"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."
Introducing them briefly like that, the Principal immediately jumped to the heart of the matter.
After explaining how we encountered these lots and the words that were exchanged between them, the Principal pondered for a moment.
"It's good that you didn't kill them yet. They can still be saved and they're probably influenced by being near the location of the Breach's emergence. Because this is Earth, our denizens wouldn't suffer the same fate as those from the Mortal World when they were Corrupted. However, that's also the reason why they are more dangerous."
The Principal started sharing his thoughts about these corrupted.
We made the right decision, it seems.
"The Dark Energy can continuously strengthen them and if I'm not wrong, they were slowly turning to a vessel for an incarnation. If you encountered a Rank 4 Mortal or above. They're the ones most likely to contain an Incarnation inside them. They will have already established a connection to a Transcendent and will be harder to save, but not impossible."
An Incarnation… This time, what I'm remembering isn't that Smoke Giant anymore but the old man in the mansion ruins. Their difference in strength was worlds apart. That's just an incarnation, what about his true body?
"This only happened because the Earth is still unawakened. Kuramoto-kun, you can try using your Psyche Boost on one of them."
Upon saying that, he gestured for one of those unconscious Dark Cult members to be brought in front of us.
Following his instruction, I shot a Psyche Boost towards the man.
When it hit him and the Psyche energy seeped inside his body, some kind of reaction happened.
His body twitched and started shaking uncontrollably. The man screamed as steam started exuding out of his body. Ah. That's not steam, that's the Dark Energy that was being ejected out.
He's being purified by the Psyche Energy. However, one Psyche Boost wasn't enough to expel everything out so I sent another. Only when his screams died down did he become truly purified of it.
However, he now has a Psyche Energy inside him, will that affect him? I don't know.
Ah. Isn't this like with my Dispelling Arrows? It negated and put the Dark Beastmaster's Dark Energy in disarray when he was hit, resulting in Raiden killing him off when he fell down.
This time though, the Dark Energy was inside the body so the Psyche Energy needed to seep inside to purify it, clearing it of the Dark Energy's corruption.
Also, this means an Earthling was susceptible to a Level 2 Energy. Just that, this is not them adapting to it, they were just being filled by it. They also need to have the necessary strength to forcefully adapt to it.
When I first encountered this type of energy in the Barbarian World, it couldn't be identified by my Adaptability, however, it will be possible for me to take it in, just that I didn't try. No. I didn't even want to try it when I saw how it was corrupting the Corrupted King Realm back then.
Also, I might not have noticed it before but my Adaptability probably has a condition for it to instantly adapt to a new type of Energy. I need to be at the place where it is the inherent or in better terms, the Source Energy.
For this purification, it doesn't necessarily have to be me. My Psyche Energy reserves aren't unlimited after all.
And if it's a place where Psyche Energy is abundant. There's only the Pocket Dimension, my Psyche Energy refilling station.
I switched back my gaze to the Principal and saw him nodding as if his prediction was correct.
"It seems we need to soak them in Psyche Energy, as to what state they will be left in after that, that's for us to see."
Explaining it just like what I thought of, the Principal had the man be loaded in the truck as well. They will probably be interrogated after the purification if it really works.
"Are you planning to put them inside the Pocket Dimension? Won't their abilities be activated by then?"
Being exposed to the Pocket Dimension was the trigger to activating our ability. I guess we also really need to increase our manpower to combat this emerging Dark Cult.
Ah. There's already the EDA that the Principal brought here... How many are they though? And where do they come from?
"You're probably not aware, Dai-kun. Not everyone can awaken a unique Ability like ours. Most of them will awaken some minor abilities like Physical Enhancement which increases their strength by a bit and other such similar types of minor abilities. It varies from person to person."
Yuko answered and explained to me my misconception about our Unique Abilities. All this time I thought everyone on Earth will have one. True, we will have one but not every ability is unique. Won't we become overpowered if that's the case?
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