I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl-Chapter 404 - 401 – Ancient Fury and Wings of Darkness
Sylvia stood in the center of the slowly swirling vortex of darkness around her. The pitch-black scythe staff in her right hand pulsed like a living heart. The Chains of Abyss coiled around her body clinked softly CLINK... CLINK... CLINK... as if sensing every beat of the new power flowing through her veins. The twelve black fallen angel wings on her back unfurled slowly, their obsidian feathers dripping mist of death that instantly froze the air around her. Her half-human, half-ghost face wore a thin smile cold, terrifying, and full of the promise of death.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she repeated in a voice that now carried three fused tones: Sylvia’s coldness, Stacia’s gentleness, and Alicia’s terror. "Now... it’s our turn."
Her words struck the entire battlefield like lightning. Sofia, still lying on the ground with her broken golden wings, lifted her head. Her blue eyes widened with hope even though her body was covered in wounds. "Sylvia... you... you did it..." she whispered hoarsely, golden blood still dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Velthya rose with great effort, her silver-gray fur wet with blood and poison. She let out a low but spirited growl, her yellow eyes blazing. Noir, who had been hurled far away, roared loudly from the distance GRRRROOOAAARRR!!! this time not in fear, but with the undead joy of seeing its master return far stronger.
Celes and Aurellia glanced at each other, breathing heavily, but tired smiles appeared on their faces. "Finally..." Celes muttered, gripping her crystal swords tighter. Aurellia laughed softly despite the pain in her ribs. "Fire and darkness... now we have an even darker friend."
In the sky above the dimensional rift, the Elder Dragon stared at the new figure with narrowed red eyes. The regeneration on its cracked chest was still slow, thick black smoke continuing to rise from the wound left by the earlier wave of death energy. The ancient dragon could sense that this newly emerged aura was no longer the ordinary Queen of Death. This was something far more dangerous. The Ancient Dragon bloodline inside its body screamed a warning. Its ancestral instinct roared: This opponent must not be allowed to live.
GRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!
The Elder Dragon’s roar this time was filled with pure fury. Its body, over a hundred meters long, trembled. Its obsidian scales creaked like living armor. Its massive wings spread fully, creating a poisonous wind gust that swept across the entire riverbank SWWWWOOOOOOSSSSHHH!!! Large trees behind them toppled and shattered. The air grew thick with the scent of sulfur and ancient blood.
Without warning, the Elder Dragon attacked first.
Its front claw, the size of a house, shot forward like a living meteor, carrying a wave of dark purple-black energy that burned reality itself. KRRRRRRAAAAAAAASSSSHHH!!! The attack was aimed straight at Sylvia, as if it wanted to destroy this new threat before she could even move.
Sylvia did not retreat even a single step.
Her twelve black wings flapped once FWOOSH! and her body shot upward at a speed even Celes could not follow. The scythe staff in her hand spun violently. "Chains of Abyss Manifest!" she shouted. The dark purple-black chains coiled around her body exploded outward like living serpents, stretching dozens of meters long, their tips sharp as spears of death. The chains wrapped around the Elder Dragon’s claw in an instant CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK!!! yanking it sideways with unimaginable force. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The Elder Dragon roared in pain as the chains bit into its scales, leaving deep gashes that spilled thick black blood. But it refused to yield. With brutal strength, it swung its other claw and sliced through several chains CRAAAACKKK!!! Shards of chain flew like molten metal.
Sylvia smiled coldly. "Good. You can still fight." She swung her scythe staff downward. The scythe blade once Stacia’s grimoire glowed silver-purple. "Reaper’s Harvest!"
A wave of death energy shaped like a giant black crescent slashed straight toward the Elder Dragon’s neck. ZIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG!!! The air split apart. The crescent easily sliced through the obsidian scales, leaving a gaping wound two meters wide. The flesh inside instantly rotted, the death infection spreading like black fire.
The Elder Dragon shook its head violently, blood spraying like rain. It opened its mouth wide. An ancient energy orb gathered in its throat again, this time twice as large as before. FWWWWWOOOOOOOSSSSHHH!!! A breath of black flame mixed with dimensional energy erupted like a river of hellish lava, burning everything it touched.
Sylvia flapped all twelve of her wings. Pitch-black light formed a shield in front of her. KABOOOOOOMMMM!!! The collision of the two powers created an explosion that shook the entire riverbank. The ground cracked, the black whirlpool in the river exploded upward like a geyser. The shockwave hurled Sofia, Velthya, and the others backward again, even though they had tried to stand.
"The smoke... is too thick..." Aurellia muttered while coughing blood.
But Sylvia had already moved again. She shot through the black smoke like a ghost, her twelve wings leaving trails of death mist. "Fallen Judgment!" she shouted. From each of her black wings, hundreds of obsidian feathers launched like arrows of darkness. Each feather carried Stacia’s fallen angel curse, a curse that stripped the target of its regenerative power.
SWWWWWWIIIIISSSSHHH!!!
