The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 38: Night Onslaught (3)

The roaring of the car engine quickly grew louder and louder. Judging by the direction it was coming from, it was most likely Damien’s team returning with another batch of guests to evacuate.

But the entrance was blocked, and Tina couldn’t just withdraw her earthen wall, or all of the hyedeers would just swarm inside. Not to mention the crows circling above the place...

"They probably don’t know about the crows," Lane muttered, half to himself.

Tina shot him a glance, her eyes widening in terror.

Lane had a point. When they were at the Gate the last time, Damien only spoke about the hyedeers. If he knew about the existence of any other monsters, he would have warned them. Therefore, the crows likely came from a different part of the dungeon, chasing after the other two teams, and then arrived by the reception hall attracted by the scent of blood.

The crows were hard enough to deal with even if you were aware of their presence, and prepared for the attacks. How was Damien’s team supposed to defend the jeep, if they were taken by surprise? Arlo and Hallie were only B-rankers, and even Damien would have a hard time. He might have been an S-ranker, but he wasn’t omnipotent.

"Watch out! There are invisible flying monsters above!" Tina yelled at the top of her lungs.

Her warning came just in time, because only a moment later, muted, terrified screams and sounds of fighting reached their ears. Everyone jumped from their seats, staring at the world outside through the narrow gap, all tensed up.

Everyone but Lane, of course, who was still sitting comfortably on the sofa, chewing on another Recovery Pill. However, even he could feel a tinge of anxiety, although he couldn’t quite pinpoint where it came from.

The sound of the engine continued getting louder, as the jeep was almost at the parking lot. It seemed that they managed to somehow keep on going, despite the attacks from all sides.

"Everyone get away from the door!" a command came from outside.

Damien. Lane unknowingly relaxed a bit.

A moment later, the earthen wall was torn apart by water and ice. The wave splashed all over the elegant marble tiles, covering it all in icy mud, followed by the jeep driving right into the building, its tires screeching as the driver stepped on the brakes with full force. Damien, Arlo, and Hallie ran inside right after, Damien immediately blocking the entrance with an ice wall, freezing one of the hyedeers that tried to follow in the process.

They were all alright. Well, for the most part, at least - Arlo was holding onto his arm, which was slashed so deeply that it was close to being severed. Likely the result of the crow’s attack a moment prior. It looked terrible, but it could still be fixed just fine, as long as he didn’t lose the arm.

"I’m suing! Suing your whole Guild!" A middle-aged woman, all dressed up in clothes from luxurious brands, stepped out of the jeep, shaking up. She shot an angry glance at Damien. "The Association as well! Why are your rescue efforts so slow?! And what about my luggage?! Can you even compensate me for all the possessions that I lost?!"

Lane bit on his lip, trying not to burst out laughing at this ridiculous spectacle. He didn’t know whether the woman was courageous, or just plain stupid, to still worry about her jewelry or whatever even after witnessing the hyedeers and the crows’ attacks. In the end, he could help himself, and said,

"Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’m sure your possessions will be all evacuated once it’s their turn. Are any of them injured, perhaps?"

"You-!"

"Murray." Damien gave Lane a serious glance, to which Lane only shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes. "I deeply apologize," Damien then bowed to the woman. "We will work hard to return your possessions to you once all the civilians are evacuated."

"Hmph!" the woman harrumphed, turning around and walking straight out of the Gate. She was perfectly fine, except for a scratch on the back of her hand... And so was her husband, who followed after her.

Almost as if they got hurt just so that they could be ’injured’, and therefore evacuated first.

Once all the civilians were out of the Gate, Damien approached the three Espers from the Guild. "Excuse me, may I ask what your ranks and abilities are?"

"Ugh..."

The Espers exchanged uneasy glances. After a moment, one of them spoke hesitantly, "Uh, Team Leader Lennox, right? I don’t mind, but I would like to know why you need this information, Sir."

"I need one extra person to come with me to continue the evacuation efforts."

"Uh..."

"Team Leader, if you go out right now, you’re going to end up dead."

Damien turned his eyes to Lane, meeting his gaze. "Still, I need to go. There are people waiting to be evacuated."

"This..." Lane paused. He was about to provide some arguments as to why Damien shouldn’t go, but...

...Wouldn’t it be good for him if Damien died? After all, Damien suspected him of some sort of reincarnation or body swapping, and kept a close eye on him. If he died, wouldn’t Lane be safe and free again?

’No... He might have told someone else already. Then, even if he dies, the problems won’t end. It might be even worse, actually, since I won’t know whom I should be careful of...’

