Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!

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I had yet to devour the S Rank Monster Cores, so they didn't appear as the eight I had in my possession right now.

But even when I get all mine, everyone else will also need theirs, so we'll have to grind at least so we can get ten or more.

Thankfully their evolutions aren't as exaggerated as mine in terms of requirements. None of them mentioned having to "devour a divinity" for their evolution.

However I manage to do that, I have no idea… But maybe munching on the Saintess Emilia, who carries some sort of Divinity from her Goddess of Water might do the job.

Yeah, thinking about it, there's still the whole story behind this entire conflict.

Why is the Saintess of the Goddess of Water here?

And correlating it with the Divine Oasis Spirit too, the Warlocks, and then The Dark Pest.

Celes is the reincarnation of the Divine Oasis Spirit's Soul, but her Divine Body is within the possession of the Warlocks and the church.

They use it as a material to release unique powers, corrupted spiritual energy, and then there's also their Void Power.

Was that a unique magic of only Belphegor, or do they have another source for it?

So many questions… But I'm guessing I'll get answer once we start our raid on that dungeon and the battle to free this town begins.

Until then, we have to prepare well.

I want to complete and conquer this dungeon, so everyone gets a nice amount of EXP and gain fighting experience.

It was thanks to the EXP we've earned so far that my S Rank pals were able to hit max level at long last, including Lucifer, Partner, Emeraldine, and Jonathan.

About the rest, I'm not too sure, though some are getting close to max level I believe… Nyx in specific just recently evolved to A+ Rank, so she's still missing some more EXP to become S Rank.

But once she does, I'm sure she'll become even more amazingly strong!

"Alright, we're done here I believe. Let's keep on moving then!" I said. "Emeraldine, can you make a bridge leading to the other side of the swamp? Carrying everyone on my shadows is a bit annoying."

"Got it." She nodded, waving her hand. "[Strenghtened Wooden Bridge]"

FLAAASH!

A large bridge made of wood surged from the ground, reaching all the way to the other side of the swamp, where I could some mysterious stairs leading down.

We crossed the bridge without problems, and once we arrived at the stairs, I felt an ominous presence… This place was originally just a mine with a monster nest and a swamp inside.

However, it has been so polluted with Miasma and… most likely Corrupted Divine Spirit Energy that it has transformed into a full-fledged young dungeon.

We've purified the starting areas, the salt mines are white once more, and the swamp is of a pristine blue color, very pure.

We even saw some normal fish swimming around now, so the town will be able to benefit from this second source of water if they ever need it.

And also fish to eat, and perhaps a few other crustaceans and mollusks, I saw a few of those too.

But what the Second Floor contained was much stronger, a rather ominous aura…

"I can feel the presence of powerful monsters down there." Emeraldine said. "There might be more than one S Rank Monster too… It is incredible how infected of Miasma it is! And… a different yet just as deadly energy."

Her Divine Spirits were unease when trying to discern this energy.

"It is uneasy because it is corrupted divine spiritual energy. Something the Warlocks used on their experiments." I said. "This entire place most likely became some sort of testing ground for them, so as we hunt everything, we're weakening their forces."

"Does this mean… That they were growing strong monsters here for something?" Takeshi was surprised, asking that question.

"Most likely building up an army of sorts." Lucifer agreed, crossing his arms. "I believe they were trying to build it for something, most likely for whoever their true boss is. Maybe they want to kill everyone in the town eventually. For some wicked sacrifice or something."

"Ugh…" Tear sighed. "I can't believe I once allied myself with this group of Vampires."

"Well, you weren't yourself back then." I told her. "Don't overthink it. You've changed, and you've woken up from whatever the crown was forcing you to do or think. You're yourself."

I patted her shoulders as Tear sighed, she gently caressed her necklace, the Soul Jewel of Veredorr calmed her down wherever she felt nervous.

"I-I guess…" She sighed. "Veredorr wouldn't want to see me all sad, right?"

"Yeah, he wanted the best for you, and for you to always smile." I said. "Let's work on this together, Tear. Oh, I've forgotten to say this but, thanks a lot for helping us! You helped Takeshi and Laura survive when everything went to shit, thanks a lot."

"Oh… That's nothing, I would have done it again as many times, we are all… allies." She smiled.

"We're not allies!" I said angrily.

"Eh? We aren't?!" Tear felt slightly intimidated.

"We are a family, remember that!" I winked at her.

"A Family…" Tear muttered, smiling faintly. "Thank you for considering me your family… You don't know how much it means to me."

"It's fine, it's fine~ All's good! Oh, look, we're here."

Once we arrived at the Second and presumably the last Floor of this Dungeon, we were greeted with a rather surprising sight, something we had not seen before inside a Dungeon.

Everything quickly turned really hot, the entire atmosphere was filled with smoke and the smell of burning stones.

There were several pools of boiling lava, with blazing flames spread around the area. The entire place was a piping hot underground volcano!

"This heat…" Tear stepped back. "It is quite strong…"

"Indeed!" I said, looking around. "Amazing, isn't it? I'm sure Veredorr would have loved you seeing all these amazing sights."

"Yeah… I'm sure he would." Tear nodded. "I just wish… We could be together watching this."

"Well, I think he is here with us too." I smiled. "His Soul Jewel is part of his Core; it contains his Origin Core. As long as you hold it, he's still here with us."

"Maria…" Tear sighed, smiling a bit more. "Maybe, maybe you're right. I always think that he's with me. Even when we can't talk… I want to believe that with all my heart."

"He's watching over you and making sure you're okay." I nodded. "I will keep growing stronger myself too, I'll comprehend the true ways of Death Magic, and eventually bring him back using his Soul Jewel. So just wait a bit more, okay?"

"Would you go so far for him?" Tear was in tears already…

"Of course! He's my pal too." I smiled. "Now- Ah!"

RUMBLE!

And just as we were having that moving conversation, the ground shook, from within the lava pools, enormous creatures crawled out…

"ROOOAAARR!"

Ding!

[You have Created [Phantom Enchantress Demonic Lustrous Heels (S+++ Grade)] x1!]

[You have Created [Phantom Enchantress Gloves of Shadow Gathering (S+++ Grade)] x1!]

[You gained +80.000 Skill Proficiency.]

[You gained +25.000.000 EXP.]

[You cannot Level Up after hitting Max Level. Earned EXP has been accumulated.]

Looks like my equipment was done too!

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