Evil Spirit Consultant

Chapter 45 Demon Classification
"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Casually putting the tablet back under the table, Yokota Masakazu asked his son while processing the documents.

Yokota Teru then remembered what he had just wanted to do and immediately rushed to the table:

"Dad, it's bad! The sacred objects enshrined in the Hitomaru Shrine have disappeared!"

"Call me Chief Priest in the shrine! I thought it was something else, but that sacred tool was taken by Elder Yokota to suppress demons."

Compared to his son's panic, Yokota Masakawa Miyaji seemed quite calm.

"Elder Yokota...Grandpa?" Yokota Teru was stunned. "Even Grandpa needs to use a divine tool to suppress him. What kind of monster did he encounter?"

Yokota Masaharu and Miyaji shook their heads: "I'm not sure about this either. I heard from the elders that it's a special-grade evil ghost. Due to special circumstances, it's stuck on the line of transformation, so it can only be suppressed in this way."

"A special-grade evil ghost?! Or a special-grade evil ghost that's about to turn into a monster!" Yokota Teru couldn't help but gasp.

The classification of evil spirits in Japan is based on the hierarchy of shrine priests, from low to high, they are level three, level two, level one and special level.

A level three evil ghost cannot even be called an evil ghost. It can only be considered a ghost, a soul that has just been separated from a human body. Even sunlight can cause great harm to it, and it has no ability to harm people.

Basically no one can see it except those who are born with strong clairvoyance.

Going further up, once the ghost itself condenses the black ghost power, it can be promoted to level two.

The distinction between level 50 and level evil ghosts mainly depends on the coverage rate of ghost power. If the ghost power covers more than % of the body surface, it can be called a level evil ghost.

Under normal circumstances, evil spirits in these two stages do not pose much threat to ordinary people. However, if an unlucky person is weak or on the verge of death and his "spiritual vision" suddenly increases, and he sees the figure of the evil spirit, he may be harmed by it.

Under normal circumstances, the exorcism commissions received by the shrine are all about dealing with these two levels of evil spirits, and the clients are usually hospitals or some elderly people who are too old but rich.

And going further up, when the dark ghost power spreads throughout the evil ghost's body and dyes it pure black, the evil ghost's level reaches the special level.

Special-grade evil ghosts have the ability to actively harm people. Even a strong young man will become weak after being infiltrated by the ghost power of a special-grade evil ghost for a long time.

The worst outcome is that one's clairvoyance improves, and one becomes able to see ghosts clearly, becomes connected to them, and ultimately causes one's own death.

There are actually quite a few special-grade evil spirits in Japan, but generally speaking, there are no reports of special-grade evil spirits harming people.

Once an evil ghost reaches the special level, its own consciousness will be completely consumed by the excessive ghost power, and it will eventually become an unconscious spirit that can only wander around, and will naturally dissipate with the passage of time.

On the other hand, if the evil spirit can maintain its own will after entering the special level, it will cause a huge disaster.

As for those above the special grade, evil spirits can eventually evolve into monsters or demons after the step of "transformation into a demon".

In terms of difficulty, monsters are easier to deal with than special-level evil spirits.

Because the monsters have their own bodies, although their strength has greatly increased, they can also be harmed by real matter. In other words, priests or exorcists can use spells, spiritual tools, or even hot weapons to directly harm them.

But evil spirits are different. Even after they establish contact with humans, the confrontation between them is only a struggle between ghost power and the origin of life.

Things like talismans, spells, and even spiritual weapons essentially use spiritual power as energy, converting it into other substances and energy to cause damage.

Although these things have strong destructive power, they are already at the "physical" level and cannot cause harm to evil spirits.

Although priests, demon hunters, onmyojis, and wizards possess extraordinary powers, when faced with evil spirits they can only use pure spiritual power and their own vitality to fight back.

Because of this characteristic of evil ghosts, people privately call them cultivation detectors.

Generally speaking, as the previous chief priest of Sumiyoshi Shrine, although Yokota Teru's grandfather's vitality has declined due to old age and physical frailty, his spiritual power is extremely high. Under normal circumstances, he should have no problem fighting multiple special-grade evil spirits alone.

However, if it is a special-grade evil ghost that is stuck on the line of transformation into a demon, it is not certain. No one knows how much ghost power such an evil ghost has stored. Even the previous chief priest may be powerless.

"No wonder grandpa had to use the magic tool. He happened to encounter an evil ghost of that level." Yokota Teru was still a little frightened. If he encountered a monster like that, he would probably be killed in an instant by the huge ghost power.

Under normal circumstances, humans can only rely on their own cultivation and vitality to fight against evil spirits, but there are also abnormal situations, that is, "divine tools".

Of course, this is what the shrine says. Buddhists call it a Dharma tool, Onmyojis and exorcists call it a cursed tool, and as for ninjas and samurai... the opinions of those barbarians are not important.

Sacred tools are not man-made, but special instruments that are naturally born due to various coincidences. According to the research of those Onmyojis, the birth of sacred tools is likely to come from the gathering of many single emotions.

This is exactly the same as the process of an evil ghost transforming into a monster, which means that the divine tool can be completely regarded as a monster without consciousness.

Of course, the shrine does not admit this statement. According to the priests, sacred tools are instruments bestowed by gods.

In short, because they have some characteristics of evil spirits and monsters, sacred tools are also one of the very few things that can directly cause harm to evil spirits.

"That's not right!" Yokota Teru suddenly realized, "Who is the client on the other side? He actually wants to use a divine tool!"

Because their creation is full of accidents, the number of sacred instruments is extremely rare. Even a top shrine like Sumiyoshi Shrine has only nine sacred instruments passed down through hundreds of years.

Each sacred tool is enshrined in a shrine, so in addition to the main shrine of the Sumiyoshi Three Gods, Sumiyoshi Shrine also enshrines two "Shesha" and six "Suisha".

It can be said that sacred objects are precious property second only to the shrine, and people generally do not dare to use them at will.

Yokota Masaharu glanced at his son and said, "Use your brain. Would your grandfather do anything for an ordinary person?! The client was Miyoshi Real Estate. Although it was only a branch in Fukuoka and the compensation was not much, the head office had just given a donation of 100 million yen during the New Year. So your grandfather had no choice but to pay a little."

"So you're a big customer. That's okay." Yokota Teru nodded in understanding.

(Added update today, there will be another chapter later.)
(End of this chapter)