The air smelled like burning code, forgotten prayers, and the ozone tang of a dying god.
Luo Feng was mid-sentence—probably something stupid like "How bad could one little nail be?"—when the System glitched.
The world stuttered.
For three heartbeats, everything froze—
—even the Death Queen's smirk,
—even Li Qing's frost,
—even the Nine-Tails' flickering tails.
Then the screams started.
Not from them.
From the System itself.
[̵̢E̷̛R̴͠R̵̕O̴͝R̶̚:̶̕ ̸̕M̷͝E̸̕M̴͝O̶͝R̵͠Y̸̚ ̶̕C̸̛O̶͝R̷͝R̴̛U̶͝P̶͝T̷͝]̵̕
[̶̢W̸̕A̷͝R̷̕N̸͝I̵͝N̴̕G̶̕:̶̕ ̸͠D̶̕O̵͝ ̴͝N̸̕O̷͝T̸̕ ̴͝L̴͝O̸̕O̵͝K̷̕ ̶̕B̴͝E̷̕H̷͝I̵͝N̴̕D̷̕ ̷̕Y̷̕O̸̕U̴̕]̷̕
The nail in Luo Feng's hand burned cold, its blood singing in a language older than gods.
Then—
She appeared.
A woman made of static and funeral smoke, her edges unraveling like bad code. Her eyes were two dying stars, her hair a cascade of broken commandments.
The Wife of Ashes.
The System's voice came from her mouth—but wrong, like a corrupted file:
"Luo...Feng..."
The Death Queen's dagger was already drawn. Li Qing's ice formed a killing circle. The Nine-Tails' flames turned black with mourning.
But the ghost just laughed, and it sounded like a universe collapsing.
"You're using my invention. My checkpoints. My cheat codes." Her form flickered, showing glimpses of a lab, a knife in the dark, gods smiling as they erased her. "They called it heresy. I called it progress."
Luo Feng's pulse hammered. "Who killed you?"
Her smile was a glitch in reality. "The same ones who'll kill you. The Pantheon doesn't like obsolete gods... or the mortals who replace them."
Then—
CRACK.
The vision shattered.
The nail in Luo Feng's hand was now just a nail.
The System rebooted with a cheerful:
[ERROR RESOLVED! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!]
[DAILY MISSION: "TELL A GOD TO GO F*** THEMSELVES" NOW AVAILABLE!]
The Nine-Tails was the first to speak.
"Well," she said, inspecting her claws, "that explains why the Thunder God hates you."
Li Qing's frost didn't recede. "We're assassinating the Pantheon."
The Death Queen sighed dreamily. "I knew I loved you for a reason."
And Luo Feng?
He stared at the nail.
At his hands.
At the glitch still lingering in his vision.
"Oh," he said softly, "we are so fucked."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: NEW OBJECTIVE UNLOCKED]
[FINAL MISSION: "KILL GOD"]
[REWARD: A WORLD WITHOUT MASTERS]
[FAILURE: ETERNITY AS A WARNING]
The plush demons started packing emergency rations.
END OF CHAPTER 53