Corpse God

The Corpse God (屍神殿 Kabane Shinden), born Rizdilusia Redrazalf (リズディルシア・レドラジャルフ Rizudirushia Redorajarufu), dubbed the Emperor Killer (皇帝殺し Kōtei Koroshi), and eventually reincarnated as Polka Shinoyama (四乃山ポルカ Shinoyama Poruka) on Earth, is the main protagonist of Dead Mount Death Play. He possesses both the Evil Eye and the Elemental Eye.

Alive
Polka, as the son of a Viveenyan woman, inherited her tapered ears and her Elemental Eye. As the necromancer apprentice of Easlies Swordfrail, he wore a hooded robe. Underneath its hood, an animal skull conceals the upper part of his face; this replicated Easlies' own skull conceals all of hers.

Undead
In his early years as an undead being, Polka walked the earth as a humanoid skeleton of adult stature, wreathing himself in a long, light-colored cloak with a hood and capacious sleeves.

Polka's final form as the Corpse God, a century after the empire falls, is unrecognizable from his humanoid skeleton of yore. The Corpse God is white and bestial, resembling Earth vertebrates in some respects but too different to be directly analogous to any single creature. The horns adorning his cranium are bullish, and his hands have opposable digits.

However, his axial skeleton has familiar paired ribs, and his thoracic vertebral column has familiar dorsal spines. He has three pairs of arms whose extraordinary length seem to compensate for the unusual caudal position of their (presumed) pectoral girdles, unusual, that is when compared to those of hominids. Whatever lies below his lumbar vertebrae has been cloaked alternatively in cloth and shadow.

It is also unclear to what extent his skeletal form is reflective of creatures unique to the Other World and how much of it is the result of necromancy magic. The ventral side of his rib cage displays unusual armored plates instead of the long, flat sternum typical to primates, behind which he keeps—kept—his true form: a humanoid brain contained in a chain-suspended jar; considering the comments of Shagrua and his comrades, the armored plate could have been a custom design on his part to protect his true self better.

Reincarnation
As the human 'Polka Shinoyama', Corpse God has stayed true to the real Polka's hairstyle and fashion choices. The neck wound that ended the real Polka's life has risen and wrinkled due to sudden skin regrowth; it is stark against his throat. Additionally, a lock of Polka's bangs has turned black. Thus, any photographs or videos depicting Polka with a new neck and white bangs will likely depict the real Polka before the murder attempt.

Corpse God's usual outfit comprises the following: a sleeveless double-layer top with a black-and-white hooded wrap over the white inner layer; blue trousers with a red cross on the right sleeve and the English word 'FEAR' etched on the left; a red belt; red-and-black sneakers; and a simple tooth wheel & cross-shaped necklace. When he needs to hide his neck scar, he wears a hooded jacket over a button-up top with its collar buttoned.

His fortuneteller guise consists of a long V-necked robe, a headdress covering his eyes, and an outer shawl with a hood over the inner headdress.

Personality
Above all else, Corpse God desires a quiet and peaceful existence and will go to extreme lengths to protect that peace. However, while he operates outside of human values, he is not without values and moral limits of his own—foremost among them his extraordinarily soft spot for children and inclination to protect them. He may view human souls as 'toys', but since toys make children smile, he has decided to treat human lives as 'precious' and use or protect them as he sees fit. His protective instinct has undermined his ultimate goal of a peaceful life on at least one occasion, as seen when he rescues Misaki from Lemmings.

Although Corpse God carries himself with a serious, confident air befitting his actual age, he is not without emotional expression. When he realizes he accidentally killed Misaki, he is visibly surprised and buries his face in his hands in exasperation; when he is trying to pass himself off as the real Polka to Rozan Shinoyama, he smiles and chats away like a 'typical' teenage boy.

His behavioral differences from the real Polka are notable enough that multiple Shinoyama family members have commented on it. Where the real Polka is incredibly timid around women, 'our' Polka speaks to them without problems and is unaffected when he finds himself in compromising situations with them. At the same time, Takumi and Hosorogi have observed that merely being in a teenager's body has caused the Corpse God to regress to some degree.

Easlies Swordfrail, the Corpse God's necromancy master, regards the Corpse God as one who is an eternal boy at heart and believes him to have "almost no senses of independence," someone who "devotes all of himself to those he considers kin." She argues that this is why he does not mind shouldering the blame for anything and why he is incapable of showing restraint when the "place where he belongs" is disgraced.

Beginnings
The Corpse God—not yet known as such—is born as Rizdilusia Redrazalf to an unnamed man and a Viveenyan woman, Kanom-shellian Redrazalf, in the Other World. He spends the first decade of his life with his family, becoming an older sibling to little brothers and sisters. While Rizdilusia and his family are naturally able to see Elementals, Rizdilusia is the only family member to possess the Evil Eye; when this proves too much for his family to bear, his parents sell him to the imperial army of the Byandy Empire.

