The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 49: Everything Will Be Alright...

Lane stared into Damien’s distraught green eyes, feeling a bit at a loss. freewebnσvel.cøm

He had never stopped to think about Damien’s feelings. Watching the man he seemed to kind of like for some reason die in his arms must have been hard for Damien when it happened once, let alone twice. And in such a short period of time as well.

Of course, Lane didn’t intend to die right in front of Damien. How was he supposed to know the man would just appear out of nowhere, right at the worst moment? It wasn’t his fault Damien had to witness him being almost eaten.

Not to mention, it had to be done, one way or another. Cause what else? Was Lane supposed to spend the rest of his life living as ’Noah Murray’? In such a weak body?

No way in hell! ’Noah’ had to die...

But perhaps Lane could have done it differently.

For example, he could have made everyone believe that ’Noah’ fled to one of the Forbidden Zones. For what reason, Lane didn’t know, but he could figure something out, probably. In Forbidden Zones, it was easy to disappear. Lane would only have to dispose of Noah’s body, turning it into ash, and nobody would know about his death.

Damien might have still been sad, with ’Evan’ or ’Noah’, or whatever, gone, but at least it would have been better than him dying again, no?

Lane pressed his lips. He didn’t exactly think that what he did was a mistake... But he felt a bit bad for Damien. Despite all of his faults and lack of care for others, he was still human, after all. His emotions were functional, at least for the most part. Therefore, it was hard for him not to be moved, staring into those reddened eyes...

"Team Leader, don’t worry," he said, uttering every word with difficulty. "I’m... gonna be fine. I just need... to go to the... hospital... And... I’ll... well... Ugh."

"Shh. Don’t talk." Damien stood up, carrying Lane in his arms. He seemed to have calmed down a bit.

After all, although Lane was very weak, having been caught by a monster, poisoned, and almost drowned, at least he wasn’t missing half of his abdomen like last time. If they got him to a hospital, or better yet a healer, in time, then perhaps he could still recover.

"Ugh." Lane bit on his lip, trying to remain awake and calm. His body was burning up, more and more intensely, as if his whole insides were on fire. He wanted to squirm, roll around, instinctively trying to put down the fire - even though he understood, with the little of consciousness he had left, that it wouldn’t help anyway...

His eyelids were getting heavy, so heavy that it was hard for him to keep his eyes open...

"Evan, don’t fall asleep!" Damien called out, his voice filled with urgency.

"I... am not..." Lane muttered. "But... Team Leader... I... am Noah..."

"You..." Damien didn’t finish. Lane forced himself to open his eyes again, trying to take a glance at his face, but his vision was too blurry, he couldn’t make out Damien’s expression at all.

Did Damien finally start to doubt his intuition? Maybe he would finally start believing Lane when he said he wasn’t ’Evan’?

Or did he simply stop out of disbelief, that even in such a state, Lane still had energy to try to contradict him?

"Fine. Noah then," Damien finally said. "Just hold on for a moment, I’m going to find someone to take you to the hospital soon..."

"Mn."

Damien activated his ability, creating a thin ice path, and gliding on it through the air. They were moving fast, and the wind was like countless whips lashing Lane’s skin, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he secretly activated his healing ability.

Since he decided not to die for the time being, he should put some effort into surviving. It was hard to use any abilities in such a dazed state, but Lane at least tried.

Yet, it didn’t work. Lane could heal the symptoms of drowning, and the scratches and tiny puncture wounds he got from the stingers, but not the poison. It came from a high-ranking monster, after all. Lane’s mediocre healing ability simply wasn’t good enough.

Luckily, they were soon out of the locked-down area. There were plenty of ambulances already waiting outside - it was the site of a dungeon break, so it was expected that plenty of medical help would be needed. Although there were no healers present so far, at least Lane would be able to receive emergency treatment...

"I’m sorry, I can’t go with you," Damien apologized, gently placing Lane on the stretchers. "Just hold on... You’ll be in good care, and I’ll come find you once the situation here is under control..."

"Hahah," Lane let out a weak chuckle.

It didn’t matter to him whether Damien came with him or not. He didn’t need anyone to stay by his side. Actually, he was rather glad that Damien didn’t abandon his duties for him. It showed that at least he hadn’t completely lost his mind yet.

"Don’t... worry... Te...am Leader. Every...thing will... be al...right," he muttered, forcing a smile.

"...Okay." Damien squeezed Lane’s hand lightly, and stepped back. He stood in place for a moment, watching as Lane was placed in the ambulance, before turning around and heading back to the scene. He was perhaps the only Esper present right now who could withstand the hypnosis, so he had to scout the area, to see if there were any other people he could save.

"Ugh!" Now that Damien was not around, Lane had no more reason to keep pretending. His face contorted in pain, and he grasped his chest. It felt tight, so tight, as if it was wrapped in a straitjacket a few sizes too small. Burning from the inside, he was drenched in sweat, his breathing uneven and short...

The emergency responders around him were saying something, but Lane was in a daze, he could barely catch one or two words, not enough to understand their meaning. He used all of his energy to act calm in front of Damien, and now he couldn’t hold on any longer. His consciousness started quickly slipping away...

He didn’t know how much time had passed. When he finally woke up again, everything was so dark...

Well, it was pitch-black because of the blinds, but when he glanced at the clock, he could see it was already past 10 PM. A few hours had passed since the events by the lake.

And he was back in his real body, his connection to Noah broken.