Chapter 1037 Regression Into Roots (Part 1)

Arak was now the Genre Representative of Murim Worlds—Martial.

It truly was turning a crisis into an opportunity. If Compass Carburettor hadn't appeared, Immortal wouldn't have up and died so quickly and Zaira wouldn't have plotted against Martial just to trap Arnark and Compass Carburettor.

Whether it was Arnark's Revival through Conjurer, Arnark stealing the power of the Main Character System from Compass Carburettor, Immortal's death, Mascot's actions, Magister using his Genre Representation and becoming temporarily weakened, Truck-Kun's involvement in this mess, Truck-Kun being forced to scheme and send Zaira to Mystique's doorstep, etc. Slayer had a hand in everything.

It was him triggering the right party at the opportune time that resulted in the sequence of events leading to the current outcome.

Of course, not all things he planned worked. After all, the opponents he was facing were all capable, competent jackals that would devour him the moment he makes the slightest mistake.

But, he did have the perseverance to endure and the tenacity to constantly make changes to his plan while lying in wait. And once he saw Stencil attaining universality in her power system by making a fragment of Immortal as her core, Slayer pieced together the final variable to the puzzle.

Following that, he influenced Arnark, spurring him by hinting at Compass Carburettor's ballistic growth, implying that having a child to protect caused the Main Character to bloom.

As a result, Arnark had a pair of twins with Balveta. The timing was perfect, whether it be Compass Carburettor's unleashing of a Genre Representation, the young, inexperienced state of Arnark's children, or the collapse of the Murim Genre.

The result of the countless variables that he had influenced in his direction was Arak, the Genre Representative of Murim Worlds—Martial.

The point to be noted with utmost priority here was the fact that Arak was a blessed being in the Fantasy World, born as a Pseudo-Saint of all Professions. And when he embarked on a journey into the Murim Worlds, he was already a Saint in all the Professions.

And the Cheat Slayer granted him was nothing but something that turned him into a mutated System.

As far as Arak was considered, the relationship he shared with Slayer was pretty straightforward.  Slayer was the System World and he, was a System birthed by it.

Basically, Slayer gained a Genre Representative as a subordinate. And that wasn't all, as Arak was intrinsically tied to the Fantasy World, his growth as a Genre Representative also funnelled into the Fantasy World's development.

And the one profiting from all was one individual—Slayer.

The one affected by the collective consciousness of the Murim Worlds was only Arak. Slayer still maintained his intelligence and could command Arak to do his bidding.

This was also why he brought back the Professions after becoming a representative of the Fantasy World. It was the Professions affected by the collective consciousnesses of the natives of their respective Professions.

This was how Slayer enjoyed the benefits of both worlds. And having the foresight to see such a development was why Slayer holed himself in the Fantasy World for most of his life as a System Slayer and poured his everything into raising its foundation.

The good news didn't end here though as Slayer waited patiently, sensing further changes as another vast sea of power surged in him.

The figure of Anak condensed before him, "I greet thy supreme."

Genre Representative—Immortal (Anak)!

Of course, the two Genre Representatives were batshit weak, a far cry from their previous counterparts, especially Immortal. But things would only go uphill from here.

Slayer had already made plans to recover as many Murim and Cultivation Worlds as possible. With the Genre Representatives now present, he only had to influence worlds to shift in their favour.

For Martial, Slayer planned to take the hard route whereby he would proceed to regress the development of worlds until they return to being Murim Worlds.

The Murim Genre had always been a pot with holes, with worlds constantly shifting genres and the only solution to it was to create more Murim Worlds. That was what the previous Martial did.

At present, Slayer had plans to revert the development of such worlds. The fastest way to achieve that was through war and invasions. By destroying the foundations of development, he would force them to return to their roots, making it seem the only way for their survival.

Thereby, he would influence the natives to become Martial Artists once again.

He had the powers of enough Grade 2 Systems to make it a reality, 'I would be expending a lot of my world's reserve strength, but it's a necessity. As long as the number of worlds under Arak and Anak reach the three digits and maintain enough foundation, they would become eligible to unleash a Genre Representation.'

With two Genre Representations in his Arsenal, Slayer would have enough confidence to face even Zaira. It would also give him sufficient clout to make deals with other Genre Representatives.

