Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1776: The Curse Of Fate

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"{Heavenly Yinyang Spear Arts}: {Crescent Rainbow Heaven}"

"...?!"

The Archduchess barely registered the handsome young man stepping inside before he unleashed his technique.

In the next instant, vibrant colors pierced her body, riddling it with countless holes.

"A-ah? What... happened?"

Her vision blurred, darkness swallowed her, and her body burst apart, scattering across the floor.

She died without ever understanding what had struck her.

"Arthur!" Kim Hua exhaled in deep relief.

"Meowww!" Little Black cheered triumphantly.

"Your three friends fought well, but they nearly perished. These vampires are formidable," Arthur said. "Now that we have the crystal ball, let’s leave!"

Arthur swiftly enveloped everyone in his Martial Soul Aura and fled the crumbling Crimson Manor as it plummeted from the skies.

Only to witness an even more astonishing sight amid the vast cloud seas of High Heaven.

RUMBLE!

A colossal golden dragon emerged, its monstrous roar shaking the heavens. Its body stretched hundreds of meters, scales gleaming with radiant gold.

Its eyes burned with brilliant white light, and its majestic horns sparkled with countless jewels.

An overwhelming presence radiated from it—a true monster among monsters.

A Calamity.

The greatest Calamity of Murim.

And...

"The Heavenly Emperor?!" Maria gasped. "So... hahaha! I should have known! It was you all along!"

"I cannot say I hadn’t suspected it myself," the Heavenly Demon sighed, his aura gently cradling his weakened son. "Wu Lieng, are you all right?"

"F-Father...! The Heavenly Emperor was the Golden Dragon Emperor this whole time?!" Wu Lieng stammered, voice trembling with shock. "So he...! Those disasters, the hundreds of villages destroyed, entire empires reduced to ruins—it was all him?! And he pretended to champion righteousness?!"

"Yes..." the Heavenly Demon replied heavily. "This is the Heavenly Emperor, a true monster and the greatest Calamity our world has ever known."

"FUAHAHAHAHA! I NO LONGER NEED TO HIDE! NOTHING MATTERS NOW! I WILL DEVOUR THIS WORLD, AND COUNTLESS OTHERS WILL FOLLOW! HEAVENLY DEMON! I WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR SON, AND THIS ENTIRE WORLD WILL PERISH WITH US!"

"To think you were once my friend..." The Heavenly Demon clenched his fist, sorrow etching his features. "In the end, it was all a lie. You have caused too much suffering—to everyone, to my family. I cannot allow you to live."

"YOU SPEAK AS IF YOU STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME?! TURN TO GOLD AND VANISH!"

The Golden Dragon Emperor roared, jaws widening as he unleashed glistening golden flames toward the Heavenly Demon and Wu Lieng.

FLUOOOSH!

This was the dreaded power of the Golden Dragon Emperor: flames that transformed anything they touched into eternal gold—an irreversible, indestructible curse.

Yet Maria halted it.

And reversed it.

"..."

She drifted protectively in front of father and son. They watched her body briefly turn to gold, only to swiftly revert, the cycle repeating faster each time.

Gradually, the effect weakened until she stood completely immune.

"Maria, isn’t it?" the Heavenly Demon asked with a faint smile.

"Yes," Maria nodded. "It’s an honor to finally meet the legendary Heavenly Demon in person."

"You flatter me," he chuckled softly. "Though your aid wasn’t necessary. I had already mastered a counter."

"Mastered it?" Maria echoed, intrigued.

"Yes, a way to neutralize the curse," he explained. "When your bead nearly dispelled it, I finally deciphered the secret after all these years."

"You were conscious the entire time, struggling to unravel it?!" Wu Lieng cried.

"Yes..." The Heavenly Demon’s smile turned bittersweet, a single tear tracing his cheek. "It was the only thing that preserved my sanity..."

"DIEEEEEE!"

Golden flames surged again, but the Heavenly Demon’s hands ignited with dark red and black fire, morphing into draconic claws.

"{Heavenly Demon Arts}: {Golden Ruler}"

FLAAASH!

His fists absorbed the onslaught, compressing the flames into radiant spheres within his palms.

"His power isn’t truly a curse as we understand it," he continued calmly. "It is a manifestation of Fate and the Heavens—a method to ’record’ everything as an eternal golden statue."

"What?!" Maria exclaimed.

"It is power bestowed directly by this world’s Heavenly Fate... or as some name it, the Heavenly Will!" The Heavenly Demon laughed bitterly. "A force no mere human should wield..."

"Y-YOU...?!" The Heavenly Emperor faltered, realizing his flames had lost their bite. "HOW?! MY GOLDEN FLAMES... THEY NO LONGER AFFECT YOU!"

"That power was never truly yours, was it?" the Heavenly Demon countered. "You stole it from the Heavenly Yellow Dragon King—the original benevolent guardian of Murim, a wise dragon god who protected our world. With aid from Umbralheim and Olympus, you slew him, claimed his throne, and became this abomination."

"AND WHAT IF I DID?! YOUR FATE REMAINS UNCHANGED!"

The Golden Dragon Emperor charged, jaws snapping. The Heavenly Demon’s hands blazed brighter with draconic fire.

"That is where you are mistaken," he said quietly. "I was once a disciple of that true dragon. After so long, I have finally learned to counter your stolen curse."

"DIE!"

Facing the golden inferno once more, the Heavenly Demon’s fists glowed with mysterious power, weaving an unseen force through reality itself.

Maria’s eyes widened in realization.

"He’s wielding Fate itself as a weapon!"

"{Heavenly Demon Arts}: {Grasping Fate With My Own Hands}"

TRUUUM!

His palms pierced the golden blaze as the Heavenly Demon plunged fearlessly into the heart of the flames.

Wu Lieng screamed in terror.

Only to watch his father reach the dragon’s gaping jaws.

"Goodbye."

"NGH?!"

In a single devastating strike, the Heavenly Demon unleashed all the seized Fate.

FLASH!

Space and time warped. Reality twisted. Maria’s vision flooded with fleeting images—countless colors, smiles, laughter, lives long lost.

"GUUAAAAAHHHHH!"

The Golden Dragon Emperor writhed in agony as his massive body swelled uncontrollably, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of returned Fate.

"NO...! NOOOOOO!!!"

BOOOMMM!!!

He exploded into innumerable particles of light.

Each glimmering speck was a soul.

"Souls?" Maria whispered, eyes widening in horror. "That monster... he devoured so many?!"

She was stunned. Even she, who had consumed souls of the wicked, had never taken anywhere near this many.

This beast had feasted mostly on innocents.

Not hundreds. Not thousands. Not even hundreds of thousands.

Tens of millions ascended now, bathed in heavenly light as they finally found peace.

And among them...

"Dear? Wu Lieng...?"

"Ahhh...!"

Tears streamed down the old man’s face as a beautiful woman with flowing white hair and gentle blue eyes smiled at him.

Father and son drifted toward her, enveloped in a warm, ethereal embrace.

"M-mo... Mother?!" Wu Lieng sobbed. "Mother!!!"

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