The Eight-Direction Betrayal

  They rested for three hours. The silence in the safe house was heavy, broken only by the hum of the air filtration system.

  "Did you forget the Multiplayer Effect? You shouldn't rush things," Nine whispered, her voice vibrating with rare worry inside Amara’s mind.

  "To hell with that," Sam interjected, his voice sharp in Aryan’s skull. "That Greed Vessel almost killed them. It consumed them like food. Their life expectancy dropped to 41 days. Even after the Greed essence suppressed their vessels from burning out, nothing seems stable."

  "Regardless," Amara said, standing up and checking her daggers. "We have no time to debate biology. We are on the clock."

  Aryan sat up. His ribs still ached, but his eyes were clear. He lifted his phone.

  "I need your help," he said into the receiver. "Meet me at the coordinates I just sent. Bring the heavy gear."

  He hung up and looked at Amara. "I called the Eight Siblings."

  Amara raised an eyebrow. "Risky."

  "Sister, we can't just brawl our way through this," Aryan said, his voice hardening. "We might be fighting a Warlord. If we go in without a plan, we lose. We need to use Formations. No way we win this without casualties unless we control the battlefield."

  Amara stared at him for a moment. Then, a rare, genuine smile touched her lips.

  "Good," she said softly. "You have matured fast."

  "War Effect," Sam noted dryly. "Trauma is the best teacher."

  "Okay. Let's do this," Amara said. "Just slaying won't work. The Warlord's territory... the entire planet's system there has been corrupted. We need something that can purge the zone."

  "Indeed," Sam added. "But to do that, we need to eliminate the root cause. Your Seer Eyes detected the Warlord is 'Uncompromised.' That means they aren't possessed. They chose this path willingly."

  [Location: Border Zone - Country C & Country E]

  [Status: Wasteland]

  "Stop!"

  The scream cracked through the air, but it was swallowed by the sound of steel clashing against steel.

  Within miles, nothing green remained. The lush borderlands had been reduced to a desert of crimson and black ash. The air crackled with chaotic mana.

  Two figures moved faster than the wind, their swords colliding in sparks of violent energy.

  "Sister Iris!" Sara screamed, her voice distorted by madness.

  Sara’s eyes were no longer human. They were pools of glowing bloodshed. Her aura was a corrupted, glitching mess of black and red static. She was no longer sane, but she was crying.

  "Be my prey!" Sara shrieked, swinging a massive greatsword wreathed in dark flames. "Repay the debt! I saved you from Father! Let me eat you so you don't have to suffer!"

  Iris, dressed in pristine white battle armor, parried the blow with a grimace.

  "I regret that day, Sara," Iris said, her voice trembling. "I wish I had been the one to protect you. But it's not too late! Don't kill the whole country with you!"

  Sara didn't listen. The System had its claws deep in her mind.

  [Skill Activated: Fractured Space.]

  Sara’s body flickered. She didn't just move; she existed in eight places at once.

  Eight distinct copies of Sara appeared in a perfect circle around Iris. Each one held a sword pointed at Iris’s throat.

  "The Eight-Direction Formation," Iris whispered, gripping her rapier. "Do you know why everyone uses this, Sara?"

  The eight Saras didn't answer. They lunged simultaneously.

  "Because it gives no room for escape," Iris answered her own question. "It is infinite. Just like the universe."

  [Skill Activated: Temporal Counter.]

  Iris’s eyes glowed blue. This was the technique Sara had taught her—the ultimate defense against their abusive father.

  She didn't block. She warped space. Just as the eight blades were about to pierce her, Iris appeared outside the circle, behind each of the eight clones.

  "Sorry, Sister," Iris whispered. "I can't let the System take you. I can't let you harm my country."

  Sara, standing in the center of the formation, stopped. The madness in her eyes seemed to clear for a second. She looked at Iris, who now had the upper hand.

  But then, Sara smiled.

  It wasn't a smile of relief. It was a devilish, knowing grin.

  "Do you even realize what you are doing, Sister?" Sara asked. She lowered her sword. The chaotic aura around her flared. "You say I'm corrupted because my eyes are red. But those lines... those dialogue choices... they belong to me."

  Sara gestured to the wasteland around them.

