Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner - Chapter 550

Chapter 550: Deployment
Lucas was soaring, breeze blowing through his ponytail. He was having a nice sleep that couldn’t be disturbed by anything.

Until his back hit something solid.

His eyes snapped open as consciousness slammed back into his body. The world was spinning, sky and grass rotating in his vision. He was falling, tumbling through the air with no control over his trajectory. Below him, the Widow’s construct stood perfectly still, her tail already repositioning for another strike.

‘Right. Still training,’

Electricity erupted from Lucas’s body without conscious thought, pure survival instinct overriding everything else. Lightning cascaded down from his head, spreading across his shoulders, converging at his spine, flowing down both legs in a perfect V-shape. The energy buildup was immediate and violent, turning him into a living bolt.

He stopped tumbling. His body aligned vertically, feet pointed toward the ground, and he descended like a missile wrapped in blue-white light.

The Widow’s tail came around again. Not a slash this time but a swing, the appendage cutting through air so fast it created visible distortion. She released the strike.

*BOOM!*

The shockwave hit like a physical wall. Air compressed, expanded, rippled outward in concentric rings. The grass beneath the impact point flattened. Dirt scattered.

Lucas adjusted mid-descent, angling his trajectory to avoid the worst of it. The edge of the shockwave caught him anyway, spinning him sideways. He compensated with another burst of electricity, forcing his body back on course.

The Widow swung again. Same technique, different angle.

*BOOM!*

Another shockwave, this one larger, more concentrated. The sound was like thunder compressed into a single moment, rolling across the domain with force that made the air itself vibrate.

Lucas hit the ground between both shockwaves, boots carving trenches through perfect grass as momentum carried him forward. He planted his feet, skidded another ten meters, came to a stop with electricity still crackling across his frame.

The Widow didn’t wait. She closed the distance in two strides, her fist already swinging toward his head.

Lucas ducked, felt the displacement as her fist passed inches above his skull. He came up inside her guard, drove his elbow into her midsection. The impact created a flash of light where lightning met void construct. The Widow stumbled backward half a step.

Half a step.

Lucas measured the hit by instinct. That elbow carried Cat 5 output. Roughly twelve tons of force packed into a strike no wider than a forearm. Enough to buckle a Cat 5 rated tungsten carbide matrix. Enough to flatten most apex beasts. The Widow moved back half a step.

‘This thing is ridiculous.’

He pressed forward anyway. His fists moved in rapid combinations, each strike enhanced by electrical discharge that turned his hands into weapons. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. The Widow blocked or deflected most of them, her movements precise despite the construct lacking actual intelligence. The few hits that landed barely seemed to register.

Her tail came around low, aiming for his legs. Lucas jumped, clearing the sweep by inches, came down with both feet aimed at her chest.

She caught him mid-air. Both hands closed around his ankles, and then she swung him like a club into the ground.

*CRACK!*

The impact drove all air from Lucas’s lungs. Pain exploded through his back, his shoulders, his skull. He tried to activate his lightning to break free, but the Widow was already lifting him again, preparing to repeat the process.

Lucas channeled everything into his legs. Electricity poured through the contact points where she held him, not trying to hurt her but to create enough charge differential that her grip would fail.

It worked. The void construct released him reflexively, her hands pulling back from the sudden voltage spike. Lucas hit the ground, rolled, came up on his feet twenty yards away.

Blood ran from his nose. His back screamed protest from the impact. His vision swam slightly, but he could still see the Widow repositioning, already moving to close the distance again.

‘Okay. No more holding back.’

Lightning erupted from Lucas’s body in a sphere, expanding outward in all directions. The grass around him blackened instantly, scorched by electrical discharge that would have killed a normal person just from proximity. The air smelled like burnt rubber.

He moved.

Not running. Not flying. Just existing in one location and then another, his body converting to pure electrical energy for the microseconds required to traverse the distance. He appeared beside the Widow, already mid-kick, his boot wrapped in concentrated lightning.

