I Hate Systems
chapter-1022

Roar!

Essencer bellowed a guttural screech as two Horned Elites latched onto his back and began to dig through it rapidly. He was tied up with Nefear, being an almost even match after she was supported by two other Horned Elites.

The battle became more and more bloodthirsty as both sides began to brutally tear into each other.

Lightning flickered while flames danced, Essencer unleashed countless faith and fear stored in him, damaging the Horned Elites.

"I need more support!" Nefear shouted, observing a sharp decline in her strength as the people that were afraid of her were strangely…disappearing.

"You didn't!" She stared in shock at the figure of Peddler who only flashed a smile of mockery at her, "You were aware of our plans all along?"

"How?"

"Economy, you idiot." Peddler snorted as he threw countless coins and turned the sky into a sea of flames, "Everywhere money is involved, I am involved. Even if you're raiding a place, the economy of that place takes a hit. So, I am aware of your actions."

"So you had us in the palms of your hand all along?" Invaderon grunted as he blasted around Soul Fire, tanking the attacks launched by Peddler as he smiled, "So what if you do?"

"Once all your believers are dead, you're nothing."

"You make a fair point." Peddler said as he continued to throw out coins nonstop, "but you're losing your believers faster than me."

"Let's see whose foundation expires the fastest!"

Both sides didn't hold back, truly pouring out everything in their arsenal. Peddler's side had created countless familiars that were now rampaging on Inron, killing Invaderon's believers.

Similarly, in the regions devastated by Nefear, heroes emerged, with some of them even becoming Deities, thereby stabilising the region. They were obviously supported by Peddler and pushed up with intensive sponsorship.

Their emergence placated the minds of the people as over the months, they gradually lost their fear of Nefear.

Their battle raged for months where both sides truly expended everything. And eventually…

Boom!

Nefear slammed into the ground, dizzy as she was unable to see anything. Most of her body had been torn to shreds, with all the fear in her leaking out rapidly. Her Tool of Authority had shattered, causing her divinity to collapse.

"Lord…Invaderon…" She muttered helplessly and fainted.

Bam!

Essencer slapped a Horned Elite, watching his limbs collapse like mud. His body had been taxed over the limit and was now falling apart.

Before his body collapsed, he opened his mouth wide and clamped upon the last of the Horned Elite, shattering its body beyond the point of recovery. Essencer then sprinted with the last of his power and slammed into Inron's head and destroyed it, killing the latter.

Immediately after, his body turned to mud and formed a hill over Inron's body.

"Die!" Invaderon roared in anger as he punched forth, hitting Peddler in the gut to send him flying. He collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, "D-Dammit!"

He was no longer a Devil, for all his believers had been killed.

"Finally, it took damn time." Peddler got up, coughing out blood as he grinned, "You've finally lost all your powers."

"So what, you lost everything too." Invaderon shouted, "The last of your believer just died too. And I crushed your internals with that attack."

"Yes, but…" Peddler watched his pouch dissipate as it dropped a single coin, one that resembled copper. He picked it up and smiled gently, coughing up blood as his lungs had been crushed, "I have one attack left."

The copper coin twirled in the air and flew towards Invaderon, rapidly expanding in size and weight until it was as big as a building.

"No…nooo!" Invaderon screamed in despair, unable to evade the hill-sized coin that flattened his body.

"It's done." Peddler sighed as he plopped to the ground, using a broken wooden chair as a seat. He stared at the sky, watching the laws of the world manifest above the areas where Essencer and Invaderon had died.

Swoosh!

The energy accumulated and was absorbed by the laws. Everything that Invaderon and Essencer possessed now became a part of this world, including their memories and experience.

Following that, the laws of the world formed above Peddler. He stared at them, speaking, "Lore…and Tell-Tale, how are you faring?"

There was a splendour of light in the sky in response to his question as Peddler smiled, "No, I'm done with the fight. I realised what's happening during this fight."

"Compass was the winner from the beginning."

"Yeah, I'll give up my everything." Peddler smiled as he put his hands together to pray, 'I tell you, God of Humanity. Essencer and Invaderon are now dead. My body's on the verge of collapse too. In a few minutes, Peddler too would be no more.'

Peddler's body shattered soon as he stared at the sky with an expression of contentment, watching Lore and Tell-Tale absorb the essence of Peddler too. But, once his corpse dissipated, a tiny, ethereal worm drilled out, looking no different from a blob of glass, semi-molten, with its ends fumed.

Lore and Tell-Tale seemed shocked at the worm's appearance as they converged upon it, intending to absorb it.

But surprisingly, the worm slipped past their control as Peddler's voice resounded, "I'll never die, no matter the cause, whether for friend or foe. I'll always survive."

Saying so, the worm drilled into the ground and vanished. Lore and Tell-Tale scoured through the region and failed to detect the worm's presence. Even when it was before them, they still failed to detect it, not to mention now when it was on the run.

On a continent far away, a woman gave birth to a baby in a troubled locality. The baby cried like every other baby, but the moment the wet nurse's attention was away, the baby's eyes curled up, revealing a smile, 'I'll be watching your future from here, Compass.'

'In this world rich with your experiences, I'll continue to absorb them and better refine my ultimate possession.' The one thinking was of course Adventure, and the ultimate possession was something it had fused with long ago, an item that granted it the utmost survivability, and in this world became the greatest treasure, the golden key to everything.

"Adventure never ends!"

Soul: 20 CC!