"You! Direct the Energy Line to me!"
The Leader of this concealed place shouted to someone near the Breached Portal as he watched Yumiko knock every Dark Cult member near her out.
He's in a state of disbelief that what he picked up earlier were Heroes that they're trying to avoid. Maybe if he took the time to check us himself then he would probably notice our abnormality.
I don't know if he's blaming himself but he's just either unlucky or stupid that he couldn't gauge our Power Level accurately.
Taking my eyes off him, I stared at the Breached Portal and examined it from where I am.
If I compare it from before it was breached, from a slightly frightening crack in space, it just opened up with a small hole that could be visibly seen in the middle of that crack in space.
To keep the hole open, they put some kind of unknown material on its edges to hold it.
As to how they brought that material here, I don't know. Did they throw it from the hole on the other side?
With that material in place, it is preventing the Earth to regenerate that crack in space to close the portal opened from it. And even to this moment, the Dimension Breacher was probably in full operation to widen that whole.
Other than the material holding the portal open, there's also a tube which extended from the other side of the portal to here that was currently exuding out the Dark Energy which filled the surroundings with it.
Below the Portal Breach was some kind of a Restraint Chair. Above it was an apparatus that was connected to a cylindrical object whose purpose was probably to collect the Dark Energy in the air. The chair and the apparatus were most likely what they're calling as the Ritual in which a Dark World denizen from the other side of the portal will possess a human body.
The actual method to let their energies pass through and possess the captured human on the chair was probably known only by the Leader or he's the one facilitating it.
"Ah. Nishizawa, are you there? Prepare yourselves out there. Knock out everyone who will try to escape the place. We'll start cleaning in here."
I took out the comms from the Necklace and informed the EDA Soldiers outside.
The squad leader's voice immediately replied with his affirmation along with the sounds of them marching and spreading out to create a net that wouldn't let anyone escape.
Well, I'm afraid none will be able to escape from here though. We'll see.
Yumiko was currently on her knocking-out spree that even without touching anyone, the Possessed will all lose consciousness upon entering a certain range near her.
Although using the Spirit Channeling with the enhancement of the Totem Pole brought out only one Spirit this time, the Spirit she summoned was on another level than her previous ones.
Yumiko didn't even need to show the ability she borrowed from it, just the menacing presence of the Spirit's illusory figure behind her was enough to knock most of them out.
And while she's doing that, my Flux Energy kept on overflowing as the surrounding Dark Energy was being converted and absorbed by me. Speeding up my cultivation this way, depriving them of it was also something I'd like to see.
Maybe at one point, I will have to go to their homeworld and challenge their World's Will for the complete control of their Source Energy.
But yeah, that will be far off in the future. There's still the Transcendent barrier as well as the Six Great Ones.
"Hurry up!"
The Leader shouted again and two Dark Cult members hurriedly diverted the tube that was exuding out Dark Energy towards him.
As soon as he was bathed by the Dark Energy from it, he injected himself with an unknown substance.
A few seconds later, the Dark Energy littering the concealed space stirred wildly. Through my sensitive eyes towards any form of energy, I could see the Dark Cult Leader started to absorb an incredible amount of Dark Energy in his body.
Upon seeing that, I got a bad feeling for the possessed body. The chances of saving him lowered now that the Leader made this kind of desperate move.
"Yumiko. Let me handle the small fries. Save him."
Although I'm pointing towards the Leader, she will surely understand who I am really pertaining to.
Hearing my voice, Yumiko nodded and turned her heels towards the Leader who's slowly transforming into some kind of Dark Monster due to the amount of Dark Energy he already absorbed as well as the cloud of it forming around his body.
It's not that he will be a threat. I know that the strongest among those from the Mortal Worlds was only Peak Rank 4 currently. I am more concerned about the well-being of the human he possessed.
Regardless of whatever crazy things he could manage to pull off, it would be of no use against Yumiko who probably already exceeded more than 100 points in Power Level scale. It's temporary so that doesn't count as her being a Transcendent, however, it's like a glimpse of what we should expect upon reaching it.
"Why? Of all places you should have been, why here?"
Although he threw those words to Yumiko, he's not expecting any answer from her.
The Dark Cult Leader stood up and made a stance, even though it could hardly be called a stance due to his current form.
