I Died! Again!?

Arthur's eyes shot open, his blood-red irises flickering between panic and despair.

'What the hell was that?!' he thought.

His ears throbbed painfully, as if the dreadful roar hadn't just reached his ears, but his very soul. An indescribable fear was blossoming from the very depths of his pitiful existence.

If that roar was a skill, he wasn't sure. The only thing he knew for certain was the sheer force behind it.

That roar wasn't just sound; it was primal, like the natural order itself, delivering its final judgment. The Dead Hound outside his flesh-hut squirmed in terror, its body convulsing so violently that the fear itself turned into pain.

It thrashed around in miserly, whimpering loudly and whining like a newborn puppy hit far too hard.

Arthur might've pitied it, if not for the fact that this "little puppy" would've happily ripped out his guts for lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

Still, the fear gripping the canine was unlike anything it had ever felt in life or unlife.

No.

This was something beyond just mere fear.

Something it couldn't bargain against.

Contend with.

Survive against...

This was the end of all things for the undead.

Boom!

"Was that a dragon's roar!?" Drane called out in horror.

Arthur heard the muffled cry from beneath his hiding place. He couldn't see what was happening, but he didn't need to. He could hear everything just fine.

And what he heard were the ravings of a madman.

"No no, I will NOT be done in by a dragon. Hahahaha! You think you can kill me!? I'll just become a lich you overgrown lizard!" Drane laughed with mania evident in his eyes. Insanity beginning to take hold from his injuries and curse.

He was starting to lose hope. Not only was he injured, but he was also cursed with holy death.

What rotten luck was this!?

"I will come back! Just you watch! I'll rip this mountain apart! And when I do, I swear I'll bring that paladin to his knees and—" Just before Drane could finish, a tremor shook beneath his feet. His body trembled as his soul froze.

A moment later, the air around him began to heat rapidly. And that's when he heard the whisper of promised death.

{No… you will not.}

The voice boomed, and the temperature in the cave skyrocketed. Heat surged as a blinding white inferno erupted from within. Everything in its path turned into glowing, molten rock.

Leaving a goblin huddled alone inside a corpse.

__________________________

It hurts...

God, it hurts...

These were Arthur's last thoughts as his body ignited in searing flames.

His flesh-hut melted, fusing with his skin.

And of course, he felt every second of it.

For one reason alone...

'I don't want to die!' Arthur roared from within his burning, dying body, refusing to give in to the pain and the inevitability of death.

If he had just given up, he was sure the flames would've consumed him in an instant, sparing him the agony.

But no! He tried to defy it all, the mixing of his flesh, the melting of his bones, the ignition of his nerves.

Despite the pain, he wanted to stay alive!

He didn't want to die.

He didn't want to lose his second lease on life, regardless of what manner of abomination he had become.

Even if the gods had forsaken his humanity for some shits and giggles.

Even if he was weak and pathetic at the moment.

Even if he was a stinking goblin!

...

Even though he was a goblin... He wanted to see the sun rise.

He wanted another chance. He wanted to see his best friend again. He wanted to see his mother and father and tell them he loved them. He wanted to eat good food, watch TV, play video games, go to the supermarket, eat chocolate, wear glasses.

He wanted everything back! Everything that was taken away from him by those accursed gods! Not even giving him a true afterlife following his death.

So... he wasn't going to die.

He wasn't going to let this miserable world take it all away!

He wasn't going to yield to its demands!

No matter what it takes.

He was [Unwilling] to end this life here!

If the gods wanted him back in that infinite void, they were going to have to try their damnest to take him back!

Sktt!

A crack of thunder resounded within the blazing white inferno as a half-dead corpse started to rise.

Even though almost nothing was left of the corpse, miraculously, bones were steadily hardening from the ashes spread around.

It was disgusting, abhorrent, heretical, and impure.

And it wasn't going to stop...

[Passive activated: Unwilling]

[May your will guide your destiny...]

With the last voice of the system disappearing from his life, Arthur did everything in his power to move. Even if it was just a single muscle, he still tried to get up from his agony as he attempted to do the impossible.

He wasn't in any form that could be considered normal. Arthur's entire form looked like an amalgamation of flesh and bones. He had no eyes, or no breath. He didn't have organs or no biology.

He was just an abomination. A being that would've disgusted even the most degenerate of beings that existed. 

But despite it all he still wanted to live. And a single muscle twitched in the amalgamation of singed flesh and horror.

'I'm not going to let the gods decide how I live or die.'

Just moving beyond the boundary of death was all he needed in this world. Just the possibility that he could make it back home and if not that, then make his own home in this wretched world.

And once again, he twitched another muscle. And with his will, the system bestowed upon him achievments he could not believe.

[You have... achieved the impossible? With a will to live like none other, you have been given another chance to-]

[!*@#!Error(!@I]

[Cannot#(*]

[#]Resurrect@#!)]

[Error: Insufficient Mana for Resurrection!]

[Error: Gods have not ordained your Resurrection!]

[Error: You have been blocked from the afterlife!]

[Error: You are an unholy being!]

[Error: You should not exist!]

[Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:Error: Error:]

[Error: You are not allowed to revive! I have stated so and you shall be purge-]

[Processing... Another existence has intervened]

[You don't get to decide on who lives or dies Marcisus.]

[Processing... Existence has made edits to your fate.]

As the messages poured in, Arthur's head ached from the red error notifications exploding in his head. Multiple times now his flesh body exploded into large chunks again and again. He almost thought exploding was going out of fashion.

Well he almost THOUGHT, and that's the problem. When you have literal gods arguing in your head, its a little difficult to think, much less even exist. At this moment, Arthur wasn't able to do much of anything except for holding the framework of his existence together so his soul wouldn't just implode and fly off.

[Processing has been completed! The Goddess Ella has blessed you and has allowed for your Resurrection!]

[Error! The God Marcisus has cursed you and has denied your Resurrection!]

[Error! Your trait; Unwilling has come into play]

[New Solution: You shall be Reanimated as an Undead!]

[Please standby for surroundings to be deconstructed into Mana for your Reanimation]

As the surroundings exploded into arcing light, a deep growl was heard throughout the torched cave.

{Interesting... it seems a child survived the absolution.}