Chapter 23 - First Trial

LUNA ASTERBELLE’s POV

“There’s a lot of unexpected things that occurred, so I don’t really have the energy to explain it yet… but, you can take it that way for now, Joseph,” I directly answered him. There was no point in trying to hide it from him, but I also see no reason for me to inform him about my life’s background.

Joseph chose to stay silent, realizing that he wouldn’t get a story out of me anyway. We decided to wait outside of the clan’s gates until one of their guards came out.

“One member of the Blood Moon Pack,” he muttered as he gazed upon Joseph, before he switched his eyesight to me. “And… a rogue? What’s the purpose of your visit?”

Joseph glanced his way to me for a second. His eyes were kind of telling me that I shouldn’t mind how the guard spoke and just let him handle all of the conversations. “I’ve been ordered by Alpha Asterbelle to send his daughter to the King of the Underground for special training. You can contact him if you’re still having doubts about her identity,” he said.

There really were hesitations evident on the movements of the guard, so I thought that we wouldn’t be able to cross to the other side anymore. But instead, he let us pass through and he was also the one who led us to the specified spot of the underground tha Joseph mentioned.

Along the way, I couldn’t help myself but to feel creeped out. It was a complete black out all throughout the path even though it’s still early in the morning. It was like we’re going straight to a cave. The temperature around here was also very low. If only I didn’t have the blood of a vampire, I would most probably be shivering right now.

“Are you okay?” Joseph questioned out of the blue, so I wasn’t able to give him a response fast. “You seemed like you were about to pass out,” he added.

“A-ah… Just starving, I guess?” I reasoned my way out, though part of it was true since I wasn’t used to not eating my share of breakfast. Even during the days that I was away from my former pack’s house, I still found ways on how I wouldn’t starve that much.

“We’re almost there. I’m not permitted to cross there, so… I would be leaving the two of you behind. If anything happens, it’s not my problem. I’m sure that you mentally prepared yourself for whatever may occur here anyway,” said the guard who guided us on the way here. Before we could formally give our thanks, we heard his footsteps getting further and further away from us.

I almost forgot to breathe as each of my steps forward were heavier compared to normal. “Should I light up some torch or something?” I randomly asked him, to avoid getting such silence between us.

“How?”

I smirked even though he wouldn’t even be able to see me. I raised my hand on the same level of my shoulder at the same time that I firmly shut my eyes. I attempted to transfer at least a little bit of my aura over to my palm, hoping that it would create some sort of flame just like what the sorcerers can do… and I didn’t get humiliated at all!

“Woah! I didn’t know you can also do this sort of stuff… Does that come along with the vampires’ bloodline?” he inferred.

I shook my head, then placed my hand in front of us so that we could see what’s ahead. “I got it from either Mr. Asterbelle or Mrs. Asterbelle. They are the ones who had this power, and I just thought that maybe, it was about time for me to be able to do it as well.”

After a few minutes of walking carelessly, we finally saw a huge door that was… covered in blood. “W-what is this place?” My heart kept on thumping hastily when I figured out how my life would be at risk once we entered this room.

Joseph didn’t mind me and he simply proceeded to knock on the door about three times.

“Come in,” said a man with a magnetic voice.

The both of us glanced at one another first before he finally pushed the doors for it to open.

There were a lot of differences from this place compared to its path. I saw a lot of people who possessed the aura of someone who just recently enjoyed killing others, while there are also some who were getting weak on their knees because of what they witnessed.

In the center of the room stood a man who was about to transform. I knew for sure that he was a wolf… so what was he doing inside the Dark Shadow Clan?

“Ladies and gentlemen, everyone who’s gathered here right now would all be undergoing the first trial. No matter what happens, you have to make sure that you'll survive and succeed. Because if you don’t, your blood would be the next one that would get splattered all around the underground’s facility. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” announced by a man who was nowhere in sight. He might be giving out his speech through the speakers from a hidden location.

I gulped as I heard the rule. “J-Joseph… Is this the punishment that Mr. Asterbelle prepared for me? Does he intend to let me die in this place so that his hands wouldn’t get dirty?”

Such a selfish father…

He shook his head in response as if to tell me that what I recently asked was the exact opposite of reality. “That’s totally absurd. Alpha Asterbelle basically has faith in the strength that you would soon awaken. He believes in your own potential and he wanted to rely on me to guide you here since he knows how dangerous you are,” he replied, then claimed my hand. “You’re way too powerful against all of the monsters gathered here, there’s no need for you to be afraid.”

Moments later on, I was left alone by Joseph. The one who facilitated the trial didn’t allow us to be together, so I was forced to be separated from the only person who I can rely on for now. A horrifying music started to play at the same time that the bell rang, indicating that the trial had begun.

“Well then, let’s do this!”

It was only a single person who yelled that sentence, but it was enough to gather the attention of everyone else inside the room who seemed to be energized.

Don’t they realize that they can lose their life because they decided to simply partake in this trial? I don’t have any idea what they did to persuade this many citizens, but whatever the reason is, I would be the sole survivor in the end.

That’s what I’ve concluded to myself; I’ll be victorious.

I took several steps forward to head over to my designated room. The door has numbers painted on it, which I ignored. It closed the instant that I stepped inside the room that wasn’t spacious.

“Luna Asterbelle, right?” asked a man from the other line of the telephone that was placed above the table.

“Yes.”

“I see. So you’re the woman who kept on running inside the mind of our boss lately, huh? We heard a lot about you,” he said, then was followed with his soft chuckles. “We don’t care about whatever relationship you have with our boss. He won’t be here to pamper you anyway.”

Confused as I was, I still kept on wondering who’s the boss that he was pertaining to. Although, there was already a certain man that comes into mind whenever this clan is involved… but I’m not even in a relationship with any of them.

“What am I supposed to do to pass this trial? I want to get this over with as soon as possible,” I inquired with the littlest bit of respect.

Instead of getting a response from the man himself, the lights were suddenly turned off. And the only thing that I can see here was the countdown timer.

3…

2…

1…

A splashing sound came from the right side which widened my eyes. I almost shrieked when I sensed something touching my foot. I couldn’t even see what it was, which raised my anxiousness.

What’s going on?

“Time for the show to commence!” announced by the same man that I was talking to on the phone a while ago.

After the line was cut off, the lights went back on.

I instantly covered my mouth, a second after I gasped when I saw the head of a woman beneath my feet. I didn’t even notice how I stepped on it unconsciously, as if someone else had taken control over my body.

The head moved by itself, revealing its face.

“Y-Yve?!” I screamed her name at the same time that I knelt to the ground.