Grotesquerie

**Grotesqueries** (異形, *Igyō*?), also called **fiends** or **spirits**, are otherwordly unearthly entities that are malevolent.

## Description

Grotesqueries have plagued the country since time immemorial. Some of these beings resemble humans or animals; a few are so twisted they defy description; and still others fluidly change shape, refusing to settle on a fixed form. Unlike human beings or other living creatures that exist with souls residing in bodies, Grotesqueries are spiritual beings that only exist with souls. Because they do not have a physical body, they cannot be seen except for those with supernatural powers who are born with the ability to sense spirits or those who have the ability to see ghosts, in other words only the Gifted could see them with their Spirit-Sight. To be able to allow ordinary people to see Grotesqueries, the surest way is to give them physical form, similar to the Western concept of incarnation. Currently, some high-level Grotesqueries with powerful abilities and self-awareness that are tantamount to human beings are able to freely make their physical entity appear or disappear, and even blend into human society to live.

As these creatures are malicious to humans, they have to be exterminated. The Gifted, being the only ones to see them, possess supernatural powers to hunt them and dispatch them with supernatural attacks, which is the Grotesquerie's sole weakness. Because of this, families with Gifted people have long served as the Emperor’s retainers, and are mobilized for anti-Grotesquerie missions when needed. By ridding the land of Grotesqueries they have rosen to prominence and become long-established noble lines. Other than the families being mobilized, there is also the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, an elite squad within the Imperial Army. It has been formed to deal with supernatural incidents. All members of the unit possessed Spirit-Sight and often other paranormal powers as well, and are almost exclusively of noble birth. The headquarters of the unit lacks a protective barrier, so nonhuman entities could easily slip in. These flaws were entirely deliberate, as they turned the base into a trap where the Gifted could dispose of Grotesqueries outside the public eye.

Only creatures that are malicious to humans require extermination. All non-malevolent spirits, such as those in normal graveyards, do not, as the deceased interred there has been given proper memorial services. However, that's not the case for the Burial Grounds, a cemetery for Gift-users. As the Gifted generally possess a large amount of spiritual power and when they pass, their souls ultimately grow even stronger, which means a regular memorial service often isn't enough to put them to rest. Many Gift-users perish in battle, they are resentful and holding hatred and anguish in their hearts. If their ghosts are awakened from their slumber and set free, then there’s plenty of reason to be concerned they might direct their hatred on the general populace. To prevent that, the spirits of those Gift-users are sealed away in the Burial Grounds.

Due to Western cultural influences and the advancement of technology in the empire, more and more people are denying the existence of the Grotesqueries, whose numbers has also strangely begun to dwindle. Many people believe the Grotesqueries are illusions, figments of the imagination, which is not entirely wrong. Grotesqueries appear when people would attribute phenomenon they don't understand to monsters. If enough people dread the same thing, their combined fear has the power to physically manifest those forms. With the advent of scientific thinking, however, people begin seeking logical explanations for the world around them. Since fear of the supernatural has become less common, Grotesqueries has less to feed off.

There are several examples of humans and fiends, spirits, ghosts, and other Grotesqueries coexisting. Depending on the situation, they’d form contracts to establish a cooperative relationship. There are humans putting Grotesqueries to work for them.

As Miyo use the power of the Dream-Sight to regain Kiyoka's unconsciousness from his coma, while the retainers tried to kill him, they reported to the Emperor that Miyo is interfering as he tells the Emperor not to overexert himself, but he said that the Kudous are now unprecedented threat to them that they need to assassinate the power of Dream-Sight immediately. So he uses his power to get rid of these two, first said, "Be gone now! This is my will!" as to summon hordes of Grotesqueries, but they have been protected by a barrier. Finally, he used the Grotesquerie form of the Emperor as the Emperor said in the demonic voice, "Upon my rule, you both must die!" But Miyo use the power with Kumihimo to defeat the Emperor and his servants and the Grotesqueries "Be gone!" The Grotesquerie form of the Emperor have been destroyed, as the flame killed the Emperor and his servants by Miyo.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5  Novel, Volume 1 Chapter 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1  Novel, Volume 2 Chapter 1
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1  Novel, Volume 5 Chapter 4
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1  Novel, Volume 1 Chapter 2
5. ↑  Novel, Volume 1 Chapter 5
6. ↑  Novel, Volume 1 Chapter 3
7. ↑  Novel, Volume 3 Chapter 3
8. ↑  Anime, Episode 12