With a guitar slung over his shoulder, Dracula walked through the streets of Fuyuki City.
Nero and Elizabeth walked side by side behind him, each carrying their own microphone.
Since it was daytime, all three were dressed in casual wear. Dracula wore a men's jacket and jeans that Kirie had bought for him, while Nero and Elizabeth were both dressed in cute skirts of their own choosing.
Thanks to their ridiculously high charisma stats, the trio drew more than a few stares from passersby.
"Mr. Dracula, how much farther?" Nero asked. "My royal feet are getting sore~."
"Me too, piggy~," Elizabeth pouted. "I don't wanna walk anymore either."
"Ugh, you two!" Dracula turned dramatically. "You claim to want to be idols, and you're already thinking of quitting before even reaching the starting line? Come on, we're almost there!"
Though he was a slothful Demon King, he could be unexpectedly diligent when it came to his passions.
"We're here," Dracula said, finally coming to a stop.
The two girls looked up and saw they were at the entrance of an underground bar.
Two thugs with tattoos on their faces were squatting at the door. When they saw Dracula approaching, they stood up, looking to pick a fight—and maybe collect a "toll."
But Dracula waved his hand in front of their faces, instantly putting them under a hypnotic spell.
"Take us to your manager," he said.
The two thugs nodded dumbly and led them inside, like sleepwalkers, to an office behind the bar.
Dracula pushed the door open.
Inside was… a scene that cannot be described in polite company.
"Who the hell are you?! Where're my boys at?!"
The man inside—clearly the manager, with a piggish face and layers of muscle—shouted in panic.
Dracula waved for the girls to stay back, then hypnotized everyone in the room without another word.
"Let us perform on stage."
"Understood." The manager picked up the phone and made a call, giving a few quick instructions.
"It's all arranged," he told Dracula respectfully.
"Good. Oh, by the way," Dracula said casually, "you weren't using force back there, were you?"
"No, sir! They were all willing! I paid them!" the manager answered earnestly.
"Cool. Then have fun. Goodbye." Dracula closed the door and snapped his fingers.
The manager's eyes cleared as the spell broke. He scratched his balding head, trying to remember what had just happened—but eventually gave up and returned to his... unspeakable pleasures.
"Alright," Dracula said to Nero and Elizabeth, "it's done. Follow me—we're up next."
The two girls followed, visibly excited.
Inside the bar, the lights suddenly dimmed. The dancing crowd froze in anticipation, all eyes turning to the stage.
Sure enough, the lights on stage flared on, and three figures appeared in the spotlight.
"Greetings! I am your emperor, the one and only Nero Claudius!!" Nero proclaimed proudly, standing tall with a mic in hand.
"Hellooo, piggies~! I'm your idol, Elizabeth-tan~!!" Elizabeth struck a cute pose, twirling with a big grin.
The crowd on the dance floor was already stunned by the beauty of the two new singers. As for the guy who came on stage afterward—reeking of middle-aged uncle energy, wearing a bat-shaped mask, and shouting "I'm the guitarist who will tear your soul apart!"—he was promptly ignored by everyone present.
Clearly, they had overlooked something very important.
In the crowd, certain mob bosses had already begun instructing their underlings.
"See those two smoking-hot babes? I want them on my bed when we get home…"
Of course, the moment Nero opened her mouth to sing, they all regretted those words.
One by one, people scrambled to flee the bar as Nero and Elizabeth's vocals rang out. The small underground venue's entrance was quickly flooded by a stampede.
By the time Dracula was ready to play his electric guitar, only the lonely wind remained below the stage.
"Hah, as expected?" Dracula strummed a chord on his guitar. "No matter. Mere mortals are not worthy of our music anyway."
He turned to the girls and encouraged them: "Don't lose heart. This is only the beginning. There will be those who appreciate our art…!"
Before he could finish his sentence, a familiar voice echoed from behind.
"Hellooo~ Long time no see, Dracula!"
With her long silver hair swaying behind her, the beautiful, girl-shaped eldritch god Nyarlathotep—aka Nyarko—stepped into the bar, flanked by Cthugha (now also in the form of a cute twin-tailed girl) and a massive crowd of suspicious black-robed followers.
Nyarko walked right up to the front of the stage and beamed up at Dracula. "I heard you were holding a concert, so I brought some worshippers along to support you!"
"Nyarko…" Dracula's voice trembled with emotion. He turned to Nero and Elizabeth.
"Yoshi! We can't let them down now! Nero, Elizabeth—let's give them a show they won't forget!"
Once again, Nero and Elizabeth began to sing. But this time, the audience's reaction was completely different.
"Ooooh, that off-key shriek… that beautifully grating tone," murmured one of the black-robed spectators. "How lovely."
"Aah, the red dragon's singing is so cute," said another.
Then, incredibly, the crowd began to clap.
"Nice! Keep it up!"
Spurred on by the applause, Nero and Elizabeth sang with even more energy. As their acapella ended, the spotlight turned to Dracula.
He struck the first chord of his electric guitar—and instantly, the atmosphere exploded.
"Aaaahhh! This fierce music… I can see my Lord beckoning me from the Void!"
"Ooooh! Is this truly the music of the 'God of Music and Madness,' the one said to rival even Lord Azathoth himself?!"
"Ahhh, my god is upon us! What an honor!"
"My brain's vibrating…"
At last, their ecstatic cries merged into one frenzied chant. From beneath their robes, tentacles of all shapes and sizes burst forth and began to wave wildly in the air. The worshippers roared:
"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!"
"We need—"
"Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Sacrifice!"
The scene was absolute chaos. If Nyarko and Cthugha hadn't been supervising, these lunatics would probably have blown up Fuyuki City by now.
By the time the performance ended, everyone—Dracula, Nero, Elizabeth, and even the maddened cultists—was utterly satisfied.
Some followers even asked Nero and Elizabeth to autograph their tentacles, claiming they believed the two lovely ladies would one day follow in Lord Dracula's footsteps… and evolve into new Outer Gods.
Nyarko, for her part, seemed quite enthusiastic about this prospect.
After the cultists were ushered out, Dracula stayed behind with Nyarko and Cthugha, sitting across from them in the now-empty bar.
"Well then," Dracula said, staring straight into Nyarko's eyes.
"Let's talk business. What exactly are you two here to mess up this time?"