"..."
Sapotle observed calmly as lord Blackberry unintentionally helped in dealing with his own people.
For a moment he felt the urge to say a witty comment, but the hope of convincing his beloved older brother to join them was too strong.
"I don't remember any of you being able to use such skill in the past."
Lord Blackberry clenched his teeth glaring at the receding darkness.
"As you've said before, I never wanted to be an alpha... but apparently becoming one has awakened some useful powers within me."
Sapotle shrugged his shoulders dismissively.
"...pack hunter...?"
Blackberry asked.
"And the skill combination."
The werewolf confirmed by nodding lightly.
"Big brother, lady Goji and I miss you greatly. Please return to us."
The werewolf once again bowed his head slightly.
"...you come with your strongest warriors, attack my home in the middle of the night, threatening my wife and my daughter, and even kill my men in front of me... and you still have the guts to ask me to return? Return where? The house of Pride is where I belong! Where I have always belonged! And my place is by my wife's side!"
"..."
The fiery speech that lord Blackberry gave only caused Sapotle to sigh and shook his head.
"What has that woman done to you...? lady Goji should never have agreed to help you transfer the power of the avatar of pride to her..."
Werewolf's voice was full of sorrow and regret.
Lord Blackberry raised his brow.
"Are you implying that my wife used the powers of the avatar of pride to influence me?"
He asked mockingly.
"There's nothing to imply. It's the truth."
Sapotle shrugged his shoulders and his claws started shining.
"How about a bet, like in the old times..."
Sapotle started sounding a bit melancholic.
"My pack won't interfere with this fight, if you win in a duel against me, we'll leave and never threaten that woman and her daughter."
He spoke calmly.
"But if I will win, they both die, and we'll be taking you with us."
"You have no right to state such ridiculous conditions!"
Lord Blackberry shouted and both his eyes and hands started glowing.
"Big brother, look around you... do you see any of your people left? They are warming up in my pack's bellies."
Sapotle growled and lowered his body to the ground, readying for an attack.
Lord Blackberry was able to keep an eye on the leader of the pack and a few of the stronger ones, but the same couldn't be possibly done for all of the werewolves at once.
Blackberry Pride was surrounded.
"Choose. Fight only me, or all of us..."
Sapotle growled in a low voice.
"In the past, when you had the avatar powers, we would be no match even with more forces, but now...? Choose, big brother. Keep your pride and duel me, or be torn to shreds like a shameful sack of meat."
The two of them stopped in place and continued glaring at each other.
Lord Blackberry raised his fists and took a battle stance, piercing Sapotle with a furious ice-cold stare.
"...thank the system..."
The leader of the pack breathed out with relief and muttered under his breath.
And the werewolf was the one who attacked first
"Think, big brother! How is it possible that in the family home of Pride, only you and your daughter have the Pride's blood in your veins?!"
He roared when his claws ripped through the air right at the human's head.
But Blackberry didn't answer nor retreat, his hands and eyes were glowing bright, and he uppercut Sapotle, meeting his attack head-on.
The hits connected and created a shockwave that made the rest of the monsters tremble.
After a series of attacks that could easily level the whole mansion if any of the fighters would slip, the men both pulled back.
The human wearing a high-class outfit was already having trouble keeping his breath in check while the armored werewolf didn't seem to even break a sweat yet.
"Big brother, you...
Sapotle's expression betrayed his shock and anger.
"What is your current level?"
He asked, clenching his fists.
"79."
Blackberry answered with a shrug.
"What...?!"
The werewolf flinched and a low growl escaped his jaws.
"You... you haven't leveled up ONCE in over fifteen years...?!"
Sapotle's spiteful words made Blackberry frown.
"What happened to you, big brother?! How come you of all people didn't realize that something is wrong?!"
The werewolf roared in pain.
"...nothing is... WRONG...!"
Blackberry used that chance, clenched his glowing fists, and pulled them apart.
An invisible force got a hold of Sapotle was pulling his body in two different directions in an attempt to tear him apart.
