Immortal Paladin

104 One True Death

The night darkened.

The stars, once twinkling, faded as a shroud fell over the battlefield.

Shenyuan, the self-proclaimed Abyss, the One True Death, the Eternal Heir, found himself held.

An arm wrapped around his body.

Firm. Unyielding.

Like a hunter’s grip on its prey.

A voice, calm and conversational, whispered right beside his ear.

“Let me reintroduce myself.”

The tone was light. Casual.

Far too casual.

“The name’s David, but you may call me Da Wei.”

Shenyuan stilled.

Those names.

Familiar, yet alien in their delivery.

His mind raced.

But Da Wei was still talking.

“They stand for the characters Great Guard.”

The grip tightened.

“So let me break this down for you...”

A chuckle.

A mocking, self-indulgent chuckle.

“Because you see, the animation sequence for the skill Final Adjudication is rather slow, and we still have a wee bit of time.”

Shenyuan snarled.

Mockery. Pure, unfiltered mockery.

“Who doesn’t like a good conversation anyway?” Da Wei continued, as if he were chatting over tea. “Ah, sorry about that. I tend to go on a tangent, especially when I get emotional.”

Shenyuan’s fury boiled over.

He wasn’t about to be toyed with!

He tapped into Qi Speech, his command instantaneous.

Attack him.

The remaining undead and cultivators received his order and moved.

But...

They didn’t even make it a single step.

Instead, they disintegrated.

Ash.

That was all that remained.

Shenyuan’s breath hitched.

His mind reeled.

This… this wasn’t like before.

Unlike his fight against Da Wei’s clone, where he had toyed and tested, where he had been untouchable... Now, he was facing the real deal.

And for the first time in thousands of years…

A seed of fear took root in his heart.

Shenyuan strained against the grip, but he could not move.

The arm around his body held him firmly, pressing him into a mockery of an embrace.

And the man spoke again, his voice too casual and composed.

“That was just the prelude of Final Adjudication…”

A slight chuckle escaped his lips as if amused by his own words.

“So tell me,” the man continued, his tone lighthearted, almost conversational, “Ever died before?”

Shenyuan’s pupils contracted.

A joke.

A mocking question.

But before he could respond, the man kept going.

“Honestly, I’m curious. How does it feel to die?”

Shenyuan clenched his jaw.

“Would you be my first?”

A pause.

Then...

“Ah, that came out wrongly. I reckon you won’t even be able to force my one foot on the grave. After all, look at you now...”

Shenyuan finally spoke, voice measured, but low with frustration.

“What do you want?”

The man’s grip did not falter.

His voice flattened.

Emotionless.

“Don’t you see?”

A cold truth beneath the words.

“I’m gloating about my victory.”

Shenyuan scowled.

This man, this Da Wei, was toying with him.

Mocking him.

But Shenyuan still had power.

His saber, a manifestation of abyssal shadow, was still in his grip.

He willed it.

A surge of qi and darkness exploded from his palm—

Or rather...

It should have.

Instead, his wrist groaned.

Then...

Cracked.

Then...

Burst.

The flesh of his hand ruptured, as if he had struck the divine itself.

Shenyuan gritted his teeth.

What… happened?

Da Wei’s grip slackened for a brief moment, releasing his shattered wrist, only to pull him closer.

A second arm wrapped around him.

A full embrace.

Like an executioner comforting the condemned.

Shenyuan tensed.

Da Wei spoke once more.

His voice wasn’t mocking anymore.

It was calm. Absolute.

“No sudden movements.”

A pause.

“My body is covered by a unique spell and an innate ability.”

Shenyuan’s breath hitched.

Da Wei continued.

“They allow me to reflect any power, spell, or skill...”

A pause.

Then a whisper.

“Exponentially. Ad infinitum.”

Shenyuan felt it.

A presence.

A force.

Something wrong.

Something beyond.

Shenyuan knew, and he understood.

He could not win.

Shenyuan willed his escape.

He reached for Shadow Step, but the moment he activated it—

His mind reeled.

His vision spun like the world itself had been flipped upside down.

He staggered.

A slow, almost mocking chuckle sounded next to his ear.

