By the time the first chorus ended, the crowd was completely, utterly enamored by the sight.

The sheer, unadulterated charisma radiating from Luca was completely undeniable.

He was having so much fun, and his voice was so genuinely magnificent, that the ridiculousness of his clothes ceased to be a joke and instead became a badge of absolute, untouchable confidence.

The music transitioned into a brighter, even more upbeat tempo for the second verse.

Luca glided across the stage, high-fiving the younger elves who were cheering from the sidelines.

"The harpies soar through clouds so white..."

The harpies in the crowd puffed out their chests.

"The mermaids sing beneath moonlight..."

The mermaids splashed their tails.

"The centaurs race across the plains, laughing freely through the rains!"

The centaurs stomped their hooves in approval.

"Fox girls dancing through the night..."

The fox girls spun their tails in excitement.

"Wolf girls chasing northern lights..."

The wolf girls started howling their hearts out.

"Lizardfolk beside the shore!"

Luca moonwalked across the stage, while Leona took his place.

"Minotaurs standing proud and tall..."

"Answering every friend’s call..."

"And even spirits hidden away..."

"Step into the sun today!"

Something about those last lines made several of the gathered leaders pause.

’Step into the sun today.’

There was something in the way he sang it—gentle and inviting rather than commanding that made it feel less like a lyric and more like a personal message.

The vampire queen’s eyes closed briefly.

When they opened again, they were slightly less cold.

"Hear them sing, hear them cheer, every voice is crystal clear."

The crowd was singing now. Not the words, but the melody.

They were humming, swaying, clapping, moving as one.

"The world is vast, the world is wide..."

Luca’s voice soared, joined by Leona’s, by Nyx’s, by Luna’s, by Lulu’s.

"But we’re together side by side!"

The chorus hit again, harder this time, more powerful. The lights blazed. The fog swirled. The music seemed to shake the very ground.

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

"Where a thousand voices join as one sound!"

Luca threw his arms wide, as if embracing the entire crowd.

"From the deepest caves to the endless skies!"

’I see the future in your eyes!"

He did the worm. On the ground. On a stage. In front of hundreds of demi-humans.

A fairy fainted.

"Raise your hands and sing along!"

"Every race belongs in this song!

"Through every trial, through every storm!"

"Together we’ll keep moving on!"

And then Lulu stepped forward.

She took a breath...

....and she rapped!

"Yo! From the forest to the mountains, from the rivers to the sea..."

The crowd cheered. They didn’t understand rap, didn’t know the rhythm, but they understood the passion behind it.

"Every race, every dream, come and celebrate with me!"

The ogres stomped. The giants clapped. The fairies zipped through the air, leaving trails of glitter.

"Goblins, dwarves, vampires too, dragonkin breaking through..."

The dragon queen’s tail was definitely tapping now. She couldn’t help it.

"Giants, slimes, beastfolk pride, everybody stand side by side!"

The crowd roared.

"No fear, no walls, no matter who you are..."

Luca stepped forward, his voice rising above the chaos.

"We’re shining together like a...sky full of stars!"

Luca and Leona found each other on stage.

It happened naturally, gradually—he moved toward her and she moved toward him, and when they came together at the center, the building music seemed to recognize the moment and rose to meet it.

They looked at each other for just a moment.

Then, together:

Leona: "I can hear the future calling—"

Luca: "And we’re never standing still!"

Leona: "Every heart is beating stronger—"

Luca: "Every dream is climbing hills!"

Leona: "Take my hand—"

Luca: "We’ll light the way!"

Leona and Luca:

"Together we’ll welcome a better day!"

The final chorus exploded, bigger and brighter than before.

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

All the elves sang, their voices rising together. The crowd sang with them, their words jumbled but their hearts pure.

"Where a thousand voices join as one sound!"

The dragon queen’s lips were moving. She wasn’t singing—she would never sing in public—but she was mouthing the words. Just a little.

"From ancient forests to kingdoms unknown..."

