The light faded.
No, not light—the world faded.
One moment they stood atop a burning sky citadel with victory still echoing in their blood, and the next, they were plunged into the Transition Zone—a bleak space between worlds, stitched together with fragments of broken dimensions.
Lian's knees hit the ground first.
Not from exhaustion, but from something far worse.
> [System Warning: Unauthorized Use of Suppressed Function - "Road Rage"]
Penalty Initiated. Total Coins Burned: 5,740
Soul Fragmentation: 8%
Evolution Delay: +2 worlds
Talent Growth Suppressed: 1 cycle
> "No," Lian breathed. "No, no, I didn't—"
He remembered activating it. He remembered feeling unstoppable, glorious, like a god of the road.
But he hadn't seen the fine print: that it came with a price not just in coins, but in fate itself.
---
Status Update: Lian
Health: 64 / 100
Stamina: 20 / 100
Vehicle: Weaponized Cycle (locked)
Talent: Coin Multiplier (suppressed, 1 cycle)
Soul State: Fractured – 8%
Warning: Permanent death threshold lowered
---
He stood slowly, every breath a blade.
Nearby, Boom lay unconscious, ribs bandaged by Melia's magic. His gravity gauntlets were cracked. Half his inventory was burnt out.
Jayce was still grinning but sat beside Astra, his hands trembling.
> "She's not waking up," Jayce muttered. "She saved us… and she's not waking up."
Astra's hair, once midnight black, was now ashen silver. Her eyes were shut tight, but her breathing was faint. Her soul, visible only through the system's diagnostic lens, flickered like a dying star.
> [Warning: Regressor Soul Burned – Critical Condition. Remaining Cycles: 1]
She had one more world before her soul collapsed.
Melia sat beside her, quiet for once. Her faith had been shaken during the last battle. She no longer called on her gods. They hadn't answered.
---
The Transition Zone
The Transition Zone was neither night nor day. It stretched in every direction with fragmented roads leading into walls of mist. Lian could see glimpses—of ruined cities, oceans of sand, forest worlds locked in ice. Possible futures? Failed timelines?
They weren't alone here.
Others were arriving. Survivors from other destroyed worlds. Scattered, limping, broken.
Some cried. Some screamed.
Some had no faces—their identities torn from them by the system's punishment.
A voice boomed overhead.
> [Welcome, Roadwalkers.]
[This is your only rest before the next Trial World begins.]
[You have 48 hours. Heal. Prepare. Break. Decide.]
---
Choices and Consequences
Lian stood over Astra.
He had two options.
1. Give Astra 50% of his remaining coin total to stabilize her soul and let her last the next world.
Result: He would have no coins for upgrades or recovery.
2. Let the system handle it, preserving his own strength.
Result: Astra would become a "Half-Walker," locked out of talent use and only able to survive one more cycle.
He didn't hesitate.
He transferred the coins.
His balance dropped to 19.
Jayce stared at him.
> "You didn't have to do that. We need you strong."
> "She burned her future for ours," Lian said. "I'm not letting her go without a fight."
---
That night, no one slept.
Lian sat alone at the edge of a broken road segment, legs dangling into the void. He looked at his hands. They didn't shake anymore.
He had used up everything.
Strength, coins, and part of his soul.
He didn't regret it.
But the system did.
---
System Override Initiated
> Roadwalker Lian – Designated "Deviation Point."
New Path Unlocked: Fate Diver – Branch 2: Roadbreaker
Warning: All future roads will carry Death Rarity events and Elite-tier threats.
Special Reward: Destiny-Twisting Weapon available in next world.
---
The next world was already building itself.
The system wasn't punishing him—it was testing him.
Next World: Cradle of Thorns
World Type: Demonic-Biotech Hybrid War Zone
Difficulty: Elite (World Tier 3 – Level 5)
Main Objective: Destroy the Seed of Rot before it reaches maturity.
Penalty of Failure: Group-wide soul corrosion. No rebirths.
---
End of Chapter 61