Arad saw the dragon fall. He didn't waste the opportunity and rushed forward. Thud! He leaped over the dragon's neck, glaring down at its head.
Arad's skin quickly turned black as his back twisted, and his eyes flashed purple. His claws extended over the dragon's neck.
The dragon felt Arad transforming above him and knew it was dangerous. BAM! He jumped, smacking Arad on the ceiling, drilling his head into the hard stones.
When Arad fell, the dragon swung his tail, smacking him like a ball and sending him toward the wall. "You bastard! You're a dragon?" The dragon growled, his flames slowly igniting again.
The moment Arad hit the wall, his body disappeared. ZON! Arad appeared on the dragon's back, latching with his claws like a bug.
Enraged, the dragon started jumping around, swinging his head and tail all over the place while roaring.
Arad opened his jaw, and his fangs extended as a dark aura surrounded his body. Clench! He bit the dragon's neck, sucking his blood.
The dragon felt it in his bones. Arad is a problem. He is no regular dragon.
"A cursed vampire!" The dragon shouted, rushing out while ignoring Aella's arrows. "Let's see how you like the sun outside,"
Aella watched the dragon leave with Arad on top of him. She rushed to Jack and forced a healing potion down his throat.
Jack's wounds started healing, but he didn't seem to be able to move any time soon. Aella lifted him on her back and rushed out. The cave might collapse at any moment.
BANG! The dragon rushed out of the cave, destroying the entrance as he stumbled. FLAP! He noticed Arad's bite wasn't weakening, so he flew into the sky.
"Let's see how close to the sun you can stay!" The dragon roared, not knowing that Arad wasn't a strong enough vampire to be bothered by the sun.
GRRRRR! Arad didn't let go even for a moment. He needs to suck the dragon dry.
The dragon quickly realized that the sun wasn't working, and even if it did, the effect was too slow to help. He then decided to use his draconic durability to attempt a stupid move, diving neck-first into the ground.
[You will die if he crushes you with his whole weight on the ground. Take down his wings!] Mom shouted.
Arad released his bite momentarily, aiming his jaws at the dragon's left wing. ROAR! [Void breath] Arad unleashed his breath.
With how void works, this was devastating for the dragon.
Arad's void breath erases all the air molecules in a cone shape ahead of his jaw, but it doesn't erase molecules of living being or the item they wear as it has their magic, and the breath isn't strong enough to do it.
So when the breath erased all the molecules around the dragon's wing, the pressure pulled on the thin membrane of the wing and popped a hole in it. The blood inside the wings boiled under low pressure causing it to swell.
The worst part came after that, the air pressure attempted to fill the gap, crushing down with an extreme force on the wings. The impact tore the dragon's scales and shattered his bones.
Arad and the dragon fell to the ground. CRACK! They crashed, and the impact caused Arad's claws to get released. Not because his grip was weaker. But because the dragon's already-damaged scales fell off.
The dragon lifted his head, growling as blood dripped from his damaged wing, "You monster!" He glared at Arad, standing with a purple glare. "You're no purple dragon. What are you?"
Arad couldn't speak, so the dragon only heard a growl. "Fine! The die!" The dragon is still enraged and convinced that he must kill Arad.
Arad rushed at the dragon, trying to get close enough to teleport back to his neck. The dragon opened his jaw, unleashing a massive cone of flames.
Arad replied in the same way but with his void breath. CLACK! The two breaths canceled each other, and the dragon swung his claw at Arad.
Arad changed his mind. Using [Void walk] can cause him to miss the dragon's neck since the creature is wiggling a lot.
Arad felt more comfortable as a dragon, and his agility rose to the clouds. Arad saw the claw approaching, and he ducked under it and then dodged the second one. He climbed the dragon's arm, slicing him from the wrist to the neck with his claws.
The dragon screamed, and Arad bit his neck again, sucking the blood out.
