Demon Declaration

"Classes during the day, work at night. My life is over."

Toyokawa Jousei sat on the grass, grumbling.

"Your nighttime training is to improve your combat strength, and your field assignments were agreed upon in the contract long ago." Noguchi Yuji looked up at the sky, where a faint blue glow still lingered, and showed no mercy with his words.

Toyokawa pouted. "I'm telling you, don't let those old bastards lay a hand on Nanako. I'll throw their whole families into Tokyo Bay if you do."

"Hoshino's agency already knows your identity. They wouldn't dare offend someone as extraordinary as you. From now on, a single word from Hoshino Nanako might carry more weight than one from their boss, so you don't need to worry."

Noguchi paused. "Try to have a child with Hoshino Nanako as soon as possible. We'll see if extraordinary abilities can be passed down through bloodlines."

Toyokawa nearly gaped at him.

"I'm only fifteen! Nanako's only eighteen!"

Noguchi's expression didn't change. "You should know that certain laws can be handled differently in your case."

Toyokawa fell silent. "I don't want my child to become a test subject like Aunt Kobayashi."

Noguchi said nothing. Meanwhile, a figure in the sky had already been spotted approaching.

"Target approaching. Stay alert." Noguchi signaled to Toyokawa. It would be a waste not to use his ability in negotiations. It was just too good for keeping him alive.

"The Saintess is back!"

"Thank goodness. Demons really can't hurt the Saintess."

As soon as Inagaki landed, the two fellow believers sprang to their feet and congratulated her excitedly. Neither of them had even been online, yet they acted as if they had witnessed everything firsthand, utterly convinced.

"We still have to remain vigilant. There are many more cunning demons lurking all around us, watching us." Inagaki cautioned the believers.

"Understood. We'll stay alert."

"By the way, Saintess, look. These people just arrived. I don't think they mean well."

As they spoke, Noguchi Yuji walked up to within about three meters of Inagaki, with Toyokawa Jousei beside him.

"Hello, I'm Noguchi Yuji from the Special Incident Countermeasures Bureau's Operations Division. This is Toyokawa Jousei. Could we talk about the demons?"

Inagaki studied the two of them carefully. After confirming that neither had the aura of a demon, she nodded. "All right. We have a common enemy."

Half an hour later, after finishing her meal and changing clothes, Inagaki came to a small conference room in the hospital. Three cups of tea sat on the table.

"Ms. Inagaki, may I ask if you know about the Flame Giant incident that happened a while ago?"

"It was reported on the television in the cafeteria."

"Do you know or have you ever met Ito Seigo?"

"No."

"Have you heard of the Holy Infant Society or the Holy Son Pill?"

"No."

"Pardon me for asking, Ms. Inagaki, which religion are you a Saintess of?"

"The Supreme."

"What kind of church is it?"

"The Supreme exists in every one of our hearts. It is the only divine power in this world capable of resisting demons. Without the Supreme in their hearts, people's bodies are easily corrupted or even taken over by demons. So, strictly speaking, the Supreme isn't a church. Everyone should hold the Supreme in their hearts. That's the only way to ensure demons don't disturb them."

"Then... aren't you calling yourself a Saintess to attract believers?"

"I've never called myself a Saintess. They have difficulty understanding the world, so I went along with what they believed. As long as the Supreme takes root in their hearts, the process doesn't matter. Don't you know this is a psychiatric hospital?"

Noguchi almost choked on her retort. But when he'd just asked which religion's Saintess she was, she hadn't denied being one. Had she taken him for a mental patient too?

"Then where does your power come from?"

"The Supreme bestowed the Saintess Fruit upon me. After I ate it, I became the new Saintess and gained the power to destroy evil."

Listening beside them, Toyokawa more or less understood. She hadn't originally been a Saintess, but because everyone around her was mentally ill, they thought she was one. She hadn't denied it, and had used the opportunity to spread belief in the Supreme. But today, the Supreme had manifested and bestowed the Saintess Fruit upon her, officially making her a Saintess and granting her the power to destroy demons.

The room where Inagaki was being held was under strict supervision and had a security camera. Noguchi Yuji had watched the footage long ago and found that the camera had been deliberately turned off for a period of time that evening. So her story lined up with the timing.

There was no doubt that this so-called Supreme was most likely another extraordinary being who had descended from a high-energy plane.

But had that extraordinary being planned things out in advance with Inagaki, or had it disguised itself as the so-called Supreme in response to her situation?

He'd wondered the same thing about the Holy Infant Society, but Nakai Hayato hadn't been captured, leaving the question unanswered. Now there was no chance Nakai Hayato would cooperate and explain things to them. Still, based on the testimonies they'd previously obtained from some Holy Infant Cult followers, Noguchi was more inclined to think the extraordinary beings from those high-energy planes had disguised themselves to fit the circumstances.

Damn it, why was Earth as full of holes as a sieve? Outsiders kept coming and going. Wasn't there some legendary Gaia consciousness to resist or suppress them?

Or was this what things looked like after they'd already been suppressed?

The more Noguchi Yuji thought about it, the more his head hurt. He'd leave those questions to the specialists at the bureau.

He continued asking questions. Inagaki never went off topic and was instead very cooperative, sharing everything she knew.

She was the most cooperative extraordinary being Noguchi Yuji had ever met.

Based on Inagaki's explanations and demonstrations, Noguchi tentatively named her two abilities "Telekinesis" and "Evil Detection." As for her weakness, it seemed that anyone who broke through the limits of her telekinesis could injure her body.

[Hand of Consciousness]

It materializes the power of consciousness, allowing the user to manipulate objects in various ways. It can also be applied to the user herself.

[Demon Declaration]

Every "existence" is affected by the malice of living beings. When the malice accumulated by an "existence" exceeds a certain limit, and "you" firmly believe that this existence is an utterly heinous demon, you can declare it a demon. This existence will turn into a demon according to the amount of malice it has accumulated and condense a demon soul, retaining only the instinct to slaughter living beings. If its accumulated malice has not exceeded the limit, the one making the declaration will suffer the backlash of its malice.

After spending some time getting the hang of them, Shiraishi Wataru summed up the explanations of the two abilities. What caught his attention most was the word "existence."

What counted as an "existence"? A rock, a tree, a river, or even a storm—could all of them be called existences?

A vague consciousness told Shiraishi Wataru that his idea was right.

This was probably the most terrifying ability he had obtained so far.