I Hate Systems

"Haah…hah…haha, you're strong, I'll give you that." The Reincarnation System muttered while staring at the figures of Technocraft and Mystique, especially the latter.

Currently, in the mysterious world that had been created through the combined effort of the Reincarnation and Transmigration System, the two Grade 4 Systems and the two Genre Representatives had been engaged in a battle, for the past seventy-five years.

And in the end, the Grade 4 Systems lost, hiding in one corner of the world while gasping for breath.

"When did you become this strong, Mystique?" The Transmigration System asked, healing its injuries as it swapped out its fragments from the timelines of the various worlds it had control over. This way, it recovered quickly.

The damaged fragments healed in their source world, their damage mended by the cause and effect of the related universe.

"You should thank Zaira for that." Mystique said while seated on the arrow of a massive clock that formed the core of this region. Though at present, he showed no animosity towards the Systems, "She caused more of my worlds to awaken."

"Calm down," The Reincarnation System said, suddenly holding the Transmigration System back, saying, "This is another maniac consciousness of his. He'll target everyone as an enemy. Look how even Technocraft isn't moving."

This was why the battle had been prolonged to such extended durations. After all, the majority of the collective consciousness appearing in Mystique either sat idle or attacked everyone on sight. Only a seldom few attacked the two Systems with all his strength.

And it was during these few minutes when the Systems were injured the most. And during the time they weren't attacked, they healed their injuries, preparing for another battle.

Due to Mystique's nature, even Technocraft couldn't be on the offensive all the time, having to focus on his back too. After all, in the fraction of a second, Mystique transformed from a God-like ally to a pig-like backstabber.

'Being trapped here for any longer is dangerous.' Technocraft thought, 'The other Systems would be targeting more of my worlds by now. Without my interference, they wouldn't last long.'

Technocraft was worried. To be honest, among the Genre Representatives, he could be said to be the smartest among the bunch. After all, as a representative of all science fiction and space operas, the average level of intelligence among his people was superior when compared to the other genres.

And considering the nature of his worlds, even Systems would have a hard time making big changes. After all, among all the space opera worlds, there were world-devouring races encompassing hundreds of worlds.

Even for Grade 2 Systems, it would be hard to propagate, especially since a moment's carelessness would get entire worlds under them blasted to smithereens by world-rending canons.

Generally, Grade 2 Systems suffered more losses than profits in such worlds. Only Grade 3 Systems could manage in such a scenario, but even for them, it was hard to generate as much profit as they did from a Cultivation World.

And in the past, there were even cases of System Hosts that eventually escaped the influence of their respective Systems and ventured forth in their own paths, leaving the Systems behind, either abandoned or for dead.

With each universe under him being as vast as the other, the possibilities were simply endless and hence, all sorts of things happened.

But, all this could only happen because Technocraft was there to impede the majority of the schemes laid out by the Systems. Otherwise, given their capabilities, it was only a matter of time before they controlled everything and turned his worlds into another farming game similar to the Hunter Worlds.

'How will I leave this place though?' Sighing, Technocraft looked around. The Core Skill Manifestation created by two Grade 4 Systems combined was terrifyingly strong even at his level. But if left alone, he had the confidence in destroying it.

Even if the two Grade 4 Systems interfered with him, he still had the guarantee of making his escape. But the root of all his problems was of course the same individual that gave trouble to his opponents too.

Mystique!

The last time he tried to escape, right before he succeeded, the collective consciousness representing Mystique changed abruptly, becoming one that attacked him happily. With that, Technocraft had no other choice but to defend himself, losing his chance.

This repeated multiple times, even during instances when he felt Mystique—that had allied to him—had enough time to last. His duration ended quicker than usual, allowing Technocraft to come to a startling conclusion.

'The Mystique that's allied to us isn't the strongest Mystique. All the allied collective consciousnesses are only around mid-tier in the scale of collective consciousnesses operating him.' Having the opportunity to fight alongside Mystique for so long allowed him to understand the truth regarding the other party.

"But…" Seated on the hour hand, Mystique yawned, "This place has started to bore me. I guess I'll take my leave…"

Boom!

Without allowing the other party to finish speaking, the Reincarnation System unleashed its attack, causing hundreds of collective consciousness to spill out of Mystique, alarming the other party. An instant later, the spilled collective consciousness transformed into a beam of light and exited the Core Skill Manifestation, reincarnating into various worlds.

"Interesting," Mystique muttered as he snapped his finger, causing the respective collective consciousness to return, observing there was a minor reduction in their quality, smiling as he looked at the Reincarnation System, "Tiny fractions of my strength are now scattered in other worlds."

"It would cause chaos in those worlds, you see."

"That is perfectly fine," The Reincarnation System grinned, "The fragments are small enough for the Grade 1 Systems to handle. They'll host the individuals powerful enough to handle the power in those fragments."

"Many Grade 1 Systems will die at this rate though." Mystique said in confusion, "In a situation without the Tell-Tale System, isn't that risky?"

"No, it's precisely because Tell-Tale died that we need to do this." The Reincarnation System grunted in anger, having never expected the Systems to lose that war, "We are oversaturated with Grade 1 Systems anyway. Unfortunately, not many among them show true potential."

"But, your power would be the perfect whetstone for that. The ones that consume your power and maintain their sanity would evolve further." It grinned with a maniacal gaze.

"I'm a whetstone, huh." Mystique grinned, "Interesting."

But an instant later, his grin vanished, replaced with a grim expression, filled with anger. The collective consciousness changed, and this time, it was Technocraft's ally, glaring at the Systems in anger, "Bastards,"

"You'll result in more of my worlds waking up."