I Hate Systems

"It's…my fault." A lady in vibrant clothes hugged the corpse of a child and wept uncontrollably, "I couldn't save them!"

"Lady Genesis!" A youth shouted in a hurry and leapt onto the rubble behind her, asking in concern, "Are you alright? You've been fighting nonstop for three days already. You should rest."

"Rest?" The lady was of course the Genesis Hero. She glared at the youth, "People are dying everywhere! You want me to rest in this situation, Mida?"

"Please, rest for at least an hour or two. Leave it to me! I'll take care of the monsters…"

"No, leave it." The Genesis Hero's eyes trembled for a moment as she placed the corpse of the boy on the ground, and covered his eyes before jumping into the sky, blazing away by breaking through the sound barrier.

"Please wait!" Mida shouted and took flight thanks to the power of his Hero Suit. But he soon lost sight of her, looking around when he noticed a monster attacking a dilapidated house within which were survivors.

"Kyak! Save us!" The people within tried everything in their means to survive. Knives, sticks, utensils; anything they got their hands on acted as weapons to protect themselves from the massive humanoid bull that seemed to be made out of metal, immune to their weapons.

Boom!

Mida slammed into the bull, unleashing a corrosive punch that melted through its metallic body. The bull got up within a second before rushing towards him.

Mida erected a barrier around the house, watching the bull slam into it as its movements slowed down before it was rapidly devoured by a swirling acid. In a matter of seconds, he killed it, gasping for breath as he turned around to shout, "Are you guys alright?"

"Y-Yeah, thank you." The people hidden within the house trembled as they came out.

"I'll bring you to the safety of the settlement nearby. Some Heroes are protecting the place." Mida said as he unleashed a dome that resembled water, keeping them safe within the bubble that took to the air.

He quickly brought them to the nearby settlement before rushing out, 'Lady Genesis needs my help!'

…

"Kyaaak!" Stencil screamed in pain, feeling a severe migraine as immediately, she lost control of her body. This was why she flew away from Mida, unwilling to injure him.

"Haah, you are pretty annoying, Stencil." The collective consciousness took control of her body and grinned, "Back in my world, with the advent of Spiritual Energy, the animals, birds, fishes, and insects were the first to adapt. It resulted in a chaotic era in the midst of which terrifyingly strong humans emerged, those capable of doing anything."

"They even managed to surpass my world and join Immortal's grand army. Your methods are inferior, Stencil. Accept that." The collective consciousness stared at a group of rats nearby, sensing their burrow as she threw hundreds of chokers inside.

Each choker wrapped around a rat's neck before vanishing, causing its body to grow as toxic mist billowed out of their bodies.

They grew claws and fangs, became as big as cows, and moved as a pack, turning into mobile harbingers of plague.

"Hahaha!" The collective consciousness laughed maniacally as she threw out chokers en masse, causing all the wildlife in the place to mutate into horrifying nightmares. She kept at it for a minute before another collective consciousness replaced it.

"Hah…haah…shit!" This collective consciousness was Stencil's ally as it gasped in exhaustion. Irrespective of the number of collective consciousness in her, there was just one body and it was getting exhausted.

This was why, upon knowing that, the previous collective consciousness created as many monsters as possible, truly exhausting Stencil to the limit. Because of that, the next collective consciousness was unable to do anything to rectify the chaos.

Roar!

Kieek!

All the mice squeaked and rushed out of their forest burrow and ran down the mountain, targeting a village at the foot of the mountain.

"No!" The collective consciousness screamed and jumped, kicking a tree to use her power on it, transforming it into a spear where she condensed the last of her strength. Thanks to the sunlight, energy slowly funnelled into her body, keeping her functional as she rushed through the forest, watching the rats acrobat through the dense network of trees as a swarm.

"Dammit!" She thrust the spear forward, poking into a rat's belly to kill it. Its corpse thrashed around for a second before turning still. Stencil didn't have the time to inspect its state though as she sprinted through the forest, causing the blade of her spear to hum as it pierced through the rats one after another.

"Hah…haah!" Her eyes were on the verge of shutting close as she was out of gas, too exhausted to be fighting, but it was unknown how she was mechanically moving her legs. Move, poke, move again. Thanks to the slope, she barely managed to proceed forth.

She wasn't even breaking her acceleration at this point and just went with the pace to kill the mice.

"Monsters!" The people in the village noticed the commotion and hurried into their homes, picking up anything they could use as a weapon.

Tsssch!

A rat passed by a house which melted under the fumes it unleashed, revealing the people huddled within as three rats rushed inside. The following scene was straight-up nightmarish.

"N-No!" The collective consciousness controlling Stencil gasped in shock, for it was already late evening now. Her age was currently around twenty. Anymore, and her physical appearance too would begin to change.

She was already growing weaker with the passing of every second. But the monsters were still coming through in droves. 'No, I need to create at least one Hero here. Otherwise, this village is doomed!'

"S-Shit!" For a moment, she blanked out and collapsed to the ground, watching the rats swarm her. But a second later, the fumes from their bodies were filtered out as a panting individual appeared before her, tanking the attacks.

"Mida…?" Stencil said in surprise, "You caught up to me?"

"Lady Genesis, I promised I would save the people while you rest." Saying so, Mida flashed a confident smile before protecting the village, sustaining severe injuries in the process.

…

'Back then, my strength was enough to protect her. But eventually, stronger Heroes came into the picture. I was outclassed and eventually, the world became peaceful. I was content, seeing as the world was peaceful. But,' Old man Mida gritted his teeth as power churned in his body, evolving strongly, 'If enemies are targeting my saviour, I'll take up the mantle once again.'

"S-Class? I'll become one." Old man Mida firmed himself, "One day, I'll protect Lady Genesis, just like the old days."