*Boom!*
Despite having donned his elemental armor, Gavin found himself punched heavily in the guts by Joshua.
Succeeding the attack, Gavin ignored the part of his armor that had started breaking off and chanted, "[Earthen Javelin]!"
A long spear-like structure shot out from his right hand that he pointed at Joshua.
The projectile was so fast that it appeared in front of Joshua in no time and the latter was forced to erect a giant wall with his [Nether Energy].
*Pong!*
The Javelin struck the wall and dispersed. However, it left a dent on it, displaying the attack force behind it.
Having seen that the attack didn't work, Gavin made a strange series of movements and inwardly shouted, "Earth Pillar."
The moment he finished his movement by pointing his two hands at Joshua's position, a multitude of earth spikes erected from the ground and shot up with a velocity that would cause instant death to the target.
It was arranged in a linear motion and increased the speed of each succeeding spike.
Ultimately, by the time the attack got to Joshua's exact position, a spike blasted out from the ground, wanting to pierce Joshua from his bottom.
Yet, the target simply smiled.
Joshua brought out his sword from his [Spatial Ring] and activated his [Red Sword Technique].
Instantly, a wave of hot red energy, tainted with a grey color, coated his sword.
He didn't have to use the sword to block the spike as the spike melted upon contact with the wave.
The wave didn't stop there. It moisturized his the surrounding and melted even the rocks on Gavin's armor.
Knowing that the deadly attack had appeared again, Gavin summoned a shield from the earth to block the wave from further affecting his armor.
*Puchi!*
He tried to repair his armor when a dark hand punched through his wall.
Focusing his gaze on what would happen next, Gavin materialized many javelins from the ground, each pointing at Joshua.
He hid his left arm behind him as he was making something with it.
*Drip Drip Drip!*
The earth wall began to melt rapidly and Joshua could take the first attack, Gavin counter-attacked!
He sent the prepared javelins at Gavin way's sacrificing his damaging wall in the process.
To his surprise, or not, before the javelin could pierce through Joshua, they all melted.
Smiling, Gavin had expected that!
He snapped his right hand and the melted earth slimed around Joshua, before solidifying on his leg, preventing him from moving.
This was Gavin's plan all along.
He knew that he would be able to randomly attack Joshua, he needed a well-executed attack.
Thankfully, over the past few months, he had learned how to proficiently manipulate his [Earth Element].
He was able to, through his [Elemental Spirit Essence], manipulate an earth material more than fifty feet (50ft) away from him.
Holding Joshua down, Gavin sighed, 'Everything depends on the final attack.'
In an endgame manner, he revealed what he had been playing with, with his left hand.
It was a javelin just like the previous ones, but what made it so different was the intricate designs it had on it.
It almost looked like a javelin crafted from an experienced craftsman.
Gavin held it in his palm like he was used to it, and like a parent to their child, he sent it away at lightning speed.
The javelin moved like an asteroid and pierced through waves of Joshua's defenses.
Every time the hot wave coming out from the sword met the javelin, it would only melt a layer of javelin, revealing another one inside.
Watching this, Gavin smiled.
He had intricately made the [Asteroid Spear] in a way that it had its own defense mechanism.
He built it layers inside, so it could protect it from the hot wave of the [Red Sword] and it worked.
'Finally,' Gavin didn't know when he revealed a smile.
He watched as his javelin pierced the guts of Joshua and for the first time in a while, he was filled with a victorious mood.
It was not easy for him to make that attack. It demanded almost all of his energy and now he had nothing left, hoping that what he had done is enough to stop Joshua.
As he reveled in a shocking victory, he forgot the reason they were fighting and enjoyed the moment.
Gavin had trained three months to customize the normal javelin attacks to something like this.
The key was visualization which required him to be able to draw all parts of the javelin in under a minute.
Finally defeating his long-time rival, Gavin was about to sit down when Joshua suddenly stood up from where he fell.
*Roar*
The dangerous sound emitted from his mouth as the colorings in his eyes became darker.
Accompanying another terrifying roar, Joshua blitzed from his position and appeared beside Gavin before he could even react.
Joshua's already decaying hand grabbed Gavin's left arm and slammed him on the ground that he loved so much.
He seemed to stop at nothing as he opened his mouth and shout out a [Nether Beam], which blasted a hole through Gavin's palm.