Despret for survival, the dragon's body ignited. He rushed between the trees, trying to scrap Arad off.
^I'm not letting go, not until you're dead,^ Arad growled inside, clenching his teeth.
The forest burned, and smoke rose to the sky, creating a black cloud. The villagers from a nearby town rushed in. This forest fire was unlike any other that the dragon caused.
Aella rushed out of the crumbling cave entrance with Jack on her back. The whole place was red. At this rate, the dragon would burn the forest before dying.
Thud! Jack grabbed her shoulder, "Leave me here. Go find Arad," He barely managed to speak.
"I can't leave you here," Aella stared at him.
"You can. Arad is in more danger than me," Jack glared at her, "Go make sure he is alive."
Aella nodded, putting Jack beside the cave entrance and rushing away, "I will be back,"
Jack looked at her with a smile and then lost consciousness as the smoke filled the place.
Aella rushed into the burning forest, trees fell like embers, and she had to be careful, dodging everything while looking for Arad. After a minute, she found Arad.
The dragon is dead, and Arad is seated beside his head, unconscious in his human form. A massive branch pierced Arad's torso while his legs looked twisted backward. He got a real beating from the dragon's last struggle.
"ARAD!" Aella shouted, rushing at Arad and shaking him. "Don't shake me," Arad growled. He pointed at the big branch piercing his torso.
Aella looked at the branch, "Sorry, you have to deal with it," she grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him.
"GRWAA!" Arad growled. The branch pushed down on his organs and chest, making breathing even more painful.
"Wait," He growled, pointing at the dragon with his hand.
Aella nodded and approached the dragon, letting Arad touch him. In the blink of an eye, the dragon's corpse disappeared. He sucked him into his stomach.
Aella turned around and rushed back to the cave to pick up Jack. He wasn't there. She looked around, he might have crawled somewhere, but that was impossible inside all the flames.
"JACK!" Aella shouted, but she got no answer. "Damn it," Time was ticking, and Arad might die on her. She decided to rush Arad out first. Jack might have escaped already.
Aella ran away, and to her luck, she quickly exited the burning forest. The flames weren't spreading as fast as she expected. She put Arad on the ground and climbed one of the trees to look around.
Besides the glaring black cloud and the burning forest, the third clear thing she saw was a bunch of people gathered up.
She jumped and lifted Arad with a smile, "I see people over there. I can leave you with them and go find Jack,"
Arad gave her a weak nod. He was too exhausted and pained to speak.
She rushed away, quickly reaching the people to hear them arguing.
"We should kill him!" One man screamed.
"Are you crazy? You can't just do that!" Another one shouted.
"Shut up! You should have left him by the cave!" A woman screamed at them, "Leave the bastard to the dragon,"
Aella walked in, seeing Jack unconscious between the people. They carried him here. They all stared at her, "Who are you?" One looked at her, confused.
"Jack," Aella called, approaching them.
At that moment, the woman stood between Aella and Jack, "He's your friend?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Aella replied.
The woman nodded, looking back at the men with her, "Tie her down. All three of them are going to be sacrificed for the dragon."
Aella stopped for a moment, "What are you talking about?" She asked, confused.
The men surrounded her, "You bastards enraged the dragon!" One of them growled.
"We must sacrifice you, or will are the ones to suffer," Another said,
"Hold up. The dragon is dead." Aella said.
The woman glared at her, "Bullshit, you liars," She pulled a dagger and swung at Aella.
Arad lifted his palm. Crack! He grabbed the dagger with his bare hand and broke it. "Here is the dragon," With a flick, he dropped the dragon's corpse to the side.
The men backed away, but the woman snorted, "Illusion? You look like a mage, and this won't trick me,"
SLAP! Arad smacked her face, dropping her to the ground. "I don't have the patience to listen. Look at the corpse," He was in pain and isn't in the mood to deal with someone who can't inspect what was in front of her.
"Chieftan, the corpse is real," One of them declared.