“Oh-ho, not so fast.”

Da Wei’s voice was dripping with amusement.

Shenyuan snarled.

Da Wei’s grip was iron, his aura like a mountain crushing down on him.

“I’ve been rotating Flash Parry and Stagger, y’know?” Da Wei hummed, tone filled with malicious glee. “Just making sure you don’t use any movement techniques.”

Shenyuan stiffened.

It wasn’t an accident.

It wasn’t luck.

Da Wei was doing this on purpose.

He delighted in it.

Shenyuan growled in frustration.

He activated Shadow Swap, attempting to switch their destinies, their positions, their fates.

A dark surge rippled through his being, only for the world to twist again.

A nauseating wave of vertigo crashed into him.

His knees nearly buckled.

“Nah uh.”

Da Wei’s playful voice rang in his ear.

Shenyuan’s stomach churned.

“That little trick? Yeah, I just used Exorcise on you.”

Shenyuan’s breath hitched.

No.

That wasn’t possible.

“That, and my evolved Divine Sense?” Da Wei continued, grinning as if they were having an idle chat. “Unmatched. So give up, despair for me, plead for mercy, and struggle. Become my entertainment. Give me a reason to further prolong your suffering, so that you may continue to live for even one second longer.”

Shenyuan’s teeth clenched.

His mind raged.

He had to retaliate.

He had to crush Da Wei!

Tear him apart!

Trample him beneath his might!

His very existence demanded it.

Yet...

Golden cracks split the air.

Reality itself fractured, bleeding radiant power.

A colossal presence loomed over the battlefield.

Unseen.

Yet undeniable.

Shenyuan’s eyes widened.

An overwhelming weight of divine authority bore down upon them.

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“NO!”

He screamed.

His Qi Speech roared across the battlefield.

A command.

An order.

All of his remaining forces surged forward.

His mind worked at lightning speed, counting his remaining warriors.

He had come here with—

Four thousand.

Six hundred.

Fifty-two.

Both undead and cultivators.

Now... Thanks to the Shadow Clan’s fierce resistance and that 'other' Da Wei’s interference, he had barely a thousand left.

Shenyuan ground his teeth.

The sounds of exploding bones, rupturing organs, and splattering brain matter filled the battlefield—

His fanatics, his loyal soldiers, were dying like insects.

And Da Wei?

He just stood there.

Unmoving.

Holding him in an embrace.

A crater formed beneath them.

Shenyuan’s fanatics fought desperately, trying to free him or harm Da Wei in any way imaginable.

Yet, Da Wei just stood there!

Not even bothering to resist.

And whenever a wound did appear, he simply healed himself.

Casually.

Effortlessly.

As if their struggle was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Shenyuan watched in horror.

His army—his loyal devotees, his undying legions—were being slaughtered like cattle.

No.

Not slaughtered.

Erased.

The moment their weapons and spells touched Da Wei, they burst.

Flesh ruptured.

Bones shattered.

Viscera painted the battlefield like grotesque art.

Spells meant to burn, freeze, and curse rebounded violently, consuming their casters in an instant.

Screams of agony and madness filled the air.

Yet his fanatics did not falter.

They threw themselves forward with wild fervor, heedless of the carnage.

They believed.

They believed in him.

In Shenyuan.

The Eternal Abyss.

The One True Death.

They had to believe.

Because if they didn’t...

What else was there?

They rushed, wave after wave, their bodies exploding like fragile clay dolls against a force they could not comprehend.

And Shenyuan?

He could do nothing.

Nothing except stealing their souls.

Nothing except devour their shadows.

He absorbed their lingering essence, frantically grasping for power.

He was not a man to mourn.

He was not a man to regret.

The weak existed to serve the strong.

Their purpose was to fuel his ascension.

And he was not yet done.

He refused to be done.

He still had hope.

Yes, hope.

A bitter, fragile thing, but it was still there.

He drew upon the darkness, a tide of stolen vitality, of shattered wills, of a thousand desperate prayers.

His power boiled, surged, and roared through his veins... And he struck!

Hymns resounded, filling the battlefield with a divine reverberation.

It was not just a sound.

It was judgment made manifest.

