 |
WARNING! |
The Power Collectors are citizens of Kamigoe City who were covertly selected and recruited by Enenra to carry out Count Saint-Germain's objective in gathering and studying yokai powers on his behalf, including the powers of Momo Ayase, Seiko Ayase, and Okarun. To execute their mission, each agent was granted a power through a special kozuka knife and used them to extract a power from their intended targets. In exchange for amassing a substantial quantity of powers, the orchestrator promised to grant the agent a single wish.
Due to their actions and role, they are the main antagonists of the Kozuka Knives Arc and one of the central antagonist groups of the Current Saga.
Members[]
| Power Collectors | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchestrator | ||||
| Enenra | ||||
| Agents | ||||
| Hase | Kettetsu Power User | Mika Adachi ‡ | Takeshi Murakami | |
| Others | ||||
| Koki Yukishiro ‡ | Ultimate Yokai Vessel | |||
Overview[]
Though they were all aligned with the same mission, the agents operated as a kind of "outsourcing organization", with each one recruited independently by the orchestrator and kept unaware of the others' identities. This approach, as explained by Kinta, proved more cost-effective and left behind fewer traces, among other strategic advantages.
Recruitment[]
These agents served as emotionally invested pawns, handpicked by Enenra based on personal vulnerabilities he had uncovered, such as wanting to support a loved one or a desire for revenge against someone who had wronged them. Exploiting these weaknesses, the yokai offered each agent a wish tailored to their deepest desire, drawing them into service. In Hase's case, no wish was needed; his obsession with surpassing Okarun was motivation enough, as stealing Okarun's power would fulfill that goal. Murakami's true motive was never explicitly revealed (though in all likelihood it is implied to stem from his immoral nature, particularly his penchant for exploiting others for personal gain). Enenra also required agents willing to target individuals close to their intended victims, as this was the only method capable of extracting power from someone who possessed an ID Cosmos. Recruitment was carried out indirectly, either through a colleague close to the target to prompt them into calling an unknown number linked to Enenra, or through telepathic communication (presumably through his smoke powers). If the former, the agent's memory of that person's appearance would later be erased. This phenomenon relates to Enenra's superior Count Saint-Germain, suggesting his involvement in Enenra's recruitment process outside the lent knives.
Mission[]
Upon recruitment, each agent was equipped with kozuka knives, forged from the legendary katana Asura provided by Count Saint-Germain: one white handle blade to grant them a power, and black handle blades to extract a power from their assigned targets. Once a target had been selected, Enenra sent a text message to all active agents detailing who they were to steal from and where the target was located. This system could lead to multiple agents converging on the same individual, as seen in the case of Adachi and another operative both targeting Seiko at Nikujiru Gyoza.
Alternatively, instead of carrying out the mission themselves, an agent could choose to delegate the task to someone else, recruiting their own operatives to act in their stead. This tactic was exemplified by Murakami, who coerced Koki through blackmail to pursue Momo on his behalf, effectively expanding Enenra's influence through proxy manipulation.
Termination[]
Although agents were instructed to target only those designated by Enenra, they were liable to stray from these orders, opting instead to pursue anyone they sensed possessed a power due to the main focus of their mission. The undesignated target may also ultimately be a fellow agent. If such off-course actions succeeded, they were deemed a breach of contract by the Red Baron, leading to immediate "disqualification" from receiving the promised wish, and a forced surrender of both the kozuka knife and the power the agent was granted to a representative chosen by Enenra.
Targets[]
- Collector(s): Takeshi Murakami (via Koki Yukishiro)
- Mission Status: Failure
Murakami took on the task of targeting Momo for her power by sending out Kami High student Koki Yukishiro after blackmailing her to do his bidding. After her attempt failed, she was pursed by the History and Culture Research Club and complied to divulge information about her situation, though the identity of her blackmailer was blocked from her memory. Murakami was soon arrested following Koki allying with the club to apprehend him.
- Collector(s): Mika Adachi and the Kettetsu Power User
- Misson Status: Failure
Both Adachi and a salaryman agent independently took on the task of targeting Seiko during her meeting with Kashimoto and Payase at Nikujiru Gyoza. The attempt ended in failure following the salaryman's defeat and arrest, which prompted Adachi to retreat back to Kami High and report the status of the mission to the orchestrator.
- Collector(s): Hase
- Misson Status: Failure
Following the acquisition of his Jumping Crone power indirectly granted to him by the orchestrator, Hase accepted their mission to confront Okarun and steal his power. This confrontation took place late at night at Kami High, with Hase partnering with an agent of Count Saint-Germain who was also targeting Okarun. Ultimately, Hase was defeated by Okarun and Kinta and sent to the hospital, while Count Saint-Germain's agent retreated after her exosuit took damage from Hase objecting to her stealing his fight against Okarun.
History[]
Around the time Count Saint-Germain gained the power of the Fairy-Tale Card, Enenra collaborated with the man to help him gather more abilities for his plan to create the ultimate yokai. To achieve this, he suggested recruiting individuals from Kamigoe City, granting them power through his kozuka knives forged from the yokai power-stealing sword Asura, and promising a wish if they successfully used the knives to steal powers from their assigned targets. Among the participants were Takeshi Murakami, a teacher at Kami High, a salaryman who sought the reward to heal his wife, and Mika Adachi, another teacher at Kami High aiming to continue financially supporting her sick mother.
