The blue panel did not disappear.
It glitched.
The edges flickered violently, crimson cracks spiderwebbing across the translucent surface like blood in ice. The text that had calmly confirmed his choice began to distort, letters warping and reforming in rapid, aggressive pulses.
[Choice Registered: Option B – Integration Path]
[ERROR. RECALCULATING.]
[Host emotional signature incompatible with sustained harmony.]
[Re-offering terms under duress protocol.]
Lin Feng's breath hitched. A searing pain lanced through his temples—the Spirit Song fragment flaring in protest while the Devour core roared in betrayal.
Yue Li's grip on his arm tightened.
"Lin Feng?"
"It's fighting back," he gritted out.
The panel stabilized into something far more menacing. The once-neutral blue had deepened to a bruised violet, and a new line of text scrolled in blood-red:
[Negotiation Not Concluded.]
[You do not choose the path, Host. The path chooses a worthy vessel.]
[The Sovereign God's remnant does not share. It consumes. Your mother's pathetic lullaby is a parasite attempting to dilute divine will.]
[Final Warning – Reconsider.]
Three new holographic projections materialized around the panel—vivid, immersive visions only Lin Feng could see.
**Vision 1 – The Devour Sovereign (Option A amplified):**
He stood atop a mountain of shattered realms, black threads extending infinitely, devouring gods, systems, entire timelines. Yue Li knelt at his feet—eyes empty, love leeched away until she was nothing but a hollow anchor. Xiao Qing's small body lay broken nearby, sacrificed long ago for power. No guilt. No song. Only cold, perfect ascension. The loneliness was absolute… and euphoric.
**Vision 2 – The Broken Keeper (Option B consequences):**
He walked through a burning Cloudveil Valley. Silver notes poured from his mouth in endless lament, healing the wounded Keepers only for them to die again in slower, more agonizing ways. Yue Li bled out in his arms after a Council ambush he was too weak to stop. The system mocked him: "Balance is weakness." Every act of mercy triggered full Lament Backlash—his mother's death replaying in excruciating detail, over and over, until his mind fractured.
**Vision 3 – Dormancy (Option C):**
Nothing. Absolute silence. Thirty days of powerlessness while Elder Zhu's assassins tore the clan apart. Yue Li and Xiao Qing died protecting him. The Council found the Spirit Song fragment and erased it forever—along with any hope of ever reaching the hidden valley.
The pain intensified. Lin Feng dropped to one knee, clutching his head. Blood trickled from his nose.
[Choose again.]
[Option A grants godhood in decades.]
[Option B grants slow, sentimental death.]
[Refuse and watch everything you claim to protect burn tonight.]
The timer reappeared—now counting down from 30 seconds.
Yue Li cupped his face, forcing him to look at her instead of the visions.
"Whatever it's showing you—fight it. You chose us. You chose her song. Don't let it take that away."
Her voice cracked with fear, but her eyes burned with stubborn faith.
Lin Feng's teeth clenched so hard he tasted blood.
Inside, two forces warred violently.
The Devour core—ancient, hungry, whispering promises of effortless revenge: *Take Option A. Erase Lin Hao tonight. Devour Elder Zhu before sunrise. Become untouchable.*
The Spirit Song—his mother's voice, soft yet unbreakable: *"Little phoenix… choose to live. Even if it means burning the sky with light instead of darkness."*
The system pressed harder.
[10 seconds.]
[Your mother knew the cost. She chose weakness and died screaming inside. Do you want to repeat her failure?]
A fresh wave of full Lament Backlash slammed into him without warning—his mother's final moments in brutal clarity: her hand slipping from his cheek, the lullaby breaking into a wet gasp, the light leaving her eyes while she still tried to smile for him.
Lin Feng screamed—raw, guttural—collapsing forward.
Yue Li caught him, tears streaming down her face as she held his shaking body.
"Stay with me! Please—don't let it win!"
The panel pulsed triumphantly.
[Time expired. Defaulting to—]
"No!" Lin Feng roared, forcing the word through the agony.
He slammed his will against the system like a hammer.
"I chose **B**. I'm not your puppet. I'm not your Sovereign. I'm her son first."
The panel cracked audibly—literal fractures appearing in the projection.
[Defiance registered.]
[Integration Path forcibly locked.]
[Spirit Song Integration: 22%]
[Devour efficiency permanently capped at 55%.]
[Hidden Penalty Activated: "Sovereign's Resentment" – Every 7 days, the system will issue an unavoidable Devour-or-Die quest. Failure triggers full Lament Backlash + random bond erosion.]
[Final Message from the Remnant:]
*You have chosen the harder road, little vessel. Enjoy watching everyone you love suffer for your sentimentality. I will be waiting when you inevitably break.*
The panel shattered into fading shards.
Lin Feng collapsed fully into Yue Li's arms, breathing ragged, body slick with cold sweat.
The silver vein under his eye now pulsed steadily—brighter, more permanent.
But the cost was already manifesting.
A new notification appeared in plain white text, almost gentle:
[Ding! First "Sovereign's Resentment" Quest Incoming in 6 days: "Devour the Traitor's Heart" – Target: Elder Zhu. Failure = Yue Li's emotional bond begins irreversible decay.]
Lin Feng's eyes met Yue Li's—haunted, exhausted, but unbroken.
"I bought us time," he whispered. "But the system… it's angry now. It will try to make me regret this every single day."
She pressed her forehead to his.
"Then we make it regret underestimating us."
From behind the hidden panel, Xiao Qing's soft, trembling voice drifted out:
"I'll sing with you. When the backlash comes. So you're not alone in the memory."
Outside, the first rays of dawn touched the library roof.
Inside, the negotiation had ended.
But the war between devourer and keeper had only just begun—and the system would not forgive Lin Feng's defiance easily.