Alucard kept walking until he was finally far enough away that Nephis wouldn't overhear his conversation with Sunny.
Not that it really matters, he thought, a faint scowl forming on his face. Sunny will just tell her everything anyway.
Eventually, he found a large rock and sat down on it, his movements slow but deliberate. In front of him stood a smaller stone—still large enough to serve as a comfortable seat.
Perfect.
Sunny took the hint and sat across from him.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
They simply stared at each other.
In the suffocating darkness of the cavern, their expressions were almost impossible to read—hidden behind layers of shadow and silence.
…Almost.
Sunny, of course, could see Alucard perfectly.
Alucard raised a hand.
White sparks gathered in his palm, crackling softly as a Memory materialized into existence. The light revealed its shape—
A large mace.
Its head glowed faintly, radiating a soft, calming orange hue, like a quiet flame burning in the dark.
Without a word, Alucard placed it between them.
Then he looked up.
The smile that usually lingered on his face was gone.
In its place—
Something cold.
Serious.
Dangerous.
"You don't mind if I start, do you?" he asked.
Sunny didn't look away.
"Not at all."
Alucard's single eye seemed… distant.
Misty.
As if he wasn't entirely present—like part of him was staring far beyond the cavern, beyond Sunny, into something only he could see.
Still, he spoke.
"Sunny… did you plan for Nephis to overhear our conversation?" he asked quietly. "And what else did you plan on doing with her?"
Sunny's gaze dropped for a moment.
When he answered, his voice was slow.
Measured.
"…We did plan for her to hear it," he admitted. "We didn't know what you were hiding. Depending on your answer… we would have taken action."
Silence followed.
Alucard didn't react immediately.
He simply stared past Sunny, toward where the rest of the cohort slept.
Then—
He laughed.
At first, it was quiet.
A small chuckle.
But it didn't stay that way.
It grew.
And grew.
Until it twisted into something unhinged—sharp, broken laughter echoing through the cavern as he clutched his head like a madman.
"Oh, Gods… Sunny…" he said between breaths, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye. "Why did I expect anything less from you two? You never cease to amaze me."
He looked back at Sunny.
Smiling.
But that smile—
It didn't reach his eye.
That eye looked hollow.
"So let me get this straight," Alucard continued softly. "You didn't trust me enough to believe what I said… so you came up with this little scheme. You and Nephis."
His voice dropped.
"Just in case you needed to kill me."
The air shifted.
"Which is funny," he added lightly, "considering I could kill you whenever I want, Sunny… and killing Nephis wouldn't be that difficult either."
Sunny's eyes widened slightly.
But because of his flaw—
He had to answer.
"Yes," he said. "I didn't believe you. You were being secretive."
His jaw tightened.
"And I never said we wanted to kill you."
Alucard let out something that resembled a chuckle—
But there was no warmth in it.
"Ah… I see," he murmured. "So our friendship was worth less than a secret."
He tilted his head slightly.
"I assume you'll tell Nephis everything after this, right? After all… you value loyalty to her more than my trust."
His gaze sharpened.
"I didn't expect you to trust me more than her," he admitted. "But I did expect you to value me more than blindly obeying her every order like you're her slave."
That hit.
Sunny's expression twisted—anger, hurt, something deeper flickering beneath the surface.
He hated that word.
Slave.
But he couldn't deny it.
"…No. I don't know. Maybe," Sunny said, frustration creeping into his voice. "You're throwing questions at me nonstop, and you still haven't answered anything yourself."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Are you scared to tell the truth? What's the big secret?"
Alucard waved a hand lazily through the air.
"Ah… secrets, secrets…" he muttered. "Funny how you accuse me of hiding things when you're doing the same."
His gaze locked onto Sunny.
"Your lineage," he said.
A pause.
"The fact that you can't lie."
He didn't say this last part.
Your true name.
Alucard kept that to himself.
He didn't know what it was—but he knew Sunny had one.
And more importantly—
He knew Sunny was hiding it.
There's a reason for that, Alucard thought. And I'm not stupid enough to poke at it blindly.
Who knew what would happen?
Maybe revealing it would kill him.
Or worse.
It wasn't worth the risk.
Across from him, Sunny froze.
"…How," he asked slowly, "do you know about my lineage… and my flaw?"
He began to rise—
But stopped mid-motion as Alucard raised a hand.
"Calm down," Alucard said flatly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
He exhaled.
"I'll answer those."
A pause.
"I know about your lineage because someone told me," he said. "And your flaw? That one's obvious."
He tilted his head.
"You never lie. Not even when it would benefit you. For someone like you, that's… strange."
A faint smirk appeared.
"Honestly, I'm pretty sure most of the cohort has figured it out already. It's not exactly subtle only a fool would say it's anything else."
Somewhere deeper in the cavern, Caster shifted in his sleep… scratched absently… and remained completely unconscious.
Sunny opened his mouth to speak again—
But Alucard cut him off.
"No. My turn," he said. "You'll get another question after."
Sunny's expression darkened, but he stayed silent.
"…Fine."
Alucard leaned forward slightly.
"What's your connection to this 'Weaver'… and what exactly is your lineage?"
Sunny's jaw tightened.
He didn't like this.
But the question was direct.
And because of his flaw—
He had no choice.
"…I guess I possess their lineage," he said reluctantly. "I don't know much beyond what the description says."
Alucard didn't blink.
"Then tell me the description," he said. "And how you got it."
There was a pause.
Then Sunny answered.
"I got it after killing a Great Devil," he said. "It dropped a Memory called the Drop of Ichor."
His voice grew quieter.
"When I absorbed it… I inherited a forbidden lineage."
He looked up.
"[Blood Weave.]"
A faint tension filled the air.
"As for the description…" Sunny continued, "…it says: You have inherited a part of Weaver's forbidden lineage. Your blood has been altered and imbued with strange tenacity."
Silence fell.
Alucard didn't respond immediately.
But when he did—
His expression had changed.
Completely.
His eye gleamed with something sharp.
Hunger.
Not for blood.
Not for battle.
But for understanding.
Curiosity twisted with something darker—something obsessive.
Like a mad scientist who had just discovered the first piece of a puzzle he didn't even know existed.
It was unsettling.
Even for Sunny.