The second the amulet was placed in the eye, a click could be heard from underneath the floor. The circle moved downwards the slide to the side underneath the floor, revealing a spiral staircase going downwards into the darkness of the room below. Every step they made was echoing and the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, the torches along the walls of the room lit up automatically, as if by some unseen magic. The room was the size of the entire theater without a single wall or door to make any smaller rooms. It was just one giant room. Around the edges of the left wall was an enormous bookshelf filled with books over succubus, demons, summoning, black magic, and a series of other books related to the subject.

On the right side was a series of chests and materials. There were candles, old vials of blood, voodoo dolls, knives, chains, red paint to draw pentagrams, and everything that one would think of when trying to summon a demon. There were even piles of cursed and black magic artifacts, all having to do with summoning in some form. The walls were covered in six six six and a variety of other unlucky or satanic related phrases. It almost looked like somebody was desperately trying anything they could think of summoning. But everything in the room was covered in dust, showing the lack of usage over the years. Some of the artifacts were broken while the books in the bookshelf were rotting away.

In the back of the room was a glass casket with a skeleton inside. The skeleton wore a black gown and clutched an envelope in its skeleton hands. The glass casket was surrounded by fresh flowers and little chocolate treats. These had no dust on them and were placed recently. In the center of the room was a pedestal with a scroll tied in a red ribbon. But there was also a demonic protection spell cast on both the pedestal and the casket.

Her suspicions were right. The circle revealed the entrance to the underground room that cost so much to make, and frankly the contents were what you expected from a mad cultist's den. While Mingyi was getting chills from the eerie and unnatural ambiance, Lanying simply let out a sigh. "Someone has been playing with supernatural forces again. I should be surprised, but after everything that's happened–I'm not." Haphazard rituals, ominous items left behind without proper containment. The unholy supernatural energies were rampant. For those who were no longer fully human like Lanying and Mingyi, this was much stronger than it would be to the average spiritually sensitive person. She waved her hand as if to fan off invisible fumes, making a face. "This place is a mess. What else is down here?" 

Mingyi shrugged his shoulders as he wandered around, then saw a sight that made him freeze in his tracks. He nearly tripped over some of the occultist junk that was left lying around, causing the exorcist to come over to see what was up. Raising a hand, he pointed a shaking finger at the glass casket and its occupant. "Is…is that–" Lanying let out a whistle, putting her hands on her hips. "Looks like we found Mrs. Lilith." "WAIT, YOU MEAN–" "Yup." "SO THAT'S–?!" She gave a knowing nod, to which Mingyi began to have a minor meltdown. In all his years of his life, he had never seen a corpse–let alone one that was practically a pile of bones. Lanying was simply disappointed. "Sometimes I wish I were wrong more often when I suspect an unburied body."

Walking over to inspect the glass casket, she noted that the flowers and items directly around it were new. There was a scroll on a pedestal here as well, but when she tried to touch it she felt something block her way. "Warding spells… Interesting. Better not mess with it until we secure the place first. Mingyi–let's get salting!" There was still some salt left and some cords. The chamber was very large, so she had to be careful with how much she spread. She decided to at least protect the staircase leading up and to apply proper containment on the evil artifacts. They could clean the rest up once the main problem was resolved. "Alright, let's start checking if our culprit is home. Now what's the best way to get someone's attention?" Her eyes lit up and immediately Mingyi knew this wouldn't be good.

"Oh, I know!" She went over to the casket and looked at the offerings, then batted the flowers away like a cat. Mingyi was panicking as she was sending the carefully placed items to the floor, making a mess.  

After the third or fourth flowers and items were knocked away, a massive hand slammed against Lanying's chest and sent her flying. The hand came from a portal as the rest of the creature stepped through. He was an 8'7" foot tall man with brown hair and snarling teeth. His eyes were black and he had two goat-like horns on his head. On his back were a series of spikes and his sharp claws were out on display. He had a six-pack and a tight pair of pants, making it clear he was an incubus. A high level incubus that had been prowling the theater for generations. His eyes glanced at the two before he looked at the offerings. Carefully he put them back in their positions, even putting each flower back where it had been.

