Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1882: The Terrifying Crimson Skeleton Knight
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Seeing Emeraldine’s arrows, Annette simply summoned titanic walls of nether brimstone infused with thousands of screaming souls and corpses, nullifying every attack.
"Uugh! D-Damn it! I can’t move?! What is this?! Aghhhh!"
Partner screamed as Annette pressed her hand to her forehead and poured her power inside.
"Rise, my Crimson Skeleton Knight! Hehe... HAHAHAHA!"
Annette had "stolen" Partner from Maria.
In that instant, Partner’s skeleton transformed. Crimson bone armor erupted across her form, dozens of arms sprouted, and she wielded massive, blazing weapons.
"GRAAAAHHH!"
The Partner they knew was gone, reduced to a mere Undead soldier.
A tremendously powerful one.
"P-Partner?!"
Laura groaned as Partner’s blades struck her, hurling her backward.
"W-Wait, this is too much! Auntie!" Nyx cried.
But Partner delivered a tremendous, explosive kick that sent Nyx flying.
"Grrr! Stop it! Don’t let her control you!"
Arachne darted through the void, catching Partner off guard. Her long legs wrapped tightly around the crimson skeleton.
"Wake up!"
She sank her fangs into Partner’s head, desperately trying to shatter the curse etched into her bones.
While this happened, Maria finally stabilized.
Then Partner flung Arachne aside and turned on her.
"GRAAAHHHH!!!"
Phantasmal flames surged from her jaws as she assaulted Maria without mercy.
Every technique and skill Partner had ever learned was now unleashed against her former master.
"Partner..."
Maria was torn apart again and again, yet she regenerated rapidly.
Still, Partner’s overwhelming strength made resistance nearly impossible.
"Any Undead I claim becomes a thousand times stronger! Look at her now—such a perfect vessel for my power!" Annette laughed.
Maria’s soul blade clashed against Partner’s blazing bone swords. The sky split open; spatial cracks spiderwebbed outward with every strike.
"Partner, wake up!"
Maria poured her power into breaking the curse, but it proved futile. Annette’s dominion over the dead surpassed her own.
That truth could no longer be denied.
She was utterly outplayed.
"WRAAAHHHH!"
Partner screamed, her soul trembling in torment.
Maria swung relentlessly, meeting blazing bone against soul steel.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
She became thunder, then shadow—blitzing around Partner, overwhelming her with a storm of rapid strikes.
Yet Partner anticipated every move, parrying flawlessly and covering Maria in hundreds of bleeding wounds.
"Ungh...! Partner, my dear...!"
Maria mourned aloud as black water pooled everywhere. Annette quickly tried to seize control of it while fending off the others.
"What is this water? Some sort of miasma? It’s mine n—Ugh? Cough...!"
Annette suddenly vomited blood.
"Huh?"
She realized something had invaded her body.
Every single cell was under constant assault.
"S-She became the air I’m breathing...?"
Annette instantly sealed her lungs and ceased breathing, circulating Ki to her brain to compensate for the oxygen even a Vampire required to stay conscious.
Then she unleashed her magic and curses, slowly devouring the countless tiny Marias within her.
But the process was agonizingly slow.
It bought everyone else the opening they needed.
Laura’s techniques tore through her walls in a furious rush.
Emeraldine’s arrows—each one now a living wooden spirit—sought out her weak points with deadly precision.
Nyx’s powerful flames incinerated wave after wave of Annette’s endless undead army, handling them almost single-handedly.
Arthur charged forward, clashing directly with Annette.
His spear blazed with the fused essence of countless cultivation methods and martial arts.
"Oh, a true genius, aren’t you?"
Yet Annette remained unshaken.
With a casual snap of her fingers, dozens of undead towers rose from nowhere.
Each tower was forged from thousands of zombies, ghosts, and skeletons.
They spun around her, forming a colossal domain.
Merely approaching caused Arthur’s soul to tear and his body to wither.
"Did you really think I hadn’t prepared for martial artists trying to fight me?" she sneered. "I have sparred with my brother Hercules for the last two thousand years—every day, every night. You think Vampires are lazy? We have worked harder than any of you could imagine."
"Impressive," Arthur said, clapping once. "You are, surprisingly, stronger than even those from Umbralheim. But how?"
"It’s simple. Despite our weaker bloodline, despite lacking their resources and extraordinary techniques..." she explained. "Despite having no grand history like theirs... we put effort where they refuse. Umbralheim’s Vampires only consume to grow stronger. They devour, steal, and consume again. Do they train? No. Do they seek to master their own power? No. All they pursue is more consumption. That is why they never awaken the true strength within their bodies and souls—as my father, my brother, and I have."
"So you’re Sirius’ daughter...!" Emeraldine said, nocking fresh arrows and gathering her magic.
"I am," Annette nodded. "Now look at that. Maria is giving everything she has and still struggling against her own comrade. Do you see? You are all in the palm of my hand. You lack thousands of years to ever compare to me and my family. We were kind enough to let you live because you were useful, fufu. My father was the most merciful. Did you know? He wanted to spare you so he could recruit you—to make you part of our family. You are lucky he is so benevolent. Now prostrate yourselves. In honor of my father, I will allow you to drink my blood and become my siblings. Come now—or do you need to die another twelve times to understand the difference between us is like heaven and earth?"
"If we plan to destroy the tower, we will face even more terrifying beings..." Emeraldine murmured.
"I’m sorry, lass, but we can’t back down!" Laura roared.
"Even if we die a dozen more times, we will keep moving forward!" Arthur bellowed.
"I’ve died before anyway—I don’t care," Catarina cracked her knuckles. "Laura, let’s go together like we practiced!"
"Alright!" Laura nodded. "Let’s do it!"
"Hm?" Annette raised an eyebrow, glancing toward Maria.
There, Maria fought Partner while sobbing like a child.
"How pathetic. She’s just a little girl at heart, isn’t she?" Annette laughed. "Haaa... oh father, you’re so benevolent sometimes. Well, this should serve as a good lesson for her—"
BOOOMMM!!!
Before she could finish, a gigantic dark red dragon tore through her formation, shattering it to pieces.
"...?!"
Annette’s eyes widened as Laura and Catarina surged forward.
Their Auras and Martial Souls had fused completely.
Though their bodies remained separate...
They had become one being.
"What is...?! This mysterious Martial Art! This must be the Heavenly Demon’s Inheritance!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Hmph! But you think I haven’t trained against my brother? He is as fierce as your master—or fiercer! Heh...!"
Annette summoned dozens more towers and protective formations.
Yet Laura and Catarina charged like a colossal dragon, smashing through one barrier after another, drawing ever closer.
At the same time, everyone else followed in their wake, carving through Annette’s defenses.
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