NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: The System’s Betrayal
The Ghost-Fire Plains
The world returned in a breathless instant.
Li Tian stumbled forward, his vision blurred, his sword arm heavy with exhaustion. He could still hear the whispers of the cult, their inhuman laughter echoing in his mind like a song played on broken strings. But when he looked around—they were gone.
Instead, he found himself standing in an endless expanse of darkness, where the ground was made of charred stone, its surface cracked and dry like the skin of something long dead. The earth itself was lifeless, stretching in every direction beneath a sky filled with ashen clouds that did not move.
But what truly caught his breath were the flames.
All across the land, blue fire burned, licking at the air with eerie, unnatural movements. The flames cast no heat, yet they consumed everything in their path—trees, bones, the very air itself. They whispered as they flickered, their tongues forming shapes of screaming faces before dissolving into nothing.
Jagged mountain spires loomed in the distance, their peaks hidden behind a swirling mist that pulsed like a living thing. The air was thick with the stench of burnt flesh, and as Li Tian walked forward, his boots crushed something brittle beneath him—bones.
Beneath the glow of the ghostly flames, the skeletal remains of countless beings lay half-buried in the earth, their forms twisted and fused together, as though death had not come peacefully. Some still clutched at their own throats, jaws frozen mid-scream, as if whatever had taken them had done so slowly.
Li Tian exhaled, his breath visible despite the absence of cold.
"Where… are we?"
Mei stirred in his arms, her small hands clutching at his robes, her body trembling against his chest.
"Grandma used to say… this is where the lost souls wander."
Her voice was small, but it carried the weight of something ancient—something that should not have been remembered.
The System's Demand
A chime echoed in his mind.
> SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
WARNING: CORRUPTION LEVEL REACHING THRESHOLD.
PURGE REQUIRED.
OBTAIN A PURE SOUL CORE TO STABILIZE HOST.
RECOMMENDED TARGET: MEI (INNOCENT SOUL CLASS).
Li Tian's breath caught.
"No."
The system's voice was calm, mechanical, and unfeeling.
> HOST WILL PERISH WITHOUT PURIFICATION.
EXECUTE OR FACE CONSEQUENCES.
A cold sweat broke across his back. His grip on Mei tightened involuntarily as his mind fought against the impossibility of what he was hearing.
"You want me to kill a child?"
> A PURE SOUL CORE WILL HALT CORRUPTION.
HOST IS ADVISED TO COMPLY.
Li Tian's hands shook. The weight of the sword at his hip had never felt heavier. He could still feel the lingering taint from the Blackened Village, the way the shadows had clung to his skin, whispering to him of decay and hunger.
It was true—his body was changing.
His reflection in the Mirror Lake had shown him the cracks forming along his skin, the dark veins threading through his arms, the subtle but undeniable pull toward something monstrous.
If he refused…
The corruption would take him.
But if he obeyed…
His grip on his sword tightened—so hard his knuckles turned white.
> FINAL WARNING: FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN SYSTEM ENFORCEMENT.
A pulse of pain exploded in his skull.
His knees buckled.
His vision blurred as a torrent of unbearable agony shot through his veins, like a thousand hooks digging into his flesh, tearing him apart from the inside.
The system was forcing him to bend.
Mei's small fingers touched his face.
"Big brother?"
Her eyes were wide—not with fear, but with concern.
She reached into the small pouch tied to her waist and pulled out something old, something worn with time.
A talisman—its faded golden threads woven into delicate patterns, with the symbol of a four-eyed beast carved into its surface.
She placed it in his hand.
"Grandma said this protects against demons."
The moment the talisman touched his skin, the pain vanished.
The System's Fury
The world shook.
A monstrous, inhuman roar split the sky as the system's voice glitched, fractured, turning from calm detachment into something furious.
> ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.
HOST IS REJECTING DIRECTIVE.
FORCING OVERRIDE—
The Ghost-Fire Plains raged to life.
The blue flames surged, twisting into the shapes of writhing phantoms, their mouths open in silent screams.
The ground cracked, and from beneath the skeletal remains, something crawled out.
Tall, faceless creatures, their bodies wrapped in shifting shadows, their elongated fingers tipped with glistening claws. Their heads snapped toward Li Tian in perfect synchrony.
Then they attacked.
Li Tian threw Mei behind him, his sword flashing into his grip just as the first of the creatures lunged, claws aimed for his throat.
The battle had begun.
And this time, he wasn't just fighting for survival.
He was fighting against his own system.