I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl - Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Chapter 253 – The Gaping Gate and the Endless Sea
The earth trembled.

At first, it was a faint murmur beneath the world’s breath, like shifting soil beneath the skin of the land. But within seconds, the tremor grew into a deep, rolling roar that made the air itself quake.

GRRROOOAAAAARRR !!!

From the south, a surge of crimson-black light pierced the heavens.

The Gate of the Underworld, long pulsing like a slow heartbeat finally opened.

Not like a door, but like a wound in the sky, forced to rip itself apart

Flames and blood-colored light burst outward, devouring the mist, the ground, everything that came too close.

Alicia slammed her staff into the earth. The lantern hanging from its tip swung wildly, its blue flame flaring fiercely.

“Stacia! The first barrier’s cracking!” she shouted over the rumble.

“I’ve reinforced it three times already!” Stacia called back from midair, her silver hair whipping in the turbulent wind. Around her, five grimoires spun rapidly, each radiating a different hue defense, speed, magic resistance, and one more, a pulse of mental fortification that strengthened every undead soldier in range.

But even with all that, the ground beneath them split open. Red glowing fissures crawled like veins across the battlefield. From within those cracks seeped black smoke and something moving inside it.

One, two, three…

Hundreds emerged.

They had no single shape; some resembled inverted-faced humans, others beasts without skin, and others still were just heaps of writhing hands and blinking eyes.

SHHHHHHHK!

One darted forward like an eel made of shadow, striking from below.

Alicia slammed her staff down and swung the lantern toward it.

“Abyssal Hex!”

The blue flame burst outward, forming a magic circle that clung to the creature’s head. In an instant, its body froze then exploded into black mist.

But for every one destroyed, five more emerged from the gate.

“Their numbers keep growing!” Stacia shouted, dropping down and slamming one of her massive grimoires into the ground. BAM!

A surge of green light rippled outward, strengthening the undead ranks around them.

“War March! All undead units reinforce your defenses!”

The zombie soldiers raised their weapons. Cracked bones fused again; their gray flesh thickened under the buff’s effect. But there was no time to rest because the next wave was already coming.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The horde charged like a living flood.

Their steps thundered like a storm of iron.

Some crawled up the stone walls, others flew low with slick, membranous wings. Their sounds weren’t roars, they were screams, too many and too human, blending into a choir of torment.

Alicia drew a sharp breath. The lantern on her staff flickered.

“…Do you hear that?”

“The sound of severed souls,” Stacia replied coldly. “Not the living echoes of the damned trapped within the gate.”

Alicia frowned.

“Then we’ll fight death with death itself.”

She raised her staff high.

“Curse Layer – Torpor!”

WOOOOSHH!

A wave of dark mist rolled forward like poisonous smoke.

The first creatures that touched it slowed drastically, their movements heavy as if gravity had doubled. Some stopped entirely rotting away into ash.

But behind them came larger, faster, hungrier.

A spiderlike monster the size of a house leapt from the rear ranks, its molten-orange eyes fixed on Alicia.

KRRREEEEEKKK!

Its screech split the air.

Alicia held her lantern before her face.

“Tch… a creature that doesn’t even know what shape it’s supposed to be.”

It lunged, its massive legs striking the ground like hammers.

Alicia spun, swinging her lantern.

“Hex of Dissolution!”

A surge of blue fire shot forth, piercing its chest and burning it from within but the monster didn’t stop. It kept advancing, flaming and writhing, reaching out to crush her.

THUD!

A massive grimoire slammed into its skull, splitting it in two and flinging its body into a heap of rocks.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Stacia said, recalling her book, its surface now lined with small cracks.

Alicia scoffed. “You just hit a creature from the underworld with a sacred buff grimoire. That’s… beautifully blasphemous.”

“My buff book has many uses,” Stacia replied with a sly smile, then clapped the cover shut.

“Divine Amplify – Barrier Pulse!”

A wave of green energy radiated across the lines of undead.

Every limping zombie straightened.

Chest cavities closed. Severed arms regrew.

The undead army surged forward with bone swords, rusted axes, violet spells igniting the air.

They made no sound, but their synchronized steps formed a rhythm.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The battle exploded on every front.

Alicia stood at the center, her magic dancing wildly.

“Weaken Flesh! Cripple Nerves! Curse of Rot!”

Every creature touched by her blue flame shriveled, its skin peeling, eyes melting like wax. But still they kept coming.

Stacia spun through the air, drawing spell after spell with swift strokes.

