I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl

The five humans who had just escaped the grip of death were still trembling as they slowly rose to their feet. All around them, hundreds of ferocious and tireless Hunter Zombies remained prostrated in absolute silence, their bodies shaking violently under the invisible pressure radiated by the evening-gowned girl before them.

The thin young man in the tattered robe of the fire mage who had run out of mana swallowed hard with difficulty. He gazed at Sylvia with a look full of admiration mixed with sacred terror. In his mind, and also in the minds of his four companions, there was only one logical explanation for this impossible existence: The girl before them must surely be a High-Rank Mage from the Capital of the Tianhua Kingdom, or perhaps even one of the elders of the central academy who was currently disguised and strolling through the borderlands!

"Y-Your Excellency..." The young fire mage gathered the courage to step forward, then bowed so deeply that his forehead nearly touched his knees. His four companions armed with conventional weapons hurriedly followed his example, kneeling on one knee in the ancient military salute. "Thank you... Infinite thanks for saving these worthless lives of ours."

Sylvia, still holding Sol in her lap and accompanied by Noir at her side, merely smiled faintly. "Rise. I happened to be passing by, and your little show was entertaining enough. As I asked earlier, where is the nearest city from this filthy place?"

"O-Our city, Your Excellency! Black Steel City!" the young man answered quickly, pointing north along the remains of the elevated highway. "It is only about three kilometers from here. If Your Excellency does not mind, please allow us to guide and escort you there."

Hearing the word "escort," Sylvia had to hold back a small laugh that nearly escaped her lips. It was extremely ironic and amusing to see a group of mortal humans who had nearly been eaten by lowly zombies now offering protection to her the Queen of Death who could erase this entire continent from the world map with a single snap of her fingers. Yet because her mood was currently good, Sylvia nodded slightly, accepting their offer.

The three-kilometer journey became a rather absurd sight.

The five men immediately arranged themselves into a combat formation. Two men with assault rifles walked in front of Sylvia as the vanguard, sweeping their gazes across every dark corner of the forest. The large-sword-wielding man and another rifleman walked behind as wing and rear guards. Meanwhile, the young fire mage walked a little ahead and to the side of Sylvia, acting as both pathfinder and honor guide. They walked with extreme vigilance, ready to sacrifice their lives at any moment if any danger dared approach the "High-Rank Mage" they were protecting.

In the middle of that tense formation, Sylvia stepped with the elegance of a queen strolling through a palace garden. Her evening gown fluttered softly, her face was relaxed, and she occasionally stroked the fur of Noir or Sol. She radiated not the slightest hostile aura, allowing these humans to feel useful.

During the journey, through light conversation dominated by respect, Sylvia learned the identity of the young man. The fire mage was named Lu Feng. Surprisingly, this youth with the tattered robe and broken magic staff was the City Lord of Black Steel City itself. Unlike the other border-city rulers who were tyrannical and cowardly, Lu Feng often went down personally with his hunter troops to search for food supplies and hold back the advance of zombie mutations so they would not draw too close to his city walls.

Not long afterward, the silhouette of Black Steel City began to appear through the night mist.

Sylvia’s heterochromatic eyes scanned the scene before her. This place was completely unworthy of being called a "city" by the standards of any civilization. Black Steel City more closely resembled an emergency defensive fortress built roughly and in desperation. Its outer walls rose fifteen meters high, constructed from piles of car wrecks, rusted steel plates, and concrete ruins bound together with earth-element magic. Atop the walls, torches burned dimly, revealing exhausted-faced guards holding worn-out rifles. Above the fortress, a transparent magic dome flickered weakly, indicating that their mana-crystal supply was already critically low.

"Open the gates! The City Lord has returned!" shouted one of the guards from the tower upon seeing Lu Feng’s group approaching.

The harsh grinding of gears broke the night silence as the heavy steel gate was raised. When the group stepped into the city, the scents of sweat, woodsmoke, and despair immediately assaulted Sylvia’s sense of smell.

The streets inside the city were extremely narrow and squalid. Refugee tents and wooden shacks crowded together in disorder. Thin children in ragged clothing peeked from behind door cracks. Yet Sylvia’s presence was so starkly contrasting, a goddess-like beautiful girl descending from the heavens in an elegant gown without a single speck of dust immediately drew the attention of hundreds of pairs of eyes along the main street of the city.

