Nanjō Emi

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Nanjō Emi (南条爱实)
Alias(es)	Work to Death (online alias)
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Special Affairs Division; Nanjō family; Hokkaido Special Affairs Division
Occupation/Role	Onmyoji; Onmyo Great Administrator of Hokkaido
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 3

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Onmyoji / Onmyo Junior Official	3	Operates as an experienced Special Affairs Division Onmyoji in Arakawa Ward.
Four-Star · Ghost God	110	Breaks through while addressing Arakawa Ward during the First Wave; frames the extraordinary as a source of hope and urges civilians to grow stronger.
Onmyo Great Administrator	338	Promoted to lead Hokkaido’s Special Affairs Division, skipping two organizational ranks. This is a political appointment rather than a documented realm advancement.

Background

Emi is a member of the ancient Nanjō family and is known as its Divine Child and Chosen One. Her family expected her from childhood to eradicate demons and uphold justice, an obligation that gradually made her resent Onmyōjutsu, demons, Tokoyo, and the destiny imposed upon her 281 455 460.

Her personal dream was never greatness: she wanted an ordinary, peaceful life—“to eat well, grow up well, live well, and then die well.” Before Shizuma Mafuyu’s death, Emi had already spent five years as an Onmyoji and had watched colleagues, subordinates, and superiors die repeatedly 104 460.

She joined the Special Affairs Division and initially served in Arakawa Ward as an Onmyo Junior Official. Even early in her career, she accepted responsibility for investigating the Friendship Club case and used Hasegawa Ken as bait rather than exposing uninvolved civilians 3 7.

Appearance

Emi is an adult woman with neat short hair, iron-colored eyes, and a professional office-worker appearance. She commonly wears a meticulous Special Affairs Division outfit: a white shirt, black tie, ID badge, and suit trousers 3 104.

• Usually maintains a blank or restrained expression in public.
• Frequently carries cigarettes, a lighter, and an ID badge.
• Wears practical work clothes even in dangerous supernatural incidents.
• In Hokkaido, she is seen in a blood-stained white suit and dark red-and-black leather gloves while conducting her purge 339.
• During the Black Box sequence, she appears in the body of a young child after her village is destroyed 434.

Personality

Emi presents herself as calm, capable, and dependable. Her arrival during the Friendship Club incident immediately reassures Uesugi Tetsu and Ririko, and she consistently maintains a composed professional persona around other officials and civilians 3 32.

Off duty, she is markedly more casual. She drinks heavily, smokes, plays games, jokes with colleagues, and treats exorcism work as no different from ordinary office labor. Her stated life motto is to do only what one can within one’s capabilities, then rest properly afterward 50 57 279.

Despite this apparent detachment, Emi is deeply protective of subordinates and civilians. She opposes sending minor organizations into deadly situations, arranges resources for promising young Onmyoji, and repeatedly warns Uesugi not to risk his life unnecessarily 93 114 137.

Mafuyu’s death exposes the anger beneath her restraint. Emi becomes willing to use ruthless methods against Ai Bielie, negligent officials, and supernatural collaborators, viewing the old political order as an obstacle to protecting people 104 106 339.

Abilities & Skills

Onmyōjutsu

Emi is an exceptionally skilled Onmyoji whose techniques range from practical concealment spells to large-scale combat and containment.

• Uses cognitive-interference Onmyōjutsu to avoid recognition in public places 151.
• Casts Water Style: Blood Burst Art against Ai Bielie 106.
• Can rapidly suppress or incapacitate hostile operatives through overwhelming spiritual pressure 109.
• Constructed a ward-wide Kikyō-pattern barrier over Arakawa, marking tens of thousands of Ai Bielie’s Seeds at once 105.
• Her spiritual fluctuations can sever the observing thoughts of hundreds or thousands of distant onlookers simultaneously 281.

Imperial Spirit Technique

Emi possesses extraordinary mastery of the Imperial Spirit Technique, a Nanjō family art normally forbidden to outsiders.

• Secretly taught the incomplete technique to Uesugi Tetsu online under the identity Work to Death 16 268 455.
• Used her knowledge and connections to provide Uesugi with an extreme spiritual-energy environment for his Master-level breakthrough 279.
• Can dismantle Uesugi’s Imperial Spirit Technique and Five Thunder Technique with precision 460.
• Forged Uesugi’s Myriad Spirit Cauldron directly inside his body, producing the Legendary-quality Myriad Spirit Furnace Core 319.

Ghost God Strength

After reaching the Ghost God realm, Emi becomes one of the decisive powers in the Special Affairs Division.

• Treats even the Eight Sufferings as manageable so long as they have not reached the Ghost God realm 105.
• Fights Ai Bielie’s nine-headed Great Demon form and severs one of its heads 106.
• Claims that no Ghost God surpasses her in sheer power 461.
• Eliminates Ghost Gods, Aragami, supernatural phenomena, and their human collaborators during Hokkaido’s purge 339 460.

Shikigami and Life Bond

Emi uses the rare Life Bond path with her Shikigami. Their growth is closely tied to her own breakthroughs, but harm to them inflicts severe consequences on her as well 118.