The strike caught her ribs. Actual impact this time, with a force that drove the construct sideways. Lucas didn’t give her time to recover. He was behind her, elbow to her spine. Then in front, uppercut to her jaw. Then above, double-fisted strike to her skull.

Each hit was accompanied by thunder. Each impact created shockwaves. The domain itself seemed to shudder under the sustained assault.

The Widow adapted. Her tail came up, caught Lucas across the chest while he was committed to an overhead strike. He flew backward, tumbling through the air, but converted to electricity mid-flight. He rematerialized on the ground, skidding to a stop, already repositioning for the next exchange.

They clashed again. Fist met fist, creating an explosion of light and force. The Widow’s strength was overwhelming but Lucas was faster, his electrical conversion letting him dodge attacks that should have connected. They separated, came together, separated again.

The fight became a blur. Lucas attacking from every angle, using his speed to compensate for the strength difference. The Widow responding with precision strikes, each one carrying enough force to end the fight if they landed clean.

Lucas took a hit to his shoulder. Something cracked. He ignored it, came back with a lightning-enhanced punch that actually staggered the construct. Another exchange. Another hit taken, another delivered.

His breathing was labored now. Blood ran from multiple cuts across his face and arms. His lightning was flickering slightly, the sustained output starting to tax even his enhanced reserves.

But the Widow showed damage too. Void construct or not, the repeated lightning strikes were causing degradation. Her movements were slightly slower, her reactions just fractionally delayed.

Lucas gathered everything he had left. Lightning condensed around his right hand, building, compressing, growing brighter until looking at it directly would have burned retinas. The charge built until the air itself began breaking down, ionizing in visible patterns.

He moved forward. Not his electrical conversion, just raw speed amplified by every ounce of power flowing through his muscles. The Widow’s tail came at him. He ducked under it. Her fist followed. He deflected it aside. Her other hand reached for his throat. He grabbed her wrist, used it as leverage.

And drove his charged fist into her chest.

The impact was devastating. Lightning poured into the construct’s core, spreading through void material like infection through tissue. The Widow’s form flickered, destabilized, began dissolving at the edges.

Lucas pulled his fist back, stumbled away, breathing hard. The construct was still standing but barely. Her form wavered between solid and transparent, void energy struggling to maintain cohesion.

Then she stabilized. The damage reversed, void energy flooding back into the gaps Lucas had created. Within seconds, she was whole again, unmarred, ready to continue.

Lucas stared. “Are you kidding me?”

From his perch on the stone outcropping, Noah watched with satisfaction. ‘Regeneration. As long as I’m feeding her void energy, she can repair damage indefinitely. That’s the advantage of being a construct instead of flesh and blood.’

But he’d seen enough. Lucas had pushed the Widow further than Noah had expected. The speed, the power, the tactical adjustments mid-combat. This wasn’t the Lucas who’d been trapped in Arthur’s shadow dimension. This was something evolved, refined, dangerous.

‘He can’t kill her. Not without a way to prevent the regeneration. But if this was a real fight? If the Widow couldn’t repair damage?’

Noah tried to imagine how that battle would play out. Lucas’s lightning was effective. His speed let him avoid most counterattacks. Given enough time, enough successful hits, he could potentially overwhelm even a four-horn’s durability.

‘She wouldn’t have a fun day. That’s for sure.’

Noah dismissed the Widow construct. The void form dissolved instantly, purple light scattering across the grass before fading to nothing. Lucas stood in the clearing, breathing hard, covered in blood and sweat, looking equal parts exhausted and disappointed.

“Done already?” Lucas called up.

“You proved your point,” Noah replied, climbing down from his perch. “You can hang with a four-horn. That’s more than most people can say.”

“I didn’t beat her though.”

“She regenerates as long as I’m powering her. You’d need to either kill her instantly or outlast my void energy reserves. Neither option is realistic.” Noah reached the ground, walked over to where Lucas stood. “But you damaged her. Multiple times. Forced her to actually repair instead of just tanking hits. That’s impressive.”

