I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl-Chapter 158 – Whispers of Fate and a New Flame

The throne room fell silent once more after Sylvia spoke her final words. Her sentence still hung in the air, like a small flame waiting whether to flicker out or burst into an inferno.

Aurelia said nothing. She remained bowed, hands clenched, as if suppressing a tremble from within.

To the right of the room, Celes stood with her arms crossed. Her gaze was sharp not friendly, but not immediately hostile either. Beside her, Varnak stood like a steel statue, eyes locked unflinchingly on the slightest movement from the red-haired mage.

"Stand up," Sylvia said at last.

Aurelia lifted her face, startled for a moment, then slowly rose to her feet. She awaited the next command.

Sylvia descended from her throne. Her black gown flowed like a shadow across the stone floor, her footsteps echoing softly. She walked closer, stopping just a few steps from Aurelia. Sylvia’s crimson eyes gazed deeply into the bright brown eyes of the mage.

"Will you continue to worship Ithara?"

Aurelia nodded softly. "If allowed. I haven’t come bearing doctrine or a mission. Only a personal conviction... that led me here."

Sylvia showed no emotion. She turned her head slightly toward Celes. "Your opinion?"

Celes raised one brow. "If she’s lying, I’ll know within three days. If she’s honest... we’ve just gained a flame to burn that fragile foundation from within."

"So we test her?"

"Of course," Celes replied casually, then turned to Aurelia. "You’ll start with our special reconnaissance unit. It won’t be easy, but you’ll prove yourself not just to me, but to everyone who once saw you in white hero robes."

Aurelia did not object. "I’ll do whatever is needed. If necessary, I can swear a blood oath."

Sylvia shook her head slightly. "That won’t be needed. True loyalty doesn’t come from force or ritual. It grows from choice... and the courage to face it."

Aurelia bowed deeply. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Sylvia returned to her throne, and as she sat, she waved a hand toward Celes. "Assign her guards. Two shadows from the Silent Unit."

Celes nodded and turned at once. Aurelia was escorted out by two hooded zombie attendants. When the doors closed behind them, the throne room grew silent again but it was a different silence. Something stirred beneath the surface. A new possibility.

Sylvia leaned back against the throne. She stared up at the stone ceiling for a moment, then murmured:

"Ithara... why now?"

Meanwhile, in Nocture’s underground strategy chamber, Sofia and Zark were reviewing reports from the outer scouting units. Miniature maps were neatly arranged atop a large black circular table.

Zark pointed at a glowing point on the eastern edge. "Forces from the central military are on the move. Over six thousand. They’re advancing toward the north, supposedly for ’border security.’"

Sofia furrowed her brows. "But whose border? They don’t have any official territorial claim in the north."

"Exactly. They’re just looking for a reason. This could be provocation or a trap."

Sofia looked sharply at Zark. "Do you think they know about the old lands of the Zombie Kings up there?"

"They sense something. But they don’t know who controls it."

Sofia took a deep breath. "Then it’s time for Nocture to step forward as a nation."

Zark raised an eyebrow. "You mean ?"

"We’re no longer just a ’zombie city.’ We have systems. An economy. A military. A growing population. The world won’t be able to ignore us much longer."

Zark grinned. "So you want us to declare "

" sovereignty," Sofia nodded. "But only if Sylvia agrees."

Zark nodded.

"I’ll send this report to the Queen," he said. "And I think... she’s already considered this long before we did."

He then contacted Sylvia through telepathy, since she was still in the other world.

Zark’s voice entered Sylvia’s mind clearly, filled with caution.

"Your Majesty, we’ve just received a report of a large movement from the central military. They claim to be patrolling the borders, but their direction is too precise headed straight for the ruins in the northern region, where the Zombie Kings once held power."

Sylvia closed her eyes briefly. She was standing on the balcony of an ancient castle tower in another world, thin magical mist still covering the valley below. The wind of the alien world did not disturb her focus.

"How strong are they?"

"Over six thousand, and growing. They’ve brought tanks and combat helicopters. This isn’t a regular patrol."

Sylvia opened her eyes. Her red irises reflected the soft glow of the crystal sky in this foreign realm. She answered calmly, "Continue surveillance. Don’t engage directly. If they go further into neutral territory, have our scouts sabotage their logistics covertly. Use indirect methods fog, signal jamming, minor disruptions. Make the land itself curse them."

"Orders received."

Zark’s voice faded. He had forgotten to mention the independence proposal, while Sylvia stood in silence for a long moment. The world she had left behind was beginning to stir. But she did not regret being here. This world, too, was holding its breath.

Light footsteps approached. Celes, who had come with her to this world, brought a new scroll and an unusual expression: alert.

"From the zombies stationed at the western mountain range. They’ve detected divine activity," she reported. "Light descended last night. And a sacred scent mixed with dimensional distortion."

