[Fresh Air]

Mori walked up the stairs, his chains clanking loudly as they trailed behind him, resonating on the walls with every step.

Griswald's face was a blank slate, his former smug arrogance replaced by a hollow emptiness that made him seem like a shadow of his former self.

Mori broke the silence, "What happened during those four years?"

"The first year was quite normal, but starting from the second year things changed."

They were finally out, turning into the dining room, which remained as it was, neglected.

"What do you mean?"

"Attacks became a lot more frequent. People knew how to go through the ring's defensive dome."

After a few more steps, they were finally outside.

The smell of fresh air filled his lungs, replacing the dusty and damp atmosphere he had been breathing for years.

The sun was up; it was early morning. Mori glanced at Aura and Griswald but they seemed fine, their skin not tearing or burning.

Before him, the scenery had changed from what it was years ago.

The treeline had receded significantly, revealing a terrain of uneven dirt, with craters that appeared to be the aftermath of explosions.

When he looked left, he finally saw it.

A gruesome mountain of corpses loomed before them, reaching two meters high. 

The stench of decay hit Mori, a grotesque display of fifty lives lost in brutal combat.

"We didn't know what to do with the corpses," said Aura.

Some corpses still had decaying skin, while others were mainly skeletal. He could see all kinds of wounds, from burn marks to clean breaks.

"You did all this?"

"Yes."

"Good."

He noticed a soft smile as he complimented her. She stood there while he looked around.

"So, what happened?" asked Mori again, turning toward her.

Before she could answer, Griswald slightly bowed and went inside the mansion.

"Ah, yes. We have something for you, he'll retrieve it," she said.

She looked innocent, but her eyes hinted at something darker, a shadow lurking in the depths of their purple hue.

"Most of them are 'adventurers'. They've been coming at us for a while. In increasing numbers, and stronger," she said.

"Why did you say Adventurer that way?"

She looked at the pile of corpses for a short moment, recalling distant memories.

"Adventure Divers. That's what they called themselves. I don't know what it means."

The chains on Mori's body began to rattle as if something inside him was fighting against them. 

His face twitched with the clinking noise, and though his eyes burned with anger, he smiled.

The chains suddenly became loose, letting his arm out of his straitjacket.

As they undid themselves, he raised his right arm toward her head. She froze, holding her breath.

"Good job," he said, patting her head.

She softly smiled as he turned his gaze toward the pile of corpses.

"Did they say anything else?" he asked.

"They also knew about the ring. From what I understand, the bounty on this place kept increasing. Eventually, people who came here knew about me, some even asked me to join them."

Mori looked at her again, but his smile was gone.

"Would you?" 

His voice betrayed his emotions, but it made no difference to Aura who knew the answer.

"No."

She sustained his gaze until he turned toward the pile again.

He took a few steps forward, dragging the chains behind him while raising both arms toward the sky.

"My sweet babies, my precious children... Go out there, and experience the world... Bring those 'Adventure Divers' back home..."

His body contorted, his human shape deformed by shapes visible to even Aura, who took a step back.

They looked like an amalgamation of creatures. Some of them had insect features, while others looked like something out of the deep sea.

All of them were pitch-black, making their way out of his body.

They crawled, rolled and walked toward the corpses.

Mori closed his eyes as they kept pouring out.

One of them was going toward Aura who took a few steps back. "Not that one," he stopped it.

One by one, the corpses started moving as the eldritch beings entered them.

The corpses were contorting, their shape changed their features, making some corpses taller with longer arms, while others were smaller. 

Some had horns, claws, scales, shark teeth... They all got in line before him, waiting.

The chains went back up, tightening around Mori into a straitjacket again, making his devious expression soften.

Before he could talk, Griswald had just arrived, with a folded piece of cloth in his hands.

He bowed forward, offering it to Mori.

"What is it?" he asked Aura.

"A cloak, one of the adventurers had it. It helps hide one's mana, Father thought it was an important item so we kept it. Now that you're out of the dungeon, it's easy to tell your cursed mana reaches far and wide, it's actually raising the hair on the back of my neck..."

"Give it to me."

He turned, letting Aura put it on top of the chains, tying it around his neck, and resting it on his shoulders. 

As she did, she accidentally touched them, quickly withdrawing her hand.

Mori sighed and turned toward her once she was done.

He loosened his chains again, letting his arms out.

He seized her neck, pulling her closer. His fingers dug into her skin as he used his other hand to pry open her mouth. 

She squirmed, taken by surprise.

He grasped her tongue, scrutinizing it intently. Then, he traced a finger over her lips, feeling their texture. 

When he finished, he met her gaze, captivated by the striking brightness of her purple eyes.

His grasp became tighter, his face close to hers.

"Your brand is gone."

She held onto his hand, her eyes teary while her face slowly became red.

"Are you betraying me?" he asked.

"What?!"

Her tone wasn't scared or apologetic, but mainly infuriated.

She started squeezing his hand with ease, making him frown in surprise while his grip became weaker.

"If I wanted to betray you, I would've done so a long time ago."

Mori's frown became deeper, as they both stared at each other.

He had to let go.

He gazed at Griswald, trying to feel the brand he put on him.

"He has his, still."

Mori waved his hand. Griswald simply bowed and walked toward the raised corpses and stood among them.

"So," his tone was back to normal. "What are you still doing here, if your brand is gone?"

"I've been a prisoner for 150 years. The whole time I thought I was sick. If you hadn't come here, I would still be in that room, reading books while slowly drinking poison until the day I'd be killed."

"For that reason?"

"Yes."

He had a short laugh, surprising her.

"You've done what I asked you 4 years ago, you're free, now."

But unlike what he expected, she stood still, not even smiling.

"I know nothing of the outside world. People like us, vampires, don't fit. Still, I want to see what this world-"

"The world you'll see with me won't be pretty."

"I don't mind."

Mori smiled.

"You surprise me, Aura."

She blushed while playing with her hair, her gaze holding his.

"There's also this," she said while running her finger on her lips. "After a while, drinking your blood started changing me. I can't be satiated by human blood anymore."

He stared a moment, in thought, then extended his index finger, the tip of it touching her neck.

He closed his eyes while a hex slid around his arm, up to his finger.

It wrapped around her neck, settling into her skin like a tattoo.

"Another brand?" she asked, as the hex stopped moving.

"You won't be able to lie or betray me."

"It's not needed."

She was touching her neck, but couldn't feel anything from the mark on it.

"Now that you're awake, what are we doing?" she asked.

"My plan still holds. We'll meet Asmodael."

His hands started twitching and contorting, his fingers cracking as they moved back and forth.

He wrapped his arms around his torso, the chains quickly absorbed them again.

"As for you," he said, turning toward the corpses. "You know what to do."

Griswald bowed as the corpses started walking toward the forest.

"If you somehow survive, and raze the towns sending these adventurers, I'll let you speak again."

He stopped bowing and joined the corpses, who left a broken path behind them, disappearing into the forest.

"We'll be on our way as well," said Mori.

Aura nodded, and they started walking the opposite way.