Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Battling against the Mad Prince of the Graveborn Empire while free-falling with a mythical beast under his tail would certainly make for one of the better stories Zaroth could tell at a bar later—but right now, he wasn't in the mood to admire how cool his situation was. There were more pressing matters.

For starters, how had the Mad Prince even reached him in the first place?! Just by a quick glance, Zaroth wasn't able to see any kind of flying mount that could elevate his position, nor did the man possess the ability to use wings.

However, Zaroth quickly got his answer — a mirror appeared right below Ragnar's feet, from which he propelled himself, blade ready to meet him.

"So the other prince is here as well," Zaroth mused, meeting the attack head-on. Sadly, he would have counterattacked if he was on the ground or if there was stable footing. But Rynor wasn't going to give him a mirror he could stand on.

"How did you match my strength?!" Ragnar roared, not stopping his assault.

Unknown to him, this was the effect of Eldros' Judgemental Gaze — the divine eye slowed down the movements of almost any being that was in its vicinity, with a few exceptions.

And from the looks of it, Ragnar wasn't one of them.

Zaroth, still a bit disoriented, surveyed the sight above him. The first thing he saw was Luna soaring downward in an attempt to reach him. A little above her, Eldros and the Dullahan were falling. Unlike Ragnar, who enjoyed Rynor's support from somewhere, the Dullahan for some reason was in free fall.

'Luna!' Zaroth transmitted to his dragon taking advantage of the few moments of peace he had between each of Ragnar's strikes.

'Help Eldros! Whatever he is fighting is too tough for him, and we need him alive!'

It wasn't needed to point out that Luna clearly disliked the idea. She must have debated whether she should follow her master's words or go against his wishes to ensure his safety.

'I will be fine, you go!' he reassured once again, leaving her with no choice. She flared her nostrils and changed her course once again.

With dazing speed, she quickly reached Eldros' position and passed below him, leading him to land on her back.

"What about Zaroth?!" Eldros asked, gasping for breath. He hadn't fought the Dullahan long, yet in that short time the vast difference in power had become painfully clear.

Luna couldn't communicate with him in her dragon form, so she just continued to fly toward the capital of the Graveborn empire.

ROOOAAAAAARRR

Wanting to be absolutely sure that the magma serpent had its eyes on her, she roared, shaking the very foundation of the earth, ensuring she had grabbed its attention.

"Good," Zaroth sighed, seeing that his dragon didn't try to go against his command.

"You seem awfully relaxed," the Mad Prince taunted, delivering more attacks.

Now Eldros was far away and so was the Divine eye, Zaroth's muscles tensed as they felt the full power of the attack. What was worse — while Ragnar had his feet on stable ground, he didn't, leading to even more of a difference when it came to applied force.

Zaroth shot to the side once again, his body spinning like a ragdoll, unable to stop his momentum.

Naturally, Ragnar followed. The mirror levitated with him upon it, reaching even faster speed than Zaroth achieved by falling.

However, Zaroth wasn't worried. He had become stronger since their last meeting. Ragnar's attacks weren't going to hurt him — as long as he didn't let his guard down and didn't let himself be hit head-on.

Seeing that he had failed to injure Zaroth, Ragnar became enraged, unleashing an even more relentless barrage of attacks.

What frustrated him even more was how Zaroth's eyes kept shifting—toward the mythical beast that had nearly reached their location.

"Let's see you survive the landing!" Ragnar taunted.

However, to his disbelief, just before Zaroth fell to the ground and exploded into paste like he thought he would, Zaroth made his body into shadow — instantly killing the moment that would have killed him otherwise.

"How?!" Ragnar's face wasn't visible, yet it was apparent that his expression behind the mask was one of pure shock. "How did you become so strong so fast?!"

Zaroth's shadow lingered for a moment. He enjoyed the compliment.

Now, if he were a true hero with a noble heart and a love for grand stories, he might have reappeared and faced Ragnar openly—with Rynor somewhere nearby, ready to strike, and a massive serpent seconds from reaching them.

'Thank goodness that I am not an idi— I mean hero,' he thought, his shadow shamelessly gliding through the uneven terrain of the earth in an attempt to catch up to his dragon.

"Get back here!" Ragnar roared, the mirror picking up speed.

Unfortunately for him, however, while shadows didn't have physical bodies, allowing them to pass over everything and hide easily, his floating mirror was slowed down by the branches of the trees it had to get through. Once the mirror went higher over the trees, Ragnar cursed — Zaroth had managed to escape his grasp.

"Dammit! Rynor, couldn't you have been more useful?!"

His shout was drowned out by the trembling earth as the mythical beast passed close by, its gaze fixed firmly on the dragon.

A large cloud of smoke rose in the air, the Dullahan fell to the ground, yet the headless entity didn't look bothered. It broke into a sprint, each step propelling it dozens of meters forward, cracking the foundation of the earth below it.

It might have been knocked back, but that didn't mean it had given up.

'I think that went well,' Zaroth thought, gliding through the ground going beneath Luna's body. The magma serpent hadn't managed to catch up, and they had shaken off the pursuers.

Making sure that the coast was clear, Luna gently descended, picked up Zaroth, and soared high once again.

"Oh, that was close!" he sighed in relief. Using Shadow Travel took a considerable portion of his mana, making him worried.

Luna released a hot breath from her nostrils, clearly pissed that Zaroth didn't care more for himself.

"I am sure you will not hold it against me for long," Zaroth replied to her gesture passively, shifting his gaze to Eldros.

The man no longer looked sick. Instead, he was deep in thought—likely trying to make sense of something that had shaken him to the core.

It was rare for him to be weaker than his foe.

"Don't sulk too much. We managed to escape them. The worst has passed. Nobody could stop us from reaching their capital now!" Zaroth tried to lift up the mood.

However, his attempts were in vain. Eldros stared at his owner for a few seconds before parting his lips.

"Do you feel it?" His voice sounded strained.

Zaroth raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Feel what?"

It didn't take long before his expression darkened and his senses flared.

The suffocating feeling of being watched had returned. Whatever had stalked them before... was still on their tail.

"It seems," Zaroth muttered under his breath, scanning the skies and earth below, "We won't be sleeping anytime soon."