I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl - Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Chapter 274 – Flesh of Emotion and Fire of Death
The air of the underworld shattered into fragments. The red light pulsing across the sky trembled in rhythm with Dantalion’s heavy, thunderous breaths. All around, the scorched ground began to beat like living veins pulsing beneath their feet reflecting the blood-violet glow from the demon’s body.

The pulsating crimson mist tightened, sealing them inside a living arena that seemed to breathe. Every gust of air carried the sound of a thousand trapped souls groaning in agony.

Alicia and Stacia stood far behind Sylvia, their bodies frozen in place. No spell would form mana within them had hardened like stone. Their emotions, fear, regret, even courage were bound by Dantalion’s aura, turned into invisible chains that held them fast.

“Can’t… move,” Alicia rasped, her voice cracking. “Even my tongue feels numb…”

Stacia tried to open her grimoire, but the pages burst into flame the moment her fingers touched them. “He’s feeding on our emotions to paralyze us…”

Their eyes fixed on Sylvia, the only one still standing amid that storm of suffocating emotion. The Queen of Death gazed at Dantalion with an expression utterly blank.

A faint black flame burned beneath her feet, a sign that her Death Aura had fully awakened.

Dantalion opened his mouth, and laughter erupted from a thousand throats at once.

“I can smell your fear… especially from the two behind you, Death Queen. Sweet. Tender. Pure. I’ll savor it slowly after you’re crushed.”

Sylvia’s lips curved into a cold, razor-thin smile.

“Try if you live long enough.”

Her chains moved. In an instant, dozens of black chains burst from Sylvia’s shadow, lashing toward Dantalion from every direction.

The air rang with the clash of metal and energy.

TING! CLANG! CRASH!

Each chain rebounded hard, striking something like living metal.

Dantalion deflected them with nothing more than a flick of his finger. His claws long, black, wrapped in red energy scraped across Sylvia’s chains, releasing blinding sparks.

“Beautiful chains,” he said calmly, mocking. “But useless if your foe can cut through the emotional concept that powers them.”

Sylvia’s chains shuddered, a few stalling mid-air as if stunned. But she didn’t stop. Her crimson eyes flared brighter; with a sharp gesture, she recalled all the chains, coiling them around her body like a storm.

“Then I won’t fight from afar.”

Dantalion barely had time to react before Sylvia vanished from sight.

BOOM!

The ground beneath them exploded as she shot forward faster than mortal eyes could follow. Her claws long, black, veined with death energy slashed through the air.

TING!

The first impact burst into red and violet sparks dancing in the darkness. The two of them vanished leaving only flashes of black and crimson colliding thousands of times in a heartbeat.

Each strike rang out KLANK! TING! BOOM! echoing across the entire floor of the underworld.

Alicia squinted through tears caused by the crushing aura. “I… can’t see anything, only flashes!”

Stacia swallowed hard, face pale. “Their speed it’s beyond the dimensional limit of this realm!”

Dantalion attacked with twin claws, carving a red arc through the air. Sylvia ducked, sliding low, then launched upward like a bullet, slashing across his chest.

TING! CLANG! CLANG!

Black sparks scattered, blooming like dark flowers. They clashed again and again each movement, each breath, each strike tearing apart the world around them. The shockwaves from their battle devoured the remaining red mist, forming a colossal vortex of energy in the arena.

But as the battle raged, Sylvia began to notice something. Every time their claws met, Dantalion’s began to stain smoke, burning faintly from within.

“…Poison.”

Her lips curled. “Good. It’s working.”

Dantalion staggered half a step back, glancing at the cracks spreading along his claws.

“…What is this?”

“Corrosive venom,” Sylvia said softly. “A blend of my Venom Reaper Claw and Death Aura.”

She lifted her hand; the tips of her claws glimmered green-black, dripping poison like molten blood.

“A small gift for you.”

Dantalion growled. The cracks widened across his left claw. His body trembled, fury overtaking the pain. He threw both arms upward, his voice booming across the realm.

“Enough games! I shall show you the true form of emotion!”

The aura around him surged. The ground quaked, the red sky split apart, and from his body erupted thousands of screaming faces.

“True Demon Form!”

Alicia and Stacia gasped inwardly as the mana pressure crushed their lungs from within. But before the transformation could complete, Sylvia moved.

“No.”

Her voice cut through the roar sharp, cold. She raised her hand high, chains tightening like drawn steel wires ready to snap.

“Chain Technique – Final Form: UNIFICATION!”

Hundreds of chains burst from her shadow, weaving together The screech of metal and energy merged into the roar of a thousand serpents becoming a single black dragon.

Yet Sylvia wasn’t finished. Violet flame flared across her body, Nether Flame. The fire raced along every link, igniting each segment with a living deathlight.

“Let’s see you survive this.”

Dantalion managed to lift his hands, eyes wide as he felt the surge of power But it was already too late.

Sylvia thrust her arm forward. The massive chain pierced the air, quivering once before driving straight through Dantalion’s chest.

The sound was like two worlds colliding. Violet fire burst from within his body, swirling violently outward. The energy devoured him from the inside, ripping apart emotion, flesh, and soul alike.

Dantalion screamed a chorus of thousands of voices fused into one.

