I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl - Chapter 280

Chapter 280: Chapter 276 – Floor 70: The Field Where Time Splits
Their footsteps echoed softly over cracked black stone.

The air of the underworld was colder than before, not the terrifying chill of death, but something gentler, like a frozen dawn in a world without a sun. Far ahead, the gate to the next floor shimmered faintly. Pulses of violet-blue light throbbed within it, reflecting the silhouettes of three figures walking slowly closer.

Sylvia led the way, her chains trailing behind her like living shadows.

Alicia walked to her right, twirling her staff idly, tiny sparks of blue light dancing at its tip. On the left, Stacia’s expression was serious as always; her gaze followed the faint mana patterns flowing outward from the gate ahead.

There was no conversation this time, only the whisper of the underworld’s wind between their measured steps. The silence wasn’t born of fear; each of them was simply lost in thought.

Alicia was the first to break it.

“Sylvia, you’re still thinking about Dantalion, aren’t you?”

Sylvia’s eyes stayed forward. “…A little.” Her black hair swayed in the cold wind, the distant glow of the gate reflected faintly in her violet-red eyes.

“Not because he was strong,” she continued, “but because he revealed a pattern.”

Stacia glanced her way. “Pattern?”

Sylvia nodded. “Andromalius. Dantalion. Both belonged to the same list.”

She paused, gaze drifting upward toward the softly rippling red sky above them.

“Seventy-two. That number… it’s the same as the Ars Goetia demons from my previous life.”

Alicia frowned slightly. “Ars Goetia… right, you mentioned that before. But are you sure this isn’t just coincidence?”

“No.” Sylvia’s voice was calm but sharp. “This world might differ from the one I came from but the structure of power doesn’t. If the pattern holds, then the next floor’s guardian should be one of the remaining Dukes or Marquis.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if the sequence stays true… next comes Seere.”

Stacia’s brows furrowed. “Seere?”

Sylvia nodded slowly. “If I remember right… Seere’s a demon who manipulates space and time. He can create temporal fields where anything within moves twice as fast or ten times slower depending on his will.”

Alicia’s tone turned serious. “That means combat will be chaos. Any spell timing or attack calculation could go wrong instantly.”

“Exactly.” Sylvia looked at them, her face composed but her gaze sharp like a predator ready to strike.

“That’s why we can’t afford sloppy fighting this time. Before we cross that gate, I want us to be at full readiness.”

They stopped a few meters from the gate. Up close, its violet-blue light spun like liquid, rippling with gentle vibrations breathing, almost, like something asleep.

Sylvia turned to Stacia. “Start full buffs. I don’t want even a split-second delay once we step in.”

“Understood.”

Stacia floated her grimoire before her, opening it with a wave of her hand. Pages spun rapidly, ancient sigils glowing silver-blue as they encircled the trio.

The air around Stacia shimmered.

“Aether Circulation – Full Layer.”

The spell left her lips softly yet firmly, and a thin layer of radiant light wrapped around Sylvia, Alicia, and herself. Their auras thickened Sylvia’s movements, once light, now pulsed with restrained force, like immense power waiting beneath the surface.

“And now…” Stacia’s eyes glowed. “Temporal Resistance and Magic Overclocking activate.”

Silver sparks flared around them, then merged into Sylvia’s body like tiny orbiting stars. A cool sensation spread across her skin not discomfort, but calm like the quiet before a storm.

“Good,” Sylvia said, feeling the shift. “Now your turn, Alicia.”

Alicia smiled faintly, raising her staff high. The crystal at its tip pulsed gently, singing in a tone like chimes underwater.

“Soul Guard – Triple Layered.”

Three glowing circles materialized above them and descended slowly, enveloping the trio in invisible spiritual shields.

Blue light rippled across the ground, spreading like rivers before fading away. Their powers now align with magic, defense, and speed perfectly balanced.

Sylvia took a deep breath. “That’s enough.”

She stepped forward until she stood directly before the gate. The violet-blue glow reflected across her pale face, illuminating her red eyes. They gleamed brighter than before.

“Seere, huh…” she murmured, her voice a whisper of cold steel. “If you’re truly the master of time… let’s see how fast you can die.”

Alicia sighed quietly behind her. “You and your habit of provoking demons…”

Sylvia smirked. “Courtesy doesn’t exist in the underworld.”

Without hesitation, she raised her hand.

“Prepare yourselves. We go in together.”

They aligned Sylvia in the center, Alicia on the right, Stacia on the left.

Their auras resonated, intertwining into a synchronized pulse that made even the air tremble around them.

The gate responded. Its glow intensified, the vortex spinning faster. A deep hum filled the air, part wind, part heartbeat.