The skill Da Wei activated sang into existence, its echoes rippling through flesh, qi, and spirit alike. “It’s part two of the skill already,” said Da Wei offhandedly. “Time flies by, too quickly.”

Shenyuan roared.

Enough.

His qi surged, boiling like an ocean in a storm.

His body bulged, cracked, ruptured, and exploded!

A wave of pure destruction tore outward, a detonation of abyssal force meant to shake his foe, to force him back even for a moment.

But Da Wei did not flinch.

Shenyuan reformed instantly, tendrils of darkness knitting him back together.

He had no time for hesitation.

With his teeth, he struck.

“Gluttonous Abyssal Maw!”

His mouth warped, his jaw dislocated, his throat expanded to a void of devouring hunger.

He combined it with the Savage Jaws of Death, a martial technique designed to shred even divine flesh.

He sank his fangs into Da Wei’s exposed throat.

Blood spurted.

Shenyuan smirked, his Qi Speech mocking.

“You should have worn the helm.”

And then...

His skull exploded.

Shenyuan’s skull did.

White-hot pain.

Everything went dark.

Instinct took over.

He burned through his shadow reserves, his body rapidly reknitting itself, his head regenerating in mere moments.

When he opened his new eyes, he saw Da Wei standing unharmed.

His throat good as new.

And worst of all were... Those unimpressed eyes.

As if Shenyuan were nothing, a bug struggling in vain.

A lowly creature gasping for breath.

Unacceptable.

He struggled.

He flailed, twisting, wrenching his arms and legs, thrashing violently in Da Wei’s grip.

He bit again, his fangs now wreathed in corrosive qi.

Boom.

His lower jaw detonated.

He headbutted, summoning all his cultivation strength into a single desperate strike.

Crack.

His skull fractured from the impact before it even reached Da Wei.

He clawed, his fingers tipped with tenebrous death, his nails extending into spears of blackened bone.

Snap.

His own arms broke, bending backward as if they had struck an immovable force.

He kicked, flung his legs, tried to twist free, but nothing worked.

His kneecaps shattered.

He even tried to twist his torso free, to writhe like a shadow slipping through cracks, but every smallest movement he made rebounded back at him.

Every motion was reflected.

The pain mounted. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The more he fought, the more he suffered.

The abyss did not fear agony.

He had died before.

He had crawled from death’s maw.

But this... This was humiliation!

Rings of celestial scripture spiraled around them, inscribed with ever-shifting verdicts, each letter burning with the weight of absolute law.

The air thrummed, charged with divine authority so pure it made the very fabric of reality strain.

Golden chains of light lashed out.

They did not move like things of the world.

They were not thrown, launched, or wielded.

They manifested where they were meant to be.

Severing fate.

Binding the guilty.

A chain coiled around Shenyuan’s throat. Another snared his limbs.

And more...

So many more.

They slithered from the sky, from the cracks in space, from the ground soaked in gore, seeking every undead, every cultivator still standing.

Every servant of the Eternal Undeath Cult.

The battlefield was consumed.

The space around them grew hotter, charged with radiant force beyond anything Shenyuan had felt before.

A wound in the heavens split wider above them.

From its depths, golden chains poured forth endlessly, spilling like the rivers of judgment itself.

And below was a battlefield in ruin.

Shenyuan and Da Wei stood in the center of a bloody, chaotic hellscape, standing atop a messy pool of gore.

Rotten flesh, broken bones, liquified remains...

The battlefield was now a grotesque lake of death.

Yet Da Wei stood there, expressionless, unbothered by the carnage at his feet.

Shenyuan was trapped in his arms, his own movements binding him further, the golden chains ensuring there was no escape.

Shenyuan wailed.

“Let go of me!”

He thrashed, shrieked, and struggled, slamming his head against Da Wei’s bloody face again and again.

Crack.

His own skull split.

Boom.

His forehead ruptured, his brain bursting under his own force.

Yet, as his flesh reknit itself, as his darkness struggled to repair the damage, he saw it.

The look in Da Wei’s eyes.

Unbothered.

Unshaken.

Waiting.

As if none of this mattered.

