Throne Of The Forbidden God

Where Light Does Not Reach

Dark. Cold. And the stinging stench of death.

"It hurts... damn it, it really... hurts..."

Ravian’s voice sounded hoarse, almost like sandpaper scraping against stone. He tried to move his fingertips, but the only sensation that returned was a sickening wave of pain. His body felt like a lump of flesh that had been repeatedly struck by a giant hammer.

"Am I still alive?" he whispered to the darkness. "Why... why am I still breathing?"

He tried to open his eyes. At first, there were only white spots dancing before his vision, but slowly, the silhouette of jagged rocks began to take shape. He lay on damp, hard ground. Ground that had not been touched by sunlight for thousands of years.

"Cough! Cough!"

Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, soaking the dust beneath his face. Every time he coughed, his broken ribs felt like they were stabbing his lungs from the inside.

Kaelan... Xuelan...

Those names flashed through his mind, bringing with them a blaze of fury hotter than his physical pain.

"You really did it," Ravian muttered, his laughter breaking into a pained groan. "You threw me away like rotting trash into this place."

Suddenly, the air around him changed. The atmosphere at the bottom of the Abyss of Soul Annihilation abruptly became incredibly heavy. It was as if a giant, invisible hand had begun pressing his body into the ground.

"What... what is this?" Ravian groaned, his teeth chattering. "The gravity... why is it suddenly this heavy?"

Crack!

The sound of cracking bones echoed again. Not from an impact, but from the extreme air pressure. Ravian felt his internal organs being squeezed. However, what was even more terrifying was the pain crawling through his veins.

"Aaaaaagh! Stop! Stop it!"

He screamed hysterically as he felt something inside his body begin to tear. It wasn't flesh. It wasn't bone.

My spirit meridians...

Despite being crippled, Ravian still had the remnants of his withered spirit meridians. Now, this cursed gravity seemed to be forcibly pulling those remnants of energy out of his soul. He could feel the energy pathways in his body tearing one by one, shattering into shards of light that were then swallowed by the darkness of the abyss.

"Don't take that!" he screamed while clutching his crushed chest. "That's the only thing that proves I'm human! Stop!"

The darkness did not answer. This abyss had no mercy. He only heard the whistling of the wind, which sounded like the mocking laughter of a thousand ghosts.

"So this is why?" Ravian hissed through his ragged breaths. "The Abyss of Soul Annihilation... a place where even the soul is not allowed to remain whole. Xuelan, you really wanted me to disappear forever, didn't you?"

He looked up toward the tiny pinprick of light far above in the heights. Up there, they were probably celebrating their engagement. Laughing at his suffering.

Rustle... rustle...

A soft scraping sound came from behind the large rocks nearby. The hair on the back of Ravian’s neck stood up. He forced his head to turn, ignoring the sharp pain in his neck, which was likely sprained.

"Who's there?" he challenged with a trembling voice. "Kaelan? Did you send someone to check on my corpse?"

There was no human answer. A pair of small red eyes glowed in the darkness. Then another pair. And another.

"What kind of creatures are you?"

A small four-legged creature with pitch-black skin and long fangs crawled out. Its shape resembled a wolf, but its body was semi-transparent, as if it were made of pure shadow.

Shadow Predators...

Ravian had once read about them in an old book in the clan library. Creatures that fed on the residual spirit energy of dying cultivators. To them, Ravian and his shattered meridians were an invaluable feast.

"Go away! Get away from me, you vile creatures!" Ravian tried to swing his hand, but his arm was too weak.

One of the predators leaped, landing right on his crushed right thigh. Its sharp claws dug into the open wound.

"Aaaaaakh!"

Ravian screamed, tears streaming down his filthy cheeks. The predator began to lick his blood, letting out a terrifying purring sound. Its companions began to close in, surrounding Ravian like a pack of sharks smelling blood in the ocean.

"You think I'm that weak?" Ravian gritted his teeth until they bled. "I won't die here! I won't become monster dung like you!"

With a surge of strength from God knows where, Ravian grabbed the neck of the predator on his thigh. He squeezed with all his might, ignoring the pain radiating through his shoulder bones.

"Die!"

The predator struggled, clawing at Ravian’s hands. However, his overflowing rage made Ravian ignore the pain. He twisted the creature's neck until a satisfying snap was heard.

Crack.

The shadow creature vanished into black smoke. But the others were not afraid. Instead, they seemed even hungrier. One of them bit Ravian’s left shoulder, tearing away a small piece of flesh.

"Ugh... damn it..."

Ravian fell onto his back. His vision began to blur. His body was too weak, the gravity too heavy, and his enemies too many. He felt his consciousness beginning to be dragged into a cold black hole.

Is this the end?

Dying at the bottom of this filthy hole, eaten by shadow dogs, without anyone ever knowing?

Xuelan would remain beautiful. Kaelan would remain in power. And my father... he would forget he ever had a son named Ravian.

"No..." Ravian whispered. "I don't want this."

The memory of Xuelan’s insulting smile suddenly appeared in the darkness of his eyes. Kaelan’s face, laughing as he stepped on his foot, became new fuel for his nearly stopped heart.

"I... don't... want... to die!"

Ravian screamed with all his might, a scream born of pure hatred.

"Listen, all of you! Gods, demons, whoever!" Ravian looked up, eyes flashing with a fury that made no sense for a dying youth. "If anyone can give me the power to destroy them, take my soul! Take everything from me! I don't care anymore!"

Right as those words left his mouth, the world around Ravian seemed to freeze.

The growls of the shadow predators suddenly vanished. The gravity crushing his body seemed to stop pressing down. An absolute silence gripped the bottom of the abyss, more silent than death itself.

Ravian panted, trying to understand what was happening. His previously dark vision began to be filled with lines of blood-red code floating in the air.

What is this? A hallucination before death?

Suddenly, a cold, mechanical, and highly authoritative voice echoed directly inside his skull. The voice did not come through his ears, but vibrated from the deepest part of his soul.

"Subject detected. Will to live: Maximum. Hatred level: Exceeding safety limits. Soul alignment with darkness: 99.9%."

Ravian tertegun. "Who... who is speaking?"

The voice did not stop. It continued with a tone devoid of human emotion.

"Requirements met. Initiating Forbidden God Protocol."

"Connecting host to the energy center of the Ancient Hell..."

"Synchronization process beginning in 3... 2... 1..."

Ravian felt a strange sensation in his chest. It was as if a new heart made of molten iron had begun to beat there. The pain he had felt earlier suddenly transformed into a burning sensation a thousand times more intense.

"W-what are you doing to me?" Ravian groaned, his body beginning to convulse on the ground.

"Welcome, Successor," the voice echoed again, this time with a slightly deeper tone, as if it were smiling behind the darkness. "The Forbidden God System is initializing... Please endure, or you will be annihilated forever."

A thick, pitch-black light began to radiate from Ravian’s pores, swallowing the entire bottom of the abyss in a darkness deeper than the darkest night.