The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 36: Night Onslaught (1)

It was only ten or so minutes since Damien had left. Lane’s eyes, which were moving left to right and back, had seemed to pick up on some movement. He raised his binoculars, turning the night vision.

And there they were. Bright red eyes, deep within the forest.

"Tina," Lane spoke, slightly raising his voice. "The monsters are here."

There was no need to shout. Although Tina was in the reception hall, she was a B-rank Esper. She could hear Lane just fine. Shouting could only agitate the monsters, inciting them to charge ahead. It was best to remain calm.

Unfortunately, Tina wasn’t the only person who could hear Lane. The Trailblazer Guild members, especially those who were lurking outside, could as well.

And they lost their minds at the mere mention of the monsters.

Lane swore inwardly, shooting an annoyed glance at those idiots who claimed to be licensed Espers. Some of them wore guard uniforms, despite being clearly unsuitable for the position. "Tina! We need a barrier! Now!"

As expected, once the scene descended into chaos, the monsters abandoned their stealth and leaped forward, running straight at the reception hall at an astounding pace. In the blink of an eye, they were already out of the forest and on the edge of the parking lot.

"Fuck them all!" Lane jumped off the bench, grasping his spear tightly, as he prepared for the impact. It seemed that no one besides him had any intention to fight. All those worthless Espers flocked toward the building’s entrance. The only fighting they wanted to do was among themselves, for who gets inside first.

At this rate, they would all end up dead. There was no way Lane would be able to take on this many monsters all on his own, not in the body he was currently in.

Just as Lane prepared himself to be ripped apart alive, however, the asphalt covering the parking lot was split by some invisible force, a tall, earthen wall rising in the middle, separating the humans from the monsters.

Tina had managed to make it to the front, punching and elbowing all the people out of her way.

"You’re alright?"

"Yeah," Lane exhaled, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "Thanks a lot, I almost thought I was a goner."

"No problem." Tina gave him a reassuring smile. "Everyone, get prepared to fight! This wall won’t be able to stop the monsters, but it will slow them down! If we work together..."

She turned her head to look at the members of the Trailblazer Guild who were there to assist them... Or at least were meant to be. Because when Tina turned back, her eyes briefly met the eyes of one of the Espers, who was already right by the Gate. Caught in the act, instead of returning to his duties, he only pushed his colleagues in front of him to hurry up, and disappeared with them, crossing back to the other side.

Out of the big team they originally had to support them, only four Espers and one Guide from the Guild were left in front of the reception hall.

Tina’s face darkened, but she didn’t say anything. There was nothing she could do about it now anyway. She couldn’t just chase after them, and even if she did, and managed to bring them back... What would that do? With such an attitude, they would be of no help in battle anyway.

"Iiiik! Hiieiik! Iiiiik!"

The monsters’ ear-shattering screeches sounded on the other side of the earthen wall, making everyone constantly flinch in pain.

That was not a time to think about the people who left.

"Alright, everyone, let’s focus! Prepare your weapons, and get ready to fight!" She commanded the remaining few. "Anyone has any ranged abilities or weapons?"

Two Espers and the Guide raised their hands.

"Alright. You three go up with Ana and attack the monsters outside my barrier. The rest of us will deal with those that manage to get through."

Before she even finished speaking, the first two monsters had already scaled the wall and landed right in front of them, barring their teeth.

Tina reacted immediately, swinging her massive axe at the nearest monster. Hit precisely in the neck, the monster was dead in the blink of an eye, the axe passing through his body so smoothly as if it was cutting butter. Its ugly head parted with the torso, splashing the blood and rolling down, before it was stopped by the cracks in the asphalt.

Lane’s reflexes weren’t any slower. The moment the monster’s paws had touched the ground, he was already lounging forward with his spear. He stepped to the side, and using the rotation of his waist and hips to add power, he thrust at the monster, aiming for its ribcage.

However, having good reflexes was useless when the body couldn’t quite follow. His speed was too slow. The monster, on the other hand, was fast and agile. The spear barely scratched its thick skin as it swiftly dodged. Lane took a few steps forward, carried by his momentum, before he was able to force his stiff body to change direction.

