Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1820: The Truth About The Moon World

-----

Before Sobek could comprehend how that was possible, his head rolled across the ground. Confusion flooded his mind; his ethereal form should not have been capable of dying from decapitation.

And yet the cold, suffocating embrace of death closed around him.

"What’s going on...! AAAHHHH!"

His body darkened, taking on a ghostly aura. At the same moment, dozens of his family members materialized beside him, as zombies.

The giant robot Maria had destroyed swiftly repaired itself through her skill.

"What...! What happened?!"

Sobek stared in horror at the mindless, floating corpses of his kin.

Then he felt the ghostly aura clinging to him.

And he understood.

"I died..."

Despair consumed his mind completely. He realized with crushing certainty that he was now subject to Maria’s absolute control.

"Fufu, good. Come here, little crocodile."

"Eh...! Wait! I can give you anything! But please wait—AAAAAGGH!"

Sobek endured brutal torture, forced to experience every ounce of suffering the Moon Elves had endured.

Maria summoned their vengeful spirits and drove them into his soul, imprinting their agony upon him. Then she cast him, along with everything tied to Thebes, into her Soul Realm.

The Moon Elves emerged from the shadows, dazed and blinking as they looked around. Their world stood empty of invaders.

They gazed upward and saw a towering goddess of black steel, wreathed in moonlight flames.

"T-The Avatar of our Great Moon Mother!"

"She came to save us!"

"It was her! It really was her!"

"Oh, my Great Moon Mother!"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Thousands upon thousands of Moon Elves fell to their knees, prostrating themselves in worship. Maria shifted uncomfortably.

"No, no, wait a second—it’s not like that...!"

She tried to stop them, but the Oracle appeared, arms spread wide. She proclaimed their newfound freedom, hailing Maria as the Saint of Moonlight and the living Avatar of their Great Moon Mother, a true goddess.

Tears of joy streamed down Moon Elf faces as they celebrated. Their tyrannical rulers were gone at last. They could finally reclaim their lives, though full recovery would take many years.

Maria dismissed her giant machine, reflecting that it had served well as a vessel. It provided solid armor that grew stronger with her power, she even sensed she could transform it into temporary Dream Armor when needed.

Still, her true form offered greater flexibility. Even so, she decided the mechanical construct was a reliable enough armor for situations that demanded it.

Once she rejoined her family, they entered Violet Moon City. Despite the damage Thebes had inflicted, the city remained largely intact and strikingly beautiful. They claimed it as spoils of their conquest.

"Thank you so much!"

"Our Saviors!"

"Thank you, thank you!"

Moon Elves swarmed them from every direction, enveloping them in eager embraces with their large hands and long fingers. Maria felt dizzy from the attention.

"P-Please give us some personal space...!"

She pleaded for them to ease back, but the Moon Elves were overflowing with enthusiasm.

Seleneia approached with a gentle smile, knelt before Maria, and bowed deeply in gratitude.

"Thank you so much. You’ve truly done it! You brought us hope, you gave us strength, and you freed us from their tyranny in less than a day!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, by the goddess, how could we ever repay you? We will remember you forever!"

"A-Ah, it’s fine, really," Maria said awkwardly. "I gained plenty of rewards just from taking them down..."

"Please, at the very least, take me. I will give you my body and soul...!" Seleneia pleaded, eyes shining with fervent devotion as she began to undress.

"What...! What are you doing?!" Maria quickly stopped the Oracle before she embarrassed herself in front of everyone. "Please don’t say such things! I don’t want your body or your soul, calm down."

"N-No?" Seleneia looked faintly disappointed. "My body and my soul are all I have now...! What else could I possibly give you? Please take me as your property and—"

"Is this your fetish?! Stop it!" Maria delivered a gentle karate chop to her head.

Seleneia let out a cute yelp.

"Ouch..."

"Ahem! Anyway, I can’t stay here long," Maria continued. "But at the very least, let’s return all the lifeblood to your moon. Is it safe to pour it back after it was extracted?"

"It’s fine..." Seleneia assured her. "The Moonlight Dew is imperishable."

"Good. But what exactly is this?" Maria asked curiously.

"The moon is a living organism," Seleneia explained softly, clasping her hands in reverence. "The dew is her blood. It’s not complicated. This elixir rejuvenates, extends lifespan, restores mana, spirit energy, and life force. With her approval, it can even transform someone into a member of the Moon Race."

"Ah, I see..." Maria nodded slowly. "No wonder they wanted it so badly..."

She turned to the extraction site and began pouring back every gallon they had collected for transport.

As she worked, she noticed that deeper down, the walls of the hole appeared strangely... fleshy.

"Huh..."

Thebes had extracted vast quantities of lifeblood over many years. What remained here was only a fraction of what they had taken.

Still, Seleneia smiled gently. "It’s enough to restore our Great Moon Mother a little more. With this, she should regain at least fifteen percent of her former strength. She has survived without decaying too far. I believe she can recover over time."

"Ah, that’s a relief," Maria said.

"I know you’re leaving soon, but would you stay for lunch at least? We’re preparing a grand feast!" Seleneia offered warmly.

"Ahh, sure!" Maria agreed. "All right."

Maria joined the joyous celebratory feast alongside her family. They savored the unique endemic cuisine of the Moon Elves, dishes crafted from plants and animals nurtured on this very moon.

Yet even as she tried to relax and enjoy the moment, Maria could not shake the strange unease that had settled in her chest after glimpsing what lay inside the moon.

This moon... just what was it?

She glanced toward the barren planet the moon orbited, a lifeless desert world stripped of all vitality.

"Just what could have happened to extinguish all life on that planet so completely?"

Then she looked down at the moon itself. Channeling her ghostly soul into its depths, she sought to see what truly dwelled within.

"...?!"

Her eyes widened.

Her ghostly soul brushed against a powerful moonlight aura that attempted to draw her consciousness deeper.

She resisted and instead examined the entity at the core.

"A big meatball?"

At the moon’s heart pulsed a gigantic mass of flesh, riddled with throbbing veins and tentacles spreading outward like roots.

The moon itself was merely a shell, a protective husk shielding this being from the harsh void beyond.

"Is this an alien life form? Is this what the Elves have been worshipping all this time without knowing?"

The creature’s flesh gleamed dark purple with pinkish patches. Its tentacles extended across the surface, hardening into vast forests that produced fruits, vegetables, and grains.

"Huh?"

Maria stared at the food on her plate, a sudden wave of revulsion rising in her throat.

-----