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”Alright… it is confirmed now,”Jake communicated through their mark. ”The Otherworlders are quite heavily affected, too, though the effect is slightly different. I guess this settles it.”

Rather than make them lose all ability to question anything, it just made them, what was the word… accepting of the status quo. They didn’t see the need to say no. Like with the natives, it was an insidious kind of magic. The kind Jake really hated to think about even existing.

Karmic Plagues didn’t always look like this… in fact, most plagues in general, didn’t. Most just killed people or made them weaker; the Karmic part was only related to how something would spread. A plague could be anything, and this Karmic Plague on Tri-World was just of the mental-magic variant. It fucked up your head.

He remembered all the way back when he had fought the Minotaur Mindchief when he was only in E-grade. Jake still remembered the slimy feeling that the mental magic of the Minotaur had given him. He remembered feeling like he was the friend of the Minotaur and questioned himself why they were even fighting. This Karmic Plague was like that, except people never snapped back to reality.

Mental magic did have the weakness that it had limited energy and wouldn’t work forever. If you made someone think they were your friend, that illusion of the mind would pretty quickly begin to unravel even if you kept applying the magic. The target would build resistance, and the illusion would break, making long-term mind control not really a thing… unless it was something like this Karmic Plague.

The natives had been infected from their birth. What made it worse was that the source of the mental magic was not viewed as coming from another entity. It was coming from your own soul as if they had tried to influence themselves. The closest thing Jake had was comparing it to getting possessed by Eternal Hunger. That curse also wouldn’t just wear off. Of course, with Jake, the effect wouldn’t be permanent as he would just have been sealed away in his own Soulspace and eventually break out and regain control, but there were plenty of instances where people fell to curses or the alike in the history of the multiverse, never breaking out and changing their entire being permanently.

These Otherworlders were in a similar state to someone possessed by a curse. They could potentially be cured. Potentially being a strong word here. Jake guessed that someone at least at A-grade made this strain of Karmic Plague. Probably even higher. That is to say, he had no way of curing people already infected. Considering they were in a dungeon, there was no way to bring them out and have someone actually able to find a cure look at them, either. Well, the right way would be to bring that powerful person to the planet, but that obviously wasn’t an option either.

Moreover… the Karmic Plague made them heavily resistant to anything that would “hurt” the plague. Another potential nasty as fuck trait of a Karmic Curse. The ones infected felt protective of it. Happy they had it. Close to it, like family, and any mention of a “cure” was like telling them to kill their best friend. The ones infected didn’t even notice this unless directly put in a scenario where they had to choose if they wanted to be cured. Which is what Jake had done with the Lord Protector to confirm.

That entire thing about a teleportation gate to leave the planet was also just bait. Jake reckoned they could even have been punished with a point penalty if they made it, considering they had just broken one of the few multiversally approved laws in existence, dictating the isolation of any plague-infested areas.

“We all know our objectives, then?” the Sword Saint asked.

“Yes,” Dina said with determination. “Sylphie and I shall head towards the marked spot on the map where the fourth faction once resided.”

“Ree,” Sylphie confirmed.

The Fallen King merely made a noise as the Sword Saint sent a mental nod. Without any further warning, the swordsman took off in one direction, the Fallen King going in another, each towards one of the other two factions on Tri-World. Sylphie and Dina hesitated for a moment as they stared at the enraged, yet conflicted, space mage calling himself a Lord Protector.

“He is mine,” Jake just spoke out loud.

Sylphie didn’t need any more prompting as she took off, Dina following after.

The Lord Protector seemed very surprised as he looked at Jake.

“Do you truly believe you can defeat the entire Enlightened Republic alone? There is still time to reconsider… fighting like this is useless. We are both Otherworlders. If you want to end the Karmic Plague, doesn’t that mean you would also have to end yourself? You, too, are infected now that you have set foot on Tri-World,” the Lord Protector tried to argue.

Jake just shook his head. “It takes more than fifty years before it begins to infect people. That is the incubation period where it slowly builds up, and as long as you leave within that time, you are good.”

After they had discovered the nature of the Karmic Plague, Jake noticed that all five of them had indeed been infected. At least, kind of. It was so non-existent that Jake hadn’t even noticed before he did a thorough scan of his body. He had then promptly removed it using Palate of the Malefic Viper, which is also why he knew of the fifty-year incubation period. That fifty years was also the maximum time you could be in Nevermore while at C-grade certainly wasn’t a coincidence.

