"You had me so worried…." Mia whispered into my ear, and I didn't even reply as I just hugged her back.

"Are there any other girls still unconscious?" I asked Mia, but all of a sudden, a few panels appeared in front of me.

[Interference by a higher being]

[Pain has been alleviated but not fully extracted by a god]

[Skill has been revoked]

So these are the panels that I was going to read before passing out from the pain… damn, that was the alleviated version? I can't even imagine the hell I would have to go through if that vampire didn't help me.

I mean, it wasn't directly said, but it was obvious that vampire god helped me since he was the one who forced the skill onto us anyway.

"Just Nell and Astra," Mia replied before we broke away from our hug, and I continued to stare up at the gaping hole in the ceiling.

The blizzard outside, which I thought was an illusion, continued to snow down onto us, and the slight chill in the air caused me to shiver.

"Wait? Shiver?" I muttered before glancing down at my body which was clearly shivering, but that should be impossible.

I checked my status again, but nothing had changed besides the missing skill we had just revoked from us.

"Yeah, I have immunity to the cold, but for some reason, I also feel cold. This blizzard is clearly made from magic or something; otherwise, this shouldn't be possible," Electra spoke up, and I noticed she was wrapped in tons of blankets.

Ethel was also holding her, but she seemed to be a bit pissed off at Electra.

"Hm… Oh yeah, did you extract the location of the dungeon? I don't think I remember him saying the location," I asked Charna, and all of a sudden, a shiver was sent down my spine.

A strange magical grasp brushed against the back of my neck, and when I snapped my head around, I noticed a large portal.

"Yeah, that thing just appeared. We were going to wait for everybody to awaken before going inside," Charna said.

[Ancient Body resonates with the portal in front of you]

A slight smile appeared on my face as I stared into the icy blue waves that were formed in the actual portal.

The frame was also made out of crystal clear ice that looked as if it had been sculpted by the gods.

[Ancient Body yearns for the portal]

…

(Astra POV)

I awoke in a blood-red room filled with black furniture, and the man sitting at the desk was a familiar sight.

He had long red hair, blood-red eyes, a handsome face, and a halo-like crown made from blood that floated slightly above his head.

"So you really did come?" He muttered before looking up from his desk and snapping his fingers, creating a crystal glass filled with thick red liquid.

I gulped down my appetite as I ripped my eyes away from the liquid.

"Where am I?" I asked the vampire sitting in front of me, but he took a while to respond as I sipped on the red liquid.

"I have come with a test for you and your sister. One of you will die, and one of you will live," He muttered before dropping the empty crystal glass that shattered into hundreds of shards… just like my heart.

"W-What do you mean? A test? I never wanted a test," I said, but the man ignored me as he gave me a light smile before chuckling.

"I'm just kidding, of course. That would be way too cruel… I'll just take the souls of your parents as a sacrifice," The man said before reaching into a black portal that appeared beside him and then pulling out a few phantasmal orbs.

These orbs were screaming and crying out for help, but I couldn't do anything as they were quickly swallowed by the vampire.

"Oh, no reaction. Do you just not care, or do you not like your parents…? A hard question to answer when you have such a twisted personality,"

"My personality isn't twisted," I replied firmly.

"That's right, it isn't," He responded with a slight smile once again, which almost seemed to taunt me.

"Alright, let's begin with the test. I'll ask you a few questions, and you have to give me the correct answer," The man said. I just nodded silently.

It seems simple enough…

"Is it amusing to suck blood? Or to see it from a different perspective, do you take pleasure out of seeing the spray of blood fly across your vision?" He asked.

There's a correct answer to this?

"Yes?" I said. Still a bit confused about everything.

"Incorrect," He said, and all of a sudden, the screaming of a familiar voice came from behind the wall beside me.

The scream was blood-curdling, and it was that of a woman… it almost sounded like Nell?

"Y-You bastard! What did you do with my sister?!" I shouted, and the vampire just smiled at me.

I almost lost myself from rage but quickly retracted my hand as I knew messing with him would most likely result in the death of my sister and me.

To be honest, I didn't care much about what was happening to me because now that I knew with each question I got incorrect, Nell would take the brunt of the punishment.

And the punishment for me was to hear her blood-curdling screams as who knows what was happening to her behind that wall.

"Next question… Do you find fighting amusing? Or to see it from a different perspective, do you take pleasure in fighting somebody weaker than you?"

His questions were so strange and had no common sense to them. He asks me one question and then rearranges it into something sort of different.

"Tch…"

I clicked my tongue before carefully thinking over my answer as hearing Nell's screams was absolute hell.

But wait, I'm not feeling any of her pain through the hivemind… did he shut off the hivemind?

"I did indeed shut off the hivemind," He said before releasing a large blast of bloodlust, which knocked me back, but I suddenly landed on a wooden chair that appeared under me.

"Is there a limited time to answer the question?" I asked as I needed as much information as possible now.

"Yep. One minute for each question, and you only have thirty seconds left,"

I cursed internally while racking my brain and even trying to think outside the box or something like that, but nothing came up.

Dammit… What would Lucy do? If she was here, she could probably figure it out… Dammit! Why am I so stupid!

"Five… Four… Three… Tw-"

"Wait! I have it! I have it!" I shouted, stopping the timer, and the vampire looked at me, ready to listen to my answer.

"No," I replied, and the man snapped his fingers, creating another crystal glass that had blood poured into it out of a black portal.

"Incorrect," He muttered before taking a sip, and the blood-curdling cries of my sister rang through the other room.

I felt like throwing up, my stomach hurt, and I dropped to my knees.

"Next question…"

He continued to ask me crazy questions all the way until I, myself, went crazy about hearing the screams of my sister.

Eventually, I heard her crying, and this was the thing that made me snap.

"ARGHHHHH!" I cried out as I summoned a blade of blood in my hand and sliced it towards the vampire's neck, but he just continued to sip on the glass of blood.

The blade had stopped right before it reached his neck, and all of a sudden, the blood that formed my blade exploded and entangled me in a strange net.

It was impossible to escape it, and no matter how I struggled, it just felt like it was tightening around my body.

He then shoved me back, and I landed on the same wooden chair.

"Next question… Do you find drinking blood amusing? Or, to see it from a different perspective, do you find the process of draining blood fun and pleasurable?" He asked, and I glared directly into his deep eyes.

"Y-Yes,"

"*sigh*... I had high expectations for you, but you're just as simple-minded as the others who came here…." He muttered before snapping his fingers, but all of a sudden, something clicked into my mind.

"W-wait! Can I change my answer?!" I shouted, and his fingers just about managed to stop before snapping.

"Go ahead. But that means if you get it wrong, the punishment on your little sister here will be so bad I doubt she'll live,"

I gulped down a large drop of saliva before closing my eyes.

My senses felt as if they were intertwining with Nell behind the wall, and I could feel her pain, anger, and sadness.

I knew it… This bastard has been lying to me the entire time.

"Hive," I said with full confidence, and the vampire's eyes widened for a split second.

"Interesting,"

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