Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1798: Floor 34, Verdanthral

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Maria studied the group of Vampires. There were four of them.

They were not alone. They dragged more than a dozen captives behind them, blood chains wrapped tightly around their necks.

The prisoners appeared to belong to a small tree-climbing monkey tribe—humanoid figures with red skin and gray fur.

"Ukiii?!"

"Ukia! Ukiaaa!"

"Ukiiii!"

Panic erupted among them as the forest ahead vanished. They looked battered and exhausted, some still bleeding from fresh wounds.

The group included the elderly and children. The Vampires had spared no one.

"Ohhh, we’re lucky we found some pieces of shit right away," Maria said, smiling as she licked her lips. "My sword was getting thirsty for blood."

"W-Wha...?!"

"You think you can stand against us?!"

"Don’t you dare challenge the Crimson Order, Player!"

"We show no mercy to those who can’t mind their own business!"

"You’re trying so hard to act intimidating and strong, but you’re all pissing yourselves in fear," Lucifer remarked coldly. He suddenly shifted into his hybrid form. "You’re mine."

RUMBLE!

White flames erupted from his body. In mere seconds, he closed the distance and drove his claws into one Vampire’s face, exploding it into bloody fragments.

"Aaaaah!"

The remaining three screamed in terror and unleashed Blood Magic. Crimson spears, swords, and axes hurtled toward Lucifer, only to shatter against his scale armor.

"Pathetic."

His long white tail lashed out like a whip, striking all three at once. Their upper torsos tore away and sailed into the jungle.

Their faces twisted in agony as they groaned.

"W-Wha...!"

"Aaaagh!"

"Noo!"

White flames consumed their bodies until nothing remained but charred husks.

The moment they died, the red chains around the monkey people’s necks vanished.

"W-We’re free?!"

"Ukiaaa! Freedom!"

"Savior! Our white-scaled savior!"

"Great God of the Jungle, thank you, ukiiii!"

The monkeys erupted in celebration, leaping and climbing over Lucifer’s massive form. The children tugged at his long hair and licked his scales.

"Ugh! W-Wait! Don’t climb my body—Agh! Don’t pull my tail!"

Maria approached with her family. Nyx dashed forward to greet them alongside Celes and Arachne.

Ferleen and Melianna also stepped closer to examine the freed captives.

"Hello. Sorry for frightening you," Maria said gently. "I was the one who cut down the trees. Would you be kind enough to tell us what happened to you? Perhaps while we share some food and drink? You all look exhausted. Emeraldine, Jonathan, and Alma can heal your wounds as well."

Maria offered fresh cold water and heaps of fruit. The monkey people devoured everything eagerly. Even the smallest child attacked a banana and an apple at the same time, ravenous with hunger.

"Those Vampires appeared out of nowhere..." the village elder sighed heavily. "They slaughtered our warriors, then dragged us from our homes. They said they would squeeze every last drop of blood from us..."

"We thought we were well hidden, but they found us anyway!"

"They shattered the Shaman’s Spirit Barrier..."

"We’ve heard other villages have vanished too..."

"That’s not good," Maria murmured. "Where were they taking everyone?"

"To the south," the elder answered, voice trembling. "There’s a red spire there... I shudder to think what they’re doing to those poor souls. I don’t even want to imagine it."

"We’ll handle it," Maria said firmly, nodding.

"Um, hello," Melianna said, raising her hand. "Excuse me, do you have any information about the Red Fox Tribe?"

"Have you seen any members of that tribe?" Ferleen asked.

"Hmm..." The elder paused, searching his memory. "There was a large, strange flying vehicle nearby. It carried many people from all kinds of tribes. I remember seeing foxes among them."

"So they’re constantly kidnapping people and using flying vehicles to transport them to the spires..." Maria said, disgust rising in her voice. "Ugh, this makes me feel sick. Well, there’s an easy way to learn everything we need."

She turned to the four Vampire corpses and snapped her fingers.

"Come on. Time to wake up."

To the monkey people’s horror, the Vampires stirred and rose, ghostly auras seeping from their bodies.

"Tell me everything you know about your kind here," Maria commanded. "Every outpost, every group, vehicle locations, spires, fortresses—everything."

"Yes..." The Vampires nodded obediently.

In that moment, the brutal truth unfolded.

The Vampires had already conquered most of the central region and were pushing into the south of the continent.

Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of them were scattered across the land, rivaling the numbers in Murim.

Dukes, Archdukes, and even a Family Head resided here, commanding everything with their entire lineage.

While the Lucarion Family ruled in Murim, House Velcrith held dominion in Verdanthral.

They specialized in Crimson Alchemy and Blood Forging.

Those spires functioned as enormous magical cauldrons. Living people were poured inside and...

Crushed in agony, reduced to pills and elixirs that accelerated the Vampires’ growth.

The sheer horror nearly made Maria choke on her own rage. It was utterly despicable.

"Hundreds of thousands have died..." Ferleen whispered in despair.

"No..." Melianna sobbed quietly. Nyx wrapped her arms around her in comfort.

"But if they’re scattered everywhere, finding them all will be impossible... damn it," Lucifer growled.

"Hm, no. Not really," Maria replied. Her eyes burned with murderous intent. "It shouldn’t be hard... for me."

"Huh?" Jonathan stared at her, eyes widening. "Maria, please calm down. Your aura is...!"

"I’m going to kill them all," she said, voice low and lethal. "I’ll shatter their souls, repair them, and shatter them again and again until nothing remains but mindless, vegetable-like zombies for eternity."

Her face darkened to pitch black. A single crimson eye opened in the center.

She rose into the air, her aura surging with terrifying power.

Then she revealed her true strength.

"{Void Dominion: World of Emptiness}"

TRUUUM!

Everything turned gray.

For hundreds of kilometers around her, the Void expanded without mercy.

Vampires drinking innocent blood, dragging villagers from their homes, torturing them while laughing at weeping children—suddenly froze.

"Wha...?"

SPLAT!

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Heads exploded in rapid succession.

A few hundred Vampires perished in her long-range strike.

Then she unleashed hundreds of Ghosts and Skeletons across the land.

Shadows flooded the world, transforming the emptiness into a realm of darkness that swallowed the skies.

The surviving Vampires, still unaware, smiled at the sudden nightfall.

From those shadowed skies, skeletons, zombies, and blazing ghosts poured down.

Monstrous dinosaur skeletons, colossal beast zombies, and roaring spectral flames tore through them one by one.

Only then did Maria slowly return to normal.

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