“I… even so,” the Lord Protector tried, Jake’s party members already long gone. “Tri-World is fine as it is. Why… why do you need to ruin it? Why not just accept that life is good here? With time, you will come to understand that-“

Jake sighed loudly, not seeing any sense in talking. It was just the plague talking. If Jake had to guess, then the Isekai-function was likely there to make up for population-decline while also introducing people who knew about the wider multiverse and could potentially leave at some point, thus spreading the Karmic Plague further. While a planet could infect people, so could people infect a planet if there were enough of them… so a single individual could end up dooming an entire planet over a very long period.

Pulling out his bow, he looked at the Lord Protector in the eye. “You either kill me here and chase after my party members, or we will end the Tri-World as you know it.”

The Lord Protector’s mouth was still halfway through a word arguing that they didn’t have to fight the plague as Jake said his piece. The man just froze as his face turned cold, the conversation truly over.

“Then you must die.”

An edge of highly condensed space mana coated the edge of the Lord Protector of the Enlightened Republic’s sword. There was no hesitation in his movements as he slashed toward Jake, releasing a massive crescent wave that cut through the air, making everything vibrate.

Jake looked at the more than a kilometer-wide blade heading toward him as wings sprung from his back, making him fly backward as he shot an arrow toward the space mage. A barrier blocked it instantly, but Jake easily dodged the large opening strike. A few more attacks followed, only confirming Jake’s first thoughts. Through that first attack only, he had already gotten a good idea of what he was dealing with. It wasn’t simply overconfidence that had made Jake choose to face this Lord Protector alone.

He’s a fucking houseplant.

He was someone who had leveled not through fighting but by sitting indoors and doing his own experiments. His moves were big and flashy, not at all efficient, but made more to look cool than actually be useful. Sure, those kinds of attacks would still work against other people who sucked at fighting or people far weaker than himself… but Jake was neither of those.

A dozen of slashes went past him as Jake released a barrage of arrows that curved around the space mage. The Lord Protector struggled to erect barriers that could block them all and failed to react when an Arcane Powershot blasted his passive barrier apart, sending him tumbling back through several buildings before he hit the ground, structures tumbling down upon him.

Jake did not let up but continued with a barrage of arrows as the entire capital city of the Enlightened Republic rapidly became aware they were under attack. Many presences appeared all over the city as figures began rising into the air.

Jake glanced around and rapidly noticed four individuals of note, all of them Otherworlders.

[General of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 271]

[Elf-King of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 266]

[Human-Queen of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 268]

[Dwarf-King of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 264]

“How dare you declare war against the Enlightened Republic!” the only elf among them yelled. “For this transgression, you will-“

Jake spun around, an arrow already nocked and ready to go. His Perception of time slowed as he pulled back the string, and Gaze of the Apex Hunter activated, freezing all the figures surrounding the elven king, along with the king himself. An Arcane Powershot sent an explosion of arcane energy blasting out of him as the arrow hit the Elf-King right in the chest, blasting him back. Jake gave chase as he used One Step several times, making distance from the Lord Protector, who was already emerging from the rubble, and any of the other notable figures.

The Elf-King ended up landing on the outskirts of the capital, leaving a giant crater. Yet before he could even properly stand up, Jake was upon him. From above, an arrow pierced down, hitting the unprepared nobleman in the head and blasting it straight off.

*You have slain [Elf-King of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 266] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

Weak, Jake semi-complained as he turned to the other figures of interest. They had all given chase but stopped the moment they saw the Elf-King slain. Looking at them, Jake scoffed as the General yelled:

“To arms, soldiers of the Enlightened Republic!” he proclaimed loudly as hundreds of small groups began floating into the air. They were all C-grade, but most of them were low-tier… and none of them were impressive.

These squads all yelled as the General released some group buff. Jake knew there were several Otherworlders mixed into these squads just from a cursory glance. In fact, it seemed like all the “leaders” of these groups were Otherworlders.

The many large groups flew toward him at unimpressive speed as Jake looked their way and opened his mouth while infusing his voice with Willpower. “All soldiers, kill the closest Otherworlder.”

It took a second for them all to process what he had said. Some of them were faster than others. The Otherworlders mixed in were taken by surprise as they were attacked by the ones right next to them, as they screamed for them to stop, something the natives also promptly did.

More orders were barked at them, but before they had any time to even turn toward Jake, he yelled again.

“Kill any Otherworlder that is not me.”

Once more, they attacked, and once more, they were told to stop. The entire situation was funny if you didn’t think too long about it. This repeated several times as the natives in the Enlightened Republic only became a source of chaos. Something that was clearly noticed.

