The Forbidden God System

Eternal Blood Contract

"You promised," Marvin muttered, his voice echoing through the darkness of the forest. "Give me that power. Now."

The cold mechanical voice responded once again, this time sounding closer, as though whispering directly behind his neck.

[Blood Contract initiated. In exchange for the power of the Forbidden God, you must relinquish the remnants of your humanity. You will no longer know love, empathy, or regret. Are you prepared to become a monster?]

Marvin let out a short laugh. It was dry, devoid of warmth. "Love? Empathy? Did they have any when they destroyed my leg? Did they have any when they threw me into this forest to be food for monsters?"

[No answer found. The System only requires confirmation.]

"Do it," Marvin hissed. "Make me whatever you want. As long as I can destroy them until not a single one remains."

[Confirmation received. Signing the Eternal Blood Contract.]

Suddenly, a deep red point of light appeared before him. It expanded at a terrifying speed, sucking Marvin's entire consciousness into it. It felt as though he were being forcibly pulled through the eye of an impossibly narrow needle. Every inch of his soul felt twisted, torn apart, and pieced back together in excruciating agony.

In the real world, Marvin's body, sprawled across the muddy ground of the Forbidden Forest, suddenly jerked. His head lifted, and his previously dull eyes opened wide, emitting a faint red glow that was deeply unnatural.

[Deconstruction process initiated. Burning old Spirit Meridian...]

Marvin felt his body burning from within. It was not heat scorching his skin, but a pain that melted his meridians. He felt as though he were being sliced apart by an invisible dagger.

"Argh!" Marvin could not scream. The sound was trapped in his throat as his muscles tensed violently.

Inside his body, the Spirit Meridian that had always been the source of his meager strength began to crack. The spiritual energy remaining within it was forcibly expelled, causing excruciating pain. His bones began to crack, one after another, shattering into tiny fragments before being reshaped by the dense red energy.

[Warning: Pain exceeds human tolerance threshold. Suppressing motor nerves to prevent shock.]

Marvin felt his world turn white. He was still conscious, but his body no longer belonged to him. He could only watch, like an observer trapped inside a vessel being forged by a mad blacksmith. His ribs were crushed, his bones broken, then reconnected with a denser, sharper structure.

[Bone Reconstruction: Ninety percent complete.]

Around him, the pack of Shadow Predators that had been surrounding him began to retreat. They sensed something strange, something far more terrifying than the ordinary human they had been hunting. Marvin's blood no longer smelled like a delicious meal.

"Don't... stop..." Marvin murmured through the torture.

[System records: Subject's determination remains stable. Increasing meridian intensity to maximum level.]

Red veins began emerging from his pores, burning away the remains of his tattered clothes. Marvin felt his personality, his childhood memories with his father, and even the remnants of his love for Xena beginning to erode, replaced by one overwhelming impulse, revenge.

"Destroy..." he hissed, his voice now cold and firm.

The bones in his left leg, which had previously been crippled and shattered, fused back together. Marvin felt a flow of cold, dense energy coursing along the nerves in his leg. It was a sensation of power he had never dreamed of before. This was power capable of tearing through armor and shattering an opponent's bones with a single blow.

[Total deconstruction complete. New body structure: Forbidden God Meridian integrated.]

Marvin's body slowly lifted from the ground. Without spiritual power, without anyone's assistance, his body floated in the air, surrounded by billowing deep red flames. The monsters around him began howling in fear, retreating from the center of the energy that now radiated a pressure so immense it weighed down the atmosphere throughout the forest.

[First stage complete. Welcome to the World, Heir of the Forbidden God.]

Marvin closed his eyes amid the billowing flames. He felt a vast emptiness inside his heart, yet he also felt power ready to explode through every fiber of his muscles. He was no longer Marvin Sterling, the trash of the Sterling Clan. He was something new. Something hungry for blood.

"Marco... Xena..." Marvin whispered softly, his voice calm yet carrying a very real promise of destruction. "Prepare yourselves to welcome your deaths."

An explosion of black energy erupted the instant the words left his mouth. The flames shattered into millions of tiny particles that vanished into the air, leaving behind a figure standing upright in the darkness of the night.

Marvin landed gently on the ground. He stood upright, his left leg no longer crippled. He clenched his fists, feeling his muscles move with remarkable efficiency. He stared at his own hands, noticing how his skin appeared paler, yet was covered in faint energy patterns.

The pack of Shadow Predators that had retreated now approached again, drawn by the remnants of the immense spiritual energy. They assumed their prey had been weakened by the exhausting transformation process.

The leader of the Shadow Predators leaped forward at high speed, its jaws opened wide, ready to tear out Marvin's throat once again.

Marvin did not move. He merely turned his head with an incredibly slow motion, his glowing red eyes staring at the monster with an empty yet deadly gaze.

"Die," he said simply.

Before the creature could come within a meter of him, Marvin's hand moved. His movement was so fast that it left only a shadow in the air. His hand pierced straight through the monster's chest with effortless ease.

The monster's claws stopped directly in front of Marvin's chest, unable to touch his skin. Marvin exerted a small amount of force, and the monster's body split into two right in his hand. Black blood sprayed everywhere, but Marvin did not dodge at all. He allowed the blood to splash across his face, feeling the sensation of energy being absorbed through his skin's pores by the Forbidden God Meridian.

[Energy absorbed. Cultivation increased.]

Marvin tossed the remains of the monster away in disgust. He stared at the rest of the predator pack, which had begun trembling violently. They no longer saw prey. They saw an apex predator occupying a much higher position on the food chain.

"Who else wants to be the first?" Marvin asked.

The monsters scattered in every direction, abandoning their predatory instincts. They would rather flee than face this newly awakened entity.

Marvin did not pursue them. He had more important things to think about. He stepped forward, his feet landing firmly on the ground. Every step he took left footprints that froze the earth beneath them.

He gazed toward the gate of the Forbidden Forest in the distance. The magnificent stone walls of the Sterling Clan towered beyond the thick mist, as though challenging him to return.

He took a deep breath. The air in the Forbidden Forest was foul and heavy, yet to him, it felt like the breath of life.

"Tonight is the last night you'll live in peace," Marvin muttered.

He walked through the darkness of the forest. He was no longer running. He was no longer hiding. He walked with confidence, as though this entire forest belonged to him.

In the middle of his journey, the System once again delivered a notification inside his mind.

[New mission available: Forest Purge. Eliminate all low-level monsters within a five-kilometer radius to stabilize the integration of the meridian.]

Marvin smiled coldly. "A purge? Fine. Let's see how much energy I can gather tonight."