World Keeper - Chapter 1266: Coalition of Fools
I wasn’t expecting that the memetic entity was really just a phantom remnant of Ash. I thought that Ash would have been annihilated long ago, but it seemed that some of her information lingered within the void, akin to a ‘ghost’. Hopefully, this would be the last time we had to deal with her, but it wouldn’t surprise me at this point if there were more fragments of her drifting about, waiting for the chance to be awakened.
As for how Dana dealt with it… that was also a surprise. I had expected her to use her Origin powers to destroy the sentient idea at its core, maybe use a memetic shadow to devour it. However… for an Origin, I suppose that absorbing the entity and then immediately wiping it out was a viable method, so long as they could get the entity’s entire focus on them.
“It’s not that surprising to see Ash again.” Terra said softly, leaning against my arm. “It’s like how James came back, though James had a much harder journey. When someone dies, their information isn’t just deleted, it still gets scattered out there. Typically, that information would be directed to the afterlife in the form of the soul, but the way Ash was killed didn’t allow for such a thing.”
“Instead, she was returned to the void, being half a memetic entity herself already. Right now, any lingering traces of her would be completely dormant, and some may have already merged with various void beasts without awakening. The only way for them to awaken is if either enough pieces are gathered together in a single entity, or such as was the case here, the fragment is placed in a sufficiently advanced memetic entity with no ego of its own.”
I gave a small nod at that, before directing my attention to the screen once more. “What are we going to do with the Dead Script guild? It’s hard to believe that that universe will be salvageable. The current inhabitants are all accustomed to the memetic effects present, but those who had the power to develop and distribute the anti-memes are probably all already dead. There wouldn’t be anyone left who could protect the civilians, and with so many memes affecting them, the civilians can’t evacuate to another guild.”
Terra pursed her lips in though, arms crossed beneath her bust. “There aren’t many good answers there. It’s only a matter of time before more monsters wipe out the last of the colonized planets within that universe. And even if we did try to use our memetic barrier, such as the Hyperlane Network, it would just kill the remaining civilians due to the deep memetic contamination.”
“The best case scenario would be to send an Origin in like Dana, and have them absorb all of the inhabitants of that universe into their inner world, where they could purge the memetic influences. However, that would take months, maybe even years to get everyone, during which time the monsters would still be spawning.”
“Aside from that… there is one option, but it would undermine the entire guild, while also requiring their direct approval.” Terra said with a bitter smile. “One of the universe add-ons is Memetic Nullifier. It’s not so much an anti-meme as it just completely nullifies void traces within the universe. While this would negate all forms of memes, it would also negate the powers of Fallen Gods, and weaken Origins to a degree. However, only the guild master can apply this add-on, and the Dead Script guild’s specialty is its memetic powers… that add-on would save the civilians, but doom the guild itself to mediocrity. Given how stubborn they were about accepting help before…”
Seeing Terra trail off, I nodded my head in understanding. There was no way that they would accept an answer that completely negated their guild’s entire purpose, even if it was the only surefire way to preserve their guild’s existence. “Most likely, they’re going to try to take a gamble. Something like trying to desperately nurture a Master that can protect them.”
“Probably.” Terra agreed. “However, it’s hard to tell if they’ll even survive that long.” As she said that, her ears suddenly perked up.
“Did something catch your attention?” I asked curiously, and Terra rolled her eyes. “Are people being dumb again?”
“Chronically.” She said in an amused tone, snapping her fingers to change the channel on the television.
“You know, we have a remote.” I reminded her playfully, before turning my attention to the screen.
Within a conference room of Hal Tua, several guild masters convened a meeting. These were all mid-ranked guilds, all with some measure of strength, but lacking a true Master to serve as their backbone. Any one of them would likely be strong enough to break into the top twenty, if only they could nurture such a being.
“Is the area secure?” One figure asked, a human with short, blonde hair and red eyes. He looked around at everyone in the meeting critically, before turning his attention to the Extreme God of Secrecy that he had brought with him. This individual had nine domains, all focused on covert actions, and was able to hide his actions from even Masters.
“I have covered the entire room in a veil.” The man said in a confident tone. “Even the Master of Secrets would not be able to easily learn what is discussed here today.”
“Good.” The man said with a sigh, before turning to face the other guild masters. “We need a plan to deal with the new administration.”
At his words, there was a stir among the gathered crowd, with one guild master speaking up. “Is that necessary? It seems as though they aren’t taking any form of action to suppress us, so why should we take the initiative to start trouble?”
When the blonde leader heard that, he gave a bitter smile. “Is that how you see it? Because the way I understand it, it is the fault of the administration that these monsters are plaguing our territories. By using these monsters as an excuse, they can send in their own Masters and force us to remove our privacy barriers. At the same time, because their protection isn’t ‘all-encompassing’, there are still monsters that slip through the net and keep us occupied.”