Then he turned back to the two of them with a furious look in his eyes. He held out his left hand and shot a blazing ball of fire at the both of them in retaliation for the damage they did. Luckily, the room was underground and made of stone. The ceiling was too high up to get caught on fire. The demonic creature noticed the salt and the red cords, realizing that the two idiots in front of him were exorcists.

"It doesn't matter how much salt you put down, children." He stated, "As long as the contract exists, I shall stay forever."

The incubus considered the two little more than annoying pests to be ignored. He had been busy trying to corrupt and kill one of the visitors to the theater. These little idiots had gotten in his way and now he had to deal with them. Instead of throwing out more fire, he changed his tactic to just trying to strangle one of them. He raced towards Lanying with his claws out, ready to catch her throat in his hands.

Mingyi had been anxious the entire time Lanying began smacking things around disrespecting the dead. They somewhat vandalized an office, entered without explicit permission, and now this. So when a giant hand suddenly sent her flying, his heart nearly sank into his stomach. "Ack!" She said, quickly tucking herself into a roll. Mingyi was backing up, already beside her. His gaze was upward at something–or in this case, someone. The exorcist looked up and had a calm look on her face. That was a demon alright. A very, very big demon. With an exaggerated gasp, she said: "Mingyi, cover your eyes! He's indecently dressed!" Was that necessary? No. Did it break the tension? Absolutely. She got to her feet and moved into a defensive stance. She was quite satisfied that her attempts to get the demon's attention worked.

Now when the demon said he couldn't be banished due to a contract, most people would take that as a threat. Lanying however, took that as a challenge. If someone told her she couldn't achieve something, she would become even more motivated to do it. As the hulking infernal monstrosity tried to kill them, Lanying quickly teleported Mingyi to a safe place using safe passage, then whipped out a pristine white lute. With the strum of a chord, she disappeared only to reappear behind the demon. "Show's over buddy! It's closing time for you!" Yes, all that brainpower she had mustered in those hectic moments was used to make the cheesiest remarks with performance-themed puns. Spinning the instrument in her hands for a bit of flair, she then grasped it firmly and began to channel power through it. Rapidly plucking the strings, wind and light began swirling around her as the music increased in tempo. 

She would have to hold the demon off until Mingyi alerted Ciara on the situation, or until he came in with more wards. Mingyi was dropped onto the floor outside of the main office, panicking when he realized Lanying was still down in the secret room. He ran as fast as he could to find Ciara and Candice, nearly out of breath. "–We found him! He–he said he's trying to target one of the visitors here! Lanying's still down in the underground room!" Out of the open door of the Main Office, the echoes of a pipa lute began to drift out.

The incubus roared with frustration as he heard the annoying music. He sent out two more fireballs in her direction then placed his hands together. He muttered something under his breath as a massive ball of fire tried to engulf and surround Lanying. The fire would chase Lanying around the room even if she dodged it. The incubus kept his hands together as he continued muttering some sort of ancient spell.

Meanwhile, Ciara was busy chatting up a storm with Candice when Mingyi suddenly ran into the theater and explained everything that had just occurred. She told Candice to stay put then followed Mingyi into the main office where she could hear the pipa lute fiercely playing. The fae woman jumped down into the underground room, not even bothering with the stairs, and landed at the bottom. She stood up and spotted the demon, her own magic ready. Then she stopped when she actually saw the incubus.

"Damn." She smirked, "Tall and spikey? I know a thing or two that we could do with those spikes~"

Ciara then lifted her hands and called out to the demon.

"Hey! Once my girl beats you, we should fuck!" She shouted out.

