"I have heard that the polecat was once a human being. It has also reached my hearing that Gale was her name then; that she was a dealer in spells and a sorceress...Nor has it escaped my notice that the anger of the goddess Hekate transformed it into this evil creature. May the goddess be gracious to me." - Aelian, On Animals 15. 11

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'Those tree huggers sure are demanding.' Alex was currently sneaking through the forest. The werewolf lair was supposed to be somewhere around here, but he hadn't found it yet.

He remembered something. 'Scott, she called you Radegast...What's the deal with that?'

At this point, Scott had been resummoned as a pair of sandals. 'Sir, that was my title in the Slavic region,' he answered.

'Title...Is your name Scott then or what?'

'...Yes, Lord.'

Alex shook his head. This Scott was shady with details. It's a good thing he was helpful. 'Why are the druids with the witches anyway?'

'For survival, Sir. Simply put, they are vulnerable in their current low numbers. It can be seen from the attack last night. So the two ancient groups, the New Forest Coven of witches and the Pheryllt sect of druids, decided to gather together some years ago.'

Alex abruptly stopped, he could hear some voices in the distance. 'I think we may have arrived...' Alex told his Generals.

'Lord, the werewolves have a keen sense of smell. Despite being invisible, if you get too close to them, they will find you,' Dracula warned.

'How close?' Alex asked.

'Around 5 meters,' Dracula replied.

Alex starting scouting the enemy stronghold from the perimeter. Similar to the druid village, this was also a settlement in the forest. However, there were many more constructions here, and a majority of the structures were made of stone, radiating a feeling of sturdiness and strength.

As Alex skulked along the edges, one house in particular caught his attention. There were a dozen werewolves guarding it as if there was something precious inside. He moved closer to take a look. The werewolves were all in human form. Most of them were rough, large muscular men.  'Do they have to wait for a full moon to turn?' he asked his Generals.

'No, Lord. However, being in werewolf form reduces their reasoning and saps their physical strength much faster, so they usually do not turn unless in battle,' Dracula answered.

"How long do we have to stay out here?"

"I heard the boss say some chosen ones were coming tomorrow. They fancy the girl in there for some reason."

"We've got to stay here until the boss says otherwise, so shut up!" yelled their apparent leader, who seemed a bit larger and more serious than the others.

*Tch*

'...What to do?' Alex didn't want to openly attack a dozen werewolves. If nothing else, it would lure out the others nearby, which if what Devana said was correct, numbered over 100. A few minutes later, Alex came up with a plan.

...

Over the next 15 minutes, the complaints of the guards increased in frequency. Most of them were frowning and a few were even visibly sweating.

"I've got to go take a piss. I'll be right back."

"Me too."

"Same here!"

All of a sudden, everyone but the leader and one other werewolf left. 'What's going on?' the werewolf leader felt something strange was happening. For a little while now, he'd been feeling very uncomfortable for some reason. 'Should I go inform the boss? No...there's only two of us here. I should at least wait until they come back.'

A short distance away from the house, Alex was hiding behind a tree. He was gazing at an inconspicuous bush near the house, within which was a handful of spindly plants wrapped into a ball. This was the Wolfseggen he'd gotten from Dracula after they fought. Its role was to annoy wolves and make them want to escape far away from it. It was even odorless making it hard to discover.

Alex smiled. 'Ok, only two...and they're in human form. It's time.' He looked around to make sure there weren't any others nearby before approaching the two guards.

...

*Sniff* *Sniff*

The leader werewolf smelled something strange and looked at the other guard to his right.

*Shik*

There was an unusual sound. "...Did you hear that?" The leader asked.

*Shik*

"There it is again!" He became slightly nervous now. "Hey? You hear me?" For some reason, the other guard wasn't answering him. Then, the silent guard turned towards him, and the leader's face was warped in horror.

Where the guard's right eye was supposed to be, instead was a hole the width of a blade. It passed through his entire head. As blood poured out, the silent guard collapsed. The leader started to panic. His first reaction was to turn into a werewolf. As he was about to do so and shout to alert anyone nearby...

*Whoosh*

He covered his throat with his hands. A second later, blood started spurting through his fingers. He fell to his knees, losing the strength to stand. A few moments later, he lost the strength to do anything.

Alex checked he wasn't seen, carefully entered the building as he checked the rooms. It wasn't large so it didn't take long to find what he was looking for. There, in bed, lay a gothic goddess asleep. She wore a long red velvet dress down to her ankles, almost matched in length by her silky black hair. Her face was pale white with flawless skin. 'This is no time to stare, those werewolves might come back any minute. Is this Hecate?' he asked his Generals.

'Yes, Sir,' Scott answered.

As Alex was about to pick her up and leave, he noticed a plastic bag full of gray powder on the bedside table. 'What is that?'

'Sir, that's Sandman's powder, a powerful sleep-inducing agent,' Scott replied.

Alex's eyes shined. 'Good, melatonin hasn't been working for me.' He picked it up and put it away, then picked up Hecate over his shoulder. With his Level 1 physique, a task like this was not too difficult for him anymore. Immediately, the girl vanished from sight, as if she never existed.

A few minutes later, in the middle of the werewolf compound...

*ROAAAAAAARRRRR*

Alex turned around when he heard the roar in the distance and grinned. 'Crying at losing a woman...bunch of simps.'

Back in the village, a giant of a man was gnashing his teeth, staring at 10 men in front of him who all had their heads down with sweat pouring from their faces. "Sir, they must have taken her to their village. Should we attack them to retrieve her?"

The giant calmed his breath and squinted his eyes as he considered it. "No. They will be waiting for us now. We should not underestimate the power of magicians that have had time to prepare. Our losses would be too great. The masters will arrive soon. At that time, we'll have nothing to fear."

He looked in the direction of the village, bloodlust growing in his eyes.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. If you like it, please add to library!