Shiraishi Wataru

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shiraishi Wataru (白石航)
Alias(es)	Holy Infant; Ninth Guardian; The Faker; Black Dragon; Host of Parasites; Society President
Species/Race	Human transmigrator 1
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Holy Infant Society — founder, controller, and primary experimenter 8 16
Occupation/Role	Mastermind behind supernatural incidents; parasite researcher; creator of fabricated “Descender” lore 29 30
Status	Active 49 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Parasitism and Symbiosis	1	Awakens the ability to produce thumb-sized parasites weekly; after a target ingests one, he may parasitize or form a symbiotic link with them.
Super Strength and Rigid Body	1	Receives feedback from a mutated cat’s symbiosis, gaining strength sufficient to lift a car and a body hardened enough to withstand the recoil of that strength.
Regeneration	8	Acquires Regeneration after Sato Tomomi mutates it; it restores injuries but does not directly improve defense against overwhelming force.
Offense-Defense Integration	12	Uses Nakai Hayato’s mutation through a directly controlled body, combining and improving Super Strength and Steel Body to a level capable of threatening armored vehicles.
Listen	19	Gains a sensory ability that interprets creature communication within ten kilometers, including the range surrounding linked symbiotes.
Void Walk	20	Gains phasing and damage immunity by entering the gap between reality and illusion; can be maintained for roughly a dozen hours.
Alienation	20	Gains the ability to remodel flesh into monstrous or disguised forms, provided the body has sufficient durability.
Combustion and Firework Knight access	23–24	Gains access to Ito Seigo’s flame-based mutation and can negate Firework Knight’s emotional side effects, though the form has extreme energy consumption.
Hand of Consciousness and Demon Declaration	36–38	Obtains telekinetic manipulation and the ability to turn sufficiently malicious “existences” into demons.
Injury Aura application	41, 49	Learns to use a flock-based injury-sharing ability; later employs it as part of the false “Holy Light” effects used by his angelic persona.

Background / History

Shiraishi Wataru is a transmigrator who initially considered himself an insignificant “ordinary person” rather than a protagonist. He lived cautiously, avoiding attention while his older brother paid his utilities and left him their parents’ house. During this period, Wataru began studying the Parasitism and Symbiosis powers that appeared after his transmigration. 1

His early experiments established the foundation of the Holy Infant Society. By placing parasites in selected people and presenting their effects as “Holy Son Pills,” he gathered data on compatibility between abilities such as Super Strength and Steel Body. The Sato couple became major test subjects: Wataru remotely observed Sato Gafeng’s murderous loss of control, Sato Tomomi’s adaptation, and the emergence of Regeneration. 3 5 6 8

Wataru operated through disposable identities and controlled bodies, most notably the Holy Infant and the Ninth Guardian. He treated the society as a tool for testing the world’s response to superhuman incidents, withdrawing or dissolving parasites when evidence risked leading back to him. 2 8 10

After the Holy Infant Society drew the attention of Japanese authorities and foreign powers, Wataru shifted from secrecy toward controlled cooperation. While posing as the Holy Infant, he fabricated a cosmology of high- and low-energy worlds, “Descenders,” Pioneers, treasures, and inheritances. The fiction gave human organizations a motive to negotiate with his society while obscuring his actual role as the source of the phenomena. 13 14 29 31

His later work expanded into animal mutation trials, the cultivation of potential symbiote hosts, and the creation of supernatural factions that appeared independent of one another. He created The Faker as a hostile, chaos-loving Descender persona, used Inagaki Miki to establish the Saintess narrative, and released or engineered demons to generate further data. 29 33 34 38

In New York, Wataru used Alienation to travel under a false identity while leaving a parasitized substitute at home. He then used The Faker to issue a Demon Declaration against the Statue of Liberty, transforming the city into another large-scale experiment involving the Black Dragon, the false Archangel Michael, and a newly born demon. 42 45 48 49 50

Personality

Wataru is intensely cautious and survival-oriented. Even after acquiring formidable abilities, he prefers proxies, misleading identities, remote observation, and plausible deniability over exposing his true body. He deliberately feeds authorities incomplete or fabricated information so their investigations will move away from his actual methods. 1 6 13 14

He approaches people, animals, and institutions as experimental material. The Satos’ deaths, Nakai Hayato’s development, Ito Seigo’s breakdown, animal predation trials, and demon outbreaks are all treated as opportunities to collect mutation data. He is generally indifferent to the suffering produced by these experiments and considers failed subjects expendable. 5 8 29 33 41

