?" She asked, while looking at Cristine and Lyrielle, who were looking away, avoiding direct eye contact.

- "W-well… n-nothing happened… much?" Lyrielle responded.

- "...Nothing… much… happened?" Aurëalis asked.

- "...Lyrielle… Sigh… I know you. When you talk like that, you're hiding something… tell me. What happened during the time I wasn't here?" Aurëalis asked, getting very close to Lyrielle's face.

- "W-well… I…" She stuttered, unable to respond.

- "...I-I… thought he was a spy… and that… he was lying about not being one… so I made a bet with him…" She said, hesitantly.

- "A bet? … What… bet?" Aurëalis asked.

- "W-well… it's that… if he managed to defeat Cristine while singing a song, he could leave here without being marked… by her mark of desire…" She said, smiling, trying to ease the situation.

- "...Without being marked… BY WHAT?" Aurëalis asked.

- "...By… Cristine's mark of desire…" She said, this time hiding behind Cristine.

- "...Ha… haha…" She started laughing

- "YOU TWO ARE GOING CRAZY? ... DO YOU KNOW HOW WRONG THAT IS?" Aurëalis said, now, extremely irritated.

- "..P-princess… calm down… look, see the bright side… in the end… you arrived before this misunderstanding continued… and also… his voice wasn't bad at all… or rather… he didn't embarrass himself or anything like that." Said Lyrielle, hiding behind Cristine, who also showed fear.

- "...WHAT? HIS VOICE… wasn't… bad? What do you mean?" Aurëalis asked, suddenly calmer, letting go of her irritation.

- "Y-yes, princess… actually… his voice really impressed me… it was very beautiful, to be honest." Cristine said, this time.

- "A-and then… he also sang? … And… his voice was… beautiful?" Aurëalis asked, her eyes shining.

- "...Y-yes… uh… p-princess?" Lyrielle asked.

- "...Tsk… if only I had arrived a little earlier…" Aurëalis murmured, biting her nail, visibly disappointed.