Episode-819
Chapter : 1637
He stared out the window at the passing city. The world seemed grey and flat.
"I need her," Lloyd whispered. "I need Jasmin. Not just for her mother. For me. I need... I need to fix this."
The carriage rolled through the gates of the estate. Before the wheels even stopped turning, Lloyd kicked the door open. He jumped out, stumbling slightly, but catching his balance.
"Lloyd!" Mina called out.
"Go to the lab!" Lloyd shouted back over his shoulder. "Check the Aegis diagnostics! I have... I have to go to my study. I have to check the inventory."
He didn't wait for her reply. He ran. He ran through the corridors of his home, ignoring the startled servants. He ran past the portraits of his ancestors, who looked down on him with judgmental oil-painted eyes.
He burst into his private study and slammed the door. He locked it. He engaged the magical privacy seals.
He stood in the center of the room, panting. He was alone. Just him and the System.
"System," Lloyd said. "Open interface."
The sleek, star-filled void of the System 2.0 appeared in his mind. The Administrator’s cool, synthetic voice echoed in his head.
[Welcome, User. Your heart rate is elevated. Do you require medical assistance?]
"No," Lloyd said. "I require a miracle. Open the Shopping Tree."
The holographic branches of the Shopping Tree unfurled before him. He swiped past the weapons. He swiped past the potions. He swiped past the materials.
"Spirits," he muttered. "I can summon spirits. I summoned Iffrit. I summoned Bingyu. They are constructs of energy and concept. If I can summon a concept of fire... why can't I summon a concept of a person?"
He navigated to the [Spirits] tab. He scrolled down, past the elemental spirits, past the beast spirits. He reached the bottom, where the options were greyed out or incredibly expensive.
He found a tab he had never looked at before. [Heroic Spirits].
Usually, this tab contained legendary figures from history—ancient kings, mythic warriors. Strangers.
"Search," Lloyd commanded. "Search for... specific resonance. Search for Jasmin."
[Querying database...]
The System paused. It felt like it was thinking.
[No standard Heroic Spirit matches 'Jasmin'. However, User possesses a recorded data log of a bonded individual who achieved a 'Sacrificial Pinnacle'.]
Lloyd’s heart stopped. "Sacrificial Pinnacle. She died for me. The System recorded it?"
[Affirmative. The System records all combat data within the User's vicinity. The entity 'Jasmin' achieved a moment of conceptual transcendence before termination. Her data profile is saved in the cache.]
"Can I..." Lloyd swallowed hard. "Can I bring her back?"
[Resurrection is outside the parameters of the System. The soul has departed.]
Lloyd punched the desk. "I don't care about the soul! I need the person! I need the... the shape! The voice! The memory!"
[Alternative Option Available: Spirit Reconstruction. Sub-category: Bonded Vassal.]
A new window popped up. It was ominous. The text was red.
[Spirit Reconstruction: Bonded Vassal]
Description: Reconstructs a spiritual facsimile of a deceased individual based on recorded data and residual karma. Creates a Spirit Class entity.
Requirements:
1. Significant personal item of the deceased (The Catalyst).
2. 10,000 System Coins (or equivalent energy conversion).
3. User Spiritual Essence Contribution.
Lloyd stared at the cost. 10,000 System Coins It was insane. It was bankrupting. He had been saving for the Aegis upgrades. He had been saving for the war.
But then he thought about Mrs. Weaver. He thought about the doll. He thought about the empty space behind his shoulder where Jasmin used to stand.
"I can farm more coins," Lloyd whispered. "I can grind. I can kill a million slimes. But I can't get her back any other way."
He reached into his pocket. He pulled out the hairpin. It was simple silver, bent slightly from the impact of the spear. It was the only thing he had left.
"Is this enough?" Lloyd asked the air. "Is this a catalyst?"
[Scanning object... Item verified. High emotional resonance detected. Catalyst accepted.]
Lloyd took a deep breath. This was madness. This was heresy. He was trying to print a human being out of magic and memories.
But he was desperate. And desperation made its own morality.
"Do it," Lloyd commanded. "Purchase."
[Warning: This process is irreversible. The resulting entity will be classified as a Spirit, not a Human. Proceed?]
