Chapter 158

"I thought you'd come back." She said with a smile but her eyes weren't.

"I see. This place cannot be affected by suspended time."

"That's right."

"Anyway, you know what I'm asking for. Hand them over."

"And what if I say 'no?'"

"Then I'll take it by force and destroy the planet at the same time."

"And just what will you do? You cannot defeat me."

"I don't need to."

I had the Celestial Eyes of Fortitude evolved into a trait. Only traits could affect other traits. That was the rule set by the system.

Of course, the system still had the remnant consciousness of Daedel who was extremely overprotective of Parilia. There was no way I would be allowed to harm her. However, I had struck a deal with Daedel, not Echo, to not interfere as long as long as I did not directly harm Parilia.

And guess what? Evasion and delay tactics were my specialties since the early days. I didn't need to directly harm her.

Against those more powerful than I, Divine Eyes of Fortitude was the perfect counter. I had mastered it just earlier, thus evolving it from its original form, Celestial Eyes of Fortitude. It was a power of scales. My will and confidence were the only criteria needed to call forth its powers.

Sure it was the system that granted me these pairs of eyes but that didn't mean these powers were superficial. The system was the real deal. That was what made the system so powerful, and nearly omnipotent in this world. It was also the very same system that was eating away at the planet's life force.

The system was too powerful.

Anyhow, now that I had mastered my transcendent powers, that was what it meant to reach the demigod level. Level 99 was never a requirement. Godhood, according to the system, required divine will, limit breaker, and Seed of Life.

I had obtained |limit breaker| trait long before. It was the easiest of the three requirements. Technically, |limit breaker| itself wasn't enough. To full achieve limit breaker was to become independent of the system, or to transcend it. Through my closed door training, I was able to achieve it.

Next, with the realization of my origin and the full understanding and mastery of my powers, I embodied divine will. It wasn't a trait or ability or anything like that. Just by mastering my powers and unifying my original soul fragments, that itself was what the system meant by divine will.

With two of the three requirements met, I became a demigod at only level 90.

In terms of raw power difference between level 90 and level 99 was at least ten times. The gap was astronomical. It could be equated to a fight between a baby and an adult. However, just by mastering my powers especially the powers of these divine eyes, I could overcome the difference. No, I could surmount it. It was a power that defied logic, and possibly, defied the understandings of the system.

Now, normally, a being ten times the difference in raw power would be resistant to my powers. Confronting a foe ten times more powerful was suicidal. Yet, Divine Eyes ignored those factors, including the ones wielded by Parilia.

Divine Eyes could not be resisted, at least not to my knowledge. The pair she wielded, Divine Eyes of Perception, was unsuitable for combat. She was a seer, the ultimate seer. Ultimately, she had functioned in the system for thousands of years. She might be able to see anything, but she could not see everything simultaneously. She might be able to see pasts and futures, but those were only probabilities and possibilities.

Without giving her a chance to fully utilize her powers, I activated my Divine Eyes of Fortitude. These eyes had the ability to invert the power scale between my opponent and I. It was similar to the hero system. But, the difference was that these eyes had no limitations nor restrictions.

There were two options I could take. One, I could swap our stats and levels. Two, her power would remain and the scale would tip my way. If she was ten times more powerful than the current me, I would become ten times more powerful than her.

I picked option one.

Instantly, my level rose to 99 and my stats reached 999 each.

There was a catch though, her level was permanently set to level 99. It was the same for her stats. No matter how much I tried to swap our stats, the system would always compensate for the difference.

As per our agreement, Parilia was not advised of my Divine Eyes' powers.

Likewise, the system didn't seem to be aware of my second option. For even if Daedel betrayed me, I would still triumph in the end.

Since I was currently still connected to the system, my instantaneous rise in levels was compensated by the system. This itself should reduce the planet's life force.

"How about now?" I taunted her with a smirk.

"You! Hmph! It's just merely numbers. I am connected to the system. You cannot defeat me no matter how hard you try!" She boldly declared.

She probably didn't even notice I took out all her powerful pawns while in suspended time. I almost pitied her lack of power within suspended time. That was why her innermost chamber didn't allow suspended time as if a singularity field was permanently activated. Luckily, I studied it enough to know how flawed it was especially when paired with her Divine Eyes of Perception.

Simply put, she couldn't see outside of her chamber. Now, she might have [skill records] but the fact that she couldn't be recklessly wasting energy to compete in time war against me put her at a huge disadvantage.

"Oh? So you are one with the system?" I asked.

"Of course." She answered proudly.

That answer sealed the deal. Of course, it was all thanks to Daedel's will's wilful participation in my grand plan. He really had little choice but to follow through because he cared about this world.

Moving on, my Divine Eyes of Fortitude was able to lock onto my opponent in its entirety. Thus I activated my Divine Eyes once again, this time including the system.

