Throne Of The Forbidden God

Lord of Darkness

Ravian had just dug his claws into the damp stone wall when the ground beneath him exploded. The vibration was so violent that it toppled stone pillars that had stood for thousands of years. Black dust billowed high, obscuring a view that was already extremely limited.

"Do you think this abyss would let go of its best prey just like that, Host?" the System's voice echoed with a tone that almost resembled a warning.

"What now?" Ravian landed back on the ground in a defensive stance. His red eyes glinted sharply behind the dust.

"The true owner of the house has awakened. You were too noisy during your practice earlier."

From behind the fog of dust, a heat that suffocated the lungs began to creep in. A thick stench of sulfur pierced his nose, followed by a growl that sounded more like the rumble of a volcano. A pair of giant, glowing orange eyes opened from the darkness, each the size of a human head.

"Hell-Crust Beast," the System muttered. "The true ruler of the abyss floor. It does not eat flesh; it devours the souls of cultivators who fall here."

The creature stepped out of the shadows. It stood five meters tall, its body covered in smoldering stone scales. Black magma dripped from the gaps of its teeth, which were made of obsidian crystal. Every step it took caused the ground around Ravian to crack and melt.

"He looks delicious," Ravian hissed. He felt no fear; instead, there was a primitive urge within his Hell Meridians that craved the creature's essence.

"Be careful, Ravian. This creature has a passive gravity field. It can neutralize all forms of spiritual energy within a ten-meter radius. That is why no cultivator can survive against it."

The monster roared, a sound so powerful it could shatter the eardrums of an ordinary human. Instantly, a transparent wave radiated from its body, sweeping across the entire area.

"I feel it," Ravian said, trying to move his hands. "The energy around me suddenly died. It's like a vacuum sucking out the air."

"That is its ability. However, it made one fatal mistake."

"What is it?"

"Your hell energy does not come from nature. It comes from the forbidden void. Its neutralization field will have no effect on you," the System chuckled, a chilling metallic sound. "Show it that you are a higher predator than it is."

The monster lunged with a speed that was nonsensical for its massive size. Its burning stone claws swung toward Ravian's head, creating flames that scorched the surrounding oxygen.

"Hell Step!"

Ravian vanished, leaving behind a black afterimage that was instantly crushed by the monster's strike. He reappeared in the air, right above the creature's back.

"Soul-Severing Claw!"

Ravian's fingers, infused with a blackish-purple aura, struck the monster's stone scales. Krak! A loud impact rang out, but his claws only managed to leave a shallow scratch.

"Its hide is too hard!" Ravian shouted as he jumped back to avoid a sweep of the monster's tail, which was covered in fiery spikes.

"Use your hellfire, you fool! Don't just rely on physical strength," the System commanded. "Hellfire isn't just heat; it is destruction that burns the essence!"

Ravian landed on the rocks, regulating his breath, which was beginning to run hot. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the Hell Core in his chest pulsing wildly. He let his rage rage at Kaelan, at Xuelan, at the world that had discarded him flow out through his pores.

"You want to eat my soul?" Ravian looked up, his eyes no longer just red, but a deep, solid black with tiny red pupils in the center. "Try it if you dare, you ground-dwelling dog!"

Black fire exploded from Ravian's body, enveloping him like an armor of darkness. The heat produced by this fire was very different from the monster's magma; it was cold, biting, and felt like death itself.

The monster seemed to hesitate for a moment. It realized that its prey this time had not lost strength within its field. It roared again and opened its mouth wide, firing a blast of thick black magma at Ravian.

"Swallow this!"

Ravian did not dodge. Instead, he charged straight through the magma blast. The hellfire on his body devoured the magma, turning it into useless steam. Ravian emerged from behind the flames, his hands now completely covered in black fire shaped like giant demon claws.

"Die!"

Ravian slammed both hands into the monster's chest. This time, there was no sound of stone clashing. Instead, there was a hissing sound, like hot iron being plunged into cold water. The black fire pierced the monster's stone scales, burning its flesh and internal organs directly.

Graaaaaaaakh!

The monster howled in pain. Its massive body began to shake violently. It tried to grab Ravian, but every time its claws touched the black fire on Ravian's body, its stone scales crumbled into ash.

"Why... why won't it die?" Ravian asked, feeling his energy draining rapidly.

"Because you are still trying to fight it as a physical being," the System replied in a deeper voice. "Understand the darkness around you, Ravian. Darkness is not just a place to hide. Darkness is the nothingness that devours everything. That is the First Law of Darkness."

Ravian was stunned in the middle of the fight. Darkness is the nothingness that devours everything...

He looked around him. The bottom of this abyss was dark not because there was no light, but because this place was the end of all things. He began to feel a deeper synchronization with his surroundings. It was as if every particle of darkness at the bottom of the abyss was an extension of his own hands.

"I see now..." Ravian murmured.

He stopped attacking physically. He spread both his arms. The black aura enveloping his body suddenly expanded, swallowing the entire combat area in absolute darkness. The monster could not see, could not sense direction, and even more terrifyingly, it felt its very existence beginning to be erased.

"Everything here belongs to me," Ravian's voice echoed from all directions, cold and emotionless. "Including your life."

The darkness began to constrict, pressing against the monster's giant body from all sides. The sound of stone bones crushing echoed repeatedly in the eerie silence. The monster tried to struggle, but every movement only left it more entangled in the void Ravian had created.

BOOM!

A final explosion of black energy pulverized the monster's body into fine dust. There was no blood, no carcass. All that remained was a deep orange energy core floating in the air.

Ravian stood in the center of the resulting crater, his breathing slowly returning to normal. The black fire on his body faded, leaving behind a thin, intimidating aura. He caught the monster's energy core with one hand.

"Mission accomplished: Conquest of the Abyss King," the System reported with a satisfied tone. "You have touched the threshold of the Law of Darkness. Congratulations, Heir. You are now officially the apex predator of this place."

Ravian gripped the core until it shattered, allowing the monster's entire essence to be absorbed into his Hell Meridians. A burst of energy occurred within his body, pushing his cultivation to the peak of the Intermediate realme.

"It feels..." Ravian looked at his hands, which were still emitting black steam. "...as if this entire abyss now bows beneath my feet."

"Indeed. Nothing can stand in your way here anymore."

Ravian looked up toward the endless, towering cliff walls. The pain in his legs had long since vanished, replaced by a strength that could topple mountains. The grudge that had been burning in his heart had now cooled into a resolve as sharp as a sword.

"One year in the outside world," Ravian muttered. "Kaelan, Xuelan... I hope you haven't grown bored waiting for your deaths."

He leaped onto the cliff wall with full force. This time, the hard rock shattered beneath his feet. He climbed with incredible speed, no longer like a human trying to escape, but like a demon returning to collect a debt of lives.

Every inch of the climb brought him closer to the sunlight he hadn't seen in a long time. But for Ravian, that light was no longer a symbol of hope. It was merely the stage where he would show the world that the darkness they had discarded had now returned to swallow them all.

His fingers gripped the very top edge of the cliff. A strong surface wind swept through his long black hair. Ravian pulled himself up and stood tall on the lip of the abyss.

Dunia di depannya terlihat sangat luas dan cerah, namun di mata Ravian, semuanya terlihat busuk.

"I'm back," Ravian whispered, his voice carried by the wind toward Azure City. "And this time, no one will ever be able to make me kneel again."