Chapter 9: The Resurging Anomalies
Miko pursed her lips nervously, staring at the distant "Door." She felt as though the blood in her veins had frozen in an instant.
"No, no, no, no..."
She murmured continuously to herself. Beads of fine, fragrant sweat seeped from her forehead, and her shoulders trembled uncontrollably. Her golden pupils revealed a look of profound terror.
"How can... such a thing exist in this world..."
Miko finally understood why Yoru reacted so calmly when facing evil spirits.
All the twisted, terrifying spirits she had ever seen combined were far less terrifying than the aura emanating from this "Door" before her.
This kind of thing simply shouldn't exist in this world.
Even just looking at it from a distance, Miko felt as if her very soul was being sucked in.
Watching her expression, Yoru didn't rush to speak. He waited until her emotions had settled slightly before smiling and explaining.
"According to my investigation over this period, there is more than one such Door in Kyoto."
"The influence brought about by the Door is simple: it strengthens the power of evil spirits and ghosts in the surrounding area, making them more violent and increasing their desire to attack humans."
"As for the range of influence, the smallest is only a few hundred meters, while the largest I've seen covers a diameter of about three kilometers."
Hearing Yoru's explanation, Miko took a deep breath, her eyes heavy with gravity.
"You mean, as long as a Door exists, the surrounding spirits will continue to grow stronger? And even ordinary ghosts that were originally harmless to humans will be affected and gradually turn into evil spirits that attack people?"
"Yeah, but it's more than just that."
Yoru nodded slightly and continued to add.
"You should have noticed by now that for those who cannot see them, the harm caused by evil spirits is very limited. At most, they possess humans, causing their luck to worsen, their thinking to become clouded, or their emotional control to deteriorate."
At this point, Yoru changed the subject.
"However, under the influence of the Door, the power of evil spirits goes beyond that."
"Aside from what you saw earlier—the ability to disguise themselves as humans to deceive special humans like you—they can also cause people to fall into a coma instantly. And a very few powerful ones..."
Yoru looked straight into Miko's eyes. The smile on his face vanished as he enunciated every word clearly.
"...can even possess a human body and control that person's every action."
Hearing this, Miko's pupils constricted in shock, and she muttered to herself.
"That is simply... too terrifying."
She immediately understood the magnitude of the danger these so-called "Doors" posed if what Yoru said was true.
Leaving aside possession and controlling human actions, just the ability to make people fall into a coma instantly was bad enough.
For example:
If a spirit made a bus driver fall into a coma while driving, then what would happen next...
Miko didn't dare to imagine such a scene.
Thinking of this, her heart grew incredibly heavy, and she asked softly.
"Is there any way to make these Doors disappear?"
"Of course there is a way..."
Before Yoru could finish, Miko seemed to have a lightbulb moment and exclaimed.
"Oh right, you can eat the Door, right?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as these words left her mouth, she saw Yoru staring at her like she was an idiot. She felt a bit awkward and asked:
"Um... did I say something wrong?"
"I can see you really do have some issues in the head."
Yoru rolled his eyes and pointed at the distant "Door."
"Please take a closer look. Although that thing can affect evil spirits, it's made of wood. You want me to gnaw on raw wood? You might as well go find someone on America's Got Talent; they should have professionals for that sort of thing."
Miko smiled awkwardly, her eyes revealing a clear and innocent stupidity.
"Then what should we do?"
"Burn it with fire."
Yoru replied calmly, then shrugged.
"But I didn't bring any tools today. I just brought you here to take a look. We'll talk about it later."
"Okay, let's talk about it later."
Once they left the alley and returned to the bustling street, standing under the warm early spring sunshine, Miko finally felt her mood relax a bit.
She stole a glance at Yoru's profile and asked in a small voice.
"By the way... why are you telling me all this?"
Before Yoru could speak, Miko waved her hands repeatedly to explain, as if afraid he might misunderstand something.
"Of course, it's not that I'm unwilling to help you. If it's really as you say, the Doors will indeed bring great harm."
"But as you saw today, aside from being able to see those things, I don't have any special abilities."
"To be honest, I don't feel I can be of any help to you. If anything, I'll just be a burden."
Hearing Miko's words, Yoru simply nodded.
"The current you is indeed useless."
Miko was stunned for a moment, then pouted. I know I said I'd be a burden, but that's one thing.
According to common sense, shouldn't you comfort me a little at a time like this?
To say it so bluntly... it's kind of embarrassing.
"However."
Noticing the dim light in Miko's eyes, Yoru smiled and said.
"If you want to possess the ability to fight against evil spirits, I have a way."
"Eh, really!?"
Miko was startled, but clearly didn't quite believe Yoru's claim.
Since she started seeing evil spirits and ghosts, she had thought of many methods and visited many so-called famous spirit mediums. She had bought countless protective charms, bracelets, prayer beads, and the like.
The result was that aside from making her—who didn't have much allowance to begin with—even poorer, they had absolutely no effect.
And now Yoru was saying he could give her the ability to fight evil spirits?
Miko found it truly hard to believe.
Seeing her skeptical look, Yoru yawned and explained with a lazy expression.
"First, let me ask you a question. Setting aside the special influence of the Doors, under what circumstances can evil spirits directly cause harm to humans?"
Miko replied carefully.
"Is it... when they know that humans can see them?"
"Correct."
Yoru nodded, then asked again.
"You saw the scene where I fought the evil spirit this morning."
Miko thought to herself: Can that be called a fight?
Wouldn't calling it unilateral abuse be more appropriate?
Of course, she couldn't voice the retort in her heart, so she just nodded obediently.
"Then following this logic, in a situation where both sides can see each other, is it only the evil spirit that can unilaterally harm the human?"
Miko froze for a moment, murmuring.
"Could it be?"
Yoru spoke nonchalantly.
"In other words."
"Do you think the thing that truly caused damage to the evil spirit this morning was the peach wood dagger and silver nails, or was it me holding the weapons?"