But to reach that point would require an astronomical amount of resources and manpower. One wrong move and the Fantasy World would become bankrupt.

'It's a do-or-die situation. So, I need to gamble.' Thinking as such, Slayer summoned Balveta, "Bring all the Universe Relic Wielders to wage a war. Cripple their excess development while making the necessary arrangements to facilitate a rework so that I can quickly make them functional Murim Worlds once again."

"I'll bestow upon you the Core Skills of four Grade 2 Systems each."

"Consider it done, Slayer." Balveta nodded, proud as she stared at her children, for they had become Immortal and Martial respectively.

It was the highest achievement one could attain in the multiverse.

All five Universe Relic Wielders appeared before Slayer as they were each bestowed with Core Skills of four Grade 2 Systems. "Bring Arak with you and help him grow and mature as Martial."

"We'll give it our all, Slayer." The five Universe Relic Wielders said in unison as they brought Martial with them and teleported to a target world.

Immediately upon arrival, Balveta hovered in the air and flickered her hand, instantly turning more than a million people into System Hosts. They gained power immediately, causing a change in race as Quests appeared in transparent panels before them, prompting them to perform a variety of tasks.

There were rewards for each, spurring the natives' desire for power. The world turned chaotic immediately as overnight, the world order toppled.

This was a Murim World that had advanced into a technological society, with martial arts turned more and more redundant.

"This is a relatively simpler world to deal with." Saying so, Balveta activated countless Skills that allowed the newly formed races to gradually gain resistance to hot weapons.

They developed tough carapaces that blocked bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Kya!" A group of children screamed in fear, watching mysterious creatures exhibiting bloodthirsty auras leap across the walls of the skyscrapers and rush towards them. Bullets flew all across the place, raining down on these creatures.

The impact slowed down the creatures, but as time passed, the effects were getting less prominent.

"Die! Monsters! Die!" A soldier screamed as his assault rifle blazed down on a reddish-brown bipedal monster that was capable of running like a mixture between a horse and a gecko, treating even walls as flat plains to gallop upon.

Puncture wounds appeared all across its body, but its vitality was tremendous, thereby allowing it to escape death. Moreover, it was originally a human, and hence still retained human-like intelligence despite turning into a bloodthirsty monster.

It smashed a bus and ripped apart its walls, using it as a shield to defend against the bullets. "Shit!"

The soldier despaired, watching the monster approach him. He was the sole soldier that was guarding the shelter, with most of those in the shelter being school children, innocent kids. The other soldiers had become pools of blood by now, taking down the monsters with them.

The soldier grabbed the last batch of ammo from his colleague's corpse and fired at the monster, aiming at its legs until it collapsed to the ground.

The metal shield it carried skid to the side as a result, revealing its unguarded head. The soldier pointed his gun at it and pressed the trigger.

Click!

Only a couple of bullets spewed forth before the clip had been emptied. At least a few more bullets were needed to kill the monster for good. But it seemed his luck wasn't enough.

The monster got up and glared at him, revealing a wide grin. It had difficulty using its legs, but its arms worked fine, allowing it to crawl towards him.

"Uncle! Win!"

"Sir Soldier, save us!"

"You must win!"

"Please win!"

"Protect us!"

"Kill the monster!"

"I'm scared!

As the monster approached close, time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl as the soldier felt death approaching him. But in this state, his senses were stretched to the extreme, allowing him to hear the screams of the children in the shelter.

His sense of duty kicked in, recalling the actions of his fallen comrades, 'I'll take this monster down, even if I have to give up my life!'

The soldier threw the rifle into the monster's parted mouth with all his strength, causing it to slip into its throat and wedge there, suffocating it. At that moment, the soldier betted his life and pulled out a knife and lunged forward, aiming at its head.

But even before it stabbed into the opponent, he despaired, 'No, it's not enough. Even bullets have difficulty going through its carapace, not to mention my knife.'

As death approached him, his failure in protecting the children drowned him. In response, rage exploded out of his being, "I will protect the innocent! As I have vowed! As a soldier!"

He could feel something stir up in his abdomen, followed by an intense state of exhaustion that knocked him unconscious. But at that moment before he lost consciousness, the soldier observed a mysterious energy condense upon his knife and expand in a swirl, cleaving the monster into two.

'Man, that's powerful!' That was the last thought that resounded in his mind as he plopped to the ground.