"I'll give you a day to think about it. You should understand that with a kingdom behind you, whether in terms of protection or in the pursuit of magic and witchcraft, the support it can offer far surpasses anything you can achieve alone."
After Vlad finished speaking, he no longer paid attention to the visibly shaken witch and stood up to leave.
As he reached the door, he added:
"Think about your two children. Their bodies are very special. Don't let your own selfishness bury their talents."
These words deepened the turmoil on Adrianna's face.
"My lord, are you so certain she'll agree to join us?"
"She's lived in seclusion here for so many years," Muriel asked, puzzled by Vlad's confidence.
Vlad cast a deep glance at the curious Muriel.
With a smirk, he said, "Do you really believe that a witch who built a secret laboratory beneath her room is someone with no desires?"
"What?"
Muriel was shocked.
"You truly think she's content with isolation?"
Vlad gave her a knowing smile.
Muriel wasn't stupid. She seemed to understand something from Vlad's subtle implication.
As Vlad walked along the forest path, he suddenly stopped. When Muriel looked at him in confusion, he suddenly dashed into the woods.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, inside a small, mysterious-looking hut...
"Ah~! Stop hitting me!"
"I'll do it, I'll do it!" A young girl's sobbing cries echoed inside.
A little girl, around six or seven years old, with long brown hair tied into a ponytail and a dirt-smudged, pale face, struggled to endure the pain. Her big black eyes were filled with fear. With her hands bound by heavy shackles, she desperately operated a bellows to fan the flames in a firebox.
Behind her stood an old witch—hideous and cruel—with sparse white hair, yellow rotting teeth, and a twisted, malicious smile that escaped her lips from time to time.
She clearly enjoyed what she was seeing.
In the back of the hut, an iron cage imprisoned a little boy.
He had short brown hair and was about the same age as the girl. Curled up in the cage, he stared at the wicked old witch with fear and anger.
As the witch whipped the girl, she screamed, and finally, the boy plucked up his courage. He clutched the bars and shouted angrily.
These two children were Adrianna's son and daughter—Hansel and Gretel.
They would later be known as famous witch hunters in the film Witch Hunter.
But for some unknown reason, while playing in the forest, they had been captured by this evil witch.
When the old witch heard the boy's curse, she turned and looked at Hansel with clear displeasure.
"Hehehe... Little brat, it seems you care about her quite a bit."
Then she lashed the whip again, and Gretel cried out in pain.
"Ah~! Brother, it hurts!"
The old witch laughed maniacally and said to Hansel, her voice full of twisted delight:
"If you dare curse me again, I'll beat your sister ten times! Hehehe!"
"How many words did you just say?"
She began to count them mockingly.
This frightened the little boy into silence. He immediately apologized and begged the witch to stop hurting his sister.
"Hehehe! Little brat, if you do something wrong, you must bear the consequences. Didn't your family teach you that?"
The witch cackled wildly, swinging the whip once more. Gretel's screams echoed through the hut.
Hansel, powerless, could only cover his mouth in horror and tremble. He no longer dared to utter a word.
"Old hag, please don't hit me! Don't hit me!"
The girl curled up tightly, her small body covered in bloody welts.
Despite her constant begging and crying, the old witch only grinned more maliciously.
Just as she was about to strike again, a large, strong hand suddenly seized her arm mid-swing.
The witch cried out in shock, "Who are you?!"
She stared at the mysterious man who had appeared without a sound. A deep fear crept into her heart—she hadn't even sensed his presence.
Vlad looked at the grotesque old witch and frowned.
Without a word, he tightened his grip—and a sharp cracking sound echoed through the hut.
"Ahah!" The old witch screamed in agony.
"You seem to enjoy whipping others," Vlad said coldly. "Why not try it yourself?"
He glanced at Gretel, trembling and bloodied behind him, then looked back at the witch with chilling eyes.
Under his firm grip, the witch's arm began to shatter, inch by inch.
Her screams filled the air, but Vlad ignored her completely.
Dark energy bolts shot from the old witch's other hand, but no matter how many spells she cast, they failed to harm Vlad.
All she could do was watch in horror as her right arm continued to break apart in his grasp.
Desperate, she suddenly aimed a spell at her own arm—she chose to sacrifice it to escape.
Vlad simply watched her coldly, making no move to stop her.
A searing beam of light pierced her arm. With a fierce pull and a cry of pain, the witch tore herself free. Blood sprayed everywhere.
As she leapt backward, she hissed:
"Hehehe I'll remember you!"
With eyes full of hatred, she glared at Vlad. Her voice dripped with venom.
Summoning a broom engraved with magical runes, she soared into the sky and fled at top speed.
But Vlad only smirked.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Just as the witch's smugness hadn't faded, a flicker of fear suddenly surged in her eyes.
She screamed, "No~!!"
"Blood Witchcraft: Bloom," Vlad's magnetic voice echoed.
A blood-red glow suddenly appeared on the fleeing witch's body.
Her entire body convulsed violently. Her blood surged uncontrollably and transformed into red thorns that pierced through her from the inside.
In the blink of an eye, strange, beautiful, and deadly crimson flowers bloomed all over her.
Muriel, who had just arrived, stood frozen in shock.
The witch's blood was completely drained, and in a flash, her body became a dry husk devoid of life.
The blood-red flowers kept blooming across her corpse.
As her lifeless body plummeted from the sky, it shattered into countless dust particles and slowly vanished into the air.