Upon seeing Maric on the window, Raphael put down his cigarette case, instructed his subordinates to close the door, and announced that no one should disturb him this morning.
Only after the door was shut did he gesture for Maric to enter...
Maric seemed to leap out from the glass, appearing before Raphael, "I didn't expect you would continue staying here." His expression became somewhat cold as he asked, "How have you managed to survive until now?"
Last night, a Demigod-level battle had occurred nearby, and Raphael was one of the participants. Yet today, this man acted as if completely unaware, continuing his role as the Mafia boss.
Maric couldn't tell if this was extreme arrogance or simply foolishness.
Raphael picked up his cigarette case again, "Emperor Roselle once said: 'The most dangerous place is often the safest place'..." He offered Maric a cigarette and continued, "I've thought it over. In that battle, no clues pointing to me were left at the scene. Moreover, with Demigods participating, they would certainly have used corresponding anti-divination abilities. Anti-divination of that level would, I believe, give official Beyonders quite a headache as well. And since the Indulgence Faction lost a Demigod, they won't dare investigate this matter further anytime soon. So, I'm relatively safe."
Maric paused momentarily before accepting the cigarette, "You really are different from those Indulgence Faction members. You only appear mad on the surface." He took a drag, his expression still somewhat cold, but his tone had warmed considerably, "I came today to ask if you'd like to join us."
"Us? As in, the Temperance Faction?"
Maric nodded.
Raphael didn't answer immediately. He took a couple of puffs before responding, "I'm sorry, but I don't wish to join any organization."
This somewhat surprised Maric. "Do you also advocate indulging desires? Hah, whatever twisted doctrines you might have heard from the Indulgence Faction, I can responsibly tell you that once you indulge your desires, you'll constantly teeter on the edge of losing control."
Raphael gave a wild laugh, "The Indulgence Faction is just a gathering of brainless pigs."
"Then why won't you join the Temperance Faction?"
"In my view, your faction's guiding philosophy also has problems," Raphael said seriously, "Ascetic-like temperance and reckless indulgence are essentially the same."
Maric stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, "But temperance reduces the risk of losing control."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," Raphael said, "I feel that one should be temperate when temperance is called for, and appropriately indulge when indulgence is called for. That's how you maintain your mental and physical health. Otherwise, constantly suppressing inner madness will also generate new chaos and distortion."
Maric knew this all too well, "Believe me, once you've drunk the Prisoner potion, the moment you so much as indulge yourself a little, you'll completely lose control."
Raphael, however, said, "I've thought of a method I want to try."
The method he referred to was, of course, the Mystic Source True Scripture he had just obtained from the other world.
This made him once again admire the wisdom of the Beyonders in that realm. They had actually devised systematic ways to temper the mind and spirit.
Raphael also noticed that in his current world, although everyone knew they had to constantly struggle against the chaos and distortion generated by Beyonder characteristics, no one seemed to systematically summarize or exchange methods for countering them.
He hadn't even heard of official Beyonders having systematic programs for countering chaos and distortion. Even they fought their battles individually.
The Acting Method indeed greatly mitigated the harm caused by Beyonder characteristics, but in Raphael's view, it wasn't enough. That's because as one's Sequence increased, even knowing the Acting Method, one needed an unwavering will to resist the characteristics and the accompanying divinity.
Yet, as far as Raphael knew, the entire world lacked systematic training methods like the Mystic Source True Scripture for strengthening willpower and fortifying the Spirit Body.
Of course, how effective the Mystic Source True Scripture would actually be, Raphael wasn't yet sure. He planned to test its effectiveness first.
If the results were good, he wouldn't mind selling the Mystic Source True Scripture to the Temperance Faction, or even the Indulgence Faction, if they wanted to buy it.
After hearing Raphael's words, Maric said nothing further, merely remarking, "If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."
Then he leaped back into the window glass. With a flash of dim light, he vanished.
Raphael stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray. He stared at the window glass, lost in thought for a moment, before turning his mind to the matter of the 'Unwinged Angel' Beyonder characteristic.
...
In a small alley not far from the Mafia headquarters, the Machinery Hivemind captain of the Backlund diocese, Ikanser Bernard, was discussing the case with Senior Deacon Zade Thomas.
Around the two men, five other Machinery Hivemind members were gathering clues.
This was precisely the alley where Raphael had fought Ackerman. Ackerman's body had been disposed of by Klein, but there hadn't been time to handle the traces of the fight.
Ikanser, with his chiseled, strong facial features, said, "This is definitely not the main battlefield. Judging from the traces at the scene, this should be where the Zombie and Werewolf from last night's battle fought."
Zade, a small-eyed man appearing to be in his forties, nodded in agreement, "Have you located where the two Demigods fought?"
"No," Ikanser ran his hand through his messy brown hair, "The Rose School of Thought's primary Pathway is the Prisoner. After Beyonders of this Pathway reach Sequence 5, their battle traces become very difficult to track. Demigods of this Pathway can even manipulate non-spiritual objects, effectively concealing post-battle traces."
Zade hesitated but still asked, "Have you tried using a Sealed Artifact for divination?"
The Sealed Artifact he referred to was, of course, the Magic Mirror Arrodes, Sealed Artifact 2-111, which was under Ikanser's control.
Ikanser produced an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns, "I originally planned to find some clues before using the Magic Mirror for divination."
He took a deep breath, called over another Machinery Hivemind member to observe, and then, after polishing the silver mirror, asked, "Lord Arrodes, I wish to know who participated in the Beyonder battle that occurred nearby last night."
The mirror's surface rippled as if with water waves, then several scenes appeared in succession. First appeared a woman in a long dress but with an indistinguishable face, then the mirror actually showed a scene of gray fog rolling.
For a moment, everyone thought the divination had failed. But soon, a man in a black vest and tight trousers appeared, followed again by rolling gray fog.
A second or two seconds later, three more figures appeared on the silver mirror in succession. These three figures were relatively clear, with two of them having Southern Continent features.
Ikanser stared intently at the mirror. After all the images had appeared, a line of blood-red text displayed: "Now it's my turn to ask: When you engage in that certain activity, do you prefer being on the bottom or on top?"
Ikanser breathed a sigh of relief: 'This question isn't too embarrassing to answer...'