Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Ember's confrontation sparked the rivalry between the teams of the different colleges. A heated competition was ignited which clashed behind and on the stages. grinding her teeth, Ember had to admit that their rivals were a hard nut to crack.

All of them were hyper-focused on beating the others. Forgotten were her thoughts on winning or losing this competition, and her pride in the power of demonic bards. She didn't even bother watching other performances. They just wanted to win over the others. The time until their or their rival's performance was spent practicing and reviewing their plans.

Ember's band was the last entry from TS10's new Bard College and so far, their scores and their rival's were infinitely close. It was actually on them, to make the difference of whether they would outrank the participants from Delta, or had to return to TS10 with their tail tugged between their legs.

Her heart beat hard, as if it wanted to jump out her chest when it was finally time for them to enter the stage. It wasn't stage fright, but excitement. Hundreds of thousands of people were present in the stadium alone, and billions were watching the broadcasts. They would show the world the power of demonic bards and the excellence of the new bard College in Ts10.

The heat of the stage lights burned on her skin, and the noise of the crowd roared in her ears. Her motivation rose to the sky, as the hairs on her skin stood on end

“Next, a great applause for the band Magna Goetia, with their song “Calling of the Abyss”. They are the third entry from the Demonic Bard College in Tree Station 10,” Umi Kaldrobs announced the to the audience. It was finally time for them!

The cold metal of her flute on her lips, her muscles taught ready for the performance. The moment the first not echoed through the stadium, enhanced by the ear-shattering speakers, chaos ensued on the stage.

Sweat poured down her skin, as she went through the choreographed dance moves, as she played her part to perfection. She felt like she was in her own world, created in cooperation with her friends on the stage.

Like a wave of fire, the music waltzed across the stadium, blowing away the audience. She knew they could do it, this was their peak. The best performance they had ever delivered. During their chaotic, yet synchronized play and dance, dark shadows started swallowing the center of the stadium, defying the bright stage lights.

Visions of horror could be seen in the darkness. Apparitions of the unspeakable accentuated the depths of their music, burning themselves into the hearts and minds of the audience. A pandemonium of music and darkness held them in a tight grip.

Hair and sweat flew through the air, as she submerged herself in the performance until the song finally came to its great climax, sapping away all of her energy. When the last note they played fell silent, she felt all of her power leave her body. However, she was excited. This had been the best rendition they had ever given, they would easily outperform those cretins from Delta.

The darkness and apparitions receded slowly when the song finally ended, allowing the demoness to see the stadium. Looking at the crowd of the stadium, she saw their wide-open eyes. They were frozen in excitement after witnessing the Calling of the Abyss. Ember was convinced they had left a lasting impact. Her eyes also fell on Umi Kaldrops, at the edge of the stage.

The presenter, weak in her knees and covered in sweat, responded to Ember's excited look, with a strained smile. Judging the song was over, she lifted the microphone to her mouth.

“A, errm, great applause for Magna Goetia! The calling of the Abyss!”, she called out in her usual happy voice. She was a professional after all. She fell silent for a moment, as the crowd gave subdued cheers and applause. Only the demons in the audience were clapping and cheering genuinely.

“It's time for the audience to vote now! Please use the following 10-minute break to calm down and give your votes using the prepared devices at your seats. After the break, the results and the scores of the judges will be announced!”

The band also got this 10-minute break and returned backstage to get some food and drink. All of them were exhausted but satisfied with their performance. As they plundered the buffet, they were approached by their comrades and rivals.

“I hate to admit it, but you were better than us,” even the arrogant little shit Ember had spoken to, acknowledged their skill, mellowing her own stance on their rivals. When they were able to show respect among professionals, despite personal differences...Maybe not everything was lost.

Then, they were called back to the stage, to receive their scores. Before the voting of the audience was revealed, it was time for the panel of judges to give their evaluation. Ember watched them lifting their number cards, without many words.

Master Bard Garmin Del'Prado:2

Master Poet Enton Skice: 3

Her excitement grew, this was a great start. They were already ahead of the others at this point.

Witch of the Violin, Violet Viola:3

Keith RiJards:5

A small cheer escaped her mouth. This was the highest score anyone apart from her grandfather had given one of the teams, yet.

Dean Remington: 8

She didn't know whether it was because she was his granddaughter, or he acknowledged their skills, but the dean also gave his highest score yet.

Zither Saintess Lin Xiaoli: 0

This was expected, the Zither Saintess was yet to give anyone any point. All that was left was the audience score. Gesturing to the big screens in the stadium, Umi called out.

“And the judgment of the overall audience score is... 3! Calculation to an overall score of: 3.429!...”

Ember fist pumped in excitement. She and the band were already celebrating, not hearing the rest of the sentence. 3.429 vastly outperformed the other teams. They did it, they had beaten their rivals triumphantly. In great spirits, they returned to their dressing room

...

The excitement was short-lived. Ember couldn't help her pointy ears drooping when they finally had the chance to watch the other acts. Especially the last sentence of Umi Kaldrop.

“And the judgment of the overall audience score is... 3! Calculation to an overall score of: 3.429!...

Placing them in 5th to last place!”

Her initial pride and confidence in the demonic bards was crushed. Her face was burning in embarrassment. What had they celebrated for? Their understanding of the power of a combined play? Attunement to battle music? Bullshit. She had been completely delusional.

None of the other participants got anything below a five from the judges, not even the ice-cold Zither Saintess went below that for anyone but the demons.

Their teams had been completely destroyed by the musicians from Urth and the Pathworks, and the worst part was that she had to admit that the scores were right! The dressing room was drenched in a dark mood as they re-watched the performances they had missed in their focus on defeating the other demonic teams.

Urth's music didn't have the pandemonic impacts, but it had the undeniable power to capture the audience, even them, like no other! Even the bards from the system did it better than them. They had gotten their focus completely wrong and forgotten what music for an audience was supposed to achieve.

Only Dean Remington was nice enough to judge them on demon standards. In the end, Ember could only laugh. She started chuckling at her own pride and the vanity of their rivalry. Had they taken a moment to watch the real competition, they might have been able to do better.

“Let's go watch the finale,” their band leader finally said.

The break was over and it was time to watch the final bracket, the finalists, give their performance.