I Got Reincarnated as a Zombie Girl

The cold miasma wind, heavy with the scent of sulfur, roared in Sylvia’s ears as her body plummeted freely from the heights of the Primordial Zenith sky. Completely drained of every last drop of mana, her physical senses had gone numb. To her left and right, the figures of Stacia and Alicia floated with half-lidded eyes, the remaining feathers of their wings falling away into golden and silver ash fragments that dissolved into the air.

"Gravity... nine point eight meters per second squared..." Stacia murmured weakly, her lips barely moving while the mind that usually spun as fast as a supercomputer now stuttered like an old engine running out of fuel. "Impact with the bone-ash surface in four seconds... estimated to break eighteen ribs... and... ah, forget it. I’m too tired to calculate the free-fall hydrodynamics."

"Don’t talk anymore, Sis Stacia..." Alicia whispered in a voice so soft it was nearly carried away by the wind. Her silver face looked extremely pale; her domain shield had completely extinguished. "If we shatter... we just need to... reassemble our bodies tomorrow morning..."

Sylvia tried to move her fingers to summon the Chain of Abyss and slow their fall, but her fingers felt as heavy as iron anchors. Forget calling a god-tier relic even blinking her eyes felt like it required the energy to split a mountain. The hundred-meter giant armored in primordial asteroid had indeed been annihilated without a trace, yet the price paid by the three level-380 undead entities was a spiritual exhaustion that surpassed absolute limits.

Three seconds before their backs would slam into the hard, cold bone-ash ground, the black miasma sky above them suddenly split open with a soft purple-golden dimensional fissure.

The air current that had reeked of rot and stung the senses changed in an instant. The fragrant scent of pomegranate blossoms blooming in spring, mixed with the sweet perfume of underworld asphodel petals, filled the entire atmosphere. The extreme temperature became cool and soothing at once, as if a fierce winter had just been driven away by the warmth of morning sunlight.

From within that dimensional fissure, an elegant figure stepped out with the grace of a true sovereign. A night-black silk gown embroidered with golden pomegranate vine threads fluttered gently. Her long hair, cascading beautifully like a river of night, was crowned by a circlet of sacred flowers that never withered.

It was the Goddess Persephone.

"My reckless children," Persephone’s voice flowed softly, carrying the tone of a worried mother mixed with unspoken pride.

The goddess’s purple gemstone eyes gazed at the three small bodies plunging toward the dead land. She recited no long spell and raised no weapon. Persephone simply swept her right hand downward in a graceful motion.

Swoosh...

Thousands of purple and golden flower petals exploded from the surface of the bone-ash land exactly two meters beneath the bodies of Sylvia, Stacia, and Alicia. The petals spun into a dense silk-wind vortex that instantly halted their fall without producing even the slightest physical impact. The crude effect of gravity was completely softened by Persephone’s underworld authority.

Before Sylvia could utter a word of thanks, the goddess had already floated down beside them. Persephone’s slender fingers touched Sylvia’s forehead, then moved to Stacia’s and Alicia’s. A wave of underworld life energy pure emerald green mixed with the purple of eternity flowed into their completely dry mana circuits, stabilizing their soul cores so they would not collapse from the post-fusion overload.

"You succeeded in cutting the crystal core of the Primordial Zenith giant in less than fourteen minutes," Persephone whispered with a thin smile, her eyes curving with affection. "But look at the state of you now. Your robes are in tatters, your mana circuits are nearly burned out, and your souls are trembling like autumn leaves. Truly, my three Queens of Death never know how to hold back."

"She... started it first... baiting the hundred-meter cannon..." Stacia mumbled unclearly in her half-conscious state, blaming Sylvia’s reckless decision before her head slumped weakly onto the petal cushion.

Persephone laughed softly, a sound like the chime of silver bells in the silence of a dead sanctuary. "Enough, no arguing now. Your task on this floor is finished. It’s time to go home."

The goddess spread both arms. The purple-golden dimensional fissure above them expanded wide, swallowing the petal vortex along with the three sleeping bodies inside it, then closed tightly without leaving any trace on the now silent Primordial Zenith land.

Whether hours or perhaps days had passed when Sylvia’s consciousness began to crawl back from the depths of a profound ocean of sleep.

The first thing her physical sensors registered was not the scent of blood, nor the bone-crushing pressure of gravity, but the touch of silk fabric of the highest softness enveloping every surface of her skin. The air around her felt warm, fragrant with dried lavender, golden honey, and calming chamomile tea.

