"Ugh..."
The now-flattened werewolf mumbled incoherently, its face caught between terror and despair.
The vitality it had once taken pride in had become a curse, forcing it to continuously experience agony.
The loss of its limbs, the extreme distension of its stomach, and above all, the hopelessness of its situation pushed its mind to the brink of collapse.
"What are you, and who sent you?"
The person responsible for its current state asked.
"Woo..."
The werewolf howled pitifully.
Under the blood moon's glow, it had become nearly bestial, completely unable to comprehend human language.
"Won't talk? No, it looks like you can't talk."
Silas looked down at it, observing its current state with a thoughtful expression.
Then he reached out and placed his hand on the werewolf's densely furred head.
"Bang!"
From a distance, Kons heard a sharp crack and saw the werewolf's head explode into a small firework display. R
ed and white matter splattered everywhere. The limbless body twitched a few times, then went still.
The terrifying monster that had driven him to the brink of death had been killed so easily.
Captain Levi, you were right.
Clutching his bleeding stomach, Kons thought this from the bottom of his heart once again.
Regret surged through him, only to be replaced by fear when the red-robed man turned to look in his direction.
He's coming over!
Kons felt his hair stand on end, his scalp tingling. But his injured body could no longer support any violent reaction.
Besides, the other werewolf's fate served as a clear reminder of what resisting would cost him.
"MI9?"
He heard the man ask casually.
"Uh, yes."
Kons forced out a smile that looked worse than crying and nodded.
He didn't dare lie to such a powerful Beyonder. If he got caught, he might end up just like that werewolf.
"What are you doing here?"
"Investigating... the [Blood Reverend]."
The instant the words left his mouth, Kons suddenly understood.
Blood magic, a powerful Beyonder, connected to this district...
The person before him was very likely the [Blood Reverend] himself that MI9 was searching for!
But after realizing this, he only felt more terrified. The man's power far exceeded his imagination.
He, a mere Sequence 9, had actually thought about investigating this person and building achievements for himself.
Just as Mr. Levi had said, he'd been courting death.
"[Blood Reverend]?"
This was the second time Silas had heard this title. It seemed to be the codename MI9 had assigned him.
He thought for a moment, then continued asking, "What exactly did you encounter just now?"
Kons didn't dare delay.
He could only recount everything that had just happened: how he'd snuck into the factory, how he'd encountered the werewolf, fought it, and been defeated.
Silas looked thoughtful.
The sudden blood moon caused the werewolf to go berserk, unleashing slaughter and attacking my sheep.
No wait, before that, why would a werewolf infiltrate my factory?
The blood moon was just a coincidence, but beyond that coincidence, the werewolf's appearance was intentional!
Just then, he suddenly noticed the moonlight's color fading, shifting from crimson back to scarlet.
The blood moon had ended.
Looking back, he saw the werewolf's corpse begin to change accordingly.
Its thick black fur gradually receded, its claws and fangs retracted, its swollen muscles deflated.
It was no longer a beast. Aside from missing its head and limbs, it wasn't much different from an ordinary human.
I wonder what pathway this Beyonder belonged to. The crimson moon seems to have an extremely strong influence on them.
Silas walked back to the corpse and opened his palm.
"Whoosh..."
A bone-chilling wind that seemed capable of freezing souls spiraled forth, forcibly extracting the spirit from within the corpse!
The spirit had a blurry outline, roughly resembling a lean but muscular man with extremely short hair that stood up like spikes.
Silas no longer had any vacant positions within himself.
Furthermore, this werewolf appeared to be only around Sequence 7, not particularly strong.
He had no intention of grazing it. He was merely extracting its spirit to perform a séance and obtain more information.
"No!"
The werewolf struggled within the howling wind but couldn't resist the Shepherd's control.
It was viciously bitten by the phantom mouth in Silas's palm and let out a miserable shriek.
Before proceeding to the next step, he raised his hand.
The observing Kons immediately noticed his shadow suddenly come alive and surround him.
Before he could cry out in alarm, he was completely wrapped up, cut off from the outside world.
Only after shielding Kons did Silas continue.
He pulled out two candles from his coat and lit them, then used the werewolf's blood to draw a peculiar symbol on the ground.
It was a pattern composed of an eyeless gaze and twisted lines, pointing to the mysterious entity known as The Fool.
Silas was going to hold a ritual and pray to Mr. Fool for the power to perform a séance on this werewolf's spirit.
The phantom Ma'am M appeared behind him, her hands inserted into his head, creating a virtual personality independent of the tidal influences for him.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era..."
Having completed these preparations, Silas began praying in a low voice in Hermes, reciting The Fool's honorific name.
Praying to me in the middle of the night? Who is this!
At the same time, Klein, who had been sleeping at home, was awakened by layers upon layers of prayer voices. He opened his eyes irritably.
Right there in his bedroom, he took four steps counterclockwise and went above the gray fog.
He saw that the crimson star belonging to [Temperance] was flickering with light.
Silas has something he wants from me?
Klein became somewhat more serious. He extended his spirituality, made contact with the star, and learned what Silas was doing.
Through his prayer, Klein's consciousness arrived above Silas and saw the situation inside the factory.
How miserable. Was this worker killed?
Holy crap!
That Beyonder died even more horribly. Silas really doesn't hold back.
While mentally complaining about such topics, he extended his spirituality and used the gray fog's high position to control that Beyonder's spirit.
Silas could feel the spirit in his palm suddenly become docile, its expression vacant and drifting.
The Fool's power had taken effect.
Seeing this, he immediately began questioning it:
"What's your name?"
"Tyll."
"Where are you from?"
"The Rose School."
(aka: Rose School of Thought)
The werewolf answered in a hazy voice.
The Rose School?
That organization infamous for its bloody sacrifices?
Silas quickly recalled the internal Beyonder intelligence.
This organization had been established in the early Fifth Epoch, even older than the Aurora Order.
The sect advocated indulgence and madness, creating many extreme incidents, but more specific information wasn't clear.
"Why did you come here?"
Silas continued asking.
A struggling expression appeared on the werewolf Tyll's face, but he still answered:
"Mr. Steve arranged for me to come.
It was to help a believer of our school, Count Andres, with a small favor."