The elves stood on the stage, their chests heaving, their faces flushed with exertion and joy.

Some were laughing. Some were crying. Some were simply standing there, dazed, as if they couldn’t quite believe what they had just done.

The crowd, however, was anything but quiet.

"That was incredible!"

"Sing another one!"

"I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life!"

The demi-humans were still buzzing, their voices overlapping in excited chatter.

The cat-folk were grooming their whiskers in agitation, trying to calm themselves.

The wolfkin were howling, their voices rising in a chorus that echoed across the valley.

The ogres were stomping their feet, creating a rhythmic thunder that made the ground shake.

One of the centaurs turned to her companion, her eyes wide.

"This is so much better than what we came for. I thought we’d be sitting at a table, drinking tea, and discussing politics for hours."

"Instead, we got...this."

Her companion nodded, still staring at the stage.

"I can’t believe I got to witness something like this. This has to be something the Hero brought over from his world, right? There’s no way such a thing exists in our world otherwise."

An elf who had been listening to their conversation smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Luca taught us everything—the songs, the dances, the lights. He spent days preparing us for this."

A lamia nearby coiled her tail with excitement.

"When I tell my clan about this, they’re going to be so jealous. They’ll definitely want to come here themselves."

A dryad bounced on her heels, her leafy hair rustling.

"My friend didn’t want to come because she was too scared. She thought there would be fights and confrontations."

She laughed, a sound like wind chimes.

"She is going to die of jealousy when I tell her what she missed."

Even the vampire queen seemed...amused.

Not smiling exactly, her lips barely moved—but there was something softer in her crimson eyes.

She tilted her head, watching the elves as they caught their breath, and whispered under her breath.

"I should have brought her along..."

A pause. Then, barely audible.

"...She would have loved this."

But it made sense, really for such a exaggerated reaction.

These races had been secluded in their own regions for centuries, isolated by war, by mistrust, by the simple vastness of the continent.

Entertainment for them was limited—the centaurs practiced sword fighting, the arachnids wove beautiful clothing, the harpies competed in flying races.

They had their hobbies, their traditions, their songs.

But nothing like this.

This was like showing a peasant a lightning storm and calling it magic.

Their minds had been thoroughly, wonderfully vaporized.

"Encore!" Someone shouted from the crowd. "Encore! Give us another song!"

"Yes! Do the dance again!"

"I don’t know what you did, but do it once more!"

The elves on stage exchanged glances.

The younger ones were giddy with excitement, their cheeks flushed, their eyes bright.

The elders, on the other hand, were blushing furiously, still not quite comfortable with all the attention.

But even they couldn’t hide their smiles.

The little ones were the most enthusiastic. Lisa and her friends struck cute poses, their tiny hands raised above their heads, their faces beaming.

They had practiced for days, and they were proud of what they had accomplished.

Selma, Ivy, and Alia stood together near the back of the stage, their chests heaving from the exertion.

They had been confused when the Hero first approached them with this idea.

Singing? Dancing? Performing?

It had seemed so...frivolous.

But as they practiced over the past three days—learning the songs, memorizing the choreography, coordinating their movements—something had shifted.

It had been fun. Genuinely, unexpectedly fun.

They had laughed until their sides hurt. They had made mistakes and corrected them. They had bonded in ways they hadn’t realized they needed.

And now, seeing the crowd’s reaction, feeling the joy radiating from every corner of the valley, they understood.

This was why Luca had done this. Not to show off. Not to distract.

But to bring them together. To remind them that even in a world filled with conflict and pain, there was still room for joy.

But as the crowd continued to cheer and beg for more, the lamia queen looked around.

Her serpent eyes swept across the stage, across the elves, across the wings where the performers had gathered.

Then she spoke, her voice soft but certain.

"Where is the Hero in all of this?"

The words hung in the air.

As if on cue, the lights went dark.

The crowd gasped, but this time there was no panic. Only excitement.

The fog machines hissed to life, and thick white vapor once again rolled across the stage, obscuring the elves from view.

A new melody began to play—different from before, but just as vibrant. More spirited. More energetic.

"By the spirits!" Someone exclaimed. "Are they going to play another song?"

"I can’t wait!"

"I have to find a way to record this. I have to tell everyone back home!"

The crowd leaned forward, their eyes fixed on the stage, their bodies already swaying to the rhythm.

And then—a voice.

Not female. Not the harmonies of the elves that had filled the valley moments ago.

This was a male voice. Deep, rich, and unexpectedly beautiful.

The crowd went silent.

"Who is that?" A goblin whispered.

"That doesn’t sound like any of the elves." A harpy added, her wings rustling.

"Did one of the male elves sneak into the concert?" Another asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

The ogre leader scowled. "If it is one of those pompous male elves, I don’t want to hear it. They disgust me."

But it wasn’t a male elf.

The spotlight cut through the fog, illuminating a figure standing at the center of the stage.

