The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 128

"So, tell me Grandmaster, what is the game we will be playing with Death?"

"Ah! It is a fairly simple game. We both choose champions from each side and pit them in battle. If we win, we will get all these souls. If we lose, we both die.", he said so lightly as if this was an everyday occurrence for him.

"So, who will be our champions? Who shall we choose for this trial?"

"We? Who's we? I will be the one doing the betting with death. You will be the one fighting."

She stared at him hoping it was a joke. The game was nothing special. She thought it would be some for of game that would require intrigue and wits. It was just a battle of killing and fighting again after all.

"Ahem! Who else can we choose? After all, there's only two of us left and others will not be happy to do it for us."

"So, what art thy contributions in this endeavour?"

"Why did you think Death accepted the bet? It was me! I have done all preparations. Now, all you have to do is go in, kill whoever comes and all is good. We'll go home happy."

"So, I'll be doing all the work.", she replied quite dejectedly. She did not fear working but who would want to work if they could relax. Maybe someone but that is not her.

"Correction! You'll be doing 'part' of the work. But without wasting more time, let us go for this glorious game!", the Grandmaster beamed as he started walking to the end of the cave where a mist door awaits.

It also appears that he wants to get it over and fast as possible and not spent any more time with her. And it was a misty door again. It was always a misty door. The Grandmaster walked straight into the door with no hesitation whatsoever.

It appears that he had no worries that he would be deceived or tricked. Despite what she may seem like she has never underestimated the power of trickery. The Ashen One himself has died to the tricks of others before.

And even now, at the end of time, the person surviving was not the smartest. It wasn't the strongest of the fastest. It was just a person who relied on tricks to survive. Often, scums and thieves are the last to die.

She went in and saw a ring. It resembled an ancient colosseum. A proper place for a fight. The problem was there was no one there. Not even the Grandmaster.

She look up to see a nice evening sky with an almost perfect temperature. Not too hot and not too cold. There were several moons within observation range. Overall, it was a very beautiful place.

"Keeper, you hear me?", a voice sounded in her head. It was the sound of the Grandmaster.

"I do.", she replied mentally.

"Very well. I'll explain first. Death will sent in one champion after another. All you have to do is kill them. Remember! Not defeat or take down. You must kill them. Their soul must travel to the kingdom of death for it to be considered a success."

"Very well. I will mark thine words, Grandmaster.", she gave her answer as she prepared for combat.

She brought out both the scythe and the spear. But then, she realized how inconvenient it was to hold each in one hand so she just took out the scythe, her original weapon. She expanded her senses to a maximum degree wary of anything that could popped up out of nowhere.

"Oh my! Death is throwing the heavy guns right at the start! You know him well enough! It's Thanos but this time with all six stones!", the Grandmaster told her from inside her head.

She gave him her gratitude as a black portal opened up in front of her. And there was the mad titan himself. A golden metal gauntlet on his hand with all six stones fully intact. Odin had already informed her of the functions of the six stones. Would she die in a single snap?

"No, you won't. This is a game, not reality", said the Grandmaster.

The portal behind Thanos closed up as the mad titan raised his hands. They did not start battling immediately although she aimed her scythe right at him. He took a deep breath as he spread his hands out fully.

"It has been so long.", he started still not doing anything.

"It would be nice to have a conversation but nobody can do what they want.", he continued as he suddenly rushed towards her. He raised his hands and fired off a purple beam towards her.

She recognized it as the ability of the power stone. She separated her scythe into two pieces as it continued rushing towards her. Thanos was stronger than her in physical strength. She would compete with him in speed and agility.

She held the stick in her left hand and parried the beam away. It was no shield but in her hands, it acted like one. She rushed at him with the blade in her right hand but they were still to far. She coated her blade in flames and slashed right at him aiming to cleave him in half.

Here, she released her flames freely. There were no such thing as causalities. Her flame was causing the very air around them to burn. The flame burn so hot and fast that oxygen itself was being used up. It bothered neither of them at all.

The sky itself was coated in red from the flames alone. Gone was the beautiful evening sky. It was now more akin to purgatory itself. The titan used the space stone this time to cut through space between them. But it was of no use. her flames depends only on her and her alone to burn.

However, it did caused some delays and that was enough for the titan to get out of the way. He then used the reality stone to turn the flames into something else but clearly failed. As stated earlier, her flames were hers and hers alone. Nothing can change it into something else.

But then, a shockwave was generated from his gauntlet. It was the soul stone and the flames were dispersed before his eyes. Even if space itself could not affect the flames, the same could not be said for souls.

This time around, she was on the offensive. She did not waste any time and teleported right above him. With a dagger in her hand, she aimed right at the top of his head and brought it down with as much force as she can.

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This is Chapter 128.

Just a fight scene here and there with nothing too serious. Tell me what you think.