I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl-Chapter 387 - 383 – The Silence of the Mountains

Several days had passed in unusual calm in Nocture, almost too calm. Thin black mist still drifted low along the city streets, the scent of black roses from the castle garden mingling with the faint smell of hot iron from the dwarf forges that worked without rest. The southern farmlands continued to yield abundant harvests, the western livestock grew steadier, and lycanthrope patrols guarded the mythril vault perimeter more tightly. No new attacks, no suspicious reports from Alicia, no strange whispers from Stacia as she read the latest trade documents. Everything appeared normal.

But to Sylvia, that calm was like the surface of a lake too still something must be lurking beneath.

That morning she left alone for the mountains behind Nocture. It wasn’t an official journey, not a mission. Just a simple desire: boredom, the need to move, to hunt, and honestly, to see just how far her current level had come. She told no one not Sofia, not anyone. Noir came along, of course, but in cat size, curled on her shoulder like a living accessory that never left.

The mountains behind Nocture were no ordinary range. Their peaks were dusted with faint purple snow, their slopes riddled with small dimensional rifts that occasionally spat out low- to mid-tier monsters. Black-silver trees grew sparsely there, their roots snaking across the ground like petrified dragon veins. The air was piercingly cold, carrying the scent of wet stone and the faint metallic tang of old blood from previous hunts.

Sylvia walked slowly along the mid-slope, her black coat sweeping thin snow. The Chain of Abyss lay loosely coiled around her right wrist, cold and ready. She hadn’t summoned any grand weapon yet. She only wanted to hunt, to feel the small flow of exp, to gauge how close she was to the next evolution.

The first monster appeared soon after: a level-4 crystal wolf, its body half-transparent with glowing blue crystal veins beneath white fur. It leaped from behind a boulder, crystalline fangs gleaming sharply. Sylvia didn’t even move. The Chain of Abyss vibrated once jet-black chains lashed out like a whip, piercing the wolf’s skull without a sound. Its body crumpled, the crystal in its chest shattered, and a small stream of exp flowed into Sylvia’s status screen.

She continued. The second monster: a level-5 venomous earth serpent, its jet-black scales mixed with toxic green crystals. It struck from underground, but Sylvia’s chains were already waiting, one wrapped around its neck, another pierced its heart. The serpent convulsed once, then went still.

The third: a level-4 carrion bird, iron-rusted wings, beak like a rusted blade. It dove from above, but Sylvia merely raised her left hand. Chains erupted from the ground, snaring its wings and yanking it down until it crashed and shattered against the rocks.

Sylvia stopped beneath a large black-silver tree growing alone on the slope. She sat leaning against its trunk, her black coat spreading across the thin snow. Noir leaped from her shoulder into her lap, growling softly in satisfaction. Her status screen appeared before her eyes:

Name: Sylvia Hortensia

Race: Mortifera – Primordial Undead of Absolute Death (Rank 6)

Element: Death, Death Wood, Death Flame

Level: 13 / 400

Only three levels gained. From 10 to 13. The monsters on this mountain were strong for most people, but to Sylvia now, they were like insects barely giving any exp. She needed large numbers of level-5 or 6 monsters, or one truly worthy high-level beast. The next evolution was still far away.

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the cold wind brush across her face. Noir purred softly in her lap, his black scales warm despite the freezing air. But beneath that calm, Sylvia knew.

She was surrounded.

She didn’t need the Chain of Abyss to tell her she could feel it. Small, hidden auras moving slowly around the slope. Twenty... perhaps twenty-five. A mix of humans, elves, and even some that carried the faint scent of angels white wings concealed by illusion runes. They hadn’t dared approach while she was hunting earlier, but now, as she sat alone beneath the tree, they began to close in.

Sylvia didn’t open her eyes. She only gave a faint smile, a cold one that never reached her gaze.

"They’re waiting for the right moment," she murmured softly to Noir. "And that moment is now."

Noir growled low, his small body tensing, but he didn’t move. He knew his master was playing.

Light, trained footsteps began to approach from all directions. Twenty-five figures emerged from behind rocks and trees: humans in light armor with swords, elves with bows, and three low-tier angels with white wings hidden beneath gray robes. Their leader, a man in white robes with faintly visible six wings stepped forward, a spear of light in his hand.

