It has been about a week since I started passing out my system breaking kit.
I am now standing in the castle’s royal audience hall.
An extravagant long purple carpet made of fur that still retains the passive properties of the monster it belonged to runs down the hall leading to the throne.
Supposedly the carpet can act as a barrier of sorts and protect those standing on it from many attacks.
Sitting on the throne is the king, his liquid eyes stare down at us as The Oracle stands by his side fully armored with a cool look on her face.
Sera and the rest have managed to just barely reach a point where I can comfortably disconnect them from The System.
Since the whole conference / presentation thingy I did, I have been teaching some more in-depth classes to them as well as several royal guards.
For safety they want to test this procedure out before The Oracle does so, which is understandable.
Even if I am the Hero, letting my fuss around with their nation's primary backer’s mana core is not a simple thing.
I look around the hall as I see the guards lined up along the side of the carpet.
Their silver accented armor reflecting lightly from the sun beams hanging under the long ornate skylight.
I feel a skylight is a weird choice for an audience hall like this, but maybe it has some good magical protections to prevent spying or attacks.
Of the guards they are all either Class 4 or Class 5.
Something that is surprising since Class 5s are rather rare and usually start their own nations, lead famous adventurer clans, serve under those of a higher class, or just plain hide away.
Seeing a Class 5 serve another Class 5 must mean the circumstances are something unique or that The Oracle has some serious charisma.
Because the guards are Class 4 or above, teaching them was far easier than teaching my party members.
After all, to reach Class 4 you need to have an actual understanding of your magic which makes learning to use it without the system far easier.
“Ready?”
Sera nods silently at my question as I softly place a hand to the back of her neck.
Today, in front of the king and The Oracle I will be disconnecting several people from The System, starting with my party members.
I push my mana into her core and quickly scan through the entire structure until I find The System’s entry point.
These entry points are all installed in Mana Cores as they grow until they reach the proper size and the system can get its grubby little mitts on your mind.
That moment is the Day of Initialization.
I grimace a bit as I think back to my initialization, the day my mother killed me as my father looked on with indifference.
Bastards.
I still have not had a chance to go talk to mother dearest with all the chaos and obligations towards getting people free from The System.
Feeling around I grab ahold of the mana pathways and rearrange them to block off the entry point.
There, now she is completely free.
Sera jolts a bit from the sensation of The System leaving her, but ultimately sighs in relief once it is over.
I am sure the anxiety of having The System and its mind control hanging over your head must have been a lot.
I look up to see the king and The Oracle standing some distance away, having moved closer to get a better look, with scrutinizing gazes.
“It is done, she is no longer connected to The System.”
The Oracle walks up and peers down at the much shorter Sera.
“Do you feel any different? How is your magic? Did it hurt?”
The Oracle starts spouting off rapid fire questions not really giving Sera much chance to respond before the questions end.
Sera used to be quite nervous being near The Oracle due to her position, but after everything that has happened she is no longer squirming under her gaze.
Sera proceeds to smile awkwardly as she explains.
“I can still feel all of my magic is working fine, and maybe even a little smoother than before. Most of all it is just nice to not have to worry about the system messing with my head.”
With a little sigh, Sera slumps her shoulders only to tense a bit a moment later.
“Hmmm.”
Tilting her head suddenly, Sera seems to get lost in thought as we all look on.
“What is it?”
Now, the king strolls up beside The Oracle to pry further into Sera’s state.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“I just… I feel a lot calmer than before, even with the TWC I didn’t feel any mental changes but now… I didn’t realize I was so on edge all the time.”
Now that has even myself raising an eyebrow.
I didn’t experience such a feeling because The System never had the ability to mess with my mind in the first place.
I guess my training collar couldn’t completely block out The System’s mental interference.
Maybe the effects of The System are even more severe than I had anticipated?
That is not a good sign.
Prim should have more data for me on that soon.
Quickly shooting her a message with this new information, I turn to the rest of my party and disconnect them.
I make it about halfway through the guards with my hand placed on one of their necks, about to begin, when his body tenses suddenly.
“What is it?”
Not understanding the reaction, I look over to see that even the oracle looks rather stiff, the rest of the guards too.