He nodded lightly to himself. Yes, he should keep an eye on Damien just like Damien did on him. So, he couldn’t allow anything to happen to the man.

"They might be waiting, but Team Leader, you won’t be of any help to them if you’re dead," he pointed out. "Wouldn’t it be best to take a little break now, and perhaps send someone out of the Gate to check what’s taking them so long?"

Damien hesitated for a moment, looking at the entrance. Through the thick, half-transparent ice wall he could see the hyedeers, scratching on the ice as they tried to get into the building. They alone wouldn’t be too much for him to handle, but the crows...

"Scott, you go. Check with the Association and with the Trailblazer Guild, and report on the situation."

Hearing Damien’s command, everyone breathed out with relief.

"Yes, Sir!" Ana nodded her head, and without any delay, passed through the Gate.

The reception hall fell into silence, disturbed only by the muted screeches of hyedeers, which in the massive, empty hall sounded even more eerie, making people feel uneasy. Especially the three Espers, who still threw Damien terrified glances every now and then, as if they were worried he might change his mind and throw them outside to fight at any time.

"Noah," Arlo approached Lane, his arm already all bandaged up. Although he spoke at a normal volume, his voice still echoed in the empty hall, making everyone turn. Slightly embarrassed, he cleared his throat, and lowered his voice as he asked, "Can you give me some guiding?"

"Yeah, sure." Lane smiled, patting the seat next to him.

Before he even started, Hallie raised his hand. "Can I go next?"

"Oh, I could use some as well..."

"M-me too..."

"Ugh," Lane’s eyes twitched. He had been trying to rest up a bit, but now, all of a sudden, he had so much work to do... Still, he maintained his smile. They couldn’t leave the place just yet, and he was the only Guide present, so there wasn’t any other option. As an Esper, he understood their situation well. "Sure, I’ll try my best."

He held Arlo’s hand, and started the first guiding. Their compatibility seemed quite good, at least by Lane’s standards, perhaps above 40%, so Arlo was quickly recovering his energy, a bit of color returning to his face. Even his bleeding seemed to have stopped.

"Hmm?" Feeling a weird tingling on the back of his hand, Lane lifted his eyes. Only to find Damien, standing some distance away, with his brows furrowed and his gaze locked on Lane and Arlo’s joined hands. "Team Leader, do you want some guiding as well?" he asked, half-jokingly.

Their compatibility was low, and Damien didn’t look as if he urgently needed guiding just yet, so Lane expected the man to refuse.

However, to his surprise, Damien only said a short "...Yes."

"Ah, then..." Arlo hesitated for a moment. He wanted to get some more guiding, but... "If that’s the case, then you can stop now, Noah. Take care of Team Leader."

"Hmm? But..."

"I’ll be fine."

Lane glanced at Damien. "Then..."

Damien stood in silence, his expression unreadable. Just as Lane was about to let go of Arlo’s hand, though, he said, "...No, you can continue. We only have one Guide, so I... we have to share."

Hmm.

Lane narrowed his eyes. What was it? So did he need the guiding or not? Even though Lane was an A-rank Guide, if he were to take care of all of those Espers, then he wouldn’t have much Mana left. Whatever guiding he could provide then would be hardly worth anything for an S-ranker such as Damien. Then what was the point of it?

He truly couldn’t understand what was going on through Damien’s head sometimes.

Before he could even try to find out though, Ana had already returned.

"Team Leader! The reinforcement will be coming soon!"

"Yes? From the Association or the Guild?"

"Both. I’ve contacted the Association, and they’ve said that there wasn’t any suitable team on duty to send to an A-rank dungeon. They’ve called in high-ranking teams, but since it’s only 5 AM outside right now, it took a while to gather everyone... They are on their way now though."

It made sense. Although the flow of time was the same in the dungeons and the outside world, the time zones and the length of the days didn’t always match. So, while in the dungeon the emergency started in the late afternoon, in the Capital it actually was the middle of the night.

Of course, the Association should have suitable people on standby at all times... But that was the ideal. It wasn’t quite possible with the shortage of high-rankers the Association had to deal with.

Damien only nodded his head, without making any comments. "What about the Guild? Are they sending their own teams?"

"No, actually... They’ve asked another Guild for help."

"Which Guild?"

"The Allen Guild. The Trailblazer Guild’s Guild Leader went in person to ask them for help. And... all the rights to the dungeon were temporarily transferred to them."

Lane sat up straight. He had been only half-listening to the conversation, but now he focused all of his attention on Ana, to the point that he almost interrupted the guiding.

’So, they’re coming, huh? I wonder whom they are going to send...’