Whilst Valerie was taking care of things in the real world, the events happening in the world of Dawd did not pause, and instead kept going regardless of her absence.

The Man-beast licked its lips as Belladonna’s body collapsed to the ground, seemingly falling victim to her many wounds as she looked devoid of life. Which meant that she was prime meat just waiting to be devoured, and the Man-Beast had already waited long enough.

It leapt into the air, lunging towards her with claws primed and teeth bared, ready to sink into its meal, when it was kicked in the head.

"Down Boy!" The Hooded Stranger said with a laugh, as he punted the Man-Beast away from Belladonna, sending it bouncing across the ground with a single kick.

It slammed against a tree, a branch bursting through its chest, but it simply writhed in anger and bloodlust without a care for what should have been a mortal wound. It pulled itself off, letting the gaping hole in its chest rapidly close itself up, before it charged forwards again.

SNAP!

At the snap of the mans fingers, silver chains lunged out of the forest like vipers. They snaked through the air, before ensnaring the charging Man-beast.

One of the chains wrapped around its leg, stopping its charge, before the others wrapped around its arm and throat respectively. Wherever these chains touched started to hiss violently as smoke curled off of the points of contact.

The Man-Beast writhed in pain, letting out shrieking cries of agony that sounded half way between a man’s scream and a wolf’s howl.

"You’ve served your purpose you filthy Beast. Now get back to your cage. Just looking at you is making me sick." The Stranger muttered to himself, glaring at the Man-beast with a face twisted with disgust as he snapped his fingers again.

At the sound of the snap, the chains started to retreat, dragging the Man-Beast along with them. It growled and howled in a mixture of rage and agony, as it foamed at the mouth. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It’s claws digging into the ground as it tried its very best to fight against the power of the chains, but they were rapidly sapping its strength and burning deeper into its flesh the longer they touched it. Even still, it wanted nothing more than to devour the helpless woman whole, but it never got its meal as it was simply dragged off into the forest by the burning chains.

The Stranger disregarded the Man-Beast with a shake of his head.

"Filthy Beasts... a complete affront to the blood. But at least they’ve served their purpose, haven’t they my dear?" He said with a lecherous smile, as he knelt down next to Belladonna and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

He then grabbed her chin, tilting her head from side to side as he inspected the damage, before looking over her body entirely.

"Hmm..." He hummed with a frown, "It looks bad, but you should have been able to survive with these injuries. Maybe you’re just hungry and haven’t feasted in a while, although it might be because you bit that dirty mutt.

Now why did you try that you stupid girl? Don’t you know any better?" He muttered to himself with a sigh and the shake of his head, before looking around.

He glanced at the two Wolf-men fighting off against the huge Shadow Demon. However the presence of such a creature didn’t confuse or surprise him in the slightest.

Instead he watched how it fought, and shook his head at its inexperience, before moving on. The Matriarch had only asked for the girl alive, her pet was none of his concern. The abominations could have their fun with it, and it would give him peace to do what needed to be done.

His eyes trailed away from the Shadow Demon and across the rampaged camp. Many of the guards were watching from behind the protective bubbles of their masters shields, cowering like the worthless cattle that they were.

It made him smirk in amusement at how pathetic they were. But what was more entertaining was that some of them were bashing at their shields and shouting at those that were still outside.

But no matter how much they shouted and screamed for their friends attention, the guards outside the shields remained completely still. Their eyes had a soft crimson glow to them, as they stood slack-jawed as they stared off into space.

Some of them still had their weapons in hand, only for them to be holding them by their side in a loose, mindless grasp.

The Stranger looked over the offerings, before calling out to one of the bigger ones of the pack.

"You there, the purple one. Come here, now."

The morsel obeyed. His movements were sluggish and akin to that of a zombie, as he shuffled and stared forwards blankly despite his movement. A purple skinned orc stood over them, his weapon still in hand.

He had charged towards the stranger so confidently when he had arrived, only to fall victim to his control after the smallest glance. But the Stranger could hardly blame them for that.

It was not their fault that they were simply inferior to him, and existed to be his prey. That was just the way of the world. The fact that the stranger himself had once been like them himself did not even enter his mind.

It was irrelevant now, and happened so long ago. He was superior now, and that was all that mattered.

"Slit your throat." The Stranger said coldly, although he could not hide the sadistic smile that spread across his lips as he gave the order.

The Purple Orc’s face twitched slightly, as he seemed resistant to the order, but even if his hand trembled and struggled in the process, it still raised slowly and surely.

The Orc pressed his blade against his throat, before drawing it across in one fluid motion. The moment the order was completed, the crimson glow disappeared from his eye as the Stranger intentionally released him from control.

Panic and fear immediately flashed across the Orcs face, as he gargled on his final words and tried to clutch at his throat to stop the bleeding.

The sadistic smile, which he wore as he revelled in the suffering of the lesser being, dropped from the Strangers face at that very moment. He lunged forwards, grabbing the Orcs head and forcing him to bow, while wrenching the Orcs hands away from his throat.

"Don’t you fucking dare! You are going to die, and you are going to do it serving the only purpose you miserable blood bags have in this world. So bleed, and be useful." He hissed in the Orcs ear, as he forced him to bow over Belladonna’s body.

Blood poured from his throat and flowed into Belladonna’s mouth, where it started to pool. When Belladonna’s mouth was full, the Stranger tossed the Orc to the side like trash, before kneeling beside Belladonna and starting to massage her throat to force her to swallow it.

Soon after the first gulp disappeared down her throat, the wounds on her body started to rapidly heal.

"That’s it. Drink it all up, you need to stay alive for your meeting. So get your fill now, because that mouth won’t be opening at all after this. And if you need more... Well we’ve got plenty of blood-bags to choose from."