Sylvia slowly opened her heavy eyelids. A polished obsidian ceiling that reflected the soft golden light of crystal chandeliers greeted her vision. This was the main bedroom in the private wing of Persephone’s Castle, a chamber the size of a palace hall designed specifically for absolute comfort, far from the noise of inter-floor battlefields.

Sylvia tried to lift her head from the pillow.

"Sensory analysis... active..." a soft murmur echoed from the right side of the bed.

Sylvia turned and saw Stacia lying on her back, half-sunk into a pile of eight extremely thick goose-down pillows. Stacia’s silver-black hair was scattered across the black-and-gold silk sheets. Her older sister’s eyes stared blankly at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.

"Mattress density... calibrated to perfect elasticity level," Stacia continued in a hoarse voice, her brain seeming to perform calculations automatically even before her soul had fully gathered. "Room temperature constant at twenty-two point five degrees Celsius... Air humidity forty-five percent... Regenerative mana content in this lavender aromatherapy reaches eighty-nine percent... Tactical conclusion: we are in an SSS-rank safe zone. Probability of enemy threat: zero percent."

"Stacia... can you turn off the calculator function in your head for just one day?" Sylvia complained in a soft voice, massaging the bridge of her nose. Although her physical wounds had been healed by Persephone’s magic, the ache throughout every joint from swinging a mountain-weight giant scythe still lingered clearly in her muscles.

From the left side of the enormous bed, a gentle movement occurred. The silver-white silk blanket shifted downward, revealing Alicia who had just stretched slowly. Her face looked so peaceful, her white cheeks slightly flushed from the warmth of the bed. She looked at Sylvia and Stacia in turn with her still-drowsy silver eyes.

"We’re in Goddess Persephone’s castle, right...?" Alicia asked in a sweet voice that was almost like a kitten’s whisper. She stretched both arms above her head, then buried her face back into the soft down pillow. "Mmm... this mattress is so soft... I don’t want to get up. Anyone who tries to pull me out of this bed will be frozen with Spirit Frost..."

Hearing the childish threat from her usually most mature and calm eldest sister, the corner of Sylvia’s lips lifted into a thin smile. She swept her gaze across the entire expanse of the king-size bed that was large enough for ten adults to sleep without bumping into each other.

"Yes," Sylvia said as she lowered her head back onto the goose-down pillow that immediately sank to match the shape of her head. "The giant is dead. Floor five hundred fifteen’s challenge has been cleared. No monsters, no miasma, and no more fifteen-minute countdown."

"In that case..." Stacia pulled the black-and-gold silk blanket up to her chin, her eyes closing tightly again. "I’m shutting down my entire visual and auditory sensory systems for the next eighteen hours. Don’t wake me unless the sky of this castle collapses... and even if it collapses, let Persephone handle it."

"Agreed," Alicia mumbled from under her blanket. "Let’s sleep again, Sylvia..."

Sylvia drew a long breath, savoring the lavender scent that soothed her lungs. Just as she was about to close her eyes to join her two sisters back in the world of dreams, the extremely soft sound of footsteps followed by a familiar mana vibration approached the edge of their bed.

Miaw...

A hoarse meow that carried the resonant vibration of a dragon engine echoed near Sylvia’s right ear.

When Sylvia opened one eye, an extraordinarily plump ball of gold-cream fur had just leaped onto the bed. It was Sol the Primordial Golden Dragon, master of solar storms. Yet within the size-limiting space of Persephone’s Castle, the colossal dragon capable of swallowing islands had shrunk its form into an extremely large, thick-furred male Ragdoll cat.

Its long gold-cream fur shone like spun sunlight silk, with the ears, face, and tail colored deep reddish-gold like the hue of eternal fire. A pair of large eyes the color of sapphire blue with a golden ring around the pupils the exact same eyes as the dragon that had once shaken the Draconic Spire.

Miao... prrrr... prrr...

Sol walked leisurely across the bed, its claws hidden beneath thick fur pressing into the surface of the silk blanket beside Sylvia’s body in small kneading motions, the classic biscuit-making ritual of a cat that was completely mismatched with its reputation as a world-destroying dragon.

"Sol..." Sylvia smiled in amusement. She pulled her right hand out from under the blanket and stroked the golden Ragdoll cat’s head.