As if Shenyuan’s struggle was merely the final, pitiful cries of a beast already condemned.

Why?

Why was this happening?

Shenyuan trembled, golden chains coiling tighter around his limbs, his very existence weighed by the celestial scripture spiraling through the air.

This wasn’t supposed to be his fate.

He was supposed to become a god after this.

He was meant for more.

Yet...

Here he was.

Bound. Helpless.

Staring into Da Wei’s cold, amused gaze.

Shenyuan’s voice cracked as he let out a desperate, pathetic wail.

"How… How are you so strong? What’s your secret?!”

Da Wei blinked.

Then, with the most casual shrug imaginable, he said, “Git good.”

Shenyuan’s soul cracked a little.

But Da Wei wasn’t finished.

“Also,” he added offhandedly, as if discussing the weather, “I just broke the level cap, and my stats reached new high levels of peak.”

There was no arrogance in his tone.

No mockery.

Just a simple, matter-of-fact reality. No, even if Da Wei was mocking him, it didn't register to Shenyuan's failing mind.

Then Da Wei smiled, eyes twinkling with an insufferable light.

“Anyway, here’s a question.”

Shenyuan flinched.

He knew, he just knew, that whatever was about to come out of Da Wei’s mouth next would make him want to scream.

And sure enough...

“Guess what would happen if the climax of this skill, Final Adjudication, hits us like this,” Da Wei gestured at the absolute proximity between them, where their bodies were practically pressed together. "With my power to reflect damage still active? And then let's add the critical multiplier on top of it.”

Shenyuan’s pupils contracted, struggling to get out. Though he had no idea what he meant by critical multiplier, he knew it was gonna be bad.

Da Wei leaned in, almost whispering in his ear, “It’s almost part three of the skill, the final act.”

And then... A colossal scale of judgment materialized in the heavens.

It was so vast that its mere presence dwarfed the battlefield, stretching far into the skies, eclipsing the heavens.

The very air groaned under its weight.

The world itself shuddered.

And beneath its all-consuming gaze, the karma of every soul present was being weighed.

A verdict was coming.

Shenyuan’s mind raced.

He had no choice.

He had to act now.

Even if it was forbidden.

Even if it would consume him.

Even if it would bring a fate worse than death.

He would ascend.

With a roar, Shenyuan raised his cultivation, pushing toward the Eleventh Realm in force.

Perfect Immortal.

The Godly Vessel.

This was the true start of Godhood.

It was a realm beyond the Trinity Celestial Paths, beyond the Endless Path, beyond the very limits of this godforsaken world, a realm that was never meant to be touched. But he reached for it anyway.

The shadows within him roared as he devoured every last fragment of power, every last drop of his existence.

He could feel it.

He was close.

He could...

No.

Something stopped him.

Something blocked him.

Something inside him.

An entity.

It stirred.

It laughed.

It denied him.

Shenyuan's breath hitched.

No.

NO!

THIS WAS UNFAIR!

THIS WAS NOT THE DEAL!

His voice broke as he screamed, his cries filled with madness, disbelief, and rage.

“THIS IS UNFAIR! THIS IS UNFAIR! THIS IS UNFAIR!”

He thrashed, his golden chains clattering, his form quivering with power he could not control.

He felt wronged.

Utterly, completely, cosmically wronged.

And then...

Da Wei simply tilted his head.

Blinking once.

Then twice.

And then, in the most disrespectfully casual voice imaginable, he asked...

“What?”

Shenyuan froze.

Da Wei’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Cry for me, more.”

And above, the colossal scales of judgment tilted slightly.

Desperation came in many forms.

For Shenyuan, it came in the form of pure spite.

If he couldn’t have it, then no one could.

His bloodstained lips curled into a twisted smile as he stared Da Wei in the eyes, his golden chains rattling as he strained against fate itself.

“You’re making a mistake,” Shenyuan warned, voice low, almost coaxing.

Da Wei didn’t look impressed.

So Shenyuan laughed.

Then he raved.

Like a madman.

Like someone who had already lost but refused to go down alone.

“Do you think you’ve won?” he sneered. “You think killing me will end this? Fool. I’ve sent my agents to various cities across Deepmoor and beyond the continent.”