Sylvia took the scroll and read it quickly. The symbol found matched that of Korthan, the God of Eternal Flame and War.

She clicked her tongue softly. "Even the gods who usually remain passive... have started to move?"

"Either as observers... or as provocateurs," Celes said. "But one of our scout zombies was instantly incinerated before it could report anything fully. This isn’t a simple visit."

Sylvia gazed at the sky of this other world, then said softly, "Ithara sent a mage to me. And now Korthan himself descends into this world. Two gods, from opposing sides, have begun to move... This world will explode from within."

"And us?" Celes asked, now standing beside her.

"We..." Sylvia lowered the scroll and gave a faint, cold smile. "We’ll stand at the center of the storm, as always. But this time... I won’t just endure. Besides, the gods cannot meddle in this world’s affairs directly."

Just then, Zark’s telepathy returned.

"Apologies for disturbing you again, Your Majesty... I forgot something. We are ready to declare Nocture a nation. We await your final word."

Beneath Nocture, Sofia stood at the center of the strategy room, alongside Zark, Rina, and Vivi.

"We know this declaration will provoke reactions," she said firmly, "but we can’t wait for the world to decide our fate."

Zark nodded. "There’s just one thing left: the Queen’s blessing."

As if time itself responded to those words, all the magical torches in the room flickered.

Through a special enchantment, Sylvia’s voice rang out across the room even from another world cold yet unwavering.

"Announce it to the world. Nocture is now a nation. Anyone who rejects it... will not be answered with diplomacy, but with a new history they’ll remember for a thousand years."

The torches blazed brightly. Zark smiled.

Sofia only whispered, "And the wheel of the world has finally begun to turn in our direction."

The underground chambers of Nocture were no longer just a war room. Since the magical torches flared brightly following Sylvia’s declaration, the atmosphere had shifted it had become the heart of a rising pulse. Undead commanders arrived one by one. Most were those who once lived only in darkness, given no place in the order of the old world. Now, with a single command, they had become citizens of a nation.

Vivi, usually cheerful, now spoke with a serious tone. Her fingers danced over the magical table to establish communication routes with other cities. "We need to send this declaration immediately to all our trade partners and neutral territories. If they know we stand as our own nation, they might be willing to recognize us first."

Sofia nodded. "Also send diplomatic messages to other regions. Use trade routes as the pretext. We’ll test their responses."

Rina folded her arms. "And what about the central military? The moment they hear about this, they won’t stay quiet."

Zark grinned. "Good. Let them come. But this time, we’re not just a horde of walking corpses. We are a nation. And if they attack... it won’t be a cleanup operation it’ll be an invasion."

On the other side of the world in the foreign realm where Sylvia and Celes now stood the twin suns slowly rose over the misty sky. The ancient castle they now occupied remained quiet, but the magical aura thickened by the hour. This world, once quiet despite its ruin, now felt like a thin crack slowly tearing open.

Celes stood at a side balcony, staring at the horizon. She called out to Sylvia through a short magical signal.

"Magical activity is rising in the west. I’m detecting a dimensional rift... and it’s not from me."

Sylvia joined her quickly. From the balcony, she saw it too: lines of light forming a massive circle in the southwestern sky, rotating slowly but steadily. Below it, the ground briefly turned to magical sludge.

"Not ours," Sylvia muttered. "And not from the zombies either."

"An external entity?"

"No... I can smell it... direct interference," Sylvia whispered. "They’re breaking their own rules."

A few minutes later, a bird pure white approached from the east and landed on the balcony, its beak releasing a faint magical chime. Its feathers were made from cursed parchment and shards of informational crystal. Sylvia touched its head, and its eyes glowed red.

A message appeared, written in the ancient language of the gods a tongue Sylvia did not know, but fortunately, her system allowed her to read it.

Celes read it first, raising an eyebrow. "It’s... an invitation."

"An invitation?" Sylvia echoed softly.

"From Luminelle, the Goddess of Light. She... wishes to speak directly. But she cannot descend herself, so she’s asking me to come to the nearest temple."

Sylvia took a breath. "So... now the third."

Celes turned to her. "Ithara sent a mage. Korthan sent power. And now Luminelle sends... diplomacy."

Sylvia placed a hand on the balcony railing cold and rough. "Three gods from different sides... in three days."

"What do you think will happen?" Celes asked.

Sylvia looked up at the twin skies above them, and answered without a smile, "War. But not a war of humans versus gods. This will be a war between gods... and we’ll be standing in the path between them."

Celes stared at her for a long moment. "Then what is your plan, Your Majesty?"

Sylvia turned away, her gown billowing. "We accept the invitation. But we won’t go as pawns. We go as the fourth power."

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