Raphael's instincts had been right. The Beyonder he had attacked was indeed a Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel of the Criminal pathway.
By the time the Unwinged Angel's spirituality warned him of danger, Raphael had already leaped down, completing his transformation as he fell from the rooftop.
"Rrrgh~"
With a savage grin, Raphael thrust his wolf claws toward the Unwinged Angel's eyes.
Beyonders of the Criminal pathway were generally agile. The man quickly ducked and dodged to the side.
Raphael knew perfectly well that his first strike would not kill his opponent. The moment he landed, he lunged forward, using his superior speed to send the Unwinged Angel flying just as the man finished dodging.
With a thud, the Unwinged Angel slammed into a wall. An instant later, Raphael's wolf claws thrust toward him again.
Panic filled the Unwinged Angel's eyes. He desperately wanted to dodge, but he realized he was not fast enough. Worse, the impact had left his body feeling as though it had fallen apart, making it impossible to evade the attack in time.
Shhk~
There was the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh as Raphael's wolf claws sank into the Unwinged Angel's throat.
When he withdrew his claws, blood spurted out. The Unwinged Angel desperately clutched his neck, but he could not stop the gushing blood. His mouth opened wide, yet no sound came out.
Raphael looked at his bloodstained wolf claws and flashed an unrestrained grin. The entire fight had lasted no more than two seconds. Almost every reaction from his target had fallen within his predictions. The Unwinged Angel had not even managed to call for help.
He had killed his target so quickly not only because he was one Sequence higher, but also thanks to his practice with Wolf Fang Claw.
Only in actual combat could Raphael truly appreciate the subtleties of Wolf Fang Claw. Other Werewolves generally clawed at their targets' heads, shoulders, or chests, since those areas were the easiest to hit.
Wolf Fang Claw was different. It used wolf claws in two ways: thrusting and raking. Thrusts generally targeted the eyes, throat, or liver.
Raking attacks primarily targeted the opponent's limbs and back, while looking for opportunities to release wolf venom. Clearly, these were intended for prolonged close combat.
Raphael then struggled to suppress the excitement brought on by killing. Looking at his target twitching on the ground, he was about to hoist the body onto his shoulder and leave.
Suddenly, he snapped his gaze toward the end of the street. A Beyonder who had just left the gathering happened to be passing that way.
"Awooo~" Raphael bared his teeth and growled at the newcomer.
The Beyonder jumped in fright. "Oh, heavens! A Werewolf!"
As he spoke, he hurriedly reached for his gun.
But before he could draw it, the Werewolf had already shouldered the corpse, scaled the high wall with his sharp claws, and vanished from sight.
This was another unaffiliated Beyonder, so reporting it to the police naturally never crossed his mind. He stood frozen for a full two seconds before immediately turning away and leaving by another route.
He would never dare attend that gathering again, though.
Raphael carried the corpse into a dim alley filled with the stench of excrement, making him rub his wolf nose.
There was no time to worry about the surroundings. While waiting for the Beyonder Characteristic to separate, he immediately took out the Southern Continent-style bracelet he had seized in an earlier battle. Since it possessed the ability of Spirit Channeling, Raphael had simply named it the Spirit Channeling Bracelet.
Raphael still did not fully understand its negative effects. However, after numerous tests, his spiritual perception had given him a rough sense that using it for around two minutes of Spirit Channeling posed no great danger.
He had also noticed that after using it, he seemed more likely to attract the attention of nearby spirits of the dead. If an evil spirit happened to be nearby, it might even attack him.
Still in his Werewolf form, Raphael gripped the Spirit Channeling Bracelet and infused it with spirituality. A scene of illusory, rolling mist immediately appeared before him. Within the mist stood a figure with a vacant gaze: the dead Unwinged Angel.
Raphael opened his wolf mouth and asked in a low, raspy voice, "Who do you take orders from? Or what organization do you belong to?"
The mist before him suddenly churned, revealing a scene. A man whose face could not be made out sneered at the dead Unwinged Angel. "That's right. You're bait, meant to lure out those Devils hiding in the shadows who don't belong to our sect.
"Then I'll make my move and kill them."
Suddenly, a hideous face appeared in the scene. Long goat horns protruded from its head, and a sinister smile spread across its features. It was the face of a genuine devil.
Whoosh~
Pale blue flames suddenly ignited on the goat horns, giving off a pungent smell.
Raphael felt as though he had been knocked out of the Spirit Channeling process. His face contorted in pain as he clutched his head and fell to his knees. "Hahaha~ My head hurts so much! It feels like ten thousand bugs are chewing on my brain~
"Hahaha~ That Spirit Channeling really was a thrill~ Awooo~"
The pain on his face gradually gave way to madness, and Raphael soon recovered from the mental attack. Tears, snot, and saliva were streaming down his face, however, making it clear that the pain had done him considerable harm.
Still, he casually wiped his face, picked up the newly condensed Beyonder Characteristic, and used his Werewolf speed to leave the area swiftly.
A little over ten seconds after Raphael left, a mass of seemingly illusory, viscous black liquid silently flowed to the Unwinged Angel's corpse. It transformed into a black human figure. This was a Desire Apostle, and he sounded somewhat surprised. "He actually escaped?"
He could tell that the attacker had been a Werewolf. That Werewolf also seemed to have performed Spirit Channeling, triggering the mental attack he had planted inside the Unwinged Angel. He should not have recovered so quickly.
A pale blue fireball then appeared in the black figure's hand. He gave a soft "Huh?" He could not sense the other party's location at all.
The black figure did not linger. He turned back into black liquid and swiftly flowed away.
He suspected this was a trap, and that the Werewolf might also be bait.
The reason this Desire Apostle could not find Raphael was, of course, Raphael's unusual nature-or, more precisely, the protection of Sefirah Castle.
Before taking action, Raphael had already anticipated that his Spirit Channeling might expose him to a mental or spiritual attack.
Still, to learn where he could obtain a Serial Killer Beyonder Characteristic, he had considered the risk acceptable.
What Raphael had not expected was that this Unwinged Angel was nothing more than bait. A Devil or Desire Apostle had been waiting for him to be killed, ready to strike immediately afterward!
He would have to save this lead for later and find another way to obtain a Serial Killer characteristic.
For now, the most important thing was to drink the Unwinged Angel potion as soon as possible.
Before you continue