• Shadow Woman — A powerful shadow Shikigami and Emi’s “substitute”; even a partial manifestation possesses two-and-a-half-star strength 97.
• Nure-onna — Formerly a Wet Oni; reached three stars after Emi’s advancement 118.
• Hiyori Bō — A two-star Shikigami with a gentler, maternal disposition 118 160.
• Can store Shadow Woman within specially prepared Nanjō dolls for remote deployment 98.

Equipment

• Nanjō dolls — Exquisitely crafted vessels used to house and summon portions of the Shadow Woman 98.
• Shikigami summoning board — Used to coordinate and deploy her contracted Shikigami 105.
• Imperial Sword — A double-edged ceremonial sword granted by the Five Person Council, authorizing Emi to act first and report afterward during the Hokkaido purge 339.
• Special Affairs Division ID card — Provides access to restricted Division facilities 160.
• Cigarettes and windproof lighter — Constant personal items, used during breaks and missions alike 199 279.

Relationships

• Uesugi Tetsu — Subordinate, protégé, and trusted ally. Emi secretly taught him the Imperial Spirit Technique as Work to Death, provides commissions and cultivation resources, and repeatedly cautions him not to die 16 93 137 455.
• Tokugawa Ririko — Ally and one of the students Emi protects during the Friendship Club case. Ririko supports Emi after Mafuyu’s death and urges her to answer Arakawa’s call during the First Wave 3 104 110.
• Shizuma Mafuyu — Junior colleague and close follower. Emi mentors her at work and supports Mafuyu’s wish for a peaceful life; Mafuyu’s death drives Emi’s break with the existing order 32 57 104.
• Shizuma Manatsu — Subordinate and trusted assistant who handles reports and relays messages while Emi is occupied 114 159.
• Kondō Yūya — Former superior in Arakawa Ward. Emi openly reprimands him when he withholds information from victims 36.
• Shadow Woman — Long-lived contracted Shikigami with a familiar, teasing dynamic toward Emi; acts as her remote combat representative 97 98.
• Nure-onna and Hiyori Bō — Life-Bonded Shikigami whose advancement is linked to Emi’s own growth 118.
• Five Person Council — Political authority Emi challenges after the Red Tide, later receiving its support and the Imperial Sword for her Hokkaido assignment 109 110 339.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Friendship Club Incident

Emi first appears as the Special Affairs Division official who extracts Uesugi and Ririko from an abandoned campus. She initially attempts to keep the students uninvolved, but their connection to the victims forces her to provide more information 3.

Ai Bielie and the Red Tide

Emi identifies Ai Bielie as one of the Eight Sufferings, investigates its Seeds and Heart Poison, and attempts to secure support from the Five Person Council 36 58 67. After Mafuyu is killed, Emi assumes control of the Red Tide response and resolves to eliminate both Ai Bielie and officials who abandoned their responsibilities 104.

She defeats Ai Bielie alongside the wider conflict, breaks through into a Four-Star Ghost God, and publicly addresses Arakawa Ward at the arrival of the First Wave 106 110.

Reform of the Special Affairs Division

Following the First Wave, Emi establishes initiatives to prepare ordinary people for the new era, including Demon Class and resource websites for learning breathing techniques and Onmyō arts 111. She also advocates a potential-assessment system that prioritizes cultivating independent Onmyoji and swordmasters before future waves 114.

Mentor to Uesugi Tetsu

Emi repeatedly equips, advises, and advocates for Uesugi. She arranges his residence and cultivation facilities, provides Shikigami contracts, secures access to restricted resources, and helps him reach key breakthroughs in the Imperial Spirit Technique 114 137 159 279.

Hokkaido Appointment and Purge

Emi becomes Hokkaido’s Onmyo Great Administrator, receiving authority to investigate the local Special Affairs Division and government. Discovering collusion with intelligent Demons and supernatural phenomena, she conducts a complete purge and kills all involved collaborators 338 339.

Black Box Sequence

Within the Black Box’s altered Tokoyo world, Emi is reduced to a child after her village is wiped out by a Demon player. She travels with Uesugi, seeks a personal “Correct” needed to break the level-49 boundary, and later awakens after the Wandering Present World collapses 434 444.

Notable Quotes

“Do as much as you can, within your capabilities. That's my life motto!” 50

“We don't need that many people to rule the new era. Their dreams, I will fulfill them all.” 104

“Become stronger as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time.” 114

“I don't like Onmyōjutsu, and of course, I don't like Demons, Tokoyo, or anything like that.” 460

Trivia

• Emi’s online identity, Work to Death, remained unknown to Uesugi for a long period despite her teaching him the Imperial Spirit Technique through it 16 268 455.
• Her ordinary apartment and home life contrast sharply with her reputation as a Divine Child and Ghost God 318.
• Uesugi identifies an impersonator specifically because the false Emi lacks the aura of a genuinely powerful person 151.
• She is so associated with overwork that Uesugi describes her promotion to Onmyo Great Administrator as changing from a “small workhorse” into a “big workhorse” 338.