“Defense Formation, Tier Five – Mirror of Soul!”

A translucent dome of greenish-violet light formed overhead.

When the underworld creatures struck it, their energy rebounded, tearing through their own ranks.

But cracks began to spread across the barrier.

CRAACK… CRAAACKK…

“Not stable!” Stacia yelled. “There are too many!”

Alicia looked toward the widening gate.

From within, came a sound like hundreds of forced, ragged breaths and in the center of that crimson glow… a towering silhouette.

“…That’s no ordinary creature,” she whispered.

The figure stepped forward as a titan of writhing black hands constantly shifting shape.

Across its head, white eyes ignited one by one, each gazing at both of them simultaneously.

Stacia swallowed. “The gate’s guardian…”

“So big,” Alicia muttered, gripping her staff tighter. “If that thing gets through, the seal’s finished.”

They locked eyes for a brief moment. No hesitation.

Alicia raised her lantern. Stacia opened all her grimoires at once.

“Combo Ritual Seven Layer Containment!”

WHUUUUMMMM!!!

The ground convulsed.

Blue and green light spiraled together, forming seven colossal rings closing in on the monster.

But every time one ring was sealed, the creature shattered it easily.

BAM! CRACK! BOOM!

Three layers gone in seconds.

Alicia was thrown backward, her lantern’s flame dimming.

“Ugh !” She steadied herself, black blood dripping from her lips. “Stacia… only two layers left!”

“Not enough! I need more power!”

Alicia rose again, trembling.

“Take all of it.”

“Are you insane?! You’ll lose your body!”

“If that thing breaks loose, we all lose everything!”

Stacia bit her lip, then nodded sharply.

“Fine. Full synchronization!”

ZRAAAAK !

Blue and green light fused into a spiraling pillar reaching toward the heavens.

Two of Stacia’s grimoires burned to ash, converted into raw energy.

Alicia screamed, raising her staff high.

“Infernal Hex – Seal of Abyss Flame!”

The lantern at her staff’s tip shattered, bursting into thousands of blue embers that encircled the monstrous guardian.

Stacia’s final chant tore from her throat.

“Sanctum Override!”

BOOOOMMMMMM!!!

Blue-green radiance engulfed the creature, sealing it in a cyclone of sacred-dark flame.Its roar split the air, fracturing the ground for hundreds of meters.

Undead soldiers were thrown aside, underworld beasts burned, even the clouds above split in two.

But when the light faded… the guardian still stood bound, but not destroyed.

Alicia collapsed, gasping. Stacia fell to her knees beside her, face pale.

“It’s contained… but not for long.”

“How long?” Alicia asked, forcing a weak grin.

“Five minutes. Maybe less.”

Alicia looked toward the distant sky.

Violet light the magic of Sylvia was spreading southward.

“…Then we only need to hold for five minutes.”

Stacia stood again, opening the last intact grimoire.

“Fine. Five minutes against hell.”

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The remaining undead soldiers rose once more. Half their bodies gone, yet their hollow eyes still stared forward.

“Hold formation!” Stacia shouted. “Don’t let a single one cross the flame line!”

Alicia lifted her trembling staff. The lantern’s blue flame reignited small, but alive.

“Then let’s make them fear a death that will never come.”

The gate behind them roared.

GROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!

A fresh wave of monsters poured out like a flood, crashing into the undead ranks. Blood, bone, and fire exploded in all directions.

BOOM! CRASH! SHRRRRK!

The air became a storm of chaos. Yet amid it, two lights, one blue, one green continued to shine.

Alicia spun, her lantern carving arcs of azure flame through dozens of foes.

Stacia struck the ground with her grimoire, sending waves of energy that pushed the enemy back.

“Support Field Alpha!”

“Debuff Spread Beta!”

Spell after spell crossed paths

They weren’t just fighting; they were dancing amidst hell itself.

As the gate guardian strained against its bonds, the seals shook violently.

Then, from above

KRAAAAAAKK!

From the west, a violet beam split the sky.

The sign of Celes and Aurellia’s approaching forces.

Stacia looked up, eyes brightening.

“They’re here.”

Alicia smiled weakly. “Finally…”

The underworld creatures roared but before they could advance, thousands of violet fire arrows rained from the heavens.

BOOOMMM!

The southern sky became a storm of light.

And within that blinding storm, two sorceresses stood side by side one holding a flickering blue lantern, the other clutching a cracked grimoire.

They didn’t smile.They didn’t cry.They simply stood tall.

Both of them felt a wave of relief the reinforcements had finally arrived.