The entire building crumbled under its might. It was a massive purple dragon that almost looked transparent, as if it was made of glass. Its head was massive, but its body was similar to that of a serpent.

It took only a second for the entire building to flatten to the ground. The unfortunate screams of those who were unlucky enough to be inside the inn filled the air. I was covered in rubble, but I easily shoved them to the side.

Around me was enclosed in darkness, so I quickly activated my heat signature skill to see who was close by. A few people were trapped under the rubble, but I ignored them as I searched for the girls.

'What was that? Could it be the work of the vampires, or maybe something else?'

"Sylvie…! Selthia…! Kumo…!"

I shouted for the girls as I crept through the rubble, but there wasn't any sign of them. Then suddenly, I saw light emanating through the rubble. I quickly shoved my way through, and soon I was standing outside in the midst of the collapsed building.

My eyes wandered around, seeing if any of the others had made it. I knew they were alive; I could feel it. But as I looked around, my eyes landed on someone. There was a woman sitting on top of the rubble with her legs crossed.

The moment we locked eyes, the woman greeted me with a smile. She had purple-colored hair and a purple tattoo covering her entire body. Strangely, the tattoo was in the shape of the same dragon that destroyed the inn. In fact, it was identical.

"So you were the one responsible for this attack," I said.

The woman said nothing, only uncrossed her legs and stood up.

"So you are the wolf that has been giving us a headache. To think you even convinced one of my witches to join you."

The moment she spoke, it all clicked.

"You're the witch of greed," I said, and immediately as I did, her thin lips curved up into a smile.

"So Ember has told you about me. Of course she has," she sighed. "I'll make sure to punish that little traitor later on. But for now, I'm here for something else…"

"You want the mana crystals." I said.

She gave a satisfied smile before continuing to speak.

"Yes, but I also want you to come with me."

The moment she said that, I prepared myself to fight, but just then a voice sounded from behind us.

"Greed!"

The voice was none other than Ember. She practically threw herself to the ground in front of her queen. While the witch of greed looked at her action with nothing but scorn on her face.

After she was done bowing to her Queen, Ember turned her attention to me.

"You must go with her," she said. "You can't win against her."

I said nothing to her and only looked back and forth between her and the witch of Greed. After a few seconds of silence, I finally agreed.

"Fine."

The reason I agreed to go with her was simple. It was because of the contract I had with Ember. If she betrayed me, she dies. If she does anything that endangers my life, she dies. The fact that she is blatantly telling me to go with the witch of greed and nothing has happened to her yet must mean she doesn't believe there is any danger in going with her.

Besides, I got the same impression from the witch myself. If she wanted to kill me, she could've tried to do it right now. She doesn't even seem interested in the mana crystals at this moment.

'What could be so important?'

Without saying a word, the witch of greed covered her mouth and began chuckling.

"You really think you have a choice in this?"

The moment she spoke, I felt the air around us change. It smelled like flowers, and just then purple smoke began to manifest all around us. The moment I inhaled the smoke, I felt my body getting weak.

My vision doubled, and it felt as if my arms and legs had died in an instant. Unable to support my own body weight anymore, I collapsed to the ground, still conscious. As I lay there, I heard the sound of the witch's footsteps approaching me until she stopped right in front of me and began chuckling.

I patiently waited until she got close, and that's when I struck. Cerberus leaped from my shadow and bared its fangs at the witch. The witch was surprised at the monster that suddenly appeared and took a few startled steps back. But the moment she did, more of my shadow hounds appeared.

Causing her to fall to the ground beside me. The moment she did, that was it. All 50 of my shadow hounds leaped at her all at once. For a moment, I thought we had her, but then they were all propelled away by a mass of purple energy.

At the same time, my body had slightly recovered from the poison. I could now move my limbs to the point where I could now stand.

"You!"

The witch snarled, ready to attack once again, but before she could, she was forced to protect herself as Yuki's tail came flying at her neck, aiming to decapitate her. The witch acted in an instant and ducked below the attack before retreating further away.

"Are you okay, alpha?" Yuki asked, turning her attention to me for a brief moment.

"I'm fine."

I was happy that Yuki showed up. I would need help dealing with this witch. The witch stared at us bitterly before she began muttering spells. The spells she muttered caused the purple tattoo in the shape of a dragon to start glowing.

"That is unnecessary. I told you that I would go with you. But at my own free will. Not as a dog you captured. Still, if you wish to fight, I'm happy to oblige," I said.

The witch of Greed stared at us and gritted her teeth. She looked around at everyone present: my hounds, Yuki, and even Ember. And there were more people here left to come. The longer she stayed here, the more of a disadvantage she had. She knew that perfectly.

Suddenly, she stopped chanting spells, and the tattoo on her body stopped glowing.

"Fair enough. You win, wolf."

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