Huuu!
Compass Carburettor exhaled slowly as intense waves of exhaustion slammed into him. The chains of luck countered any of his intentions to flee while the ruination powers continued to weaken him.
The tower gradually extracted his strength and created monsters out of them, filling up the rest of the tower with them.
He had been trapped in a vicious cycle of power loss. But more than that, Compass Carburettor was in a state of sadness, not at his plight, but at himself.
After all, the countless experiences in him were raving against him.
"You might be the primary experience, but this is mere foolishness." A middle-aged man that had lived the life of a merchant said, "I can relate with you the most as a fellow merchant. What you're doing is a fool's transaction."
"I know," Compass Carburettor sighed, "What else do you expect me to do here? If I were to retaliate, I'll end up killing the very people that are the reason behind my fight."
"How long have you been with Stencil?" An old woman that had lost her husband to war spoke calmly, "You were with her on Earth for eight years. After that, you spent a few months with her in the Fantasy World. That's it."
"Is there any connection between you other than the fact that she's your daughter?"
The old lady's question hit the nail on the head. She arrived at the truth of the matter, "You're the one that's stubbornly clinging onto Stencil. Do you even know the type of person she is?"
An old man took charge to speak next, "She's a power-hungry individual with a merchant's greed. She can never be satisfied."
"You…should shut up!" Compass Carburettor glared at the old man in anger.
"Why should I shut up?" The old man snorted in disdain, "I'm just another you that has lived a different life. All of us are the same. Our experience is our strength. And most of us can say this with assurance."
"Stencil isn't the cute, naïve girl you're deluding yourself into believing. Well, how many times has your Hate Erasure worked against her that you had to stop it in a hurry?" At his question, Compass Carburettor turned silent.
Seeing him, the old man sighed, "I know your pain. She's your only family. But just because of that, you shouldn't gloss over her true nature. I know you're as capable as the rest of us. You were aware of her nature from the start."
"It's time you abandon Stencil."
"Is…killing people that bad?" Compass Carburettor spoke suddenly as he said, "The number of people that died in a few years since I triggered the Representation War has already surpassed the number of people that died during the era of System Supremacy."
"We've killed more people than Stencil could ever hope to murder," He concluded, "So, I'll never abandon my daughter, even if she's the worst entity to exist."
"That's not for you to decide," A teenager stood up and said, "Act as your experiences dictate. Otherwise, give up your power. Transfer Dreamcraft to Hazen."
"Why should I?" Compass Carburettor snorted, "If the lot of you try to hinder me, I'll erase everyone. I can accumulate experiences through Dreamcraft from the start once again."
"What makes you think you're still in control of your body." Suddenly, a voice resounded from behind him, stunning Compass Carburettor. He turned around in a hurry and stared at a figure vastly similar to him, but his nature was that of a selfish merchant, the worst among the unscrupulous kind.
He stood behind Compass Carburettor. His action symbolised a changing scenario.
Currently, they were within Compass Carburettor's mind. Every entity was a consciousness created in Dreamcraft. They were his trove of experiences that allowed him to perform a variety of things easily.
The farther towards the end one was, the greater their influence on his body. This was no different from a Genre Representative.
Usually, when his Psyche Star barrier existed, there was a layer separating Compass Carburettor from the rest of the consciousnesses. But once the layer vanished, the consciousnesses could cross over and reach him.
Despite that, Compass Carburettor had the strongest rein over his body. And until now, that had been the case. That was, until he committed the mistake.
When Stencil attacked him, Compass Carburettor stopped his powers in a hurry. Considering the seething waves of negativity Stencil was oozing towards him, Hate Erasure would have wiped out the entirety of her memory.
To avoid that, he blocked the attack forcefully. At this time, his experiences intended to launch radiation towards the three attackers and destroy their bodies.
Having faced Mystique, his experiences had deepened, allowing the power he output being potent enough to instantly kill the three low-levelled Grade 3 Systems.
By stopping that too, Compass Carburettor weakened his sense of self. Thereby, he created an avenue where a consciousness had surpassed him.
From now onwards, Compass Carburettor didn't have the highest rein over his body.
"Let me show you how things are done." Saying so, the unscrupulous merchant version of himself grabbed the reins and took control of the body.
The eyes of Compass Carburettor opened in the tower, but the gaze was eerie. He calmly observed the tower sapping away at his strength to create monsters that filled up the tower. The luck chains ensured no variables will ever play in his favour.
And finally, the ruination effects were killing him little by little. 'This is a pretty serious situation.'
"But, that's just it." He snorted as his monocle glinted once. Instantly, the luck chains loosened as he extended his hand and grabbed them, seeping the powers of mortality into them.
Now turned brittle, the chains snapped casually. But, Compass Carburettor didn't leave it at that as he employed Lore and Tell-Tale to heal the luck chains. All he did was become free as he casually roamed the tower, beginning to subtly influence the laws there.
Since he was free, he might as well transform this tower into a weapon that he could wield against his enemies. After all, it was pretty potent. And with some reinforcement from his side, it would only become more dangerous to the Systems.
