"Welcome to the Original Castle," said the figure in a heavy voice.
Hearing this voice Max and Hayley felt as if something is crawling on them, or as if a heavy weight is weighing them down to the ground, it was a very strange thing to describe as the feeling of the voice gave them different feelings at the same time.
But if the sound alone isn't proof enough, the aura around this figure is terrifying enough to make them despair.
Max and Hayley don't know what to do in the current situation.
Max decided to speak first because he is afraid that their silence would make the other party angry.
"Ehh, what is the Original Castle?" said Max after thinking about what to say.
"Hum?"
"Aren't you demons?" said the figure breaking his character for a moment. But after a few moments of silence, he suddenly laughed as if found something interesting.
"A vampire and a dragon here in hell? And they can even make the castle appear before them?" the figure laughed again.
Max and Hayley just stood there with blank expressions not understanding anything.
Max heard the figure and from the few words he said, he collected a few valuable pieces of information but will leave them for now.
"Huh, Senior?" said Max again.
"Yes, well, since you don't know what this place is, then you don't need to know," said the figure before pausing for a while, then he continued "But what you should know is, this place is an inheritance place, that doesn't appear unless you are someone special."
"Of who?" said Max curiously, Max is curious to know who would leave his inheritance here in the middle of nowhere, and it is difficult to make a guess because the figure isn't exposing any aura that indicates his race, as for the craving outside of demons and the such?
They aren't a deciding factor, so Max didn't jump to conclusions about the inheritance belonging to a demon.
The figure just stared at the figure for a minute before speaking again.
"You will know if you can survive," said the figure sitting on the throne.
I just stared at the figure, wondering about many things, but the most important one is the reason behind the silence after every question, the figure would just stare at me for some time before speaking again.
I removed any nonsense from my mind and focused on the words that the figure said.
"Survive?" Max asked with a puzzled look.
"Well, since there is an inheritance, there must be a trial, so if you want the inheritance, you must take the trial and then pass it," said the figure.
My thoughts went back to thinking some nonsense as he thought that the man in front of him, even with the strong malevolence around him and the aura full of evil. He seemed to be a patient man or a woman as he is taking his/her time to stare and explain.
"Do we have to take the test even if we don't want to take the inheritance?" I asked again.
"No problem at all, you will just have to do one thing for me if you want to leave and not take the test."
"Oh? What is that?" I asked curiously. But the answer that greeted me, chilled me to the bones, it made me erase any thoughts about the Being being nice.
"Your life."
"Oh, okay, I will definitely take the trial," I said hurriedly with a forced smile.
"That's great," said the figure and clapped his hands twice, but before clapping a third time to start the trial, he was stopped.
"Wait!" I shouted to stop him for a moment.
"Hmm? What?" the figure stopped to ask and looked at me curiously.
"Do we both have to participate? Or can I only participate?" I asked hurriedly, after all, I don't want to drag Hayley into this trial with me after all the figure seemed to have ignored her after discovering that she is a dragon for some reason.
Hearing this from the side, Hayley was stunned. From the beginning, Hayley was just listening to the conversation, while focusing all her mind to resist the strange effect coming from the aura of the man and the walls, but strangely, Max didn't seem to be affected at all. So hearing Max asking if she can skip the trial, Hayley wanted to object, but before she can even speak, the figure answered Max's question.
"No, You can participate alone, and leave her here until you finish, don't worry I won't do anything to you," said the figure.
"Okay," said Max after sighing with relief. Although he doesn't believe in the figure's words, he still doesn't have any other options, and the figure's strength from his aura could be interfered to be terrifying so there is no reason for him to lie.
Seeing Max finally finished talking, the figure on the throne was going to start the trial again but was stopped again, but this time from a different source.
"Wait," said Hayley.
The figure just looked at her expressionlessly, and even if he/she have an expression on his/her face, it would still be hard to know as the figure have no details, it is like looking at a bottomless abyss, all black without any hint of light, the only thing that made his/figure appear is just the lights in the throne halls that is coming from the ceiling.
Hayley seeing that figure stopped again and looked to Max hurriedly to speak in a low voice.
"Hey, why did you exclude me from the trial?" asked Hayley furiously, she thought Max is underestimating her even though she is more powerful than him.
"Why are you making a fuss? Just stay here quietly and wait for my return," I replied in a low tone, I really don't know what this girl is thinking, does she think that it is going to be a walk in the park or what.
"Are you underestimating me?" asked Hayley again but with a slightly louder voice than before.
"Eh? No, I am just worried about you, you shouldn't even be here, so you should just stand on the side obediently," I said after hearing her question.
"Worried about me?" hearing this Hayley repeated his words in a daze, before blushing a little, but then she came out of her daze quickly.
"But, I am stronger than you," said Hayley after recovering.
"Yes, I know, but you have been shivering since we entered this hall for the aura, and I for some reason am safe, so it is better if I go alone, because who knows what might be in the test."
"So, you noticed," said Hayley after taking a look at her hands that is still shivering slightly from the aura, even now, she doesn't understand the reason for her shivering.
"Okay, I am going alone, please start the trial." Said Max before Hayley say anything again
At that moment, Hayley wanted to say something else, but Max just glared at her to shut up, so for some reason, she followed his words and kept quiet, but after a few seconds, she became stunned that she had obeyed someone's words, her, a Royal dragon, but before she can even complain, the figure on the throne spoke.
"Okay, here you go," said the figure, and then he clapped the final clap, and Max found everything became dark around him the next moment.
When the area become dark around him, a system screen appeared before him.
[A urgent quest has been issued by the system]
[Please check the quest tab]
'Huh?'
This is a first, Max got stunned and checked quickly what the mission is, but he got stunned again by the system red tab.
[Quest: Survive]