The cave above the ridge was little more than a hollow in the cliff, carved by wind and time and the bones of long-dead beasts. The scent of ash still lingered from the fight with the Karma Hunter. Outside, the wind clawed at the mouth of the cave, howling as if to remind Lucien that survival, for him, would never again be quiet.
He sat cross-legged near a circle of cold embers, his cloak discarded, his shirt bloodied and torn where the guandao had struck. The wound ached with a deeper kind of pain—not just physical, but spiritual. The cursed relic had left a trace.
Lucien exhaled slowly.
"Begin purification," he whispered.
System Response:
Minor Purification Trial: Completed.
Karmic Thread Stabilized.
Warmth washed through his veins, divine in origin, but fading quickly. He could not rely on purification forever. The fights ahead would only get worse.
The System flickered in his vision, but something was different.
Gold light. Not harsh like judgment, but ancient and solemn, like a dawn that remembered stars.
System Alert:
System Evolution Triggered.
Unlocking Judgmental Augury: ORACLE SIGHT.
Function: Glimpses of potential karmic futures. Access to sealed divine fates.
Warning: Unauthorized use may invoke celestial backlash.
Lucien blinked. The interface glowed deeper, almost sentient.
Then, for the first time, the System didn't speak in notation.
It spoke as law.
"Justice is not merely the verdict of the past… but the warning of what may yet be."
His heartbeat slowed. Glyphs appeared along his arms, pulsing silver. They weren't wounds. They were windows.
He closed his eyes.
And fell inward.
He stood in a place that had no horizon.
The karmic realm.
Threads stretched in all directions, like the web of an infinite spider. They shimmered with color: white, red, black, gold. Some were smooth. Some were frayed. Some wept light. Others hissed shadow.
Lucien drifted, guided not by will but by resonance.
One thread blazed brighter than all others—a radiant white strand, impossibly pure. He reached for it.
And was pulled.
He stood on the balcony of a crimson-and-gold pagoda. Night cloaked the world below. Beyond its walls, incense burned in cruelty's name.
Below him, a child knelt in the courtyard.
A girl. Twelve, perhaps. Dressed in white ceremonial robes that glowed only because her karma did. She folded her hands in prayer, whispering blessings not for herself, but for others.
Around her, elders chanted. Cultivators robed in gold lined the square like statues.
Lucien's vision sharpened.
Every chant drained her.
Her karma, pulsing pure, dimmed with every verse they uttered. Her prayers, instead of rising, were devoured. Spiritual siphoning masked as piety.
"Cleansing rites," a memory said in his head. "To purify the young."
No. To feed the damned.
The sect's karmic core pulsed black beneath its surface. These were not righteous cultivators. These were parasites hiding behind the robes of sanctity.
The girl's thread wavered.
Lucien's hand moved of its own.
He reached out.
The world shattered.
A searing light screamed between him and the vision. A divine sigil formed: a crimson eye, sealed with five heavenly chains.
He fell backward into nothing.
System Warning:
Vision Obstructed by Divine Interference Seal.
Origin: Sect Classified [REDACTED].
Karma Nexus Identified: Child of Celestial Balance.
Outcome Trajectory: DEATH IN 7 DAYS.
Lucien woke up gasping, sweat slick on his brow. His pulse thundered.
He gripped the stone floor beneath him.
"Seven days," he whispered.
Night deepened. Stars emerged one by one, but Lucien felt none of their comfort.
He stared at the dying embers of the fire.
He had judged murderers. He had executed tyrants.
But this girl had done nothing. She could not be judged. She could only be saved.
The System had rules. Justice must follow karma. There had to be sin for judgment to fall.
But what of innocence?
Lucien clenched his fists.
"This isn't what the System was meant for…"
He stood slowly, eyes reflecting pale starlight.
"But perhaps this is what I was meant for."
The System flickered.
System Update:
Personal Intervention Flag Created.
Target: Unknown Girl (Karma Score: +99,999).
Countdown Initiated: 7 Days to Intervention.
Without thinking, Lucien lit incense in the center of the cave.
He whispered no prayer.
He asked no permission.
The smoke curled around his body.
Another vision surged forward—a final flash of what might come.
The girl, again.
But now surrounded by flames.
Her body lifted off the ground, lotus petals of burning light forming beneath her. The elders circled her, still chanting, but their voices began to crack.
Her eyes opened.
They glowed with divine rebellion.
And then— a pulse of golden light exploded from her chest. A wave of karmic fire burned across the square. The elders were consumed, screaming.
Lucien reached for her.
The vision ended.
No outcome given.
No verdict offered.
Only silence.
He marked her thread.
He burned her sigil into his internal map.
Then, with grim resolve, Lucien donned his cloak, tied the Executioner's mark beneath the folds of travel gear, and stepped out into the mountain wind.
He walked toward the rising sun.
Not toward punishment. Not toward sin.
But toward innocence.
To protect.
To shield.
And, if needed—to burn those who would harm her.