That was enough to distract the incubus from his spell and the fireball stopped for a moment from its chase. He then looked back at Lanying, trying to stop her next attack. Meanwhile, Ciara did a quick scan of the room and noticed the pedestal and its little forcefield. Fascinating. She knew very little of the situation but that scroll itself looked like a contract. A contract and a demon was always a bad mix as it allowed passage back into the mortal world. The fae woman gave Minying a little nudge and pointed towards the pedestal.

"Try breaking the forcefield." She instructed him, "Lanying is keeping him distracted so he won't have as much energy for the forcefields. Tear up the contract so he won't be able to return after he's banished."

Then she took a seat on the spiral stairs and summoned a pina colada to drink as she watched the performance.

Mingyi was worried for Lanying. She was a capable exorcist, but handling a powerful enemy alone was still dangerous. As he brought Ciara to rejoin the fight, he heaved a sigh of relief knowing the exorcist was alright. The fairy woman then blurted out a very indecent remark, but it managed to distract the incubus enough that he stopped focusing on his spell. And that was just the opening Lanying had been waiting for. Swapping out her instrument, the shrill screech of the erhu pierced the air as she began to pull the bow back and forth in a frenzy. Taking in a deep breath, she shouted lyrics at the top of her lungs as the magical stringed instrument cast rippling shock waves of light and sound. "ON A COLD WINTER MORNING, IN THE TIME BEFORE THE LIIIIGHT–IN THE FLAMES OF DEATH'S ETERNAL REIGN WE RIDE TOWARDS THE NIIIIGHT~" 

 All the while the exorcist was screaming and dodging using magic, Ciara brought the pedestal to Mingyi's attention. Her instructions were clear, and he gave her a short bow in thanks before breaking into a sprint. If there was one thing Lanying was good at, it was being as eye-catching and loud as possible. Not only did her 'singing' and music hurt the ears, they were actually imbued with damaging power too. She needed more time to cast the final spell that would send this foul fiend packing, but right now she needed to keep chipping away at him. Mingyi reached the pedestal and grabbed a handful of the purified salt, throwing it onto the barrier protecting the contract scroll. When a single handful wasn't enough, he simply upended the entire contents remaining in the sack, showering it with a rain of coarse grains. The sheer quantity finally wore the barrier thin, and being a supernatural being himself he was able to force his way in to snatch the scroll up. 

Immediately he started to rip it up, shredding it as much as possible. He then shoved the pieces into the salt mound on the floor, for good measure. There was a faint sizzle as the purifying properties of the salt actually did their work. Lanying was now holding her lute again, and she pointed at the demon in an act of showmanship. "And now, for the final act of this farewell concert–'Over the River of Three Crossings'!" Her fingers began to fly up and down the instrument's strings in a way that didn't seem humanly possible. If she had been an ordinary human, her fingertips would've been shredded by now. In an intimidating lute solo, she poured her heart and soul into it–her spiritual power rising in a crescendo.

"The Black Tortoise guards the North, the Azure Dragon rules the East! The Phoenix flies over the South, the Tiger faces West! By the Mountains and the Seas, I pray to the Heavens once! By the Skies and the Land, I worship the Earth twice! By the stars above and the abyss below; I ring the bell thrice–Evil, Begone!"

A powerful blast of light erupted from the chamber as a great seal began to shimmer beneath the demon's feet. Lines began to connect and symbols were made manifest as an overwhelming force was exerting itself on the incubus, shunting him out of the mortal plane. As the contract was now null and void, the magic that granted passage into this world was no longer in effect. Raising her arm up high, Lanying swung it down letting out an ear-splitting blast of sound. "OH YEAHHH!!!!" 

The demon grimaced at the young woman's so-called singing and tried to send a few more fireballs towards her. The fire blazed and burned but completely missed its mark due to her dodging magic. The incubus was completely distracted as Mingyi broke through his force field and destroyed the contract. His eyes opened wide as he felt the connection between himself and the contract severed. He screamed in rage as flames completely surrounded his body as he sent a blast of fire directly towards Lanying in a desperate attempt to kill her before she could finish her solo. But the sheer awesomeness, and spiritual power, deflected every single attack.

