I Hate Systems

Gehera stared at Slayer with uncontrollable hatred. But an instant later, all her hatred vanished as she observed the state of things at the place.

'Arnark, Slayer, Martial that's the Waning Essence System's Host, The Invader System, and finally, Zaira that's monitoring us. This is bad.' She thought before sensing the states of her allies, 'They are in their prime but Stencil's Luck is at the lowest I've ever seen. It seems she did something to maintain their strength until now.'

'Considering the enemies, it's a wonder she lasted as long as she did.' Gehera then stared at the figure of Arnark, immediately understanding what was happening as he said in mockery towards him, "Are you conserving your strength?"

"You afraid, bro?"

"You think I need to be afraid of the lot of you?" Arnark snorted in response but didn't take the initiative to attack.

"You don't?" Gehera tilted her head in confusion as for a moment, the aura emanating from her body changed subtly.

Boom!

Immediately, Arnark teleported a dozen kilometres away in reflex. They acted a moment late, but Slayer and the Invader System too took a step back, expressing the utmost alertness they could display.

After all, Gehera was emitting Compass Carburettor's presence.

For all they know, it could have been Compass Carburettor acting as Gehera to let their guards down. So, they didn't dare take the risk.

At this moment, Gehera pointed at the farther figure of Arnark, "You teleported away instinctively."

"That's fear."

"Phew…" Arnark exhaled a deep breath as he massaged his temples for a couple of seconds, closing his eyes as he remained silent. But after that, he stared forth as immediately, a torrent of energy burst out of his body.

"Keuk!" Gehera grunted at the sheer pressure applied by the presence he released, thinking, 'Welp, he's a monster.'

"I'm glad you came here, but is triggering him the best idea you could come up with?" Stencil gathered her bearings by this time and asked wryly.

"I'm trying to antagonise him." Gehera whispered in response, "Your dad told me to do so when I'm in crisis. He said that antagonising Arnark without any hostages in hand would weaken his fate as the Main Character."

Had Gehera kidnapped someone dear to Arnark in order to blackmail him, then his retaliation would be a classic Main Character trope. But, if he retaliated simply because she antagonised him—when she wasn't stronger than him—without the means to force his hand, then his actions conformed to a nameless character that was there just to take up screentime until the side character arrived.

It wouldn't be much, but if Arnark took the bait and retaliated, then his fate would be shaved by a portion.

"Why does that happen? Isn't he the Main Character?" When advised about this method, Gehera had asked Compass carburettor about the reason.

At that time, Compass Carburettor grinned to reply, "That's because he's not the Main Character but the Main Character System."

Gehera couldn't make perfect sense of that statement but upon seeing her choices influence Arnark, she understood that Compass Carburettor was right. But, upon seeing Arnark's power, she could only smile wryly, 'It took effect as you said, Compass. But,'

She observed a torrent of energy so vast that the universe itself was submitting itself to Arnark, sighing with a sense of powerlessness, 'All I did was remove a droplet from the ocean.'

Arnark condensed a tiny lotus on his hand, one that bloomed to reveal a seed that hatched to give rise to a butterfly. The insect gradually grew bigger to be on par with the size of his thumb.

It was small, seemingly fragile, slow in its approach as it flew towards Gehera. Surprisingly, Gehera was unable to react in response, simply staring at it in a daze, admiring its beauty.

Stencil and Earth Star too were in the same state, their guards fully dropped.

'No! I would definitely die if that hits me!' The Secondary System was alarmed, observing Ying fall prey to the effects of the butterfly too. Only thanks to it hiding behind everything, it was unaffected, able to realise what was up.

The Secondary System then observed the Astral Network, staring at Zaira calmly looking at everything from above, 'If I were to die, Arnark would become a Grade 2 System immediately. The Zaira that helped me reach the peak of Grade 1 wouldn't like this.'

Its expression turned cold as it realised, 'So, it means the two came to an agreement of sorts. Considering how they hate each other, this agreement should be something that binds together their vested interests.'

'I'm still nothing but a pawn.' It sighed in loss, gazing at Stencil, 'I have been gorgeously weak all along, but those I catalysed have reached such terrifying heights. Seems I have no other choice.'

'I have hopped genres countless times before finally reaching this point. There's no way I will give up.' Thinking as such, it activated its power, suddenly causing Ying's body to jerk.

Core Skill—Secondary (Level 99)!

There was just a pulse in its energy that surged through Ying's body and funnelled into the choker controlling him. It triggered a response from the choker, waking Stencil up from her trance as she observed the butterfly coming close.

Stencil didn't take action until the butterfly came alarmingly close when suddenly, she brought out a hundred chokers that sealed the butterfly by forming a sphere. Lightning bolts slammed into it as they drilled the butterfly's body, creating a nervous system in the attack before gaining full control over it.

Stencil retracted the chokers and watched the butterfly gently land on her index finger, breaking the rest out of their trance.

She stared at Arnark, watching his face morph into a foul expression, "Thanks for the grub, poser."

But right before Arnark was triggered further, Zaira's voice resounded as a heavenly decree, having observed the earlier actions of a certain someone, "Are you betraying me?"

Her gaze was pointed at Ying, allowing Arnark to understand that it was because of Ying that Stencil was able to retaliate against one of his potent attacks.

Ying was silent for a few seconds before slowly, his mouth opened to utter a string of words, "This is now the second time you have betrayed me…"

"Zaira."