Chapter 116
System 404 hovered, flickering like a dim star, above the two still bodies, tangled together on the floor, soaked in red.
[MISSION COMPLETE: 60%]
[FINAL HOST TERMINATION: CONFIRMED]
[INITIATING SOUL RETRIEVAL PROTOCOL…]
The system pulsed once.
Then again.
The air around it bent unnaturally, the mana of the world groaning in protest. A portal blinked into existence mid-air—unstable and flickering, edges crackling with static like torn cloth caught between code and magic.
System 404 didn't care. The world was shutting down. Its work here was done.
[RETRIEVING HOST SOUL…]
A soft wisp rose gently from Daphne Han's body—pale, silver-flecked, and trembling faintly, like a candle in wind. Her soul.
The system did not hesitate. The wisp hovered briefly above her chest—then floated upward, serene, unaware, and vanished into the waiting portal with a soft shimmer.
System 404 turned to close the portal.
And missed it.
Again.
A second wisp.
Fainter.
Smaller.