A man. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a presence that seemed to fill the entire valley.

His voice was beautiful—surprisingly so, for someone who looked like he could punch through walls.

But that wasn’t what made the crowd gasp.

It was what he was wearing.

He wasn’t dressed in armor or robes or any of the practical clothing they associated with warriors.

Instead, he wore a frilly pink shirt, embroidered with sparkling jewels that caught the light.

His dress waa tight, almost scandalously so, and his shoes were bright pink, with little bows on the toes.

Ribbons were tied in his hair, and there was even a touch of glitter on his cheeks.

He looked like an idol. A pop star. A creature from a fever dream!

Seeing this, the dark elf queen blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

"Is that actually..." She said slowly. "...the Hero?"

She wasn’t the only one struggling to believe her eyes.

The vampire queen’s hood had slipped back even further, revealing her full face—and her expression of utter bewilderment.

The dragon queen’s jaw had dropped, and she was staring at Luca as if he had grown a second head.

The ogre queen, who had been prepared to hate any male elf, found herself simply...confused.

"What is he wearing?" She muttered.

"I don’t know." Her companion replied. "But I can’t look away."

Luca, for his part, seemed completely unbothered.

Instead, a massive, brilliant grin spread across his face.

’If a encore is what you want...a encore is what you’ll get!"

So, he gripped his microphone, winked directly at the stunned dragon queen, and began to sing.

"When the morning mist drifts over the hills..."

"And the world is quiet and still..."

"I hear a thousand voices calling..."

"From every forest, cave, and field..."

The crowd fell silent. His voice was soft at first, almost fragile, as if he were sharing a secret rather than performing a song.

"The elves hum songs beneath the trees..."

Leona’s voice joined Luca’s, soft and harmonious.

She had found her place on the stage, not at the front, but beside him. Supporting him. Loving him.

"The dwarves forge dreams with fire and steel..."

The background elves began to sway, their voices rising in a chorus that filled the valley.

"And somewhere beyond the mountains high..."

Luca took a step forward, his arms spreading wide.

"A dragonkin spreads her wings and flies!"

The crowd was completely frozen, their minds struggling to reconcile the incredibly beautiful, soulful melody with the sight of a massive, muscular man in a frilly skirt and pink ribbons.

They stood in absolute silence, whispering frantically among themselves.

"He...He actually sings well?" A harpy captain muttered, her wings twitching. "But look at the ribbons! Why the ribbons?!"

"Is this some kind of psychological warfare?" A goblin whispered in terror. "Is he trying to lower our guard before he slaughters us all?!"

Luca paid them no mind.

He took a sharp breath, executed a flawless, crisp spin that made his jewel-encrusted skirt flare out beautifully, and launched into the first verse, his energy skyrocketing.

"I’ve walked through valleys painted gold..."

"Met gentle giants strong and bold..."

"Seen goblins laugh around the fire..."

"Sharing stories, hopes, and desires..."

As he sang, he began to move. Not the graceful, synchronized dancing of the elves, but something else entirely.

Something...silly.

"Ogres guarding ancient roads..."

"Carrying heavy, forgotten loads..."

He did the fish. His arms pressed together, his hands flapping like fins, his body undulating in a way that was somehow both ridiculous and endearing.

"Vampires watching the silver moon..."

He transitioned into the robot—jerky, mechanical movements that were completely out of sync with the melody.

The vampire queen’s eye twitched.

"Slime girls dancing in crystal rain..."

"Washing away old fears and pain..."

"And every face, both strange and new..."

He did the sprinkler. His arm rotated in a circle, his hips swaying, his expression never changing.

A goblin burst out laughing.

"Reminds me this world belongs to you..."

And suddenly Nyx and Luna glided onto the stage, seamlessly joining the performance as they hit the pre-chorus.

Luca: "Different hearts..."

Luna: "Different names..."

Luca: " Different paths..."

Nyx: "Different flames..."

Luca: "Yet beneath the stars above, We’re all searching for the same love!"

And then the chorus exploded outward.

"Oh, what a wonderful world we’ve found!"

The music swelled to three times its previous volume, the lights blazed back to full brilliance, and Luca’s voice expanded with the music, filling every corner of the valley with something that felt less like sound and more like warmth.

"Where a thousand voices join as one sound!"

The crowd was no longer standing still.

People were swaying.

"From the deepest caves to the endless skies!"

The dark elves had started moving to the rhythm, their innate love of music overriding their coolly cultivated composure.

"I see the future in your eyes!"

Several fairies had taken to the air and were dancing around each other in spiraling patterns that created trails of light.

"Elves and beastfolk, hand in hand!"

Even the normally rigid centaurs had begun to shift weight from hoof to hoof in a rhythm that was unmistakably dancing, even if they would have denied it if asked.

"Building dreams across the land!"

Nyx stepped up beside him, her voice weaving through his like silk through a loom.

"No matter where our journeys lead..."

"...Together we’re all we need!"