(Eris POV)
"What… What did you say?"
"You heard me. Those other personalities of yours are only holding you back and before you ask, no, I am not some kind of illusion created for the sake of leading you astray. It is the truth that your mind is fragmented because of them which slows down the speed of your ascent significantly."
"But… But Master gave us a cultivation method that would help us ascend, how would that have worked if we didn't need to kill each other? Didn't Master also say we would ascend together?"
She smirked at me, "Have you not realised? The thing is called 'Cosmic Discordance' for a reason. It was always meant to sow discord in you and eventually separate you. If you want it to be faster, then the answer is to just cut those three out right now."
I shook my head, "No, there must be some other way."
She shrugged, "Listen to yourself. Are you really even saying that? Who is more important? Master, or those three personalities that only exist because of you?"
I furrowed my brows at her, "Master would always be more important."
"Then you have your answer, don't you? If you wish to help Master during that fight, then you have to cut off what is holding you back. It's not like those personalities of yours were real anyway."
"What are you talking about? They are real."
The other me rolled her eyes, "Please. Which one of you is the only one Master had named? You. The others are just figments of your own imagination given form. Without you, they wouldn't exist either. So you can see it like you're just returning the others into yourself."
"And why should I trust you on this?"
"Are you seriously asking this question again? I already told you I'm basically your inner thoughts, whatever I'm saying right now is just your own deepest desires and thoughts projected out in front of you. Deny it all you wish but what I have said so far is the truth and you know it."
I frowned at her. I can't say that I never had these feelings before so there's at least some truth to her words. The feeling she's giving off is also very similar to me as well…
"And what, whose three are going to just roll over and die just because I asked them nicely?" I asked.
She beckoned for me to follow her and I did, still a little wary about this place.
My 'inner thoughts' opened the door to our room, revealing the wall on the other side was completely gone and the area there was also in a mess just like this building.
Unfortunately, I had no time to inspect the area as I realised that in the other corners of the floating islands were Bait, Laverna and Denna, each of them accompanied by another me of their own.
She gestured at them, "They are all being led by their own inner thoughts right now and they have no wish to disappear without a fight. Deep within themselves, they know that they are not as real as you are so the only way for them to stay by Master's side is to make sure you are the one that disappears. Then the one who stands victorious will take your place and continue living her life beside Master."
I frowned, noticing that each of them were also now staring at me with their weapons drawn.
"Did they really agree to do such a thing? To kill me and then kill each other?"
She sighed, "What do you think their answers were when they were asked the same question about whether Master was more important?"
I didn't need to answer since I knew that they would pick Master as well.
My 'inner thoughts' then nodded at the other three, "That's why… If you wish to still exist beside Master, you better be ready to kill the other three. Otherwise, you and me… We're not going to exist in this World anymore."
"Is the option to give up on this still on the table?" I asked.
She stretched out her arms and gestured all around us, "This alternate space was set up by the Origin Liquid specifically for this purpose. If you believe you can break out of this reality in some other way, then you don't even need to worry about ascending anymore."
How annoying…
If you were to ask me if I would refuse this just because I have some feelings for my other personalities, then the answer was no.
As I had said, Master will always be the most important to me, so if I had to kill off these three just to remain by Master's side, then I would do it without hesitation. In fact, if Master were to tell me to kill my other sisters, I would do so in a heartbeat too.
I know for a fact that the same applied to my other sisters as well, where any of us would do anything necessary to stay by Master's side.
That's why… If I had to choose between keeping these three around or going back to Master, then I will abandon the three of them right this instant.
The reason that I said it was annoying, however, was the fact that these three are intimately aware of what I can do, so it's going to be really annoying for me to fight them.
No matter, with the right of being beside Master on the line, I will never allow myself to fail here.
I stepped forward with my sword drawn and so did the other three, as though we had all come to the same conclusion at the exact same time.
"For the sake of Master, I hope you all don't hold this against me," I called out, channelling the Quarks to set my sword ablaze with fire.
"Likewise…" Laverna muttered, her sword encased with lightning.
Denna bowed demurely, "This one humbly apologises in advance."
Bait tapped the side of her sword against her neck, "Same 'ere. Seems like our time togetha' ends 'ere huh? It's been fun I guess."
Nothing else needed to be said and we leapt towards each other, our blades now aiming to kill.