  "Our two countries would have fallen to ashes years ago if I hadn't held the border. I held the madness back."

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Iris smiled perfectly. It was a terrifyingly calm expression.

  "You can't be naive forever, Sara," Iris said softly. "You slew Father to protect me. And that broke you. You went full System Corruption... yet you are still fighting it. You are trying to stay sane."

  Iris raised her hand.

  "Just let the world take its flow, Sister. Everyone wants power. Corruption isn't a disease. It's an evolution. I am a living example."

  Iris snapped her fingers.

  [Trap Activated: Formation Inversion.]

  Suddenly, the ground beneath Sara glowed with a blinding white light.

  "What?" Sara gasped.

  The eight clones vanished instantly. Sara fell to her knees, her sword clattering to the ground. She tried to stand, but an invisible weight crushed her into the dirt. Her mana—her corrupted power—was completely sealed.

  "What have you done?" Sara gritted out, blood leaking from her lips.

  Iris walked forward, her boots crunching on the black ash. She stopped in front of her kneeling sister.

  "I bribed your personal bodyguard," Iris explained casually. "Or rather, I bribed the whole country."

  She leaned down, lifting Sara’s chin with a gentle finger.

  "Everyone wants to live, Sara. And I am the perfect person to let them live. They all want to be strong. They hate you for suppressing the 'Kin-Slaying' mechanics. They want the XP. They want the levels."

  Iris stroked Sara’s hair affectionately, like a master petting a dog.

  "You blocked their food supply by trying to keep peace. Now... be mine instead."

  The Intervention.

  Amara and Aryan stood with the Eight Siblings and Jay in the forest. The air was still.

  Suddenly, Amara’s eyes flickered with liquid gold. She raised her hand and slammed it onto Aryan’s shoulder.

  [Shared Vision Triggered.]

  Aryan froze.

  Before his eyes, the future—the betrayal of the sisters—played. And it wasn't a movie. It was a countdown.

  Current Time in Vision: T-Minus 3 Minutes to Impact.

  Through the vision, he saw Sara smiling through her pain.

  "I can't let you do this, Sister. You would have no turning back after this. System corruption will consume you."

  He saw Sara activate her core. He saw the blinding light of a Rank Six suicide pact.

  "Move," Amara’s voice cut through the vision, snapping them back to reality. "We have three minutes before the explosion. We need to locate Sara before Iris finishes the job."

  "Agreed," Sam and Nine whispered in unison inside their heads. "Coordinate lock acquired. Border of Country C and E."

  Amara turned to the squad. "Brother Seven. Sister Eight. Teleportation Formation. Now."

  "Understood."

  The siblings didn't ask questions. They moved with the precision of a machine. Brother Seven threw down a catalyst stone. Sister Eight carved the runes in the dirt with her blade. And their siblings moved in their respective positions.

  "Thirty seconds to stabilization," Seven reported.

  "Make it ten," Amara ordered.

  "Done."

  The air warped. The world twisted.

  ZWOOP.

  They vanished from the forest and reappeared in the center of a crater.

  The air here was scorching hot, smelling of ozone and betrayed love. In the distance, the dust was still settling from where Sara had been thrown kilometers away by her own sister's trap.

  "There!" Aryan pointed.

  Sara lay in the rubble. She was unconscious, her armor shattered, her skin glowing with a faint, dying light.

  "Grab her!"

  They charged forward. The Eight Siblings secured the perimeter while Amara and Aryan slid to a halt beside the fallen Warlord.

  [Target Identified: Sara]

  [Title: Queen of Country C]

  [Category: Demon and a Warlord]

  [Rank: Six (Corrupted)]

  [Status: Critical. Core Self-Destruct Sequence Halted.]

  Sara’s eyes were shut tight. Her skin hummed with a violent, repelling energy—a subconscious barrier protecting her while she slept.

  Sister Eight reached out to check her pulse.

  ZAP.

  A shockwave blasted Eight’s hand back. She hissed, shaking her numb fingers.

  "Sentient Barrier," Sam analyzed instantly. "She is unconscious, but her mana is judging intent. It rejects anyone it deems a threat."

  "We don't have time for a permission slip," Amara said.

  She didn't reach out gently. She grabbed Sara’s arm with an iron grip.

  HISSS.

