The difference between having brains and having none

Miss Sharron's teacher was Klein's messenger, Reinette Tinekerr.

During the first half of the year, Sharron had unexpectedly reestablished contact with her... or rather, "Her," while exchanging letters with Klein.

Under Reinette's guidance, Sharron had begun preparing to become a demigod, searching for the "Pharaoh Mummy" required for the ritual.

As it happened, the Loen Kingdom had plundered Tutanssess II's mummy from the Southern Continent. Sharron had once again sought Klein's help and snatched the mummy amid a battle between several demigods. After thorough preparations, she had advanced to Sequence 4.

Now, Sharron was participating in the operation Raphael had planned in hopes of obtaining more leads on members of the Indulgence Faction.

Especially since, recently, the Temperance Faction had been cooperating with the vampires... with the Sanguine, preparing to deal with the Indulgence Faction's demigod in Backlund. Naturally, she would not pass up this opportunity to gather information.

With a demigod taking part, the operation should have posed no risk at all. Who could have known that the Wraith Wolf possessed a Sealed Artifact corresponding to a Desire Apostle, allowing him to sense that he would encounter danger during tonight's operation?

They suspected that this was most likely a trap laid by the Temperance Faction, so they decided to deploy a demigod and eliminate Sharron and Maric in one fell swoop.

The Indulgence Faction was not surprised by Maric's advancement, but they had never imagined that Sharron had advanced as well!

Raphael knew nothing of these circumstances. When his wolflike eyes caught the crimson glow in the fog, the blood-red hue that had just faded returned.

He felt that a full moon lurked behind the fog. Once that "full moon" pierced through it, he would lose all reason and become a bloodthirsty werewolf driven to kill.

This was, of course, a Shaman King's ability. At Sequence 5, this pathway granted the "Full Moon" ability, which could place an entire area under the effects of a full moon.

This "full moon" state was torment for Werewolves, Zombies, and Wraiths.

Using the last scraps of his reason, Raphael turned and fled the battlefield. Under the influence of the "full moon," madness gradually filled the eyes of the Zombie Ackerman as well, and he immediately gave chase.

Maric and Wolf both grew weak, but they could still barely overcome their current condition, so they did not leave to fight elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the battle between the two demigods began. From her unknown hiding place, Sharron unleashed a Shriek that struck straight at the soul toward the crimson moonlight. Even the Wraith Wolf, who was not her primary target, was affected, and the shadowy figure he had become suddenly froze.

The moonlight in the fog grew a little fainter, but a second later, more than a dozen arrows formed from condensed crimson moonlight shot out of the fog in response to the Shriek.

Fortunately, Raphael had fled early. Otherwise, even the aftershocks of the clash between the two demigods would have been enough to leave him in a sorry state.

After Raphael desperately ran two streets away, the crimson moonlight disappeared into the fog, and the blood-red hue in his eyes gradually faded. He regained his reason.

Glancing back, he saw the Zombie Ackerman chasing him, barely any flesh remaining on his face. Raphael did not dare slow down.

Their headlong chase naturally took them past some pedestrians, but they were moving too fast, and the fog in the streets prevented the passersby from making out exactly what had raced past.

It was fortunate that they could not see clearly, or they would have suffered nightmares for days afterward.

Raphael was a little better, being merely an ordinary werewolf, but Ackerman's face no longer bore any resemblance to that of a living person.

Running ahead, Raphael sensed Ackerman gradually closing the distance. A Zombie was much faster than a Werewolf, but Ackerman had been badly injured by Maric's "possession" earlier, which had slowed him somewhat.

Even so, Raphael realized that the Zombie behind him would catch up within half a minute at most.

Fortunately, he knew the surrounding streets very well, and a brief moment's thought gave him an idea.

Raphael suddenly roared, smashed through a wall, and entered a secluded alley. After running for a while, he emerged onto another street.

This street was very wide, and even at night, many carriages traveled along it.

In the light of their carriage lamps, many drivers caught sight of Raphael and Ackerman. Some rubbed their eyes, thinking they were seeing things, while others hastily prayed to the gods they worshipped...

Soon, however, they had their hands full, as Raphael's werewolf form startled the horses. They had to hurry to calm their animals to avoid collisions.

Raphael ran for another few seconds and reached Backlund Bridge. The area was called the Bridge District because two broad bridges spanned the nearby Tussock River, connecting Backlund's neighborhoods on either bank.

Thus, even at night, many carriages were still crossing the bridge.

More and more drivers spotted Raphael and Ackerman, and cries immediately rose all around: "Oh, heavens..." "Storm above, what is that..." "Goddess above, is that a wolf standing upright..." "Steam above, I must not be devout enough, to have seen such a thing..."

The bridge immediately descended into some confusion. Fleeing for his life, Raphael darted between the carriages, and once he was on the bridge, he vaulted over the railing and jumped into the Tussock River.

Behind him, Ackerman snorted. Zombies feared neither fire nor water. Trying to shake him off in the river was nothing but a pipe dream.

He leaped forward and jumped after him.

But as he fell, he suddenly discovered that Raphael had not jumped into the water at all. Instead, he had driven his sharp claws into the side of the bridge and hung there!

Ackerman ground his teeth in fury, but he was only a Zombie and lacked abilities such as a Wraith's "Mirror Jump." All he could do was glare at Raphael as gravity pulled him down into the water.

With a powerful pull of his arms, Raphael vaulted back onto the bridge, then shouted something none of the people around him understood: "One gentleman for the baths! Hahaha!"

With that, he hurried away, laughing brazenly.

Ackerman was not slow either, and soon climbed out of the Tussock River onto the bank. By then, however, Raphael had long since vanished.

Raphael had ducked into an alley. Drawing on his knowledge of the surrounding streets, he took turn after turn and quickly entered another quiet alley.

As he ran, he grabbed a garment hanging outside to dry and tied it around his face.

Then Raphael ended his transformation, returning to his normal human appearance.

His shirt had once again burst apart during his transformation, but his loose trousers had survived.

After turning another corner, Raphael pushed open a door at random and hurried inside.

The family of four who lived there was enjoying dinner. They all froze at the sight of Raphael.

The man who had suddenly barged in had wheat-colored skin, a muscular build, a firearm slung diagonally across his back, and a somewhat wild look in his eyes. Around his face... around his face was a piece of women's underwear.