The rain of feathers bombarded the Elder Dragon from every direction. Its thick scales were pierced by dozens of small holes, each one emitting black smoke that drastically slowed its regeneration. The Elder Dragon roared in rage, spinning its body violently in the air. Its massive tail swept like a mountain whip WHAAAAAMMMM!!! Sylvia dodged by a hair’s breadth, but the tip of the tail still grazed one of her wings. CRACK! One black wing cracked, causing her to lose balance for a moment.
"Not bad," Sylvia whispered as she lightly landed on the Elder Dragon’s back. She thrust her scythe staff deep into the dragon’s shoulder scales. SCHLIIIIIICKKK!!! The Chains of Abyss followed instantly, wrapping around the Elder Dragon’s neck and pulling it downward with pure soul strength.
The Elder Dragon thrashed wildly. Its massive body slammed into the ground with a deafening BOOOOOOMMMM!!!, creating a huge crater on the riverbank. It rolled over, trying to crush Sylvia on its back. But Sylvia had already leaped upward again, her wings flapping.
Below, her allies began attacking once more, inspired by Sylvia’s new power.
Sofia flew with her remaining nine golden wings, her holy light merging with Sylvia’s darkness. "Holy Eclipse!" she shouted. Her golden light shield now mixed with black, forming a double shield that blocked the poisonous wind gusts.
Noir leaped back onto the Elder Dragon’s back, its undead fangs and claws tearing at the wounds Sylvia had already opened. "GRRRROOOAAARRR!!" Its roar this time was filled with new strength, as if its master’s aura had given it additional power.
Velthya leaped like lightning, her Fenrir-enhanced claws slamming into the Elder Dragon’s belly repeatedly THUD THUD THUD BOOOOMMM!!! Each strike left primordial claw marks that were difficult to heal.
Celes and Aurellia moved as a pair. "Spatial Severance – Combined!" Celes’s crystal swords created dimensional gaps while Aurellia’s Inferno Abyss flames exploded from within those gaps, burning the Elder Dragon from the inside.
The Elder Dragon grew even angrier. It felt its power slowly being eroded by the combined assault. Its previously super-fast regeneration was now only half as effective. Wounds were beginning to pile up. But as an Ancient-level being, it still had reserves.
From the dimensional rift in the sky, it called for something. KRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAKKKKK!!! The dark purple-black gap widened again. From within it, dozens of rank 7 and rank 8 monsters began pouring out, roaring ferociously, helping their master.
"You’re not the only one who can call for reinforcements!" the Elder Dragon roared, its voice echoing like ancient thunder.
Sylvia narrowed her eyes (one zombie red, one ghostly red). "Good. The more crowded, the more fun."
She swung her scythe staff upward. "Abyssal Reaping – Area!" The black energy scythe expanded into a giant circle, slicing through dozens of lesser monsters at once ZIIIIIIINGGGGG KRRRRAAAKKK!!! Their bodies were split in two, their souls instantly sucked into the Chains of Abyss that clinked even louder.
But the Elder Dragon was already preparing its counter. It gathered all its ancient power into both of its horns. Lava-red energy blazed brightly. FWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!! Two beams of ancient energy shot out like hellish lasers one aimed at Sylvia, the other sweeping toward Sofia and Noir.
Sylvia flapped her eleven remaining intact wings, dodging at insane speed. But the beams followed her movement, burning one of her wings again SSSSSSSSSSTTTTT!!! The smell of scorched obsidian feathers filled the air.
"Argh!" she hissed for the first time, but she did not stop. She shot forward and thrust her scythe staff straight into the Elder Dragon’s already exposed chest. "Death’s Embrace!"
The Chains of Abyss pierced the wound, wrapping around the ancient dragon’s heart from within. The Elder Dragon roared in genuine agony GRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Its body convulsed, thick black blood spurting like a fountain.
The battlefield turned into a sea of explosions and roars. The ground cracked everywhere. The black river boiled. The Norse and Greek gods watching from afar were no longer laughing with satisfaction; their faces had grown tense.
"Goddess... this... this is already out of control," the Greek nymph goddess whispered, her voice trembling.
The Norse ice god gritted his teeth. "Elder Dragon... do not lose to that monster..."
Sylvia remained on the Elder Dragon’s back, her scythe staff buried deep, the Chains of Abyss slowly draining the dragon’s vitality. But the Elder Dragon refused to die so easily. With its remaining strength, it bit down on one of Sylvia’s black wings with its razor-sharp fangs CRUNCH!!! tearing it off by force. Thick black blood spurted from Sylvia’s back.
The sharp pain made her flinch, but the smile on her lips only grew wider.
"You... still have some fight left, huh?" she whispered coldly. "Good. So do I."
Noir, Sofia, Velthya, Celes, and Aurellia continued attacking relentlessly from all directions, even though their bodies were at their limits. This battle was far from over. In fact, it had only just begun.
The Elder Dragon gathered its final strength for one massive attack. The dimensional rift in the sky widened even further, as if ready to summon something even greater. Sylvia took a deep breath, the dark aura around her body blazing brighter than ever.
