Centipede Spirit

The Centipede Spirit is the deity that watches over and protects the Downtown area of Town In Yomawari: Night Alone. It later makes a reappearance in Yomawari: Midnight Shadows.

## Appearance

It takes the form of a large and long centipede. It has countless legs with black and red stripes. Its long body is composed of black segments that covers all of the Shopping District in the Downtown area. Its head is a monstrous red centipede head that consists of large horns on its eyelid, two large claws on the sides of its head, and large jaws for a mouth.

## Mythology and Theories

The Centipede Spirit is based on the yokai called Ōmukade, a giant centipede that lived in the mountains near lake Biwa.

The Centipede Spirit is possibly one of the more modern Spirits created and worshiped by the people. It came to being probably around the time the Downtown area of Town was built, as its temple was probably built at that time because the people needed a god to watch over their Town. It is responsible of protecting the Downtown area from disaster and evil Spirits, the latter being creatures like the Hungry Ghosts, Shadowmen, and the Original Mr. Raw Head and its Mr. Raw Head minions.

## Plot

### Chapter 5: Late at Night

While the Protagonist was searching for her sister for the fourth time, she followed a Hand Spirit into the Downtown. There, the Hand Spirits destroyed the piles of Salt that protected that area, causing the Hungry Ghosts to attack the place. The Centipede Spirit thought that the girl was somehow responsible for bringing the Hand Spirits and causing them to remove the protection from the Downtown. Enraged, it used the telephone booth to bring the girl to its dimension. It then tries to kill the girl, forcing her to run all over the alternate dimension. She eventually ends up in the other world's temple of the Centipede Spirit. The Spirit then traps her there and prepares to kill her. The Protagonist pleads for mercy, which eventually changed the Spirit's mind. It instead decided to make the girl replace the Salt in the Downtown area in order to get rid of the Hungry Ghosts, and even let her use the other world and its telephone booths to achieve this. Once the girl replaced all the Salt and chased away all the Hungry Ghosts, she reported to the Centipede Spirit at its temple. Though the Spirit was nowhere in sight, it gave a Red Charm and some extra Salt as thanks for resolving the problem.

### Chapter 7: Dawn

After the Protagonist saved Sis and returned home, the former learned from her sister that the Downtown area of Town will be torn down for the construction of new buildings. The Centipede Spirit's temple will also be torn down along with the Downtown area. It is unknown at the time what would become of the Centipede Spirit, once its temple is destroyed and the people who worshiped it will be forced to move out.

### In-Between "Night Alone" and "Midnight Shadows"

Two years had passed since the events in Yomawari: Night Alone. The buildings in the Downtown area has been torn down and new buildings are being constructed in the area. However, the shrine of the Centipede Spirit was torn down to the point that it is in ruins. The shrine has been let in its disrepaired state, despite no attempts to replace the shrine.

With the shrine in ruins and the worshipers forced to move away, the Centipede Spirit lost most of its powers and its size is reduced to that of the size of a normal centipede. The Protagonist still visits its shrine, but it made no appearance to her, so the Protagonist presumes the deity has disappeared from the shrine because of what happened to its shrine and its worshipers.

Furthermore, with the Salts in the Downtown removed during the reconstruction of the Downtown area and the loss of the Centipede Spirit's power to protect the Town, evil Spirits (the Original Mr. Raw Head and a group of Shadowmen) have taken over the shopping district.

### Chapter 6: Witching Hour (Midnight Shadows)

After two years, the Centipede Spirit sense a large malicious Spirit chasing Haru in the Downtown area. The deity helped her escape by leading her in the direction of its ruined shrine with the use of ringing the telephone booths throughout the Downtown area. It also tries again and again to teleport Haru into its dimension, only to keep failing because it had already lost most of its powers.

Once Haru reaches the entrance of the shrine, the Centipede Spirit appears in her path and moves into the shrine as a sign of telling her to follow it. Haru follows the small deity into the shrine, and the shrine protects Haru from the Original Mr. Raw Head with a barrier. The Spirit is eventually warded off by the shrine. The Centipede Spirit then disappears, leaving Haru to go back to her Town in order to get the letter left by Yui.

After the incident, Haru can throw Coins into the offering box of the Centipede Spirit's shrine in exchange for the Centipede Spirit to leave her Salt, which she can use against Spirits, in front of the offering box.

### Chapter 10: Dawn (Midnight Shadows)

After Haru settled the matters with Yui and the Malice, she visits the Protagonist's Town in the middle of the night and sees the Protagonist pass her by. Haru follows the Protagonist to the shrine of the Centipede Spirit. The Protagonist explains to Haru about the Centipede Spirit and what happened to the shrine and the shopping district. After the Protagonist leaves, Haru can obtain Salt in order to kill off the Shadowmen that are haunting the Downtown area. Once all of them are exorcised, Haru can return to the Centipede Spirit's shrine and see the Protagonist again. The Protagonist believes that the Centipede Spirit is pleased with Haru's work, so the Protagonist rewards her in the deity's place with a Centipede Charm and five packs of Salt. The Protagonist and Haru then go their separate ways.

## Gallery

The Centipede Spirit confronting the Protagonist in its dimension.The Centipede Spirit leading Haru into its shrine.The Centipede Spirit in the shadows of its ruined shrine.Centipede Spirit Playstation Avatar