Lucas wiped blood from his face with the back of his hand. “That thing is terrifying. I’ve fought two-horns before. Even tangled with a three-horn during one of our missions. But four-horns are just built different.” He looked at Noah. “The only harbinger stronger than her that I think we can both attest to is Kruel.”

“Yeah.”

They stood there for a moment, Lucas catching his breath, Noah processing what he’d witnessed. The dragons had kept their distance during the fight, watching but not interfering. Now Storm approached cautiously, chirping at Lucas like checking if he was okay.

“I’m good, buddy,” Lucas said, patting the wyvern’s scaled head. “Just got my ass kicked by a purple ghost.”

Noah activated the exit sequence. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

The domain dissolved around them, reality reasserting itself. They stood in Noah’s quarters, the transition complete. Lucas looked down at himself, at the blood and torn clothing, and grimaced.

“I need a shower.”

“Probably. You look like you went through a meat grinder.”

“Feels like it too.” Lucas stretched carefully, testing his shoulder where the Widow had landed that solid hit. “That was exactly what I needed though. An opponent that actually pushes back. I’ve been going crazy with these training bots that fall apart if I breathe on them wrong.”

“The Widow’s available whenever you want another round.”

“I might take you up on that.” Lucas headed toward the door. “Thanks, Eclipse. Seriously. That was good.”

He left, presumably heading to his own quarters to clean up. Noah sat down on his bed, pulled up his system interface, checked his void energy levels. The sustained regeneration had cost him about four thousand points over the course of the fight. Not nothing, but manageable.

His comm device buzzed. Sophie’s face appeared on the small screen.

“Noah. Conference room in twenty minutes. We’ve got contracts to distribute.”

“Another one? I just finished a contract this morning.”

“This is bigger. Multiple deployments. Everyone needs to be present.” Sophie’s expression was professional but carried an edge of excitement. “Trust me, you’ll want to hear this.”

The screen went dark before Noah could respond. He sighed, stood, stretched muscles that were still tired from the morning’s blob incident. Another contract. Another deployment. The faction was growing faster than he’d anticipated, and with the Vanguard deal bringing in thirty percent more work, busy had become the new normal.

Twenty minutes later, Noah walked into the conference room to find most of the core team already assembled. Sophie stood at the head of the table with Sam beside her, both of them reviewing data on tablets. Diana sat near the middle, her posture perfect despite having spent the morning working on KROME modifications with Kelvin. Lila leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Seraleth stood near the displays.

Kelvin arrived moments after Noah, looking slightly disheveled. “Someone better have coffee. I’ve been elbow-deep in servo assemblies all day.”

“There’s coffee,” Sam replied without looking up.

Lucas was last. He’d cleaned up, changed into fresh clothes, tied his hair back properly. The blood and sweat were gone but Noah could see the careful way he moved, the slight stiffness in his shoulders. The fight with the Widow had left its mark even if none of the damage was visible.

Sophie waited until everyone was settled, then activated the main display. Multiple contract listings appeared, each one flagged with different priority markers and location data.

“Alright,” Sophie began. “We’ve got five contracts that came in simultaneously. All of them are high-priority humanitarian work. Good pay, good optics, exactly the kind of thing that plays well on the streams.”

She pulled up the first contract. “Medical supply escort. A remote settlement in the eastern territories is experiencing a plague outbreak. They need supplies delivered fast and they need security because the route passes through beast territory. Standard Category Three threats but enough of them that the civilian transport companies won’t take the risk.”

The second contract appeared. “Rescue operation. Collapsed mining facility. Approximately thirty miners trapped in the lower levels. They’ve got maybe forty-eight hours of air left. We need to get them out before that runs out.”

Third contract. “Evacuation assistance. A settlement is being overrun by beast attacks. Not a horde, just sustained pressure from Category Two and Three creatures that their local security can’t handle. They’re evacuating non-essential personnel and need protection during the transport.”

