Raphael looked at the Devil before him, with his goat horns, bat wings, long tail, and evil face.
He couldn't help frowning. Why was there a Devil here?
Raphael didn't know that he was actually the one who had drawn this Devil here.
The Unwinged Angel Raphael had killed earlier was bait deliberately created by a Desire Apostle hiding in Backlund.
The Desire Apostle had originally intended to use the Unwinged Angel to lure out other Devils, but the one who took the bait turned out to be a Werewolf.
The odds of this happening were indeed extremely low, since Low Sequence Beyonders of the Prisoner pathway generally had no need for characteristics or potion formulas from the Criminal pathway.
Raphael had fled quickly enough to avoid being intercepted by the Desire Apostle, but the Desire Apostle had learned that a Werewolf had killed the Unwinged Angel.
The Desire Apostle also guessed that the Werewolf would most likely transform in the forest on Backlund's western outskirts, so he sent this Devil subordinate to try his luck.
For this Devil, the hardest part of the assignment was finding that Werewolf.
But when the crimson full moon rose and the Werewolves couldn't help howling, that problem solved itself. A new problem arose, however: Why the fuck were so many Werewolves transforming here tonight?
That, of course, was thanks to Jonathan and his sister.
Raphael hid quietly in a tree, watching the Devil fight a Werewolf.
The howl of agony just now had come from that Werewolf.
After transforming, the Devil was a full size larger than the Werewolf. He wielded an enormous greatsword formed from crimson magma and pale blue flames. The weapon looked cumbersome, yet he could still keep up with the Werewolf.
The Werewolf was already wounded and desperately trying to escape.
An evil smile spread across the Devil's face as he hurled his greatsword.
Thud!
The greatsword pierced the Werewolf and pinned him to a large tree.
Without spirituality to sustain it, the greatsword then reverted to magma and flames, burning a huge hole through the Werewolf's body.
The Devil raised a hand, conjuring a pale blue fireball in his palm, and hurled it at the Werewolf's head.
Whoosh!
Amid the Werewolf's agonized screams, the pale blue fireball engulfed his entire head. Before long, he fell to the ground, twitching.
Only then did the Devil stroll forward and crush the Werewolf's charred head underfoot.
Up in the tree, Raphael quietly drew a breath. Devils were formidable fighters. More importantly, they had not only pale blue greatswords for close combat, but also fireballs and foul language for ranged attacks.
Of course, the most troublesome ability was Devil Sensing.
As long as someone intended to deal with a Devil, he could sense it.
Raphael was about to slip away when the Devil suddenly turned his sinister eyes toward Raphael's hiding place.
The goat horns on his head suddenly ignited, giving off an acrid smell.
Raphael immediately felt as though someone had struck his head with a hammer. Intense pain came with a wave of dizziness.
"Hahaha!" Raphael clutched his head and laughed. "What a fucking pain. They can even use mental attacks!"
Then his expression and tone changed. "Idiot! Run! That giant bat's coming!"
As he spoke, Raphael leaped backward. The mental attack had dulled his reactions, and his back slammed into a large tree, making his vision darken.
But an injury like that was nothing to a Werewolf. He rolled over, scrambled up, and used Nine Wolf Shadow Steps at full strength, weaving between the trees as he fled.
Seeing the Werewolf running flat out, the Devil behind him immediately summoned seven or eight fireballs and hurled them at Raphael in succession.
"Huh?" The Devil discovered that the Werewolf kept swerving left and right as he ran, as though he had eyes in the back of his head. Not a single fireball hit him.
Not only that, but the Werewolf maintained his speed even in the dense forest. In moments, he vanished among the trees.
A shadow passed through the Devil's eyes. After a brief hesitation, he decided to go back and collect the Werewolf Beyonder Characteristic before continuing his search. He had all night to play this hunting game, after all.
Raphael ran for seven or eight minutes without stopping. Only after confirming that the Devil hadn't followed did he sit on a rock to rest.
Raphael couldn't help marveling. A Devil's spiritual intuition was far too keen. He'd detected me from that far away!
Fortunately, Nine Wolf Shadow Steps really delivered. Even in terrain this complicated, I could still maintain an extremely high speed.
"Awooo! Awooo!"
Several more wolf howls sounded in the distance.
Raphael paused in surprise. He realized that his panicked flight had actually brought him closer to the howling that had never changed position.
He had already guessed that it was probably a trap for hunting Werewolves.
In an instant, Raphael realized that he could lure the Devil into that trap.
At that moment, Raphael suddenly said, "Dumbass! Stop thinking such stupid thoughts! Whoever set that trap is at least a Sequence 6, and there's probably a Sequence 5 there too! And don't forget, there are people from the Rose School somewhere in this forest!
"If you want to die, find somewhere deserted to do it. Don't drag me down with you!"
Raphael's expression turned vicious again. "That Devil just blindsided us, and I'm pissed off. This isn't over until I get him back!"
His expression changed. The "cautious Raphael" was about to argue with the "vicious Raphael," but the "vicious Raphael" bit his own tongue off, denying the other any chance to continue the argument and demonstrating his resolve.
Raphael then headed toward the howling that had remained in the same place. Before he had gone far, however, he smelled a strong stench of blood. Following it a short distance, he found the remains of many humans in a small clearing.
There were obvious bite marks on those remains.
After a moment's thought, Raphael understood. This was most likely the work of the Indulgence Faction.
They had brought several humans here and murdered them after the full moon rose.
On the night of a full moon, the Indulgence Faction's Wraiths indulged their desires by consuming human souls. Their Zombies drank warm human blood and gnawed on fresh flesh.
Although this made them somewhat crazed, they wouldn't look as weak as that sickly woman from earlier.
There might well be members of the Indulgence Faction nearby, so Raphael paused only briefly before continuing to run swiftly toward the trap.
As he approached the trap, Raphael grew cautious. At last, he spotted a Machinery Hivemind carriage in the distance.
The savage grin on Raphael's face widened. Since they were official Beyonders, they would never let that Devil escape.
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