"The Superhumans, the Earth Defense Army and the Dark Cult. What is their connection?"
"Superhumans seen in action."
"The number of missing people across the world has increased to 1000% in the last three months."
"What is the Earth Defense Army and what is its goal?"
"Are the cities from China, United States and Brazil really destroyed by Superhumans and the Dark Cult's battle?"
"The Age of Superhumans!"
As I read through numerous articles that could be accessed from the sea called the internet, I once again determined that after just a few months in the Otherworld, the Earth had experienced a new trend.
The Superhumans.
And the Dark Cult.
The Superhumans referred to the Heroes who would be dispatched to destroy a Dark Cult camp or rather, a Breach Portal Location.
The Dark Cult had already spread far and wide across the nations of the Earth. They were all covert and still had the same modus operandi by kidnapping the citizens and using them to create more Possessed Earthlings.
At this point, they're already killing those who failed their so-called ritual. Because of that, the missing cases had gone up through the roof.
If before, those missing cases mostly involved the Heroes being summoned to an Otherworld, now, they could also indicate the presence of the Dark Cult in that location.
"Dai-kun. Won't you rest for a while? It's not even a day since we came back and you're already busying yourself there."
As I felt a pair of arms enclosing my body from behind, Yuko's sweet voice riddled with worry entered my ears.
"Daisuke, I will also urge you to do that. Don't think about complicated things for a while. The Principal told us to relax." Yumiko added as she moved from the bed we were just lying at to my front, covering the screen of the phone I was using to surf the internet for the articles about the current events in this world.
That's right… It's not even a day since we returned from the World of Elements to Earth.
I thought that as soon as we went back, the World's Will or the Principal would present us the reason why he specifically told Yumiko that I had to go back in two months.
Contrary to my expectation, we were told to wait for a while.
Because I brought everyone with me, my room at the Dormitory couldn't be used by us. That's why we're now in some kind of a huge mansion that was prepared by the Principal beforehand.
Apart from Yuko and Yumiko at my side, my other Companions were in different rooms in this mansion while the other Transcendents who came with us were given accommodation by the Principal.
Since the two were urging me to stop, I heeded them.
Putting down the phone, I pulled Yumiko up and had her sit on my lap while I turned my head sideways to kiss the girl resting her head on my shoulder.
Unlike me who hadn't returned for more than three months. The two of them returned once after they closed the Portals in their world.
Due to that, they had already filled me in with the current happenings in this world two months ago.
And two months ago, a Transcendent already appeared among the Possessed. Yumiko and Jayna resolved it but… what about now?
According to the articles I've read, despite the world being aware of the Dark Cult and the Superhumans, they're still unaware of the real danger the world is currently in.
There was the Earth Defense Army and the Heroes wrapping up every known Breached Portal location after all.
Nonetheless, every country was already cooperating with the Principal.
If I recall correctly, even before I went to the World of Meta, he already started communicating with every country's leaders regarding the matter of Heroes.
After three months, those leaders were probably aware of the dangers the Dark Cult would bring but keep the whole population from panicking, they kept quiet about it.
"Alright. Let's just forget about these complicated things tonight. It's been a while since we three were together like this."
Separating my lips from Yuko, I switched to the girl in front of me and treated her the same.
Soon after that, we made use of the wide bed behind us and savored the time we got for ourselves.
Although my other Companions joined us later on, I made sure to not neglect any one of them.
There's a lot of things that needed to be cleared but whenever we had this time, I would certainly use it to accompany them.
-
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"Kuramoto-kun, you're here."
After knocking three times to his office's door, the sly old man opened the door for me. He still had a cordial smile on his face and without leaking any clue from his expression, he invited me in.
Although I want the girls to be here with me, the Principal only called for my presence.
Naturally, I argued for a while before giving up completely.
Leaving Yuko and Yumiko to guide the other girls, I went in here alone, with the five Orbs in my hand.
"Why do you only call for me?" I inquired while I also started observing the place once more.
It's still the same as what's in my memory. The passage towards the location was also opened which meant that someone was down there or we're the ones who would go down there.
"Don't be so serious, Kuramoto-kun. I am aware that you have a lot of things you wanted to clear up. However, it's still not the time for that."
Not the time, huh? Where did I hear that?
Worldy and the red-veiled woman in a ruby-red dress, Illiana… Those two also kept their mouths shut by telling me that it's not the time yet.
"When will the time be? This has stalled for so long already. If you don't have the intention of giving back my memory or clearing this mountain of doubts I had piled up, then why did you call me here?"
"You don't have to be in a hurry. As I said, it will be revealed in due time. I had you go back this time because your presence is truly needed."
He waved his hand and a patch of clear Energy spread open before the same holographic screen from before appeared in front of me.
This old man. We have computers and the internet, why did he have to always use his Energy to make a presentation like this?
As I observed the screen and saw what he's trying to show me, I suddenly felt a sense of danger.
Not from the Principal but from what was being shown in there.
"This… What is this?" I silently muttered my question as I gradually got absorbed in what's happening in it.
The screen showed a desolate place filled with craters. The sky in it was reddish-brown while the surrounding area was filled with flames.
In the middle of that desolate place were two figures having a standoff.
One of the two is someone familiar to me while the other one didn't even look like an Earthling.
"Father, what is this? Why is he there?"
That's right. The familiar figure was my father.
When we came back yesterday, I looked for my parents and only saw my mother in one of the houses provided by the principal.
"This is a scene recorded two weeks ago. I know that you're already aware that like me, your father is not that ordinary. He left the confines of the Earth to intercept the closest Space Vessel heading to this world."
As the Principal started to narrate what happened, the scene he was showing to me started to move.
My father who I thought of as ordinary for so long suddenly exploded in power resulting in another crater to be made in that desolate place.
However, his opponent that possessed reddish skin and a thorny body matched up against his explosive power.
Since it's just a record of the scene, I couldn't gauge the level of their battle.
With every punch and a kick, another crater would be created.
And although faint, I could clearly see the use of Skills from the two. However, even after all that, none of them could hit each other.
"If you're showing this to me. Does this mean my father is in danger?"
"Hmm… No. You missed the point of why I showed this to you. That one right there is just one of the many Space Vessels heading towards Earth. What do you think will happen if they arrive here? Do you think we can cope with them?"
"No. There's no way we can. Just from that battle I witnessed, my father and his opponent are most likely Rank 3 Transcendents."
Upon hearing my answer, the Principal nodded his head. He waved his hand again and the scene changed. This time, what was being shown was the Breached Portal locations, the Dark Cult members and the battle that happened against them. Sometimes only a squad of Earth Defense Army would be sent to clean up a location. Sometimes there would be a youth at the same age as us who would lead a squad to engage the enemies.
There was even the scene when Yumiko and Jayna worked together to stop a Possessed Transcendent.
"The Dark Cult and the Transcendents they're sending by Possessing an Earthling are only their scouts. At the moment, they most likely have grasped the current prowess of the denizens of our world."
"I understand. Then what's the reason for showing this to me? What am I here for?"
"The five Orbs. It's time to awaken their true nature."
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