Fourth contract. “Technical repair work. Research station in the mountains has a failing life support system. If it goes down completely, everyone inside dies. They need someone who can diagnose and fix the problem under pressure.”

Fifth contract. “Security detail. Refugee transport ships moving displaced settlers from one zone to another. Standard escort work but there’s a lot of people and the client is paying premium for guaranteed safety.”

Sophie stepped back, letting everyone absorb the information. “The contracts are spread across the eastern territories. Different clients, different locations, but all of them need immediate response. Sam and I think we can handle all five if we deploy multiple teams simultaneously.”

“That’s a lot of coordination,” Diana observed. “Five separate operations running at the same time?”

“We have the personnel now,” Sam replied. “Between our recruits and the increased capacity from handling Vanguard contracts, we can field five teams without stretching ourselves too thin.”

Sophie began organizing the deployment details. “Team assignments. Noah, you take the medical supply escort. Diana, the rescue operation. Lila, evacuation assistance. Kelvin, technical repairs. Seraleth, security detail.”

She continued detailing personnel assignments, which recruits would go with which team leader, what equipment would be needed, estimated deployment times. The room filled with the sounds of people confirming their roles, asking clarification questions, coordinating logistics.

Lucas stood near the back, watching but not participating. His expression was carefully neutral.

Sophie wrapped up the briefing. “Questions?”

“What about me?”

Everyone turned. Lucas had spoken quietly but his voice carried clearly across the room.

Sophie blinked. “What?”

“Where do I fit?” Lucas asked. “You just distributed five teams. I wasn’t mentioned. Am I not getting deployed?”

Sophie’s expression shifted to something apologetic. “Oh. Lucas, I thought you needed time. You were trapped in Arthur’s shadow dimension for months. I didn’t want to throw you into combat situations immediately. Give you space to readjust.”

“I appreciate the consideration,” Lucas replied. “But I need to remind everyone here that we’re soldiers. Faction or military, doesn’t matter. Combat is what we do. I don’t need recovery time. I need work.”

The room went quiet. Diana was nodding slowly, understanding crossing her features. Kelvin looked like he wanted to say something but held back. Lila just watched with interest.

Sophie exchanged glances with Sam, then pulled the deployment data back up. “Alright. Fair point. Let’s reorganize.”

She began redistributing personnel, adjusting team compositions to accommodate Lucas. The process took another ten minutes, people shuffling between assignments, squad leaders coordinating with their new members.

The recruits who’d been waiting in the adjacent briefing room were called in for final assignments. When they heard Lucas Grey was being deployed, the energy in the room changed immediately. Excitement, nervousness, anticipation. Everyone had heard the stories about Eclipse’s S-ranked soldier. The second highest ranked awakened human in the faction after Noah himself.

The wagering started immediately, quiet but present. Everyone wanted to be assigned to Team Grey. Having Lucas as your squad leader meant guaranteed safety, professional leadership, someone who’d fought at the highest levels and survived.

Sophie finished the reorganization. “Final assignments. Any objections?”

Silence. Everyone had their roles, their teams, their equipment lists.

“Good,” Sophie said. “We deploy in one hour. Kelvin’s drones will be streaming all operations live. Standard protocol applies. Watch each other’s backs, complete the objectives, come home safe.”

The room began emptying, people heading to prepare gear and coordinate with their teams. Noah caught Sophie’s eye as he passed.

“This feels big,” he said quietly.

“It is big. Five simultaneous humanitarian operations? That’s the kind of thing that builds serious reputation.” Sophie smiled. “We pull this off, Eclipse cements itself as more than just a combat faction. We become the group people call when lives are actually at stake.”

Noah nodded, filed out with everyone else. One hour to prep. One hour before five teams scattered across the eastern territories on missions that all seemed straightforward.

He had no idea how wrong that assumption was about to be.