Shortly after becoming the imperial army's property, Rizdilusia meets the mentor to whom he has been apprenticed: Easlies Swordfrail, a fellow Evil Eye possessor who serves the court as its second-rank Imperial Court Sorcerer. Easlies explains that she will teach Rizdilusia in the ways of Necromancy; sensing that he might resent serving an emperor he has never met, she adds that she will arrange a meeting between them on the morrow.

At some point after the meeting, Easlies and Rizdilusia approach a grand staircase over which a tapestry hangs. Easlies informs Rizdilusia that the tapestry displays the imperial crest; not a moment later, Emperor Framrodia Byandiraz interjects that the crest's original design, courtesy of his father, was "dull and simplistic." As he sweeps past them, he boasts that he took it upon himself to redesign the crest once he ascended the throne; so saying, he proudly shows off a scribbled prototype of the emblem.

Life in the Imperial Court
Rizdilusia will go on to befriend Framrodia and other members of the imperial court during his studies, including Romelka Rimelka, Leuf Vellize, and Utsurojuza, who will come to regard him as a younger brother. He is also afforded the opportunity to learn from his peers: on one occasion, he learns from Utsurojuza the knack behind Alternate Dimensional Storage magic; on another, he and Easlies closely observe Arius Sabaramond eat an Elemental and after that vanquish an enormous entity terrorizing a forest.

Alongside such lessons, Rizdilusia becomes proficient in Necromancy under Easlies' tutelage. Included in the necromantic skills, he learns are the 'construction of a temple' and 'synchronization with the dead', the latter of which he will eventually be able to achieve at a higher level than his mentor can achieve. The more he uses Necromancy, the more the manner of his usage differs from that of his Master.

When Rizdilusia eventually becomes an Imperial Court Sorcerer alongside his Master, he is one of only a handful to have ever been inducted on sheer ability alone. Although it is unknown what rank he is at the time of induction, he will come to be regarded as the fourth-most-capable necromancer and, out of the few necromancers the empire has, take on the second-highest position as the fourth-highest-ranked Imperial Court Sorcerer. As an Imperial Sorcerer, Rizdilusia will come to be known as Corpse God.

Per the duties expected of his station, the Corpse God is often deployed onto Byandy's battlefields to act in his capacity as a necromancer; on the battlefields, he acquires a fearsome reputation. He especially makes a name for himself in the empire's latest war, sometime after which he receives a letter from either his mother or paternal grandmother requesting they meet at a certain graveyard. Corpse God's father greets him, shamelessly demanding Corpse God "pay him back" for everything—if not on his own behalf, then Corpse God's hungry mother and sisters. Still turned away, Corpse God grits his teeth, procures his wallet—and his father literally stabs him in the back. With a chuckled apology, the father says fellows from Nyanild offered him drugs on the condition he killed his son. Upon withdrawing the cursed dagger—causing Corpse God to collapse—the man continues, "The wife...and your little brothers and sisters [...] They all fetched a decent price. The whole family's been of use to me till the very end... Shouldn't you be thankful?" These are the last words Corpse God hears before he loses consciousness.

The curse afflicting Corpse God is designed to be thorough: not only is it designed to dissolve and destroy a body beyond viability for revival, but it has also been supplemented with a technique to destroy one's very soul. By the time Framrodia, Utsurojuza, and Easlies retrieve and/or discover Corpse God, the curse has irreparably dissolved all his flesh and tissue and is on the cusp of doing likewise with his brain—which Easlies makes into Corpse God's 'soul core' and thereupon pleads with Utsurojuza to save him; Utsurojuza successfully curbs both curse and poison before they can destroy Corpse God's brain, which those present then secure in a glass jar.

Revived as an Undead
Corpse God wakes as nothing more than a skeleton on a laboratory floor. Framrodia, flanked by Utsurojuza and Easlies, asks him how it feels to be a necromancer-made-Undead. While Corpse God clutches his jarred brain to his chest, Easlies imparts what she has gleaned from the curse-cum-technique as well as her suspicion that it was prepared by a corrupt holy woman of the Geldwood cult. She advises Corpse God to bring a bodyguard the next time he meets his family and to remember that she only revived him on a 'whim'; Framrodia cheekily recalls both Easlies' relief, as mentioned earlier, and pleas, much to Easlies' denial. When Corpse God attempts and is unable to speak, Easlies informs Framrodia that Corpse God will need some time before he can produce a voice; on his behalf, Easlies infers Corpse God's surprise at Framrodia's carefree attitude, and Corpse God's fear that the emperor would sever their ties over his newly Undead status. The emperor assures Corpse God that he and the empire will always be on Corpse God's side.