The Lord Protector, who had reemerged, looked on with anger as he screamed loudly:

“Anyone part of the army: kill yourselves.”

What followed was them doing just that. An eerie sight played out as thousands began falling out of the sky, their eyes glazed over as they had extinguished their own souls. There had not been a single moment of hesitation, no trace of doubt or questioning. No survival instinct.

Jake only felt reaffirmed in what they were doing as he looked at the Lord Protector with killing intent. His job was to wipe out the powerful people in the Enlightened Republic, and he planned on doing just that. They had also clearly realized that it was either him or them, as the Lord Protector and General attacked as the remaining King and Queen began using some kind of magic. Neither seemed like a threat, and the Lord Protector seemed annoying to kill fast, so he went for the General. He was a dwarf wearing heavy armor, and while that did make him durable, it also made him slow.

Space mana warped in his surroundings as he knew the Lord Protector was trying to trap him, but Jake had seen better before. Compared to Minaga, the Lord Protector was an amateur, and Jake easily used One Step to break through and continue toward his target as he released several potshots.

The General responded by taking out a large axe to block, as his body began burning with some red energy. Jake didn’t particularly care much about what he did, as the dwarf wasn’t even good enough to block all of the arrows he shot, getting hit in the shoulder and arm. What made it worse, Jake felt something he rarely felt from his opponent when fighting these days.

Fear.

An emotion far too easily exploitable.

Pride of the Malefic Viper was unleashed as Jake attacked the psyche of the dwarf, making him temporarily hesitate as he closed in. He entered melee due to the three others fighting him and how they all sucked at using magic offensively. They had no confidence in not hitting their comrade, and if they still tried… well, dwarf-shields were totally viable.

While everyone hesitated, Jake managed to attack. Eternal Hunger struck the dwarf in the chest as he used Penetrating Fang, blowing the aesthetically pleasing but not very functional armor of the General apart.

Blood spewed out from his strike - the General’s eyes wide open as Jake used his other katar to stab through the opening in the dwarf’s helmet. Pulling out Eternal Hunger, he got ready to strike again as he prepared another Penetrating Fang.

Before Jake could finish off the General, his danger sense warned him of an incoming attack. A fast one. He barely managed to twist his body as an arrow flew by him, the wind warping and cutting in its wake, leaving several tears in his armor. It was some evolved form of Powershot, no doubt.

Turning his gaze, he spotted a figure a few dozen kilometers away, standing outside of the city borders. An elven woman wearing a cloak and holding a bow while already halfway through nocking another arrow.

[Ranger Commander of the Enlightened Republic – lvl 278]

Jake also felt something else from her. He had become quite attuned to the Karmic Plague after learning about it, and Sense Poison was constantly detecting it. Yet when he looked at the elven Ranger Commander, he didn’t feel any trace of the plague at all. No… did feel it like he had felt it within himself and his party members. Still in incubation.

Still saveable, Jake concluded. Another curveball by the Wyrmgod, no doubt.

Jake looked her way as he made eye contact and projected his voice. “Stand down. You are new on Tri-World, I can feel it, and the Karmic Plague has yet to fully take root. You do not need to-”

He had to stop talking as another arrow was fired after him. Jake dodged as a massive pillar of pure space mana descended upon him, slamming him into the ground. With a groan, Jake dug himself out of the pit created by the massive pillar as a rain of arrows fell on him.

“Relax, for fuck sake!” Jake yelled very diplomatically as he used One Step to get away. He also had to keep an eye on the Lord Protector and dodge another attack as he tried one more time. “Do you get what is going on with this planet? The Karmic Plague is-“

“I fucking know you self-righteous piece of shit,” the Ranger Commander yelled back. “And while these pathetic natives aren’t as good as the slaves I used to have, they are sure as fuck better than not having any slaves at all. Now shut the fuck up and die already.”

He realized he had misunderstood. Rather than a moral curveball… perhaps the Ranger Commander was instead a lesson that some people did just suck.

Jake sighed loudly as he looked toward the sky and the second massive pillar of space mana gathering. “Well, okay then.”

The pillar of space mana stuck down as Jake pulled out his bow and let loose, Arcane Awakening fully activating as his body exploded with energy. He was confident he had drawn out all the powerful people of note. Now, it was just cleanup time.

An arrow of arcane mana shot upwards as the entire pillar of space mana exploded like a tower of glass. The purple-colored fragments from Jake’s arcane mana were flying everywhere as the fallen shards fell upon the broken capital as Jake finally got serious.