Transmigration is the motion or pilgrimage of the spirit from one body-and-soul to another, a "motion" that necessarily takes place whenever such a composite vehicle dies or another is generated, in the same way that water could be poured from one vessel into the sea, and then be introduced into another, thus always being "water," but never, except to the extent that the vessel seems to impose an identity and a passing appearance on its contents.
What is understood by transmigration is a change of state or reference level that by definition excludes the idea of a return to a state or level that has already passed. The transmigration of the Atman "individual" (the soul) can only correspond to a particular case of the transmigration of the Paramatman (the Spirit, the Brahman), for which, however, it can be proved desirable to use some term such as "pilgrimage."
Transmigration is somewhat like the journey that the Spirit makes through the various forms of life that it momentarily animates, while its life lasts, to then withdraw without undergoing any change. It is the Spirit who feeds the divine spark of life located in the innermost ventricle of the heart or guhâ (referring to the center of the individual being, traditionally symbolized by this).
It is often confused with metempsychosis, differing from it in that it involves the real being and not only the direct or indirect inheritance of the psycho-physical characteristics of the deceased.
It is also constantly confused with reincarnation, to the point of being considered synonymous, with transmigration being the passage of the being to other states of existence, which are defined by conditions entirely different from those to which human individuality is subject (with the sole restriction that, as long as they are individual states, the being is always clothed in a form, which could not give rise to any spatial representation, more or less modeled on that of the bodily form); whoever speaks of transmigration essentially speaks of a change of state, whereas in reincarnation one returns to the same human state, not so in the belief about metempsychosis, where one can incarnate in minerals, plants, or animals.
In differentiating reincarnation from metempsychosis and transmigration, it can be added that what is understood by metempsychosis is the psychic aspect of palingenesis, or in other words the psychic inheritance, and that what is understood by transmigration is a change of state or reference level that by definition excludes the idea of a return to a state or level that has already been passed.
According to Shinto mythology as related in the Kojiki, the oldest book preserved on the history of Japan, Yomi or Yomi-no-kuni is the most common name by which the underworld (the place where the souls of the deceased travel after death) is known in Japanese culture. Literally, the word yomi means "yellow spring" or "sulfurous spring," while the word Yomi-no-kuni could be translated as "The Land of Yomi" or, less literally, "The Country of Yomi." Yomi is comparable to the Greek Erebus or the Hebrew Sheol, and is the place where Izanami, the primordial goddess and wife of the god Izanagi, retired after her death. Izanagi followed her, but he could not rescue her because Izanami had already tasted the food of the underworld, which prevented her from returning to the earthly world. Desperate, Izanagi returned and after carrying out a purification rite he created Amaterasu, the goddess of the Sun; Susanoo, the god of the sea, storms, and battles; and Tsukuyomi, the god of the Moon.
In the Japanese myth, Yomi is not described as a place of eternal punishment and perpetual torture. There, the deceased wander eternally living a dark and gray existence where the soul experiences dark moments, even though their earthly life may have been perfect. Most experts agree that the representation of Yomi originated in ancient tombs in the feudal era, where bodies were left to decompose (over time, Yomi would also become one of the hells of Buddhist mythology). Located underground, Yomi is part of a triad: an earthly region called Ashihara no Nakatsukuni (literally translated as The Central Land of the Plains of Canes); another located in the sky, Takamanohara or Takamagahara, (which can be translated as The High Heavenly Plain), and finally Yomi no Kuni, a region located underground and which is literally translated as The Land of Yomi.
Much more infernal than the Yomi no Kuni of Shinto mythology is the Jigoku, the underworld of Japanese Buddhism. Jigoku is a terrifying world, enveloped in flames, where evil demons dwell and inhuman punishments are imposed on sinners.
The darkest regions of Japanese mythology and folklore are inhabited by a large number of demons that star in mythological stories and legends.
Today, rituals and festivals are still held to ward off many of the most terrifying demons, such as the amanojaku, demons capable of guessing the darkest desires of the human being and using those same desires against them; the water goblins of Chinese origin called kappa; the jinmenju, trees whose fruits resemble a human head; the kodama associated with the spirits of trees and forests; the joro-gumo, giant spiders that can transform into a beautiful woman and seduce any man; the mu-onna, faceless spirits that emerge from the pain of a mother losing her child...