"...big brother...!"
The leader of the werewolves gasped.
One of the werewolves in the back of the encirclement yelped in a panicked voice, but that was it.
Just as Sapotle has said, no other werewolf tried to interfere with the duel.
"It seems that you've grown... grown ignorant..."
Lord Blackberry shook his head, frowning and gasping for air, but even when his mind was a mess, he still ended up twisting his fists, causing the invisible pressure on his opponent to increase immensely.
The pieces of armor that the werewolf wore started twisting and bending out of shape with a screeching sound, digging into the werewolf's thick fur.
"..."
Sapotle kept his jaws shut, he only gazed at lord Blackberry with eyes filled with sadness.
"You...! What is... happening...? Is that... another new... skill...?!"
Lord blackberry gasped, gritting his teeth.
For some reason, even though he was in a middle of a fight, his head was a mess, and he couldn't focus properly.
It felt like a weight was being gradually lifted from his shoulders, but at the same time, his brain was being filled with mutually exclusive thoughts.
"The servants were... all chosen by Raspberry and I... and I...? But I didn't want to dismiss the previous staff...? It made no sense... Then why did we ended up...?"
Lord Blackberry muttered under his breath looking to the side.
"Big brother, everything will be fine when that woman dies!"
Sapotle roared causing Blackberry to flinch.
"No... no...!"
His expression mixed, lord Blackberry looked as if he was torn over what he should do.
"Anyone raising their hand against the Pride family will die...!"
He roared.
"...but... Sapotle... I... don't want to... kill... you..."
He suddenly stumbled over his words and touched his forehead as if struck with a painful headache.
"It... doesn't make sense... killing Raspberry is one thing, but why... want to kill Cranberry...? You want me... But without the title of avatar... but if you kill my wife and daughter... the title will return... to me... if you want me... you... need... my daughter... alive...!"
He spoke as if each and every word was causing his headache to increase.
"N-no... I must protect Raspberry, you can kill my daughter if you want to but spare my... No! What am I saying...?!"
It seemed as if two forces were fighting in Blackberry's brain.
"No! What...?! How could I say something like that...? My daughter is only ten...? Ten...? No, it doesn't make sense...! Cranberry is fourteen...? Already...?! When was the last time I saw her...? I...? Why do I only remember Raspberry...? What's happening to me...?!"
Lord Blackberry's skills deactivated and Sapotle got free without even having to struggle, while Blackberry himself dropped to his knees clenching his head with both hands.
"I-I've seen my daughter during meals... why can't I remember ever speaking with her...? It's only Raspberry... why didn't I trained once during all these years...? Why haven't I helped my daughter train?! Why have I never contacted any of my old friends...?! What does it all mean?! It's all Raspberry...! It's all Raspberry in my head...!"
Lord Blackberry cried, trembling as if he was experiencing terrible pain.
"...it's working...!"
Sapotle whispered and ran to the kneeling man.
"Big brother! That's it! You must fight with the effects of that woman's skills! You can do it!"
"STAY AWAY!"
Blackberry roared and pushed the werewolf away.
"I just have to defeat you here, and they both will be safe!"
The man shouted and his body glowed with skills.
"Tsk!"
Sapotle clicked his tongue and jumped away.
"But at least it seems that lady Goji was right... the girl is the key to breaking you free..."
He breathed out with relief and nodded to himself.
"Look closely, big brother."
The leader of the werewolves took a deep breathand spread his arms.
"Do you think that this is our whole pack?"
He laughed.
"Since you don't seem to care about your daughter that much, I've sent some of them to get rid of her before we even started!"
Sapotle declared laughing evilly.
It was partially a lie.
He did send out some of his underlings to search for Cranberry, but certainly not to kill her.
Sapotle could never bring himself to harm his beloved big brother's daughter.
But the leader of the werewolves was quite convincing with his villainous act...
Certainly convincing enough to...
"GRRRRAOOOOUUUGH?! (YOU DARE TO THREATEN MY MASTER?!)"
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