I Hate Systems

Walking through the sea of fire, unaffected, was Compass Carburettor. As he was in his Haggon form, he now understood just how powerful it was. Just the rigidity of his skin prevented the heat from affecting him.

It was not to mention the fact that any minor burns automatically healed. He wasn't expending much Darlac since he was only walking through the paths where the fires had almost died out.

It was the safest spot since the grass hadn't begun to grow yet while the fire wasn't hot enough to waste more of his Darlac.

He couldn't rush fast, for that would make him reach the patch of grass that had yet to be burned by the fire. So, he couldn't rush things through. But, it was a torturing experience, especially since he now had enough time to think, causing him to worry about Grisha.

Two hours passed in such a fashion. Compass Carburettor was surprised when he noticed the patch of grass had ended, concerned at the result. Just before he took a step onto the free path, he felt some weak Mental Energy streams land on him from within.

It made him recall the scene he had witnessed at the lawn of Grisha's house, frowning, 'So, the reason the grass hadn't expanded after this point is due to the ants?'

Thinking as such, he wore his clothes after returning to his human form, strapping the bag onto his back as he said, "Remain secure! I'll begin running once again."

"Alright!" The cobra said as it coiled up. As a couple of hours had passed, it had been able to digest the meat it had consumed a little. As its body was mutating, its digestion process had been accelerated.

Holding the two Armaments in his hands, Compass Carburettor took in a deep breath before sprinting through the stretch of road beyond, having worn his boots to give him another boost in running speed.

The moment he began to run, countless tiny holes formed on the road as ants began to spill out from them.

But clearly, they were no match for him. So, after chasing for a couple of metres, they retreated into their respective holes.

The only problem was the fact that ants continued to spill out of the places he had stepped foot upon, causing him to frown, 'Is the city's surface completely taken over by the ants?'

Within ten minutes, he reached the edge of Feora City, able to feel countless Mental Energy streams fall on him from various windows.

With a casual glance, he noticed the people staring from within, the expression of fear evident in their Mental Energy streams.

'What did they witness to feel this way?' Even though he was curious, he didn't have the time to investigate, making a beeline towards Grisha's house.

It was late into the night as he reached the location, frowning immediately upon seeing grass had reached half the house's walls. Moreover, there were a couple of Grassmen standing on the lawn.

Upon seeing that it wasn't Grisha, he heaved a sigh in relief. But, he didn't kill them, unwilling to alert them as his figure flashed, making a couple of flashes before he arrived at the roof of the house. He then landed on the balcony and knocked on the door gently, unwilling to produce much noise.

He had done so in the room Grisha had been waiting, tracking her through the Mental Energy stream she had been emitting all along.

Upon the knocking sounds, there was a fluster within a pair of bedsheets before Grisha hesitantly peeked, noticing through the light in the room that the one in the balcony was Compass Carburettor.

"Compass!" Shedding tears, she sprang towards him, opening the door to jump into his embrace, sobbing, "I had been afraid."

He didn't say much, patting her back as he entered the room and closed the door behind him, asking, "What happened here?"

"Massive ants exited the ground and fought against those people who are now controlled by the grass," Grisha said, quickly recounting everything that had happened.

As theirs was a villa locality, quite some neighbours were chilling on their lawns in the evening. At that time, the grass behaved strangely. Some saw the grass crawling under the skins of their legs, screaming in response before turning strangely calm.

And as time passed, their skin morphed, covered by grass while they seemed to have turned into entirely different people.

"Grassmen," Compass Carburettor nodded, motioning for her to talk, concluding everything that she had observed.

In order to make more of their kind, the Grassmen barged into the homes and dragged out the people. They had tried the same in Grisha's home too. Thankfully for her, she had plenty of alcohol stored for her parties. Using that, she set them on fire, thwarting their actions.

And, it seemed the Grassmen had been planning to increase their numbers to fight against their nemesis, the ants.

For some reason, the ants were immune to the ability of the grass to create Grassmen, so, they charged through the grass, clipping through it with their mandibles. And in response, the grass lashed out on their hard carapaces, cracking them while the Grassmen took the lead in destroying them.

Every hour, a battle would erupt. Even though the situation had been at a stalemate, for now, the ants were clearly winning, "For some reason, a couple of hours ago, the strength of the grass fell while the ants took advantage of that fact to kill plenty of Grassmen."

"I see," Compass Carburettor nodded, realising that their actions of burning the vast stretch of grass had weakened them. But, he nodded, "This should only be temporary. With their vitality, the grass would grow stronger."

'We are just prey caught between two sides.' Sighing, he hugged Grisha, "I'm glad that you were safe."

"Now that the apocalypse has started, the risks of you having this has reduced." Saying so, he gently placed the symbol of Secret Society on her, watching it seep into her.

Grisha was surprised for a moment as her beautiful eyes blinked in response, saying, "So, that's your identity."