Sylvia glanced at her sisters.

“Stay alert. In a time field, a single mistake means instant death.”

Alicia nodded, firm. “Understood.” Stacia closed her book, tone calm but grave. “I’ll try to stabilize the flow around us but temporal distortion can act unpredictably.”

“That’s fine.” Sylvia smiled faintly. “We’ve walked through worse hells.”

She reached out.

Her fingertips touched the surface of violet light, cool, damp, strangely alive.

The instant they crossed the threshold, the world around them transformed.

The crimson skies of the underworld vanished. Above them stretched a field of golden-white light bright as noon, yet with no sun, no direction, no origin.

Every inch of the sky glowed softly, dreamlike.

The ground beneath their feet was no longer black stone or crystal hellfire, it was grass.

Green, even, and endless. Perfectly trimmed neither too tall nor too short, each blade shaped with unnatural precision.

Alicia’s eyes widened. “This… is the underworld? Impossible.”

Stacia knelt, brushing the surface with her fingers. Her touch was gentle, but her eyes were wary. “This isn’t natural. No roots, no insects, no scent of life. It’s…”

“…artificial,” Sylvia finished softly.

She scanned the field, eyes narrowing. The air here felt calm on the surface but beneath that calm, energy pulsed rapidly, unstable, like something moving too fast to perceive.

Still, the sight stirred something faintly warm in their chests. It had been so long since they’d seen light.

Alicia even closed her eyes for a moment, letting the gentle warmth brush her skin. “Feels like… we’re on the surface again. Like morning.”

Sylvia stared upward in silence.

“Morning… without time,” she murmured. “This place deceives perception.”

But then…

The wind stopped.

Completely.

Sylvia’s senses sharpened instantly.

“Don’t move,” she warned.

Alicia and Stacia tensed, magic flaring faintly. The soft ambient hum of mana went dead still, as if the air itself was holding its breath.

Then…

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three strikes came from different directions so fast they were invisible. Sylvia reacted by instinct, her chains spinning around to block the first blow with a thunderous clang.

Alicia conjured a blue barrier just in time, while Stacia countered the shockwave with a reflection spell.

Light exploded through the grass, tearing the field apart. But no enemy was in sight.

“That was insanely fast!” Alicia shouted, forming a secondary shield. “I didn’t even see a shadow!”

Sylvia’s crimson eyes scanned forward. “No sound before impact. Their speed’s beyond normal perception.”

Stacia’s hands blurred through seals. “Temporal distortion about two seconds offset. What we see is already two seconds behind reality!”

“In other words…” Sylvia’s voice dropped low. “The enemy’s striking before we even realize they’re there.”

A sudden ripple of air, another strike.

BOOM!

From the left this time. Sylvia’s chains moved faster, catching it mid-swing. A burst of blue energy rebounded off her guard, gouging a small crater into the ground.

Sylvia’s gaze hardened. “Invisible but physical.” She touched the torn grass. Residual energy lingered not heat, not normal magic, but a pulse of time.

“This isn’t a physical attack. It’s compressed time, a single moment condensed into an explosive strike.”

Alicia raised her staff, summoning a ring of floating blue orbs around them. “Then I’ll map the field using time-distortion signatures.”She closed her eyes, focusing her magic.

But before she finished another strike. Faster. Sharper.

WHIIISH!

The air split in front of Sylvia. She jumped back instantly, but the hem of her dress was sliced clean through, as if cut by an invisible blade.

“He’s altering the temporal velocity of space!” Stacia cried. “He’s turning accelerated air into a weapon!”

Sylvia crouched, her chains vibrating. “Then we’ll do it the old way.” Her chains burrowed into the ground, forming a glowing circle of dark runes.

“Deadlock Dominion.”

The air around them shuddered. The warped layers of time slowed not entirely stopped, but enough for them to breathe.

The next attack came and this time, Sylvia saw it.

A faint line slicing through the air not light, not matter, but folded space itself.

“Found you,” she whispered.

Her chains lashed out.

TING!

Metal struck something solid blue sparks burst outward, revealing a faint humanoid shape. Blurry, its body shifting through multiple time layers out of sync.

Alicia’s eyes widened. “That’s him… the enemy!”

The figure didn’t speak. It merely turned its head toward them eyes glowing bright blue

And in the next instant…

BOOOOOOM!

A shockwave erupted across the field, scattering the grass into glowing fragments. Sylvia blocked with her chains, Alicia reinforced her barrier, and Stacia anchored the space with a stabilizing spell.

The battle had just begun.

And they all knew this wasn’t just another demon.

Here, every breath, every step, every heartbeat would be a deadly dance in a battlefield where time itself sought to kill them.