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

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Through the combined assault of everyone's divine techniques, the Original Nightmare Curse was actually hurt, something he didn't expect. His eyes widened as he began sweating nightmare miasma.

"UUUGGH…?!"

He quickly manifested countless long humanoid arms with fingers and claws, tearing apart everything in front of him and trying to get to Maria and everyone else, only to be stopped by Legion's powerful strikes and something else: several other Spirits enhanced by Nightmare Power, and even Nightmare Beast Undead, including a mighty Kaiju and a titanic thorny vine monster.

"Just…! I need to buy some time…!"

However, all of this battle was a distraction.

The Original Nightmare Curse's real aim was something else, or rather, someone else.

Someone that Maria and the rest of the group didn't know existed and had completely forgotten could be there.

R U M B L E!

In a large room where a monstrous mass of flesh constantly gave birth to Nightmare Demon Eggs, the Wife of the Nightmare Demon King resided.

"What's… happening outside…?! My husband…! Where are you? I turned into this for you…! Our children…! Can they prosper? My husband…! I no longer sense your presence…! Where… where are you my dear?!"

She cried tears of sorrow after realizing her husband had died, but her sorrow was quickly interrupted as giant black tentacles emerged into her room, piercing her body.

"UGH?! W-WHAT…?!"

"Nightmare Demon Queen, the Embodiment of the Fear of Maternity, Mortaria. I come to seek your help."

"W-What?! You're…! Our Lord, the Original Nightmare Curse?!"

"You've fulfilled your duties well, but it is now time for you to return to me, my child!"

His shadows began to devour her, slowly merging her with him.

"W-Wait…! No! I don't want to lose my independence! Please have mercy! I wanted…! I wanted to live happily with my husband, in the ideal world for Nightmare Demons we would create together! We would no longer have to hide…! We would no longer have to suffer hunger and-"

"SILENCE! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A TOOL! A PAWN! ACCEPT YOUR FATE AND REJOICE, AS YOU'LL BECOME ONE WITH ME!"

"NOOOOO! DEAR…! DEAR, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Amid her tears of sorrow and screams of agony, Mortaria was devoured, her entirety assimilated by the Original Nightmare Curse, who also absorbed the egg she had created and all her powers.

RUMBLE!

"T-There it is! This power…! HAHAHA…! YOU'VE CULTIVATED IT WELL, MORTARIA!"

His gigantic, bulging, fleshy body emerged from the ruins of the castle, piercing the black skies above, while Maria and everyone else continued fighting a part of him. The Original Nightmare Curse rushed toward the dimensional membranes of the Nightmare Dimension, aiming to break into the surface of the planet.

"So that's your actual goal. You don't even want to fight us, huh? DAMN COWARD!"

Maria roared as she quickly transformed into her Outer Goddess form, manifesting an Aura resembling a nebula composed of spectral flames and shadows, encompassing the Original Nightmare Curse and destroying his false body.

"{All-Consuming Void}!"

"U U U G G H H?!"

B O O O M M M!!!

Before the secondary body could even comprehend what hit him, his entire existence vanished, completely erased by Maria's ultimate Void Spell. As she looked into the skies, she realized the true body was moving toward the surface, aiming to devour all humans.

"What's going on right now?!" Amelia asked, looking at the black skies with confusion and fear.

"The Original Nightmare Curse is aiming to destroy humanity and fully develop into a true Outer God. At that point, it will break its egg, this planet, and destroy it while drifting into the stars," Maria explained in detail. "We have to stop him… Amelia, would you be able to help out?"

"I…" Amelia was still affected by her Dream Heart cancer, and although it intensified her powers, it also made them unstable and brought her immense pain and exhaustion.

However, she didn't have time to think about herself or what would be better for her alone. The world was in peril, and this was the last loop. There were no more second chances. Her sister's power was fading, and she could no longer help this world.

This was it, the decisive battle she had always dreamed of through all these loops, hundreds of loops, which had turned into so many years.

At long last, the opportunity to fight back and win was here. Would she waste it away pointlessly and cry like always?

Or would she, like her sister, whose name she couldn't remember, face this terrifying foe head-on even if she was afraid?

Even if she knew she could die?

"I won't let you die," Maria said, speaking to her with a reassuring smile. "I cannot cure your cancer yet. I need to research a little more, but I can keep you alive… don't worry."

"…" Amelia looked at her crimson eyes, feeling the warmth of her sister within them, even if she wasn't really her. They were similar, in more ways than the artificial similarities created by the one who sent her to replace her sister. "…Okay."

Amelia nodded, looking back at Maria and deciding she had to help. This was also partially her fault, for having given in to despair. She had almost ruined everything.

But now, it was now or never.

She had to atone and help as much as she could!

"Very well then," Maria agreed, glancing back at her friends. "I know that what you learned now will make our relationship never the same as before… but I want to tell you that the feelings I felt for you, Alma, were all genuine, and that the friendship we forged together was also genuine and real to me… I'm sorry for never telling you the truth. I was… just so happy to be able to relive my childhood in a school, to get to be popular and have the friends… the friends I never had."

"Maria…" Sofia muttered, looking at Maria with surprise.

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