Chapter 112: The Dark Cult Emerges (1/2)

”What do you think, Dai-kun?”

Yuko asked me after we piled up the bodies of the figures in black cloaks. Since this is our first encounter and we don't know how they were corrupted, we only knocked them out.

They're too weak to even tap my arm. That is to say that even if they gang up on me, they're not a threat. However, once they started to become a real threat, I won't hesitate to kill even if they're fellow Earthlings.

”Hmm. There are no signs of corruption in their bodies except they can use Dark Energy. They're really different from the Corrupted we encountered before.”

Listening to my explanation, Yuko nodded as she agreed to my assessment while Yumiko could only look on as she never encountered one because the World of Spirits is Corrupted-free.

After checking them one by one, I gathered that these guys were regular humans whose strength was elevated because of the Dark Energy. However, compared to the Corrupted from the Mortal Worlds, there were no dark marks which pointed to them being corrupted except their superficial use of Dark Energy from earlier. Most of them were only Rank 1 Mortals with only the guy at the treetop being a Rank 2 Mortal.

For us, they're surely too weak but for the normal populace? They'll be proven to be a menace. If they found their potential target, they could abduct them effortlessly.

I'm also not sure if their minds are still theirs.

Due to that uncertainty, I had Yuko contact the Principal. We need his expertise here and since he predicted this, he probably gleaned some information about them. If they willingly got corrupted, then these people didn't deserve any mercy but if they were just caught by the emergence of a Breach then we'll try our best to save them if the Principal deemed it possible.

”Uhm... It's only been 2 weeks like the Principal predicted but they already targeted us with just that small strength. Could it be that they couldn't gauge our strength properly?”

After checking the bodies herself, Yumiko also shared her opinion.

”Yes. It's certainly like that. You heard the order given to them. Capture. If my guess is correct then they're abducting Humans with a decent amount of strength. However, I don't know if it's that easy for them to be corrupted.”

They specifically mentioned Power Level so they're not looking at the energy contained by someone but their actual strength.

”I see. We will be fine but what about the others?”

”Right. If they're abducting to increase their numbers, we will not have the manpower to stop them.”

Yuko and Yumiko had the same concern as me. This is abrupt and something that could be unstoppable if corrupting someone was as easy as that.

We were on that train of thought when suddenly, a Portal that was linked to some place appeared from our side.

We know only one person who can do this so, upon looking into it, we saw the Principal from the other side of the portal.

Behind him were a number of uniformed personnel who passed through the portal after him.

I counted them and found that they're 17 in total. Also, there were three military trucks behind them, if the drivers in it were a part of these uniformed personnels then they're 20 in total. Who are these? They're not the JSDF but based on their attire, a navy blue combat uniform, they're some kind of a military unit. They only have a handgun that has an unusual design, on a holster and one type of cold weapon slung on their waists. An enhanced equipment, maybe?

And surprisingly, their strengths hovered between Rank 1 to Rank 2 Mortals. From the aura I'm picking up from them, they probably contained a Level 1 Energy unknown to me in their bodies.

Obviously, they're cultivating a Mortal World's pathway. However, they're not Heroes.

Haa... That's another mystery that I needed the Principal to answer.

Only when those on foot were completely deployed did the three military trucks pass through as well before the Portal closes by itself.

11 of them immediately spread out to screen and scout the area.

6 brought stretchers and started picking up the bodies to load them on the truck.

I guess even he couldn't maintain a Portal like that for long, that's probably why he even brought these trucks to transport the captives.

This…

If I'm not wrong, this is probably from that Special Training Camp that he mentioned before we left for our vacation. The place where I was supposed to be going for training if I rejected Yuko's hand before.

”I know it's a surprise but let me introduce you, this is the Earth's Defense Army, Squad L-021. As you can guess from the name, this is not just an ordinary army. For the specifics, I'll tell you later. I wanted to hear about the whole situation first.”