Chapter 141: A natural gathering point.
Chapter 141: A natural gathering point.
The lights faded completely, preparing for the first song, in an instant, twenty-six thousand people who were roaring in excitement suddenly turned silent, not even taking breaths, as if even breathing too loudly might ruin the moment.
Then a single white light fell onto the center of the stage.
At Evelyn.
She stood there with her head lowered, hair falling over one shoulder, one hand wrapped around the microphone.
She looked mesmerising.
Then the music started, the people got into the mood, already recognising the song within the first three seconds of music—
With that, Evelyn started singing.
And it happened.
Lucian, standing near the side-stage entrance, half-hidden behind the curtain, continued scanning for sudden movements, but then—
He froze.
His eyes saw the ridiculously vast amount of energy moving in the hall. At first, he thought it was an attack, that made his body react but the next moment, he realised the truth.
This Energy...
It was the Energy of Desire.
And it didn’t come from a Demon of Desire or some Host trying to attack Evelyn.
It came from the people.
From the normal people, watching and enjoying the concert. From their admiration, longing, love, obsession, comfort, memory, from their... desire.
A faint, soft-pink misty thread that originated from every single person inside the concert hall and moved towards Evelyn, and when twenty-six thousand such threads gathered together at one spot—
It was overwhelming.
And the strangest part?
As this overwhelming amount of energy surrounded Evelyn, she did not even notice its existence.
It wasn’t just her.
The crowd from whom the Energy came from, the guards who were supposed to protect Evelyn, heck, even the people from the Enclave, even Alaric, Clara, Sarah, Lila and even Elise—
None of them could see it.
Their devices couldn’t detect it.
They only saw Evelyn standing beneath the lights, singing with her eyes half-closed, pouring herself into the song while thousands of people poured something back.
Lucian stared at this ridiculous sight in shock, the Energy of Desire circled Evelyn like an ocean tide. For a moment, it became so thick around her that Lucian almost stepped forward.
His body reacted to it before his mind understood why.
That energy—
That amount—
If he could absorb even a fraction of it, it would be enough to fill his Energy reserves hundreds of times and that realisation made him blink.
And while Lucian continued to stare at this sight in awe, Evelyn finished the song, the crowd screamed again, Lucian watched the energy grow even more but then—
It scattered, disappearing into mist since it didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Evelyn smiled at the crowd, completely unaware of what had just happened.
And that was when Lucian finally understood.
The reason no one reacted to the massive amount of energy that gathered, the reason why none of them sensed it—
It was because the Energy was not used.
Enclave equipment only reacted to Energy when the Energy was processed, whether it was used to cast a spell, curse, charm, or even if any being simply absorbed the Energy.
That was when the Enclave Equipment gave a reading.
But...
The Energy that wasn’t used at all?
No one who wasn’t sensitive to that particular energy would be able to sense it, even a normal Incubus Class Blood-Altered Human wouldn’t notice it since even their bodies weren’t as sensitive as Lucian.
Only Lucian could see it.
Lucian and... other Demons of Desire.
Lucian clenched his fists as a name appeared in his mind.
Vaelrith.
All this while, he wondered why a Greater Demon like him would force a descent, he was told it happened because the demon was angry because his plans were ruined, but that answer did not satisfy him, something felt like a miss, something he did not know.
And now, it all made sense.
Vaelrith never descended for petty revenge.
No.
He came for Evelyn.
He specifically targeted Evelyn.
Lucian’s eyes shone dangerously at that thought.
He looked back at Evelyn, she started the second song, this one was brighter than the first, the stage lights shifted, dancers moved out from the sides. The crowd rose with her, cheering, singing along, waving glowing bands in time with the music.
And with the crowd, the Energy rose, this time, even more than before. The vast amount of energy moved towards Evelyn, all of it then dispersed into mist and Lucian realised it.
Evelyn, she...
She was a natural gathering point.
A person whose voice, presence, image, and existence pulled desire from the masses.
No wonder Vaelrith wanted her.
If the amount of Energy she gathered could be used by any demon...
Lucian’s expression darkened at that thought.
He looked at Alaric and other Enclave members who were still in the dark, then suddenly, a cold wave washed over him, he activated Red Quiet, killing his intense anger.
Then, his expression returned to normal.
He watched the concert continue, he watched Evelyn moving across the stage, smiling, singing, enchanting thousands of people like a Queen.
She sang one song after the other.
No attack came.
It made everyone more tense at first.
Clara checked the routes again, Sarah changed position twice, Elise scanned every backstage corridor, Lila remained close to the emergency medical path, Alaric gave short orders through the comm whenever the crowd shifted too sharply.
Lucian answered when needed.
[Cross, status?]
"Side stage clear."
[Crowd?]
"There’s no hostile movement."
[Backstage?]
"Stable as well."
He spoke normally, his voice did not reveal what he was seeing.
No one noticed anything, or maybe Sarah did because when Evelyn was changing outfits between songs and the lights dimmed, Sarah walked towards Lucian and—
"You okay?"
She asked.
"Hm? Of course."
Lucian nodded with the same shit-eating grin as always.
"You have been quiet."
Sarah narrowed her eyes.
"I am on duty."
"You are never quiet on duty."
"Have you not noticed? I am a grown-up now. I don’t joke around anymore."
Sarah only rolled her eyes at those words.
That’s when Lucian turned back to the stage, Evelyn had returned, the crowd was screaming again, the energy rose again.
"Return to your spot, Black."
"Tsk."
Sarah snorted but in the end she complied.