In this harsh post-apocalyptic world, beauty and cleanliness were luxuries possessed only by the highest rulers. Sylvia’s presence was like a diamond dropped into the middle of a pile of foul-smelling mud.

Several fierce-faced men with scars on their faces began staring at Sylvia with eyes filled with greed and filthy lust. They licked their lips, whispered among themselves, and some even began stepping forward with malicious intent. In a place where the law was determined by strength, a beautiful woman without protection was the most coveted prey.

However, their wicked intentions instantly evaporated into pure terror the moment they realized who was walking right beside the girl.

Lu Feng, the City Lord, glared at those lecherous men with a killing stare. The thin youth might have looked weak when fighting zombies, but within these walls his authority was absolute. Hot waves of fire-element energy radiated from Lu Feng’s body, delivering a stern warning.

Seeing their City Lord protecting the girl with such humble and respectful demeanor, the city residents immediately came to their senses. If even City Lord Lu Feng acted like a servant before that girl, then the girl’s identity must be extremely terrifying! The people who had been staring greedily immediately bowed their heads deeply, their bodies trembling. They quickly retreated into the shadows, no longer daring to look at Sylvia. They were extremely afraid of being punished or, worse, expelled from Black Steel City.

After all, even though it was squalid and lacking, Black Steel City was the best sanctuary in this border region. City Lord Lu Feng was known to be highly responsible and never imposed insane taxes or killed ordinary people on a whim, unlike neighboring cities ruled by tyrannical mages. Being expelled from this city was the same as committing suicide.

Sylvia observed this social dynamic calmly. Interesting. Fear wrapped in respect toward a righteous leader, she thought.

"Please forgive the rudeness of my people, Your Excellency," Lu Feng whispered anxiously, afraid Sylvia would become angry and level his city because of those filthy gazes. "They are merely stupid and uneducated mortal humans."

"It is fine," Sylvia answered flatly. "I do not care about the stares of ants."

The group finally arrived at the city center, where a sturdy three-story concrete building stood the City Lord’s Residence. The building was guarded by several low-rank mages and dozens of armed soldiers. Lu Feng immediately invited Sylvia into the fairly spacious main reception room, although the furnishings were merely rough wooden chairs and a stone table.

"Please, Your Excellency, have a seat. I will immediately request the cook to prepare the best welcoming banquet we possess," Lu Feng said politely before hurrying toward the kitchen.

Approximately thirty minutes later, Lu Feng returned together with several servants carrying wooden trays. Upon those trays were several large pieces of roasted meat still steaming. Strong spice aromas had been used to mask the natural fishy smell of the meat.

"This is Mutated Armored Boar meat, Your Excellency," Lu Feng explained with a mixture of pride and embarrassment. "It is our best catch of the week. I know this may not compare to the dragon or Behemoth dishes usually served in the capital, but this is the highest form of our gratitude and respect for your aid."

Sylvia gazed at the giant roasted meat. To the naked eye, the mutated monster meat contained traces of coarse mana radiation and a slight toxin that had been neutralized by Lu Feng’s fire magic. For ordinary humans, eating this could cause stomach pain, but for mages it was a source of energy. Of course, for a Queen of Death, this food more closely resembled a pile of ash.

Yet to appreciate the youth’s effort, Sylvia cut a small piece of meat with the provided knife and then offered it to Sol, who was sitting on the table. The golden dragon in cat form sniffed the meat, wrinkled its nose slightly, yet swallowed it in one gulp before turning its face away, as if saying ’Please do not give me this lowly food again, Queen.’ Noir, who was under the table, did not even glance at the meat.

Seeing Sylvia’s pet cat swallow the toxic mutated meat without any problem, Lu Feng became even more certain that this girl and her pets were monstrous entities from the capital.

Sylvia set down her knife and looked Lu Feng directly in the eyes. "City Lord Lu Feng, I plan to stop over and stay in this city for a few days to rest. You do not mind, do you?"

Lu Feng’s eyes instantly widened, then his face brightened, overflowing with joy. He immediately stood and bowed again. "M-Mind?! Of course not, Your Excellency! Black Steel City feels extremely honored to become your place of rest! The entire facilities of this residence are yours for as long as you are here!"

