Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

“We met at last,” Henry said and he immediately wanted to puke. He couldn’t believe he just spouted some corny shit so naturally but in his defence, it was rightfully said. He finally came face to face with the culprit of the anomalies happening in Ulrum.

Yula trod close to Henry. “This boy… is he—”

Henry nodded before Yula finished asking.

Seeing Henry’s affirmation, Yula signalled for Chloe to brace themselves for a huge imminent trouble.

Chloe strengthened her stance in response.

“You would not leave me alone… Why…?” the boy asked. “Why do you… pursue me…?”

“Why?” Henry raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously asking that?”

“An order… from the gods…?”

“You’re not wrong in that regard, sort of.”

“The gods… they lie…”

“Are you not responsible for the infrequent recurrent tears in space?”

“...I am,” the boy admitted.

“There you have it, then.”

“But the gods… they lie about—”

“Whether they’re lying or not about something I don’t know, it does not change the fact that you are a threat to Ulrum and my women. You are a threat to every world you cross over to.”

“...It is what it is…”

“Huh?” Henry scoffed.

“These tears I left in my wake… they are… insignificant. Necessary… The world I have… crossed… they are… collateral…”

“I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about and I don’t care,” Henry said and lunged at the boy as he cast Gravity to immobilise the boy’s movements.

Despite the assurance, the boy disappeared from Henry’s view before his claws could reach him. The boy reappeared a few yards away. “So… be it…”

Henry immediately unleashed lightning at the boy.

However, the lightning struck everywhere but the boy, as if something was fending off the lightning.

Henry tutted. “Annoying,” he growled and spat out flames.

The flames surged towards the boy but the flames circumvented the boy as they surged past him.

“Okay, that’s discouraging,” Henry mumbled.

The boy stared blankly at Henry with those hollow eyes of his. Cracks began forming on the ground around the boy and from these cracks, creatures of abominable appearances and nature emerged.

Henry wasted no time and doused those creatures in his flames before they fully crawled out of the crevices.

“Henry, we got company!” Yula yelled as the large horde started closing in. In fact, a few of the offshoots had already reached them.

Chloe brandished her wrist blades against the incoming creatures. Thankfully, they were no bigger than the average human. They were also vulnerable to simple attacks. Chloe had only kicked one of the creatures in the face and when it hit the ground, it was already dead.

Chloe used one of the creature’s momentum against itself by throwing it into the ground. It was also dead with just that simple move. They were highly frail.

Yula made short work of the numerous creatures.

Though the abominable creatures were frailer than low-grade glass, their sheer numbers were more than enough to make up for their frail durability.

While Yula and Chloe were busy dealing with the small fries, Henry was facing off against the larger ones, one was even larger than him. The abomination had the upper body of a canine but the lower body of an octopus.

As Henry prepared himself for a difficult fight, he was greatly surprised by the fact that his Jetstream Breath easily felled the gigantic abomination. It only had size to its advantage and nothing else. It wasn’t even an advantage as it only made itself a bigger target.

That was disappointing… in a good way.

Henry proceeded to mow the abomination down all the same with his vast array of abilities and skills. Fortunately, they were all vulnerable to his flames and susceptible to pain, which helped tremendously in the battle. Had the abominations been unperturbed by pain, Henry would have already long been overwhelmed.

And of course, his nigh impenetrable hide was once again the reason that he was still alive. He suffered countless attacks from the abominations that were too quick for him to dodge but none could pierce his skin.

Eventually, the emergence rate of the colossal abominations began to dwindle and Henry redirected his focus to the boy.

“Difficult…” the boy muttered as it stared intently at Henry. “Impossible… to subdue…”

“Damn right!” Henry shouted and pounced towards the boy.

But the boy teleported away from where he stood. He reappeared quite a bit of distance away.

“Why are you all so slippery?” Henry grunted.

A rift appeared behind the boy. He turned around and prepared to step into it.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Henry thrust his limb out and recalled the feeling when he closed the rifts that appeared in Ulrum. He didn’t know if this would work but he wasn’t about to just let the boy go after all the shit they went through just to get to this point.

To Henry’s glee and amazement, the rift closed up before the boy could take a step through.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Henry said.

If the boy was disconcerted or flustered, he did not show it. His gaze was the same as ever, hollow.

Henry spared not another word and unleashed his flames at the boy. Once again, the flames did not swallow the boy but circumvented him.

“So be it…” the boy said and raised one of his arms into the air.

Before Henry could take a swipe at the boy, the darkness above suddenly split open into a rift and something huge and heavy fell through.

Henry immediately grabbed Chloe and Yula before tossing himself out of the way.

“What the hell was that!?” Chloe asked in a shout as she wriggled out of Henry’s grip.

“Are you two hurt anywhere?” Henry asked a question of his own.

Yula nodded.

“What in the fuck’s name is that!?” Chloe rephrased her question.

“...” Henry was speechless when he saw what fell through the rift, which had already closed up.

“Is that a… Dragon?” Yula gasped.

Yes, what fell through the rift and crushed all those underneath it, was a Dragon, or at least it was once a Dragon. To be precise, it looked like a corpse of a Dragon now more than anything. Be that as it might, the corpse started to move.

“A zombie dragon?” Chloe muttered in horror as she realised the increasing plight of their circumstances.

“Depends on what you consider a zombie,” Henry retorted.

“Something that should be dead by all logic but instead, it’s walking around.”

“Then, I suppose this is a zombie dragon.”

The Zombie Dragon shook and stretched its body as if it had just awakened from a deep slumber.

“Where’s the boy?” Chloe asked, looking around.