The system was connected to the core of planet. The planet's life force could equally be said to be an integral part of the system.

They were one.

I didn't need Parilia's power.

I never needed her power.

I wasn't here to steal her power.

Level 99? It no longer meant anything to me.

I just needed to be able to identify my opponent with the great amount of raw power with my eyes. Perception was important when it came to using these special eyes.

The scale was inverted.

For just a brief moment, I held onto a raw power unheard of in this world. It was more than I could ask for. Truly, I was out of my own league.

I had to act quick.

My existence was on the verge of being erode away.

Even one second was enough, more than enough.

In just one mere second that felt like eternity, I completely overrode the system with my own will and activated suspended time on the whole planet. I had to do this to alleviate pressure grinding away at my soul. This was also a way to quickly expend excessive amounts of pure energy.

Echo? Daedel? I snatched away all of their power and authority. It had to be done.

Echo wasn't even real to begin with. She was just a name I gave to that voice. Without a shred of mercy, I erased the consciousness and pseudo artificial intelligence that resided within the Nexus system.

At the same time, I snatched away all of Parilia's authority along with everything that once belonged to me.

The Seed of Life and my soul fragments, they were now returned to their rightful owner.

And finally, as promised with Daedel for not interfering with me, I sealed away Parilia's consciousness in a secured location after stripping away her powers. All that remained with her was a fragment of her original power. Unfortunately, those Divine Eyes couldn't be removed for reasons above my pay grade.

I was not aware of how much energy was stored in a Seed of Life. The energy I held currently was no doubt many times more. It wasn't something I could contain and I had to release it somewhere.

If I could name a major flaw with these Divine Eyes of mine, then it was that it couldn't operate in reverse. Energy that came into existence couldn't be nullified by these same pair of Divine Eyes. For that reason, I decided to pump as much energy into the core of this planet.

Obviously, the planet couldn't take in all that energy either so my next best bet was to reformat the planet. Thankfully though, it was but a simple matter when there was already a system in place.

I physically expanded the planet, ten times larger to be specific. Also, remembering that Parilia had told me that she sunk several continents before, I recreated many more continents.

Now, energy didn't necessarily equate to soul energy. Because of that, it would take time to convert them and spawn as much simple life forms on those new continents. I couldn't create more complex life forms even if I tried. At best, I added strawberry fields and trees to barren lands.

When I ran out of better ideas to expend all that energy, I crystallized those raw energy into the most condensed physical form possible and stuffed them inside the planet.

There was no way I'd wait for thousands of years in suspended time to dry up the remaining energy. Absolutely, no way. It was already a miracle that these Divine Eyes of Fortitude could conjure that much energy out of nowhere and didn't kill me on the spot.

In the end, I still wasn't able to stuff everything inside the planet. If I stuffed too much, then that volatile mana would accumulate and cause problems down the road. Therefore, I sealed away more crystallized energy into the two moons and scattered few pieces on various continents.

"Alright, almost done. Phew!" I wiped imaginary beads of sweat off my forehead.

Honestly, I really liked the Great Labyrinth of Daedel. It had an amazing design but it just wasn't sustainable in the long run. Because of that, I decided to only kept a limited version of it.

The system had some flaws as well. I really wanted to scrap the system after knowing how much it was eating away at the planet. Certainly it played its part in managing the planet behind the scenes but going forward, I decided to limit the scope of its operation. Moreover, I didn't want others to abuse the system like Parilia and I did. 

The system would remain in operation for another ten years before switching to dormancy.

This period of ten years was the adjustment period for the planet. Gravity, climate, rotation, and all that required precise management especially after all these changes I had implemented. Speaking of planetary management, it was one of the system's original purposes so there couldn't be a better manager.

On an important note, direct support from the system for the denizens of the planet was severed.

To the regular folks, the changes were hardly noticeable. Sure the climate might drastically alter over the next twenty years and they could no longer see status and whatnot. But generally, everything should feel more or less the same.

To the general magicians and combatants, there was no longer any combat assistance from the system. They were on their own, completely!

Since this was a fantasy world with mana, regular magic still worked. It just might be a bit more difficult to cast them now.

The hero system was erased. Anyone could be a hero or a villain, or both! It was just too much of a hassle to create a program for all that.

I wasn't lazy! This wasn't my duty to begin with! Whoever was up to the task of balancing the world could take it upon themselves.

With no further system support, magitech would stop functioning for the most part. Dark age was coming to the reptilians but I was sure they'd figure something out sooner or later.

Fey weapons didn't fare much better. They lost majority of their functions but otherwise was still retained notable magical properties.  

Ah, the remaining demons, guardians, and fairies, bluntly speaking, they not only lost a good chunk of their powers but also their roles. The roles were decided by Parilia to begin with so none of that mattered going forward. 

