The Dragon's wings lifted, blotting out the faint light above. Its roar carried weight, pressing against Zakar's chest, but he remained steady, both hands tightening on his sword. Before he could act, he caught glimpse of a shadow lurching from the smoke.
From the ruins, dragging chains of ash, the massive Dragon Zombie emerged. Its scales were broken, blackened with decay, but its frame was still enormous, towering with lifeless strength.
Where Baruka's wings burned with green lightning, this creature's body radiated death's silence, its gaze empty yet fixed on Zakar as prey.
The system flickered with another message.
[Dragon Zombie: Rank B]
[Type: Undead Variant, Aggressive and Endless]
[Additional Opponent Added. Eliminate both.]
Zakar inhaled, calm even as his heartbeat pushed harder against his ribs. Two B-rank monsters at once the thought might have broken another fighter, but to him, it was fuel.
"So… this is how it is," he whispered to himself. "Then I'll match both. No matter what. I must not rampage to kill or murder humans again."
The Dragon roared, sending shards of shattered stone flying as its claws smashed downward. Zakar leapt aside, the ground rupturing where he had stood.
Before he could recover, the Dragon Zombie charged, its heavy body slamming through the street, breaking walls and scattering dust.
Zakar met the charge head on. His sword swung upward in a clean, deliberate arc, carving across its shoulder. Rotten scales split, green blood spraying. The zombie staggered but did not fall, its body too stubborn to die easily. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novelꜰire.net
Baruka seized the moment. Its tail lashed forward, glowing with green flame, striking toward Zakar's side. He turned sharply, blade raised, sparks bursting as steel clashed with scale.
The impact threw him several steps back, boots scraping across shattered stone, yet his footing held firm.
He steadied himself, breath heavily. "Good. Both at once… perfect."
The Dragon roared again, diving low with wings that tore the air apart. The Dragon Zombie followed, its movements slower but heavy, like waves that could not be stopped. Together they surrounded him in one dive, burning with rage and fierceness.
Zakar spun his sword once, lowering into stance. The world around him dimmed to silence, the noise of their movements drowned in the rhythm of his own focus.
Baruka struck first, claws slashing with lightning speed. Zakar ducked under, sliding close to its chest, and slashed upward. His blade cut across its scales, sending fragments clattering down, though the wound was shallow.
At that moment, the Dragon Zombie's massive hand swept from the side. Zakar twisted his body, leaping over the swing barely missing being crushed by its brutal hands.
He landed on the zombie's arm, sprinting up its decayed flesh. His sword pierced into its neck with a clean thrust. The monster staggered, roaring a hollow cry.
"Roar!!!!" It screeched in pain signaling the Dragon for help and aid.
Baruka acted immediately, whipping its tail against Zakar but he wrenched his blade free and leapt high, just as the tail crushed into the Zombie's skull, shattering part of its jaw.
He stole that as an opportunity to strike. He swung his sword and slashed it against Baruka's scale with efficiency.
Sparks flew, scales cracked, and the thick hide split beneath his relentless strikes. He kept pace with his strikes never still. His body moving like wind, never yielding to their sheer size.
The Dragon roared in pain, its wings flaring. With one mighty sweep, it sent a gale of wind and flame that tore buildings apart. Zakar shielded his face, sliding across the roof of a crumbling house, but he remained unshaken.
The Zombie lunged again, jaw snapping, teeth aiming to crush him whole. Zakar turned at the last second, his blade flashing into its mouth, piercing through rotted tongue and breaking teeth in a shower of bone.
The monster screamed, and he pushed off its snout.
"Damn thing!!! You don't wanna die don't you." he muttered and struck in deeper. Its half crushed face looked more terrifying than before.
He then yanked the sword out relentlessly and swiped it out to slice the head of the Zombie in half. The body fell to the ground and sundered.
"Damn though aren't you..." he muttered before being slammed off his feet by Baruka.
He slammed against the walls of the ruined building imprinting his body shape past them.
He wrestled with his body to move but Baruka wasn't done. Not yet. It dived into him crashing him against more houses and buildings than he could count.
Then it used its tail to wrap his neck causing his sword to fall to the ground. He struggled with his breath and tried to fight but he was too weak to do anything.
[HP critically low: 2 HP]
"Fuck so I'm dying. Why? Is it because I tried to save the players or because I declined the first option of eating fallen bodies of players? Fuck! How is that?! " he muttered as he felt the Dragon squeezing the life out of him.
"Fuck you!! You b*tch!!!"
[HP Extremely Low: Host is at the brink of death]
Zakar wanted to talk. He wanted to curse his system but he was too weak to even speak. His mouth only opened without words in it.
[Host Failed the Quest!!!]
His eyes lids snapped shut and only then did Baruka slam him against a building.
"Roar!!!!" It roared in triumphant style.
Zakar's body shimmered in purple light and within seconds it vanished out of sight.