For a moment everyone stood still in fear. A look of pale dread etched onto each one of their lifeless faces. Just interacting with the voice was enough to cause a sizzling migraine to assault their brains.
Whatever they were talking too was no ordinary being. It was something normal humans should have had no interaction with whatsoever, a God.
"Ahhhh my head, it hurts, it hurts so much make it stop."
In the side of the hallway Yumiko was grabbing onto her head violently. Digging her stubby little fingers deeper and deeper into her scalp. Her dark hazel eyes were now accompanied with a stream of blood tears.
"Yumiko are you alright!" stated the black-haired Ichigo. With a look of worry.
'No sh*t Sherlock, she's perfectly fine isn't she!', Blake thought out in panic. This situation was getting to him, as a valley of sweat was slowly tricking down his frown creased forehead.
"Please stop speaking. The voice, it hurts it hurts.... arghhhhhhhhh!"
It was at that moment when the pain filled Yumiko stopped shouting. To be specific she stopped speaking at all, her resistance clearly being broken. The only thing left of her was her convulsing twitching body, which carried the only sparks of her life left.
Even that eventually stopped as well, leaving only a silent corpse with a twisted facial expression lying there on the cruel cold floor.
"WTAF Is going on!"
Blake turned to see a panic filled Ichigo staring at the corpse of the girl that had been standing with them only a mere few minutes ago.
He felt sorry for the girl, but knew he had to get his priorities straight.
'We have to get the token and then leave.'
The only thoughts flowing through Blake's mind was getting the dragon token and leaving. That was the only possible way he would survive.
'There will always be time for mourning later, but you can't mourn if you are dead.'
It was then, whilst everyone was standing still in shock and silence that Blake entered the mysterious room.
******
Lifeless.
If there was only one word in the whole world to describe the room that would be it. There was something very odd and unnatural to it, a place that seemed that it didn't belong anywhere at all.
To call it eerie, would be a sheer understatement. The room emitted a blood-curdling atmosphere that made Blake want to throw up. Everything about this place screamed wrong, wrong, wrong.
'What is this place?'
In the centre of the room, stood a statue. The only form of decoration inside the otherwise empty area. The statue stood at around 7 metres tall, representing what seemed to be a beautiful seductive woman stretching her hands out towards the sky.
As soon as he saw the statue, Blake was mesmerised. 'Surely if this woman was alive, she would be a true beauty.'
"Hey Blake, you just going to stand there or are we going to get the bloody ring!"
Turning to the direction of the gruffly voice, Blake saw the reassuring figure of Gerald and the others. They were all holding their heads in pain, struggling to walk into the room.
' I wonder if the pain differs from person to person'
Blake could understand that they were in a fit of pain, but one person had already died, and others were struggling to stay on their feet. All, he felt was a really bad headache.
"All have entered now, I guess the challenge can begin. One failure, before it even began, she couldn't handle that much and already died. Truly useless.", spoke the mysterious voice.
Hearing this Reina spoke out in an outburst of anger and impatience.
"What do you mean challenge, you're messing with us aren't you. Can't you see someone has just died."
"SILENCE!"
With just those few words, a cold pressure assaulted everyone. Each syllable that was spoken out containing a sea full of killing intent.
After experiencing, this absurd pressure Reina reeled in her detective like questions and instead decided to shut up. She had only just realised her place.
"You insolent humans. If I was still in this life plane, then I would have killed you all instantly. Anyway, I have no time to waste. The challenge, I must start the challenge.
With the finishing of those words a bloody smell permeated the air. The room beginning to shine a bright crimson red.
[Blood System Ceremony Beginning, Participants 5, Survival rate 2%.... Initiating]
The now red room began shining even brighter than before, the radiation from the light heading towards the remaining members. As the bodies of the individuals absorbed the light, star like rune patterns began etching themselves onto their skins like parasites without a host.
The blood like air surrounded everyone and began forcing its way into Blake's mouth, nose, eyes and ears.
"It hurts! It hurts!" Despite his best efforts not to, Blake couldn't help but yell. The pain was simply that unbearable.
Some individuals around him had already collapsed onto the floor, shaking in spasms. Today it would mark the end of the journey for billboard boy and his friend Reina.
Every bone in Blake's body cracked and his flesh began to tear, but still he endured. Whenever there was an opening in his skin, the bloody air would travel towards it being absorbed by his body.
The more he absorbed the more pain he felt. It was as if his body was currently participating within a war, fighting of a foreign invader.
'I can't stand this anymore, am I going to die. I don't want to die! But this pain.'
Blake's blueish hair began to fall out, before being rapidly replaced with a brownish red colour substitute. His black cold eyes, turning a searingly bright red that represented a bloody ocean, which seemed to have no end to its depth. His body increased in height by a few centimetres, his skin becoming paler.
For what felt like millennia but was only a few minutes the process continued, eventually coming to an end.
[Blood System Ceremony complete. Survivor: 1, Holder of title - Blake Kamoto.]
[Fusing Ancient Vampire Queen Velentisha's soul fragment with the host... 10%..34%...67%...100%.]
[Process successful.]
[Host form transforming from Human >> Low Elderian Vampire {???}.]
[Binding Blood System...
Acquiring Blood System.]
With that Blake's body became light and drowsy and went into a state of slumber.