The Villain's Story

Chapter 756: Forbidden Castle(2).

The gate was heavy, and difficult to open. Only by straining himself was Alan able to open it enough for both him and Sabrina to squeeze through. Inside, was a brightly lit hallway, a velvet carped adorned the floor of the long hallway.

The necklace was still pointing forward, it was guiding them someplace deep in the castle. Sabrina walked ahead, unafraid this time.

It wasn’t like they were in any dark cave, if anything did pop up she could probably face it, or delay it enough for Alan to take care of it. The amount of runes she carved into her body were not meaningless. Still, she was uncertain.

’Where is this thing leading me?’

At first, she would have wanted nothing but to get off this scary planet, but when she found out there was no way too... She just had to follow the necklace. Besides, she couldn’t take it off now.

It was bound to her, no matter what, she couldn’t take it off.

[Name: Bloody Inheritance.]

[Description: ??? Wants you to be her heir.]

The buffs the necklace gave disappeared, and the description had changed as well...

"Rivuka."

She muttered, as a large amount of her mana vanished without a trace. The sorcery of true names, Dragon Tongue, the particular word revealed all hidden truths, taking an appropriate amount of mana for each hidden truth.

[Name: Bloody Key.]

[Rank: SS.]

[Description: The key to Almada’s chamber’s, where her true blood lays in wait for a worthy successor, and accept her inheritance. Reveals the truth of the Palace of Knowledge.]

Still, it didn’t do much. The item description was simply severely lacking, though she was curious about what this inheritance was.

She looked around, noticing a set of paintings appear out of thin air to the sides, a painting of a skeleton with black hair clinging to the skull, and adorned in a dressed. More appeared as well, all of skeletal women, some in strings like a puppet, and some doing... various things.

Reading, writing, cooking, setting a table, drawing, and everything a hobby could be. That was what she saw.

She turned around, noticing the Ame-No-Sakahoko appear in Alan’s hand. She already knew what he was saying was different from her. The necklace made her aware of the truth, while Alan slowly uncovered it.

"What do you see?"

"A beautiful mature woman with black hair and red eyes doing a lot of things, She has a pretty dress..."

For a moment, she felt furious he dared to call anyone but her beautiful and pretty, but her face paled as he continued.

"Looking at you, all the portraits are looking at you... Except for that one."

She didn’t wait for him to finish as she scooted closer, sweat rolling down her face as her mouth snapped shut, and she gripped her staff tightly.

"They... they what?"

"You just came back from killing a giant the size of a mountain, and you’re scared of a few paintings?"

She retorted, almost crying.

"Of course I am! Kizmal had an outright dominating atmosphere, this is a creepy atmosphere! Besides, have you seen this place?! Blood-red eyes, black hair, blood everywhere, those creepy corpses, and this dark castle! It..."

She grabbed his collar, and with a face somewhere in the midst of crying your eyes out and a pout, she yelled.

"THIS SCREAMS VAMPIRE!"

"Right... you’re scared of vampires."

To be honest, Alan still didn’t believe it, He didn’t think the girl that kept a straight face even when facing Kizmal most of the time was afraid of... vampires.

The most human looking monsters, or demons. She was scared of them... He had no clue what about them was so scary.

Sabrina was still holding his collar, tears and sweat rolling down her face, red as it could be. She was really terrified.

"Sheesh... calm down. A dragon’s here, what is a blood sucking bat going to do?"

He may have said that to calm her down, but even he had his concerns. The hallway behind them was beginning to change. The velvet carpet was turned into one of bones, and the polished stone was now filled with moss.

It was slowly changing, just like the paintings. The woman in the paintings was slowly turning into a skeleton, decomposing in front of his very eyes, still focused on Sabrina.

Which really bothered him. Furthermore, the painting of the woman, this time in the armor of a Victorian knight, was looking right at him. It was the sole painting in this place focused solely on him.

However, the eyes of the woman in the painting were now blue, and she had pale white hair, just like his. Though he had cyan ends now.

She was looking right at him, and she was the only one who was not rotting. Sabrina saw her differently, though. She saw her with black hair and red eyes, like the rest. But she was holding a book instead of being adorned in knightly armor.

That particular one freaked him out in ways he couldn’t explain, unknowingly, his grip on his spear tightened as Alan led the way now, with Sabrina following closely behind.

He didn’t want to proceed, but he knew had too. He just had to be prepared.

As they passed by the painting, Alan heard a voice.

"He is coming, knight. You have to protect your lady."

He turned to the painting, only to find a skeleton in destroyed armor in a defeated pose looking back at him.

The voice had been mellow, sweet, alluring even. But it only sent chills down his spine.

"Alan?"

And worse of all, he had been the only one to have heard the voice, the warning... Alan sighed and turned around, only to find a door had appeared in front of them.

A large gateway, made of black stone adorned in gold, At the very top was the head of a gargoyle, along with multiple carvings of bats carrying corpses towards it. The gold was flowing like it was blood from those corpses.

Moving within the door, flowing all towards the gargoyle at the top, from which it leaked from its eyes, and it’s hideous mouth only to repeat the same.

In the very center, was an opening, like a keyhole, but it didn’t appear to be able to fit a key, rather a gemstone.