The mont his eyes opened, a profound wave of confusion washed over him, and Raphael found himself involuntarily running through the classic philosophical trio.
Who am I. Where am I. What am I doing here.
He was Raphael Alanster. Forr Black Gloves operative, forr Red Gloves operative, current wanted criminal.
His mory had large chunks missing, whole sections that felt like they’d been deliberately cut out, but the overall shape of things was intact enough.
He knew who he was.
Where he was, though, was a question worth sitting with.
He looked at his right wrist.
"...Novelty handcuffs."
His voice ca out rough and dry, carrying an equal asure of disbelief and existential crisis.
His last clear mory was a rainy alley, so kind of post-rebirth side effect hitting him, and then nothing. He’d blacked out. End of mory.
He would honestly have preferred police-issue handcuffs. At least those ca with implications he understood.
Then he noticed the bag.
A whole bag. Sitting on the floor within arm’s reach.
Novelty items of every description, familiar categories and unfamiliar ones, things with soft protrusions, things that very plausibly ran on batteries, a comprehensive survey of the entire field that genuinely rattled sothing in Raphael’s well-weathered soul.
"What the hell. Did I land in a pervert’s place."
He looked to his left. The bathroom door, not far away, light on underneath it, sound of running water. Soone in the shower.
"Okay... okay... looks like nothing’s happened yet. Still in the preparation stage."
Raphael exhaled. Even in his last life, at the very end, facing a five-person coordinated assassination from the D-Brotherhood, he hadn’t felt quite this specific flavor of alarm.
He closed his eyes and pulled up the System panel.
[Sinner’s Hunting System.]
[Hunter: Raphael Alanster.]
[Cardinal Sin: Superbia.]
[Superbia Affinity: 51%.]
[Hunting Ground Access: Demon Lord Candidate.]
[Superbia Authority: Scapegoat — Grade I.]
[Level: 2.]
[Sin: 74 / 80.]
[Sin-Fruit: 0.]
[Mutations: 2.]
[Physical Functions: Lv3. Physical Resistance: Lv1.]
[Arcane Reserve: Lv2. Arcane Resistance: Lv1.]
Two new entries compared to before. The Superbia Affinity percentage, and the Authority.
"Grade I. What does that an, Roman nurals? So there’s a Grade II as well?"
The shower was still running. Nothing was going to happen in the imdiate future. He let his awareness sink into the Third Hunting Ground.
The Lv4 Alpha werewolf from the last fight was in the First Hunting Ground, he rembered that.
But the more pressing question was whether Jason Lance was still in the Third after being used as the Scapegoat’s sacrifice.
And while he was there, he had a new prisoner to welco.
Jack Adams, Headhunter, one of the five assassins who had jumped him and still sohow ended up on the wrong end of the exchange.
Raphael doesn’t rember what happened after he lost his mind, he only knows that he was ultimately killed by his out-of-control self.
---
The Third Hunting Ground looked exactly as it always had.
Grey, decaying, the row cells serving as walls on both sides, water dripping from the ceiling, the sll of mildew in the air.
His warden’s coat settled over his shoulders. Nothing had changed since his last visit. Ti didn’t seem to leave marks here.
Rembering the chain-dragging sound from his last departure, he didn’t linger. He went straight to the only occupied cell.
Jack was sitting with his back against the wall, arms resting on his knees.
His soul was fully intact. Apparently he hadn’t yet encountered whatever it was that had reduced Jason to a gibbering, wall-banging wreck.
[Low-level Prisoner: Jack Adams.]
[Level: 4.]
[Information: Headhunter.]
[Cardinal Sin: Ira.]
[Sin: 144.]
[Mutation Skills: 11.]
[Soul Integrity: 100%]
[Ira Affinity: 9%]
[Skills available for domination: 1.]
[Sin available for domination: 12.96.]
Raphael read through it. Even accounting for the death, his Ira affinity had only ticked up by one percent. Still low.
One skill available, twelve point ninety-six sin, not enough to make Execution worthwhile, especially when he had no idea which of the eleven mutation skills was actually valuable.
Executing now would an committing to a permanent choice without the information to make it.
Besides, Jack could still talk. And as the brother of Jasmine, the man Raphael intended to find, Jack was not supposed to be the first move in any revenge strategy. He was too useful alive, in a manner of speaking.
He pressed Imprison without further deliberation.
[Sin acquired: 12.96.]
[Current Sin: 86.96 / 80.]
[Sin capacity exceeded. Mutation comncing...]
The change began sowhere beneath his awareness. He set it aside and looked at Jack.
"Who sent you to kill ?"
Jack looked around at the grey walls, the dripping ceiling, the general atmosphere of sowhere deeply unpleasant, and gave him the look of a man who is confused but unwilling to show it.
"I still don’t know how you managed to trap my soul in a place like this."
He scanned the corridor with mild contempt layered over sothing more quietly humiliating.
"But fine. You want the truth? You’ll never get it. And before you decide that ans I’m being loyal, I’ll be honest with you, our relationships in that group weren’t half as close as you’re imagining."
He paused.
"Joining the D-Brotherhood ans signing a contract with a Fate Councilor. Secrets bound by that contract cannot be spoken, cannot be recalled, cannot even be actively thought about. That is what the contract does."
Raphael watched his face and noticed sothing odd.
"I haven’t threatened you yet and you’re already explaining yourself. You’re very cooperative."
Jack didn’t react to that.
"It doesn’t matter. I only have a soul left. In my mory, I’m already dead. That’s simply where things stand."
He looked up at the System interface that was still faintly visible in the air.
"I can read that, by the way. I don’t know what language it is but I can understand it."
He ant the Imprison/Execute choice Raphael had just made.
"You chose life imprisonnt over execution. Which ans you think I have information you want. Let guess, you’re after revenge. Even though the assassination, for reasons I don’t fully understand, apparently failed."
Raphael shook his head.
"No. You’re wrong about that. The assassination succeeded. I did die."
Jack’s head ca up. He stared.
"You’re telling you died. And then ca back."
He paused.
"No. No, no, no —! that’s impossible. Resurrection is beyond even the highest-tier mages. For a Lv2, that can’t be real. That’s not possible. That’s not possible!!"
The reaction was too large for simple surprise. Underneath the shock there was sothing else, sothing wounded, sothing almost grieving.
Jack sat down on the floor slowly and put his face in his hands. He stopped talking.
Clank. Clank.
From the far end of the corridor, the sound of sothing heavy dragging across stone.
Raphael noted the direction of it, saw that Jack had nothing left to offer for now, and left the Third Hunting Ground.
He ca back to the couch just as the bathroom door opened.
Elena ca out while drying her hair, looking at Raphael in astonishnt.
"You’re awake?"
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