Chapter 104: He Had Been Guided? How?

The familiar infirmary appeared around him, exactly where they had been before entering Xavier’s Mental Sea.

For a moment, Ethan simply lay there, breathing heavily.

He stared at the ceiling.

Then slowly released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

The guiding had been successful.

Xavier was alive.

His corruption had been cleansed.

His Mental Sea had been restored.

Ethan closed his eyes, already preparing himself for what usually happened after pushing his spiritual energy that far.

He expected the familiar exhaustion.

The dizziness.Then the inevitable loss of consciousness.

It had happened twice before after his previous guiding sessions with Drey, so Ethan was already bracing himself for his body to shut down.

It didn’t happen. Ethan blinked.

Before he could even process why he was still conscious, his body was suddenly shoved backward.

His back hit the ground and his eyes widened as a figure towered over him.

His long dark-silver hair fell around his face as he stared down at Ethan, crimson eyes locking directly onto his.

Xavier leaned closer, his hot breath brushing across Ethan’s face. Then, in a low voice, he asked,

"Who exactly are you?" His crimson eyes narrowed as he studied Ethan’s face. "And how were you able to guide me?"

****

Ethan groaned, his expression twisting with exasperation as he stared up at the man who was still refusing to let him go.

"What’s up with this crazy interrogation?" he complained, his voice strained beneath Xavier’s hold. "I just saved your life! You’re supposed to be grateful, not interrogate me like a criminal!"

Xavier didn’t let go.

If anything, his grip remained firmly in place as his crimson eyes narrowed, studying Ethan with an intensity that made Ethan feel as though the man were trying to see straight through him.

"That’s not an answer to my question," Xavier said calmly. "You saved my life, yes, but how did you do it?"

Ethan gulped.

He really wished this man would stop asking questions that Ethan himself barely understood the answers to.

"I’m a Guide. You’re a Sentinel. I guided you." Ethan swallowed again, trying to sound as casual as possible despite the fact that he was still being held by the throat. "That’s basically it."

For a moment, Xavier said nothing.

His gaze remained fixed on Ethan, and something about the way he looked at him made the atmosphere feel strangely different.

What an intoxicating presence.

Xavier’s eyes drifted over Ethan’s face, lingering on the pink hue that still coloured his cheeks from the intensity of the guidance and everything that had just happened. There was something complicated in his gaze now, something even he seemed unable to fully understand.

He still couldn’t believe it.

He had actually been guided.

The thought alone felt almost unreal.

For years, guidance had been something that existed in theory for him, something other Sentinels experienced while he remained an exception to the rule. Guides had tried before. They had failed before. His compatibility had always been too low, and eventually, the possibility of ever being successfully guided had become something no one even dared to hope for.

Yet this boy had done it.

Not only had he guided him, but he had somehow managed to pull him back from the brink of complete corruption.

Xavier’s gaze deepened as he looked at the boy beneath him, questioning his originality, his intentions, and even the circumstances that had brought him here. There were simply too many things that didn’t make sense.

Who exactly was this boy?

And how had he managed to accomplish something that countless Guides before him had been unable to do?

Before Xavier could delve any further into those thoughts, however, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from somewhere ahead.

"Boss!"

Another voice immediately followed.

"Xavier!"

Ethan instantly tensed.

He knew those voices.

His eyes widened slightly as he turned his head toward the far end of the facility, and sure enough, two familiar figures were approaching.

The twins.

The same two terrifyingly beautiful men who had appeared earlier.

The same two men who had nearly given Ethan, Jake, and Lara a heart attack.

And judging from the direction they were coming from, they were heading straight toward them.

Ethan’s gaze immediately snapped back to the man still towering over him.

Then it hit him.

This man...

The man he had just painstakingly saved...

Was their boss?

Way to go, Ethan.

You never seem to escape getting yourself into awkward situations.

Actually, calling this an awkward situation was being extremely generous.

This was a disaster.

Ethan’s mind immediately began racing.

Xavier clearly didn’t trust him. He had already been questioning him even after Ethan had literally saved his life. If those twins came closer, recognized Ethan, and told Xavier what had happened earlier, his suspicions would probably triple.

