>>5957428“They are purely bad in the ontological sense. They are manifestations of pure spiritual abortion. Even if a demon isn’t hostile, which is rare, they are a cancer of the natural law. Cursed. Insofar as they ARE the unraveling of natural law, they unravel the purpose of everything that surrounds them, most notably life itself and the fate that binds them. Plants wither and struggle, men find their destinies rendered to absurdity, the flow of celestial purpose becomes inverted. What should be isn’t, and what shouldn’t be is. There can be no interaction between a right-natured being and a demon without slow, insidious calamity. However, you are correct that they will eventually be purified, as all things are. Their inverted nature cannot last forever, and they will eventually be purified by mere contact with the natural world, as the kami and the emanations of the pure land are stronger than any corruption and will eventually overcome them in time. However, this process is long and destructive. If I were to make an analogy, imagine that there is an immortal serial killer who merely wishes to destroy. You could accept death in the face of his evil and trust that, in time, his bloodlust will sate itself upon the wisdom of time and the passing of ages, but only after an aeon of destruction that you have within you the power to avoid. The genesis of this land may have lain with these beings, but they are not its future. We live in a hard-earned balance between purity and impurity, finally reaching a point where this chaos can be overcome. It is not to be squandered.”
“Who even defines what right-natured is? Couldn’t it be that in your limited perception you simply don’t understand their purpose? What if some fates ought to be unraveled?”
“A wise question. But moot. You may as well ask why living is preferable to death when the pure land is so much brighter… It’s because to live is your purpose as a living being. The nature of the universe may be indifferent to the existence of poison, but it is a chaotic depravity to imbibe it of your own free will. It evinces a sickness of the mind.”
“Can’t they be pacified without destruction? The demon I encountered wanted to merge with me.”
“Again, ‘destruction’. Return them to the pure land so they can be reformed, to be born again without offending the celestial order. To withstand their presence is to curse yourself and the land with naught to gain but for a mute hope the passage of time will eventually repair their wounded essence at a slower pace. To take their corruption into yourself would distort your mind and break your soul.”
“I see… But if you keep telling me I’m of a kind with these things, it makes me doubt what I am. I killed a man last week. I didn’t- I felt-”
