Zeke's silhouette shot forward like a cannonball leaving the chamber, crossing the last few meters.
Thwack!
The Harlequin's Kiss stabbed into the Heldrake's snout.
Leveraging this stab like a rock climber anchoring a piton, Zeke suspended his entire body beneath the Heldrake's thick neck.
The Heldrake shook its neck and swung its right forelimb—equipped with [Piston Claws]—attempting to dislodge Zeke.
These specialized steel claws could easily pierce fighter jet armor; they were the weapon of choice for dogfighting Imperial aircraft.
Sparks flew as the piston claw slapped against Zeke's Protection IV Netherite Armor, bouncing off with a loud clang.
Using the Harlequin's Kiss as a pivot point, Zeke executed an aerial roll, flipping onto the Heldrake's back and seating himself at the base of its neck.
Clamping his legs tight around the dragon's neck, he pulled out the Harlequin's Kiss with one hand.
Zeke aimed for the vital joints in the dragon's neck beneath him and began a rapid series of stabs.
Schlick! Schlick! Schlick!
Every time the Harlequin's Kiss struck, it brought up a splash of motor oil, and the Heldrake's health bar dropped.
The Heldrake began to panic; it could feel its life force draining away.
Realizing that shaking off the insect crawling on it was no longer feasible, the Heldrake kicked off the ground with its hind claws and took to the skies with a deafening roar.
This was Zeke's first time being a Dragon Knight, though he never expected it to be in this posture.
The wind screamed frantically in his ears, and the scenery around him began to blur.
"Why is that Heldrake back? Quick, adjust the flak cannons and aim at it!"
The officer on Kasr Kraf saw the Heldrake circle around and return, and hurriedly issued orders.
"There's a person on top of it," a soldier manning a flak cannon shouted, holding up his binoculars.
The officer snatched the binoculars and looked at the figure on the Heldrake's back. He recognized that person.
"Cease fire! Everyone, cease fire!"
The officer called off the gunners. The Heldrake roared as it streaked past Kasr Kraf, drawing the gaze of countless soldiers.
"That kid really knows how to have fun," Wolf Lord Bloodhowl, relying on his superhuman Astartes vision, saw the person on the dragon's back.
He had chopped down Heldrakes before, but he had never ridden one. That kid had beaten him to it.
"Exciting!" Zeke shouted into the wind.
As the Heldrake flew over the camp, Bela heard Zeke's shout, her eyes filled with shock.
The Heldrake maneuvered in the air, sometimes shooting almost vertically upward, other times stopping abruptly or making sharp turns.
The inertia tore at Zeke's body, bringing discomfort but also spiking his adrenaline. Riding it gave Zeke a thrill of satisfaction.
Who wouldn't want to be a Dragon Knight? Especially when the mount was a Mecha-Dragon.
Zeke's backside could feel the violent vibrations—the sound of the Daemon Engine revving madly.
God, this is a hundred times more exciting than those coin-operated rides in front of the supermarket.
Under the strain of high-intensity flight, the Heldrake's wings began to disintegrate.
Realizing death was inevitable, a flash of spite flickered in its eyes. The Daemon Engine in its chest went into overload.
Pouring all remaining energy into its thrusters, it aimed straight for a mountain peak ahead and charged.
Even if it died, it was going to take the human on its back with it.
In the final split second before impact with the mountain face, the dying mechanical daemon displayed its last bit of cunning.
It rolled over, exposing Zeke—who was on its back—to the direct point of impact.
Zeke sighed. Happy times were always short-lived.
The Harlequin's Kiss stabbed into the Heldrake one last time, reducing its health bar to absolute zero.
Simultaneously, he threw the Ender Pearl in his left hand forcefully upward.
The teleportation and the dragon's collision with the cliff happened at the exact same moment.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled. The Heldrake's body smashed against the rock face, pulverizing the stone and tumbling down toward the ground below with the debris.
Zeke, clinging to the cliff face with one hand, watched the disastrous scene below.