The goblin queen had tears streaming down her face.

"This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen." She sobbed.

"No one ever stands alone!"

The lamia queen shook her head, her serpent eyes wide.

She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

"Elves and goblins, Giants and dwarves!"

The mermaid queen was crying too, her tears mixing with the water of her pond.

"Dragonkin soaring beyond the stars!"

Luca did a backflip in his frilly pink shirt with the ribbons in his hair.

"Vampires, slimes, beastfolk too!"

The crowd lost their minds.

"This beautiful world belongs to you!"

The vampire queen’s hood fell back completely. She didn’t notice. She was clapping.

"So sing it loud, Let the heavens hear!"

"A song of hope for every ear!"

"No matter our race, no matter our name!"

"Together we’ll shine forever...the same!"

As the final, massive chord echoed through the forest, the high-energy instrumentation slowly began to fade, melting back into a soft, gentle melody.

Luca and Leona stepped closer together, their voices dropping into a sweet, profoundly intimate harmony that brought a heavy, emotional weight to the entire clearing.

Leona: "When the night grows quiet once again..."

The crowd held its breath.

Luca: "And the stars begin to gleam..."

Luca looked out at the sea of faces—so many races, so many stories, so many hopes and fears.

Leona: "We’ll remember every voice we met..."

He smiled.

"And every shared...dream."

The song ended and there was silence.

Just silence.

And honestly...

That silence terrified the elves.

"...Did we mess up?" Lulu swallowed nervously.

"W-Was it bad?" Luna’s ears twitched.

Several younger elves immediately started panicking.

"Oh no!"

"They hated it!"

"We definitely looked stupid!"

"I knew I shouldn’t have done that spin!"

"I stepped on Ivy’s foot during the second chorus."

"You stepped on my foot three times!"

"It was an accident!"

Leona herself looked slightly worried.

Even Nyx tilted her head.

The reaction was...

Strange.

Far too strange.

Then—

A single clap rang out.

Clap!

Everyone turned.

The dark elf matriarch was standing there.

Slowly applauding.

A huge grin covered her face.

Clap!

Clap!

Clap!

"That..."

She laughed.

"...Was Incredible!!!!"

The next moment—

The entire valley exploded. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The applause was deafening. Cheers erupted from every direction.

Hundreds of voices.

Hundreds of hands.

The entire valley shook.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!!"

"I’M CRYING! I CAN’T STOP CRYING!!"

"ANOTHER SONG!"

"DO IT AGAIN!"

"I WANT TO HEAR THE HERO SING AGAIN!"

The fairies practically exploded, as their tiny glowing bodies shot into the air.

"IT WAS AMAZING!"

"THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!"

"I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT HALF OF IT MEANT BUT I LOVED IT!"

The harpies were even worse. Several were flying circles above the audience.

"WOOOOOOOOOO!"

One harpy pointed at Luca.

"You! Do that fish dance again!"

The mermaids immediately joined.

"YES!"

"THE FISH DANCE!"

"THE FISH DANCE WAS AMAZING!"

Luca covered his face.

Nearby, the dryads were hugging each other and one dryad looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"I’ve never seen anything like this."

Her leafy hair fluttered happily.

"It was beautiful."

Another nodded vigorously.

"The song about everyone living together..."

She placed a hand over her chest.

"...I really liked that."

The Lamia delegation was equally excited.

One of them was practically vibrating.

"I’m never going to shut up about this!"

"You never shut up about anything."

"True."

Even their normally composed queen had a faint smile on her face.

"Interesting."

She glanced toward Luca.

"Very interesting."

The dragon-kin delegation was having their own discussion.

One dragon woman stared blankly at the stage.

"My Queen."

"What?"

"...Is the Hero insane?"

The dragon queen considered the question.

Long. Hard. Very seriously.

Then finally answered.

"Probably."

The dragon-kin nodded. That seemed correct.

"But..."

The queen’s eyes shifted toward the cheering crowd.

"...he is effective."