His lips curled further, voice thick with glee as he continued.

“They’ve been converting people to my cause. The weak, the lost, the forsaken, they’re already mine.”

Still, Da Wei only watched.

Expression unmoving.

So Shenyuan leaned in further, pressing on with vicious delight.

“I’ve been in league with the Outsiders! The demons!”

That finally made something flicker in Da Wei’s gaze.

Shenyuan grinned wider.

“With their help, I’ve created something truly magnificent, my own Blood Demons.”

He chuckled, then threw his head back, laughing.

“And if I die? If I suffer irreversible harm? Then Hell’s Gate will open, and this world will be...”

He dragged out the last word, savoring it.

“Done. For.”

Silence.

Da Wei just stared at him.

Unblinking.

And then Shenyuan pressed further.

“Oh, and let’s not forget the best part.”

From within his sleeves, he summoned two hearts: dark, pulsing things that once belonged to Da Wei.

The moment he crushed them, an overwhelming wave of malice surged forth.

A curse.

A curse woven with umbramancy so foul, so vile, it gnawed at reality itself.

Da Wei staggered.

He vomited blood.

Shenyuan didn’t hesitate.

With a vicious kick, he sent Da Wei flying, twisting the shadows beneath him—

And with a modified Shadow Step, he teleported Da Wei away.

No more reflection.

No more binding.

He would survive this judgment.

The scales above tipped fully.

And in the next instant, golden karmic flames engulfed him.

Shenyuan screamed.

And then Shenyuan laughed.

Even as his skin peeled, even as the golden karmic flames gnawed at his very being, he laughed.

He would escape.

No...

Better yet.

He would fulfill his end of the bargain with the Demonkind.

The Shadow Clan’s grounds, this cursed island, was the perfect place to summon Hell’s Gate. That’s why he had targeted it in the first place.

Yes.

Yes!

Even as his body burned, even as his bones cracked under divine judgment, Shenyuan poured every ounce of willpower into the formation he had prepared.

The second his undead occupied this land, the ritual had already begun.

It had been slow and insidious, weaving beneath the very foundations of the clan grounds.

Now, with a single motion, he activated it.

Power surged.

The ground shuddered.

But there was... Nothing.

His vision blurred.

His body trembled under the weight of divine punishment, his consciousness fraying like a thread unraveling at the seams.

FUCK!

“It looks like retreat is the only option… My cultivation is too damaged to continue this…”

He reached into his robes, fingers trembling, and activated his teleportation talisman, only to fail. It probably had something to do with the golden chains still wrapped around him as the karmic flames continued to devour his shadows.

Shenyuan needed distance, quickly.

Desperately, he pulled another talisman, reinforcing it with his own essence, hoping that the golden karmic flames wouldn’t consume it.

But the moment he tried to activate them...

FWISH!

A streak of light tore through the air.

An arrow.

A perfect fusion of water and fire.

It pierced through the first talisman, reducing it to ash.

“What?!” Shenyuan snarled.

His Abyss Sight flared to track the trajectory, and then he saw her.

A little girl.

Small. Fragile.

Yet her hands did not shake as she nocked another arrow, qi swirling at the tip.

It was the darn… goldfish.

Shenyuan clicked his tongue, suppressing his rage.

He hurled a Shadow Spear at the child.

CLANG!

The spear was parried.

A figure stepped forward from nowhere.

Unscathed. Unbothered.

Da Wei.

Shenyuan’s eye twitched.

“Tch.” He gritted his teeth as the golden karmic flames continued to devour him.

Da Wei tilted his head, then he whistled.

A slow, almost mocking tune.

Then he grinned.

“Run, run, little hamster.”

Shenyuan’s entire army was gone.

His fanatics, his undead, his soldiers...

All of them had burned.

Reduced to nothing.

A game.

This was a losing game.

And as much as he loathed to admit it, he had to retreat.

Now.

But first, a final threat.

His voice darkened as he stared at Da Wei.

“Let me go, or you’ll regret it.”

Shenyuan’s mind raced.

There was still a way.

That little girl.

The fish-turned-human who had interfered with his escape.