Finally after a terse silence, the king is the one to break the strange silence.
“The System… It knows what we are doing.”
“How? My rings should make us practically invisible!”
“That’s… It seems it does not know who or where, but it is clearly not happy about our actions here.”
The king seems so distracted that I can’t get a clear answer of why everyone is so tense.
“What exactly happened?”
He tries to answer me but continues to fail at giving anything concrete.
Eventually, breaking from her own stupor, The Oracle says what the king was struggling to.
“The System just sent out a ‘quest,’ it says this.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
System Quest!
Numerous people have been disconnected from The System.
This anomaly has been determined to be the result of a malicious party.
Find those responsible and stop them.
Rewards:
Class Advancement
High Level Skills
…
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
After writing the information out on a piece of paper, the oracle looks over worriedly.
I can see her shaking a bit as she does so.
A subtle anger is visible in her eyes.
Not just that, but the emotion is directed at me!
She is doing her best to restrain herself, but this whole situation is worrying.
I have to speak very calmly here.
“Lady Oracle, I think The System is forcibly altering your emotions right now. Please stay focused as best you can.”
Grinding her teeth The Oracle looks over at me before sighing.
However the tension in her voice never leaves.
“… I am aware. Ms Knight, I ask that you quickly disconnect me. I cannot stand this feeling! Knowing that my emotions are not my own.”
Letting out a short breath of relief I find myself glad The Oracle has a lid on her emotions.
If everyone here was unable to understand logically that their thoughts were being manipulated then this could have turned real messy real fast.
I nod to her and carefully place my hand on her neck.
Within moments her hand, which had been balled so tightly it had turned white, relaxed.
The Oracle nearly drops to the floor as The System leaves her.
“Fuck! I had no idea that The System would go so far.”
Pacing around the room The Oracle is still rather angry, but that anger is no longer directed towards me, but The System itself.
“Disconnect everyone in the room, immediately!”
“Of course!”
Under The Oracle’s direction, I rush around to the other soldiers, and cut off their connection to The System as fast as I can.
As I am just completing my task, several officials and soldiers begin to rush into the hall, to which they are quickly either calmed down or apprehended.
One by one, I disconnect every person who knows of my involvement, even for those who had not undergone the training to use magic without assistance.
It will be hard on them as those without any talent for it will be stuck without their magic for a while.
Looking around I can’t help but feel worried, the room is filled with so many people, and emotions are running wild.
People are sad, terrified, and relieved. But most of all they are angry.
A few direct that anger towards me, but The Oracle is hard at work making sure that feeling is directed towards the true culprit.
The System.
That damn system just started a war, one I am in the center of.
Fuck, this was not part of the plan.
I lean against the wall, having already disconnected hundreds of people, and slide down it onto the floor.
I bury my head in my hands as I try and think of a way to turn this situation around.
Ugh! The only reason things were going so well before was because I had a bunch of time to plan things out!
Right now I am facing a setback I am wholly unprepared for.
Sure, I know there must be a way to turn this to my advantage, but I am not smart enough to think of it before shit inevitably hits the fan.
Just as I am about to start spiraling, I feel a hand on my shoulder.
I look up, expecting to find Alice, only to freeze as I find The Oracle is starting back at me.
“Thank you for everything today. This situation was unexpected, but if we work together I am sure we can make the most of it.”
Her gentle smile is a shock to see considering our differing opinions on the treatment of other races if I am being honest.
However, as usual, my thoughts seem to show on my face.
“Ah, that. Well, you see… I have been thinking about my position on demi-humans recently, and now that I can really feel the difference that being free of The System has on my mind. Honestly, I will need to reevaluate my take on many things. Though, that may take me some time.”
I am amazed that she is considering changing her stance after such a short amount of time.
Normally hate like that is a foundational part of a person’s world view and hard to change.
But, maybe the knowledge that The System, another foundational part of her life, has betrayed her helped her to let go easier.
I doubt she is ready to up and become a different person immediately, but hey, it’s a start.
It gives me hope.
I move to stand up before facing The Oracle and extending my hand.
“Thank you. Let’s save this world together.”
And I give her one of the brightest smiles I have had since my new life began.