“Before we get started,” Arden said, looking at Vera with pleading eyes. “Can you please stop staring at me? It’s kind of embarrassing”

  Vera was still at rock bottom in terms of her energy, so she simply smiled, and closed her eyes. In a few seconds, only Arden and the Maverick remained conscious.

  “You know not what monster you've unleashed,” Arden said without a care in the world. “All men lose reason once their pants are removed. This will be your grave again once I’m done with you.”

  “I know what you are, Puppet of Life. Your party was merely unwelcome before. But now that I've witnessed your power, I now know that it is blasphemous.”

  “I have a knack for that. Being unwelcome is kind of my thing.”

  “Puppet of Life, you have no place here. This is death’s domain.” The Maverick pointed its spear towards Arden. “And only the Great Grave Archwood can have purview over death.”

  “It was a tree, dude.” Arden said. “A badass tree, I'll give you that, but it was just a tree. Aren’t trees symbolic of death and rest? Seems to me like it was following its own dogma.”

  “You know nothing.”

  The Maverick stabbed the ground with the shaft of the spear. The gnarled roots below the end grew into a large blade that covered the original blade. The blade was now three times as thick as the shaft, and the length of a shortsword.

  “It is improper to take joy in sending someone to the roots, but I will enjoy putting you down, blasphemer.”

  “I’m being lectured about blasphemy by the corrupted paladin who refuses to follow the laws of death? Is one of the core tenets of your religion hypocrisy? Are you from Earth?”

  “You will die.”

  “Gonna use some of your death energy again? Do you think that death can overcome life? It didn't work last time. What makes you think this time will be any different? I’ve got the power of the indomitable human spirit on my side. You have a rotting tree.”

  From the fact that his Bone Talons weren’t destroyed in the inferno, Arden could tell that the primary resource of the black fire, like the spear beams, was death energy. Arden could use that.

  “While it is true that you have a vast amount of life energy, it is hollow. Life will always succumb to the might of death. Everything lives.”

  There was a pause for a single second. Once that second concluded, the Maverick lunged forward with its spear aimed at Arden.

  “And everything dies!”

  Arden lowered his waist and ducked the stab, sending the spear over his shoulder, but he knew it wasn’t the end. He saw the Maverick flick its wrist and on instinct, he brought his claws to the spear to mitigate the damage he was about to receive from the Maverick’s follow up attack.

  He grunted in pain and gritted his teeth as he managed to barely catch the spear without breaking anything. Summoning all of his might, he threw the spear away from him, giving him enough time to back off.

  Arden knew that he needed to be wary of the swordspear. It had the range of a great spear, but with its elongated blade it could be used like an axe or a sword if the wielder was strong enough. And the Maverick most certainly was strong enough.

  Arden was tenacious though. That had always been his strong point. Now he had to put his body to the test again.

  About half of the Maverick’s attacks landed. Arden couldn’t properly defend against a swordspear with only a little bit of training and a set of gauntlets. The most he could do was soften the blows or take the hits on the non-vital parts of his body.

  Dodging was something that he wouldn’t be able to do if he wanted to damage the undead paladin. He needed to be up close and personal to win the fight, no matter how much it hurt. But despite how the fight looked, it wasn’t completely one sided. Every time Arden took a hit, he made sure to swipe with his gauntlets. Slowly but surely, his gauntlets tore into the lightless armor and the necrotized flesh that lay beneath it.

  It didn’t seem to do any damage to the Maverick, but it wasn’t Arden’s goal to cut the meat. For his plan to work, he needed to tenderize it first.

  The Maverick was strong. Under normal circumstances, even if Arden, Sya, and Vera fought it together, they would lose. These were not normal circumstances however. Arden had a chance, and he was willing to bet his life on it. Even if he wasn't willing, he would have to bet his life on it anyway.

  The plan was based on an assumption. It might not be right, but it was the only shot that Arden had.

  The Maverick was an anomaly.

  Arden had seen how strong its spear was, between its shape shifting capabilities and its durability preventing it from taking any damage. The Maverick was smart. It was capable of communicating and fighting like a trained warrior.

  It had powerful flames which tainted anyone caught in its searing heat with death. It had incredibly sturdy armor, and thanks to that and its status as a higher undead, its remaining life energy wouldn’t be destroyed as easily as the skeletons.

  It was impossible to kill.

  Arden grinned, despite having lacerations all across his body, with only his hands being spared.

  ‘And that’s exactly how I’ll win this.’

  Sweat poured into Arden’s open wounds, causing him to feel even more pain. He didn’t mind, though. It kept him conscious.

  The fight continued, with neither combatant landing a divisive hit on the other. Arden was covered in blood from the numerous cuts and slices that dug into his flesh, while the Maverick’s chest looked like a blooming flower from how much Arden had dug into it with his Bone Talons.