The switch was sudden, but given time, those powerful ones would regain their former glories, probably. None of that was my problem because I already overcame it! Any beings I deemed excessively dangerous, I had sealed them inside the labyrinth.

Not surprisingly, I could still tap into most of my old powers despite losing a few minor functions. One of that was I couldn't maintain Blueberry, Blackberry, Cranberry, and Gooseberry in their current states. It just wasn't feasible for me to consciously control them all the time now that the fey cores weren't as autonomous as before. Thus, they were forced to hibernate inside Ataraxia where only a small area remained.

Fey magic was something all fairies could use with or without the system. Magic was magic and Parilia, the Fairy Queen, used it before the system even existed. And since all fairies in this world supposedly originated from Parilia, it only made sense that fey magic didn't require system assistance. Though, I'd say most high level fairies probably relied on the system more than they knew so they'd be the ones needing to brush up on their fey magic.

Time began to flow once again.

Bom.

"Oof..."

"Smoothie! Pfft, losing touch with reality?" I commented, seeing her fall flat on her bum just as I teleported into her room inside the Imperial Palace. It seemed like she rarely left her room because I'd always find her here.

Also, from the looks of it, she was one of those fairies who relied too much on the system and hadn't mastered fey magic at all.

"Mother, what did you do!?"

Shock and exasperation could be seen on her face.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about."

She only glared at me.

"Smoothie, do you wish to start over with me?"

Being powerful wasn't all fun and games. Responsibility normally came with it.

Honestly, I probably had more fun when I was much weaker like back when I was that little strawberry devil or fairy. My everyday growth gave me a sense of achievement. Now that I was the most powerful existence in the world, I felt kind of empty.

"Is that a serious question?"

"Yes."

"Will I have a chance?"

"That's up to you."

"Will you lose all of your powers?"

She seemed to have caught on.

"Possibly. Isn't it better that way?"

"If you'll spend more time with me, then I'm willing. Mm... Where will we go?"

"I know a good place. It's very close to the Great Labyrinth of Daedel you so wished to visit. How about we start from there? Who knows, maybe we'll meet interesting people along the way? No, I'm sure we will."

I wonder how they'll all react when they see me? I'd definitely get smacked around for all the troubles I caused.

There was just one last thing left to do.

Smoothie gave me her permission without hesitation.

This was now the time to fulfill her original mission. With my level of mastery, I was able to cleanly sever that fragment of my original soul from her while allowing Smoothie her continued existence.

Ikebas, looks like your wish will be granted. I hate duties so that life is all yours now. While I'm at it, I'll do a little favor for you.

I reopened the dimension rift, returning to my world seconds after the accident.

Travelling back in time, that much I could do with my eyes closed!

At the scene of the accident, time was suspended locally. I could see a dimensional rift had torn apart the starcruiser causing it to shatter into millions of pieces. 

So it's like that.

Looking at the rift that I had created, it almost seemed like I was the one responsible.

It couldn't be, right? Nawh!

Ehe.

Anyway, I cleaned up the mess to some degree, at least enough for my original body to be recognizable before encasing it in a special sealed casket. Since it wouldn't make sense for her to deliver the Seed of Life after this major accident, I decided not to make the trip to that planet.

That mission wasn't an extremely urgent one to begin with. Either way, emergency signal was already sent so backup should arrive in days.

I severed my original soul along with all the original memories. As a memento, I sprinkled a dash of fleeting memories into that soul.

For you, this'll be just a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. Once you wake up, your life will return to normal.

Of course, by severing that those memories from me, I was overcame with a sense of loss. It couldn't be helped.

I was resolved to live separate lives.

After that, I attached my original soul to my human body haphazardly and left a message for the central command.

"Soul returned in full."

Smoothie had completed her task splendidly.

The rest is yours! Good luck!

Last but not least, I severed our ties permanently.

*****

By the time I returned to Smoothie, only a fraction of whole self remained. My countless years of experiences, memories, knowledge, wisdom, they were all gone. Well, almost all gone. I didn't need them. It was the experience of gaining them that I enjoyed the most.

My powers were nearly all sealed away. This way I could shirk all my responsibilities.

Freedom!

No more duties!

Though, I was now where I started only a few months ago.

This time, however, I didn't begin my journey alone.

This world still had magic, lots of magic even without the Nexus system actively interfacing with our lives. So, in fact, to me this was a fantasy world where I free to live my life any way I wished.

Now I was just a regular strawberry fairy with a bit of stolen occult knowledge from the demons.

Oh right, I had a soon-to-be-international business I ran on the side. The products included strawberries, strawberry wine, and everything strawberry related! Though, these strawberries might just be a tidbit addictive. But hey! That was part of their charm! We all benefited from that.

"Free strawberries? Non-sense! Pay with your money or your soul."

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