By or after whatever time Corpse God redons his clothing, he alone is left in Framrodia's company. Framrodia leads him down a long flight of stairs to a sturdy set of doors, behind which Utsurojuza and Easlies loom over the grotesque, myriapod figure of Corpse God's father. At the emperor's calling of her name, Easlies censures father Redrazalf's pleas for clemency by piercing him with her hat's bony tassel; Utsurojuza, in the subsequent quiet, objects to the emperor having—against Utsurojuza's wishes—brought Corpse God along to witness this—let alone witness Utsurojuza's desired obliteration of Corpse god's father. Father Redrazalf's resumed pleas are again cut off, literally, when the emperor stabs Redrazalf's flesh with his sword; the emperor declares that "taking on the people's dirty work" is his duty, and, therefore, Corpse God needs not to sully his own hands.

Corpse God returns to his imperial post during a time of conflict for the empire—though Byandy Empire was, it must be said, rarely not caught up in conflicts. Such conflicts may have contributed to the empire's swift downfall, which took place over a single year; crucial factors, such as the emperor's assassination and the Corpse God's acquisition of the Emperor Killer moniker, have yet to be placed on the timeline. It is during or at the culmination of this downfall that Corpse God wakes to the sound of shouts outside his room: the army has been swallowed whole; General Daryl and the Imperial Gorgeous Unit have been carried away by the homewrecker dragon Malfy; moreover, the annexed principalities are rebelling.

The Corpse God dresses and is about to leave the room when Easlies stops him, explaining that, were it not for her perception-jamming force field, they would have already been dragged out to the front lines. She does not intend either of them to accompany the others in their self-destruction; as for their acquaintances, she has left them to Romelka's protection. So saying, she asks the Corpse God if he is ready to be liberated from the empire and live as a free man.

Post-imperial collapse
Corpse God strikes out into the world to pursue what has eluded him and the empire: a quiet, peaceful existence. Eventually, he takes refuge in a cave, where he realizes five hungry youths—three boys and two girls—have had the same idea. He earns their friendship by leaving out offerings of fruit, and, over the years, they live in harmony, their familial affection; as time passes, he begins keeping a child-rearing journal. The eldest human settles into adulthood well before the other four, and she and the Corpse God gradually fall in love. These halcyon days end when a group of Geldwood soldiers execute the humans to grant them salvation from a necromancer's corruption. With the four children impaled and set ablaze, and his love dead in his arms, Corpse God takes immediate revenge on the soldiers for a hundred years.

The combination of the soldiers' screams and the Corpse God's dark magic transforms the abandoned coal mine into an ever-expanding "labyrinth of writhing dead," where he waits out the next many decades hoping he will be visited by someone capable of killing him. He spends his time penning numerous essays "exposing the underbelly" of the church using ink exclusively visible to the Evil Eye, and perfecting the secret art of reincarnation; the one condition of his reincarnation spell is that he shall reincarnate in the body of a fallen kinsman.

When rumors of the feats of Geldwood knight Sir Shagrua Lugrid the Calamity Crusher reach him, he begins to hope that Shagrua will reach him too. Eventually Shagrua does along with Recuria Lofilardo and the rest of at least one Geldwood subjugation unit, though the fight soon dwindles to a duel between Shagrua and Corpse God after the latter easily fends off the other soldierse. Corpse God's reincarnation spell activates when Shagrua delivers a final momentous blow.

Welcome to Earth
Corpse God wakes in the body of Polka Shinoyama, a teenager freshly murdered in an alley of Shinjuku, Japan, Earth. He emerges from the alley into a city square full of alien buildings whose signs are in an alien language, and humans wearing clothes of foreign design. Polka's killer, Misaki Sakimiya, soon spirits him away from two concerned patrolmen in order to confirm whether Polka is truly alive.

"Polka" is alive, so Misaki attempts to kill him again. Corpse God flees until he reaches an abandoned building and is eventually cornered in a room where the yakuza used to dispose of their victims' bodies. He uses those victims' souls to replenish his magic, then, assuming that Misaki is no different from the assassins on his homeworld, impales her and pins her against the wall so that she cannot escape interrogation.

It dawns on Corpse God that Misaki is truly dead and that he has therefore already jeopardized his chance at a peaceful life. He decides to conceal his mistake by resurrecting her. First, however, he must heal Misaki's body, which he does in the presence of her colleagues and her employer Lisa Kuraki—unaware of who they are—when they arrive in the name of vengeance. He also slips Polka's soul into one of Takumi Kuruya's drones. Then e brandishes magical, skeletal blades at the intruders and demands their identity.