Despite this cruelty, Wataru can be selectively considerate when it suits his interests or personal feelings. He gives Ito Seigo Conceal to help him evade attention, values Nakai after recognizing his adaptability, and helps Jennifer Miller obtain money and an opportunity to escape her circumstances without immediately exploiting her desperation. 12 24 44

Wataru also enjoys performance and manipulation. He takes particular amusement in speaking cryptically as the Holy Infant, building false mythologies around the Faker and the Pioneer’s inheritance, and staging battles whose apparent supernatural effects are often fabricated through layered abilities. 30 31 49

Abilities & Skills

Parasitism and Symbiosis

Wataru can produce parasites and make hosts ingest them. He may establish symbiosis, granting or sharing abilities, or directly parasitize and control a body.

• Produces a limited number of thumb-sized parasites each week; output depends on nutrition. 1
• Can observe hosts through symbiotic links and receive newly mutated abilities as feedback. 6 8
• Can dissolve parasites, revoke granted power, or remove evidence before a host is examined. 6 8 10
• Parasites possess internal camouflage, making them difficult to detect without harming the host. 10
• Symbiotic hosts operate abilities at roughly 70–80% efficiency and require time to master them. 12
• Bodies directly controlled by parasites can use their abilities at full output. 12

Ability Bestowal and Side-Effect Negation

Wataru can use parasite-based “Holy Son Pills” to grant selected abilities and adaptations to recipients.

• Has bestowed Steel Body, Super Strength, Regeneration, and other powers through Holy Son Pills. 3 11 38
• Can use parasites to suppress the negative side effects of abilities within himself. 24
• Adaptation varies heavily by host; physical fitness alone does not determine compatibility. 3 11
• Pure Super Strength can amplify rage and lead to loss of control. 6
• He can force adaptations temporarily, though such subjects may be unstable or expendable. 11

Super Strength, Rigid Body, and Regeneration

Wataru possesses and can distribute a physical enhancement set built around strength, durability, and recovery.

• Super Strength — allows lifting an ordinary car and delivering destructive force far beyond normal human limits. 1
• Rigid Body / Steel Body — increases the density of skin, bones, and muscles, preventing the user from injuring themselves with their own strength. 1
• Regeneration — rapidly restores wounds and increases endurance, but does not prevent lethal damage from sufficiently powerful explosives. 8
• Offense-Defense Integration — a mutation that combines and improves Super Strength and Steel Body. Through a directly controlled body, Wataru considers it capable of destroying a tank with one punch. 12

Listen

Listen allows Wataru to hear and broadly understand the communications of creatures within an enormous area.

• Covers a ten-kilometer radius around Wataru and around each of his symbiotic links. 19
• Can interpret the general intent of animal and human communications. 19
• Initially overwhelms him with noise; he learned to lower volume, identify direction, and filter by species or content. 19
• He monitors mentions of “Holy Infant” and his own name as keywords. 19
• Enables him to evade non-homing military projectiles by detecting attacks in advance. 48

Void Walk

Void Walk allows Wataru to phase between reality and illusion.

• Lets him pass through physical objects. 20
• Renders him immune to ordinary damage while active. 20
• His own use can last around a dozen hours, though inexperienced hosts may only sustain it for less than half an hour. 20
• Spatial distortion is implied to be a potential countermeasure. 20

Alienation

Alienation reshapes the user’s body through imagination and biological mass.

• Can transform a host into monstrous forms, including giant beasts and the Black Dragon. 20 48
• Can alter appearance for infiltration or disguise, including impersonating another person or recreating the statue of Michael. 20 42 45
• Requires Steel Body or Offense-Defense Integration; an unreinforced body cannot endure the restructuring process. 20
• Produces black biological material used by the Black Dragon, though Wataru admits its apparent debuff effect was staged. 49

Combustion and Firework Knight

Through Ito Seigo’s mutation, Wataru can manipulate flames and access the Firework Knight state.

• Combustion — controls flames; fire does not accidentally harm the user or their clothing, and greater nearby fuel increases the scale and power of the blaze. 23
• Firework Knight — amplifies Combustion tenfold, elementalizes the body into fire, grants immunity to physical attacks, and allows movement to flames within one hundred meters. 23
• Wataru can enter Firework Knight without surrendering to negative emotions by using parasites to negate its side effects. 24
• The state consumes immense energy and cannot be sustained for long. 24

Hand of Consciousness

Hand of Consciousness manifests telekinetic force.

• Manipulates objects through projected consciousness. 36
• Can be applied to the user’s own body. 36
• Wataru uses it to drag, restrain, and violently crush targets during his demon experiments. 38

Demon Declaration

Demon Declaration judges an “existence” and, if its accumulated malice passes a threshold, transforms it into a demon.

