Chapter 72: The Resurrection of Ten High-Ranking Demons

Lorna watched Marc mess around with runes until it got pretty late.

Bernard had been stuck in video meetings all day at work, and he looked beat.

He flopped onto the sofa, eyes shut. When he heard Lorna come in, he cracked an eye open for a second before closing it again. "You're back."

Lorna could hear the weariness in Bernard's voice and frowned a bit.

"Why are you so tired?" She walked behind the sofa, looking at Bernard's handsome face, now all scrunched up, his eyes closed but still twitching.

It was from overwork. Lorna couldn't help but gently touch Bernard's brow, causing his eyelids to twitch.

Lorna massaged his brow, and Bernard's frown finally eased up.

He wanted to open his eyes to look at Lorna, but her soft hands covered them.

Lorna rubbed her palms together, channeling her energy into them, and gently placed them over Bernard's eyes.

"How does that feel? A bit better?" Lorna asked him.

Bernard felt the warmth from Lorna's palms spread to his eyelids. It seemed like his eyes were no longer as tired.

"Much better. By the way, I ran into Philip, the director of the Supernatural Affairs Bureau, at the door. He left you his contact info and asked you to reach out." Bernard grabbed her hand and brought it down, opening his eyes and slowly sitting up.

"He seemed to be in a hurry. I think it's something urgent." Bernard picked up a business card from the table and handed it to Lorna, still holding her hand, not wanting to let go.

"Alright, I'll contact him in a bit. What happened to you today? Why are you so exhausted?" Lorna let him hold her hand, walked around the sofa, and sat next to Bernard.

Being so close, Bernard could smell the fragrance of Lorna's shampoo, washing away his day's fatigue.

He couldn't help but put his arm around Lorna's shoulder. Lorna didn't refuse, leaning obediently against his shoulder, and the two quietly enjoyed a moment of peace.

"Alright, no overtime tomorrow. Come back early, and I'll take you to a movie." Lorna shook his hand.

"Okay." Bernard's lazy voice revealed his good mood at the moment.

"Alright, time to rest." Lorna slipped out of his embrace and pulled him up.

Bernard used her strength to get up and followed her upstairs.

"Get some rest, good night." Lorna turned and smiled at Bernard at the bedroom door.

Bernard smiled back and went into his room.

After returning to her room, Lorna contacted Philip and arranged to meet at the Supernatural Affairs Bureau at 8 AM the next day.

The following morning, she arrived there on time.

"What's so urgent?" Lorna sat in Philip's office, sipping a cup of tea to refresh herself.

"I need your help to look at this map." Philip's face was serious.

He took a scroll from the safe in his desk, spread it out on the table, and pushed it towards Lorna.

At first glance, Lorna's expression turned serious, and she sat up straight to take a closer look.

The more she looked, the tighter her brow furrowed. After a long time, Lorna finally spoke, "Where did this come from?"

Lorna looked at Philip.

"From a recent case. Our people brought it back, but it was sealed with a restriction we couldn't break, so I called you." Philip sighed.

"You should be able to tell what this is, right?" Lorna asked him tentatively.

"An old map, recording the territories of Mephistopheles' subordinates." Philip knew this much.

Lorna frowned and waved her hand to remove the restriction on the map. "What about now?"

"Is this a map showing the locations of the ten high-ranking demons?" Philip could now see the ten red dots appearing on the map, and he was shocked.

Lorna nodded slowly. "Yeah, it seems they're already awake. Otherwise, the restriction on this map wouldn't have been so easy to break."

Her mind was racing. High-ranking demons were out there, hiding. Were they waiting for Mephistopheles to wake up?

Philip quickly reported the news to his superiors and got a fast response.

"Ms. Martin, this is serious. The higher-ups want to form a special task force with experts from all over the occult world. They want you as a special agent and the task force leader. You need to keep a close eye on these ten high-ranking demons." Philip relayed the instructions to Lorna.

Lorna frowned. Experts dealing with demons made sense, but she didn't like interference. As the leader, she needed authority.

She agreed.

"This map shows where the ten high-ranking demons entered our world. They must be planning something big. I think they're getting ready for Mephistopheles' awakening," Lorna speculated cautiously.

But Gabriel had reinforced the seal, so it wouldn't be easy for Mephistopheles to break free.

"These high-ranking demons must be hiding in human form, making them hard to spot. I'll work on a way to identify them. Meanwhile, gather the task force members ASAP."

Lorna didn't like handling these details and left them to Philip.

Now, Lorna's status was like a state-appointed leader, even higher than the director of the Supernatural Affairs Bureau, with the power to command everyone.

Philip understood the gravity of the situation and got to work. Lorna headed back to the Allard Mansion.

"The ten high-ranking demons are all awake?" Ivan was surprised when Lorna told him.

"Yeah, we've got our work cut out for us."

"The appearance of high-ranking demons is bad news. With passages open, no wonder there have been so many demons this year." Ivan pondered.

Lorna also thought about past incidents involving demons and necromancers.

She felt like she was part of a bigger scheme and needed to stop it fast.

High-ranking demons had some humanity, but not much. If they blended in and started a massacre, it wouldn't be impossible.

Thinking about this, Lorna started making new magic scrolls.

The map was old, and place names had changed, making it hard to match them exactly.

Modern society was full of skyscrapers, adding to the Supernatural Affairs Bureau's challenges in locating the places.

Lorna had previously let Snow smell some Spirit Herbs, which Snow strongly resisted.

These Spirit Herbs could distinguish between demons and humans. Once touched, they would reveal the demon's aura.

She planned to dilute the Spirit Herbs and mix them into ink to make magic scrolls. This way, during the Supernatural Affairs Bureau's investigations, the scrolls would automatically identify and trap any demons they encountered.

Of course, high-ranking demons couldn't be trapped by magic scrolls, but as leaders, they would surely have many lesser demons following them.

By following the trail, they would surely find clues.

Lorna made about two hundred magic scrolls and called Daniel to pick them up.

Daniel had been coming to the Allard Mansion frequently and was probably the most familiar with Lorna in the Supernatural Affairs Bureau.

After Daniel took the items, Lorna prepared to mix some more Spirit Herbs to deal with demons, just in case.

After all, she remembered Ivan mentioning that one of the high-ranking demons was a female who was extremely vain.