This is another mistake, for the avengers have never seen 'magic' outside of fictional stories. Tensions escalate only to be put on standby when Lisa learns that the Shakuzawa Building, which houses an illegal daycare, is on fire. Instead of telling Corpse God the location like he demands her to, she instructs Takumi to lead him there.

Corpse God races after Takumi's drone to the scene and rescues the children and daycare workers with the help of an enormous skeletal hands and the children's deceased parents, lending their spirits human skeletons for the task. Many of the rubberneckers, Kochou Eightport among them, capture the skeletons in their photographs and video recordings.

Upon Corpse God's return, Corpse God uses resurrection magic to bring Misaki back to "life." Lisa offers him her services as a mediator and Misaki and Takumi as attachés under orders to help Corpse God acclimatize to his new planet. As a welcome-to-Earth present, she loans him the use of at least one floor of the very building they are in and within the next several hours will secure basic amenities he will need as well as encyclopedias, atlases, and other books that contain extensive information about Earth.

Takumi and Misaki help move boxes of these items into Corpse God's new residence the next day, with Takumi also setting up a computer workstation in the common area. Corpse God splits his attention between the books and a conversation with Takumi. Misaki's attention is drawn away from clips of the Shakuzawa fire and to a visitor who begs Misaki to kill the yakuza who after him. She initially declines, but changes her mind when Corpse God accepts a job from the souls of infants haunting the man: to beat the scary people who harmed their parents.

That evening, Corpse God discreetly follows Misaki and the man to a factory and does not intervene when Misaki is ambushed, confident that she can handle the ambushers. He discusses the job with Takumi via an earpiece and watches the infants climb up the instigating man's legs before he entangles the man's limbs with those of the man's comrades, tying the men together like a human knot without killing them.

The next day, Corpse God rehomes Polka's soul in a shark plush; wherever Corpse God goes henceforth, he is rarely seen without it. He remarks to Takumi that, for now, he needs to make replenishing his magic his first priority—an easy matter indeed since Earth has diamonds and sapphires, i.e. magic-storing gemstones, just like his homeworld. Takumi sends him and Misaki to a jewelry shop for a reality check. Corpse God exits the shop despondent, his reality thoroughly checked by the jewelry's exorbitant prices.

When Corpse God and Misaki happen to walk down the same alley as Kōzaburō Arase, Arase snatches Takumi's accompanying drone out of the air and uses it to address Takumi directly. Corpse God asks that he refrain from damaging his friend's property, refuses to cut ties with Takumi when Arase advises him to, and takes back the drone. Arase decides to question Corpse God about Takumi but, when Corpse God slips up by referencing his own past life rather than Polka's, Takumi intervenes by calling Arase's cell phone.

Arase speaks snidely with Takumi before informing Corpse God that Takumi is a blabbermouth who will sell out others' secrets to save his own skin. Corpse God fails to see how being a blabbermouth is worse than Arase. Before Arase can resume questioning Corpse God, Misaki kicks his abdomen, grab's Corpse God's hand, and runs away. Once they are in the clear, Takumi admits that Arase told the truth about him. Corpse God nevertheless replies that none of his secrets are more valuable than the lives of his friends.

Misaki later drags Corpse God to Youtoukorou, Lisa's bar and base of operations. Tsubaki Iwanome, an undercover detective sitting in one of its booths, receives a text from Arase describing Misaki's appearance. Iwanome stalls for time by treating Misaki and Corpse God to juice and a light-hearted conversation. When Arase and other law enforcement officers arrive, Iwanome switches tracks and tells the teens they would like to ask them a few questions in an official capacity.

The lights go out, precipitating Lemmings's literal dropping by. Lemmings swats away Arase and his other attackers before seizing Misaki and carrying her to the second floor. Corpse God freezes, torn between his desire to rescue Misaki and his desire to keep his abilities a secret from the police. Thanks to the pitch-black darkness concealing the major details of what follows, the former desire prevails without cost to the latter; Corpse God uses the magic he gains via the souls haunting Lemmings to fight Lemmings and ultimately free Misaki.

By the fourth day, Corpse God discovers the spirit of Miyabi Hosorogi in the building's basement and makes a contract with him. On the fourth day, he introduces Misaki and Takumi to Hosorogi, who promises to be a useful ally in Corpse God's newfound quest for an income now that it is obvious that vast sums of money will be needed to purchase gems. Hosorogi's first tangible contribution is to redesign the crude sign that Corpse God and Misaki made for a proposed Fortunteller Shop.

Three days later finds the Fortuneteller Shop in full swing with a full queue, for word has spread quickly of Corpse God's uncanny fortunes. Corpse God decides to take a break after his session with Mikoto Saimyouji, a future repeat customer. Takumi admits that he is impressed with the amount of money Corpse God has made in just three days.

