Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

Chapter 113: _Changing Fate

Back outside, the clouds above Norfolk and beyond were getting darker by the minute. Lightning connected with the ocean waves like chains, battle ships struggling to stay afloat.

Hovering above all this chaos like a dark god was the void-faced entity. It had its arms stretched lazily beside it, its head tilting unnaturally.

Despite its lack of eyes it was clear it was focused on the Echo Rift, watching it too keenly for comfort, as if it was observing. Waiting.

The most terrifying part was that while the SS-Rank Leviathan was still actively battling against Irina and Magnus, this entity did absolutely nothing. That didn’t stop the South Korean and South African SS-Ranks from making another attempt.

Han Ji-Hoon grunted, pulling hard at seemingly nothing with her hands. Hundreds of crimson strings shot out of her palms, some connecting with the clouds while others wrapped close to the entity.

She scoured through every thread, trying to find one outcome she could manipulate. One where Zola could land a clean enough strike to make them win.

’Come on,’ her temple thrummed with a sharp pain the more she exerted herself.

After grueling seconds of searching, she finally found a future outcome to their favour. She smirked, grabbing that thread and snapping it like a whip.

"Zola! Attack now!"

The South African SS-Rank spread out his arms and energy wings, unleashing a blinding burst of white energy. He conjured a spear, clutching it with both hands before darting straight at the entity from behind.

He was only about twenty feet away when the entity snapped its neck. Instantly, a numbing pain shot down the spine of Hunter Han, her back arching.

She let out a blood-chilling scream, watching the possible future she’d taken control of disappear. Not shatter. It was utterly erased from the number of possible outcomes.

Then—the entity moved only a few inches, spinning around. It narrowly avoided getting struck by Zola’s spear, catching it instead. The impact sent shockwaves that disturbed the waves below them.

Zola’s eyes bulged.

The black hole on the entity’s head suddenly stopped spinning, emitting an ominous black light. It moved in a blur, ceasing him by the throat.

"Hunter Zola!" His comrades on the South African battle ships yelled but their voices got drowned by the thunder and roaring waves.

Hunter Han’s expression shifted with dread. She snapped her head to the Leviathan in the distance. The beast had begun slowing down, unable to keep up with Irina and Magnus’ attacks anymore.

But the SS-Ranks were also showing signs of reaching their limits.

Han Ji-Hoon cursed under her breath, deciding to do something daring. She pressed her arms into an "X", eyes fluttering for a beat.

Once they opened again, she shot out her left hand in the direction of the Leviathan and America’s SS-Ranks; her other palm pointing at Zola and the void entity.

Thousands of invisible crimson threads intertwined mid-air, each one showing her multiple possible outcomes. All of them connected to Zola showed her he had a staggeringly high chance of getting killed.

All except one.

Her eyes flared with a sharp white light which slowly shifted to crimson. She dispelled all the other threads, grabbing the one connecting her to the highest chance of his survival.

Simultaneously, her other hand tugged at the threads connecting her to the futures of the Leviathan battle. She found the ones with the highest chances of ending in a win and pulled.

The strain of interacting with the possible futures of so many powerful beings at once hit her soon enough. A bead of crimson trickled down her nose but she bore it.

’I can’t let any of them... die before the rest of the reinforcements arrive.’ she thought to herself, her gaze locked on Zola. ’I’ve given you a chance. Go for it...’

Fortunately, Zola let go of the spear in the entity’s grasp. He flicked his wrist, conjuring an armour of pure energy. The action also detonated the spear.

BOOM!

An explosion of aether and light ignited above the ocean waters. It sent shockwaves for hundreds of meters, forcing many to cover their eyes.

Han Ji-Hoon stumbled, nearly falling to her knees. Still, she kept her eyes on the epicentre of the blast, hoping desperately that it worked.

Hope came in the form of a bolt of energy falling from the sky. Upon closer look, she realised it was an unconscious Zola—his energy armour reduced to light specks and his outfit charred into rags.

Hunter Han tapped on her comm. "South African federation... SS-Rank down!"

A sharp intake of breath left her as she forced herself to stay upright.

"Hold him steady!" A voice barked through the comms.

Below, South African Espers scrambled across the decks and into the raging waters, diving without hesitation as Zola’s body plunged beneath the surface.

But Han Ji-Hoon barely spared them a glance.

Her head snapped back to the Leviathan. "Magnus. Irina—now!"

The Leviathan roared, its massive body thrashing violently, sending tidal waves crashing into one another. Entire sections of its scaled hide were cracked open, glowing with unstable aether from the relentless assault.

Irina blurred across its body again, her movements no longer graceful—but desperate. Frost trailed behind her like a dying star, her breath uneven as she drove another strike into its spine.

"Magnus!" She shouted.

"I see it!"

Far below, Magnus stood atop a collapsing warship, both arms raised as flames raged around him like a storm. The flames began to spiral, compressing into a massive rotating vortex beneath the Leviathan.

Irina’s eyes sharpened. She kicked off the Leviathan’s body, launching herself high into the storm-choked sky. Every ounce of her remaining power gathered into her palm, the air around her freezing so violently it cracked.

"Don’t miss," Magnus muttered.

Then—he clenched his fists.

The flaming vortex collapsed inward.

At the same time, Irina descended, driving her hand down. The moment her attack connected... everything imploded.

A blinding fusion of fire, ice, and raw aether compressed the Leviathan from all sides. Its roar was cut short, its body folding in on itself under impossible pressure.

For a split second, the world went silent.

BOOM!

Then an explosion tore through the skies.

A pillar of light shot upward, parting the storm itself as the ocean beneath them erupted violently. Shockwaves rippled for miles, forcing ships to tilt and alarms to scream.

When the light faded... the Leviathan was gone. Only fragments remained, sinking slowly into the dark waters below.

"... They did it." Someone whispered.

Cheers began to rise from every ship. But they died just as quickly.

Because the clouds cleared. As if something had brushed them aside.

And there it was.

Still hovering and untouched.

The void-faced entity.

Not a scratch. Not even a single sign that it had been caught in the explosion.

Han Ji-Hoon’s breath hitched as its head slowly tilted towards her. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.

For the briefest moment, it acknowledged her.

Then—It snapped its head away. This time it was locked onto the Echo Rift.

The air trembled just then. Like something deep within had just moved.

★★★★★

Inside the Echo Rift, a low rumble spread beneath their feet.

Ambrose frowned. "You guys feel—"

The ground collapsed before he could finish.

"Shit—!"

Gravity spiked instantly.

It wasn’t a fall. It was a pull.

A crushing, invisible force yanked them downward as the floor gave way completely, swallowing them into darkness.

"Gabriel!" Valentine shouted.

"I’m trying!" Gabriel’s voice strained as spatial energy flickered around his hands—but it warped, unstable, like the Rift itself was rejecting him.

The pull intensified.

Devon cursed loudly. "This isn’t normal!"

"Nothing here is!" Viktor snapped back.

The darkness swallowed them whole as they dropped faster, the air growing heavier with every second.

Then they hit. Hard.

The impact sent a jolt through Ambrose’s entire body, pain exploding across his back as the ground cracked beneath them.

For a moment, everything was still. Ragged breathing filled the space.

"Everyone alive?" Valentine muttered, getting up first.

"Unfortunately," Devon groaned.

Ambrose pushed himself up slowly, his head spinning. Something felt off.

He looked up and his stomach dropped.

The opening they’d fallen through was gone. No cracks. No light. No exit.

Just solid, suffocating rock.

"...No," he whispered, dread creeping into his chest.

They were sealed in.