"My lord, all humans on the planet have been successfully exterminated. Our army numbers 60 trillion," a zombie clad in pitch-black armour stepped forward.
"Hm, good. It's time to end this." The Shizue look-alike stood up, her gaze cold and distant—as if exterminating the entire human race was nothing more than a casual matter.
"Lord, are you really planning on regressing?" the zombie in armour asked, its voice cold and icy.
"Yes, I am," the zombie monarch replied, her tone casual, as if something like this were normal for her. The planet lay in ruins, now nothing more than a world of death.
Other zombies would have rejoiced and stayed to rule this place, yet their monarch wanted to regress—for her lover.
"Think carefully, my lord. If you leave, what will happen to all of us? What will become of the Kingdom of the Undead?" the zombie knight asked.
Its voice was filled with helplessness and anger. It didn't want the undead monarch to regress. The entire legion wanted her to stay and rule them.
They had even heard of lifeforms on other planets. Since they had finished with this one, why not go out and conquer another?
"There's no need to worry. The Kingdom of the Undead will rise again. I will make sure of that," the zombie monarch said with a slight smile.
A zombie with a humanoid upper body and the lower body of a spider walked forward.
"Lord, what should we do about this human?" the zombie spider asked, throwing a bound man forward. His entire body was wrapped in spiderwebs.
"I almost forgot about him."
The zombie monarch snapped her fingers, and the webs disintegrated. The human quickly got up and glared at her.
"You piece of shit!! Not only did you take over Shizue's body, but you killed the rest of our classmates!! Don't you feel ashamed!?" the human shouted, pointing a trembling finger at the monarch.
"Aargh!!" A silent blade sliced his finger off. He screamed and fell to his knees. The zombie knight snorted in disgust and sheathed her sword.
Due to her armour, most wouldn't realize the zombie knight was female.
"I killed them—so what? They kept getting in my way. Everyone who does has to die," the zombie monarch said lazily, resting against her throne.
Her gaze was cold and unconcerned. She didn't care about massacring her classmates. In the apocalypse, it was survival of the fittest—and she had won.
"Y-you think Shizue would have wanted this!?" the human gritted his teeth, fighting through the pain.
"Probably not. But it doesn't matter. I'm going back to the past, and this time, I'll save her."
"S-save her? Go back to the p-past!?" the human stammered.
"What was your name again?... Hmm, oh right—Jade, wasn't it? Yes, I'm going back. Thanks to possessing Shizue's body, I gained the ability to travel through time. She had the bloodline of the Undead Phoenix."
"You're going to use that to travel back and then what?" Jade asked.
The zombie monarch smirked.
"To replay everything and have more fun, obviously."
"Bastard! You think you can just toy with humans over and over!? Your days are numbered!" Jade roared and rushed at her, his sudden charge catching her interest.
"Oh? What gave you the confidence to approach me instead?" she asked with an amused smile.
"Die!!" Jade hurled a punch at her face. His speed and reaction time were fast—efficient.
"You were once a friend, so I'll give you a quick and painless death." The zombie monarch vanished. Jade spun around, but it was too late. A finger tapped his forehead—and his vision faded to black.
He collapsed with a dull thud. Lifeless. Eyes wide with horror, anger, and regret.
"Such a nuisance," the zombie monarch muttered, rolling her eyes. She tapped his corpse again, and it dissolved into dark smoke.
"He was one of my friends. I should at least give him a dignified death," she said, standing from her throne.
There were no humans left in the world. She opened her status panel.
Name: Raven (formerly Alex)
Age: 2,100 years
Gender: N/A
Race: Death
Title: Death
"I am Death. Nothing more, nothing less. A fitting name, I suppose." The undead monarch Raven returned to her throne.
"Don't worry. I will find each and every one of you. The Undead Kingdom will rise again." A slight smile played on her lips.
Each zombie kneeled, shouting with emotion:
"YES, LORD!"
Raven nodded and turned her gaze to the female zombie knight.
"Are you unhappy?" she asked. The knight nodded. She was indeed unhappy.
Who said zombies couldn't feel emotions? It had been two thousand years. The undead had evolved—to the point of threatening the entire universe.
Zombies had limitless lifespans. Humans, too, had begun to evolve and extend their lives.
"Don't worry, kiddo. I'll find you, okay? How could I rule the world again without my daughter, Igris?"
As an otaku in her past life, she had watched and read Solo Leveling. When she met this zombie knight, she took her in and named her Igris. Her only daughter—adopted, but still her daughter.
"Fine. You better do it," Igris said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she threw herself into Raven's embrace.
She sobbed. Raven held her close. Dark, radiant wings spread from Raven's back, glowing with an undead aura.
As the wings emerged, her body began to dissolve—turning into black mist.
"WE WILL BUILD OUR UNDEAD KINGDOM!!!" Raven roared one last time as she vanished.
"WE WILL BUILD OUR UNDEAD KINGDOM!!"
"WE WILL BUILD OUR UNDEAD KINGDOM!!!"
The Kingdom of the Undead roared in unison, their cries echoing across the planet of the dead.
....
Back in the present world, Ale—or rather, Raven—stood up. Her expression was unreadable, hidden beneath the curtain of her bangs.
"So, it's like that, hm?"
She slowly tilted her head. Cold, lifeless eyes opened, glowing faintly with a red light.
"Now it's time to play the game... ROARRRR!!!"
She roared like a savage beast. The terrifying cry of the undead Monarch echoed through every inch of the city.
All the zombies froze and turned in one direction.
Death itself had returned.