Chapter 976 Backlash
Sitting in the small space station that Shiro had made for Madison before creating the weapon, the party of Nan Tian, Isilia, Madison and Edvimar sat around a bed. Lyrica had wanted to come but there were more things to deal with back in Asharia.
Laying in the bed was Shiro as the red cracks continued to spread through her body, forcing her to take sharp breaths from the pain.
Looking at her pale face, Nan Tian felt as though his heart was getting crushed and glanced at Edvimar.
"How long do we have to wait? We can't stay in space forever." He asked.
With the Watchman chasing Isilia, they had to keep her out of his sight or else she'll be taken away.
"Not too long hopefully. Since he is a tier 8 entity, staying around would put a strain on his body. Even if the system allowed him into the world, there is still a limit." Edvimar replied, tightening his grip around Isilia's hand.
"I hope that is the case. I want to get her some help back on Earth but as Hemera said, this is a backlash we can't alleviate." Nan Tian furrowed his brows while looking at Shiro who was sweating on the bed.
Grabbing the bed sheets, Shiro gritted her teeth and tried not to scream or cry since the pain was like pouring hot lava through her body only much worse. After all, if it was lava, she could endure that kind of pain with ease.
Gasping for air, she wanted to grab onto anything that might reduce the pain that she was feeling.
Seeing this, Nan Tian quickly held her hand down as Isilia and Madison did the same.
*CRACK!!!
Feeling his bone fracture slightly from her grip, Nan Tian flinched as Madison had to activate her berserk skill to contest against Shiro.
"Sh*t!" Madison couldn't help but curse since she couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain Shiro was feeling for her to act this way. This was a girl who casually punched through her own stomach or ripped off her arm so that Silvia could test out her healing spells. And yet she was now thrashing around in the bed while gasping for breath.
The dark red fractures that spread through her body pulsed with each second and were different to the circuits that appeared when she used Error.
This was more sinister and even though she wasn't the one being targeted; Madison could feel a burning sensation whenever she touched the fracture which made holding Shiro down much harder.
Unable to hold it in anymore, Shiro opened her mouth as a heart wrenching cry rang out.
Quickly casting a silence spell so that their ears didn't get ruptured, Isilia wanted to find something that'll help her relieve the pain or something that might stop her from crying out.
If she continued to scream like this, she'd destroy her throat in a few minutes.
Gritting his teeth, Nan Tian took a deep breath as he snapped his fingers.
Motes of light appeared around them as they transformed into cuffs that secured Shiro to the bed.
Reinforcing them as much as possible, he created cuffs around her limbs and torso to stop her from moving around as much as possible.
If he restrained her like this, she could at least exert her strength on getting out rather than harming herself to take her mind off the pain.
Glancing towards Edvimar, Nan Tian gestured for him to follow him out of the room while Madison and Isilia tended to Shiro.
"Is there a way for you to know when the Watchman leaves?" Nan Tian asked as Edvimar nodded his head.
"When the Watchman leaves, I'll suffer a bit of backlash but I should be able to stabilise myself afterwards. Thankfully, I won't be forced to leave since I separated myself from the system. Though this also means that becoming stronger is now much harder and with my focus on sustaining myself, I can't get stronger even if I wanted to." Edvimar shrugged.
"Mn well with how many tier 6's we have, you should be able to live a safe life. Lyrica and Isilia would be heartbroken if you were to die." Nan Tian smiled as Edvimar nodded his head.
"But seeing my wife and daughter on the battlefield while I'm at home is a bitter feeling haha. As a husband, I should be Isilia's shield. As a father, I should be preventing my daughter from being exposed to dangers like this." Edvimar sighed.
"Perhaps. But your daughter is strong. You can't keep her shielded forever. They always outgrow a parent's company eventually." Nan Tian chuckled.
"True." Edvimar nodded with a smile.
"Oh if you don't mind, can you tell me about the life that my daughter has been living in the time that I was gone? I'm aware that she might have hidden some things from me so that I don't worry." Edvimar asked as Nan Tian thought about it.
"I don't know too much since I wasn't around so what I know she's probably already told you." Nan Tian smiled apologetically since he somewhat understood the feeling and why he wanted to know.
He was absent for a majority of her life so it was understandable that he wanted to know about what he's missed.
"Is that so… Forget it then." Edvimar smiled.
"While I am unable to tell you much about your daughter, can you answer one of my questions?" Nan Tian asked as Edvimar nodded.
"Ask away."
"How did you separate yourself from the system? And what kind of consequences come with doing so?" Nan Tian asked.
He knew that the system was dangerous but at the same time beneficial. It was akin to using poison to fight poison. While it saves you, it is also a danger. Shiro mentioned that in the future she had gotten rid of the system so there must be a reason for doing so.
While they don't know the reason yet, it's probably best to make some preparations for this.
"Hmm… What's your authority level? If you're not high enough, the system will censor it out so even if I wanted to tell you, I cannot." Edvimar sighed.
"How do you check?"
"You say the following lines but with your name of course. System command, display authority level of entity -Edvimar-." Edvimar smiled as Nan Tian nodded.
Replacing Edvimar's name with his own, he saw a flickering screen in his peripherals as it displayed his authority level.
"Apparently my authority level is 6. Is that high enough?" Nan Tian asked but Edvimar shook his head.
"You need at least an authority level of 7."
"How do you upgrade your authority level?" Nan Tian asked curiously.
"I believe you have to reached the required tier. Honestly, I don't know much since I was able to distance myself from the system through luck." Edvimar smiled.
"I see… Wait, if you no longer have the system does that mean information isn't censored for you?" Nan Tian asked as Edvimar nodded.
Furrowing his brows, he started to tell Edvimar everything that's happened when they went to retrieve the garden shard so that Shiro could make the anchor.
Listening silently, Edvimar widened his eyes in shock since that meant the system had been lying to all of the Queens and only Shiro had the chance to reach the ending. Plus, with this being the final run, if Shiro fails, everything ends.
Frowning deeply, Edvimar took a moment to digest all of the information he had just received.
"This… is quite shocking. If I still had the system, I think that if I didn't have at least an authority level of 8, this would be censored." Edvimar said as he glanced back up at Nan Tian.
"So we need to do everything in our power to keep Shiro alive then."
"Yes. I'm not sure about how we can tell the other Queen's so that we can turn them into allies but for now, we have five primordial gods supporting Shiro so when they arrive in the second half, we should be good to go." Nan Tian said but Edvimar shook his head.
"Do you know how to win though?" He asked.
"Isn't it just a battle royal? Until one remains no?" Nan Tian replied but Edvimar shook his head.
"It's the system, do you really think it's so simple? Why would it allow someone who only knows how to kill others to become the ruler of the new host world if that's it's goal?" Edvimar asked as Nan Tian furrowed his brows.
"You mean to say that there's a good chance that Shiro will need to persuade more people to join her?"
"Yes. But with her not being able to share the secret that only she can obtain the final rewards, I'm afraid it'll be difficult since most of the Queens are selfish with their own goals taking priority so finding someone to trust will be difficult."
"What about the contract then? If a Queen signs a contract with Shiro, can't she ally with them without worry?" Nan Tian asked but Edvimar shook his head.
"I'm not sure since the news about this contract is new for me. But if that's the case then that's the best we can hope for."
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Waving his hand, a figure shattered the barriers blocking him from space one by one. Breaching it with ease, the true sky revealed itself as he spotted a small building orbiting Earth.