Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1712: The Strongest Cat

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Partner’s face twisted in disbelief as she watched her two spears shatter into pieces under the Vampires’ ferocious triple attack.

Dream Weapons could take damage and then regenerate using the Dream Essence stored in the Dream Heart, so the instant her spears broke, they retreated back into her Dream Heart, leaving her unarmed.

"They broke your spears?!" Arthur cried, stunned.

"We have to reach the sect!" Partner shouted, forcing herself forward even as the overwhelming pressure began tearing at her skin and muscles. "Nnnggh...!"

The closer she got, the worse it became. Then, without warning, one of the Vampires appeared directly above her.

"Where do you think you’re going, strange one?"

"Wha...?!"

BAAAM!

The Vampire, a slender man with long silky white hair and sharp red eyes, drove his heel into her back with brutal force. Partner crashed into the ground, shattering the stone beneath her.

CRASH!

The entire mountain trembled. Partner poured every ounce of her Aura into shielding the others, who were far more vulnerable to the crushing pressure.

"Gaaah!"

She coughed up blood as the Vampire descended slowly, his white blouse, black leather pants, and the large red jewel hanging from his necklace marking him as someone important.

"What a crude creature you are," he sneered. "Are you even one of us? You don’t belong to any Family I recognize. Yet that red hair... it’s the mark of a powerful Bloodline. Explain yourself."

"Fuck you!"

Partner spat blood straight into his face. The Vampire’s expression twisted with rage and disgust.

"That does it. I’m going to dissect you and claim that Bloodline for myself. It’s wasted on a mongrel like you."

His Aura exploded outward. Blood Energy compressed into massive crimson swords that hung in the air, humming with power.

The blades shot downward while Partner braced herself.

"Damn it! Maria! Where are you?!"

TRUUUM!

Suddenly, the world turned completely gray.

"...?!"

The Vampire froze mid-motion, eyes wide with shock. Yet Partner could move freely. The crushing pressure had vanished.

"What...? Is this Maria’s doing?"

She rose slowly, feeling an immense Void Aura flooding the entire Formation. It didn’t just neutralize the barrier’s effect; it began cracking the formation itself, fractures racing across the invisible walls.

Everything inside appeared gray and strangely transparent.

"W-What...! What is this...?! Nngghhh!"

The Vampire struggled to move through the impossibly dense energy, gasping as his crimson swords spun faster, building centrifugal force.

"You won’t escape...! Whatever this is, I’ll—"

"GRAAAAOOO!"

At that moment, the sect’s roof exploded outward. A gigantic shadowy figure burst forth, carrying everyone who had been trapped inside.

Everyone, Partner included, stared in shock.

The colossal creature charged forward, shrouded in black and ghostly mist. Blood energy, Ki, and phantasmal power swirled together into a chaotic, overwhelming aura.

"GRAAAA!"

A single roar unleashed a shockwave of dark energy that slammed into the Vampire, hurling him through the mountainside and into a massive boulder.

BOOOM!

"Gaaahaa?!"

The Vampire coughed blood as his organs ruptured and his spine shattered. His unfocused eyes struggled to make sense of the monster before him.

"A... cat...?!"

It was indeed a cat, pitch-black with glowing golden eyes.

Yet it towered larger than a Mountain Tiger, sleek and powerful like a panther, but retaining the graceful lines of a house cat scaled to monstrous size.

Dark red and black phantasmal flames blazed around its neck, forming a spectral mane. Two sharp horns curved from its forehead, completing its demonic appearance.

"You’ve angered the great guardian of the Blood Demon Sect...!" Wu Lieng declared, standing proudly atop the beast with his four remaining disciples. The others who had ridden the cat earlier were already helping the injured below.

"Prepare to face judgment from the Blood Demon Beast!" Kim Hua roared.

"You know what he loves most?" one of the disciples shouted with a grin.

"Ripping apart Vampires and drinking their blood!"

"Go, Little Blackie! Tear his face off!"

"GRAAAOOO!"

With a thunderous roar, Little Blackie swung a massive claw wreathed in blazing phantoms. The strike shredded the Vampire’s face, exposing raw red muscle and leaving his eyes lidless and bulging.

"AAAAAAAAGHHHH!"

The Vampire screamed in agony, jaws stretched impossibly wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth and prominent fangs.

"Pff... Hahahaha!"

"Look at that idiot’s face!"

"What a moron!"

The three rowdy disciples laughed mercilessly while Wu Lieng’s Aura flared, and Kim Hua raised his shield.

"Crush him, Little Black!"

Little Blackie charged again, eyes blazing. He slammed into the Vampire with his full weight, crushing ribs and sending the body tumbling down the mountainside, impaled on the jagged branches of the unbreakable trees that grew there.

Meanwhile, Partner slowly recovered thanks to Maria’s shared Lifeforce. Relief washed over her, mixed with a touch of irritation that it had taken so long.

"I’m sorry," Maria said softly, gently patting her head. "I was lost in the memories of a little kitten. I’ll make it up to you later; ask me anything you want once this is over."

"Hmph. Fine," Partner muttered, pushing herself to her feet.

"Mama, the Vampires are here!" Nyx announced.

"I saw them up there," Arachne added.

"They’re still inside!" Celes confirmed.

"There was another one, but something huge took it away... just what was that?!" Nia asked.

"Ah, that was the cat I mentioned," Maria explained. "His name is Little Blackie. He was the only soul left in the sect, their beloved guardian."

"So what happened in there?" Arthur asked quietly.

"They’re... gone," Maria sighed. "All of them."

"Everyone...?" Melianna whispered.

"How awful..." Ferleen murmured.

"I saw everything through the kitten’s memories," Maria continued. "One of the disciples betrayed the sect, probably manipulated by her mother. She disabled or stole the special Artifact that maintained the protective barrier, the final gift from the Heavenly Demon to Wu Lieng. Once it was gone, four different sects attacked at once..."

"That’s overkill for a small sect like this," Yoomyung said bitterly. "A complete massacre with no honor at all. I feel nothing but shame. I once believed in the Murim Alliance... they’re scum. Trash! Rulers of Heaven? Disgusting monsters, every last one of them!"

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