  Arden could feel his hands going numb from the repeated half-blocking he did with the gauntlets. He moved more on instinct now rather than intelligence. Using his brain took too much energy.

  As the Maverick brought its weapon down from above, Arden prepared to sidestep to avoid it when he felt it cleave through his left arm.

  He yelled in shock and pain, surprised that the Maverick had suddenly gained speed. It took him a moment for him to realize that it hadn’t gotten faster, but rather he had gotten slower. Exhaustion was something that the undead didn’t have to worry about. But for Arden, a mundane who spent most of the last couple of days fighting and training, he was at his limit.

  The gap between their specs only increased after Arden lost his arm. Vera told him when they first entered the stargate that balance was imperative as a fighter. And with only one arm, Arden was incredibly unbalanced.

  He wanted desperately to heal with his ability, but he couldn’t. Not yet. The less attention was paid to his ability, the better.

  The maverick followed up its downward slash with an upwards one. Arden saw it coming and tried to throw himself out of the way. It was the only time his unbalanced physique helped him, as he managed to fall out of the way from the blade.

  Though just because the blade missed Arden didn’t mean that he was safe. The shaft of the swordspear was incredibly long, and as the Maverick brought it back into the air following its first attack, the shaft caught Arden across his ribs, shattering them and sending him flying into the stone wall.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “You’ve fought well, puppet,” the Maverick said. “No one can say that you didn't fight with the determination of one of Life’s ilk. However, I am a knight of death. Disregarding the power imbalance, it was foolish for a knight of life to come here.”

  Arden coughed up blood onto his chest. He looked up with tired eyes at the Maverick and spoke weakly.

  “I told you before. Blasphemy is a concept I'm familiar with. How does your tree treat people in the afterlife?”

  “To speak of such a thing is heresy of the highest caliber. There is no afterlife. Only rest.”

  “Really?” Arden asked, coughing up more chunks of flesh. “That's kind of sad. I figured that one of the core tenets of a death cult would be a kickass afterlife.”

  The Maverick’s spear plunged into the left side of Arden’s chest. He grunted in pain, but he didn't stop talking.

  “I would have never guessed that life had a better afterlife than death.”

  “Enough!” The Maverick yelled.

  There was power in the shout, and it acted like a shockwave, pushing Arden further into the wall, squeezing more of his blood out of him. He felt himself become paralyzed for a second, and watched as the Maverick ran him through with the spear sword. The Maverick pulled its weapon back, and Arden came with it, as he was impaled by it. Still, he didn't stop his verbal onslaught.

  “I guess every dog has a trick, even if it's just a bark.” Arden coughed up more blood as the sword spear twisted in his stomach. He winced in pain, but didn’t stop. “I know a few tricks as well. They are much cooler than your barking.”

  “You and your god will regret coming here.”

  The Maverick thrust his weapon to the air, and made a downward slash. The weight of Arden’s impaled body caused him to be thrown off the spear and onto the ground.

  “We playing fetch now?” Arden asked.

  He couldn't feel his legs anymore. Blood loss and exhaustion weakened him to the point that he wasn't able to get up.

  He didn’t need a mirror to see that he was literally coming apart. He was in agony, but he didn’t think he would be able to use his ability until the right moment, not if he wanted to win this fight.

  With the damage already done to him, Arden couldn’t dodge the Maverick’s next attack, even though he saw it coming. The Maverick rushed towards him and gripped him by the throat. The Maverick lifted him until they were face to face, and they stared each other in the eyes. Hatred burned in the Maverick’s while defiance burned in Arden’s.

  A black flame burned in the Maverick’s eyes.

  “You have a smart mouth. You have no idea how happy I am to burn it away.”

  Arden spat blood into the Maverick’s skeletal face, most of it evaporating before it could make contact with a putrid metallic smell.

  “You wouldn’t be the first person who said that to me,” Arden said.

  ‘I wonder how Yaan is doing right now,’ he thought.

  Arden tried to rip the Maverick’s throat out, but it only stood there taking it. It was a being of life and death. The loss of a throat meant nothing to it. It didn't even speak using vocal chords.

  “Pathetic,” the Maverick mocked. “All that talk, and all you could do was take hits. The strong girl was able to get rid of the flame. The sick girl defended you from one of my attacks. What can you do?”

  Arden didn’t stop slashing all over the Maverick’s body. Thanks to the Maverick just standing there, not bothering to dodge, Arden continued to slice across the Maverick’s face, chest, and arms.

  “I can piss you off and take a beating.” Arden said, raising a clawed middle finger when he stopped making futile attacks.

  “There is some truth to that,” the Maverick acknowledged. “You won’t be able to take a beating after what happens now, though. I will repay your heresy with some of my own.”

  “Wouldn't be a religion without a bit of hypocrisy.”