A female guild master with red hair and green eyes leaned back in her seat, a veil over her mouth. “You believe that the new Administrator is intentionally summoning these monsters to keep us in line?” She questioned, and the man nodded his head.
“It makes sense. We never had to deal with such things under the old administration. However, as soon as ownership of the realm changed, they began to appear. Because of this, even the Masters of Hal Tua are forced to busy themselves to protect their realms, and can’t afford to direct any of their attention to developing themselves.”
At that, the female guild master spoke up again. “However, from what I understand, this Administrator’s own territory has been facing these monsters for some time already. If this was strictly a measure to keep us in line, why would they subject their own people to it, as well?”
“Because they also want to keep their own people from rebelling.” The leader said, as if he were certain of his answer. “Think about it. His people are so focused on defense that they can’t even begin to consider how much better things would be with someone else in charge. He even won over the Master of Beasts as soon as he appeared, ensuring greater control over these monsters. She now works as just a servant within his grand palace, having been tamed by the authority she was given.”
“According to my research, the Greater Pantheon that appeared at the end of the last great battle has only ever rarely appeared throughout history, with the exception of a scarce few members. Even they rarely show such strength. They most likely stockpiled energy for a long time in order to make a show of force against us, to cow us into submission.”
“What we need to do now is to create a coalition of mutual benefit. All of us have the power to protect our own territory, as well as leave some forces in reserve. If we can ensure our safety for just a brief period, we can rally our forces against the Administrator!”
Hearing his impassioned speech caused the morale of the room to rise, the hearts of the people rallying behind him. However, that was not to say that this was a perfect plan. One of the other guild masters quickly spoke up with his concern. “How are we going to kill the Administrator, then? The Master of Travel claimed his death had been sealed in the last battle, but that turned out to be false. From what I’ve heard, the Administrator only rarely appears in his world, and when he does, his location is unpredictable. If we can’t target him in Olympus, we’ll never know where he will be.”
The blonde guild master gave a knowing smile when he heard that. “I’ve already prepared for that. Within my guild is an Extreme God of Prophecy. All we need to do is wait for her to foresee his descent, and prepare accordingly. Right now, we just have to set up the coalition, and slowly begin to allocate the troops required, so as not to raise suspicions.”
“Is anyone going to tell them that I can’t be tracked via the weave of fate?” I asked with a light laugh, which Terra soon joined in on.
“I’d rather let them figure it out themselves. No need to spoil the fun, right?” She asked, seeming amused by their attempts. More so than I would have thought, considering the topic.
“I’m more surprised you’re not raining hellfire and erasing that entire structure from the map.” I teased, and Terra pouted cutely in response.
“If they had any real chance of accomplishing their goals, maybe. But right now, they’re basically children playing in their sandbox. They don’t even understand how the world works, so I can’t really take them seriously. Besides, if they really tried to put their plan into motion, I could always just stop them then.” She said in a smug, very cat-like tone.
I couldn’t help but arch my brow at that, reaching a hand around her waist. “You seem to be able to contribute more than before, is that just my imagination? Or have your restrictions loosened a bit ever since my rank increased?”
Terra blinked at that, a rare, shy look appearing on her face. “Maybe a little? But that’s something I still can’t talk about.” She said, though I was happy that she was able to get more involved now.
“Are you able to tell me how much the restrictions loosened, at least?” I asked curiously, and she thought about it.
“Well, I still can’t give you any information on other Keepers, because of obvious privacy reasons. And, I can’t give you any classified information on the system itself. But… other than that, I think they’re mostly lifted?”
When I heard that, my eyes went wide in surprise. “You mean that you would be able to manage your own world now, even?” I asked, and she gave a small nod of her head.
“Yeah, but I’d rather not at this point. I mean, what’s the use of adding an entirely new universe now, just to get it to try to catch up with the others. Not to mention that I’d still need to deal with all these other problems we’re facing now. It’s just easier to stick with what we have, rather than trying to expand further.”
I nodded my head in understanding. “Still, you should be able to descend for longer periods of time now, maybe even live in the mortal world with everyone else, if the system isn’t restricting your ability to interfere!” I exclaimed, and Terra cleared her throat, pointing at the screen again.
“I could, but it’s still not entirely safe for you to be down there for long periods at a time at the moment. And I wouldn’t want to be down there without you. That’s why I haven’t said anything about it until now. I’d rather wait until all of the idiots realize that trying to plot your demise is about as useful as throwing handfuls of sand into a storm.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that analogy, holding her a bit closer. “Alright, alright. We can head down together once everything is settled.” I said, though there was something nagging at the back of my mind. If System Companions had their restrictions lifted at the sixth rank, how did anyone ever manage to fall out of that rank? Surely their companions would be able to help them prepare against invasions more efficiently, right?