• The resulting demon condenses a demon soul and becomes driven by an instinct to slaughter life. 36
• The ability can target more than living beings; Wataru recognizes that objects, locations, and natural phenomena may also qualify as “existences.” 36 42
• If the target’s malice is insufficient, the declarer suffers backlash from that malice. 36
• Wataru can use parasites to block backlash and does not require the same subjective conviction as Inagaki Miki. 38
• He used it against yakuza members and later against the Statue of Liberty. 38 45

Injury Aura

Injury Aura is a group-support ability obtained from a mutated sheep.

• Redistributes damage among members of the same species and can soothe them. 41
• Its effectiveness scales with the number and durability of nearby allies. 41
• Its range is limited, making it less useful to Wataru than Void Walk in direct combat. 41
• Wataru later uses it to create the apparent “Holy Light” effects of his Michael persona. 49

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Holy Son Pills — parasite-based pills used to grant abilities and recruit Holy Infant Society members. 3 41
• Saintess Fruit — a parasite altered through Alienation and presented to Inagaki Miki as a divine fruit. 34
• Controlled vessels — the Holy Infant, Ninth Guardian, The Faker, and other parasitized bodies used to act without exposing his true identity. 2 12 29
• Two purchased katanas — wielded by the Ninth Guardian during the logistics park breakout. 12

Relationships

• Unnamed older brother — Wataru’s elder brother supports him financially by paying his utilities and leaves him their deceased parents’ house. 1
• Nakai Hayato — early Holy Infant Society operative and experimental subject. Wataru initially views him as disposable, then begins valuing his unusually broad adaptation potential. 11 12
• Sato Gafeng and Sato Tomomi — unwilling test subjects whose adaptations to Super Strength and Regeneration provide Wataru with critical early data. 5 6 8
• One-Eye — mutated cat whose symbiosis contributes to Wataru’s early growth; shares the exclusive Listen ability with him. 1 19
• Major William — negotiator and investigator who deals directly with Wataru’s Holy Infant persona. Wataru considers him a promising experimental subject. 13 31
• Ito Seigo — carefully selected symbiote host whose extreme remorse produces Combustion and Firework Knight. Wataru is disappointed by Ito’s initial reluctance to use his powers. 23 24
• Inagaki Miki — psychiatric patient selected as a symbiote host and installed as the Saintess; she receives the mission to exterminate demons. 33 34
• Ryomiya Hirosue — Holy Infant Society member and Wataru’s assistant in animal experimentation and deployment. 37 38
• The Faker — a fabricated supernatural entity designed and controlled by Wataru to act as an independent hostile faction. 29 30
• Jennifer Miller — New York guide and companion. Wataru provides luxury lodging, cash, and an opportunity to leave her troubled home life. 43 44 45

Story Role / Major Arcs

Holy Infant Society Experiments

Wataru begins his active operations by investigating a suspicious organization, establishing the Holy Infant persona, and using parasites as “Holy Son Pills.” His experiments on the Satos cause the subway massacre and police-station disaster that first expose supernatural abilities to public authorities. 1 5 6 8

Logistics Park Breakout

Operating the Ninth Guardian, Wataru assists Nakai Hayato’s escape, takes Major William hostage, and demonstrates the destructive potential of Offense-Defense Integration. The incident pushes governments and conglomerates to take the Holy Infant Society seriously. 12 13

Fabricated Descender Lore

While the Holy Infant is held in a secure facility, Wataru invents the high-energy-plane explanation for his powers. He later expands the fiction with the Faker, Pioneers, the Wheel of Wisdom, and inheritable “treasures” to manipulate human factions into cooperation. 13 14 29 31

Mutation Research Expansion

Wataru broadens his experiments through animal arenas, surveillance via Listen, and symbiote hosts selected for extreme emotional states. Ito Seigo’s transformation into the Fire Giant confirms Wataru’s theory that intense remorse and psychological collapse can trigger powerful mutations. 20 23 29 30

Saintess and Demon Experiments

Wataru recruits Inagaki Miki as the Saintess, gains Demon Declaration, and begins forcing criminals into demonic transformations. The resulting demon outbreaks create a crisis that further pressures authorities to organize supernatural response units. 33 34 38 39 40

New York Incident

Traveling to America under an Alienation disguise, Wataru declares the Statue of Liberty a demon. He stages a conflict between the Black Dragon and a false Archangel Michael while allowing the United States military to become responsible for confronting the transformed statue. 42 45 48 49 50