"So, who are we targeting first?" Ahjar asked as he stared at the faces of Compass Carburettor, Hazen, and Magister in order. "It's Fate System, right?"
"That is who behaves as Zaira's eyes and ears now."
"Yeah, he's the most dangerous of everyone." Compass Carburettor stated solemnly as he looked at Magister, "Can you reinforce either Mascot or Technocraft? Try to make them face the Systems. Just pressure them a bit and stall for time."
"That'll be hard with just us." Magister said truthfully, expressing his helplessness, "At present, only four Genre Representatives are free. Everyone else is being controlled by the Systems now. Previously, they overwhelmed me. Even when I unleashed my Genre Representation, I was still defeated by them."
"If they were to swarm either Technocraft or Mascot, it'll become dangerous. Mascot still has Immortal's army to support her, but that's only in the case she's facing the Genre Representatives. Add three or four Grade 3 Systems to the mix and she'll be defeated in no time." He continued, "Currently, the Systems have that freedom of waging war, since their enemies have become just a mere handful."
"You're talking boastful shit for a helpless oldie." Ahjar mocked, "Can you or can you not assist them?"
"Fucker, I can!" Magister glared as his appearance changed, morphing into a young wizard. The collective consciousness taking the helm changed and it decided to alter his appearance.
A Genre Representative didn't have a fixed appearance, gender, or race. They just generally assumed the appearance of a human male, since that was the general constant in most worlds.
"Don't you dare come anywhere near my Magic Worlds. I'll bury you in an experimental pod and subject you to experiments for eternity." Saying so, Magister vanished, intending to assist either Mascot or Technocraft, depending on who planned to face the Systems first.
"This fossil seems to have forgotten that I was born in a Magic World." Ahjar snorted, acting displeased. But the moment Magister vanished, his expression turned calm instantly as he stared at Compass Carburettor, "We're targeting the System World, right?"
"Pretty much," Compass Carburettor nodded. He and Ahjar were on the same wavelength of thought, knowing where to strike first to deal the maximum damage.
They acted like they intended to deal with the Fate System first just to give a false message to Magister. They didn't trust him in the slightest.
After all, it wasn't guaranteed that there weren't spies in him.
Collective Consciousness!
Suppose a Grade 3 System related to the Magic Genre transformed a world enough that it wasn't under the control of the Systems but still within Magister's sphere of influence, the resulting collective consciousness from that world would mostly be dominated by the Systems.
As long as it was within Magister's sphere of influence, the Systems could shape this transformed world to affect the collective consciousness. Thereby, they could influence the collective consciousness battle within Magister.
It might not have been possible in the past, but with Fate System at play now, there was a definite possibility. After all, through the memories Hazen showed, the moment the Fate System arrived within the Serpent Universe, he gained a copy of the key that allowed him to control it.
It meant that at any moment, the data known by Magister could be leaked to the Systems. This was why Compass Carburettor brought Ahjar to some random corner the moment he felt Magister would try seeking them.
He didn't wish to divulge the location of Faith Grounds, the world that was constantly reinforcing his Lore and Tell-Tale.
Moreover, his fragment accompanying Hazen had already communicated the details to him beforehand. And hence, Hazen had used his powers of the mind to erase Magister's recent memories.
Only the important data had been wiped out. Magister still remembered some of their conversations and their plan to take out the Fate System.
As for Hazen's powers, Compass Carburettor's actions, and Ahjar's space powers, all were eliminated from Magister's mind. Replacing them was falsified data that would eventually help them if it was leaked to the Systems.
Had Magister been in his prime, this would have never worked. But in his weakened state, he was fair game to Hazen's mind manipulation, especially since he had cracked the code regarding collective consciousness.
The trio of Compass Carburettor, Ahjar, and Hazen were ready to attack the System World now as they discussed their targets.
"I can camp in their minds even while dispersing myself into numerous selves of mine." Hazen scratched his cheek, "But I'll put that on hold until we finalise our objective. Just damaging them wouldn't be enough. They'll recover and continue to grow."
"Compass," Ahjar said after a moment of thought, "Will you face your companions or avoid them?"
"I'll avoid them," Compass Carburettor replied immediately, "To change their inherent nature, the System World shouldn't exist. Until then, I'll avoid them like the plague."
"Then, there's one option." Hazen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Regression, Reincarnation, and Transmigration…"
He made eye contact with Compass Carburettor, "What if you devoured the powers of all three? Using that, I'll be able to send you through your timeline to the past."
"Not your past, but Arnark's past." He continued, "At present, you have Arnark's data right, including his history, fate, and timeline. With Lore, you can create an anchor point in Arnark's past and through Tell-Tale, you can unleash the power of the three time-based Grade 4 Systems and transform yourself into a version that can travel to the past."
"As long as you kill Zaira there, the System World would cease to exist."
"It just wouldn't work." Compass Carburettor shook his head, "I'll be affecting the cause and effect of the System World that spans through a timeline of billions of years. Making such a change is impossible, even if Zaira herself uses all her power, not to mention individuals like us. Even if I succeed, it'll only cause the multiverse to collapse."
"That is unless I intervene," Ahjar grinned confidently, "I can create two anchor points of space, one in past and one in the present. All you need to do is give Zaira a minor wound. I can then manifest it through the anchor point of the present. It'll create a fracture large enough to destroy the System World."
"Of course, the fate of the System World itself would be flowing to the anchor point of the past to restrain you. So, I'm not sure if you'll be able to even scratch Zaira. But, it's still a reasonable plan." Saying so, Ahjar stared at Compass Carburettor, "What do you say?"
"Isn't it worth an attempt?"