Immediately, Sol collapsed sideways in true Ragdoll fashion, his body becoming completely limp as if boneless. It rolled close to Sylvia’s ribs, wrapping its thick, fluffy golden tail across the Queen of Death’s stomach, then began to purr at a low frequency that made the entire right side of the bed vibrate with warmth. Sol’s purr was no ordinary cat’s purr; it was a vibration of pure solar mana that automatically warmed Sylvia’s blood flow, working like natural recovery therapy for her exhausted muscles.

"Purr frequency... forty-eight Hertz..." Stacia mumbled with closed eyes, her face shifting closer to Sol’s thick-furred back. "Thermal sound waves... assist mana cell regeneration by nineteen percent per hour... Useful golden cat. Don’t move, Sol. Become my heating pillow too."

Without hesitation, Stacia wrapped one arm around Sol’s plump body, burying her face into the nape fur of the dragon-cat that smelled like morning sunlight and warm spices. Sol only narrowed its blue eyes, letting out a small lazy meow of protest, yet made no attempt to free itself from Stacia’s embrace.

Meanwhile, on the left side of the bed, a soft pearl-white light glowed above the thick carpet.

tok... tok...

The extremely soft sound of animal hoof taps was heard as a mythical creature leaped onto Alicia’s side of the bed. It was the Qilin, the sacred heavenly beast that symbolized absolute purity and fortune.

If Sol had chosen the form of a lazy, plump golden Ragdoll cat, the Qilin had chosen the form of a small white deer the size of a puppy. Its entire body was covered in fur as white as the first snow, radiating a fine pearl shimmer. On its head, a pair of tiny horns with the texture of transparent white jade grew beautifully, adorned by a faint circle of sacred light floating around the tips.

The small Qilin walked with extreme elegance, as if its tiny hooves never truly touched the surface of the silk blanket. It lowered its head and nuzzled Alicia’s cheek with its soft pink, wet, and cool nose.

"Nngh... that tickles, Qilin..." Alicia’s soft laughter rang out as the sacred deer’s cool nose touched her neck.

The Qilin let out a gentle chirping sound that resembled the friction of pure crystal, then elegantly folded its four legs and lay down right beside Alicia’s chest. Its white jade horns radiated a cool Spirit Cleansing aura, flowing sacred energy that realigned the vibration of Alicia’s ice domain which had been disrupted by the fierce battle on the previous floor. The small white deer rested its chin on Alicia’s shoulder, closed its emerald eyes, and sank into the silence of the room.

Now, the enormous king-size bed inside Persephone’s Castle was filled with a sight that was both rare and heartwarming.

Three Queens of Death entities whose names and power made every being in the universe swallow hard in fear now lay side by side in loose black-and-gold silk nightclothes. Sylvia was in the middle, one arm wrapped around the plump belly of Sol, the golden Ragdoll cat that purred loudly like a warm generator. Stacia embraced Sol’s back from the right side with steady, calm breathing, completely surrendered to sleepiness. And on the left, Alicia curled up hugging the white Qilin deer that radiated soft silver light, both their faces reflecting heavenly peace.

Kriett...

The heavy mahogany door at the far end of the bedroom opened a few centimeters without making a single creak.

Goddess Persephone stood on the threshold, wearing a light purple casual gown and holding a silver tray containing a crystal teapot filled with ambrosia flower nectar and several pieces of underworld honey cake. Yet when her purple gemstone eyes saw the scene on the bed of the three girls she had come to regard as her own daughters sleeping soundly together with their two mythological companions the goddess’s steps halted.

A warm smile, so sincere it could melt the eternal ice of the coldest hell, spread across Persephone’s beautiful face.

"My wonderful children," Persephone whispered almost without sound.

She did not enter the room. With a single finger snap in the air, the silver tray floated by itself toward the nightstand at the corner of the bed, landing without producing even the slightest vibration. The ambrosia teapot was set with an automatic warming rune so it would remain fresh until her three queens awoke later.

Persephone raised her left hand and wove a god-tier protection spell around the door and windows of the room. The black velvet curtains slid shut tightly, blocking the bright light from outside the castle so it would not dazzle their eyes, leaving the chamber in perfect dim golden illumination for a long sleep.

"Sleep well, Sylvia, Stacia, Alicia," the goddess murmured before slowly closing the mahogany bedroom door from the outside. "Tomorrow, floor five hundred eighteen and the secrets of the heavenly throne will be waiting for you. But today... let the world wait."

The door closed tightly with a soft click.