The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Chapter 155: Lucas Delmonte

It would hit her worse to have her past touched upon right now, when she was at the peak of doubting herself and her actions. What had been done couldn't be reversed, and there was no medicine for regret. Those two phrases were the truth.

In exchange for it, she had to undergo constant torture underground, being burnt to a crisp by a ruthless fire only to be released to this current world, where not a single one of her comrades lasted. Who was she supposed to apologize to for her wrong? Who did she owe? What should she do, and how should she progress from now on?

She had been blindly going forward, just trying to get stronger, but if Level 100 was truly the peak.. After reaching that pinnacle, what would she do from that point on?

She was afraid that she would feel empty. Much more empty than she was already feeling right now. Alone and stranded. But perhaps, if her mistakes in the past were that bad, then it would be her karma to undergo cold solitude.

Aria sighed, as she convinced herself that she was stressing over this matter too much. She pushed the thoughts backwards, saying that she would rethink about it once she reached Level 50 or something like that. Half of the predicted maximum level.

She laid down on the ground to rest for longer, trying to recover as much strength as possible before she entered the second checkpoint floor. Somehow, she already had a strong intuition that she would indeed not be fighting at all, but instead will have to face one of the fragments of her past.

Thus, she also knew that recovering her strength wouldn't do her that much benefit. She knew it. An instinct coming from the deepest parts of her heart screamed this fact, telling her that she should just stand up and gather her courage.

After a few minutes had passed, Aria sighed and still couldn't bring herself to step into the next chamber.

She already spun her brain around who would it be.

Another one of her disciples? Someone she was close to? Her master would definitely appear again one day, but he probably won't until it was in the later stages. He was that important of a figure, so instead of appearing early, he should be like an ending scene.

As she tried to recall deep memories from the past, she also found out that she didn't have that much lasting impressions about the scenarios. She only knew the vague outlines, but not the details. It made it harder for her to categorize her acquaintances into probable victims of her actions.

Seeing Aria drag out her run this long, her Earth spirit began to pop up into the real world and look at his master with strange eyes. The Earth spirit's body was cute, as opposed to its rather annoying personality. His doe eyes stared down on Aria as she was sprawled all over the ground with a pair of eyes enveloped in agony.

Seconds piled up into minutes as Rallaka continued staring without saying a word. 

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"What do you want to say?" Aria asked, not able to take the silent staring contest any longer.

"..I don't know what happened in the past, nor do I know who you are in detail, but I only judge people based on what I have seen. Well, as much as I don't like being under another's rule, I do admit that you are a pretty good leader to follow. I have to give you that credit." Rallaka lowered his voice as he praised Aria as his way of trying to cheer the woman up.

Aria smiled, appreciating the spirit's support as he was now awkwardly flying in the air, regretting the words he uttered.

"I know. I'm just trying to collect my mind, wrap my head around my problems." Aria answered.

"Well- aren't you going to go anytime soon? Or will you stay like this for longer?" Rallaka questioned. He wasn't exactly used to seeing Aria be down like this, nor did he know how to get her out of her mind space.

"Ahh, now that you've rushed me, I will just enter the next floor! Whatever, I don't care anymore!" Aria raised her volume as she held the floor's key and thought of entering it. Her body experienced warping and was transferred into the destination just seconds after.

A rash decision that ultimately led to her seeing a sight that she wished she would have never encountered.

In the next floor, the surroundings were dark and grimy just like with Noel's round.

However, unlike Noel, who was just left chained and battered, the person who she captured in her eyes was in a much worse state. He was drenched in a pool of blood, and it was hard to tell whether he was still alive or not.

Aria instantly felt a jolt in her heart, and it skipped a beat as she was overtaken by shock. A negative one.

"What the- Lucas! Lucas! Holy shit, this.. just what is... Haah?!" Aria's thoughts were all jumbled up, and her worry spiked up as she ran towards the hideous body who she recognized to be one of the many people who worked in the research department with her back then.

His name was Lucas Delmonte. A lower noble back then. He did not possess fighting abilities, but he was smart. Extremely vicious with his mind. This quality of his was what made Aria pick him up from his family, where he was oppressed since he was the second son and wasn't needed for the inheritance line.

He stayed in the institution's laboratory practically all day long, and cooperated with her to unravel the secrets of the world step by step. This young man was now bloodied up, with little to no clothes, writhing in pain as he was strewn all over the floor.

Aria gritted her teeth as she panicked. She was in so much panic that she was unable to think straight. Her imbalance caused Rallaka to react and ask what had happened, but she couldn't find it within herself to answer the spirit's question.

Her eyes were dead set on Lucas Delmonte, this old friend of hers. She had associated what happened to Noel to be her fault. It was her fault that he was trapped inside that space. It was her fault that he wasn't able to pass on peacefully.

Yesterday it was Noel, and today it was Lucas.

"Lucas, answer me! Why- why are you in such a state? Lucas!" Aria was careful to not disturb him too much, to not shake him so that his condition wouldn't just worsen. However, her anxiety peaked and she couldn't help but turn his body around to check for his vitals, to which she found out that the man was indeed still alive.

His eyes were extremely dazed, and he looked out of it. The pair of organs were drooping, closing bit by bit as his lips trembled to spout words. Unfortunately, before he was able to muster strength to finish even one sentence, a terrifying countdown started in Aria's head.

When she locked eyes with the man, the System suddenly launched a notification window laced with a voiceover to Aria.

[Memory transfer starting in 3.. 2... 1.]

[Memory transfer beginning.]

'Memory transfer?' Aria recognized the System's voice. It seemed like she was going to enter a mirrored memory lane just like she did with Noel. Only, when it was Noel's turn, she couldn't hear the System's voice and was directly thrown into the space.

She opened her eyes to a completely different scenario from the near death Lucas.

Aria clicked her tongue in displeasure as she was furious, extremely furious about everything.

"...This type of scene again, huh?" Aria was not at all happy about the progression. All she could think of was Lucas, who was suffering in the original world as she would have to spend time clearing whatever was hosted inside this damned useless space.

However, this space also meant that it had a relation with Lucas, and would connect the dots between what she had failed to see before.

She was transported into a noble's house. Currently, she was a maid, and in front of her was a food tray. Not far from where she was standing, she could see a painting.

A painting that depicted Lucas Delmonte's childhood figure, along with his parents and an older brother.

That's right, she was inside the Delmontes' home.

Lucas Delmonte's chapter. She was about to see it. And since he was brought into this Tower of hers, and she was made to undergo the action replay, it could only mean one thing.

She missed something in Lucas' life. Something that triggered a change in him, something that affected him in one way or another.

She ought to find what thing that was and come back. With a determined look in her eyes, she walked forward and picked up the food tray.