Death System: I awakened SSS rank System

Baruka's shadow fell over him like a tombstone. The dragon's bloodied tongue writhed, half-severed, drooling sizzling green fluid onto the shattered rooftop. The liquid hissed where it struck, corroding stone into bubbling mush.

Zakar dragged himself backward, ribs grinding. Every movement was agony, but still he clutched his sword. His chest heaved like a forge-bellows, fire clawing up his throat.

> [System Warning: Vitality—3%. Catastrophic damage imminent. Recommend immediate disengagement.]

He coughed out a laugh, bitter and broken. "You keep… saying retreat. There's nowhere left to run. Besides if I run then I will be on the a rampage eating players. Better I die trying to win."

Baruka's talon came down. Zakar rolled, the claw missing his skull by inches and smashing the rooftop into rubble. Dust blinded him, but he slashed blindly upward. The blade bit shallowly into a joint between scales, carving a thin line of blood that sizzled against steel.

The dragon reared back in pain and fury. Its single good eye glowed like a burning emerald. It roared, the sound of that rattled Zakar's lungs until he coughed fresh blood.

Then came the tail.

It whipped like a collapsing tower, striking him full across the ribs. He felt the crack like thunder inside his body as he was hurled across the street and through the wall of a ruined house. He crashed through timbers, rubble burying him halfway. His sword clanged from his hand.

For a moment he couldn't breathe. The world tilted, sound muffled. Pain pulsed like molten iron through his chest.

"To hell!! Is this thing really a B rank!!? I haven't hit it a good blow since this battle begun."

[System Alert: Multiple fractures detected. Left lung capacity reduced. Heart rhythm irregular. Probability of death in 47 seconds without intervention.]

[System Option: Override limiters activate SECOND BLOODRUSH. Cost: +21% Murderous Intent. Warning: psychological destabilization almost certain.]

"Fuck!" he cursed under his breath.

Zakar clawed himself free of rubble. His hand shook as it closed back around his sword hilt. His eyes burned. H1alf from dust, half from rage.

"I don't care… destabilize me. Just give me strength to tear this bastard apart."

[User Consent Verified.]

[SECOND BLOODRUSH Initiated.]

The world cracked open inside him. His veins glowed faintly green as system-threads coursed through his muscles. His wounds stitched just enough to hold him together, though every nerve screamed like a struck harp string. His eyes sharpened, pupils narrowing to a predator's slit.

Baruka tore the ruined house apart with its claws, hunting him out of the rubble. Zakar leapt higher, faster than before.

His body shouldn't have obeyed, but the BLOODRUSH drove him beyond human limits. He landed on the dragon's arm, sprinted along the jagged scales, and drove his sword down into the joint of its wing.

The blade pierced deeper this time. Hot blood erupted, splattering across him, scalding his skin.

Baruka howled, staggering backward, wings faltering. It slammed its arm against a wall to crush him. Zakar tore his blade free and vaulted upward, barely missing being flattened.

He landed on the dragon's back, teeth bared, sword flashing again and again as he hacked at its neck. Sparks and gore mingled as his blade carved shallow furrows.

The dragon thrashed wildly, rolling against the sides of buildings, collapsing them into rubble. Zakar was battered, bones screaming with every impact, but he clung on like a tick. He raised his sword again, screaming hoarsely.

Then Baruka reared up and flung itself backward.

The rooftop shattered as the dragon smashed onto its back, crushing Zakar beneath tons of scaled flesh. His lungs emptied in one violent cough. He tasted blood and dirt, his body pinned, his ribs feeling like splinters inside him.

[System Alert: Skeletal structure compromised. Fatal compression imminent.]

[System Directive: Immediate evasive maneuver required!]

Zakar's vision dimmed. The weight was impossible. His arms trembled, sword shaking uselessly against the ground.

But he screamed. Not in pain, but in defiance. Every muscle strained as the system's threads burned his flesh from within. With a surge that split veins across his arms, he twisted the sword, stabbing blindly upward into the softer scales along the dragon's belly.

The blade sank deep. Baruka shrieked, leaping up instinctively from the pain. The crushing weight lifted for a breath, and Zakar rolled free, coughing blood.

He could barely stand. His body was shredded. But his sword was green with dragon blood.

Baruka wheeled around, wings tattered, one eye ruined, blood dripping from its maw. Yet its power hadn't dimmed. The dragon lowered its head, green fire boiling at its throat, determined to erase him from existence.

Zakar planted his feet, raising his sword with both trembling hands. His body quaked, lungs rattling, vision narrowing to a tunnel.

"That's… enough." His lips peeled into a bloody grin.

The dragon's maw ignited, emerald light painting the ruins like hellfire. Zakar roared and charged headlong, sword raised, the air vibrating with the clash of predator and prey.

Baruka's flame was the color of poisoned emeralds, bright enough to burn shadows out of existence. The ruined street boiled under its heat. Zakar's skin blistered just standing before it, yet he charged anyway.

He leapt.

His sword arced upward, trailing sparks. His eyes locked onto the dragon's one remaining eye. All the blood, all the broken bones, all the agony it narrowed to a single strike, a razor of defiance aimed at the heart of a monster.

The blade neared the glowing orb. Baruka's shriek shook the heavens. Victory was in his grasp...

Then...

CRACK!

A thunderous impact slammed into Zakar's side. His ribs caved with the sound of splitting timber as his body was hurled violently through the air. His sword tore wide, missing the dragon's eye by inches, instead carving a gash across its snout.

He hit the ground like a comet, bouncing across rubble until he slammed into the skeletal frame of a tower. Stone and dust rained down as he slid into the debris, coughing blood. His vision blurred, the world spinning wildly.

"Wh… what?"

Zakar's eyes widened as his blurred vision cleared. A shape lumbered out of the street's shadows: a grotesque parody of Baruka. Its scales were rotted, wings half-torn, but its jaws dripped black flame.

[System Detected Dragon Zombie]

[Rank: B rank]

[Threat level: High]

"A B rank dragon zombie?" he muttered in shock.

The Dragon Zombie snarled, dragging one mangled claw across the stone, and from its ribcage protruded sharp, glowing bones that it had just launched like spears.

[Warning: Multiple high-threat entities detected. Primary target Baruka still active. Secondary interference: Dragon Zombie confirmed.]

Baruka roared in triumph, green fire gushing from its maw to light up the ruined city. It bled heavily, one eye destroyed, wings tattered but now it had an ally.

Zakar staggered to his feet, his sword dragging sparks across the stone. His body trembled, lungs wheezing, Murderous Intent rising like a black tide in his chest.

His chance at victory had been stolen in the final heartbeat.

And now he was caught between the jaws of two entities.