And then what?

Would he kill him?

Yeah, that was probably taking things a little too far.

Probably.

But Ethan had already learned enough about this world to know that you could never predict what ran through a villain’s mind.

Especially when that villain was an absurdly powerful Sentinel with crimson eyes who had already grabbed Ethan by the throat twice in the same night.

Ethan couldn’t risk waiting to find out.

There was only one option he could use to get away.

His dungeon.

The thought immediately made him hesitate.

Because if he entered his dungeon now, he would reveal the one thing he absolutely did not want to reveal.

His status.

If there was one thing Ethan had learned about this world, it was that spiritual companions were already incredibly rare.

Dungeons were even rarer.

Far rarer.

So if he suddenly disappeared right in front of Xavier, there were plenty of possibilities the man could come up with.

Maybe Xavier would think he had simply been hallucinating.

Maybe he would assume Ethan had some unknown ability.

And if Xavier knew anything about the existence of dungeons, or worse, possessed one himself, then he would immediately understand exactly what had happened.

Ethan had disappeared into a dungeon.

And there was one possibility that made him want to bury himself alive.

What if Xavier thought he was a witch?

That was, of course, assuming witches even existed in this world.

Out of every possible explanation, Ethan desperately hoped Xavier would choose the hallucination option.

Please let him think he had imagined all of this.

That would be perfect.

That would be absolutely perfect.

"Ah, fuck it."

Ethan was done thinking.

He didn’t have the luxury of standing around debating every possible consequence while two terrifying twins were approaching.

The instant he focused his thoughts on his dungeon, his surroundings vanished.

And just like that, Ethan disappeared.

Xavier stared at the now-empty space in front of him.

For several seconds, he simply remained where he was, looking down at the floor where the boy had been only moments ago.

There was no trace of him.

No movement.

No warning.

Nothing.

The boy he had been questioning seconds ago had disappeared completely.

Xavier’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly before a faint trace of amusement appeared in his expression.

"Interesting..."

His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voices drawing closer.

"Boss!"

"Xavier!"

Xavier finally straightened to his full height, then calmly dusted off his clothing as though nothing unusual had happened. He turned toward the approaching duo, his expression once again settling into its usual calmness.

The moment the twins’ eyes landed on their Boss, however, they stopped.

Both of them stared.

Their expressions slowly changed as they took in the sight before them.

Their Boss was alive.

Not only was he alive, but he looked practically fine.

Two conclusions immediately rang through their minds.

Either Xavier had not been the one who fought the monster they had also encountered during their chase, meaning someone else had killed it, or...

Their Boss had been guided after the fight.

The second conclusion was instantly ruled out.

The possibility was simply too low.

Xavier?

Guided?

Although that would undoubtedly be the best news they could possibly receive, the chances of it actually happening were practically zero.

Their Boss had never been successfully guided before.

Not once.

So how could it possibly happen now?

"Why are you guys staring at me as if you’ve seen a ghost?" Xavier asked, eyeing both of them.

The twins finally stepped closer.

Ryker was the first to speak, his expression still filled with disbelief.

"That’s because I thought for one second that I was seeing a ghost!"

Ryder immediately followed, his concern becoming more obvious as he looked Xavier over.

"Wait, you’re alive for real? How is that possible? Or you didn’t encounter the same monster we encountered?"

Xavier looked at them calmly.

"I did encounter the same monster," he replied. "And I got it killed."

Ryder’s expression changed instantly.

He practically sprang into action.

"Quick! Grab the Withstanding Guiding Potion and hand it to Xavier before he goes berserk or, worse, dies!"

He turned toward Ryker in a hurry, clearly unwilling to waste even another second.

"It’s a miracle none of those things have happened until now!"

The twins immediately hurried to retrieve the potion.

Xavier simply watched them without any visible concern.

When they finally brought it over, he accepted it calmly from them, his expression remaining completely composed.

Then, instead of taking the potion, Xavier turned his gaze back toward the two of them.

"Relax."

His crimson eyes remained calm.

"I’ve been guided already."