  Arden felt and heard his throat heating up from the burning hand of the Maverick with a disturbing crackling sound. It didn't feel good when Yaan did it, and it felt even worse when the Maverick did it. He took the heat as a warning to not aggravate the undead any further.

  “I'll admit,” the Maverick said. “I do not know the scripture of Life, so I'll make an assumption. There is no greater sin than an adherent of Life becoming an undead immortal.”

  Arden’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the Mavericks ghastly visage. He could swear he saw it smiling.

  Just then, he felt a chill permeating through his soul. He began to shiver. It wasn’t mental. It was real.

  “...You're going to infect me with death, aren't you?”

  “Correct. By now, your soul has been wrapped in my death energy. We are connected. It will slowly corrupt your life energy, turning it into death. But because I have your soul contained, you won't die.”

  The Maverick liked the look of rage Arden had on his face. It seemed as though the spiteful adherent of Life would finally understand how dangerous this place was for one of his kind.

  Until he spoke.

  “Wait. How long have we been connected?”

  “Since you began to fight me alone.”

  “Since then!?” Arden yelled. “Goddamn it, I went through your punishment for nothing!? I could've done it from the start!”

  Arden didn't waste a single second more, and activated his Legacy Ability. His body began to glow with a pale white holy light. A face of twisted rage appeared on his face, at odds with the almost angelic light. With his remaining hand, Arden raised another middle finger.

  “Eat shit, Maverick!”

  The cleansing energy washed over Arden. Every part of him that was scraped, or cut off, or bruised glowed. With the amount of injuries, he shined like a living star. All of the impure death energy was getting purged from his body. Death had no place in a living body.

  It wasn't just Arden that was being purged of the tainted energy. As the Maverick said, Arden’s soul was entangled with the Maverick's energy. It too began to be cleansed.

  “I told you already!” The Maverick yelled, as white flames began to spread through its armor. “Death will always surpass life!”

  Death flames rose from the ground, as black as the empty night sky. The flames of life would be snuffed out by death, as all life would. So the Maverick could only scream in pain as the death flames began to be consumed by the white flames of life.

  “No!” The Maverick yelled. “This isn't Life!”

  The Maverick’s entire existence was being cleansed. It screamed in agony as its death essence burnt away. This was something that transcended both life and death. Both of those were mere pieces of this grand design.

  “Impossible!” It yelled. “How can you wield the power of Eternity!?”

  The Maverick couldn’t see Arden through the blinding light emanating from him, but he was able to hear the words.

  “I'm still trying to figure that out myself!”

  Arden’s body began to reform as the death energy was purged. All of his wounds were covered in fresh layers of skin. His severed arm floated back to its rightful place and was reattached when the arm got close enough to the shoulder.

  Shadows fell from the Maverick, each of them burning until nothing remained. The Maverick continued to yell as more and more of the darkness was destroyed.

  Once Arden’s body was made whole again, the eternal fire stopped burning the Maverick. It stood up to attack Arden, but found that it was the same height as him. It no longer towered over him like before. All that remained of the Maverick was a man.

  “You wanted to see a vessel of life overflowing with death,” Arden said, staring at the Maverick, daring it to attack him. “I wanted to see a vessel of undeath purged of its death until only life remained.”

  The short figure Arden stared down at was a thin ailing man. In his prime, the man would have been incredibly handsome, but years of death essence and rot left him an empty husk of a man. He had gashes all over his skin, digging deep, courtesy of Arden’s claws.

  “You fool!” The heretical paladin strained out. “You didn't use life energy! You used Eternity!”

  Arden shrugged as the light shining from him vanished

  “You can't experience eternity without life. It appears to me that life energy and eternal energy are closely intertwined.”

  The paladin gripped its basic spear and leaned against it for support. The ailing man stared at Arden for a few seconds before he started to laugh weakly.

  “You…you really have no idea, do you?”

  “I never did. I grew up in the slums with only a few years of education. I make it up as I go along.”

  “No, you idiot. How can you wield the power of Eternity, but not know its nature?”

  The former Maverick coughed up blood and looked down at himself. His chest was torn open, courtesy of Arden’s claws before the death energy was purged. When only life energy remained, he was mortal.

  And mortally wounded.

  The paladin fell to its knees and looked past Arden, focusing on the roots of the Great Grave Archwood. He gently grabbed the knot of wood beneath the blade of his spear.

  And then he spoke.

  “Ah…Great Grave Archwood, our guidelight to oblivion. I pray to you, wishing not for a new beginning, but a final ending. Let this unworthy servant sleep eternally beneath your great roots. As we were in the beginning, we are in our end, returning to your roots.”

  Arden let the Maverick finish its prayer. He didn't do anything to interrupt its final moments.

  Only seconds later, the paladin fell forward on his chest, still clutching his spear. Both the man and his weapon turned to ash.

  You have slain red-tier main sequence, Maverick Rogier.