Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1840: The Invading Factions Stir In Panic

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Laura sighed as she opened the door. Maria rushed forward and hugged her tightly.

She hugged her sister back, smiling softly and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

They stayed like that, simply holding each other for several minutes without a word.

They just wanted the comfort of each other’s presence, the warmth of the embrace.

"Laura?"

"Yes, Fran?"

"Let’s find Mom."

"...Tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Okay... let’s find her."

Once Laura felt steady again, exhaustion overtook her. She fell asleep almost immediately after such a draining day.

Maria’s family helped her finish washing the dishes. Then she decided to sleep beside her sister that night.

In the dark, Fran cuddled close to her big sister on the large bed. Laura instinctively wrapped her arms around her like a pillow and refused to let go.

...

News of the mysterious hunter who had sealed multiple gates and field dungeons across New Jersey spread rapidly through the city and neighboring areas. Numerous guilds that owned those locations were now furiously searching for the unknown woman, unable to identify her.

At the same time, another group hunted the "Saintess," as some now called Fran. She had healed an entire city’s worth of people upon awakening. Her abilities were so extraordinary that billionaires worldwide and SS-Rank Hunters desperately sought her out.

Some wanted her power for themselves. Others hoped to recruit her into their guilds. And some... wanted her dead. She represented a direct threat to their profitable businesses of selling potions and providing healing through their own healers.

Chaos erupted across the city and soon the entire world—especially on social media, where people constantly searched for the Saintess but could find no account or page belonging to her.

Olympus’s Earth branch was also rattled. She had slipped from their grasp not once, but twice. When those members returned, they acted strangely.

"Speak to me, Joseph! I order you by the blessing within you! Who was that woman?! Where is she now?! What did she do to you?! What are her real powers?! How could a mere healer overpower you?!"

A tall, muscular figure radiating divine power questioned Joseph. He was no Earth-born human, but a powerful God from Olympus—one of many assigned to this world.

"I... I can’t..." Joseph muttered.

He didn’t understand why, but a strange force prevented him from speaking at all.

The truth was, she had revived him—making him her "friend." And good friends like him should never reveal secrets or anything that could harm a friend.

"What do you mean you can’t talk?! Speak! Wait... your blessing is strange! It has been trampled?!"

The God’s eyes widened. He seized Joseph like a kitten in his massive hands and inspected him closely.

"Odd! W-What is this woman?! How can she do this when she just awakened? Tch!"

The God tossed Joseph aside as if he were disposable trash and strode through his grand hall, summoning guild members.

"American Branch of Olympus! We are holding a conference! Gather here now! And all my lazy brothers and sisters—hurry the hell up!"

The tyrannical god quickly assembled the other gods. They held a tense discussion about the future of this world with a woman like her present.

After heated debate, they reached the same grim conclusion.

"Then if we cannot have her, no one else should," the god declared with a nod. "We’re going to take her down no matter what. Someone of her caliber could grow far too dangerous and ultimately threaten our hold on this world."

The gods and guild members agreed. They immediately began mobilizing and crafting a plan to trap and eliminate Fran.

...

"What do you mean you cannot speak, dog?! Did that brat steal your tongue?! You clearly spoke to her! Tell me more about her—anything!"

A furious vampire Archduke kicked a black-haired vampire sprawled on the floor, forcing him to spit blood again and again.

"Uuggh...! I’m sorry... sir...! I cannot speak...! I can’t... I don’t know... why..."

The Archduke’s face twisted with rage. His sharp claws raked across the vampire’s face, splattering blood everywhere.

"Tch, you can’t?! You can’t?! YOU CAN’T?! SPEAK! SPEAK! SPEAK RIGHT NOW!"

"Aaaaagggh! I can’t...! There’s something stopping me...! She placed a curse or something...! Have mercy! I’ve served you faithfully this entire time...! Please have mercy!"

Vampires were not known for mercy—a concept almost laughable to them. The Archduke tortured the young man for a long while before finally giving up.

"It seems he’s been hit with some bizarre curse. I cannot extract it, and no amount of torture forces him to speak..."

The Archduke sighed and approached a tall figure seated on a throne of red bloodstone. Beside him rested the fresh corpse of a woman, her torn neck still bleeding into his cup as he drank deeply.

"Hah! I see... Well, killing him changes nothing. We must forcibly turn that girl into a Vampire and enslave her... and if that fails, kill her. We cannot allow the Olympus bastards to have her—nor Thebes or the others. Once dead, bring her soul and body here. We can turn her into a Blood Puppet retaining her original abilities."

"Understood, Family Head."

As the Archduke departed, the Family Head sat in silence, lost in deep thought.

He knew a woman like her could threaten his entire dominion over Earth—and the endless supply of fresh blood he harvested freely from a world of eight billion people.

But above all...

"The Crimson Emperor might not take her existence kindly. Before he grows displeased, she must be dealt with."

...

"Mother, there was such a bright radiance! I couldn’t do anything against her! She was so bright! So, so bright! Life! She gave me life when I died! And I can’t... speak anymore. I don’t know why!"

A beautiful woman from Thebes pleaded desperately with her mother—a tall, imposing figure seated on a golden throne inside a massive pyramid in Egypt.

Her mother gazed down with open contempt.

"So you swear by Ra that you truly cannot speak and that some restriction prevents you?"

"I swear by Ra, Mother! It’s the truth...!"

"Hmmm..."

The woman crossed her legs and sighed. She turned her attention to a floating red mirror before her, observing the world outside and the gathered information about the girl.

"Francis... Francisca? What an odd name these lowly insects from the lower world have..."

"Indeed, Mother. They’re all strange words."

Her mother shifted her gaze to the enormous golden-and-red statue of a giant falcon-headed sun god—Ra.

From within the statue, a blazing figure manifested and looked down upon them.

"That woman carries not just her own sins but the sins of others... Her soul is twisted and bizarre, and it does not match her true body...!" the Divine Being declared. "Kill her! Offer her as a sacrifice to my altar! I could gain immense power from her...! No—I need her!"

"Understood, Lord Ra... Your wish is our will."

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