"Lucifer’s Spear is in the hands of that girl," he said coldly, voice full of certainty. "We know you’re alone now, Queen of Death. Hand over the girl and her spear. We don’t want war with Nocture, we only want what rightfully belongs to the gods."

Sylvia kept her eyes closed. She didn’t move at all. Noir remained still in her lap, though his red eyes gleamed.

The white-robed man raised his light spear again, but his hand trembled. "You... You’re a monster! Hand over the girl or we..."

Sylvia lifted her right hand slightly. The Chain of Abyss erupted, hundreds of jet-black chains burst from the ground, the air, the tree’s shadows. They coiled around the attackers, forming an invisible cage. Dominion Lock activated softly purple energy lines that sealed the entire slope. No one could escape.

"You chose the wrong time," Sylvia said. "And the wrong enemy." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Noir growled once a small sound, but full of menace. His body began to tremble, ready to grow at any moment.

The white-robed man shouted. "Attack! Kill her before she..."

But it was too late. The chains moved again. One by one, they were killed by the Chain of Abyss silently, efficiently.

Sylvia remained seated. She didn’t need to stand. She didn’t need to move. The Chain of Abyss was more than enough to destroy them all.

After a few minutes, the slope fell silent again. Twenty-five bodies lay sprawled across the blood-soaked ground, some still alive but unable to move, some already lifeless. The last conscious man, the white-robed leader, crawled backward, eyes filled with horror.

"You... you’re not human..." he hissed.

Sylvia finally stood. She walked slowly toward him, Noir leaping back to her shoulder. A black chain coiled around the man’s neck, lifting him into the air.

"I’m not human," Sylvia replied coldly. "I am the Queen of Death. And you came to my home to steal."

The chain tightened. His neck bones cracked. His body fell limp to the ground, dead.

Sylvia looked at the corpses scattered across the mountain slope. Their blood seeped into the thin snow, staining it faint red and forming dark pools that slowly froze in the cold air. The bodies no longer moved some with eyes still wide in terror, others slumped with empty expressions. The black chains of the Chain of Abyss coiled back around her wrist, cold and calm as though they had never moved. Noir sat on her shoulder, giving one soft growl before curling up again as if nothing had happened.

But Sylvia’s mood was gone.

She let out a quiet sigh, cold breath forming white vapor that quickly vanished in the mountain wind. She had come to hunt, to feel even a small flow of exp, to forget for a moment the endless burden of being queen. But now, looking at these corpses, humans, elves, low-tier angels who came only for Lucifer’s Spear and mythril it all felt pointless. Not because she regretted killing them; she never regretted anything she did to protect Nocture and Sofia. But because it reminded her once again: the outside world never stopped coveting what she had.

"Enough," she murmured softly, her voice almost lost in the wind.

Noir gave a light growl of agreement, his red eyes flaring briefly before dimming. Sylvia stood, her black coat sweeping the thin snow beneath her feet. She didn’t clean up the bodies, let the mountain wind and any remaining low-level remnants deal with them. She simply raised her right hand once; the Chain of Abyss glowed dark purple, then she vanished along with it in an instant.

She returned to Nocture.

Noir beat his small wings, carrying his master swiftly over the mountain slopes, across rocky valleys, and into the thin black mist that always enveloped the city. The black castle loomed ahead, its black rose garden blooming thickly beneath the purple crystal light from the towers. Lycanthrope guards at the gate bowed respectfully without asking; they knew the queen had left alone and returned with an aura colder than usual.

Sylvia landed gently in the castle’s front courtyard. Noir leaped back to her shoulder, curling warmly. She didn’t go to the study or the throne room, she walked slowly toward the rear garden, her and Sofia’s favorite place. Thin black mist drifted low among the black roses, their heavy sweet fragrance greeting her like a familiar cold embrace.

She sat on the large stone beneath the now-towering giant treant. A small branch immediately plop-plop-plopped excitedly toward her, rolling to her feet like a child longing for attention. Noir leaped down, sniffed the branch, then growled softly in satisfaction, as if greeting it too.

Sylvia looked upward at the gently swaying black-silver leaves. She said nothing. She simply sat in silence, letting the night wind brush across her face. Her thoughts returned to the corpses on the mountain not out of regret, but out of boredom. Hunting small monsters was no longer enough. The outside world kept coming, kept coveting, kept disturbing the peace she and Sofia had fought so hard to protect.