The World's Ego (Book 2)

Out of this World

Rimuru POV

Thanks to this unforeseen incident, Mei and the others had to cut their expedition short. Right now, the entity was still in possession of Senti's body, with the claim that even if they returned her body now, all we would be left with was an unconscious Herrscher. Plus, they still needed to explain their side of the story as to how and why they came to possess the Herrscher's body in the first place.

"This situation is... concerning." Fu Hua hummed in worry, "... Even if Senti now has a proper body, her powers should have prevented any foreign entities from entering her mind. And if there were any abnormalities, I would have been able to feel something through our link."

"Well, yeah..." The entity hummed thoughtlessly, "... It was rather difficult avoiding that chain link. As for how I even entered her mind, admittedly cowardly, it was a move I made when she was significantly weakened."

Significantly weakened... Don't tell me she meant...

<It would imply that the invasion took place when her body was breaking apart due to Origin's influence.>

"If you're talking about that time..." I started, "... that was a risky move. Her spiritual body was fading away, but you still invaded her mind anyway?"

"True." The entity agreed without delay, "Well, I knew you people wouldn't leave her be, so risky as it may seem to be, it had been the right move."

"Then why?!" 'Seele' sat straight up with a scowl, "Of all the people, why her?!"

"If I had tried to invade any of your minds, she could have picked it up easily." The entity explained, "Abnormalities in other people's mental psyche can be easier to detect than your own without needing to become hyper focused."

Feiyun began mumbling something from behind me, soft enough that not everyone could hear it, "... She's not wrong..."

I mean... The Herrscher of Sentience is sometimes overconfident during relaxing hours.

"Okay then..." I decided to change the topic, "... Then let me ask you something else. What is your intention by possessing her body? Mei told me that you planned to use her for something and wanted to leave."

The entity went silent for a few minutes while we (tried) to patiently wait for her to get her thoughts together. When it seemed like someone was about to snap from the silence, the entity finally spoke up again.

"I severed time to get to where I am right now." The entity began and took a small intake of breath, "... I can't ask for a favor right now because it is not time yet. But the body I ended up with was too inconvenient, and there wasn't anyone out in the vast outside world that would be able to house my spirit, or what you would call 'data spirit', just like how my knight couldn't form properly. It was only because you manifested my memories that she was able to come out."

"So that was really a knight..." Iris narrowed her eyes, "... But why would she be protecting your memories from dissipating?"

"It was probably just instinct. I never ordered her to become hostile." The entity shrugged, "She never intended to harm anyway."

"What's with that...?" 'Seele' huffed

I gave the entity's words a thought, some words struck me as odd, "... What do you mean by 'you severed time'?"

"... There is a world out there, my world, to be exact. Normally, no one should be able to go beyond the skies because of a certain 'curse'." The entity responded easily but I could tell that she was still hiding information, "However, when I managed to get through, my body changed, and this was how I ended up here. She was mostly chosen because she was a suitable vessel."