Chapter 16: Blood Dungeon!

“Y-you usually manage all of these?”

Phyllis swallowed hard.

She suddenly understood why Carola had developed such a sickly obsessive personality.

In such an extremely oppressive environment, the fact that Carola had only ended up like this instead of descending into outright madness already showed how strong her will was.

Sometimes, the relationship between the inside and outside of a prison is mutual, only that the people outside the cells are relatively freer.

But they are still bound by the prison all the same.

In her previous life, Phyllis had seen online that some prison guards developed depression and other mental illnesses from staying too long in such oppressive environments.

“Only occasionally… I have not come here these past few days. Most of the time they are very quiet. The cells are all sealed with barrier spells, so they cannot get out. Only newcomers, or those who are especially disobedient, need a bit of discipline from me.”

Carola’s gaze swept across the rows of cells. Wherever her eyes passed, the whispering and strange noises deliberately lowered or vanished entirely.

Phyllis also felt Carola’s aura change. An invisible pressure spread outward, centered on Carola.

“Die!”

One of the blood clan prisoners who had been relatively obedient suddenly erupted and lunged forward. The shackles did not hinder its movement at all, and its target was not Carola, but Phyllis!

“Ha!”

Seeing the blood clan prisoner charge straight at her, Phyllis reflexively let out a short shout.

Pa!

Before it could get close to Phyllis, the rampaging blood clan prisoner suddenly exploded entirely, body parts splattering everywhere.

Bits here, chunks there, this piece, that piece.

Even with Phyllis’s current dynamic vision, she could barely catch a glimpse of a figure moving for an instant.

And beside her, Carola was already standing in the pool of blood.

The blood clan prisoner that had just exploded was naturally Carola’s handiwork.

However, the vitality of the blood clan was indeed tenacious. Even to this extent, the rampaging prisoner had not actually died.

Large pieces of its body were slowly writhing, still trying to piece themselves back together.

A cell door opened silently.

“Hmph. Filth of the Nosferatu clan!”

Carola kicked the aggregating body parts inside, then fixed the remaining blood clan prisoners with a cold stare.

In their eyes, only fear of Carola remained.

Bang, bang, bang!

Cell after cell opened.

Under Carola’s wordless gaze, the blood clan prisoners obediently entered the opened cells one by one.

After they went in, the cells automatically closed again.

Only after finishing all this did Carola return to Phyllis’s side and gently pat her head.

“Meow.”

Phyllis finally calmed the heart that had nearly leapt out of her chest.

Aside from the time Carola had forcibly drunk her blood to form a master servant contract, this was the second time Phyllis had felt the danger of losing her life.

‘I am still far too weak, meow!’

Seeing that Phyllis was fine, Carola took her hand and began introducing a few particularly special “collections.”

“This one is a warrior of the Gangrel clan, proficient in shapeshifting. He fights purely on instinct. During one berserk episode, he lost all self awareness and slaughtered his entire family guard, including his own younger brother.”

Carola pointed at a cell. Through the bars, one could see a male blood clan member with clouded eyes inside. His form kept shifting, sometimes into a giant blood bat, sometimes back into a human, and even other chaotic shapes…

“And this one here is a mage of the Tremere clan, skilled in blood magic. She actually tried to commune with an indescribable existence deep within the River of Death. The backlash left her like this. Now she spends twenty hours a day trapped in endless terrifying hallucinations.”

Carola moved to another cell. Inside was a female blood clan member curled up in the corner, trembling uncontrollably, her skin covered in strange black patterns.

…

Phyllis followed behind Carola, listening as she calmly described the crimes and conditions of these prisoners. It felt eerie and yet a little… fascinating.

Each of their experiences could be called legendary. In her previous life, any one of them could have been written into an entire novel on its own.

“I brought you here not only to show you my workplace. There is another reason as well.”

Carola took Phyllis’s hand and lifted it, pressing it against her own cheek.

“A-and what is it?”

Holding Carola’s small face, Phyllis felt a little puzzled about the other reason she had been brought here.

“The residents here, though insane and dangerous, were all once powerful blood clan members. The life force and resentment they leak while imprisoned here… are excellent nourishment for me.”

Carola leaned in close, her breath brushing Phyllis’s neck as she spoke in a low voice.

“I have always had a hypothesis… that feeding here might be even more effective.”

Feeding?

Phyllis instantly understood what Carola meant.

Carola wanted to drink Phyllis’s blood here, while also absorbing the life force and resentment lingering in the dungeon.

But still…

“Meow… here?”

Phyllis looked at the gloomy surroundings and the blood clan prisoners behind the bars.

All the gazes behind those bars were now focused on Phyllis, like countless spectators lurking in the darkness.

Gulp.

Phyllis swallowed nervously.

Being drained by Carola under so many eyes felt a bit too stimulating.

‘But is it possible that after being drained here, my attributes would increase even more?’

“Scared?”

Carola’s fingertips gently traced Phyllis’s neck. The blood vessels there pulsed faintly, constantly teasing her senses.

“Inhale.”

Phyllis took a deep breath. The dungeon air flooded her lungs, carrying a hint of madness.

She tilted her face up and looked at Carola with a provocative expression.

“W-who would be scared! It is just here! Here… here it might even be more interesting, meow!”

“I think so too.”

Carola wrapped her arms around Phyllis, her cold lips pressing against Phyllis’s warm neck.

Slurp, slurp, hiss.

After a slight sting came the familiar dizzy sensation and a strange, tingling pleasure.

Phyllis felt her body go soft, unable to stand any longer.

Carola naturally caught her, even lifting her completely in a bridal carry.

Out of the corner of her eye, Phyllis saw the gazes behind the cages grow even hotter, filled with undisguised greed, jealousy, malice, and twisted curiosity.

‘What exactly is the relationship between you two?’

In front of so many long imprisoned blood clan prisoners, Carola made no effort to hide herself as she drank Phyllis’s blood.

This caused the blood clan members, who had no idea how long it had been since they last tasted blood, to grow restless one by one.

When they realized they could not break out of their cells, their expressions turned into envy instead.

Blood… it is blood!

Phyllis could not hold on any longer. Her vision went black, and with a soft crack, she passed out.