By then, however, the monster had already counterattacked.

Its claws almost reached Lane’s face, but at the last moment, it seemed to collide with some sort of invisible force, bouncing back. It landed gracefully, and without a second of pause, jumped again, letting out an ear-piercing screech.

This time, however, Lane had enough time to prepare. As the monster jumped, it met right up with the tip of Lane’s spear.

The spear didn’t penetrate deep enough to pierce through the monster’s lungs, but it was alright. With the activation of the Mana stone embedded in the head, the tip ignited. In a blink, the acrid smell of burnt fur and flesh hit Lane’s nose, as the monster caught on fire.

"Iikhih! Ihk!" The monster’s screeches became increasingly pained and frantic. Lane pulled out the spear, and struck again. Because of the monster’s trashing though, he struggled to hit any of the vulnerable spots.

Luckily, an invisible force struck from above, pushing the monster to the ground.

It only lasted for a second, but Lane didn’t waste this chance. Before the monster was able to scramble to his paws, he jumped forward, stabbing down into the monster’s neck. When it wasn’t enough, he increased his force, putting all of his weight onto deepening the wound, until he finally pierced through its windpipe.

"Grglhg!"

A gurgling sound escaped the monster’s throat, as it engaged in its final, hopeless struggle. A few seconds later, its legs and tail dropped limply onto the ground, the shine vanishing from its eyes.

"Thanks!" Lane called at Ana, the person behind the invisible barriers, while pulling the spear out of the carcass.

He didn’t have time to even catch his breath, as another hyedeer, as Lane had named the monsters in his head, had landed just a few feet away from him, and instantly charged at him with its sharp, ghost-white antlers.

"What are you waiting for?!" he called out at the Espers from the Trailblazer Guild, who were standing at the back and staring at the fight blankly. "I’m just a Guide, I can’t do this on my own!"

Which was true. He was already out of breath. If it wasn’t for Ana’s help, he would have been dead.

Of course, it would be different if he were to use his abilities... But he couldn’t do that, not in front of all those people. And the CCTV cameras. Besides, even then, he would most likely end up dead, as this frail body wouldn’t be able to handle it. In the best-case scenario, he would land in the hospital with serious internal injuries.

He jumped to the side, avoiding getting impaled on the antlers, and swung his spear, making the hyedeer’s fur catch on fire. It wasn’t the most flammable, but at least it could give some damage.

Just as he was about to lunge forward again, a person flew above the monster, making a flip in the air, and landed right behind it, swinging his dagger. The hyedeer let out a painful screech, as its tendons were severed.

’Not bad,’ Lane smiled inwardly. It seemed that although the members of the Guild were reluctant to fight, at least some of them had some skill.

With the two of them working together, the hyedeer was dead in less than a minute, and they could move on to the next target. Thanks to Lane having experience working with a lot of different people, their collaboration went smoothly. Adding to that Ana’s barriers blocking most of the hyedeers’ attacks, Tina singlehandedly beheading more than half of the monsters coming through the wall, and the three Guild members shooting them down from above, and the intensity of the onslaught started gradually slowing down.

Lane paused for a moment, gasping for breath, as his eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, paying extra attention to the reception hall behind them. Through the wide entrance he could see that all the earthen walls Tina used to block the windows were still in place. But would that last?

"Hey," he turned to the Esper fighting alongside him. "What were the top predatory monsters in this dungeon?"

The hyedeers were powerful, but there was no way that in such a spacious, high-ranking dungeon they were the only strong predators.

"Huh? I don’t know... We didn’t clear this dungeon."

"Yeah, but didn’t you get any info about it when you purchased it?"

"I don’t know... Guild Leader might know, but..."

Lane clicked his tongue. What a mess. It was understandable to hide this information from the visitors - with monsters that looked this ghastly, it would only ruin the ambiance they tried to create - but shouldn’t the employees at least be aware of it? It might have seemed pointless... But if it was him, he would want to know.

Even though the Guild members couldn’t, the dungeon itself seemed to be eager to answer Lane’s questions. Because only a moment later, a shrill, bode-chilling cry pierced through the night, coming from above.

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!"