  Smoke rose from Amara's palm. The barrier burned her skin, recognizing the Greed Essence, fighting against the foreign touch. Amara didn't flinch, but her jaw clenched tight. She forced her will against the Warlord's defense.

  "Submission," Amara growled. "Or death. Choose."

  The barrier flickered, sensing the overwhelming intent of the Greed Vessel. It shattered.

  "Portal is destabilizing!" Brother Seven shouted over the comms. "Her energy density is too high! It's collapsing the tunnel!"

  "Hold it open!" Amara commanded.

  She yanked the unconscious Warlord into her arms. The air around them warped, heavy and suffocating, as if gravity had doubled.

  WOOSH.

  They vanished just as the crater collapsed in on itself.

  The rubble where she lay was empty.

  Jay blinked, looking around. "Uh... where did the sixty-foot aura of death go?"

  "My System Space," Amara said calmly, standing up and dusting off her hands. "We can't drag a comatose Warlord across a battlefield. And she won't wake up anytime soon. It’s less of a burden this way."

  Jay stared at her. He gave a slow, terrified thumbs-up. "Wow. You just put a Rank Six entity in your pocket and called her a 'burden.' You people are scary. Great."

  "Let's move," Aryan said, checking the horizon. "Iris thinks her sister is dead. We need to keep it that way until we're ready."

  They began to walk, putting distance between themselves and the blast zone.

  "So," Jay asked, skipping a step to keep up with Amara’s brisk pace. "You have the target. She is wounded by her own sister... but she is still a Rank Six. And the other one, Iris, is perfectly healthy."

  He looked at Amara. "Be honest. How confident are you in winning against a healthy Rank Six?"

  "90%," Amara said without breaking stride.

  The Eight Siblings all raised their heads, looking at her back. 90%? Against a Warlord? And nodded at once as if a realization crashed into the brain.

  "Yeah," Brother Seven muttered, a contemplative look on his face. "Maybe you can."

  He looked at Aryan and Amara. "I heard rumors about your bloodline. That you possess the capability to fight a Rank above your station." He stopped, catching a sharp glare from Sister Eight, and quickly corrected himself. "After all, Monarch Markus only selects the most efficient tools."

  "Anyways," Aryan interjected, cutting the tension. "We have the asset. Now we need the board."

  He pointed to the map on his phone.

  "We will set up a formation around the borders of both countries. Now that Sara is 'gone,' Iris will likely move to occupy both territories. She will overextend."

  "The Eight Siblings will handle the perimeter," Amara commanded. "Use the Forbidden Skills Markus taught you. Seal the borders."

  She turned to Aryan.

  "Meanwhile, Aryan and I will go on an inevitable hunt. We need to gather allies before we storm the capital."

  She glanced at Jay. "And Jay... try not to be a burden to the siblings."

  "Aye, aye, Captain," Jay saluted, though he looked relieved he didn't have to follow the monsters.

  As the group split up, a strange sound echoed in the air.

  DING.

  It wasn't the usual sound of Sam or Nine. It sounded like a bell tolling from the sky itself.

  Text appeared in front of Aryan and Amara. It didn't appear on a blue screen. It appeared written on the air itself, glowing in white letters.

  [Destination Identified.]

  [Objective: Gather the Allies.]

  [Timeline Updating...]

  [Global Quest Syncing...]

  "What is going on?" Aryan asked, waving his hand through the floating text. "Sam? Is this you?"

  "Negative," Sam replied, sounding annoyed. "This isn't us. This is external."

  "Your Seer Eyes," Nine hypothesized. "Remember the guide in the forest? He said: 'If you are not already Seers, you will be granted the ability. If you are, you will be updated.'"

  "This is the Update," Nine confirmed. "The Planet's System is communicating with you directly."

  "But didn't we see text like this previously?" Aryan asked.

  "You did," Sam said. "But that was generated by us, your personal Systems. This? This is coming from the World itself. It's bypassing us."

  Aryan stared at the floating white letters.

  "Oh," he muttered. "So the first System was the trial version, and now we got the premium subscription? It's like a 'Buy One Get One Free' deal on headaches."

  Amara ignored his joke, reading the coordinates in the air.

  "It's pointing North," she said. "To the Resistance. Let's go."