In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 20: Space Marine vs Zombie Dragon

Chapter 20: Space Marine vs Zombie Dragon

The gargantuan zombie dragon finishes its roar and expands its wings to take flight. The fearsome creature flapped its wings and started to ascend into the sky which many of the men began to panic. Quickly losing their confidence, both young and veteran soldiers begin to break formation which William jumps to boost their morale.

"Do not lose your hope and faith! If you flee, this foul creature will hunt us down in our backs. But if you stay strong and believe in me, we will slay it and retake the fort, restoring the honor that we lost 150 years ago. Now, prepare yourself for the battle you will remember forever!" After finishing his speech, William aims and fires his plasma rifle at the center of the zombie dragon.

A jet of blue hot plasma hit the zombie dragon and exploded which created a cloud of smoke. Witnessing this, many of the soldiers and officers cheer which boosts more of their morale. Unfortunately, before the smoke could clear out, the zombie dragon emerged and opened its mouth to fire its breath attack.

A long stream of fire came out from the zombie dragon's mouth and was about to engulf a large number of troops. The dragon's flame was stopped by the wall of ice that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Surprised by the sudden appearance of the ice wall, William turns around to see a dozen wizards from the Duchess's army all exhausted.

'They must have rushed the spell and used most of the magic they had. I should ask about the magic of this world when I have the chance.' William finished his thought, aimed and fired the plasma rifle at the dead center. He wasn't sure how the zombie dragon survived the previous attack as he doesn't miss it.

Seeing the breath attack didn't work, Blood Duke stopped his undead dragon in midair and made a quick turn to fly back. Not giving any chance, the senior officer of the Volley Cannons gave orders to attack the retreating zombie dragon.

"Fire everything! Bring it down from the sky!" Immediately, thunderous cannons fire can be heard as all wagon units unleash everything they have at once. The volley of baseball size cannonballs was stopped right before it could hit the target as purple magic shielded the creature.

"Damn thing is protected by magic. The rider must be the one casting the protection spell. Keep firing at it, eventually, he will run out of magic." Prince Benton said and ordered his entire range units to open fire. The riflemen and artillery units fire at the zombie dragon to deplete protection magic, but to their surprise, the magic didn't break or show signs of weakening. The zombie dragon made a full turn and about to make a second attempt to attack with a breath attack again. Seeing the creature opened its mouth and aiming at the army, William jumps into action to intercept its attack.

"Not this time," Put aside his plasma rifle, William used his jetpack to fly up and approach the zombie dragon before it could unleash its fire breath. Before it could finish charging, William flew right into the zombie dragon's mouth.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Everyone yells at the same time the moment they see a giant black templar get himself devoured whole by the zombie dragon in midair. Before the duchess or prince could say anything else, a multiple explosion can be heard from the zombie dragon's head, neck, and body. After receiving internal damages from eating Black Templar, the creature falls from the sky.

Boom!

The undead creature crash lands on the ground with a heavy impact. Before the army could surround the now defeated zombie dragon, its rider rose from the ground. Blood Duke, seeing his mighty mount defeated, gather his magic. With magic gathered in dark purple color, Blood Duke unleashes a devastating wave of magic at approaching the army. The first and second lines of the troops got pushed back from the magic and paralyzed by it. Seeing this, a platoon of riflemen fire their weapon at Blood Duke but their target disappeared from their sight. Confused by the sudden disappearance, they all paused for a second, but this was enough for Blood Duke to cut them all down with the swing of his sword.

"Riflemen, pull back. Swordsmen, cut him down!" Prince Benton gave his command to his troops as his royal swordsmen stepped forward to attack Blood Duke in close combat. Meanwhile, the rest of the riflemen drag their wounded soldiers the best they could, including paralyzed soldiers from the first and second lines.

"You may have beaten my army and pet. I still have my blade and magic from my benefactor to defeat all of you all by myself. Bring me your best so I can slay them." Blood Duke said to all of the living and once again unleashed his magic. This time, instead of pushing away approaching soldiers, it raised recently killed soldiers as undead zombies. After finishing his dark magic, Blood Duke ordered his 50 zombies to rush the swordsmen.

The clash between zombies and royal swordsmen is a one-sided battle, favoring swordsmen, but the moment Blood Duke joins the fight, it turns into carnage as he kills and resurrects them into zombies. Seeing this, Duchess orders her mages to attack the rear side of the enemy formation with fireballs but before it could hit their target Blood Duke's magic shield blocks the fireballs from destroying his zombies. As every ranged attack didn't work, the prince ordered all his troops with melee weapons to form up and attack the increased number of undead. Just as both sides are busy fighting, they don't hear the chainsword's engine cutting through the belly of the zombie dragon. Finally, coming out from the belly of the zombie creature, a Black Templar reappeared, covered in blood and guts.

"Never again will I ever jump into a dragon's mouth, living or dead," William said to himself and turned around to see the conflict between Blood Duke's army and Prince's. Seeing this, William checks his inventory to see what he received from defeating the zombie dragon before engaging Blood Duke on the battlefield.

[Heavy Bolter x1 (With x 300 Rounds): A belt-fed powerful bolt weapon used for anti-infantry and a fire support weapon. Also known as 'Backbreaker' for its oversize and heavyweight, only Space Marine and certain few people with enough strength to carry it without a tripod. Due to the bigger size, the heavy bolter uses .998 caliber bolt rounds which is bigger than the standard .75 caliber bolt.]

[Assault Bike x1: Light vehicle used by the Adeptus Astartes for fast speed attack and scouting. This armored bike comes with mounted two-linked bolters for range attack before ramming the enemies in front of the vehicle. The assault bike uses promethium as a fuel and is tough enough to break through solid walls at full speed.]