Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1876: They Are Here

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Really, Maria and Julia had expected a much more formal conference, but this place felt like pure indulgence with nothing serious ever being discussed.

"Bread and circuses for the mortals, so they never question or worry about anything, huh, Odin?" Maria thought, gazing up at the ceiling painting of Odin and his children, the Aesir, enthroned above the clouds.

She quickly realized the entire "super important conference" was nothing but a farce. The nobles arrived claiming to shape the future of the continent, yet it was only a den of indulgence and depravity—where slaves were sold, connections were forged, and wealth was greedily pursued in every twisted way.

Maria was utterly sick of it all.

But then.

"Yes, my dear husband, for the future of Midgard... no, of Yggdrasil!" his wife said, offering a gentle, loving smile as she caressed his chest with adoring eyes.

"That’s right, my dear," the Emperor nodded, kissing her. "Thank you for standing by my side all this time... Since my late wife passed, I’ve been so lonely, but you brought the light I needed... Let’s—"

"Yes, yes, a future for Yggdrasil where we can live happily together?" his wife asked with an understanding nod. "Of course, my dear husband... Unfortunately, that future includes neither you nor any human here."

"...Maribelle?" The Emperor laughed in confusion. "Hahah, another one of your jokes?"

But Maribelle never stopped smiling.

In perfect silence, her hand pressed firmly against his chest.

"No, my dear, foolish husband. This is not a joke. This continent, this world... it belongs to us Vampires to rule."

"...Wha—ACK?!"

CRASH!

Before every eye in the room—before every noble who had attended this conference—Maribelle III, the beloved wife of the Emperor, drove her hand straight through his chest, tore out his still-beating heart, and crushed it.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

"A-Ah...! Ma... Maribelle...?"

The Emperor’s face twisted in pure agony, despair, shock, and the deepest betrayal as he stared into his wife’s eyes—now blazing solid red.

A cruel smile spread across her lips.

"But don’t worry, my dear... After all, you swore to stay by my side, even after death, didn’t you?"

"A-Ah...! How... Ugh..."

The Emperor of the Empire of Light collapsed to the floor.

His life was over.

He was dead.

In that shattering moment, despair erupted.

Every noble who believed the world existed for their pleasure received a brutal awakening.

"T-The Emperor...!"

"That aura?!"

"V-Vamp...! Vampire!!!"

"Aahhhhh!"

"Nooooo!"

Nobles screamed and fled toward the gates while the Empress watched with a delighted, serene smile.

Her gaze shifted to the trembling soldiers pointing swords at her.

"T-The Emperor was a Level 100 Sword Aura Grand Master! How could you kill him?!"

"W-Who are you?! You’re not Lady Maribelle!"

"W-What’s happening?! How did we let her infiltrate the royal family?!"

As the soldiers shouted in panic, the woman laughed—her voice ringing with pure, vicious joy.

"Heheh... Hahahahaha! But I am Maribelle! I’ve been her for the last ten years! When she was chosen, I simply devoured her heart, drank her blood, and became her!" She cackled. "Fufu...! Hahahahaha! Now! My dear husband! Rise to my side!"

"What?! Stop her!"

The general bellowed as every soldier charged at once.

But it was far too late.

A ghostly aura enveloped the Emperor’s corpse.

To their horrified disbelief, he rose again.

The overwhelming presence of a Sword Aura Grand Master surged once more as he drew his great blade.

His empty white eyes burned with blue phantasmal flames!

"HMPH!"

CLAAANK!

With a guttural roar, the Emperor swung his massive sword, hurling the soldiers aside like ragdolls and slamming them into the ground.

"Ugh?! Ahhh...! What is the meaning of this?!" The general’s lips quivered. "Y-You damned Vampires...! You’ve made a terrible mistake! The wrath of the gods will fall upon you all!"

"And so what if it does?!" the vampire woman declared triumphantly. "We too are protected by a god now!"

"...?!"

RUMBLE!

The entire imperial castle shook violently as a colossal formation of blood and curses materialized from thin air.

It spread rapidly across the Empire of Light, forming an enormous demonic pentagram pulsing with blood energy, stolen souls, and thick demonic miasma.

All around, people screamed. Nobles in the hall convulsed and collapsed, their life force brutally drained from their bodies.

Behind her, a dimensional portal ripped open.

An old man with short gray hair and beard, sharp crimson eyes, and a towering, formidable frame stepped through—his body radiating immense divine blood energy.

"A-Ascended...! Ascended Vampire?!"

"What!"

"That’s a Divinity!"

The soldiers recoiled in terror as they stared at the Vampire King and the dozens of other vampires pouring in behind him—alongside grotesque, monstrous chimeras.

Maria recognized him instantly: the man Lucifer had feared all this time, son of the Ancient Vampire King.

Sirius Dracul—the current Vampire King of Yggdrasil, the architect of every torment she had endured since reincarnating here.

And the woman was not Maribelle at all—she was Anette, the "Horseman of Death"!

The cursed Necromancer who had toyed with her and countless others, the shadowy funder of the desert’s dark sorcerers, the manipulator who drove Tear to commit unspeakable atrocities.

At his other side stood a tall, muscular vampire with long red hair and a demon-shaped mask, his pale skin covered in vivid red demonic tattoos.

He radiated overwhelming power—the last remaining Horseman, Hercules, the "Horseman of War"!

With Famine and Conquest already fallen, only these two Supreme Vampires remained at their King’s side.

Yet over all these years, they had already forged a colossal army of monstrous Chimeras using the horrific knowledge gained from countless experiments with Evil God Fragments.

"Hahahaha! Welcome to the final stage, humans! Your entire Empire—everything you’ve ever built—will be destroyed!!! Hahahahaa! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As Anette’s manic laughter echoed, the whole Empire of Light shuddered.

Then it began to rise into the sky.

Below the clouds, a gigantic rift tore open in space.

A dark realm of eternal shadow and blood—an endless night—awaited.

RUMBLE!

"W-What’s happening?!" Julia screamed, clinging tightly to Maria as the castle continued to quake. "T-The entire city...! It’s being lifted into the sky!"

"...Haha, I see," Maria laughed softly, a dangerous smile spreading across her face. "You’ve outplayed us all... Well done."

She clapped slowly and stepped forward.

"Although I’m grateful you killed the Emperor and a few nobles, plenty of innocent, good people live here," Maria said calmly. "Across the entire city—across the entire world—there are those who don’t deserve to die. I agree with some of your grievances, but I cannot allow you to annihilate humanity. After all, I am human too."

As she advanced, the Vampires and their beasts felt the crushing weight of her almighty Aura.

The world itself seemed to fracture further.

CRASH!

The castle’s ceiling was ripped away, hurled toward the dark portal above.

Beneath the gaping black gateway to Umbralheim—the realm of Vampires—the Crimson Emperor and his Evil God of Bloodshed watched with sharp, predatory eyes.

Maria’s Aura exploded outward.

A titanic ghostly pagoda materialized!

TRUUUM!

Thousands of soldiers poured forth.

The Vampires stood stunned.

"Unfortunately for you, I prepared even more than you did."

"It’s you?! Maria! Kill her! Kill her right now!"

Anette roared with burning resentment—Maria had ruined so many of her schemes—and summoned thousands of Undead Chimeras that surged toward Maria’s army.

Thus, the Beginning of the End had finally arrived.

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