Once everything settled, he used an Ender Pearl to teleport down.
The Heldrake was buried under rubble, but it hadn't turned into loot drops yet.
Zeke used his pickaxe to smash all the fallen rocks. The Heldrake had turned into a lifeless corpse.
Jade [The HUD Mod] displayed: Harvestable!
The Inquisition had argued endlessly about whether Heldrakes were mechanical or biological entities. The final conclusion leaned toward the latter.
One of the conditions for a Heldrake's transformation was preferably a fighter jet piloted by an Astartes.
During the corruption process, the Astartes would fuse with the fighter, their flesh gradually covering the machine until their souls merged, forming a Heldrake.
Compared to traditional fighter jets, Heldrakes were more like living dragons.
But compared to traditional dragons, they were more like jets. They essentially absorbed the advantages of both.
Following the prompt from Jade, Zeke took out several empty bottles and right-clicked on the Heldrake, obtaining three bottles of Dragon Blood. (TL/n: The Heldrake is not a dragon but his system is classifying it as a Dragon.)
Then came Dragon Bones, Dragon Flesh, a Fire Dragon Heart, and Fire Dragon Scales. The Heldrake exploded with a ground full of materials.
[Mod: Ice and Fire, Unlocked]
He briefly flipped through the recipes.
Dragon Blood plus Iron Ingots in a Dragonforge could create Dragonsteel—an excellent material for crafting Fire Dragon armor and weapons.
But the most important thing was the egg.
After Zeke collected all the materials, a [Heldrake Egg] hovered above the ground.
The egg was oval-shaped, a dull reddish-brown, with flame patterns coiled across its surface.
Placed in fire, it could hatch—equivalent to a Fire Dragon from the Ice and Fire mod.
There was also a new book in his inventory: the [Bestiary].
In the Ice and Fire mod, this Bestiary required manuscripts to craft, but in Warhammer, it seemed the system had saved him the trouble.
Opening the Bestiary, he found many familiar names, though the creatures looked vastly different.
[Ogryn] (Giant/Cyclops)
Drops: Cyclops Eye (Inflicts Weakness II on all mobs within a 16-block radius when held).
Description: The Ogryn is an abhuman strain of Warhammer. They are larger than average humans, not very bright, and extremely gluttonous. They often cause laughable situations but serve as decent combat power, often seen in military ranks.
[Medusae] (Gorgon)
Drops: Gorgon Head (Enemies gazing at this head will be turned to stone).
Description: The Medusae is an invertebrate parasitic creature that inhabits the Eldar Webway. This creature feeds on the daydreams and nightmares of mortals. Locking eyes with a Medusae leads to horrific consequences.
Sirens, Cockatrices... all sorts of exotic beasts appeared in the notebook, complete with their drops, weaknesses, and home planets.
The drops from these creatures were incredibly powerful, especially the Gorgon Head—a supreme hard-crowd-control item.
Zeke returned to the camp with a backpack full of loot and headed to his personal "matchbox" house.
He cleared a small empty space next to the hut, laid down a block of Netherrack, and lit it with Flint and Steel.
The fire on the Netherrack would burn eternally, providing a stable heat source.
For safety, he built a ring of Obsidian around the fire to prevent his wooden matchbox from catching fire.
Once done, he took the [Heldrake Egg] from his inventory and placed it into the flames.
Creak... Creak...
Upon contacting the fire, vibrations came from inside the shell, and the egg rocked rhythmically a few times.
It shouldn't take more than a few days to hatch. Zeke squatted by the fire, his eyes filled with anticipation. However, even after it hatched, it would be a baby. It would likely need to pass through two or three growth stages.
Not far behind Zeke, a pair of beady black eyes watched him—and the egg in the fire—with heartbreak.
It was Cow.
Upon hearing the news that Zeke had finally returned to camp, Cow had immediately kicked up its hooves and trotted over happily.
However, what it saw was this scene.
Cow's eyes widened in disbelief.
So, does love simply vanish?