Welcome Back to the Shinoyama Fold
Seven more days pass before Kazuki Shinoyama and Shizuki Shinoyama, Polka's half niece and half nephew, come calling with several bodyguards, one of whom is Know, and the warped spirit of their sister Suzuka Shinoyama as escorts. Corpse God pulls his hood over his face with reflexive alarm, anxious at the risk of them becoming suspicious of his identity, and claims he is a sorcerer from hell called "K. Orpse God."

Kazuki says she and her brother are here to have their fortunes read, not to convince Polka to return. Takumi attempts to steer her away from the shop and the matter of Polka by steering the conversation, though he relinquishes the wheel to Corpse God when Corpse God, seeing that Kazuki is on the verge of tears, asks Takumi to stand down.

Corpse God draws the twins into a hug, says he will protect them, and relays a message from Polka about returning home tomorrow. Suzuka meanwhile wails a message that only he can hear—a plea for someone to save these children—and to her he reiterates his promise of protection.

The next day, Corpse God and Misaki have lunch with the twins, Polka's half niece Sayo Shinoyama, Polka's half nephew Takeru Shinoyama, Takeru's wife, and Rozan Shinoyama's nephew-in-law. Misaki speaks highly of Polka and credits him with saving her life. Toward the end of the meal, Rozan enters the dining room and asks "Polka" to join him in his private retreat for a private reunion.

Corpse God acts the part of a contrite, agreeable son during their ensuing conversation up to the point where he thinks he is actually pulling off his Polka performance. Then Rozan asks him who he really is. Corpse God plays innocent for a few more seconds, but drops the act when Rozan brings a katana to his neck. Rozan asks him if Polka is alive and for a second he does not answer, distracted by something. Then he says that Kazuki and Shizuki's lives might be in danger now so he must go fulfill his promise to protect them, and that Rozan must trust that he will return.

Although Corpse God has not asked permission to leave, Rozan gives him his blessing to do so. Corpse God sprints back to the mansion and breaks into the wall of a burning passageway in which the twins are trapped. He expresses relief at having made it in time and tells the twins that Suzuka is not mad, she loves them. Indeed, Suzuka—already looking much closer to her normal self—tenderly cradles the twins in her intransient arms.

Once the twins are safe in the care of their servants, Corpse God intercepts the arsonist Know before he can sneak away from the scene. Misaki soon joins him. Know unleashes a wall of fire that Corpse God is uncertain he can pierce with what little magic he has left, but he does not have to; Lemmings slams Know to the ground, rendering him down for the count, then gestures for Corpse God to keep his (Lemming's) involvement a secret. Know enters police custody.

Corpse God returns to Rozan with Misaki as backup, but he refuses to explain himself unless Rozan dismisses his bodyguards. Rozan dismisses the one behind the wall—and then the one in the ceiling and the one in the floorboards when Corpse God insists that they leave too.

Appeased, Corpse God explains that he is from a different world and how he came to this one. Rozan points his katana at Misaki, tempted to kill his son's killer, but her acceptance of this makes him pause. Polka leaps from Corpse God's hoodie, smacks against the sword's flat, and extends his flippers out in a way that reminds Rozan of when Polka protectively stood in front of his pet with his arms spread, objecting to his pet being put down for biting him.

Rozan asks if the shark plush is Polka and, when Polka affirms that he is with a full-body nod and Rozan is assured of his soul's status, breaks into fully-body laughter. After calming down, he offers to give Corpse God a humanoid robot to embody so that Polka can have his body back. Polka makes it clear that if anybody is going to reap the benefits of a robot body, it had better be him. This matters less than the fact that somebody wanted Polka dead, so Rozan ruefully concedes that Polka's soul is safer outside of his body so long as people are trying to kill it. Rozan does not forgive Misaki for killing his son, but he decides that her rescue of two of his grandchildren makes things even.

Corpse God and Misaki stop by an antique shop down the road from the Abandoned Building to buy a ¥2000 antique radio, bringing Corpse God's funds down to ¥18,000. The first thing they hear when they switch the radio on is the tail end of a brief news segment about Shinjuku locals complaining about body recovery efforts at a ruins site. The second news item they hear reports the death of a suspected arsonist that had taken place in the afternoon, when the police car carrying him erupted into flames. Takumi immediately moves to his computer to confirm that the arson suspect was Know.

Whatever else was planned for the evening newshour is interrupted by breaking news of "Phantom Solitaire" Tena Sorimura breaking out of prison at 5:30 PM. Takumi does not hear much of the newscaster's lavish description of Phantom Solitaire, still focused on the Know problem, but once he tunes back in he gives Corpse God and Hosorogi a much more succinct one: Solitaire is a famous criminal whose name few Japanese would not know.

