"What the…" Zaira was alarmed as she looked around, noticing that she had appeared in the void of an unknown universe, one where her Systems hadn't set foot yet. But the moment she had this thought, the sounds of dogs barking echoed nonstop, in her mind.
"Keuk!" She screamed as the barking sounds continued to grow louder and louder until she was unable to hear her own thoughts, grumbling in pain as she stared at a certain entity that had been standing before her at a certain point in time.
"Zaira, why did you visit me?" The entity was of course Mystique, the representative of everything eldritch.
"By mistake," Zaira said as Mental Energy burst out of her, causing her body to slam forth like a rocket and break past the barrier of this universe.
But strangely, even after she left that universe, the sounds of dog barking continued to echo in her mind. Moreover, even the new universe that she had ventured into wasn't connected to the Astral Network.
That wasn't all, but she felt a strange urge to scratch herself. A moment later, she was alarmed to notice that she had broken out into a rash, something that shouldn't have been possible, for she was a mere energy body.
She didn't possess a physical body that could get a rash.
"Where are you going, my lady?" Mystique appeared next to her, inquiring with a puzzled tone.
"Leaving this place," Zaira responded before breaking into a beam that penetrated through the barriers of the universe, plunging into the next one. She had picked a different direction this time, hoping to stumble into a universe with the Astral Network, using which she could return to the battlefield.
But soon after, she was puzzled, muttering in exasperation, "How are there so many worlds in your genre?"
"They always did," Mystique said, casually appearing next to her once again, "Even before you were born, they did."
"Thousands of worlds under me."
"That's impossible!" Zaira commented, suddenly experiencing a hair overgrowth all over her body, one that formed knots with each other before behaving like leeches that had captured the scent of blood. "Back then, you were nothing. You were pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole of the Genre Representatives."
"You know what I represent?" Mystique took out a monocle from his pocket and wore it on his right eye, causing it to glint for a moment.
"Isn't it anything weird, sinister, and ghostly?" Zaira asked, surprised upon seeing Mystique shake his head like a child.
But slowly, his head shaking became faster before soon, everything above his head was just a blur as his voice, grating to the ears, resounded, "What I represent is a…"
"Pandora's Box."
He stared at Zaira as immediately, the hair growth on her body exploded in volume, digging into her Mental Energy reserves and even Core Skills, "And you just opened it."
Zaira felt a chill in response, grunting as she burst out of this universe and broke into another, noticing parts of her body turn strangely putrid, like solidified algae, immediately gleaning from the reaction that she was still in one of the universes belonging to Mystique.
"You know, you should calm down." There was a blur travelling casually next to her, "All these universes were closed until now, their development stagnant for eons. But your interference is making them alive."
"What?" Zaira was alarmed.
"Yup, after all, every universe of mine is akin to a virus. Unless they find a suitable host, they remain dead and come to life only after finding a suitable one." He pointed at the changes on her body, "You've already brought four universes to life. They've already formed connections to you."
"As if I'll put up with this bullshit!" Zaira roared in response as the hair overgrowth retracted before vanishing, same for the putrid algae, the rashes, and the dog barks echoing in her mind.
Core Skill—Regression (Level 341)!
She regressed her own development, causing her to break free of all the inputs as her figure retraced its steps, returning to the universe she was teleported to by Truck-Kun.
Her figure began to dissipate, beginning to return to the battlefield as she observed her System World taking damage upon regressing its development, 'I didn't want to do this, but it's too risky to fight Mystique at the moment. I'm still not ready yet.'
Staring at her dissipating figure, Mystique raised his hand to wave awkwardly, "See you, Zaira. I had fun talking with a woman after so long."
"Fun talking with a woman…?" Zaira was stunned at the description, "What the heck? I'm just an energy entity now. I've broken past the concept of gender ages ago."
"You sure?" Mystique tilted his head and pointed at her, "You're clearly a twenty-five-year-old human woman."
Her attention shot towards her hands, noticing that her form wasn't one of energy now, but was composed of flesh and blood, akin to a human. Moreover…
Thump! Thump! Thump!
She could feel her heartbeats and a vigorous circulation of lifeforce in her, a sign that she was alive, a living flesh and blood entity. "This…shouldn't be possible."
She blinked once before noticing that she was in a garden, now adorning a bride's wedding gown, observing two rows of guests on either side. On the left, on her side were the physical forms of her Grade 3 Systems, with the Tell-Tale System standing at the forefront, looking at her with a tear-struck gaze, unable to rein in her happiness.
Apocalypse was standing behind her, sporting an obviously disappointed gaze that she failed at masking.
Standing on the opposite side were the Genre Representatives, with the one at the forefront being Mascot who was dancing in excitement, followed by an exhausted Magister and an Immortal with a swollen face.
Confused, Zaira stared to her right, noticing the figure of Mystique there, donned in a suit with well-oiled hair parted to the back.
"You may now kiss the bride." A voice resounded from behind, alerting her as Zaira turned around, noticing the youthful figure of the Saint of Calamity standing there, holding a mural in his hand that had the picture of Arnark striking a 'V' pose.
As the Saint of Calamity's words resounded, Zaira noticed her body turning automatically to face Mystique as a feeling of intense joy and nervousness brimmed up from within. Her face inched towards Mystique, noticing her face flush beet red in response, bashful at the fact that she was about to kiss such a handsome man, the love of her life.
"No!" Zaira returned to her senses, blinking to see that the surroundings had changed. What had once been a pristine meadow was a murky sewage now. The guests were corrupted parts of the original, seemingly having gone insane.
Her face still continued to close in on Mystique, one who smiled before opening his mouth, causing his face to curl open like a flower to reveal a grotesque set of teeth that clamped upon Zaira.