"Ahhhh!" Gavin couldn't help but scream as the remnant of the [Nether Energy] was slowly eating his flesh.
He looked up and saw a thick fist coming his way and surrendered himself to it, thinking, "This is not a bad way to go out."
He was dying to his friend. His last battle was fun.
What more did he want?
His family was gone, and he wanted to join them…..wherever they were.
He waited and waited for his death blow to come, but it didn't!
Opening his eyes, he saw the face of Joshua lingering a few inches above his.
*Roar*
Incapable of making a speech, the zombie Joshua kept roaring at him as spits rained on Gavin.
Joshua appeared to be struggling with himself as he tried to stab Gavin but stopped.
Ultimately, the battle of the mind ended and Joshua reverted his hybrid transformation.
While Gavin was confused, he smiled and laid beside Gavin.
Initiating a conversation, he began, "I am tired."
His eyes looked at the blue cloud and sky, and the bird that roamed freely up there.
Gauging Joshua's intention, Gavin softly replied, "I could tell."
"What about you? Minutes ago, you looked dead, but now, there is color in your face," chuckled Joshua.
He continued, "Isn't it liberating?"
"....Yeah," stammered Gavin.
Despite not looking at him, Joshua uttered positive words, "Cheer up and don't worry. I have defeated you thrice now. There's no reason to kill you anymore."
His tone became sad as he further explained, "You know, my dad had finally lost it. He made me kill Taylor with my own hands."
Gavin finally gained an understanding of what Joshua had gone through.
The Taylor that he mentioned was Gavin's cousin and Joshua's lover.
Since young, the two of them liked each other and were almost certain to marry, if not for the dividing of both families.
This made a teenage Taylor so distraught that she refused to talk to her uncle anymore.....not that his father cared.
For Joshua to have killed Taylor, who he was sure Joshua still loved, must have been excruciating to him.
Gavin kept quiet as he listened to Joshua's word, "She didn't hate it. She didn't fight back, as courageous as ever, haha. More courageous than us....."
The two former friends laid down, one of them listening to the other sad experiences.
All the gritty things he had to do to become who he is now.
After Joshua was done, a large period of silence ensued and Gavin was left to figure out why Joshua was telling him all these.
He got his answer when Joshua uttered three impactful words, "Gavin…..kill me."
"What?!" exclaimed Gavin.
It made him turn around and look at Joshua face to face.
It was then he saw it.
Joshua's body continued to rapidly decay, his eye had become completely discolored and he no longer looked human.
It was as if......he was getting lost more and more.
Joshua smiled as he responded to Gavin, "You can't see it, can't you? I'm slowly changing."
He explained, "We, the zombie hybrids, were destined to lose to our zombie sides. The more we use our Nether abilities, the more we tip the scale. It was only our strong will that could prolong the change, which was always powered by negative emotions."
He smiled, extending his hand to touch his dear friend change, "... But as you can see now, I'm happy. I have already beaten you too much."
"....But---" Gavin tried to retort, but he was cut out.
"You have no choice. The moment I tip over, you would surely die, without no sensible reason," smiled Joshua.
He brought Gavin's hand to his head and whispered, "Kill me."
The scene became tranquil and strange.
Around them, their respective teammates were busy fighting one another, while they were just laying on the ground, one begging the other to kill him.
Gavin was about to reject the wish, but he heard a snarl that came out from Joshua.
He realized that Joshua was slowly losing himself but still couldn't bring himself to kill his friend.
*Roar!*
Joshua became more and more proactive, and he lunged at Gavin.
Reactively, Gavin created a small pebble that shot through Joshua's head, clean and neat, and Joshua was dead.
Joshua's corpse slumped on Gavin's shoulders and he began to shed tears for the first time since he was young.
The young master of the Elliot Noble house shed a stream of tears with a sorrowful voice that occasionally leaked.
He then knew that he had finally lost everything. His friend. His family. His uncle. His home.
For minutes to come, he continued mournfully until he couldn't produce tears anymore.
The sounds in the background stopped and it seemed a victor out of the two teams had been decided.
A figure went close to Gavin and picked him up, shouting at him, "Gavin. Let's go!!!!"
It was his superior who was done with his superior, Garrett.
Gavin looked at his surroundings and knew it was his team that survived.
He hollered back, "Heh...Go...Go where?..... The palace?.....Ok."
After he was picked up, he didn't have any thoughts and just followed those in front of him. He was simply empty!