I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl

My footsteps echoed within the vast, dark chamber. The moment my feet touched the stone floor, the air changed. Cold, heavy, and laced with a pressure that made it cling to my skin. The light from outside faded as if swallowed by an unnatural darkness.

I hadn’t even said a word yet when two red eyes flared in the dark, breaking the void with a gaze like twin infernos of hell. Then came a long roar deep, low, and filled with ancient hatred. The roar shook the entire room, making the floor tremble and dust fall from the stone ceiling.

One by one, ancient torches on the walls ignited, their flames blue and violet, revealing the figure rising slowly from the center of the room.

A dragon.

But not a living one. Its body was covered in decaying flesh, exposed bones, and broken scales that still glinted ominously in the light. It stretched over twenty meters long, with a pair of wings half torn, yet still able to stir the air as they lifted slowly.

"...Undead dragon..." I whispered. But this wasn’t just any undead. This was the king of all I’d ever encountered.

An aura of domination spread from its body heavy, oppressive, and nearly made my knees buckle. I swallowed hard. Even as the Queen of Zombies, the pressure from this creature pierced into my consciousness.

Behind me, I heard bodies hit the ground.

My three subordinates two werewolves, a drake, and an elf collapsed. They whimpered faintly, their bodies trembling under the dragon’s overwhelming aura. Even my drake, a fellow dragon-type, shivered like a frightened pup.

"Stay there," I said softly, not turning around. "This... is between me and him."

I lifted my face, staring directly into the dragon’s eyes.

"You think you can dominate me?" I whispered with a faint smile.

Then I unleashed my aura.

The Queen of Zombie’s aura burst from my body. A wave of dark purple and black energy swept through the hall, displacing dust and shaking the walls. The whispers of dead spirits echoed, their screams blending into a single will, my will.

The dragon growled, clearly irritated by my defiance. But it didn’t retreat. On the contrary, it raised one of its massive forelegs, its sharp claws glowing with purplish-black aura.

And it struck first.

Its claw came down like lightning. I barely had time to react my reflexes kicked in as I raised my black rapier.

TING!!!

The clang of metal echoed loudly through the room. I was pushed back several meters, my feet scraping the floor and leaving trails behind. My left hand trembled violently.

"So fast... and heavy," I muttered.

The dragon didn’t give me a chance to breathe. Its wings flared, blasting sharp winds, and its body shot forward like a missile. I leapt to the side, using [Void Step] to reappear right behind it. I immediately swung my rapier at its tail.

SWISH!

My slash barely wounded its rotten flesh. Its scales were still as hard as steel.

Suddenly, its tail whipped around toward me.

"Tch!"

I raised my chain, swinging it like a shield.

BRAAAK!!!

The chain was yanked violently. My arm nearly got torn off, but I held the blow. My body was thrown against the wall, cracking the stone behind me.

"Damn... that strength is insane."

I slowly stood up, blood trickling from my temple. But my eyes were ablaze.

"In that case... let’s go all out."

I activated [Death aura], creating a field of dense darkness that blanketed the area around me. Within that aura, my body emitted a corrosive poison mist, and my strength surged. I summoned chains from the ground, forming a web that circled the dragon.

But the dragon roared loudly, and from its mouth came a breath of destruction a blazing purple-black beam that obliterated all my chains in a single blast.

I jumped high, landing on its back, and immediately drove my claws and rapier into the gaps between its scales.

"RAAAAH!"

The dragon thrashed violently, trying to throw me off, but I bit my lip and held on. I generated a new type of poison within me paralytic, lethal and injected it into the wound.

The dragon’s body began to tremble.

But instead of weakening, it grew more furious. Black flames burst from its eyes. It launched itself into the air, slamming its back into the ceiling!

BOOOM!

I was thrown off, crashing into the ground.

My ribs cracked.

I coughed up blood. My vision blurred.

But through the haze, I saw the dragon staggering. My poison was working... slowly but surely.

I stood once more, igniting [Netherflame] in my left hand. The fire fused with my chain, and I wielded it like a whip, lashing it at the dragon’s neck while channeling the flame inward.

"BURN!!"

The whip struck hard, and this time, its neck was partially severed. Black blood gushed out. The dragon let out a deafening roar.

It tried to lunge at me with its final breath but I gave it no chance.

I hurled my rapier, now infused with void aura, straight into its skull.

CRAAACK!!

Its skull shattered. Those red eyes went dark.

The dragon’s body trembled... then collapsed to the ground with a quake that shook the entire dungeon.

BOOOMM!!!

I stood there, gasping. My breath ragged. My body covered in wounds. But I thought I had won.

...Until the dragon’s body trembled faintly.

Its flesh began to shift again.

"What...?" I muttered.

The red eyes reignited, far brighter than before.

The dragon’s body began rising once more.

"So this... isn’t over?"

I gritted my teeth.

"In that case..." I yanked out my chain and rapier, still lodged in its body, my aura beginning to surge wildly.

The dragon rose again.

But this time... not to attack.

With slow movements, it lowered its head toward me. Its red eyes no longer glowed with rage, but... submission. Confusion swept over me, but my body remained alert. I stared in silence, until I slowly reached out and gently touched its massive head.

Strangely, the dragon purred. Like a... giant cat.

"Are you... submitting to me?" I asked softly, still not fully believing it.

The dragon nodded slightly.

I let out a long breath, exhaustion mixed with relief washing over me. "So you’re not just a dungeon monster... but a creature with a will of your own?"

I took out a few purple crystals from my bag leftovers from my previous exploration and offered them to it.

Without hesitation, the dragon swallowed them all.

Its body was immediately enveloped in a soft purple light. Its rotting wounds gradually healed, exposed bones closed up, and its broken scales regenerated. Its form still resembled its undead self, only now cleaner and... alive. However, its size had drastically reduced from over twenty meters to just around four or five. Still large, but far more slender and agile.

But one thing made me frown: the dungeon didn’t react. There was no sound of stone doors grinding or the usual sign of stairs leading to the next floor.

I narrowed my eyes.

"...So I still have to kill you to complete the boss room?" I sighed, irritated. "What a pain."

Then suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

I looked at the dragon. "You trust me, don’t you?"

It nodded again, without hesitation.

I activated my zombie poison ability. From my right claw, thick purple venom flowed, and without another word, I touched its jaw and injected the poison straight into its mouth.

Its body trembled... then went still.

A few seconds later Swung!! a magic circle appeared, unlike the usual stairs.

"Is this... a teleportation circle?" I wasn’t sure, but I stepped into it anyway with my troops.

Around me, my troops were slowly getting up, still shaky but visibly relieved the battle was over.

"Dragon... come," I called.

The creature rose once more, its eyes now glowing softly. Its aura seemed more connected to mine.

With a light step, I walked toward the teleportation circle, followed by the two werewolves, the drake, the elf, and now... a zombie dragon who had completely become my subordinate.

Light enveloped us.

And in an instant, we reappeared outside the dungeon, beneath a gray sky that somehow felt so much brighter after the long darkness inside.

I looked up at the sky for a moment, then at the dragon beside me.

"Welcome to the outside world, my Dragon."