Misaki, who has been paying attention for once, wonders why the newscaster's voice changed from a woman's to a man's—no, that of Solitaire himself, gleefully announcing that comeback performance one week from now. After the broadcast ends, Takumi asks if people like SOlitaire exist on Corpse God's homeworld. Corpse God rattles of a list of individuals who more or less qualified as "enemies of the state" such as the dragon Pirawizzo. It is not easy for Takumi to wrap his mind around the idea that dragons apparently really do exist, nor for Corpse God the fact that dragons apparently do not exist on Earth, given how often they feature in Terran stories and how similar they look to actual dragons.

Sayo and her new assistant Xiaoyu Lei knock at the door despite the late hour, wishing to live with Corpse God for at least as long as however it takes for Sayo's fire-destroyed room to be rebuilt. After Polka watches a precorded message from Rozan on Xiaoyu's phone, he agrees to let the two move in.

When morning harkens, Takumi discusses making up a room for their new lodgers while watching Xiaoyu prepare breakfast for Sayo. The only progress made on that front by nightfall is the purchase of a mattress for Xiaoyu, which Xiaoyu and Misaki carry into a small room that adjoins a bigger one for Sayo. Corpse God bids them good night before heading upstairs to the common area with Misaki and Takumi.

Misaki entertains herself by dancing with skeletons while Takumi picks up yesterday's conversation with Corpse God by asking about other dragons besides Pirawizzo. Corpse God names a few before mentioning that Xiaoyu is guarding Sayo's room instead of sleeping, something that Corpse God and Takumi are happy to do in Xiaoyu's stead.

Prior to 10 AM the next day, i.e. prior to when the Fortunteller Shop opens for business, Iwanome and Arase visit the shop in pursuit of Iwanome's fortune. Hosorogi, whose gimmick in fortuntelling sessions is autonomously writing a note for the client, asks Corpse God to leave the content of Iwanome's note to him. Corpse God agrees without being told what Hosorogi plans to write.

Iwanome's fortune-"reading" proceeds smoothly until Hosorogi writes down his message. Incensed by its contents, Iwanome leaps to his feet, grabs Corpse God's clothes, and demands that Corpse God explain just what he knows. Corpse God merely advises Iwanome to follow his heart. Iwanome regains his composure and pays Corpse God for the session, throwing in extra yen to cover any potential damage he caused to the clothes. As he and Arase make to leave, he remarks that "Polka's" stage name seems like one more suited for a troublemaker. Xiaoyu also leaves to go shopping.

While clients queue in front of one door, Corpse God, Misaki, Takumi, and Miyabi retreat behind the door of their common room to discuss the 'disaster' that was Iwanome's visit. Corpse God explains that whatever was in the note that set Iwanome off was Hosorogi's doing; Hosorogi explains that Iwanome is one of the lingering regrets he has from when he worked as an internal affairs inspector, which is relevant to the contract he made with Corpse God. Corpse God affirms that he will work to release Hosorogi's lingering attachments to the world in exchange for Hosorogi working on his behalf.

Of Comebacks and Invisible Hands
Several days after Iwanome's visit, Sorimura releases a fleet of dirigibles over Shinjuku. Painted on the dirigibles' sides is an altered version of the Byady Empire's emblem. Corpse God is so stunned at the sight that he wonders out loud whether he really did leave his homeworld, forgetting that he is in Sayo's presence.

Over an hour after the dirigibles go up, Solitaire announces in a live broadcast that someone sniped a Solitaire dummy off one of the dirigibles. Since only a police helicopter could have spotted him on the dirigibles, he makes the provocative claim that the police force have been corrupted by an organization capable of arranging a challenging murder attempt in under an hour. He promises ¥300,000,000 to anyone brings him the most helpful information about the organization.

Corpse God and Takumi watch the broadcast as it airs, after which Sayo confronts them about Corpse God's earlier slip of the tongue. Corpse God is forced to confess who he really is. Troubled by all that she has learned, from her half uncle's murder to the existence of another world with fantastical qualities, Sayo excuses herself to take a shower. Misaki joins her.

Takumi and Corpse God consider manipulating Sayo's memory but conclude this is too risky. After the girls return, Corpse God tells his friends that he wants to track down whoever might be using the symbol, since he cannot abide the disgrace of something so personally significant to him. Later, Corpse God all but admits that he has avoided summoning the remaining spirits from the homeworld with whom he still has contracts ever since he was judged a "world disaster" and fell from grace, since he does not know how he can possibly face them after the fact.

