The Death of a Dragon
Elsewhere, the great dragon Charles was still fleeing for his life. He soared through the clouds, his powerful wings carrying him hundreds of kilometers in mere moments. Yet, despite his best efforts, he couldn't shake the relentless pursuit of the zombie dragon behind him. The arrow wound in his chest throbbed with increasing intensity, the pain gnawing at his consciousness and filling him with a growing sense of despair.
After another hundred kilometers, Charles finally decided to stop running. The zombie dragon was closing in, and he knew escape was futile. He turned to face his pursuer, ready to make a last stand. Above the clouds, the sunlight was blinding, and the two dragons stared at each other across the expanse, separated by a mere few thousand meters—a trivial distance for creatures of their size.
It was immediately clear that the two dragons were vastly different in size. Charles, formidable in his own right at over a hundred meters, looked like a mere potato compared to the colossal zombie dragon. His heart raced as he realized the zombie dragon could easily tear him apart with its monstrous claws.
"A dragon of such immense size... This zombie dragon must have been a demigod-level dragon in life!" Charles thought, his mind racing. Among dragonkind, a demigod-level dragon was a leader, an elder of the highest order. His own kind's chieftain was such a dragon, and this zombie's sheer scale reminded him of that terrifying power.
Gazing at the dark-red scales covering the zombie dragon's body, Charles deduced its origin. "It must have been a flame dragon in life... But I haven't heard of any demigod-level flame dragons dying in the past few centuries." These thoughts flitted through his mind as he spoke in the ancient tongue of dragons, "Mighty one, though you have become an undead, we are still kin. Must we fight? We share more than just blood; we are both aligned with darkness. Surely we can find common ground?"
The zombie dragon's mind resonated with a chilling response, "My master commands me to bring your corpse."
"Master?" Charles' heart sank. He hadn't anticipated that this formidable creature served another. Who could control such a beast? A demigod necromancer? A legendary lich?
Before he could ponder further, a wave of noxious, black energy swept towards him at incredible speed, enveloping everything within ten thousand meters. It was the zombie dragon's domain! Charles had no choice but to unleash his own dark domain to counter it. The collision of their powers created a violent explosion, tearing apart the cloud cover in a vast, gaping hole.
From the ground, it looked as if the sky itself had been shattered, revealing a massive chasm. At the center of this chaos, two immense dragons clashed, their forms barely visible amidst the surging energies.
Adult dragon battles often devolved into brutal melee combat, with domain attacks giving way to physical brawling. Charles' claws raked across the zombie dragon's belly, only to meet an impenetrable defense, leaving nothing but sparks and shallow scratches.
Charles' confidence wavered. His proud dragon claws couldn't even scratch this undead behemoth! A dark shadow struck him, and he was sent flying, the zombie dragon's tail delivering a blow that shattered the arrow in his chest and made him spew blood.
"Argh!!!" Charles screamed, the pain unbearable even for his formidable will. The arrow, which had tormented him for two years, was gone, but at the cost of devastating injuries. He felt a fleeting hope—his dragonic healing might restore him to his former power in days, but the grim reality was he wouldn't survive that long.
The zombie dragon lunged, claws ripping into Charles' back, gouging deep wounds. Charles fought back desperately, unleashing his breath weapon and striking with all his might, but nothing could penetrate the undead dragon's hide. With a sickening crunch, the zombie dragon tore into his wing, breaking bones and shredding membrane.
"Stop! Please!" Charles cried out, his spirit breaking. He struggled to escape, his body lurching awkwardly without one wing, but he managed to stay aloft, his magic barely keeping him airborne.
"Don't kill me!" Charles pleaded, abandoning all pride as death loomed. The zombie dragon offered no mercy. It closed the distance in a heartbeat, seizing Charles' tail and dragging him back. A massive claw plunged into Charles' spine, severing it and leaving him paralyzed. He could only watch in horror as the zombie dragon's maw descended, snapping his neck with a bone-crushing bite.
The mighty Charles was dead.
With ruthless efficiency, the zombie dragon gripped Charles' lifeless body and took to the skies, flying back towards the Golden Oasis like a bird of prey with its catch.
Below, about ten kilometers away, lay the sprawling city of Vastian. If Miss Sophia were here, she would recognize it as her intended destination. The city's inhabitants watched in terror as the dragons clashed above, witnessing a sight they would never forget.
"The battle is over. I've seen a dragon fall!" one citizen exclaimed, trembling with fear. "It was terrifying!" another agreed. "Thank the gods that zombie dragon has no interest in us. It could have destroyed our city," a third added. "We should be more worried about the undead army outside the walls," a grim voice reminded them.
Outside Vastian, a vast horde of undead had gathered, signaling that the necromantic plague had spread far beyond the Golden Oasis and the Ratman Kingdom.