He glared angrily at Marshall, who was unfazed and started counting down:

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1—"

Just a second before the countdown ended, Hafeez steeled himself and swallowed the fruit.

The next moment, he felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his chest, the pain from the bullet wound gradually disappearing, and he experienced a transformation in his limbs as his body, which had fallen to the ground, sprang into the air with an unprecedented lightness.

Only one thought remained in Hafeez's mind.

—He wanted to slaughter Marshall!

To anyone, his existence was a disaster!

But...

Hafeez noticed the look in Marshall's and the other prisoners' eyes; they witnessed his transformation, yet their expressions showed not awe or terror, but a kind of… bewilderment, and a bizarre expression like wanting to laugh but being unable to.

Die, Marshall!

Hafeez roared, but he could no longer speak human language.

The anger in his heart transformed into a powerful "Ha—!", and his unsheathed claws fiercely swiped at Marshall's face.

This seemingly inevitable strike was kicked away by Marshall with a lift of his foot.

Hafeez spun several times in midair, landing back onto the hard bed of the cell. Although it didn't hurt much, it made him realize something was wrong. He got up, finding himself on all fours, and when he looked down, he saw orange-yellow fur; his claws were very short, hardly any kind of real weapon.

Worse still, Marshall and the prisoners seemed to loom over him like giants.

Marshall even disdained aiming a gun at him anymore.

A ginger cat, with ears drooping due to anger and fear, making his whole head appear quite round.

Marshall wondered if it was because the fruit was missing a segment that Hafeez had forcibly opened a third path.

Neither did he explode nor receive the blessing of the Goddess, but instead became a ginger cat that could only hiss, impotently raging in front of him.

His current appearance seemed to be just an embodiment of the Goddess's dark sense of humor.

Perhaps the Goddess wanted Hafeez to witness everything that was about to happen in such a pitiful state.

"It seems you've made your choice."

He picked "it" up and said to the indifferent prisoners regarding his sharing.

The sound of interlaced footsteps approached them, and from the dim light, a dense crowd emerged, with none other than the Deputy Prison Warden wielding a Magic Sword at the forefront, scrutinizing Marshall with a dignified gaze and the fruit basket on his arm.

"It's over, Marshall!"

The Deputy Prison Warden shouted sharply.

"You're just in time, then witness with me."

"Stop him!"

With an order from the Deputy Prison Warden, he charged at Marshall waving the Magic Sword, even though he didn't know what exactly Marshall planned, but he felt the dangerous and deadly aura emanating from him.

Sporadic gunshots sounded behind them, having lost most of their sidearms during the recent knife-forging contest.

Yet the bullets still pierced through Marshall.

The first fruit was swallowed.

They clearly saw eyes, hands, mouths, and other human organs growing from the holes in Marshall's body pierced by bullets.

Then came the second fruit.

A fissure tore open across Marshall's abdomen, like a giant mouth, with pulsating muscle tissue resembling teeth, swallowing the entire fruit basket in one gulp.

The black sword had already descended upon Marshall, slashing at the transforming monster without hesitation.

When the sword came down, Marshall was nowhere to be seen.

"...Is it over?"

The prison guards behind were left with lingering fear.

They had never seen such a monster, nor could they understand what kind of madman would turn himself into such a state.

"As long as your belief is strong enough, the Goddess's grace will descend upon you—"

What responded to them was the whispering that directly reached their minds, and their legs went weak. When they looked down, they discovered their ankles were already sinking into the melting flesh.

Soon after, the iron bars, the walls, everything they could see began melting at a visible speed, transforming into a heap of rotting flesh, within which a multitude of human organs were amassed together. Marshall did not speak, but his thoughts, along with the flesh, entered every person's brain.

There was no gap for them to run.

The melting flesh, like a tidal wave, engulfed them and the entire detention block in an instant.

"Feel it with your bodies; this is the power of the divine, become part of it!"

The whispers echoed in their minds, "This is a judgment, only death can bring absolute fairness."

Through the incessant whispering, all the prison guards and inmates understood Marshall's ultimate aim—he intended to kill everyone.

Including those outside the prison.

Even Ethan, standing atop the Ice Crystal Giant Tree, noticed the transformation happening to the prison. The cold, hard walls were constantly melting, and the entire building was "coming to life" under the accumulated rotting flesh.

And beside him appeared an unexpected visitor.

Bazarian sat on a nearby treetop, plucking a snowberry, appreciating the changes happening in the prison.

"Seems like I've won today."

She said without even turning her head.

The belief of her believers surpassed the luck of the prison guards.

However, she still found Ethan's proposal of the "knife-forging contest" praiseworthy, allowing her to fully enjoy the fun akin to cricket fighting.