Chapter 308: Dragon Kebabs

Meanwhile, the dragon kept resting deeply, completely unaware of the intruders who had made their way into its lair.

That was mostly because its regeneration ability was working at full capacity.

Rebuilding its eye, repairing its shattered wing, and closing the countless wounds covering its body from the brutal fight against Alice was draining it of a monstrous amount of energy.

But then Alice’s voice rang out through the entire cavern, shattering the silence at once.

"HEY, LIZARD!"

And at the sound of it, the dragon woke instantly.

It snapped its one good eye open and raised its head with a deafening growl, trying to find whoever had dared to wake it.

"Planning on sleeping all day?! And here I came all this way just to finish what we started!" Alice called out mockingly. "Come on, get up already, coward, we still have unfinished business!"

The beast slowly hauled itself up, its body still stiff from the wounds.

It moved with a clumsiness unbecoming of a creature its size, but it wasted no time fixing its good eye on the figure standing before it.

Alice stood there, fists raised, wearing a defiant grin.

"You..." the beast growled, recognizing her instantly. "I should have known such a stubborn pest would track me down here."

"Oh wow, you still remember me? I’m honored," Alice said, smiling with satisfaction. "Although I’ll admit I underestimated you a little... thought you’d be dead by now, but turns out you were just taking a nap."

"Don’t twist things around, human," the dragon replied with disdain. "The only one who made the mistake of underestimating their enemy was you. You thought you’d won and came here confident you could finish me off while I was wounded."

Its one good eye bored into her.

"But now you’ll pay for that arrogance."

"Ooh, look at me shaking," Alice said, feigning terror. "Big words for someone who can barely stand. You sure you don’t want to go back to your nap, gramps?"

That was the final straw.

The dragon, fed up with the insolence of that human who had become a thorn permanently lodged in its side, decided to end her once and for all.

And against all odds, the dragon threw itself back into the attack with zero regard for what was around it.

Even though it could barely move because of its wounds, the fury brought back a ferocity none of them had expected to see again.

First it swept its tail, which Alice barely had time to roll aside and dodge.

Then a claw slammed into the ground with a crash that split the rock, and immediately the dragon chained another attack, and another, giving her no room to breathe.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!" Alice shouted, dodging, leaping backward. "Have you lost your mind?! Swinging like that is going to bring the whole cavern down on both of us!"

"Then so be it!" the dragon roared, throwing itself forward again. "If bringing this place down is what it takes to finish you, then this cave will be your tomb!"

’Shit... I think I overdid it with the taunting,’ Alice thought, dodging one attack by a hair’s breadth. ’It’s so furious it doesn’t even care about its own eggs anymore.’

But no matter how dangerous things had gotten, the dragon’s blind rage was actually working in her favor.

Because an enraged enemy was a predictable enemy.

Every time the dragon attacked, she gave ground just enough to make it think it had her cornered, when really she was the one leading it exactly where she wanted.

’A little more,’ she thought, glancing up at the ceiling. ’Just a little more...’

Finally, the dragon ended up positioned right where they’d chosen.

Directly beneath the stalactite.

Alice skidded to a stop in front of it and, instead of continuing to run, looked up and grinned shamelessly.

The moment had come.

"You know what, lizard?" she said, spreading her arms wide. "I’m sick of running around, so let’s just settle this already. Come on, hit me with everything you’ve got... though I’m not sure you’ve got anything left."

The dragon, blinded by rage, took the bait.

With a roar, it lunged at her, jaws wide open, ready to tear her in half in a single bite.

But Alice didn’t move.

Instead of dodging, like the beast expected, she planted her feet on the ground, pulled her fist back, and the instant the dragon came within reach, slammed it into its face with everything she had.

The punch landed square on the dragon’s snout with a sharp, cracking impact.

Its massive head whipped violently to the side from the force of the blow, and the creature was left stunned for a few seconds.

"NOW, MY LORD!"

Mark had been waiting, hidden behind the rock, and at the signal, dark energy began swirling rapidly in his palm.

"Bone Spear!"

The spear shot out at full speed, crossed the cavern in the blink of an eye, and buried itself right at the base of the stalactite, shattering the rock holding it in place.

Then the colossal stone spike came crashing down from above, plunging with its full weight onto the dragon.

The creature barely managed to lift its head and look up before it realized what was happening.

But it was already too late.

The stalactite ran clean through it, piercing its back and driving it down into the floor of the cavern with a thunderous impact that shook the entire chamber.

The dragon let out a roar of agony that shook the mountain down to its foundations.

It writhed, clawed at the ground, and beat its uninjured wing in a desperate attempt to break free.

But it was useless.

The stalactite had pierced it cleanly through, and no matter how hard its regeneration tried to repair the damage, there was no healing something like that.

Little by little, its movements grew weaker, until finally, it stopped moving altogether.

Its one good eye stayed open, glaring at Alice with fury as she slowly approached.

"Damn... humans... I hate you," the beast growled with its last breath. "Vermin... insignificant rats... one day... you’ll pay for this... I promise you."

And with those words, the last spark of life went out.

The dragon had finally died.

"That was easier than I thought..." Alice murmured to herself.