Ciara casually summoned a pair of sunglasses and put them on as she sipped from her pina colada with a curly straw. A powerful blast of light erupted from Lanying as the seal began to form, trapping the demon before it could try to make an escape. With an ear-splitting blast of sound, the demon was banished with a bright flash of light. As it was banished it let out a desperate NOOOOOOOOO before being sent back into the demon world for good.

Once the song was done, Ciara gave them both applause fit for such an amazing performance. Mingyi had played his part perfectly to defeat the demon long-term and Lanying's performance was breathtaking. Literally. The only issue she found was the massive amounts of salt that would have to be cleaned up later. Ciara stood up and walked towards the both of them with a thumbs up, while the other hand was still holding onto the pina colada.

"Wonderful performance! It's a shame we didn't get that on stage." Ciara said with a smile, "It would have blown them all away. And I'm serious about that. There would have been no survivors."

There wasn't any trace of the demon left in the room. The pedestal had crumbled and the scroll had been destroyed. The only thing of interest left in the room was the girl in the glass casket. Ciara carefully stepped over the fallen over offerings and casually opened the casket. She reached for the envelope that the skeleton Lilith had been holding and opened it.

"This will probably give us the rest of the answers." She explained, "Lets see. It says To my demon lover,"

Ciara quickly read out loud the contents of the letter to them. It read,

-To my demon lover,

I and any future lady of the hall will become your sirens to bring in your prey. Even if my descendants don't realize it, they shall sing and bring in thousands. But I am willing to sacrifice them and myself. Just please, don't leave me behind. I know you are only taking advantage of me and will never love me. I knew that the moment I figured out how to summon you. Just please pretend. Pretend you love me. Pretend I am worthy of love. For once in my life, I want someone who will show me affection, even if it's all a lie. So please be my lover. And let me be yours.

From your dearest love,
Lilith-

"Well, that explains why Candice and all the others never mentioned the demon." Ciara said, "The contract was made with Lilith but involved them, whether they liked it or not."

Mingyi was exhausted from the stress, while Lanying was more hyped than ever. This was the first time she had banished a demon this powerful! Man, she felt great! There was nothing like the satisfaction of a job well done. Ciara thoroughly enjoyed the show, fireworks and all–but more importantly, the curse of the Celeste Concert Hall was over. The exorcist let out a chuckle at the fairy woman's praise, while Mingyi grimaced that Ciara meant it literally. The oppressive source of evil energy was now gone, and the air felt clearer. With nothing left to look at but the glass casket, the two stood near as their guild master read aloud the letter that had been in the skeleton's hands. 

Lanying and Mingyi were somber after Ciara finisihed. "Poor Lilith… She'll finally be able to be put to rest." It was just too sad, even if it was a contract. Thinking back on what Ciara said about Edward and Lilith's marriage, it all made sense now. She wondered if the lady had made the contract out of desperation for someone–anyone to love her. But in the end, it wasn't right. What she did ended up hurting her children and descendants. In the end they were the ones who had to shoulder the burden. "Candice will be able to sing freely from now on. It won't bring in people like before, but this time she can say with confidence that she's relying on her talents alone." Mingyi agreed. Things were better this way. Relying on an otherworldly power would diminish one's individual efforts.

"Let's go share the good news!" The exorcist said, perking up. "We won't need the cords and talismans upstairs anymore! But we can reuse them to clean up the rest of the junk down here." It was the beginning of a new era for the concert hall, one that would lead towards a brighter, better future. 

"Yes. We'll need to get everything cleaned up before the performance." Ciara said with a smile, "But I'll let you go tell the good news. I'll be up with you both in a moment."

