Chapter 151: The Demon God Symbolized by the Lion...
In the past of this world, there existed seventy-two devils with noble titles, each commanding dozens of legions.
However, after the Great War between the Three Factions, they suffered heavy losses, with the majority perishing in the conflict.
Those that survived later saw their bloodlines gradually die out due to various reasons, or their descendants' bloodlines became increasingly diluted.
The reason for this dilution was that devils, in a hurry to fill the gaps left by their losses and prevent other factions from taking advantage, developed the Evil Pieces.
Through this system, humans were transformed into devils to replenish their ranks. As a result, these new devils intermarried with pure-blooded devils, gradually diluting the pure bloodlines.
Very few high-class devil families managed to maintain their pure bloodlines, among them the Gremory, Phenex, and Sitri families, who were among the rare ones that still preserved their pure blood.
As for the others, their status was unclear.
So, how many of the Seventy-Two Pillars still had living descendants?
There were thirty-three pillars in total: [1. Bael, 2. Agares, 3. Vassago, 4. Gamigin, 7. Amon, 8. Barbatos, 9. Paimon, 12. Sitri, 13. Beleth, 16. Zepar, 19. Sallos, 20. Purson, 24. Naberius, 25. Glasya-Labolas, 28. Berith, 29. Astaroth, 30. Forneus, 32. Asmodeus, 34. Furfur, 36. Stolas, 37. Phenex, 41. Focalor, 44. Shax, 47. Uvall, 50. Furcas, 51. Balam, 56. Gremory, 59. Oriax, 60. Vapula, 62. Valac, 65. Andrealphus, 68. Belial, 71. Dantalion]
The remaining thirty-nine pillars should have had their bloodlines severed.
How did he determine this?
Through the contract seals on Solomon's Ring in this world, he sensed reactions from thirty-three pillars to demonic energy, while thirty-nine showed no response at all.
And the identity he was about to bestow upon the nun before him was one of those thirty-nine pillars with severed bloodlines.
This particular pillar not only obtained one of his own Seventy-Two Demon Gods cards, but also fused a portion of power left behind by the Seventy-Two Demon Gods of this world into this ring.
Then, the most suitable Demon God pillar for this nun with healing abilities—who is easily deceived and unable to see through lies—is this one.
...
What kind of secret is the person residing inside hiding that forces Rias to go to great lengths to conceal it?
"President, the barrier has been successfully deployed."
Tsubaki also deployed a smaller-scale barrier to block the few individuals who would soon emerge.
Those individuals had all been lured into a separate dimension and imprisoned, making it impossible for them to escape anytime soon.
"Alright, Tsubaki, you and I will go inside. The rest of you stay on guard outside and maintain the barrier."
To be cautious, Sona had mobilized all of her household members this time.
Carefully approaching the villa, there was no reaction from inside?
Asleep?
If they weren't ordinary people, it shouldn't be possible for them not to notice that the previously hidden and protective barrier around this place had been destroyed.
In that case, there should have been some kind of response.
Or perhaps Rias had anticipated that Akeno and the others wouldn't be able to stop them, and had actually already evacuated the two people living here?
That was a possibility.
But they still needed to enter and confirm it for themselves.
As the two cautiously entered the villa's courtyard and stepped into the inner corridor, they suddenly noticed something unusual.
At the end of the corridor, in what appeared to be the living room, there was an eerie light source.
It didn't look like the light from a normal electric lamp, but rather like the glow of magical energy.
Signaling Tsubaki to prepare for a possible ambush, the two of them cautiously approached.
When they reached the end and peered into the hall, they saw the nun named Asia kneeling on the floor.
Beside her, a man was performing some kind of strange ritual.
Around the man, dozens of glowing cards floated in the air, emitting a somewhat unsettling aura.
The scene gave the impression that the nun was about to be sacrificed in some way, which was why she was anxiously praying to God.
Regardless of the situation, Sona couldn't just stand by and do nothing...
So, using her expertise in water manipulation, she seeped water into the wooden floor and swiftly sent it flowing toward the man.
The next moment, the water surged up from beneath the man's feet, binding his body.
At the same time, Sona and Tsubaki immediately revealed themselves and rushed forward.
But in the next instant, a sudden sound of someone falling echoed through the hall.
"Tsubaki!"
Sona froze in her tracks because the one who had fallen was Tsubaki.
Such a careless and inexplicable stumble was something that should never happen to Tsubaki, clearly something had suddenly gone wrong with her.
Sona noticed that the moment Tsubaki fell, a ring on the man's hand suddenly glowed.
At the same time, Sona herself felt a strange, inexplicable urge to obey the man, though the feeling was faint, as if the thought had suddenly popped into her mind.
Wait, obey?
"Subdue her."
The moment the young man spoke these words, Sona swiftly dodged away from her original position, barely avoiding being tackled by Tsubaki.
"Tsubaki!"
It was obvious—she had been controlled, manipulated in an instant. It was too eerie.
For the moment, Sona could only deal with the controlled Tsubaki. She had no time to stop whatever scheme this man was plotting, nor could she easily save the nun.
"Snap out of it, Tsubaki!"
How bizarre that something like this could happen.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the ritual had already begun.
There were seventy-two glowing cards floating around the young man named Renji, and one of them flew into his hand.
With a light flick of his finger, the card flew above the nun's head and instantly expanded countless times, becoming as large as a gate.
Then, the glowing card released an aura that made Sona's expression change—it was the aura of a devil, but not an ordinary one.
Suddenly, the light became less blinding, and the now-enlarged card gradually revealed an image inside—a lion?