Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1800: The Fallen Beast Hero

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Everyone wished they could carry their people’s remains back to their own towns, but with everything destroyed, it was impossible.

So they held a burial nearby. People placed stones engraved with names and prayed to their fallen spirit beast gods.

Maria sighed softly, welcoming the survivors into her Soul Realm after a time, then pressed onward.

After repeating the process at two more fortresses, she arrived at the red spire.

It was gigantic, stretching over four hundred meters into the sky.

A powerful aura of death and blood radiated from it.

Unlike the others, the Vampires had prepared this time.

An Archduke stood with three Dukes at his side, greeting Maria’s group with fierce hostility.

"There you are! Do you truly believe you can stand against the Crimson Order?!" the Archduke snarled. His long blonde hair framed glowing red eyes. "We will crush you and devour your family!"

Maria stared at them in silence. Sorrow filled her face.

Black tears streamed from her eyes and began to float around her.

"Hah?! You’re crying? Hahaha! I bet you’re terrified of—"

"Please, that’s enough," Maria whispered. "How many innocents must die to satisfy you? You’re such horrible people... just die."

"Huh?!"

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Before he could react, hundreds of small black tears bombarded him, the dukes, and the entire spire.

The protective formation shattered instantly. Dozens of vampires disintegrated in explosions of void miasma.

"Aaaagh! Uuugh! W-What was that?! Aahhh...!"

The Archduke opened his eyes, gasping, his body riddled with holes. He groaned in agony as he struggled to rise, staring in horror at the utter massacre.

All it had taken was her tears to slaughter them...

Then...

"Ugh?!"

An immense pressure crushed down. Maria appeared above him, gazing coldly.

Her white hair veiled most of her face except for the third crimson eye on her forehead.

It stared straight into his soul.

"I have created a new curse," she said quietly. "By transferring the pain of these ghosts into your soul, you will experience everything they endured as you ground them into pills. Enjoy."

"W-What— AAAAAAHHHHH!"

The vampire screamed in terror. The same agonizing torment repeated endlessly. His soul trembled, cracked, and began to fracture.

Slowly his mind collapsed. He drooled, clawing at his own eyes until he tore them from their sockets.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP IT! AAAAGGGHHHH!"

"No," Maria replied coldly. "I’ll enhance it a hundred times more. And your soul will regenerate constantly, so you can savor every moment of the pain. Enjoy it."

"NOOOOOO!"

In the end, Maria inflicted the same curse on every vampire—even those already dead.

One remained unaffected: someone who genuinely regretted his actions.

He was a native of this world, a once-lucky warrior from a wolf tribe. The vampires had turned him into a soldier because of his strength and forced him to commit atrocities.

"Kill me...! Please kill me...!"

He begged for death. The horrors he had witnessed and the guilt consuming him tore at his soul and heart.

"I can’t," Maria said gently. "You will stay alive. Stand by our side and fight with us. Use the strength they gave you against them."

"A-Ahh..." The man kept crying but nodded weakly.

Ferleen and Melianna recognized him immediately.

"T-That’s...! I’ve seen him before. Isn’t he the Hero of the Wolf Tribe?"

"Yeah... Gray, right?"

The wolf man sighed and looked down in deep shame.

"I am no hero... I couldn’t protect anyone... everyone died... I was turned into this, forced to watch my own people..." His hands shook as he muttered. "Aahh... the beast spirits are dead... this world... everything—"

"Please hang in there. It’s going to get better," Ferleen said, offering a warm smile despite everything.

"It’s going to be okay, uncle..." Melianna whispered, hugging the old wolf tightly.

His pain-filled face pressed into the girl’s shoulder. For the first time in months, since becoming a cold vampire, he felt genuine warmth from her embrace. Fresh tears fell as he wept.

"We brought someone who can save us all," Ferleen said softly.

"She will, definitely," Melianna agreed with a nod.

"I see..." Gray managed a bitter smile. "She’s indeed... formidable. There were strange chains around my neck before, but they’re gone."

"Yeah, I removed them," Maria said. "They were an Artifact crafted with Alchemy to bind you to your creator—the Family Head who turned you."

"I’m free from his control?" he asked in wonder. "Incredible..."

"I’ve already killed three Family Heads," Maria replied. "I wonder if this one is a little stronger... Well, he might be."

After all, this one had single-handedly slain most of the Beast Spirits of this world—gods—and even their King. He had stolen their Divine Throne as well.

"Come on, let’s keep moving," Maria said. "If you want blood, we have plenty."

"It disgusts me to drink blood..." Gray muttered.

"Well, you’re a damn vampire now. Adapt or die!" Anubis appeared above Maria’s head.

"Anubis! Don’t be a shithead," Maria scolded, knocking his head lightly.

"Agh! I-I was just trying to cheer him up, master. Some tough love is all he needs..." Anubis grumbled.

"Accompany him for now," Maria instructed. Anubis floated to Gray’s side. "Give him the power to fight back."

"What? Who are you? Wait—you’re a beast spirit too?!" Gray’s face brightened with sudden hope. "So some of you are still alive! T-This is miraculous!"

"I am not a spirit. I am a great Egyptian God of Death and Judgment!" Anubis snapped indignantly.

"There were so many... I might not have known about you..." Gray sighed. "Thank you for coming here and helping us..."

"...I told you I am not a spirit," Anubis growled. "Say that again and I’m ripping your tongue off."

"H-Hahah..." Gray gave a wry smile. "Thank you for lifting my mood..."

"I genuinely mean it, fool," Anubis muttered.

"Thank you..." Gray smiled again, softer this time.

"...What’s with this idiot?" Anubis rolled his eyes. "Well, if master says so, I’ll stick around with him for the time being..."

After destroying the spire, Maria freed the captives, buried those that were turned into pills and elixirs, and created graveyards. She guided the survivors into her Soul Realm—a peaceful paradise where they could recover and mourn.

Her Undead had slain hundreds of vampires by now—perhaps thousands. She was building a massive Vampire Zombie Army, sending it against other fortresses, wiping them out, rescuing more people, and burying the remains of the innocent turned into elixirs.

Finally, Maria reached a huge crimson wall with a castle looming behind it.

This was not the Family Head’s location, but they had entered the Northern Area at last—the region slowly being terraformed by the vampires.

The sky twisted into an unnatural eternal night. The moon glowed with an ominous red. In the distance, the once-lush green forest withered, replaced by strange red trees while bizarre blood beasts prowled the dying land.

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