Corruption (穢れ, Kegare) is an important term most commonly in the Hero Clan.
Description[]
Among the entire Hero Clan, the Heroes who have all made pacts with the Gods and Spirits have to be careful to maintain their relationship with him through acting in a "righteous" manner. Heroes must commit to all their duties without causing unnecessary harm to others in the Human World including Demons and monsters as first proven in Volume II, where Shiba Kyouichi had explained that neither of them could kill Mio Naruse despite her being the daughter of the former Demon Lord under "unreasonable conditions" as she helped to stop Byakko after Takashi Hayase lost control of the Spirit Spear in his fight against Basara, as well as not injuring anyone.
In Volume IX, it was explained that if some of the Japanese Heroes told Yuki and Kurumi Nonaka to sabotage the alliance between both the Moderate and Demon Lord Factions to get them to destroy one another, then that could lead to another war that could endanger the Human World that could lead to far more Corruption. It was specified that the Hero Clan agreed to the previous Peace Treaty from the previous Great War to ensure that they didn't go against peace as continuing the war would anger the Gods and Spirits who didn't want to damage the Human World.
Inside of the "Inner Shrine", the Elders had gathered all Four Divine Weapons in the shrine to discover whether or not someone in the room would be lying or how legitimate their words would be through how the Gods and Spirits would react, causing Corruption that manifested in the room. Due to the blessings of his mother and Chisato, Basara is able to manipulate the Corruption inside of the room.
Shiba Kyouichi[]
| “ | The verdict was that no matter how great the corruption they would produce, problems that came from said corruption would no longer be an issue should said corruption be eliminated, and better yet, they could be seen as a new source of power. | ” |
—Vatican's beliefs | ||
In Volume X, it was revealed that among the Hero Clan, the Vatican has caused the most Corruption amongst the entire Hero Clan during their research in Forbidden Project revealed to be the cloning of Jin Toujou through even using the genetic materials from other beings, resulting Corruption that could end the Hero Clan if it was found. To ensure that the Corruption wouldn't be discovered, the Vatican used the failed clones to contain all the Corruption until the birth of Shiba who could absorb, store, and convert the Corruption into power for himself due to having a High-Ranking Demons genetic materials.
| “ | Stare into the blackest and deepest depths of the abyss all you want—all you can see remains nothing but darkness. | ” |
—Shiba describing the abyss in him | ||
However, Shiba was more than a mere container, inside him was an absolute abyss of darkness that appeared to be almost an entire dimension capable of absorbing all things including darkness itself and a member of the Ten Gods, Reginleif. In his final battle against Basara in Volume XI, this Corruption or abyss could be eliminated using Banishing Shift since it was impossible to discern the origins befitting an abstract concept. It can act as a potent poison, which seeps into and corrodes anything that it touches ranging from ones' flesh to their mind resulting in nothing but decay. He also has a great deal of control over this Corruption as he diluted the Corruption within him so that Basara would remain alive.
Trivia[]
- Kegare is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement. In Shintoism, kegare is a form of tsumi (taboo violation), which needs to be somehow remedied by the person responsible.