The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Normally, the main reason why goblins were dangerous was because of their high solidarity in face of danger.

If nothing threatened them, they wouldn't care less about their own kin. They could even cannibalize each other in order to secure their own livelihood.

There was no familial bonds. Goblin children had the highest mortality rate, since they were unable to defend themselves.

Of course, this only applied to the lower goblin races. Higher goblin races would have greater intelligence, thus allowing them to make smarter choices.

Once they found something that has the potential to harm them, they would be able to bind together and fight off the threat.

The swarms of goblins were tricky to handle.

Attacks would be coming from all sides, aimed at every single body part.

The main point of interest goblins used to communicate with each other was their shrill scream.

They usually lived in packs. Not only will the scream be able to travel far and ensure that the pack's attention was grasped, it would also temporarily deafen the ears of the attackers.

The high, piercing sound had the capability to burst an eardrum if the person got too near.

To counter this, Aria had prepared a solution even before she attacked.

She stationed Dianthe right behind the girl.

The instructions handed to the spirit were to protect the girl and get ready to encapsulate the goblin's head in dense water.

Normal water wouldn't be enough to completely block the goblin's sounds.

Their shriek had a specific characteristic to it, exclusive to the goblins.

So, they used dense water. Water that has been thickened with the help of other materials.

Compressed against the goblin's head, its screams were muffled.

Although the ones who were extremely near the site would still be able to hear it, at least their numbers would be lessened.

These types of lower goblins only knew how to rush into battle. They couldn't plan a devious scheme.

After the first victim, who was downed by a stone, Aria drew her sword and charged into the pack.

Dianthe supported her brilliantly.

The time didn't reach two minutes before only one goblin was left.

Aria swiftly ended its life by stabbing [Halvargg] into the green monster's heart.

As soon as she pulled the sword out, the goblin's body became lifeless.

More goblins came.

Aria was prepared to take care of them, so she cooperated with Dianthe to maneuver around the goblins in stealth.

Once she took down one goblin, Dianthe would take care of the rest so that they couldn't scream.

In just mere minutes, the goblin chasers were taken down.

[Level D Little Goblin <Mad> successfully murdered.]

[Level D Little Goblin <Mad> successfully murdered.]

[Level D Little Goblin <Mad> successfully murdered.]

The EXP piled up.

Since it was only goblins, not much was obtained.

With her exemplary hearing, Aria was able to detect more goblin noises. It was located far within the dungeon, passing through the narrow paths and into the inner dungeon.

The rest of the pack was still there, inside the cave.

Those are the ones who hadn't been disturbed.

It wasn't like she had no time.

Aria looked at the girl she just saved.

She looked particularly young. 15 to 16. A teenager.

"...What is this? The gate was masked in a thin mist, but you can't even handle a small goblin pack. What were you planning?" Aria questioned the girl who was lying on the ground in tears.

"Did you overestimate your abilities? Sealing magicians are usually supports. They're not supposed to battle alone,"

She couldn't understand why the girl did what she did.

Not even her clothes showed her readiness to battle. She wore nothing but a simple pink blouse and a checkered skirt.

"T-the gate sucked me in when I was in the process of sealing it... I, I didn't mean to enter!" The girl, still in fear, trembled when she saw Aria approach her.

The reason had to do with her activities.

She was part of a dungeon broker team. Although her team was small, she had done the deed a couple times, so she was quite familiar with it.

Especially since her sealing ability was quite exceptional. She was able to hide dungeons in a fast speed.

The moment they discovered a dungeon that no one had laid their eyes on, she would use her ability to keep it undercover.

They would sometimes sell it, but they also had a fighting team. When the team needed materials, they masked their trails by sending two teams.

One to a real dungeon, one to the masked dungeon. That way, their acquisition of materials could be explained.

The monopolization of a dungeon gate was illegal. Ever since the gates appeared, this crime had climbed its way up to the highest degree.

Even a mass murderer would be dealt with lighter than dungeon brokers.

That was how much the world had changed.

Aria looked like a strong Hunter to her. A high ranker. Someone who would get her in trouble once the incident was reported to the Association.

The young girl started to panic.

She looked no older than a high school student.

In truth, Aria didn't even possess a Hunter card, let alone be a high-ranked Hunter.

But the girl didn't know this.

"...Well, it seems like this 'sucking in' phenomenon didn't include you as a willing participant. Isn't that the case?" Aria looked at the dungeon gate that disappeared not long after she entered it.

The gate had a slight delay from when it was entered to when it began to close.

It was to purposely let teams go in. The team should be ready to rush into the gate and start the subjugation.

However, since the girl was allegedly brought into the dungeon without entering through the gate, it could be categorized differently.

Then again, that was just an assumption.

Who knew if this girl was someone like Yoo Jin, who planned to abuse the unnatural law of 'when half of the party dies, the gate opens momentarily'?

It was a strange law. If the dungeons were made to cause chaos and destruction onto the world, just like the monsters she had in her time, why would the gate give them time to escape?

To instill the practice of betrayal?

To nurture them into stronger beings?

To give them despair and anguish over fallen comrades?

It was really strange.

"You're alone? You're sure of it?" Aria ruffled her hair, cleaning [Halvargg] with Dianthe's water magic.

The girl nodded furiously.

"If I discover a fresh corpse inside, you will be killed along with the monsters," Aria decided to make a compromise.

She hated betrayals, especially after the thing with Azef.

She gave her the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty.

The moment she found a key evidence, the woman would lose her life.

She hated traitors.

They were despicable.

To another Hunter, this situation might be completely the girl's fault.

However, Aria herself had done quite a lot of blasphemous actions. To her, this 'dungeon monopoly' thing didn't really matter.

After all, she herself subjugated a dungeon outside of the Association's permission.

"W-wait!" The girl called out to Aria, who was already planning to leave for the deeper parts of the dungeon.

Aria lowered her gaze.

This could mean two things.

One, she was scared or didn't want to be left alone.

Two, she was indeed a traitor and there were things that she didn't want Aria to discover inside the dungeon.

Aria put her hand on [Halvargg]'s handle and waited for the girl to say her words.

"My name is.. Lee Jin-kyung..."

"And?" The girl was introducing herself. Aria didn't see a point in it.

They were strangers. Their identities wouldn't matter.

Both of them would prefer if this matter wasn't spoken of to anybody after it passed.

"Could I please tag along with you?"

Her words confirmed that it was indeed the first meaning. She didn't want to be left alone.

The girl didn't show any signs of hesitance. There was fear, but it wasn't the fear of getting caught.

Aria was an expert at distinguishing emotions. The girl's actions and gestures didn't seem like a guilty person's.

In the first place, she did expect the girl to want to follow her. So, she ultimately allowed it.

The girl tried to stand, but her steps were shaky. She scooted over to the walls and used it as a support.

Standing up, she grimaced. Her leg cramped from the sheer fear that she faced. When faced with doom, the girl had slumped over and sat down on her leg, stopping efficient blood flow.

Aria didn't plan to help the girl.

After all, she had to take responsibility for her wrongdoings.

Although it wasn't on purpose, the cause was still her.

But she wondered. If the girl's words were true, then the dungeon must've had something that had the capability to inflict damage onto others even before they stepped inside the dungeon.

That would mean that the magic was cast towards the outside world.

In that case, wouldn't someone passing by be absorbed as well?

She wanted to ask the girl for further clarification about the 'sucked in' phenomenon, but something interrupted them.