The Outcast God System: Rise of the Cursed Heir

First Mission: Initial Retribution

"Elara?" His voice echoed against the damp cave walls, but only silence answered. His ragged breath came in gasps, sending cold vapor from lungs that now felt as powerful as an iron engine. He ran toward the source of the sound, but all he found was a narrow rock crevice emitting an even denser aura of darkness.

It was just an echo of the past, Host, the system's voice broke the silence in his head. The vibrations of Void energy in this area are triggering psychological trauma. Focus. There is a more tangible threat approaching.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "Damn it... I almost thought she was here."

Warning: Ten human life signs detected at the upper edge of the abyss. They are descending using grappling hooks. Energy identification: Arbian Clan.

His eyes narrowed. The purple lines beneath his skin pulsed, as if sensing the overflowing bloodlust. "Kael... you really can't wait to see my corpse, can you?"

He stepped back into the shadows of the towering stalactites. His current body almost merged with the darkness. He could hear the clinking of iron chains and the sound of laughter he knew all too well. It was the voice of the guards who used to spit at him whenever he walked through the clan's hallways.

"Careful, you idiot! If this rope breaks, you'll end up just like that cripple!" a gravelly voice shouted from above.

"Relax, Captain Joran. This place reeks, but at least we only need to take his head and leave immediately. I can't stand being in this devil's hole for long," another voice replied.

He saw them. Ten men wearing the silver uniforms of the Arbian pride, landing one by one on the rocky floor of the abyss.

Leading them was Joran, a mid-level patrol commander who always boasted about his earth-element Spirit Meridian.

"Search for the body!" Joran ordered, unsheathing his greatsword. "Master Kael wants to make sure that trash is truly destroyed. Don't leave a single bone behind."

"Captain, look at this!" shouted one of the guards standing near the carcass of the Alpha Bone Wolf he had just destroyed. "What the hell is this? This wolf is bone-dry, as if all its blood was sucked out!"

Joran approached, his face contorting in confusion. "Impossible... who could kill an Alpha Bone Wolf in a place like this?"

"I did," he whispered from the darkness.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Joran screamed, spinning around warily.

He lunged out of the shadows like a bolt of lightning. His movements were no longer human; he moved like a shadow slicing through the air. Before the nearest guard could even blink, his hand was already gripping the man's throat.

"Remember me, Baris?" he asked right into his ear. "You were the one who laughed at me when Kael killed my mother."

"Ra... Ravian?! Impossible! You're dead!" the man's eyes bulged with terror.

"Not yet," he said with a cold smile.

He activated Void Absorption.

Within seconds, Baris screamed as his body began to shrivel. The blue light from his Spirit Meridian was forcibly pulled into Ravian's palm, providing a delicious warm sensation in his chest. When he let go, nothing remained but a lifeless mummy.

"He's still alive! Kill him!" Joran shouted, his voice trembling.

The nine remaining guards surrounded him. They drew their swords, attempting to attack from all sides. However, in his eyes, their movements felt incredibly slow. He intentionally let one of the swords graze his back. +200 EXP. Pain Conversion Engine active.

"Thank you for the pain," he whispered.

The energy exploding from the wound was channeled into his legs. He spun, slamming a Void-enhanced kick into the chest of the guard to his left. The sound of ribs shattering was sickeningly clear. The man was sent flying ten meters, hitting the stone wall and dying instantly.

"What happened to him?! He doesn't have a Spirit Meridian!" another guard screamed, shaking violently.

"You talk too much." He tore through them one by one.

The cave was filled with the sound of screams and the metallic stench of blood. He enjoyed every second of it. The fear in their eyes was the best food he had ever tasted. Every time they wounded him, he only grew stronger. Every time they begged, he only grew more bloodthirsty.

In just a few minutes, only Joran remained. He stood in the center of a circle of his men's corpses, his sword shaking uncontrollably in his hand.

"You... you monster! What have you done to your power?!" Joran screamed, trying to gather his courage. He stomped his foot on the ground, triggering an earth-element technique that caused sharp stone pillars to erupt from beneath Ravian's feet.

He didn't dodge. He let the stone pillar pierce his shoulder. Fresh blood flowed, but he simply burst into laughter.

"This pain... is incredible, Joran!" He stepped forward, letting the stone pillar tear through his flesh as he continued to approach.

Warning: Internal organ damage detected. Converting into pure power...

"Get away! Don't come any closer!" Joran swung his greatsword with full force.

He caught the blade with his bare hands. The purple lines on his arms glowed brightly, withstanding the pressure of a sword that should have been able to split stone. Joran’s eyes widened. He tried to pull his sword back, but Ravian’s grip was too strong.

"You know, Joran," he said in a low tone that vibrated through the air. "Kael thought this abyss was my grave. But he was wrong. This is my birthplace."

He slammed his fist directly into Joran's face. The man's nose shattered, blood spraying everywhere. He kept punching, again and again, turning his rage into every bone-crushing strike.

"Please... stop... Ravian, mercy..." Joran whimpered in a barely audible voice.

"Mercy?" He grabbed Joran by the hair, forcing him to look into eyes that were now entirely dark purple. "Did my mother get mercy? Did Elara get mercy?"

He gripped Joran's head with both hands. Void energy began to swirl at his fingertips, ready to annihilate everything.

"Say hello to hell for me, Captain," he whispered.

Zrrruuuup!

Void Absorption worked at maximum capacity. Joran didn't have time to scream again. His entire cultivation and life essence were swallowed whole by the system. His body slumped over, nothing more than a pile of trash at the bottom of the abyss.

Quest Complete: Initial Retribution. Reward: +5000 EXP. Status: Spirit Gathering Stage - Peak (Stable).

He stood amidst the pile of corpses, panting. The blood of the Arbian guards stained his body, but he didn't feel dirty. He felt... whole. He picked up Joran's intact sword, and with one clean stroke, he decapitated the commander.

He walked toward the grappling rope still hanging from above. He tied Joran's head to the end of the rope using a blood-soaked strip of a uniform. On the damp ground beneath the rope, he used the sword to carve a deep, massive message.

I AM COMING.

"Pull the rope, System," he commanded.

The automatic hook mechanism activated, sending the message back to the surface.

He watched the rope slowly being pulled upward, carrying Joran's head back to where it belonged. Kael would see it. The entire clan would see it. They would know that the shadow they cast away was now crawling out with sharpened fangs.

He turned away, leaving the area and walking toward the deeper parts of the abyss. Elara's voice earlier might have been an illusion, but it reminded him of one thing.

He couldn't stop here. He needed more power. He had to become a god in this cursed place before he could raze the Arbian Clan to the ground.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shook violently. From the distance, a deafening, ancient roar echoed, making the walls of the abyss tremble as if they were about to collapse.

Warning! The system screamed in his head. Disaster-class entity detected. The Abyssal Gatekeeper has awakened from its slumber due to the excessive scent of blood.

He stopped in his tracks. At the end of the dark cave passage, a pair of eyes as large as houses appeared, glowing with a smoldering fire. The energy pressure was so immense that it made his Void Meridians throb with excruciating pain.

He smirked, even as blood began to leak from his ears due to the pressure.

"Perfect," he said, unsheathing his looted sword. "I was looking for an opponent who could give me even more pain."