Sayo not unkindly suggests that Corpse God quit moping. Takumi, still riding the high he got from Corpse God calling him an 'identification wizard,' surfs the shark-infested waves of Sayo's pep talk by enthusiastically volunteering his wizarding skills in the hunt for information on Solitaire's claims. Hosorogi warns everyone to be careful, for the police department is a hotbed of vice.

The Fortuneteller reopens for business the day after the dirigible incident with as many clients queueing as ever, the four most important of whom Corpse God sees back-to-back in the following consecutive order: Mikoto; a young woman, her companion Fire-breathing Bug, and Solitaire, disguised as an older salaryman. Bug and Solitaire independently ask Corpse God for information about the dirigible emblem, and each are shown a drawing of the true simplified version. The risk hints like these might pose to Corpse God's peaceful life is a risk that Corpse God, indignant at seeing a false version of the emblem disseminated, is willing to take for the sake of correcting the record. That two people in a row asked about the same thing is curious but not alarming. Corpse God dismisses it as the coincidence it technically is.

Hours later, at 3:00 AM, Polka sees a strange message burn itself into the wall and wakes Corpse God up. The message, which is hot to Corpse God's touch, consists of two sentences: "This world is a buggy program. Are you a termite? Or are you a bird eating the bug?"

Fire-breathing Bug calls Corpse God and asks if he is a Bastard Child of Sabaramond. Unaware of the caller's identity, Corpse God aggressively asks him how he knows Sabaramond's name, if Sabaramond has crossed over to this side, and whether the caller hails from the Empire or the Kingdom of Nyanild. Bug denies any recognition of the world and asks what Corpse God is.

Corpse God scans the building and its purlieu for any unusual people. He is startled upon noticing two souls are on the rooftop: that of Xiaoyu, and that of the second client (Solitaire) who asked him about the emblem. A third soul, Lemmings', joins them. He senses a person below him who seems to be in a hurry; this person might be the caller.

In order to bring the situation under control, Corpse God fashions a sanctuary out of the building and its immediate purlieu. He spies on a familiar girl in a raincoat—the Bug whose fortune he read—as she claims to detectives Ranmaru Yatsu and Danjō Tozawa that she and her father are out so late because they are searching for their dog. Her 'father'—the Bug on the phone—joins her to corrobate her story. It is a lie; Corpse God detects no dogs in the vicinity. The detectives also have cause to find her suspicious, since she is wearing a raincoat when it is not raining, but let her and her 'father' leave. Discontent with this development, Corpse God expands the sanctuary a little farther.

He returns his attention to the three-way rooftop fight and decides to assist Xiaoyu via a flock of invisible hands, which he uses to grab at and trip Solitaire and Lemmings. Solitaire opts to escape via balloons and a smoke bomb, the latter's powder coating the hands and therefore making them visible. Corpse God sends the hands chasing after Solitaire, who manages to evade not only their many grasps but that of Lemmings, who also chased after him by leaping from balloon to balloon.

Proppen, a cosplayer livestreaming her late-night Shinjuku escapades on YouTube, manages to catch the dramatic event on film. Come morning, her footage of the invisible hands flock has attracted a flock of rubberneckers to the Abandoned Building. Among them is the reporter Eightport, who manages to get an audience with Corpse God and convinces him to let her find two clients and watch their fortunes being read for the sake of an article she is writing about him.

The following morning, Sayo sends Xiaoyu out with instructions to buy out multiple stores of their raw gem stocks. Eirghtport arrives at the Abandoned Building with her two clients in tow: Urai, a Youtoukorou bartender, and her boss. Urai goes first and asks Corpse God whether something has happened to Nishida his colleague who left him in the midnight lurch and has not been seen since. Corpse God sees Nishida just fine—he stands behind Urai, his bloody, chattering head tucked beneath one arm—and delicately says that Nishida has found himself in some trouble.

Men from Unit 1 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department interrupt Urai's session and order everyone to evacuate; they have a warrant to search the Building for Nishida, who Ikeuchi claims is a mugger who may have broken into the building last night in want of somewhere to hide. Hosorogi urges Corpse God to discreetly check the basement. When he does, he discovers someone has planted within it Nishida's headless corpse.

While Corpse God follows the others out of the building, two of his skeletons hastily retrieve Nishida's corpse and stash it in a secret underground passageway before the police reach the basement. Ikeuchi and the rest of Unit 1 leave the building emptyhanded as do Eightport and her two clients.

Abilities
This section requires an overhaul.