With his body being continuously filled with Dark Energy, it's inevitable that a lot of it will spill from the pores of his skin.
By gathering those energies that were oozing out of him, he unleashed an attack towards Yumiko.
It would probably look scary in the eyes of those weaker than him but it's surely not enough to intimidate Yumiko. With just a simple wave of her hand, the attack he unleashed was diverted and hit the ground where it drilled into it as it left a gaping hole.
It contained some power, alright. Just that, it's only up to his standard.
At the sight of his attack that was deflected easily, the Leader made another desperate move as he tried to gather more Dark Energy. The unknown substance he injected himself boosted his control and rate of absorption. Nonetheless, the stress from it was all being endured by the body of the human he possessed.
If he continued, the body would collapse from the abundant amount of Dark Energy. Our bodies might be susceptible to it but everything has its limits.
"That's enough."
Two words. By uttering those two words, Yumiko froze the Leader's actions and in a single step, she traversed the distance between them.
"Escape! Erase your traces and--"
The Leader tried to shout towards his followers but Yumiko cut it short as she knocked him down with a single punch.
That punch looked ordinary but it immediately dispersed the cloud of Dark Energy covering the Leader's body. He couldn't even holler a scream as he dropped down towards the ground, spasming from the pain.
Upon seeing that, I immediately moved over there as I swept away the Dark Cult members that were currently swarming me using my new Wizard Spells. The Magic Missiles locked and hit all of its targets while the Wind Blades followed by Air Bullets took care of those who were left standing.
Although some of them got injured before falling unconscious, it's far from life-threatening.
Once I arrived next to the unconscious Leader, Yumiko nodded at me as she continued to clean up the remaining Dark Cult members.
I estimated that there were less than 100 of them add the more than 20 who we caught earlier, the number of Possessed was already in the three digits just in this Breached Portal alone. That is to say that even if the ritual they're doing didn't have a 100% efficiency, they still gathered this much manpower in the short amount of time that they were here.
How many portals were breached? The Principal didn't mention it in his predictions or maybe he couldn't also get the exact numbers. Will Earth be fine like this?
What will I see here once I get back from the 4th world?
Haa… I don't have the Clairvoyance to know that. I'll just hope that his countermeasures can prevent these Dark World denizens.
I observed the unconscious Dark Cult Leader and picked up the syringe which contained the unknown substance he injected to himself.
Even unconscious, he's passively absorbing the Dark Energy in the air albeit slowly.
Now with the same signs of corruption like those from the Mortal World, the Possessed body was in the process of breaking down due to the excessive Dark Energy he absorbed.
I generated a ball of Psyche Boost in my palm and shot it towards him.
The same as earlier, his body immediately reacted to it when it seeped inside him. However, the expected ejection of Dark Energy didn't happen while his body continued to absorb it.
Is he already beyond saving?
Haa. I know it would eventually come to this but seeing the first casualty happening in front of our eyes.
It's inevitable.
I guess I'm already numb to people dying but to see this happening to our fellow Earth denizen hit something inside me.
The Dark World has already encroached upon our world, it's only a matter of time before more like this guy will turn up as a small part of the casualty.
Psyche Boost, Dispelling Arrow. None of it works as the Possessed body slowly crumbled due to the corruption of Dark Energy.
I put my hand over him to try absorbing the Dark Energy inside him, however, even though I succeeded, his body continued its passive absorption due to that unknown substance he injected.
I also tried to increase the rate of my absorption and conversion of the Dark Energy but the result didn't change.
"Daisuke…"
I heard Yumiko's voice beside me. The duration of the Spirit Channeling was already over and she's back to her normal self.
The Possessed Body has already disintegrated to nothing. I don't know what consequence the Leader will receive in his true body on the other side but it's surely not the same as this unlucky human.
Haa... In the end, war will always be like this.
"Sir! We captured and successfully knocked out everyone trying to escape! Is that?…"
The voice of Nishizawa along with the sound of them arriving took our attention. He, along with some of the members of his squad who arrived with him, stood in shock as they saw the whole place thrashed by us. With numerous bodies of the Possessed lying down, unconscious.
The first Breached Portal has been successfully cleared and taken over with one Possessed human disintegrated into nothingness.