To Lu Feng, the presence of a high-rank mage capable of making hundreds of Hunter Zombies kneel was a blessing from the heavens. As long as Sylvia remained in this city, no monster wave or enemy-city mages would dare attack Black Steel City. This was absolute protection that could not be purchased with any amount of mana crystals.

"Good," Sylvia smiled faintly and stood from her chair. "I need fresh air. I will take a short walk around your city."

"Allow me to prepare an escort unit to..."

"No need," Sylvia cut in with a soft tone that accepted no refusal. "I only wish to walk alone. If anyone bothers me, I will handle it myself."

Lu Feng swallowed hard, feeling a bone-piercing chill upon hearing that final sentence. He could only nod in resignation, praying inwardly that no foolish person in his city would dare seek trouble with this goddess.

Sylvia stepped out of the City Lord’s Residence and once again walked the night streets of Black Steel City. This time she was truly alone, accompanied only by the silent steps of Noir who followed her shadow, while Sol chose to sleep in the guest room.

The night market in the city looked pitiful. Illumination came only from bonfires and a few nearly dead magic lamps. Residents sold worn-out weapons, monster bones, and distilled clean water. As Sylvia walked through the narrow alleys between market tents, her presence without the City Lord’s escort immediately triggered movement within the darkness.

Fear of the City Lord’s punishment was indeed strong, yet in a place filled with despair there were always people whose reason had been blinded by greed and lust.

When Sylvia turned into a quiet and dim alley, five large-bodied men blocked her path. They were a group of hired thugs mortal humans whose physiques were slightly stronger from frequently eating mutated meat, wearing armor made of monster hide and holding rusted machetes. Their eyes were red as they stared at Sylvia’s slender body from top to bottom like hungry wolves eyeing a lost lamb.

"Hey, Pretty Miss," the leader of the thugs greeted a bald man with a skull tattoo on his neck. He grinned disgustingly, revealing his yellow teeth. "The City Lord is busy, huh? What a pity for a woman as elegant as you to be left walking alone in a dangerous place like this. How about we ’accompany’ you tonight? We have a place far warmer and more pleasant than this filthy alley."

The other four thugs laughed hoarsely and stepped forward to surround Sylvia from various sides. They assumed that without the protection of the city guards, this fragile noble girl would be unable to do anything.

Sylvia stopped her steps. Her expression did not change at all. There was no fear, no panic, not even disgust. She regarded the five thugs as though she were looking at a group of earthworms attempting to speak to her.

"You know..." Sylvia’s melodious voice flowed softly through the silent alley, sounding extremely calm yet carrying a soul-freezing chill. "There is a reason why mortal creatures are called lowly beings. Because often, your greed overcomes even the most basic survival instinct."

The thug leader furrowed his brow, feeling insulted. "You talk too much, bitch! Seize her! Don’t damage that pretty face!"

The five of them charged forward in unison, stretching out their filthy hands to grab Sylvia’s body.

Yet before those dirty fingers could come within a single span of Sylvia’s gown fabric, the air inside the alley suddenly distorted.

Without needing to chant any spell, without raising her hand, and without changing her facial expression, Sylvia’s glowing red eye blinked softly.

WUUUSSSHHHH!!!

A blaze of Black Fire suddenly erupted from the shadows beneath the five thugs’ feet. That fire did not radiate heat; instead it emitted a cold that froze existence itself.

There were no screams. There was no sound of burning flesh. There was no resistance.

In less than a single second, the five large-bodied thugs were completely swallowed by the vortex of black fire. And in the next second, the fire vanished as quickly as it had appeared, taking the five men with it without leaving a trace. There was no blood, no bones, not even a pile of ash remaining on the ground. The five humans had truly been "erased" from reality, as though they had never existed in this world.

Only the silence of the night and a cold breeze remained in that alley.

At the end of the alley, several residents who had intended to warn Sylvia now collapsed onto the ground. Their eyes bulged wide; their pants were soaked with urine from the absolute terror they had just witnessed. They clamped their mouths tightly shut, afraid to make even the slightest sound that might attract the attention of that angel-faced devilish girl.

Sylvia tilted her head slightly, gazing at the empty spot where the five thugs had stood moments earlier. She then lightly brushed imaginary dust from her gown.

"Boring," Sylvia murmured casually. She then continued her steps, once again walking the streets of Black Steel City beneath the moonlight, allowing a new legend about the "Black-Fire Mage from the Capital" to begin taking root in the minds of the border people.