“Have you ever heard of the ‘mothman’ rumor?”

        In the valley, there was an inn. As it was situated at the intersection of a few towns, many traveling merchants stayed at the inn. Merchants from all places often gathered at the parlor of the inn, where they exchanged information with each other. The innkeeper sometimes joined their discussion with delight. One day, the merchants sat in a circle, discussing something serious with a grim face, while the innkeeper was overhearing them...

        “I’ve heard that it brings disasters everywhere it goes; and nobody survives!”

        “I’ve seen it! Yes, it looked like a moth and brought disasters like the rumor said so! Luckily I left the town the next day so I escaped from the disaster.”

        “How lucky you are to survive!”

        “I’ve heard that Demons have raged that town and turned it into ruins...”

        “Besides, I’ve heard that anyone who sees it would be drained to death. Be careful! Maybe it’s following you...”

        “That...that can’t be!”

        “Just avoid anything that gives off light and warmth. Rumor has it that the ‘mothman’ likes to stick to something luminous.”

        The merchants kept adding a word or two into the heated discussion about the mothman rumor, but the innkeeper just smiled, shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave. He did not believe that there could be such a monstrous creature in the world; it only existed in people’s fear.

        Just then, a noisy fluttering sound came from the rooftop. It did not sound like fluttering wings of a bird, but of an insect. However, it was not possible for an ordinary insect to make such powerful sound...

        “It...It must be the mothman!” The merchant who had seen the mothman was terrified. He rushed in a panic to put out all the lights, leaving the inn in complete darkness. The merchants huddled together. Afraid of being spotted by the mothman, all that were present did not dare move, except the innkeeper. He was not afraid; he took a knife and went to the door shouting, “Humph! There is no such thing as a mothman!”

        Ignoring the merchants’ obstruction, the innkeeper walked out of the inn alone. He observed his surroundings closely, but he could not clearly see anything because of all the darkness. All of a sudden, the fluttering sound started ringing again. The innkeeper looked up to see the source of the sound and, there was — a pair of blood-red eyes staring at him! Before he could react, he was pulled up by a mighty force, and vanished into the dark night with the red-eyed creature. The merchants, who witnessed the whole tragedy, grabbed their belongings and fled the inn without a second thought.

        In a forest nearby, the innkeeper’s dried-up corpse lay still on the ground. The mothman beside the body had completely consumed its “food”. Though it wasn’t enough, the mothman could only withdraw its proboscis frustratingly. Then, someone walked toward the mothman; it immediately got down on one knee, for it sensed her mystical power.

        “How did it go? You were discovered again?”

        “Venerable Samael, I apologize for my carelessness.”

        “Never mind. He has died anyway. Based on your observation, is anything special there?”

        “Nothing special. It is not worthy of our attention.”

        “What a pity. I was even planning to test my new weapons using the people there...Forget about it. Observe other towns and report their situations to me.”

        With a gust of wind blowing down from the sky, the mothman started fluttering its wings. It flew speedily and disappeared into the distance in a flash. As Samael’s “eyes”, it roamed about the villages and towns to spot enemies’ weaknesses for Demons, and to find experiment subjects for Samael...
