I just knew that DuelMasters Manga hasn`t published in US yet. That mean ,you haven`t know what happen for zakira in Japanese manga.
First,zakira lost left arm when he dueled against shobu but he won.And he need wear an prosthetic arm.[DM17]
Second,he dueled Esmerda who loves Shobu.He won but he was badly damaged.He lost all arms,legs,and half of head!(and hair) [DMFE10]
He isn`t killed.but he get injured.
He was need took care in pod,and he almost recover.but not perfectly [DMFE11]
He get out to destroy Duelists ,and dueled Shobu again. When he used three card "Santaishin",he was struck lightning and he recoverd perfectly,heir changed