User blog comment:Omnicube1/ROUND 7: Gerald Tarrant vs. Alex Mercer/@comment-422690-20110426212957

Tarrant, thanks to the nature of his sword and of himself.

To elaborate, his sword is infused with Coldfire, which not only flash-freezes on contact and chases light away rather than casting it, drains the life energy of any living being near it. Since Tarrant is in a state of Unlife and (naturally) not truly alive, he can handle it without any ill effect. However, it effects those around him while he's using it, and add that to the fact that if Mercer was to use his Consume powers in any meaningful way, there'd be people around. People who, logically, would fear Mercer and/or Tarrant himself. Fear is Tarrant's food and healing source.