The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

The silence that followed after the light disappeared was broken by the ragged breathing of the guard, who was still clutching his hand against his chest.

Just like the other people inside that place, he had collapsed. But unlike Aisha, he woke up earlier and saw the aftermath of what had happened.

The entire place before him had been stripped of miasma, as though it had never been corrupted in the first place. Had it not been for the traces left by the corruption, he would’ve mistaken this place for the paradise everyone dreamed of seeing and living in. However, this kind of purification was simply too impossible, and he had never heard of something like this happening in the thousands of years since Dark Energy had started to spread through the galaxy.

Gerard stared at his own hand and couldn’t stop shaking. The corruption that had been living there was also gone. His skin looked raw and pale, as though new skin had grown in its place.

He flexed his fingers once and couldn’t help tearing up. Anyone watching might have mistaken those tears for joy—the tears of someone finally freed from the corruption that had plagued his body. But Gerard felt nothing of the sort.

”The Lord’s Blessing... it’s gone...” he murmured sorrowfully.

The miasma was gone. The power he had spent years cultivating, suffering for, and desperately trying to make part of himself had disappeared as though it had never existed.

It had taken a long time for him to get the miasma to live in his right hand without being fully devoured by it. He had spent a lot of money on items the Order was selling just to find the right method to become one with the miasma and be selected as an Elder in the next Chosen One selection, yet it had only taken a second for that woman to wipe away years of his effort.

How could this possibly happen? For that woman to actually turn out to be a Guide and possess that power... this could only be an ominous sign!

His eyes were drawn back to Aisha’s crumpled body on the floor.

He could run now and report what he had witnessed to the Order. If they learned that a human being could erase their Lord’s Blessing, they would surely send someone to this planet and handle everything. He could leave this place and figure out what he needed to do next to get the Order to merge his body with the miasma again.

But wouldn’t that be too wasteful after all the effort and pain he had gone through here?

Instead, why not report this to the Order, then kill her with his own hands? That way, the Order would end up owing him and might even give him a position in the main branch as an Elder. Perhaps, he could even aim for a higher position than an Elder? Being a Chief Elder sounded much better to him!

He could obtain a position that would bring anyone to their knees before him. And that was only because he had helped the Order greatly by ridding them of the only person who could possibly have the power to disrupt their objective!

Besides, if this Guide truly possessed the power he thought she did... it would be great if the Order could experiment on her and find a way to take her power.

Greed suddenly appeared in his eyes. His hand moved toward the blade sheathed on his hip.

Right now, she was still unconscious and would have no way of dodging his attack. She would be at his mercy...

Gerard didn’t know why she had suddenly collapsed, but that gave him a chance to achieve his ambition.

Just when he was about to unsheathe his weapon and go for the finishing blow, a shadow suddenly slithered from the ring that Aisha wore around her finger. It wrapped around his arm, stopping the dagger from even getting close to Aisha’s body.

Seeing this, Gerard wanted to turn his head, but he didn’t even have the chance. A hand slowly materialized, replacing the shadow wrapped around his arm, and gripped it tightly until he felt intense pain. He groaned loudly as though his entire arm was being crushed under a mountain.

A figure of a man made from tendrils of shadow appeared right in front of him.

The silhouette formed a wicked, monstrous smile.

”Sneaking up on an unconscious opponent is not the wise way to go.”

The shadows spoke to him in a low, almost lazy tone. However, Gerard felt his entire body break into a cold sweat as he sensed the intense danger radiating from that voice alone. Who was this person?

He had never heard of a treasure ring possessing a soul trapped inside it. If there was such a thing, the Order would have been the first to obtain it before anyone else could. But what was even more surprising was that he could feel overwhelming pressure oozing from this shadow, as though an entire planet was pressing down on him.

But in that brief moment when he felt that pressure, Gerard also realized something. Anyone who could release an aura powerful enough to suppress others could only be called a Sentinel. Perhaps because it wasn’t a real Sentinel but merely a soul, the pressure wasn’t as strong as it should be. But that didn’t change the fact that there was a soul trapped inside the ring. And it had to be a Sentinel!

His eyes suddenly sparkled with even more greed. If he could obtain this treasure and bring it back with him, he wouldn’t have to worry about being an ordinary human. If a Sentinel tried to attack him, he could make use of the ring and the soul of the Sentinel trapped inside it to fight back!

Finally, Gerard couldn’t hold it in any longer. His eyes fixed on the ring on Aisha’s hand as he licked his lips.

Just then—

The voice released a sigh.

”So you’re not just stupid, but also a thief, huh?”

Gerard frowned.

”Unfortunately, I can only belong to the person I’ve chosen... And that is not you.”

Gerard’s eyes widened as blood suddenly gushed out. His entire body was suddenly swallowed by the shadows, which swirled around him before completely engulfing him. He tried to scream, but nothing came out except a wet, sickening sound as his body was shredded piece by piece.

It took some time for the shadows to settle. The space where Gerard had been standing was now empty. At this moment, the shadows receded and lowered themselves into a crouch beside Aisha.

Its head tilted downward as though it was staring at her unconscious form before letting out a chuckle.

”I knew you’d recklessly poke your nose into trouble, but how did you get yourself in such a state?”

No one responded to his question. Not that anyone could, when the only person who had woken up earlier than the others had died without even getting the chance to scream.

”Fortunately, the ring I’ve given you was able to give me a warning.”

Nykos had been feeding the ring a portion of his soul even before he had awakened. It was an heirloom tied to his Bloodline. Hence, in a way, the ring resonated with his soul as well as his power as a Sentinel, enabling him to use it as a conduit to sense the danger Aisha was in.

He was inside a different contaminated zone when he was suddenly alerted by the ring, fighting a horde of corrupted monsters alongside his subordinates.

But at that time, he was too focused on defeating the monster in front of him to feel any urgency in responding to the resonance in the ring. He trusted that Aisha wouldn’t be in a desperate situation where she would ignore her own safety, since he had figured out that she wasn’t the type to head straight into danger without a plan.

He had been wrong.

No, to be more precise, he hadn’t expected this.

Especially when the ring suddenly produced a blinding explosion of light that dealt massive damage to the monster he was fighting at the time. And it wasn’t just that. Even the monsters his subordinates were fighting were affected by it.

Most importantly, Nykos felt the sensation of the miasma in his body being purified become even stronger because he shared the same soul as the ring.

And the instant it happened, he knew he had to look into what had happened to Aisha.

That was when he came across that idiotic man trying to unsheathe his weapon and stab her with it.

Nykos had initially wondered if he should thank the man for triggering the ring’s resonance with his soul. Because of this, he was able to learn another thing about Aisha.

”Look at you now...”

The shadows stretched out a hand, its weightless fingers sliding softly along the curve of her face, tracing her cheek before finally brushing against her lips.

”I wonder how long it will take before you can no longer hide your secrets?”