After seeing Miss Sharron off, Raphael continued planning his next serial murder.
First, he changed his appearance with the Faceless Jade Pendant and mailed Warning Letters to the police station, the newspaper office, and a church of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
Then Raphael assumed another person's appearance and went to the Backlund Auction House, where he sold his earlier painting, "Gluttony," at a low price.
He had originally wanted to keep the painting as a memento. But he had not expected that killing with elements of the Seven Deadly Sins would let him continue digesting his potion. Naturally, he had to put the painting to use.
Once these preparations were complete, Raphael fulfilled another order from the Mechanic Company and offered the target's soul to the devil he had been making offerings to all along.
Through this offering, Raphael successfully gained an opportunity to summon the devil's phantom.
However, he would have to keep making offerings to retain that opportunity, and he could not lower the standard of the sacrifices.
Raphael summoned the phantom once to examine it. Its strength was roughly somewhere between Sequence 5 and Sequence 4.
For an ordinary Devil, this phantom could be a lifesaver, but to Raphael, it was of little use.
Still, Raphael intended to continue making offerings. After all, leaving the souls of those he killed unused would be a waste. Besides, further offerings would continue strengthening the phantom. Sooner or later, it would reach roughly the level of Sequence 4.
North Borough, Backlund.
As usual, after arriving at MI9, Xio first went to pick up a copy of the newspaper delivered that morning.
She sat behind her desk and opened the Loen Morning Post. The front page was still reporting on the demonstrations. As food grew scarcer, the crowds of