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

Chapter 276: _Life Moves On

"What were you thinking?"

Ambrose barely paid any heed to Apollo’s scolding, his arms folded as he stared blankly at the warehouse. Just five minutes after Dorothy escaped, every member of the Pantheon except Kali showed up.

Kali was too busy searching for the Void Entity, feeling like any distractions at all could destroy any progress she’d made.

Viktor spoke up. "Uh, apprehending our culprit while saving the boy? Who she’s still with now, mind you."

"And whose fault is that?" Yemoja scoffed. "If you boys had just alerted us our chances of at least capturing her would’ve skyrocketed."

"Pointing fingers right now won’t solve anything," Valentine rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We believe we could potentially track her again as long as she’s with Orion. Right, Ambrose?"

Everyone turned to the Guide as Valentine gave him a gentle shoulder nudge.

But Ambrose wasn’t hearing any of them. Not right now. Not when the screams of Orion as he was dragged into the sky echoed in his head until it became painful.

His eyes wandered to the sky. Then to a system screen floating in front of him.

[Acquiring target "Orion’s" life signature.]

"Ambrose?" Devon’s voice was what finally pulled him back to reality. "Valentine was asking you something."

"Hm?" Ambrose blinked, his gaze moving between every member of the Pantheon. "Oh, yes." He forced a smile that disappeared faster than it came. "We’ll get Orion’s current location soon."

While Valentine, Devon, Viktor and Gabriel understood he was waiting on the system, the Pantheon members all showed curiosity.

"How though?" Loki arched their brow. "Tracking device or something?"

"Hm." Ambrose didn’t have the patience to explain further. "We just have to—"

"Why then are we waiting around?" Wukong’s brows furrowed. "Just show us her current location so we can storm there."

Ambrose froze.

His head angled to the Esper.

No words. No expression.

Just a dead empty stare that made even Wukong blink back.

"Whatever move we make next," he finally said, "needs to be perfect. No hiccups and absolutely no room for mistakes that could harm Orion or end up with us chasing after Dorothy’s ass a third time."

Wukong snorted while Loki and Apollo exchanged a look.

"Are you trying to teach us our jobs here, Guide?" The Monkey King inched forward by a few steps, his mere gaze carrying enough pressure to break the strongest wills.

Ambrose’s heart thumped hard from the pressure. Still, he didn’t flinch. "No." He shook his head. "I’m merely giving you guidelines for ensuring my son comes out of this alive. And unscratched."

Wukong’s mouth parted but Ambrose wasn’t finished.

"But I might as well teach you how to do your jobs," Each word was laced with venom. "Considering how the so-called ’gods’ meant to contain Extinction-level threats have been fucking running in circles. If it weren’t for the rest of us you guys wouldn’t have known Dorothy was anywhere near here."

The Monkey King looked like he was seconds away from crushing something.

The air around every last one of them thickened with an unreasonable pressure as both men—one revered as a god and the other a man who’s crawled out of the most impossible situations—glared at each other.

Fortunately, Apollo placed a hand in front of Wukong’s chest.

"Enough of this."

The god of light’s voice cut through the suffocating tension before either man pushed things beyond repair.

"We’re all after the same goal," he said firmly. "Getting Orion back and bringing down the Void Entity. So let’s not waste precious time turning against one another."

Silence settled over the group.

Ambrose looked away first.

"I..." He exhaled through his nose. "I’m going for a walk."

Devon immediately stepped after him. "Rose, wait."

But Ambrose didn’t stop. He simply kept walking.

Devon still tried calling out to him. "I’m coming with—"

"Let him." Valentine’s calm voice halted Devon in his tracks.

The S-Rank turned back, disbelief written all over his face. "But—"

"He needs a moment," Gabriel finished quietly. "If you follow him now he’ll only feel like he has to pretend he’s okay."

Devon’s fists tightened.

Every instinct screamed at him to chase after Ambrose.

Instead... He stayed, watching the Guide’s back grow smaller until he disappeared beyond the street.

★★★★★

Ambrose had no destination.

His feet simply carried him wherever they pleased.

The city didn’t stop living.

Cars still honked. People laughed outside cafés. Friends argued over whose turn it was to pay. Couples walked hand in hand beneath the cloudy afternoon sky.

No one realised that somewhere in this same city a little boy had been ripped away from his family.

Life just... Moved on.

Ambrose found that strangely cruel.

His hands buried themselves deeper into his pockets as he wandered past shop after shop, barely registering their names.

Until one familiar storefront caught his attention.

A chocolate shop.

He slowed. Then stopped completely.

"Right." A bitter smile tugged at his lips.

He remembered coming here with Orion shortly after they moved into the new house.

The little gremlin had insisted every flavour looked delicious:

"Papa, this one has caramel!"

"Daddy, look! Dinosaur chocolates!"

He’d somehow talked Ambrose into buying almost half the damn shelf.

"You little menace." Before he realised it, he’d already stepped inside.

The sweet smell of cocoa filled the air.

Rows upon rows of neatly arranged chocolates stretched across polished shelves.

Ambrose wandered between them absentmindedly, fingers brushing across colourful wrappers.

His gaze eventually drifted farther down the aisle.

A father knelt before a little boy, holding out two different chocolate bars.

"Alright," the man laughed. "You only get one."

"But I want both." The boy whined.

"You always want both."

The child puffed his cheeks.

The father sighed dramatically before placing both bars into the basket anyway. "There. Happy?"

The boy squealed, throwing his tiny arms around his father’s neck.

Ambrose quickly looked away.

His throat tightened painfully.

He’d barely had Orion for what... A few weeks?

Yet somewhere along the way that loud, mischievous little boy had carved out a permanent place inside his heart.

He swallowed hard. ’I miss you, buddy.’

"So..." a familiar voice drawled beside him with surprising gentleness. "Mind if I butt in?"

Ambrose stiffened instantly, his head turning sharply toward the speaker.

"...Loki?"