Facing a "Conspirer"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A relentless series of gunshots in the Bridge District marked the start of the battle between the Mafia and the Stinger Gang.

The Mafia had come prepared this time, and Carter and the others quickly eliminated several key members of the Stinger Gang.

But as soon as their operation succeeded, they immediately left the scene.

There were still two Sequence 9 members of the Stinger Gang who were not among their targets this time.

It was not that Raphael had gone softhearted. Those two had other uses.

Instead of sending gunmen after them, Raphael had sent someone to deliver a letter.

The assassination attempt on Kent, the Stinger Gang's leader, did not go nearly as smoothly... or, to put it more bluntly, it ran into serious trouble.

Before Raphael made his move, Kent had been entertaining a guest. When he heard the gunshots, Kent immediately stood up and loudly demanded to know what was happening.

His guest, however, remained seated, seemingly unconcerned by those few gunshots.

Soon, Raphael burst in with his men. The first person he saw was Kent, sporting a thick beard and looking rather smug.

Then Raphael sucked in a sharp breath. Kent's guest was actually a Sequence 6!

The man had pulled his hat low, obscuring his features. All Raphael could tell was that he was middle-aged.

The Mafia's men were about to open fire when a savage grin suddenly spread across Raphael's face. "Everyone, get out of here!

"Wagner, you stay! If you can help me hold Kent off, I'll reward you generously, no matter how this fight ends."

Wagner's spirituality also sensed that Kent's guest seemed to be at the mid-sequence level.

When he saw Raphael's expression turn vicious, he knew their opponent would be difficult to handle.

"All right." Wagner could only steel himself and agree. He knew perfectly well that he could not outrun a Werewolf. If they fled, Raphael would certainly get away before he did.

Their opponent would not bother asking whether he belonged to the Mafia. He would simply kill him.

The guest sitting on the sofa snorted coldly. "You're asking to die."

He was Petrov, a military attaché from the Feysac Empire. As relations between Loen and the Feysac Empire grew increasingly tense, both countries had been spying on each other more and more frequently.

An important operation that day required Kent to send men to participate. It was a plot targeting Loen.

As a Conspirer, Petrov was using this opportunity to work on digesting his potion. That was why he had disguised himself and come in person to deliver the orders, ensuring that nothing went wrong with the plot.

Although Raphael did not know who the man was, he knew that, having had the terrible luck to stumble upon their meeting, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight. He could not expect his opponent to leave any survivors.

Once the ordinary Mafia members withdrew, the atmosphere in the sitting room grew heavy.

Keeping his eyes fixed on his opponent, Raphael unhurriedly removed his coat. Then he abruptly lunged at Petrov, transforming as he moved.

Several fireballs immediately appeared around Petrov and hurtled toward Raphael.

Normally, an opponent would have no choice but to dodge to one side. Yet the Werewolf before Petrov evaded the fireballs with bizarre footwork and swiped his claws at his head!

This caught Petrov completely off guard. He hurriedly rolled to the other side of the sofa, looking somewhat disheveled.

But Raphael knocked Petrov's hat off.

Once he saw the man's disguised face, Raphael recognized him as someone from the Feysac Embassy.

Since they were planning to deal with the Stinger Gang, Carter had gathered some intelligence on the Feysac Embassy. Otherwise, a gang boss like Raphael would never have recognized an embassy employee.

Petrov immediately stopped underestimating his opponent. Seven or eight Fire Crows appeared, circling him before flying at Raphael one after another.

As the two began exchanging blows, Kent and Wagner also went into action.

Kent was a Provoker, exceptionally agile and highly skilled at fighting.

Wagner, meanwhile, was a Listener. By "listening" to a great being, he had learned a method that could briefly make him stronger. Two bull horns suddenly sprouted from his head, and coarse bovine hair grew all over his body, turning him into an immensely powerful-looking monster!

He roared and clashed with Kent.

Although Wagner was not as agile as Kent, his strength was tremendous and his defenses exceptionally tough. Neither could gain a decisive advantage for the moment.

Crash!

On the other side, Petrov's Fire Crows chased Raphael out through a window. Fire Crows were far more maneuverable than fireballs. No matter how bizarre Raphael's footwork was, he could not shake off their attacks.

He had no choice but to leap out from the third floor.

Petrov gave a contemptuous smile, walked to the window, and rested a hand on the sill.

Whoosh!

Fierce flames flowed outward along the windowsill like water, rapidly engulfing the entire exterior wall.

The next instant, a shout of "Fuck!" came from outside the window.

Naturally, it was Raphael. He had intended to cling to the wall outside the window and ambush the Conspirer when he followed him out.

But Beyonders of the Hunter pathway had greatly enhanced senses. From the angle and force of Raphael's leap, Petrov could roughly deduce where he had gone.

Or rather, no Sequence 6 was easy to deal with.

Raphael had suffered a setback, and both his hands were burned. Still, given a Werewolf's recovery speed, such injuries were hardly significant.

Petrov, the Conspirer, appeared at the window with a sinister smile, in no hurry to pursue him.

Raphael glanced at him, then shouted as he fled, "There's someone from the Feysac Embassy here!"

Petrov's smile froze. He summoned more than a dozen Fire Crows and jumped down, directing them to chase Raphael.

The Fire Crows cast flickering light through the previously dark alley, like a dozen flying lanterns.

The instant Petrov landed in the alley below, Raphael abruptly stopped fleeing, turned, and charged at the Conspirer.

Petrov immediately realized that the cramped surroundings actually limited the angles from which his Fire Crows could attack.

He also knew perfectly well that the Werewolf wanted to fight at close quarters.

Petrov sneered, thinking that this Werewolf had badly underestimated the Hunter pathway's prowess in hand-to-hand combat.

He directed the Fire Crows to inflict as much damage on the Werewolf as possible. To his surprise, however, the Werewolf evaded the vast majority of their attacks with his strange, nimble movements.

Although two Fire Crows exploded against the Werewolf's body, making him howl in pain, he also closed the distance at a speed far beyond Petrov's expectations.

In close combat, a Werewolf still held something of an advantage.