If he could take her hostage, he could force Da Wei to yield.

Yes.

A bargaining chip.

A last-minute salvation.

He parted his lips to speak, and then he froze.

A hand jutted out from his chest.

Flesh. Bone. Blood.

His heart.

Still beating.

Still trembling.

Shenyuan’s eyes widened as he stared at it.

It pulsed, veins writhing like a living entity, its bloodstained surface facing him—

As if it were watching him die.

"How?"

His voice was hoarse.

His mind refused to accept it.

He understood that his intangibility was failing, the golden karmic flames embracing him made sure of that, but this…

This wasn't the answer he was looking for.

A voice echoed from behind him.

Casual. Amused. Cruel.

“Ever heard of a Magic Scroll of Invisibility? Or how about a Magic Scroll of Blink or Teleportation?”

Shenyuan’s spine stiffened.

He tried to turn his head and saw Da Wei.

Cold eyes. Indifferent. Unmoved.

The sheer lack of hatred, the sheer lack of effort in killing him, made something deep within Shenyuan shatter.

He had fought for so long.

Schemed for so many years.

And now, he was going to die.

No.

No!

He had one last card to play.

Shenyuan forced his aura to shift.

His expression softened.

His voice wavered.

“…Big Brother.”

Da Wei’s eyes narrowed.

The voice. The tone. The words.

It was not Shenyuan’s.

No.

This was Hei Mao’s voice.

Trembling, uncertain, and filled with desperation.

“Big Brother… if you kill me now, you will doom the Empire.”

Shenyuan stared at him, eyes full of fake innocence.

“An incomplete Hell’s Gate…” His voice shook, perfectly mimicking the fear of a child. “It will open in the Empire. The Blood Demons Shenyuan created… they will go berserk. They will slaughter countless innocents. Do you want that, Big Brother?”

Silence.

Then...

A flicker of hesitation.

It was small. Almost imperceptible.

But Shenyuan saw it.

He succeeded.

The look in Da Wei’s eyes and that brief moment of uncertainty, it meant he had succeeded.

A small, flickering triumph bloomed in his chest.

Yes.

Yes!

He would live.

“NO! NO! NO! KILL THEM ALL!”

A shrill scream shattered the moment.

Shenyuan turned.

The little girl, Ren Jingyi.

She descended from above, her body covered in grime, blood, and exhaustion.

A bow slung over her shoulder.

A whip in her trembling hands.

Her tear-streaked face contorted in rage.

"KILL THEM ALL!" she wailed.

Her small frame shook, her voice breaking, but the fire in her eyes did not dim.

Shenyuan gritted his teeth.

This brat—!

“Ren Jingyi.”

Da Wei’s voice cut through the air.

Cold.

Final.

The girl stiffened.

Da Wei did not look at her.

His expression remained calm. Unreadable.

“It’s not your decision.”

Ren Jingyi visibly deflated.

Her hands trembled.

Her breath hitched.

Shenyuan felt relief flood him.

Yes.

Yes…

He had one more chance.

He had bought himself another—

“It’s mine.”

The words were spoken lightly.

But before Shenyuan could process them—

Da Wei’s hand tightened.

And crushed his heart.

Shenyuan choked.

His body convulsed.

And then.

CRACK.

Another hand pierced his abdomen from behind.

Lightning crackled.

Electricity surged through his very being, ripping through his muscles, his bones, his soul.

He felt something pull.

His intestines. His spine.

Being ripped away.

Being torn from him.

The golden karmic flames swallowed him whole.

His consciousness fractured.

And in his final moment as his body disintegrated into nothingness, the last thing he saw was Da Wei... crying.

Tears ran down his face.

But his smile…

His smile held pity.

As if disappointed.

Shenyuan did not understand why.

Did not understand what went wrong.

His mind faded.

His soul burned.

And then...

There was nothing.

Except...

A mournful cry.

“I’m sorry!”

A child’s voice, trembling, raw with grief.

"Hei Mao!"

The name echoed.

“Thank you!”

A wail of loss.

“Until next time!”

A scream of denial.

But there was no answer.

Because Hei Mao was never there.

There was only Shenyuan.

And now... Not even him.