Chapter Sixty-Five: Clearing the Battlefield

"Joor Zah Frul!"

Before the zombie dragon could unleash its breath, Shivana, who was perched on its back, had already released her Dragon Shout. This shout, known as "Dragon Soul Rend," was one of the most commonly used shouts by Dragonborns when hunting dragons. Under normal circumstances, it could force a dragon to land and leave it momentarily stunned.

After slaying the zombie dragon, Shivana had bathed in its blood, feasted on its flesh, and even absorbed a portion of its soul. As a result, her Dragon Soul Rend was now exceptionally lethal to this young dragon.

With her enhanced power, Shivana could maintain her draconic transformation for much longer. Sensing the danger, she grabbed the white-scaled dragonborn girl beside her, spread her wings, and soared into the sky.

As for the remaining members of the Dragon Cult, they too leapt from the dragon’s back without hesitation.

The zombie dragon quickly recovered from its stunned state. Although it remained a third-tier creature even after death, it was far more formidable than the Blackstone Knights, who were outmatched compared to the cult’s priests and dragonborns specialized in dragon slaying.

Now an undead, the dragon no longer had any vital points. Killing it required dispersing its soul with magic—otherwise, the difficulty increased tenfold.

"Damn it, if only the priestesses of the Goddess of Life still had their powers," Haig muttered as he retreated, swapping into more suitable armor.

The Church of the Goddess of Life was the bane of all undead, their potent life energy capable of banishing such creatures.

Fortunately, even though the Church’s power was lost, the head of Blackstone City’s Mage Guild had arrived and was taking action.

The Guildmaster was a fourth-tier grand mage, highly skilled in earth magic. Earth spells were renowned for their defense, but at his level, their offensive power was no less formidable.

"Stone Armor: Tenfold Density!"

He cast a defensive spell, but instead of aiding Haig, he "helped" the zombie dragon by encasing its head in a massive, weighty helmet of stone.

This was an unconventional use of Stone Armor—the spell drew upon the immense weight of pulverized rock, making the helmet unbelievably heavy.

The dragon’s head crashed to the earth under the sudden burden. It struggled to lift its head, but lacked the strength, managing only to raise it slightly before slamming it against the ground in an attempt to shatter the helmet.

"Spiral Earth Lance: Constricting Execution!"

Seizing the opportunity while the beast was immobilized, the Guildmaster unleashed another spell.

A dozen earth lances rained down, each spinning around a central, gigantic lance, drilling fiercely into the dragon’s neck.

A harsh, grating sound filled the air as the earth lances struck the zombie dragon’s neck, boring deeper and deeper. Before the watchful eyes of all present, a massive hole was torn open, severing the spine completely. The dragon could no longer lift its head, and its body went limp, only its enormous head remaining, jaws agape in futile defiance.

The Guildmaster remained vigilant, chanting the incantation for his final spell.

"Medusa’s Gaze!"

A beam of light shot from between the Guildmaster’s nearly crossed eyes—only by staring so intently could he aim with precision.

Though the scene looked somewhat comical, the effect was astonishing.

Struck by the ray, the zombie dragon’s head began to petrify, ultimately fusing with the stone helmet and becoming utterly immobile. Within the skull, the soul-flame slowly flickered and died.

In the mirrored world, as Chu Yun gathered the floating spheres of light, he nodded in approval at the seamless succession of the Guildmaster’s three spells, which had left the opponent with no chance to react.

Without doubt, Chu Yun was the greatest beneficiary of this battle. The deaths of both the Dragon Cultists and the knights all produced glowing orbs, and even the zombie dragon—despite having died once before—yielded another sphere.

Unfortunately, with the Guildmaster standing at the center of the battlefield, Chu Yun dared not approach too closely for now, and chose to collect the spheres along his path first.

Because the zombie dragon had been corrupted, its once precious blood and meat had lost most of their value. However, they could still be used as ingredients for certain alchemical concoctions, and its bones could be crafted into equipment.

The zombie dragon had fallen to the Guildmaster, and so its corpse became his spoils of war.

Haig, meanwhile, reaped only tragedy. His efforts were for nothing, and many of his comrades had perished. The Dragon Cult had suffered even graver losses, with their masked mage among the dead.

This zombie dragon, being only a youngling, was not particularly large. With a wave of his hand, the Guildmaster swept the corpse into his vast dimensional ring and departed before the awe-stricken crowd.

The high status of mages was well-earned; even Haig, a fourth-tier knight, was equipped with many magical items from the Mage Guild, without which his power would be far less.

Once the Guildmaster left, Haig hastily ordered his men to continue the pursuit, while others remained to clean up the battlefield.

With the two high-tier combatants gone, Chu Yun could hardly contain his excitement. He activated his invisibility ring to avoid the cleanup crew and made his way toward the orbs dropped by the masked mage and the zombie dragon. He had already gathered over seven hundred experience points, and this batch of foes was quite formidable.

[Undead Creation Ritual]
Tier: Second-tier Ritual

Casting Time: Three actions
Range: Three meters
Components: Incantation, gestures, materials (corpse, soul)
Duration: Until the soul-flame is extinguished
Effect: Summons an undead servant that obeys your commands.
Note: The servant’s level cannot exceed your Intelligence score.

[Fragmented Dragon Soul: An unconscious dragon soul that can be absorbed by a being with dragon blood through special means.]

Both of these spheres were intriguing. The Necromantic Transformation was a second-tier spell capable of turning a corpse into an undead and preserving a measure of consciousness. However, retaining consciousness required certain conditions; if the death was too long past, the result would be a mindless revenant.

As for the Fragmented Dragon Soul, Chu Yun had neither the tools to store nor the means to absorb it—soul-related magical items were exceedingly rare.

"Wait, isn’t Paimon an earth-drake? Maybe I could try?" Chu Yun’s eyes lit up.

He was not a dragonborn and could not absorb dragon souls himself—reckless absorption might turn him into a monster. However, Paimon’s draconic blood was thin; perhaps soul absorption could strengthen it.

If Shivana could do it, Paimon should have no trouble.

With this thought, Chu Yun hurried back to the auction house, mounted Paimon in the stables, and quickly made his way toward the battlefield.

The area was already cordoned off, so Chu Yun found a dark corner, activated his invisibility ring, and slipped into the mirrored world.

Paimon’s mirrored form couldn’t stray too far from his real body, but the distance was sufficient for this purpose.

Riding Paimon’s reflection, Chu Yun approached the glowing sphere and pressed the dragon soul fragment into Paimon’s head.

In the real world, Paimon let out a pained howl. Seeing this, Chu Yun rushed back to check on his companion.