He mustered his energy to teleport from the center of the stage and emitted black smoke so as not to be caught on camera. In a split second, he stood at the end of stage, the black curtain was lowered from the ceiling.
As he walked to backstage, the sounds of the audience could still be heard. The crew greeted him immediately, but he raised his left hand to indicate that he did not want to be disturbed.
Meanwhile, a South Asian man with glasses and a tall White woman went straight to Zeryon, assisted in removing the long cardigan from his shoulders, and handed him a black shirt.
"I've seen your artistic performances many times. But I think today's show is the best one." The tall woman complimented him.
"Thank you," Zeryon answered without looking at the woman, then he put on his black shirt.
He had exerted quite a lot of energy to teleport objects on the stage. Especially when bringing his paintings to life. However, he still felt energized. Even his energy increased after he touched the young woman below the stage.
The look in the young woman's light blue eyes was genuine. She radiated pure energy and kindness, making her look very eloquent. He had never seen a woman with such a radiant aura. But there was something covering it, she didn't know what it was. He could smell the aroma of sweet darkness.
The illusion artist couldn't get the young woman out of his mind. His curiosity grew bigger and bigger.
Zeryon turned to the man who stood beside him and said, "Could you find out some information about the young woman I gave a gift to earlier? She said her name is Gina Blitz."
"Sure," the loyal man replied.
The dark-skinned man was one of Zeryon's confidants and also his manager. His name was Vargas Nart. He took his cell phone from his trouser pocket and dialed someone. He moved away from the crowd, despite the fact that it appeared impossible to avoid the noice.
"Why? Do you like her? As far as I know, you've never given someone a black peony before," the tall woman shouted, as she spun her ball of eye upwards.
Zeryon gave the hazel-eyed woman a stern look and replied, "I need her. She is different from other women."
"It seems that she is still a girl. She looks so young." She pursed her lips.
"So what's the problem? I look young too, eh. I'm still 20 years old on the paper." Zeryon was not affected by her protest attitude. He continued to speak in a relaxed manner.
"Nothing. Yeah, no one will ever know your real age, you look way younger."
"As people say, age is just numbers."
"Young, handsome, and extremely crisp." She opened her mouth, then pulled her tongue like a zipper.
"You're weird. I thought people think that I'm scary."
"If that's the case, the people below the stage won't be shouting your name. Including the young woman you mentioned earlier. I guess she's one of your fans." She played with her curly brunette hair.
Zeryon just smiled, then stepped through the crowd of crew members who looked so hectic behind the stage.
"Five minutes left for the next show!" A warning was heard from the speaker.
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to prepare for the next show. Everything looked crowded and disorganized, as usual in backstage scene. They worked hard to put on a few minutes of flawless performance on the stage.
Sometimes Zeryon was amazed to see hardworking humans like them. Humans looked weak and helpless, but the brains they had could create extraordinary things beyond magic, such as the invention of technology, the construction of skyscrapers, the development of nuclear power, and many more.
He wondered what it was like to be an ordinary human. He wondered what it was like to be a regular person. He could only imagine how wonderful it would to be born on this earth rather than in the dark world.
In the midst of a crowd. A large man dressed entirely in black approached Zeryon.
"Your show was nothing. You've just exposed yourself. Anyone could do that," the big man grumbled.
"Hei, just say that you're envious of his popularity, Mr. Madrox Boaz." The woman next to Zeryon couldn't stop herself from interrupting.
"Who? Me? Not at all, sweetheart. I can put on the same show. Even better."
"Just show it, then."
"You'll see it, darling. You talk too much as his servant. Know your position." Madrox raised his collar, then he walked towards the stage when the host called his name. "I gotta show a surprised performance," he said to himself.
The brunette woman actually worked for Zeryon Drax as his personal assistant. Her name was Heva Litten. Her expression became gloomy. For some reason, she disliked the fact that Madrox was Zeryon's best friend.
"Just ignore what he said. He really likes to joke around. You know that you and Vargas Nart are my friends too, Heva." Zeryon tried to calm her.
"That's what I like about you. You never discriminate against anyone. Including the cool-ass Madrox Boaz." The woman rolled her eyes again as she spoke in a sarcastic way. "Even though you are a famous artist and YouTuber, you have 30 million subscribers but you still treat me good," she continued.
"I'm not that good. You know, I have a secret and a passion."
Heva nodded curtly. "Everyone has secrets and passions."
"Allright, if my job is done here, let's go home. I have time to rest for a while, I guess, before preparing the concept for the next show." Zeryon looked at the clock in his hand. It's three o'clock in the afternoon.
"Okay, I'll call Vargas first," she said.
Zeryon nodded slowly. Before Heva started to step in to look for Vargas, suddenly there was a booming sound from the stage, as if something had exploded, combined with people's terrified screams.
"What happened? What sound was that?" Zeryon rushed up onto the stage.