Chapter 468 I Have Been Waiting
"You should know that Luck isn't omnipotent right?" Compass Carburettor said, "I've already thought of a way to deal with them. So, if that's all that you're relying upon, then you wouldn't be able to free your world from the Systems' grasp."
"I know." Rhizen nodded before gazing at him, "That's why, let's trade."
"I'll help you kill the Luck based Systems. Most of them don't pose any threat to me." Rhizen said, "And in return, please erase all traces of Systems in the minds of everyone from my world."
Rhizen made a formal bow all of a sudden, startling the two, "Only you have the power to do that. I can at most kill the System Hosts. I cannot destroy the Systems."
"A trade it is then." Compass Carburettor nodded, accepting it. After all, having Rhizen as an ally was way better than having him as an enemy or a neutral party. Moreover, it was a trade relationship, which was what he pursued most of the time.
This trade relationship was skewed in his favour. After all, Rhizen would be helping him defeat the System Hosts. But in contrast, his part of the deal would only happen after leaving the cultivation world, and that didn't have any possibility for another fifteen years.
"I still don't understand one thing." Compass Carburettor frowned, asking, "You were able to easily annule Chenger's destiny luck. If you had so much power, then why did you suffer in every loop. If you wanted, you and Chenger could have led better lives."
"The Hatchling Systems wouldn't have meant anything to you and Chenger wouldn't have to be tortured in many loops."
"That wasn't an option…" He sighed, gazing at Compass Carburettor helplessly, "You're forgetting one thing."
"Only a Main Character can truly destroy a System. No one else can. The most any other entity can do is kill them and delay their revival."
His eyes widened as reality struck Compass Carburettor. Considering how he had been killing Systems until now, he had glossed over the fact that only he can kill Systems.
Just because Rhizen had the power to kill him didn't mean he had the same towards a System too.
"So, you were putting up an act all along?" He asked.
"No!" Rhizen lost control for a moment, trembling as tears streamed out of his eyes, "You mean risking the life and sanity of my beloved in every single loop? If I had an option, do you think I would allow such a thing to happen? My Chenger…"
He sniffed, "She's…been through a lot just because she chose to stand by my side until the end, every single time."
Compass Carburettor stared at Rhizen, knowing through his experience that the one before him, at this moment, was just a broken man suffering through trauma, recalling the memory of every time Chenger was killed or turned into a broken slaughter machine by Shyvern.
More than that, the pain Chenger felt as she was haunted by the memory of her hands piercing through Rhizen's heart, or the level of despair she had inflicted upon him that caused him to commit suicide. All of that was continuously tearing her apart from the inside, especially since the Destiny Luck System made her remember every single damn loop.
Even though he was able to harness Luck, in every loop, he was hunted by the System Hosts that tried every single dirty method in the book to target him. And most of his deaths were caused by suicide.
Unable to bear the pain of his companions and beloved being subjected to boundless horror, with them being controlled as mere puppets that targeted him, causing him to passively endure everything helplessly, stranded along in the wide world, he ended up committing suicide.
The moment Shyvern got a hold of one of his companions was when that loop turned into literal hell for him. And this happened so many times…
Compass Carburettor was able to feel the desolation Rhizen was experiencing as the youth slowly broke down further and further the moment he started to cry. And hearing the sounds of his cries, Grisha too broke down.
After all, most of her loops were anything but pleasant.
Having to repeat an apocalypse the first time itself would destroy the mind of the individual. Having to experience the pain of your loved ones, your friends, and family, being separated in the apocalypse, the anxiety about their well-being, the fear of their loss, and the despair upon seeing them die before your very eyes.
And with you…staring helplessly at him, lacking the power to save them.
Every single time, your heart would be torn apart, unable to endure the emotional pain. Take that, and repeat is by forty-eight.
That was the emotional weight borne by Rhizen and Grisha.
For a moment, Compass Carburettor imagined himself in their shoes, having to bear witness to Stencil's death…he didn't have the guts to even imagine it. "It's not something we need to endure anymore. There should be a way to break free of the cycle of suffering."
"I…sealed myself." Rhizen said after a while, wiping his tears, resting his back on the cave walls as he exhaled slowly, "When I realised the existence of the Coincidental Luck System somehow during my second loop, I sealed that part of me deep within the Coincidental Luck System's mind. And in every loop, more and more of me was sealed there."
"That part of me awaited silently, enduring the loops one after another while scouring for the hope that would break us out of this cycle." Rhizen said, "I couldn't control my joy when the Coincidental Luck System finally stumbled upon you."
"At that time, I roared in relief," Rhizen raised his hands, sporting a zealous expression, "Finally! There comes a System Slayer with the potential to become the Main Character!"
"From then on, I only had to influence the Coincidental Luck System and make it assist you a tad more than necessary in every situation that resulted in the domino effect necessary for you to become the Main Character." He spoke, sighing in the end.
"And now, thanks to your appearance, all the Luck Systems banded together and unleashed the Restriction Order, giving me a chance to kill them all and steal their authority." Rhizen let out a pained smile, "I have been waiting for this day for a millennium, Compass."
