Night of the Full Moon

Transforming under the full moon was agonizing. Raphael felt as though his entire body were about to burst.

But to his delight, after drinking the Unwinged Angel potion, Raphael really could retain his sanity on the night of a full moon!

He looked at his wolf claws. This involuntary transformation felt strange.

There was an inexplicable familiarity to it, as though he had been born a Werewolf, complete with wolf claws and fangs.

An ordinary, voluntary transformation never gave him that feeling.

He sat on a rock, savoring that subtle sensation for a while before beginning to practice the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps and the Wolf Fang Art.

Beneath the crimson full moon, Raphael felt as though his strength were inexhaustible, and he had an entire night to practice.

Elsewhere in those same woods on Backlund's western outskirts.

Several men and women wearing matching regulation cloaks sat chatting beneath a towering tree.

Among them were Ikanser Bernard, with his chiseled features, and Deacon Zed, whose eyes were rather small.

The carriage tracks Raphael had spotted earlier had been left by the carriage carrying these members of the Machinery Hivemind.

Ikanser glanced at the crimson full moon through a gap in the leaves, then told Zed and the others, "It's almost time."

They immediately rose and headed to the ambush site they had selected in advance.

One of the Machinery Hivemind members took out a medal engraved with a wolf's head and pinned it to his chest.

This was Sealed Artifact 3-156 of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.

Its main ability allowed the wearer to understand the meaning conveyed by animal cries, but its negative effect made them produce calls identical to a wolf's, involuntarily.

Immediately after putting on the Sealed Artifact, the member began coughing, as though his throat were very uncomfortable. Before long, however, he involuntarily cried out, "Awooo, awooo, awooo~"

He had actually let out a wolf's howl.

"Awooo~"

After he had howled several times, an identical howl came from the distance.

"Awooo~"

There was more than one wolf howling, and they all seemed to be approaching.

Ikanser and the others exchanged glances. From the sounds alone, they could not tell whether those were real wolves or Werewolves.

But both Ikanser and Zed were Sequence 5 Beyonders. Even if several Werewolves arrived at once, they could handle them.

Besides, wolf howls attracted one another. Before arriving here, the Werewolves might already have encountered each other, fought, and sustained injuries.

In a valley within the woods.

"Awooo~"

Raphael, who was concentrating on practicing the Nine Wolf Shadow Steps, heard the howl. His eyes darkened, as though he had felt an irresistible summons.

But a moment later, clarity returned to his eyes, and he calmed down.

After that, however, he could no longer practice. The constant howling in the distance kept him excited, and only a strenuous effort to restrain himself stopped him from answering.

Gradually, Raphael noticed something wrong with those howls.

The sounds were moving too quickly and constantly answering one another. They did not seem like the calls of ordinary wolves.

Raphael smiled helplessly. Don't tell me every Werewolf in Backlund came here to transform?

But a moment later, he could no longer smile.

It really was possible. Transforming inside Backlund was extremely risky, unless one had access to somewhere like a deep, spacious dungeon.

Yet neither the Indulgence Faction nor the Temperance Faction seemed particularly wealthy. Renting a place with such a large underground space would be difficult.

Unaffiliated Beyonders were even worse off. Unless they were wealthy or noble themselves, they simply did not have the means to transform within the city.

Leaving the city to transform was the best choice. In the other three directions around Backlund, the land was mostly plains covered in vast stretches of farmland, with numerous villages and estates scattered across them.

Transforming there would leave traces that were easily discovered, and might even draw pursuit from official Beyonders.

Only western Backlund had extensive woods. Here in the mountains, there were merely a few scattered hunters' homes.

Backlund, known as the "Land of Hope," had an enormous Beyonder population. Raphael could not possibly be its only Werewolf.

At that thought, a savage gleam flashed through Raphael's eyes. For him, this was an opportunity.

At this very moment, Raphael alone among all the Werewolves retained some measure of sanity.

He could try taking advantage of this to hunt other Werewolves.

Although Werewolf Beyonder Characteristics were not particularly easy to sell, surely each would fetch 1,000 pounds? Their level alone ought to guarantee that much.

At that thought, Raphael stretched his wolfish mouth into a vicious grin.

He was quick to act, immediately running toward the howls.

But after running for a while, Raphael stopped again. It had suddenly occurred to him that if someone used convincing imitation howls to lure Werewolves at a time like this, wouldn't they draw every Werewolf over and catch them all in one fell swoop?

With that possibility in mind, Raphael listened for a while. Sure enough, one howl remained in a fixed location, while the others attracted one another and drew closer together.

There was an eighty or ninety percent chance that the stationary howl was a trap.

An arrogant, vicious grin spread across Raphael's wolfish face. How important it was to use one's brain at a critical moment!

So Raphael cleared his throat. "Awooo~"

Then he resumed running, rapidly closing in on the howl nearest to him.

He could not head toward that stationary howl, but he could investigate the moving ones and see whether an opportunity presented itself.

Having practiced the Demon Source Scripture and the Wolf Fang Art, Raphael was fairly confident that he could kill a Werewolf in a short time.

He intended to hunt one or two Werewolves, then withdraw quickly before he became prey himself.

"Awooo~" Every howl left Raphael feeling refreshed from head to toe. The more he howled, the more addictive it became.

One of the nearby howlers noticed Raphael's calls and began approaching him, howling as it came.

Raphael also ran swiftly toward the other Werewolf. Just then, he suddenly spotted a pale-faced woman sitting in a tree ahead.

The woman appeared to be twenty-five or twenty-six. She looked very weak, with an unusual, sickly beauty.

She spotted Raphael as well and immediately asked in a feeble voice, "Jonathan, is that you?"

Raphael slowed down and replied casually, "You've got the wrong wolf."

The woman looked stunned. "Oh, heavens! I must be so weak that I'm hallucinating. This Werewolf actually spoke!"

Unsure of who she was or what she could do, Raphael was about to leave quickly. Just then, however, he realized that a Werewolf had already found him and was baring its fangs at him.

A crazed expression spread across Raphael's wolfish face. The thrill of battle and slaughter was calling to him!