I Hate Systems

Originally, the members of the Essencer Guild operated very secretly to prevent their existence from getting known. But the moment Essencer reclaimed all his power from them, they panicked.

After all, without the Devil, they would no longer be able to lead their happy lives. Those that prayed to the Devil were psychopaths in the first place, and the powers granted by Essencer allowed them to lead happy psychopathic lives.

If Essencer were to die, they would have to live like normal humans. But considering how their appearance wasn't human anymore, they wouldn't be able to blend in with the crowd like before.

Therefore, the members of the Essencer Guild thrashed through society, trying to hunt as many people as possible to supply Essencer with the faith and lifeforce they could collect. Of course, this only made it easier for the Aggressors and priests of faith to target them and put them to rest.

And, Compass Carburettor acted as a command centre that received and supplied information regarding the whereabouts of the Essencer Guild members to everyone in the vicinity.

Moreover, he actively transmitted blessings to everyone that had prayed to him at least once, informing them of the danger, and prompting them to pray to him the moment they see an Essencer Guild member walking about.

This caused the damage brought by the Essencer Guild to be contained to a minimum. Only the Apostle and some Spirits were able to rake in serious casualties.

Bam!

Essencer glared in rage as a gigantic fish slapped him with its tail, sending him crashing into the ground. "You bastard! Are you seriously planning to kill us all?"

"We are part of the same race!"

"Funny how you mention it now." Hovering in the sky with an arrogant gaze was Peddler, constantly taking more and more money out of his pouch as they transformed into various bizarre abilities and attacked Essencer.

"Until now, I had been the one to shoulder the faults of everyone. How many Grade 3 Systems have been acting recklessly?" Peddler snorted, "Anyway, that's all old news."

"The lot of you can die for all I care now."

"You think Compass is your ally?" Essencer coughed out blood, unable to heal on time as the stream of fear directed at him began to rapidly diminish as the Essencer Guild members were wiped out rapidly.

His strength had plummeted to barely a tenth of his original as Essencer was left with no other choice but to fight with words, "He won't sit still until he consumes all Systems. Once he's done with us, you'll be next…"

"Ha…haha…hahaha! Hahahaha!" Peddler roared in laughter as if he had heard the funniest shit in his infinitely long life. He covered his eyes and wiped his tears at the absurdity before he stared at Essencer, "What…makes you think I'm a System?"

"What?" Essencer was stunned in response, "Aren't you the Adventure System? Even if you lost everything, you're still a System that's part of the Protagonist Genre now, right?"

"My core isn't a System." Peddler's lips curled up, "I'm just a chaotic being that had woken up from slumber in one of Mystique's sealed worlds. I was only behaving as a System to make Zaira's wishes come true. But since she rejected that in the end, I have nothing holding me back anymore."

"I'm not inherently loyal to Zaira. It was just my affection making me support you until now. So," Peddler took in a deep breath as he took out his weighing scale, "If you have to blame anyone,"

"Blame Zaira."

Boom!

A bolt of lightning landed from the sky, intending to slam Essencer. But just before it touched him, it transformed into a gold coin and gently touched his forehead, seeping into him.

Following that, Essencer watched a weighing scale manifest as he was on one side while on the other, Peddler poured in a pile of coins.

"W-What's happening?" Essencer was shocked as despite his attacks, he was unable to leave the weighing scale, stuck on his side. At present, the scale tipped to his side.

Peddler took out a bunch of coins from his pouch and poured them onto the pile, watching the scale tip more towards the centre.

Thump! Thump!

For some reason, Essencer was alarmed, realising that the moment the scale reaches the centre, he would die, shouting in alarm, "Spare me, please! I just want to live! I don't want to die!"

"You want to kill Arnark, right? I'll help with that! S-Spare me…" His voice began to tremble as he watched the scale come closer and closer to the centre, his hollers becoming more and more panic-struck, "I'll do whatever you want! P-Please!"

Ding!

A familiar sound resounded as the scale pointed at the centre. On one side of the weighing scale, there was Essencer and on the other, there was a hill-sized pile of coins.

Staring at it, Peddler muttered coldly, "Huh? Only seventeen million?"

He stared at Essencer, "The value of your life is cheaper than I thought."

"W-What are you implying?" Essencer asked, in fear, his face pale while his body turned cold.

"That's how much money I need to spend to buy you," Peddler smirked.

"Impossible! I don't accept it! Such a transaction cannot be done. That's not a merchant's way!" Essencer shouted indignantly.

"You're right, that's not the merchant's way." Peddler said, watching Essencer's face regain some colour when he grinned, "But I don't follow that."

"I'm an unscrupulous merchant, you see?"

Colour drained from Essencer's expression as he watched the pile of coins turn to dust and vanish. A moment later, the weighing scale vanished as Essencer fell on the ground in despair, muttering towards Peddler in disbelief, "You…bastard."

"You…purchased my right to exist?"

"Pretty much." Peddler grinned as he gently slapped Essencer on the cheek, "Everything has a price, including your existence as the Devil Essencer. As long as I pay a suitable price, I can buy you, which was why I worked on weakening you first."

"You see," He grinned before turning around to face the figure of Aggressor that reverted to Pnolli, "I actually control the economy."

"That's my true power."