The silence in the chamber was almost palpable.
Mark watched Aria, who looked back at him with a mixture of expectation and nervousness that was almost unsettling.
Mark walked slowly toward the throne he had created, but didn’t sit. Instead, he remained standing in front of it, arms crossed, watching Aria.
She wrung her hands with anxiety, waiting.
"Aria," Mark said at last, his voice firm but calm. "I need you to answer sothing with complete honesty."
"Of course, Master. Anything," Aria replied, nodding quickly.
"Do you clearly rember what happened to you before you died?"
Aria blinked, as if the question had caught her off guard.
"Yes, Master. I rember everything."
"Everything?" Mark frowned. "You didn’t lose any mories? Any details?"
"No, Master. I rember it all with complete clarity," Aria stated firmly. "My death and my subsequent reanimation occurred within a very short interval. Just a few minutes. That allowed my mories to remain fully intact."
Mark nodded slowly, processing the information.
’That makes sense.’
According to Aria, Yuki had been missing for months — which was why she had lost almost all of her mories.
Ely had also been dead for so ti, which was why she had lost parts of her mory, though not to the sa extent as Yuki.
But Aria had died and been revived almost imdiately. Which ant she rembered absolutely everything — including the mont Mark had killed her.
Mark looked her directly in the eyes.
"Then tell sothing, Aria. And I want the absolute truth."
"Yes, Master."
"Everything you told while I was killing you... about the guild, about the trap, about them watching ... was any of it true?"
Aria looked down, biting her lower lip.
The silence stretched for several seconds.
And finally she spoke.
"It was all a lie, Master."
Mark raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yes..." Aria nodded, her voice softening, almost embarrassed. "Although the guild did consider you suspicious for starting to clear dungeons on your own, their suspicions never went much further, and..."
"And?"
"And then they called a eting. The local guild leaders gathered to discuss what to do about you."
Mark felt a slight tightness in his chest.
’Damn. So they really were watching .’
"But," Aria continued, "after investigating you a little and speaking with you... they classified you as harmless and pathetic."
Mark almost laughed.
’Harmless and pathetic.’
’How flattering.’
’Though, well... he supposed that had been the whole point.’
"They said you only had one sowhat curious ability," Aria explained. "Sothing related to reviving monster corpses. That you were no threat whatsoever. Just a low-level necromancer trying to survive."
"Then why did you attack ?" Mark asked, his tone cooling. "If the guild considered harmless, why did you decide to set up an ambush?"
Aria swallowed, and Mark could see the conflict in her eyes.
"Because... because I received a letter, Master."
"A letter?"
"Yes. From soone in the guild. I don’t know exactly who — the letter wasn’t signed. But it inford about a necromancer who was clearing dungeons in a suspicious manner. Soone who was progressing far too quickly for a Rank F."
Mark frowned.
’So soone else, outside of the official guild, was watching more closely than I thought.’
"So I decided to investigate on my own," Aria continued. "I followed you. I watched you. And I confird it was you. That you were the necromancer ntioned in the letter."
"And then you decided to kill ?"
"Yes," Aria nodded, and there was sothing in her voice — sha, regret. "Because I... hated necromancers, Master."
Mark watched her in silence, waiting for her to continue.
"I hated them with every fiber of my being," Aria said, her voice trembling slightly. "Them and anything that wasn’t human. Demi-humans, monsters, the undead... I considered them abominable creatures. Impure. Repulsive."
’Well, at least she’s honest.’
Though it was rather ironic, given that she herself was now an undead.
"It was an open secret in the guild," Aria continued. "Everyone knew I hated necromancers. That I considered them a plague to be wiped out. So when I received that letter, and after confirming you were a necromancer... I decided to act."
"On your own?" Mark asked.
"Yes. I used my rank to access guild resources. I planned the ambush and even used my little sister as bait."
Mark felt a wave of anger.
"You were really willing to do all that?" he asked, his voice hardening. "Even put your own sister in danger just to kill ?"
Aria closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, there were tears in them.
"Yes, Master. The person I was then was... a bitch. A very bad bitch."
Mark said nothing, waiting for her to go on.
"I was so consud by my hatred," Aria said, her voice breaking, "that I didn’t care about using Lily. I didn’t care about putting her in danger. I just wanted to eliminate another disgusting necromancer."
Tears began rolling down her cheeks.
"But," she added quickly, "I did care... not as much as I should have, but... I did. After the ambush failed and after the demi-humans attacked and ruined my plan, I decided to send her back ho to our parents."
"Is she safe?" Mark asked.
"Yes, Master. She’s probably fine. Far away from all of this... far away from ."
Mark processed the information.
’So the sister is safe. That’s... good, I suppose,’ Mark thought, noting that for the mont he didn’t need to worry about a traumatized young girl coming after him looking for revenge.
Although, knowing his luck, she’d probably show up sooner or later.
Mark could only let out a long sigh as he rubbed his temples.
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