"I said do it!" Lloyd screamed.
Chapter : 1638
He slammed his hand on the virtual 'Accept' button. The room began to hum. The shadows lengthened. Lloyd felt a massive drain on his energy, as if a vampire had bitten his neck. The coins vanished from his account. The hairpin in his hand began to glow with a blinding, prismatic light.
"Come back," Lloyd whispered, watching the light consume the room. "Please, just come back."
The light in the study wasn't just bright; it was heavy. It pressed against the walls, rattling the bookshelves and making the windows vibrate. It was a prismatic swirling vortex of colors—diamond white, soft pink, and the deep, grounding brown of earth. It centered on the silver hairpin floating in the middle of the room.
Lloyd stood back, shielding his eyes with his arm. The wind whipped his hair and clothes, tearing at him. The air smelled of ozone and something sweeter—like fresh laundry and jasmine flowers.
"System," Lloyd shouted over the roaring wind. "Status!"
[reconstructing matrix... 40%... 60%...]
The Administrator’s voice was calm, a stark contrast to the chaos in the room.
[Injecting User Spiritual Essence... Warning: Vitality levels dropping. Please remain conscious.]
Lloyd felt his knees buckle. It wasn't just taking his mana; it was taking his life. He felt cold. His vision blurred at the edges. He felt like he was bleeding out, but there was no wound. He gritted his teeth and locked his knees.
"Take it," he snarled. "Take whatever you need. Just finish it."
He poured his will into the vortex. He visualized her. Not just her face, but the way she stood. The way she held a tea tray like a shield. The way she smiled when she thought no one was looking. He pushed those memories into the light, trying to fill the hollow shape forming there.
[Reconstruction at 90%... Shaping physical shell... Crystallizing concept: 'Diamond Queen'.]
The light began to condense. It swirled inward, taking on a humanoid shape. First the skeleton, glowing like molten glass. Then the muscles, woven from threads of light. Then the skin.
The wind died down. The roaring stopped. The blinding light faded into a soft, steady glow.
Standing in the center of the room, where the hairpin had been, was a girl.
Lloyd forgot how to breathe.
It was her.
She was wearing her maid uniform, crisp and clean, not bloodstained and torn like the last time he saw her. Her hair was brown and tied back in a practical bun, secured by the silver hairpin. Her hands were folded politely in front of her.
She looked... perfect. Too perfect. There was no smudge of soot on her cheek. No stray hair out of place. She looked like a high-definition photograph.
Lloyd took a step forward. His legs felt like jelly. He reached out a trembling hand.
"Jasmin?" he whispered.
She didn't move. She stood as still as a statue. Her chest didn't rise and fall. Did spirits breathe? He didn't know. He didn't care.
"Jasmin, it's me," Lloyd said, his voice cracking. "It's Lloyd. I... I brought you back."
Slowly, the figure raised her head. Her eyes opened.
They were brown. The same warm, chocolate brown he remembered. But as Lloyd looked into them, the relief in his chest turned into a cold, heavy stone.
There was no light in them.
When people look at you, there is a spark. Recognition. Emotion. History. Even when they hate you, there is something there.
Jasmin’s eyes were flat. They were like painted glass. They saw him, but they didn't know him.
She unclasped her hands and performed a perfect, mechanical curtsy. It was graceful, fluid, and utterly devoid of personality.
"Summoning complete," she said.
Her voice. It was her voice. The same pitch, the same timbre. But the cadence was wrong. It was smooth, melodic, and monotone. It sounded like a recording.
"Awaiting orders, Master," she said.
Lloyd froze. Master. She never called him Master. She called him 'My Lord', or 'Young Lord', or sometimes, when she was brave, just 'Lloyd'. 'Master' was a command prompt.
"Jasmin?" Lloyd asked again, desperation creeping into his voice. "Do you... do you know who I am?"
She looked at him. Blinked once.
"You are the User," she stated. "You are the primary command authority. Designation: Master."
Lloyd felt like he had been punched in the gut. He stumbled back, hitting his desk.
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no. Stop that. Stop talking like a machine. It's me. We... we made stew. You saved my father. You died."