Current Saga[]
Kozuka Knives Arc[]
Koki pursing Momo for her power.
Around the time Momo arrived at Kami High in her shrunken state after being afflicted by the Danmara curse, Enenra made his move, dispatching their agents to confront their designated targets. Murakami set his sights on Momo, deploying fellow student Koki Yukishiro as his personal operative after coercing her through blackmail. Koki's attempt to carry out the mission failed, resulting in her being pursued by the History and Culture Research Club. Following her surrender, she revealed her involvement with Murakami, though was unable to recall her blackmailer's identity due to her memories being tampered with. From that point on, Koki allied with the club to apprehend Murakami when they crossed paths again.
During the period when Koki was pursuing Momo, Enenra entered the male student Hase's body in his smoke form, sensing his lingering resentment toward Okarun for having recently outperformed him in gym class. Exploiting that grudge, Enenra urged Hase to accept the assignment of stealing Okarun's power. To aid him, they presented two kozuka knives: one with a white handle to grant him the abilities of Jumping Crone, and another with a black handle for the purpose of extracting his target's power.
The Kettetsu Power User and Adachi's jiangshi confront Seiko.
Following Koki's alliance with the club, Enenra instructed his agents to confront Seiko at Nikujiru Gyoza as their next target. Adachi and a salaryman agent approached the task independently, with Adachi being the first to engage her at the restaurant using her jiangshi manipulation power. The salaryman soon joined the fray while assuming his Kettetsu form, which enabled him to overpower Seiko. Just as he was poised to force her surrender and extract her power, Seiko received backup from the cursed object collectors she had a meeting with, Kashimoto and Payase. Following the man's defeat and subsequent arrest, Adachi escaped the scene and returned to Kami High to update the orchestrator on her mission's status.
Adachi obtaining Murakami's power.
After school, Murakami met up with Koki at the gym and subjected her, along with Rin shadowing them, to his Severed Head Dribblers power, having caught onto their plan to apprehend him. Following this, he returned to his apartment, enthusiastically monitoring the gym from an exercise bike, while having Adachi keep him company, having promised to financial support her ailing mother, provided she complied with his demands, one of which included wearing a provocative bunny girl outfit. Along with this being the case, Adachi also hoped to steal Murakami's power, having caught onto him possessing one at some point and waited for the right moment to take it from him. This moment presented itself when a swarm of flies suddenly invaded the room to attack Murakami. Unbeknownst to them, the insects were the manifestation of Koki's Lord of the Flies ability, used to track his location in order to neutralize his Severed Head Dribblers at the gym. Seizing the opportunity, Adachi drew her kozuka knife and demanded Murakami surrender, revealing herself to be a fellow power collector, and tricked him into believing the swarm was her doing. Feeling overwhelmed, Murakami complied to cut himself with the kozuka knife and concede defeat, resulting in Adachi successfully extracting his power and having the Severed Head Dribblers vanish from the gym. Murakami was then dragged back to the gym by the swarm where he was met with swift retribution from Aira, receiving a well-deserved kick from her in response to his misdeeds.
Hase defeated by Okarun and Kinta.
While Aira, Rin, and Koki were contending with the Severed Head Dribblers, Hase confronted Okarun and Kinta at school, joined by Count Saint-Germain's operative under orders to acquire Okarun's power much like Hase. Though Hase was willing to let the operative claim Okarun's power, he insisted on her stepping aside and letting him handle the fight himself to prove his superiority over Okarun. When she refused to adhere to his demands, Hase turned on her, attacking relentlessly until she could no longer stand. Empowered by his Jumping Crone power, Hase posed a serious threat to Okarun and Kinta relying on nanoskin armor to fight back. However, the tide turned when the duo coordinated to immobilize his legs mid-air and send him crashing down, resulting in his defeat from being incapacitated by their attack.
After acquiring Murakami's power, Adachi contacted the orchestrator and was instructed to rendezvous at the embankment beneath the overpass for pickup. There, she encountered a man carrying a briefcase and received a call from the orchestrator. Enenra informed her that she had been "disqualified" for extracting power from an unspecified target, who they revealed to be a fellow power collector like herself, and had only succeeded thanks to Koki's intervention. Adachi pleaded for a chance to redeem herself, but was refused by Enenra, being deemed unfit as an agent if given the task to steal a power from someone bearing an ID Cosmos. Despite this, she refused to relinquish her knife and power, prompting the man to attack Adachi until she submitted. Officer Vega then arrived, kicking the man away from Adachi and calling for backup. The man tried to exert control over Vega using the power of the Fairy-Tale Card but found that Vega was immune to its effects. He then turned his attention to Adachi, manipulating her to attack Vega as a diversion, allowing him enough time to flee.
Typhoon Human Arc[]
Later at Kami High, Murakami was arrested by the authorities after Koki revealed his crime against her, while Hase was sent to the hospital.