"You could say that, King Alex. It was similar to the dungeons from your world.
In fact, every dungeon was just an entrance to another world.
Some of them opened in dangerous areas, so people called them dungeons."
"Then what about a dungeon break?" Alex asked.
"I did not know the full details," Vesa said.
"But based on the information I got from you, I speculated that the portal in your world was man-made.
Someone created a protection over it that allowed only your species to pass.
When the red aura filled the portal, it meant the protection ran out, or something from the other side forcefully found a way to pass through.
But as I said, this was just speculation.
There are still many holes in my explanation, but I am sure part of it is right."
Mingyue frowned.
"Dungeon? What is that?" she asked.
She turned to Alex and narrowed her eyes.
"You are Alex, right? You said something about an H-game before.
What did you mean by that?"
Vesa opened its mouth, ready to answer, but Alex rushed forward and clamped a hand over it, muffling its voice.
Vesa's size was small enough for Alex to hug and hold in one hand.
He still had doubts about its explanation, but he did not want to gamble with this.
If what Vesa said was true, then Mingyue really existed, and this was not just a dream.
As he held Vesa, Alex bent down and whispered, "Do not tell Mingyue the meaning of it."
Vesa looked up at him with a wronged expression. It had not done anything yet.
It had not even said a word about the game.
If Mingyue had been here with her real body, she would have heard his whisper.
Alex did not realize he was only delaying the problem.
After Vesa gave a small nod, Alex let it go.
He turned back to Mingyue.
"A dungeon is like a portal that lets us enter another world," Alex said.
"Inside, we can hunt monsters and find treasure. As for the game, it is not important.
I just did not think this was real."
Mingyue watched his face and felt more suspicious.
She was sure Alex was hiding something, but they were still strangers, so it was not surprising.
"So it is like a secret realm," she said.
Then she faced Vesa again.
"How can I return to my world? And why did you bring our souls here?" she asked.
Vesa took a few slow breaths, then shot Alex a brief glare. It thought, If you were not the king...
Its lips curved into a polite smile again.
"Do not worry, Queen. Your body has already returned to your world.
The moment we finish here, I will send you back safely."
"Wait," Alex said. "Both of you mentioned souls.
Does that mean I am just a soul here? And why did you call me a king and her a Queen?
You also said you were the personality of the Vampire System."
Vesa looked at both of them and let out a soft sigh.
"Please do not cut me off again. I will explain everything.
First of all, congratulations.
Both of you made contact with the Vampire progenitor's blood and were chosen to continue the Vampire race.
What you see around you is our home planet, Edonia, where the Vampire race once prospered.
But attacks from other species and betrayal destroyed everything."
Its eyes turned gloomy.
"He never wished to push this burden onto anyone, but the traitor gave him no choice.
It forced him to set up this last plan."
Mingyue frowned at that.
"Why should we resurrect your race?" she asked.
She pointed at Alex, her cheeks turning red.
"And you said both of us are the king and Queen. Do you mean I need to marry him?"
Vesa chuckled.
"My Queen, it is our race now, not my race.
Since both of you consumed the progenitor blood, your race has already started to change.
Your bond is far more than just marriage.
In the past, we had only one progenitor, but now both of you share the same power. This means your lives are linked.
You will understand what this means in the future. And I am sorry to say this, but both of you have no choice.
You must become true progenitors in ten years or die."
"You still have not explained what you meant by 'system'," Alex said.
"Also, you know there is no way we can continue a new race by ourselves, right?
Do you expect our kids to marry each other?"
Even the idea made his skin crawl. Even if the children were born healthy, the thought disgusted him.
"Kids? Who wants to marry you?" Mingyue snapped, glaring at Alex.
"We barely know each other, and why are you so calm about this?" she asked.
This was what confused her the most.
Alex had stayed calm from the start, even when Vesa said they would die if they failed.
"What should I do, panic?" Alex replied. "Did you not hear what Vesa said?
We have no choice anyway. Look, our souls cannot even return without its permission.
Do you think we can reject it?
It is better to understand our current situation, what the system wants, and what we can get from it."
Mingyue pressed her lips together. She knew he was right.
It was not like she had another option. But that did not mean she could accept it easily.
Marriage was a very serious matter for her.
"As expected from our king," Vesa said. "You do not need to worry about that.
After you become progenitors, you can change other people into our race. You just need to find the right candidates."
Its voice turned cold.
"We do not need another traitor."
"Can we not just use a slave contract or bind their souls?" Mingyue asked.
In her world, it was normal to do that with people who worked under them.
"A vampire is different, my Queen," Vesa explained.
"We can do that for the weaker ones, but contracts or soul binding will not work on pure-blooded vampires."
"Why do we need pure-blooded vampires then?" Alex asked.
The idea felt wrong to him. It seemed like an extra risk.
He did not like slavery, but as long as the slaves were not mistreated, he could accept it.
Every world had its own rules.