That surprised them. Their queen rarely complimented anyone.

Yet she continued. "He made dozens of races laugh together."

She folded her arms.

"That alone is a remarkable achievement."

Meanwhile...

The dark elf matriarch was having the time of her life.

She was laughing so hard she nearly doubled over.

"Oh Spirits..."

She wiped a tear from her eye.

"I came here expecting diplomacy."

She pointed toward Luca.

"Instead I got a Hero dancing like a malfunctioning golem while dressed like a princess."

The dark elves behind her were wheezing.

As for the elves themselves...

They were glowing.

Not literally.

But they might as well have been.

The younger elves were practically bouncing around.

"We did it!"

"They liked it!"

"They really liked it!"

Selma nearly tackled Ivy.

Ivy nearly tackled Alia.

Soon all three were hugging one another while laughing uncontrollably.

Several elder elves looked utterly exhausted.

One covered her face.

"I can’t believe I actually danced in front of every race on the continent."

Another nodded.

"I thought I was going to die from embarrassment."

A third paused.

"...I’d do it again."

The others immediately agreed.

"Absolutely."

"It was fun."

"So much fun!"

Nyx on the other hand stuck out her nose and proudly said,

"I’ll have you know my singing was the highlight of the entire performance."

Lulu immediately disagreed.

"No, Auntie Nyx. The rap was!"

The two immediately began arguing.

"My singing!"

"My rap!"

"My singing!"

"My rap!"

"Stop it, you two!" Luna intervened. "Both of you were amazing, alright?"

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

But they just huffed and looked away with a pout like they couldn’t agree to a tie to Luna’s dismay.

Leona simply laughed and she realised for perhaps the first time in a very long time...

There was no tension in the demi-human continent.

No curse.

No fear.

No despair.

Only happiness.

Only laughter.

Only hope.

And judging from the deafening cries of—

"ENCORE!"

"ANOTHER SONG!"

"Hero!"

"Hero!"

"Hero!"

—it seemed nobody wanted the celebration to end anytime soon.

—

Of course, the one with the biggest smile was Luca himself.

He looked out at the cheering demi-human races, their voices rising in a cacophony of excitement and wonder, and felt a deep, profound sense of satisfaction settle into his bones.

This was exactly what he had wanted.

This was why he had conducted this entire performance in the first place.

The truth was when he had asked Nyx about the relationships between the various races, he had been struck by just how fractured everything was.

There was no active war, true—only occasional skirmishes, border disputes, and simmering resentments that occasionally boiled over.

But that didn’t mean there was trust.

The races kept to themselves, suspicious of outsiders, wary of alliances, each one convinced that everyone else had their own hidden agenda.

And then there was the matter of him being human.

He had always known that his very existence would be a problem.

The humans had spent centuries trying to invade the demi-human continent, steal resources, enslave races, and wage war after war.

The scars of those conflicts ran deep. Even if they had never met him, they would distrust him on principle.

That’s why a simple speech would not work.

A formal discussion around a table would devolve into accusations and suspicion before the first cup of tea had been poured.

He needed something else. Something that would bypass their logical minds and speak directly to their hearts.

So he had decided to hijack their emotions.

From the very beginning, he had designed the concert to overwhelm them.

The lights, the music, the choreography—everything was calculated to make them forget, if only for a moment, where they were and why they had come.

He wanted them to feel joy, wonder, excitement—emotions that would soften their defenses and open their hearts.

And it had worked perfectly!

The same races who had arrived anxious, nervous, and ready for confrontation were now cheering for the elves, clapping their hands, begging for encores.

They had forgotten he was human. They had forgotten to be afraid.

For a moment, Luca allowed himself to feel relieved.

He had been genuinely anxious that they wouldn’t understand. That the concept of a concert, of music and lights and choreographed dancing, would be too foreign for them to appreciate.

But they had embraced it. They had loved it.

But unfortunately, that relief didn’t last long as a voice cut through the commotion like an icy blade.

"...Don’t forget that he’s a human."