The cold wind howled as it blew through the window, causing everyone involved in the action to tense up, weapons raised and aimed.
Seeing the open window only heightened their anxiety! All of the windows had been shut, and now, suddenly, one was open—this could only mean one thing: the enemy had breached the house!
The sounds from outside were a deliberate strategy—feints to mislead the defenders! The very use of strategy indicated that these were no ordinary werewolves; they were cunning as wolves, vicious in this moment, and more dangerous than ever.
The team quickly arranged themselves, communicating through hand signals, and began closing in on the most likely hiding spots of the werewolves.
"Roar!" The werewolf sensed the danger, and with a loud howl, it hesitated to fight, opting instead to flee.
The team swiftly pursued in sync.
"Bind them all!" "Bind them all!" Zhao Lun and Penelope were already ready with their flying brooms. As the werewolf attempted to escape, they immediately soared after it. Before the creature could react, they cast their spells.
A golden-red and a deep blue light struck the fleeing werewolf nearly simultaneously.
Boom! The werewolf was instantly immobilized in mid-air, unable to resist, and crashed heavily to the floor.
Nicola and Anna, who had been waiting, quickly advanced with ropes and chains, swiftly binding the werewolf's limbs, wrapping it like a mummy, leaving it no chance of escape.
Mulan arrived to assist. She casually tapped the werewolf's body a few times, and the once-agile creature was immediately subdued, lying completely still.
"It won't move for the rest of the night," Mulan stated, signaling to Anna and the others to drag the beast away.
Werewolves were volatile creatures, resistant to magic. For example, the binding spell—if cast on an ordinary person, with no one to undo it, it could last for days. For a werewolf, however, it could typically break free within ten minutes, or at most three minutes for stronger ones.
Tonight, however, being the night of the full moon, their resistance was heightened, making it far more difficult to subdue them.
The chains and ropes were designed to prevent the werewolf from breaking the spell, and Mulan's method ensured the chains remained effective.
The chains clanged as they were stretched, the enraged howls of the werewolf echoing.
The binding spell faltered, but the ropes, chains, and Mulan's backup plan began to take effect. Yet, on this night of the full moon, even Mulan's backup plan was only partially successful.
"Damn! Its strength is too great! We can't hold it much longer!" Nicola shouted, her voice strained.
Anna, unable to spare a word, focused all her energy, her every word risking a loss of strength.
"Hold on! We're coming to help!" Penelope called out, waving her wand to assist.
"I'll help too!" Zhao Lun cast a spell, and the werewolf floated up, being pulled toward a heavy steel frame that had been prepared, securely fastening it in place.
The steel frame was anchored deep into the stone beneath, rendering the werewolf powerless to escape.
Crackling sounds echoed from a distance as another werewolf attempted to flee, heedless of its noise, only concerned with running for its life.
It was trying to escape!
Bang! The sound of a gunshot rang out. The fleeing werewolf had gained some distance, moving too quickly even for Nicola's skill to hit.
Bang! A muffled sound followed, and the werewolf, already on the brink of vanishing from sight, faltered and immediately stopped. It collapsed to the ground in pain, howling miserably, and within moments, its body turned to ash, scattering on the ground.
With that, the entire town fell silent. No more howls of wolves, no more voices of humans, and no reinforcements.
"You killed it?"
Anna looked at Zhao Lun, still in disbelief, holding a massive rifle. It was hard to believe that Zhao Lun had become so proficient at shooting; it seemed nothing short of miraculous.
"Yes, if I hadn't killed it, it would have escaped!"
"What do we do now?"
"We'll leave a few behind to guard the house and ensure no other creatures escape. I'll go investigate."
Zhao Lun, accompanied by Anna, set off toward the locations of the suspicious sounds, leaving the others behind to stay vigilant in case the werewolves had fled or other monsters were taken.
At the cemetery, Zhao Lun noticed a suspicious spot. Before they arrived, they already smelled the strong stench of blood. Following the scent, they discovered a person, tragically lying in a freshly dug grave. Ironically, the man who had been digging the grave was now lying in it himself.
"It's him!" Zhao Lun recognized the man, who had been digging the pit not long ago, but now he had become its unfortunate occupant.
"All the blood is gone; it's already cold. There's no saving him," Anna said after carefully inspecting the body.
"Poof!" Anna, thinking for a moment, casually drove a silver stake into the body. Seeing that it showed no change, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyone bitten by a werewolf would eventually become one, but while the man had died, the werewolf's regenerative abilities made resurrection possible. The silver stake was a preventive measure, ensuring that the transformation could not occur, eliminating any potential risks.
The small town fell quiet, the wolves' howls gone.
"The enemy has left!"
With the threat gone, the people of the town seemed to exhale a collective sigh of relief, their trembling ceasing. Those with sensitive hearing could deduce from the actions that they had completed their tasks.
The events of that night would forever remain an unsettling memory.
By the next day, when news of the dead man spread, Zhao Lun had already led the group away from the town, heading for Dracula's castle.
As they left, the sunlight was brilliant, but the closer they got to the castle, the darker the weather became. By noon, when they reached the castle, it felt as though night had already descended.
Under the pitch-black clouds, Dracula's castle loomed ominously.
"Ah!" A sharp scream echoed from deep within the castle, followed by the swirling of the clouds atop the mountain, quickly forming a thick layer of dark mist.
"Mariska!" A gentlemanly figure howled.
The voice, though sorrowful in tone, carried no actual sadness. Those sensitive enough could detect the cold indifference, as if he were an uninterested bystander, only performing this act to appear more "human" and derive some distorted amusement.
Then two seductive women began to wail, their cries incredibly shrill. Though they sounded mournful, not a single tear was shed.
The crying seemed to annoy the gentleman, who impatiently scolded them before sending his minions to investigate.
A team of minions set off, and as dawn approached, only one returned to report on the night's events.
"Roar!"
The gentleman could no longer conceal his fury. His face contorted into a monstrous form, resembling a winged demon, as he howled toward the town.