There are also the uwam, incorporeal beings that live in old or abandoned houses; the tengu, evil beings associated with war, but in many legends are seen as protectors who live near the mountains; the nopperabo, faceless ghosts that walk the dark streets with their gaze fixed on the ground; the yamamba, a creature with the appearance of an old woman who sometimes helps those who get lost in the forests find their way home, although other times she eats the humans she finds, and finally there are the shinigami, a word that literally means "death god," who induce in the human being the desire to end their life.
But even if the human being's desire is to end their life, it brings as a consequence the birth of a new demon; nowadays demons are considered a race of supernatural creatures that appear all over the world.
Demons are born in hell and each of them is born with a name that correlates with something that exists and is feared; they manifest themselves according to the collective consciousness surrounding their names.
Demons that die in Hell reappear in the human world and, vice versa, demons that die in the human world reappear in Hell, making them effectively immortal; however, they cannot remember anything from their previous lives.
They feed on the blood of humans and other demons, and it is implied that demons can become more powerful by consuming blood. Naturally, most of them are extremely hostile to both humans and demons, however, some are relatively friendly and feed through alternative means; such as the Fox Demon, which feeds on parts of its user through its contract.
A variant of normal demons are the Primary Demons and they are those that possess names that embody the fears found naturally within the human psyche. It is shown that they are immensely powerful and scare demons and demon humans, including those who were previously unaware of their existence.
Each demon possesses supernatural abilities that correlate with its name and the more fear associated with its name, the more powerful that demon becomes. Each supernatural ability is unique to the respective demon and the use of these generally consumes some of their blood.
All demons can consume the blood of other creatures to heal their wounds, while the flesh or blood of a demon can feed other creatures, making them stronger and even giving them the ability of the demon they have eaten. However, this only works if the flesh or blood they ate came from a demon that is still alive.
Another common ability among all demons is reincarnation; when a demon dies, it reincarnates in Hell and if it dies in Hell, it reincarnates in the world. This ability makes them practically immortal, however, each time they reincarnate, their memories and personalities are reset.
Even for any human or demon, a balance between the two is needed to maintain an order of power as the government would do, but now it is not something that matters so much.
-Current time-
Inside a restaurant sat two people in silence, observing the other people walking through the streets without any fear since the Gun Devil incident that first appeared in the attacks on November 18th, a major terrorist attack with firearms in the United States occurred, which caused that to be the day the Gun Devil first appeared.
The Gun Devil struck Japan for 26 seconds, killing 57,912 people. It hit several countries around the world in succession and ultimately caused a death toll of 1.2 million lives in just five minutes.
After that, the Gun Devil disappeared, but its impact on human society led to a general increase in fear of all demons. An international law has been prepared to strictly control the manufacture of weapons in all countries to reduce fear of firearms.
At some point, the Gun Devil was brought down by someone unknown and the Soviet Union found it while it was unconscious. Its body is separated into several pieces and retained by countries and demons. Specifically, 20% of its body is owned by the United States, 28% is owned by the Soviet Union, 11% is owned by China, 4% is owned by other nations, and the remaining 37% is in the form of chunks of meat. in the hands of demons scattered around the world.
But now, forgetting that, one of the two people was a gray-haired man with unkempt facial hair and a stitched scar that crosses his left cheek from his mouth. When he was a young adult, his hair was black, but it has since turned gray in the manga. In the anime, he has a hair color that is more yellow and could be dyed. With two piercings in his left ear and one in his right ear.
The other couldn't see well because his face was covered by a shadow, leaving only his face visible.
?: So, what do you want, Kishibe?
Kishibe is a public safety demon hunter of Special Division 1 of Tokyo, but after the assault on the Special Divisions, he became captain of Special Division 4 of Tokyo.
Now identified as Kishibe, he stayed silent for a few seconds before going straight to the point to end their meeting quickly.
Kishibe: I need you to do me a favor...
?: What kind of favor are we talking about?
Kishibe: I want you to keep an eye on one of the new recruits of Makima's unit.
?: And why would I do that, can't she control her dogs now?
Kishibe: That matters little now. She has not shown interest in anything, and now that she has shown interest in this specific boy, it will not be good at all...
?: I see. Even if it's annoying, I'll do it. So, I'm out of here. This place stinks like crap...
Without saying anything else, the other person raised a cigarette with his right hand, taking a deep drag.
Without waiting much longer, he got up and left through the door, tossing the cigarette aside as he left the place, beginning to head towards his future mission.
-Unknown location-
Inside some dark place, he could only see the mouth of what was there.
?: It will be interesting to see what you will do, human.
With those simple words, the figure of the being began to laugh, its laughter echoing in the place where it was.
And end of the chapter.