The guild master placed the letter back in the skeleton's hands then looked towards the rest of the room. Having the performers or crew cleaning up this room was a poor idea. Although most of what Lilith had gathered was either broken or harmless, there were some real artifacts. In the hands of somebody who didn't know how to use it properly, it could become dangerous. She raised her hands towards the rest of the room. Little portals opened up beneath the bookshelf and the piles of artifacts. All of these items would be stored in a locked room in the guildhall until she could figure out how to properly dispose of them. As for the body, she left it where it was out of respect for the dead. Once that was done, she went back up to the theater and out of the room. They could always remodel the underground room like a wine cellar or something.

Meanwhile, the performers and crew were ecstatic at the news that their supernatural problem was solved. The happiest out of all of them was Candice who was thrilled that the Celeste Concert Hall would be able to perform and it would no longer have to worry about ghosts or demons. Their nightmare was finally over! When Lanying and Mingyi told her about the singing, she didn't seem to mind in the least.

"I always hated singing. I much prefer the business side of running a theater." Candice admitted, "Now the real question is what you both are gonna wear for your performance. Fighting that demon burned a bit of your outfit. Go to our changing rooms and pick your costumes for tomorrow night!"

The theater had more than enough costumes of all different shapes and sizes and styles. Ciara knew that it wouldn't be hard for the two to find their costumes and to be ready. But before they ran off, Ciara tapped Lanying on the shoulder and whispered an idea of hers.

"Let's give them a performance they won't forget. How about a duet?" Ciara offered, "I've been dying to see if I can keep up with your speed."

In all the commotion during the exorcism, Lanying didn't notice the minor damage to her outfit. She wasn't against getting new clothes, after all looking your best for a performance was natural. Before she spent the next hours going back and forth with Mingyi over what was 'appropriate', Ciara's suggestion gave her an idea. "Let's do it!" She replied, grinning. "I know you can keep up with a violin for sure! I'll pick one of my fastest songs and we'll make sparks fly!" The exorcist was still on an adrenaline high from the battle in the underground chamber. If Candice said they were going to perform right now, she was ready. "Alright, we need to start choosing your outfit." Mingyi fussed, leading the dark-haired woman away to the dressing rooms. Normally he wouldn't be so forward in taking her hand, but he had been sulking somewhat after the demon had been expelled. 

It wasn't that he was angry, Mingyi had been upset that Lanying had chosen to send him away without warning while she herself was in danger. Perhaps he wasn't actually angry at all–but more frustrated and disappointed in himself. If he told her how he felt, he knew she would tell him that his contributions were equally significant, if not more so. While he was the one who ultimately destroyed the demon's link to the mortal world, it was due to the guild master's instructions. He had been sent to safety while she handled things alone. Even if the exorcist never treated him like he was of no help, Mingyi couldn't help but feel that way. In the years they had traveled together, he wanted to become someone Lanying could rely on. His spiritual power was weaker than hers, and he was still slowly learning about exorcism through her. His combat skills and literary knowledge came in handy when not dealing with spirits.

The least he could do now is make sure she had an excellent performance tomorrow. "Ohh~ This looks good!" Lanying pulled out a bright paisley scarf, draping it around her shoulders. He let out a sigh and shook his head. "That won't match the rest of your outfit. Here, we can try to improvise with this cloth as a sash and ask Miss Candice if we can borrow some fabric. You need to look presentable." The exorcist groaned, and sat down. "Aww, is it really that bad? It's not like I'm gonna sing before a king or queen. Besides, the theater's so big that the people in the back probably won't even be able to see me clearly." As he picked out some jewelry, she leaned her head on an arm as Mingyi began to talk about how dressing the part made half the difference. She let him choose and didn't resist, noticing his mood was better after he made some complaints. 

The next day, they would help with cleaning up the rest of the salt and cords left behind now that they were no longer necessary. She left the last rites for Lilith up to Candice, since it was family business. Her job was exorcism, not handling burials. As evening came closer, Lanying couldn't wait for the duet. She'd go all out this time!