“A-AARGHHHHHH! YOU… INSANE WOMAN!”

Sylvia gave no answer.

She slowly drew back her chain, letting the Nether Flame consume him completely until only glowing red cinders remained.

When it ended, Dantalion dropped to his knees. His body burned away, his golden eyes dimming like dying embers.

“So… this is what it feels like… to die by losing… oneself…”

Sylvia looked at him without emotion.

“No. That’s just the beginning.”

The final chain trembled then slammed into the ground. Dantalion’s body shattered into red ash and drifted away in the cold wind of the underworld.

Silence.

The once-crushing air felt light again.

Alicia finally moved her fingers, then ran toward Sylvia.

“Sylvia! You ”

Sylvia lifted a hand weakly, stopping her. “I’m fine.”

Stacia rose unsteadily, still pale. “You just killed… the ruler of the seventy-first floor with one full strike.”

Sylvia looked up at the now-calm red sky.

“Not with one strike,” she said evenly.

She gazed at her hand, violet flame still flickering faintly at her fingertips.

“…And this is only the beginning.”

Alicia stared at her softly, worried. “You know if you keep this up, the underworld itself might collapse from your power.”

Sylvia met her gaze, eyes calm. “Then I’ll become its foundation.”

The last remnants of mist slowly faded. But deep beneath the cracked earth, a faint sound echoed: The heartbeat of something massive that wasn’t quite dead.

Sylvia staggered slightly.

The chains that had been floating around her fell one by one, coiling on the ground like exhausted serpents. The violet flame around her flickered out, leaving only fading sparks swept away by the cold wind.

Her body trembled faintly. The power she’d used to pierce Dantalion’s heart hadn’t been a simple finishing move. Unification alone had drained more than half her energy, and she had added pure Nether Flame.

The result was devastating but so was the cost.

The underworld still shook, but the sound felt distant like an echo at the edge of her consciousness. Sylvia looked down at her hand once steady, now trembling, heavy to lift.

“Ugh…” her breath came weakly. “Too… much…”

Sweat or perhaps lingering mist trickled down her pale cheek. Her face had gone colorless, waxed. A thin line of black blood slipped from the corner of her mouth, but she only smiled faintly.

“At least… he’s really dead…” she whispered, barely audible.

Alicia rushed to her, her staff slipping from her hand, panic filling her eyes.

“Sylvia! Don’t move! You’ve lost too much energy!”

Sylvia tried to speak, but her voice was almost gone. “It’s fine… just… tired…”

Before she could finish, her vision blurred. Stacia knelt beside her, pressing a hand against Sylvia’s chest, channeling neutral energy.

“She’s not just out of mana,” Stacia said quickly, her tone tense. “Part of her soul energy is drained again. She pushed her body beyond its rank limit.”

Alicia held Sylvia’s shoulders, shaking her gently. “Idiot… why do you always do this…” Her voice cracked, tears gathering in her eyes. “Always taking everything alone. Always thinking you can fight the world without us.”

Sylvia didn’t answer. Her eyes closed slowly, her breathing faint but her lips still held a peaceful smile, as if trusting her sisters completely.

Her body slumped forward. Alicia caught her, holding her close so Sylvia’s head rested against her shoulder.

“Sylvia! Hey, open your eyes!”

No response.

The aura around her had gone completely still. Even the Death Aura that always surrounded her body had vanished, extinguished like a candle in the wind.

Stacia bowed her head silently, studying Sylvia’s calm face.

“She’s not dead,” she said softly, trying to soothe the trembling Alicia. “Her body’s in energy hibernation. Her death power has put itself to sleep to keep from burning her alive.”

Alicia still shook her lightly, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“If only… I was stronger… if only I could’ve protected her, she wouldn’t have had to go this far…”

Stacia pressed her lips together. She knew that bitterness was the taste of helpless guilt. Even she had been powerless under Dantalion’s suppression. Every high-tier spell she knew had meant nothing in that sealed space.

They stayed silent for a long time. Only the faint clinking of Sylvia’s fallen chains broke the stillness.

The lingering Death Aura drifted gently around them, no longer menacing, but soft, like a cold blanket shielding them.

Alicia bowed her head, resting her forehead against Sylvia’s.

“You always said we weren’t burdens…” her voice trembled, “…but you’re the one who carries everything.”

Her tears fell, mixing with the ash of the underworld beneath them.

Stacia drew a quiet breath, then stood.

She looked up at the dark red sky, still twitching faintly with Sylvia’s residual energy.

“We can’t stay here,” she said at last. “This place is unstable. But I can’t cast teleportation within this destruction radius. We’ll have to wait.”

Alicia nodded weakly, still holding Sylvia close as if afraid to let her go.

“Then… I’ll wait until she wakes up,” she said hoarsely, but with resolve.

Stacia watched them both for a moment, then gave a rare, faint smile.

“She’ll be angry if she wakes up and sees us crying.”

Alicia gave a shaky laugh. “When she wakes up, I’ll be the one yelling first.”

They both laughed softly, half relief, half grief.

In the ruins of the shattered Palace of Emotion, the two sisters sat quietly, guarding the sleeping Sylvia between them. The underworld sky slowly calmed, and the black chains surrounding them rustled gently protecting their master, from exhaustion.