“There…” Yula pointed at the Zombie Dragon’s mouth, where the boy was before he was swallowed.

“That thing ate the boy?”

“No,” Henry said. “The boy is simply taking refuge inside the dragon.”

“Huh… That’s disturbing,” Yula muttered.

“What’s not disturbing about all of this?” Chloe grumbled.

“True,” Henry nodded in agreement.

The Zombie Dragon spread its jaws wide open and a pallid glow could be seen rising from its throat.

“Stay behind me!” Henry shouted and moved in front of the two.

As the Zombie Dragon unleashed its devastating breath of decay, Henry unleashed his Fire Breath at the same time. The two dragonic breaths clashed and the point of collision formed ripples across the fabric of space and reality.

The clash ended in a draw after a while. The newly formed vast crater between them was a testament to the destructive force of their attacks.

“Is the boy still alive?” Yula asked. “The boy was inside the Zombie Dragon, no? And it just used a breath of… some kind.”

“Unfortunately, the boy is still very much alive,” Henry answered. “I don’t know how but he is. I can feel the boy’s presence inside that wretched Dragon’s body.”

“What can we do to help?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing for the moment.”

The Zombie Dragon once again unleashed its decaying breath and Henry responded in kind by countering it with his Fire Breath. The vast crater deepened and widened even more as the clash intensified.

The result was still the same but not entirely.

Though equal in strength, their stamina differed greatly. As Henry was still catching his breath, the Zombie Dragon was already prepared to unleash its next breath of decay as it had no need for breathing.

Seeing the futility of catching up to the Zombie Dragon’s nonexistent breath, Henry shot out a Firebolt instead. Just before the Zombie Dragon could let out its breath, the Firebolt struck its jaws and its mouth clamped shut spontaneously.

The breath of decay exploded within the Zombie Dragon’s own mouth. A piercing shriek followed the misfortune.

Henry wasted not a moment and used Jetstream Breath.

The Zombie Dragon brandished its wing and took flight before the stream of high-pressure air could cut it in half. Once in the air, it immediately dove towards Henry.

“Son of a taint!” Henry growled and shot a Firebolt at the Zombie Dragon.

With a steer of its wings, the Zombie Dragon rolled out of the Firebolt’s trajectory.

Henry kept his displeasure silent and swung his claws, throwing Aura Blades at the abominable dragon.

The Zombie Dragon mimicked Henry’s moves and threw Aura Blades of its own. The air shuddered and trembled from the clash of the Aura Blades.

Once the Zombie Dragon was close enough, Henry cast Jetstream Breath.

A dull green glow shone on the Zombie Dragon’s limbs and it moved out of harm’s way as the high-pressure air tore into the ground.

Henry’s eyes widened. “Fuck off! This is bullshit!”

The Zombie Dragon snarled and charged straight at Henry, spreading the pale glow to its whole body.

Henry backhanded the Zombie Dragon away just as it was inches away from crashing into him. Henry then grabbed the Zombie Dragon by the neck and slammed it to the ground. He channelled lightning into the pallid dragon but to his bewilderment, the Zombie Dragon was unfazed by lightning.

It struggled violently and twisted its body intensely, breaking itself free from Henry’s grasp.

Before Henry could catch it again, the Zombie Dragon leapt a few feet away before readying another breath of decay.

Henry closed the gap between them in a blink of an eye as a vermilion glow covered its body. He thrust out his claws, intending to cut the Zombie Dragon’s preparation short.

To Henry’s surprise, the Zombie Dragon spat out a bolt of condensed energy that was pale green in colour, a Decay Bolt. Caught off guard by the Zombie Dragon’s versatility and capability, the Decay Bolt plunged right through the Spell Shield Henry conjured in a hurry like frail glass and struck him in the shoulder.

Unlike most other times, Henry saw his scaly hide melting off his flesh as a result of being struck by the Decay Bolt.

A sharp pain spread throughout his body. He cried out his agony. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt such pain.

The Zombie Dragon’s expression was neutral and impassive but Henry could feel the sneer from the one hiding within.

While Henry was writhing in this near-forgotten accursed sensation of living, the Zombie Dragon rushed towards Henry with its jaws wide open.

Henry used Gravity but it only slowed the Zombie Dragon instead of incapacitating it. He also tried using his Corrosive Breath but as expected, the Zombie Dragon was immune to corrosion.

The Zombie Dragon launched itself at Henry in its final steps, closing the remaining gap.

Instead of dodging, Henry tossed himself into the Zombie Dragon’s mouth as spikes protruded from all over his body. One thing that Henry did have an edge over his opponent was his tough body and hide while the Zombie Dragon was as frail as a corpse, considering it was literally one.

The spikes stabbed into the Zombie Dragon’s mouth and neck. It quickly pulled itself away but Henry rammed into it and the two tumbled across the ground with their bodies and limbs entangled.

Henry used his weight to gain an advantage by rolling on top of the Zombie Dragon but it used its lighter weight to wriggle out of Henry’s grasp.

The battle had turned into a messy scuffle and tussle. The Zombie Dragon lashed out its claws at Henry while Henry himself rained down punches after punches onto the Zombie Dragon.

Eventually, Henry got the upper hand due to his weight and his near-invincible defence. The Zombie Dragon tried to spit its Decay Breath but Henry did not give it the chance to even open its mouth.

Henry grabbed his opponent tightly before leaping into the air, spun violently, and dropped back down to the ground as he cast Gravity at that moment.

The ground shook like an earthquake of a great magnitude. Another crater was formed but larger than the previous one.

As the dust and smoke cleared, Henry could be seen perching on top of the Zombie Dragon with the middle of its body caved in.