 * Necromancy
 * Necromancy is a form of magic or divination in which a person communicates with the dead, as in the evil sorcerer used vile Necromancy to get information on his enemies. Necromancy is depicted as conjuring up a spirit or temporarily raising the dead. The supposed goal of Necromancy is to gain information from the dead, especially about the future. Corpse god can borrow or manipulate spiritual (negative energy) entities to become magical energy; because he is incredibly skilled in Necromancy, he can apply himself and summon such as skeleton or enhancement for himself.
 * Negative Energy Corpse god can replenish his magic through the negative energy of the souls who seek vengeance. "Staying energy" that comes with grudges, lingering attachments, and emotions can be converted into magic.
 * Spirit Channeling [Mediumship] - Corpse God can hear and see/view ghosts/spirits of deceased and even communicate and/or interact with them, even if they have possessed inanimate objects/subjects/people. They can repel and run spirits away from an area, compel them to employ an armada of ghosts, and may even view a visual conception of a spirit world in a trance if desired. Well-trained mediums can channel the energy and powers of spirits, making them potential hosts/conduits for channeling their powers through their bodies and manifesting their qualities for their own. Corpse God can manipulate the Soul; for example, the soul of Polka transfers his soul to possess the drone, and further in the series, Corpse god transfers the soul of Polka again into a Shark toy plushy.
 * Corpse God said there is a necromancy method where he uses a soul to possess the spirit of his victim and can cut a piece of the target's memory.
 * Corpse God Able to punish, torture, and rip the spirit undeniably rough level. Corpse God can see through memories of the target soul that he gave a punishment.
 * Spirit Pact - Corpse God can pact to the spirit/soul to support him on the battlefield and gather information.
 * Dark Magic Circle [The activation of Corpse God Magic circle through blood or magic essence]
 * Body enhancement magic
 * Despair Aura
 * Pain Suppression
 * Body Modification - Corpse god can modify certain bodies or replace a new form of body parts.
 * Sanctuary - a Field magic, a black root that stretches further the user's will; this spell gives information, presence, and vision to any places that expand off the black root.
 * As said of Master that teach of Corpse god; by calling forth the air of "the other side" and stirring it into your won surroundings or closed-off space. You can recreate, to some degree, that invisible yet still tangible "presence" even those who don't possess the evil eye will still be able to perceive it through their other senses. And if you devote enough time to the ritual, it can also be used in place of a magic spell to confuse others' orientation and vision.
 * Sympathizing with the spirit of the dead - means sharing your senses with the dead you can use the crystal balls like this to experience for yourself the sense of spirit that is far away. As the Master that Corpse god knowledge, the power of sympathizing with the spirit of the dead can become a formable weapon for sight, smell, hearing, taste, and the sense of touch. You should eventually be able to share all of your senses with the spirit of the dead. However, the actual application of the technique can be complex within the confines of the barrier; it can drain the magical essence of the area to its absolute limit. But under normal conditions, it is blocked by the surrounding's magical essence and accomplishes little.
 * In the world he came from, the Corpse God would share his sense of touch with the hands of spirit impeded though they were by an atmosphere rich with magical essence. But since Corpse God is coming to the new world where magical essence is so diluted, he can now do it totally and without limit. By devising Spirit of the Dead thread, the spirit hands can interact with physical things. He created a loophole allowing him to use the earth's environment against itself without expanding too much magic. Eventually, his swarm of invisible hands (見えざる手の群れ Miezarute no Mure) was complete.
 * Conjuration - The user can bring forth any form of creatures, items, spirits, demons, deities, and/or elements by either summoning, creating, or manifesting them in any particular way to do the bidding of the conjurer. In traditions and most contemporary usages, it refers to a magical act of invoking their conjuration subject by using incantations or charms to cast magical spells to bring the creation forth.
 * Weapon Creation - Corpse god able to create a weapon by his Magic circle and able to assist him in the fight; when the magic circle is unleashed, a bone hand can be shown holding different weapons.
 * Resurrection Magic "Revive" and "Arise"
 * Secret art of Reincarnation
 * Undead Strengthening: The various kinds of undead entities Corpse God can create for summoning are buffed or enhanced than their original.
 * Undead Control - Corpse god can mentally dominate the undead's state of mind and soul. The enslaved undead will acknowledge the user before them as their controller, their Master.
 * Restoration magic - Corpse God can only restore the creation he created.
 * Undead Creation
 * Skeleton
 * Giant Skeleton
 * Vampire
 * Zombie
 * Skeleton knight


 * Evil Eye [Third eye]
 * A ability to see ghosts. This mystic eye can see everything from thieves, evil spirits, and even insects or birds (animals.) The evil eye is less about the eyeball or brain and more related to the soul. The Eye can detect problems with the body fracture or any abnormalities.

To be added.
 * Elemental Eye

Trivia

 * The two times Corpse God's surname has been mentioned thus far do not provide matching spellings in the English translation. When the surname is revealed in Chapter 70, it is spelled Redrazalf. When repeated in Chapter 73, it is spelled with an extra 'h' as Redrazhalf. Whether this was intentional or a typo remains to be seen.