Although he was a noble, he had to take on certain responsibilities and duties, such as protecting his people from supernatural forces and fulfilling other types of wishes.
On one hand, fulfilling a request also counted toward Sona's or Rias's noble's performance. On the other hand, the contact between devils and humans could help maintain the relationship between the two races. However, as far as Luo Guang knew, high-ranking devils like Rias and Sona Sitri were only responsible for battle-related requests. Other types of wishes were handled by special departments in the Underworld.
"Let me see what's going on," Luo Guang said. After sending some magical power into the crest, a virtual projection of a young girl appeared.
"It's an emergency. Please help."
After sending the message, the little girl looked around, apparently hiding from something. Then the projection disappeared.
The room fell silent. Luo Guang recalled the young girl's appearance; she looked somewhat familiar. He decided to accept the request.
With that in mind, Luo Guang called out, "Est."
The girl immediately appeared as a silver light.
"Time to get to work."
The moment he finished speaking, the Sitri family crest glowed with a cyan light, and a magic circle with the Sitri family's emblem appeared under Luo Guang's feet. Along with a feeling of weightlessness and detachment, the space connected with the other side, and Luo Guang's figure gradually faded away.
Late at night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
The soft moonlight could not penetrate the dense forest, leaving only dappled light on the ground like threads. Yayoi Hozuki was surrounded by silence. The cold wind howled like a ghost, and the eerie atmosphere brought a chill that made one's hair stand on end.
"Is the magical power all used up?" Yayoi looked at the dim flyer in her hand, which had a small Sitri family magic circle drawn on it. She only had time to say that one sentence before the flyer went out, which made her wonder if the flyers people had been handing out on the street were a scam.
But just a moment ago, she had indeed sensed a trace of extraordinary energy.
"When it rains, it pours," she muttered, carefully looking back. She was met with the gaze of a ghost baby with a rotting face.
A "ghost baby" could also be called an infant ghost. As the name suggested, it was the soul of an infant, a resentful spirit born from abortions, miscarriages, or premature deaths. Although each individual ghost baby was weak, there were a huge number of them. Even in a single city, their numbers could reach tens of thousands over the years.
The reason these ghost babies had gathered here was because of the existence of the Mother of Ghouls. The Mother of Ghouls was one of the twenty heavenly protectors in Buddhism. She was once a demon who loved to devour babies. But after being admonished by the Buddha, she realized the pain of having her own children stolen, and she transformed from a baby-eating demon into a guardian of infants.
However, after the temple was abandoned and the incense offerings stopped, the Mother of Ghouls could no longer guide the infant ghosts to become Buddhas. She was eventually overwhelmed by the ever-increasing number of infant ghosts and fell, becoming a wicked deity.
The reason Yayoi had come here was to use the power of the Mother of Ghouls to help her sister, Yoko Hozuki, get rid of a curse. But things did not go as planned. She had underestimated the power of the Mother of Ghouls and the infant ghosts. Her lack of preparation had resulted in her being chased.
To make matters worse, the "sacrificial substitute" she held had been destroyed. If she were to be surrounded again, she wouldn't be able to escape.
In a moment of desperation, she suddenly remembered the flyer she had received that morning. She had sent the message as a last resort, hoping to summon a devil to solve her problem. Using a devil to deal with evil spirits? It might be a good idea.
But the moment the flyer lit up, she had only managed to say a single sentence before it went out. She hadn't even had time to say where she was. This left Yayoi without her last hope. Now, all she could do was fight and retreat, trying to find another way out.
Her plan was to go to the main temple. Even if she couldn't take the entire statue of the Mother of Ghouls with her, taking a broken arm or a finger would be a win. After using her Physical Holy Sword to swat away the ghost baby in front of her, Yayoi immediately moved. She shook off a few infant ghosts and successfully entered the main temple.
But she didn't feel happy. Those infant ghosts had already found her. It wouldn't be long before they discovered her hiding place. When she was surrounded, it would be her end. The Mother of Ghouls, even as a resentful spirit, wouldn't harm children, but those infant ghosts wouldn't be so kind. They were innocent and pure, but that also made them the most evil, as they only thought about playing. And as they played, she would become one of them.
The rustling sounds outside grew louder. Yayoi glanced at the door and saw that it was now covered in countless black ghost babies. The sight was so dense that it would make any adult's scalp crawl.
Just then, a cyan magic circle appeared in front of Yayoi, and a figure emerged from it. It was Luo Guang.