Chapter 304: Chasing Round Two

A colossal explosion of golden light completely engulfed the dragon, its shockwave shaking the entire village, rising into the sky in a blazing column visible for miles around.

The smoke took an agonizingly long few seconds to clear, but when it finally did, Mark and Aria could see the result.

The dragon was still standing, but only just.

Its body, once imposing and seemingly invulnerable, was now covered in smoking wounds.

Its scales had cracked and been torn away in dozens of places, blood poured from countless punctures, and one of its wings hung damaged, scorched by the explosion.

And in front of the dragon, among the smoking craters the arrows had left behind, Alice was getting to her feet.

She rose with difficulty, swaying, her breathing ragged, her body pushed to its absolute limit.

But even so, she planted her feet on the ground, raised her fists, and flashed a defiant grin, as if the fight had only just begun.

"What’s wrong? Tired already?" she panted, staring down the dragon. "I could do this all day."

The confidence she showed was nothing but a lie.

Alice could barely stay conscious, and every part of her body was begging her to give up, but she buried all of it behind a defiant expression.

And, to her relief, it worked.

The dragon stared at her in silence, trying to gauge how much truth there was to that threat.

But even for it, testing that seemed like an unnecessary risk.

"This... isn’t over," the beast growled, clearly irritated.

And clumsily, struggling just to get airborne, the dragon took off and flew away, vanishing into the distance, leaving a trail of blood in the air behind it.

She held her defiant stance until the creature disappeared completely over the horizon.

"Alice, that was amazing!" Aria shouted, running toward her. "I can’t believe it! You actually took on a dragon all by yourself!"

"Seriously, I have no idea how you were still standing after all that," Mark added, reaching her side.

"..."

"Alice?"

"..."

Since she still wasn’t answering, Aria looked at her more closely and quickly realized what was going on.

"Is she... dead?" she asked, startled.

"I doubt that’s the case," he replied, walking toward Alice. "Besides, an undead can’t die."

But he’d barely managed a couple of steps before she suddenly pitched forward.

"Whoa—!"

Mark reacted on instinct, stepping forward and catching her just before she hit the ground.

"Shit, she fainted standing up... how is that even possible?" Aria said, incredulous.

"Stubborn to the very end," Mark murmured as he held her carefully. "Even unconscious, she doesn’t know how to quit."

He laid her gently on the ground, then turned his gaze to Aria.

"We need to heal her right away... There’s no telling how much damage she’s built up from that fight."

"Right away, Master!"

Aria placed her hands over Alice’s body and began channeling her healing magic.

A warm, greenish light wrapped around the warrior, closing cuts, mending bruises, gradually repairing the punishment she’d taken during the battle.

"...Ugh," Alice murmured, forcing her eyes open. "What happened...?"

"You passed out," Mark explained, keeping her from getting up. "Don’t move, Aria’s healing you."

"I see..." Alice said with a weak, tired laugh. "Guess being undead has its perks... doesn’t matter how much they hurt me, I’m not going to die, and the pain doesn’t hit as hard as it should either."

"Don’t get used to taking beatings just because of that," Mark replied, frowning.

"By the way... where’d the dragon go?"

Alice looked around at their surroundings.

"It fled with one wing wrecked and half its body full of holes," Mark answered, helping her sit up. "It’s not coming back anytime soon."

"I see," she said, somewhat relieved.

Meanwhile, Aria kept casting restoration spells, one after another, until finally the color returned to Alice’s face and her wounds closed completely.

When she finished, the warrior slowly sat up, testing her body, making sure everything was working the way it should.

"Thanks, Aria," she said, flexing her arms. "Good as new."

"Don’t mention it," the mage replied with a smile. "I almost ran out of mana after all those spells."

"Hehe, sorry about that."

Then Alice got fully to her feet, stretching, and glanced toward the horizon where the dragon had vanished.

"Alright, let’s move," she said, with renewed energy. "We need to make the most of this chance."

"What do you mean?" Mark said, clearly confused.

"Going after the dragon, obviously," Alice replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"...Huh?"

"It’s badly hurt and can barely fly," Alice explained eagerly. "If we catch up to it before it can recover, we could finish it off easily."

Her eyes lit up with excitement at the idea that had just occurred to her.

"And besides, with your necromancer abilities, you could turn it into one of your subordinates. Just think about it, Master... a dragon under your command. That would be a massive boost in power."

Mark frowned immediately.

"No way, that’s way too dangerous," he said firmly. "I’m not putting us at risk like that."

He turned to Aria, looking for backup.

"Tell her, Aria. This is crazy, right?"

But Aria, to his surprise, didn’t side with him.

"Sorry, Master, but... on this one, I have to agree with Alice."

"What?"

"If we let it go and it manages to recover, nothing’s going to stop it from coming after us again," Aria said seriously. "Not to mention next time it might attack some village where we’re not lucky enough to be nearby to step in."

She shook her head slowly.

"And like Alice said, right now we’ve got the best shot we’re ever going to get... it’d be crazy to waste it."

Mark stayed quiet, weighing the situation.

And as much as he didn’t want to admit it, both of their arguments made sense.

Leaving a smart, powerful, and now resentful dragon free to do as it pleased was a risk he couldn’t afford to ignore.

Not finishing it off now would only delay the problem, and probably make it worse.

"Fine... we’ll go after it," Mark relented with a sigh. "BUT if things get too dangerous, we pull back without a second thought."

"Wise decision, my lord," Alice replied with a smile.

"As you command, Master," Aria added.

Mark nodded, and turned his gaze toward the horizon, toward the direction the wounded beast had fled.

In the distance, beyond the plain, a lone mountain rose up. And it was toward that rugged, rocky terrain that the dragon’s trail disappeared.

"Let’s go hunt that dragon," Mark said, his eyes fixed on the mountain.