Indeed, as the Secondary System complained, it made sense. For, if it truly possessed the means to do otherwise, it would have done so. Other than the powers as the Secondary System that it held, it was only capable of making a leap into other Systems successfully to finish the transfer.
Considering that it was at level 99, the Secondary System had the means to succeed in taking over any Grade 1 System. Though, it had no reason to do so, after all, it was now by far the most special Grade 1 System, being part of the Protagonist Genre.
"Are you on my side now?" Stencil asked Ying as her eyes glinted cunningly.
"Will you accept me as an ally? Especially after everything I did to you and your dad?" Ying spoke.
"Yup," Stencil didn't even bat an eye to nod naturally, "As long as allying with you is beneficial, I won't take our past into account. What about you though? Do you have hatred towards dad and me for stealing your accumulation to become a System Slayer and beyond?"
"Hatred is foolish." Ying let out a sigh as he continued, "I just want to survive, nothing more, nothing less."
"What about Ying? Can you control his body completely without any repercussions?" She then asked while defending against the attacks from her enemies.
"Of course, I can. His body is currently in a state similar to an Overdrive that protagonists unleash. He's not sane enough to control himself. It's his power taking the help." The Secondary System spoke through Ying, "And I'm that power. Though, I won't be able to use this for long."
"Can you hold off Arnark for a short duration?" Stencil asked as she unleashed an attack on Martial. At present, Gehera was pushing herself to tank the attacks of both Slayer and the Invader System.
As both the individuals had powers that allowed them to infiltrate and steal the powers of their targets, she was the perfect individual to go against them. Though of course, going against two enemies was beyond her as she was being overwhelmed gradually.
Earth Star was harnessing the energy of the universe to resist Zaira's means. But, Zaira's attacks were so varied in nature that Earth Star was immediately on the backfoot, unable to draw in the universe's energy fast enough.
Stencil was also facing trouble fighting Martial, a Genre Representative. And as she expected, she wasn't his match.
Even if the power output of Martial was limited as compared to the major Genre Representatives, his energy capacity was limitless. He was being funnelled with more power that what he was using, so it was impossible to last a battle of attrition against him.
Moreover, with the Waning Essence System at play, the energy in Stencil's body was gradually being stolen. With her foundation being just one world, she wouldn't last long.
Therefore, she had to at least incapacitate him temporarily. But that wasn't possible with Arnark at the scene, someone strong enough to take them all head on and easily emerge victorious.
"Don't worry, Arnark won't go in for the kill." Ying spoke suddenly as he relayed he information to Stencil, Gehera, and Earth Star, "The moment he kills any of you, he'll be no different from the Antagonist. Even at present, his body is wishing to become part of Compass whose Main Character nature is almost on par with him."
"So, since dad too is almost the Main Character, the moment Arnark kills us, the balance will tip towards dad's side. He would lose all power then." Stencil concluded as she regained her calm and began to analyse the situation. 'Is that why I am feeling that everyone is holding back?'
"Yes, it is as you suspected." Ying grinned, "Everyone knows how much your dad treasures you. The one that kills you will receive undivided wrath from Compass. He's strong enough for them to receive crippling damage. That would give the other sides enough leeway to devour them once their fight ends."
"Invader and Waning Essence are the only ones truly on Zaira's side. Martial is a Genre Representative. They can't be counted on during the opportune moment as their nature is to always remain on the fence." Ying analysed calmly, "It might look like Slayer and Arnark are on the same side, but in truth, they are just using each other for their respective benefit. Both consider themselves to be at the centre of everything, so at a fundamental level, they don't see eye to eye."
"Arnark is a lone wolf and Slayer is a viper behaving like a rat snake."
"I understand." Stencil was impressed at how the Secondary System was able to analyse the crux of the matter so quickly. Everyone was only attacking her in order to destroy all her weapons while pushing her into the claws of the others.
Whether it was Zaira, Slayer, Martial, or Arnark, none wished to deal the killing blow and become the sole target of Compass Carburettor, not in this situation where they were surrounded by hyenas.
If Slayer were to kill her, he would become Compass Carburettor's target. Even if he managed to win against Compass Carburettor, he would be so weak that either Zaira or Arnark would be able to easily devour his foundation to strengthen themselves further.
The case was the same for others too.
Even Arnark, someone that had prepared to face Compass Carburettor was the same. After all, if they fought now, irrespective of the outcome, either Zaira, Slayer, or Martial would come out victorious, for they would devour the victors—between Arnark and Compass Carburettor.
That was why everyone was behaving as if they were giving their all to kill her while in truth, they were scheming to make one of the attackers the scapegoat that delivers the killing blow.
All were aware: the one that kills Stencil would end up becoming the biggest loser.
"So, we just need to buy time and hold up for as long as possible." Ying said as he stared at Stencil, "Until Compass is done with his preparation."
"When he arrives, we can retaliate."
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