Building an Empire in Game of Thrones (REWORKED VERSION)-Chapter 64: The Undead Knight

Maximus groaned as he pushed himself up from the dirt, spitting out a mouthful of dust. His body ached from the fatigue of the last battle, but he had no time to dwell on it. The moment his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings; he realized that he was in some type of forest.

And if he remembered correctly, the third trial was supposed to be on a floating island which consisted of powerful winds and lightning storms. But looking up, all he could see was the tall trees which covered his view of the sky.

However, he did notice a unique feeling in the air, a kind of static electricity all over his skin. He stood up slowly checking his waist to make sure his two swords were there. Feeling the two swords on each side of his waist, he turned his attention to the new world he was now in.

'Looks like nature's graveyard," he murmured to himself as he noticed the gnarly roots and skeletal remains of trees that was mixed in with the dense forest greenery. Some areas there were dead trees and some there was some nice greenery.

Not knowing which way to go, Maximus decided to just choose a random direction and proceed. So, he started walking west, towards where the light of the sun seemed to be fading. The further he went, the denser the forest got, the less light could be seen through the tall trees above.

The wind started to pick up, rustling the leaves around him. Somewhere off in the distance he could hear what sounded like thunder. For a moment he paused, listening closely to his surroundings because he sensed something was off, but whenever he stopped, he could no longer sense anything.

Aware that something or someone was watching him, he unsheathed Duskfang and Dawnshear and continued walking. Suddenly, a dozen arrows were shot towards him from the shadows of the trees.

Reacting quickly, Maximus jumped backwards, forming a magic shield in front of him to block the arrows. The barrage of arrows hit the magic shield and landed on the ground.

From behind the trees, a bunch of skeletons, armed with bows and swords emerged from the darkness, their empty eye sockets glowing with a blue light. Maximus tightened his grip on his swords, scanning the skeletal warriors as they advanced. They appeared to be just regular skeletons with nothing unique about them.

One of the skeletons let out a shriek and charged first, swinging a rusted sword down towards Maximus's head. Maximus blocked the attack with Dawnshear and then used Duskfang to slash through the skeleton's ribcage, shattering its bones into pieces. The undead warrior collapsed, its body turning into dusk as it vanished.

More skeletons rushed forward, two of them attacking in unison with their swords, while another drew an arrow and aimed at Maximus's chest. He deflected both sword strikes with Duskfang before spinning his body to avoid the arrow. In retaliation, he spun low, slicing through the legs of one of the skeletons and kicking the other backwards into a tree, shattering its spine.

Another volley of arrows came flying from the shadows. Maximus conjured another magic shield, deflecting all of the arrows, and then rushing forward towards the remaining undead, cutting them down. Bones fell to the ground and vanished as the last skeleton fell, its skull rolling to a stop at Maximus's feet before disappearing.

From what he knew about the undead, he gathered that the ambush had been too well-coordinated for some mindless undead like skeletons. This wasn't just a random attack, someone or something was controlling them, and he had an idea of where to look.

Following the same path, he kept going through the dense forest as the wind and thunderstorms began to pick up. The longer he walked, the more intense the weather got and the more skeletons he encountered increased.

As he made it to the center of the dense forest, the tall trees had disappeared, and a large clearing of flatland could be seen. Floating above the flatland, there was a massive island with a castle floating on top of it.

'Holy... how am I supposed to get up there?' he whispered to himself. He could use the magic platforms and walk up there, but it would be a long way he would have to walk.

As he was thinking about what to do, a large object heading coming from the floating island crashed into the ground right in front of him, sending dirt flying in all directions.

Before the first could even touch the ground, a shadow moving a crazy speed had launched itself towards Maximus, catching him completely off guard. He didn't have time to properly defend himself without getting injured, so he sacrificed his left arm to the attack.

The strength behind the attack not only cut a portion of his left arm off but sent him crashing through the remains of a few dead trees before skidding across the ground. The pain traveled through his body, but he gritted his teeth, quickly rolling to his feet despite searing pain in his severed left arm.

Blood dripped onto the soil while he kept his eyes on the figure in front of him. Standing amidst the dust and debris was an undead knight clad in ancient, battle-worn armor. His skeletal body was wrapped in a tattered black cape, and blue flames burned in the empty sockets of his skull.

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In his hand, he held a jagged great sword that had remnants of Maximus's own blood on the cursed blade. Thanks to his armor which gave him immunity against curses, he was affected by whatever curse the sword had.

With his right hand, Maximus grabbed Duskfang while his super-healing kicked in to stop the bleeding. He only needed to grab his severed arm, and he would be able to re-attach his arm thanks to his super healing, but he doubted the undead knight would grant him that luxury.

Not giving him a chance to rest, the knight charged again. Maximus barely had time to react, dodging to the side as the sword hit the ground where he stood, splitting the earth. With his sword in the ground, Maximus countered by charging and swinging at the knight's torso with Dawnshear, but the knight managed to dodge, leaving Dawnshear to only scrape the ancient armor that the knight was wearing.

The knight responded with a backhand strike, his armored fist connecting with Maximus's ribs, but this time he had time to create a barrier around his body, absorbing the damage from the knight's hand.

The knight pulled his fist back allowing Maximus to get in close, feinting an attack before twisting his body, bringing Duskfang up in a long arc. The swing connected, severing the knight's left arm at the elbow.

The undead knight didn't flinch. Instead, he drove a knee into Maximus's stomach, lifting him off his feet before slamming him back down. The attack did no damage, but hitting the ground caused the world to blur for a moment, but Maximus refused to stay down. He rolled, avoiding another downward slash that split the ground, before retaliating with a kick that knocked the knight back a few paces.

This allowed him to grab his severed arm and reattach it. Glancing down, he saw the flesh rapidly regenerate, bone knitting together, muscle forming, and skin sealing itself. Within moments, his arm was whole again. He flexed his fingers, feeling the strength come back.

The knight hesitated for the first time. Whether it was recognition of Maximus's unnatural healing or simply surprise, Maximus didn't know. He wasn't about to waste the opportunity.

He channeled magic onto his blades, creating two vibro blades coated with dark flames that would cut through the knight. The knight swung his great sword in a final, desperate attack, but Maximus slid on the ground, barely dodging the sword. He drove Dawnshear into the knight's ribcage, pinning him in place, before slashing upward with Duskfang, decapitating the undead warrior in one fluid motion.

The knight's body crumbled to dust as it hit the ground, vanishing into the wind. The cursed sword fell to the ground before disintegrating into nothingness. The battle was over.

As Maximus caught his breath, the ground beneath him began to tremble. He felt something wrapped around him as his body began to lift from the ground towards the floating island.

It didn't take a genius to know what was going on, so he just watched as the magic floated him upward towards the floating island that was raging with storms and was the place where the final battle was to take place.