I Hate Systems

Rushing through the dilapidated streets of a collapsed metropolitan city was a truck, evading vicious apocalyptic monsters that jumped at it.

​ Scree!

Its tyres screeched as the truck made a sharp turn before ramming into the back of a Grade 2 System that had taken the form of an eighty-metre-tall entity, teleporting it somewhere else.

A skyscraper in ruins collapsed in response, unleashing a dust wave through which the truck rushed past, emerging on the other side to stare at a gigantic energy serpent in the sky.

Held in its mouth was the Dragon System, its body being dissolved rapidly as figures scuttled around it.

The Universe Relic Wilders formed defensive circles to keep the Grade 2 Systems at bay while Slayer joined hands with Mascot to fight Zaira.

Arnark grinned as even though he stood at the same spot, all the monsters rushing at him tumbled, crashing into one another. Even the unleashed Skills of the Grade 2 Systems targeted each other, leaving him scot-free.

Burp!

Slayer let out a content expression upon digesting the Dragon System, watching the serpent—created using the Fantasy World\'s essence—return to his world and vanish.

"Phew, one down." Arnark sighed in relief to stare at Slayer, "Master, how much did we gain from that?"

"A lot." Slayer replied in response, "Our foundation gained a considerable increase."

He then let out a smile, "And there\'s still so many around us to feed upon."

Hearing his words, Zaira\'s mood worsened as she looked around, noticing the majority of the Systems under her focusing on Immortal, beating him up fiercely. \'Immortal is losing ground consistently. It\'s only a matter of time before we destroy him.\'

Her eyes shot towards Slayer before which she focused on Arnark, \'Arnark\'s arrival makes things troublesome. If he has the Core Skills of all the Main Characters, he should have 11 potent abilities.\'

Her headache worsened at the thought, \'Just Lore or Restriction Order were troublesome enough to deal with. Now, there are the other overpowered abilities to look out for too.\'

\'If things proceed in this manner, I\'ll face too many losses. I need to rev things up a notch.\' Thinking as such, Zaira instructed the Regression System, "Pressure our opponents for a moment."

Saying so, Zaira\'s figure vanished and manifested before Truck-Kun all of a sudden, her hand casually pointing at the approaching truck to unleash a burst of energy.

"Brace for impact!" Truck-Kun shouted in alarm and harnessed all his power to strengthen the truck as much as possible.

Spirit Morph!

Cause and Effect—Absentmindedness!

Skill-Breaker!

Ruin of Amagoth!

None made any difference at the energy wave that slammed into the truck and sent it flying, causing its front to be dented alarmingly. Truck-Kun coughed out what seemed akin to blood, injured all over as he looked around, "Are you alright?"

The entirety of the truck was now covered by what seemed to be Mental Fragments resembling a web, absorbing the entirety of the shock from the impact, covering the bodies of everyone.

A second later, the Mental Fragments crumbled into dust before vanishing, injured beyond their structural limits. In the corner was Compass Carburettor, gasping for breath as he barely managed to ensure everyone was safe from the impact.

Truck-Kun stared at the Mental Fragments falling off his body. In that instant, Compass Carburettor had tried to protect him too. But as the brunt of the attack was focused on him, these Mental Fragments failed to protect him much.

But, they still helped tank some of the damage.

"Thank you, Compass." Truck-Kun said, somewhat disturbed by this odd feeling he was experiencing now, "This is the first time someone that\'s not a Genre Representative tried to protect me."

Boom!

Zaira crashed into the truck, not giving them enough time to orient themselves as she punched forth with her hand, cracking the glass. But the moment her hands shattered the glass, her energy-condensed form was teleported away.

Zaira countered the teleportation mid-journey and teleported back, frowning when the truck vanished. Her Core Skills came to life as she stared at the monsters peeking out from the building beside her, "Kill Immortal first."

"Shit!" Truck Kun felt his heart leap to his throat, barely able to teleport Zaira away as he stared at the wrecked state of his truck. An instant later, they changed trucks and drove away. As for the damaged truck, it crashed into a Grade 2 System and exploded, wounding the other party.

"Compass, you alright?" Truck-Kun shouted as he flinched when Zaira appeared next to the window, rapidly swapping into another truck to continue their escape.

Boom!

Swoosh!

Kaboom!

Zaira continued to teleport to their location, keeping up chase while bashing every truck she chanced upon.

"I\'m…not." Compass Carburettor said, grunting as he tried his best to maintain a humanoid form while Mental Fragments continued to fall out of his body like dust. Zaira\'s attack destroyed a good portion of his Mental Fragments.

Thankfully, he had sourced them from the world Zaira had created in the first place. So he wasn\'t losing out on much. The valuable Mental Fragments were still safe in his Dreamland.

But, that didn\'t mean he could remain safe, especially since none of their attacks could do anything to Zaira. Even Truck-Kun could at most teleport her a certain distance away, and even that never succeeded fully as Zaira stopped the teleportation midway and returned.

Moreover, with every teleportation, she was returning faster, gradually making sense of Truck-Kun\'s abilities. Soon after…

Boom!

Landing on the roof of the truck, she thrust forth with her hand, piercing it as she pried it open, grinning to stare at the four people within. She extended her hand, grabbing hold of Stencil and Gehera to grin contently, "Finally, the two rats are mine…"

"Bastard!" Her expression morphed as Zaira increased the strength in her hold, splattering the bodies of Stencil and Gehera. There wasn\'t any blood but Mental Fragments that oozed out from her squeeze.

In anger, she stomped the truck, watching it collapse into Mental Fragments too. She had been deceived by Compass Carburettor to chase after the wrong target from the start.

And right at this time, the Mental Fragments splashing out from her stomp transformed into a mist, alarming her as for a moment, Zaira was stunned, unable to move.

In that fraction of a second, a truck slammed into her, this time unleashing a terrifying amount of power, transmigrating Zaira\'s energy-condensed form. As for the destination, it was one that would prove troublesome even for her, for she was sent to the doorsteps of Mystique.