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

Chapter 281: _I’ve Been Looking Forward to Meeting You

"It actually worked." A familiar voice cooed from the darkness ahead, making Ambrose raise his head with a grunt. "You came alone."

Footsteps drew closer and closer to him.

He squinted through the darkness, letting spatial awareness do most of the ’seeing’. In no time he saw enough of her to make his jaw clench.

Dorothy.

The Guild master had her arms spread out, a satisfied grin on her face as she basically cat-walked toward him. She scrutinised him heavily, those blackened eyes flitting over every inch for a while.

"You’re even more fascinating than I could’ve ever imagined." She went on, each word more unnerving than the last. "The Faceless One was indeed right. You are no ordinary C-Rank Guide. Are you?"

Ambrose glared, tugging at the darkness holding his wrists. "Why don’t you get me out of these so I can show you first-hand?"

"Tempting offer. But sadly, I’m not the one who has any use for you." Dorothy flicked her wrist, making the tendrils coil even tighter around his waist and then higher up to his neck.

He paled.

Then his face got a shade of purple as air left his lungs rapidly.

"The Faceless One will be here shortly," Her grin grew so wide it seemed uncanny. "I can’t wait to see what he has in store for you."

As Ambrose’s fingers twitched, it didn’t take long to put the pieces together.

Faceless One definitely = the Void Entity.

And for ’what he has in store for him’—ignoring the fact that she talked about that Eldritch monstrosity like it was an actual person—he had this sinking feeling in his chest.

Whatever they had planned might not even involve total annihilation as he’d originally thought.

★★★★★

Meanwhile, at the borders of the large field, Gabriel, Devon, Valentine and Viktor stood waiting under the cloudy night sky.

None of them had spoken a word since Ambrose went into the fields alone. Now it’s been well over thirty minutes and they were getting anxious.

At least Viktor sure was when he inclined his head to Gabriel. "When and how are we supposed to know if he needs our help in there?"

The space god shook his head. "That is honestly... beyond me. We just have to wait."

"Right." Viktor’s sarcasm was cutting. "We let that stubborn Guide rush into those fields by himself. No way of reaching him. No certainty that—"

"Morozov." Devon hushed. "Let’s try keeping it down."

"You can’t really be telling me to keep it down." The ice Prince gawked at Devon as though he’d committed treason. "That’s our boyfriend out there."

"And it’s also our son out there," Devon didn’t bother looking at him. "This is the best we could think of to save him. Besides, we’ve all seen one way or the other how Ambrose has proved over and over again that he’s capable of scaling out of the most impossible situations."

That shut Viktor up.

He caught his bottom lip between his teeth, releasing a disgruntled sound. "Gods, you’re fucking right..."

"Of course, I’m right." Devon allowed himself to smile. For just a second. Then his eyes wandered to the open field. To how impossibly quiet it was.

"... I just hope the Void Entity itself doesn’t prove too impossible for even him to escape..."

★★★★★

Dorothy tilted her head, watching Ambrose’s struggle with visible amusement.

"Relax," she murmured almost affectionately. "Your spawn is perfectly fine."

The word alone nearly made Ambrose bare his teeth.

"Where is he?" His voice came out hoarse from the pressure around his throat. "Where did you take Orion?"

She merely waved a dismissive hand.

"I told you. He’s fine." Her gaze drifted somewhere deeper into the cavern before returning to Ambrose. "Curious little thing, though."

She stepped closer again, circling him slowly.

"I’ve been observing him."

That immediately put Ambrose on edge.

"He looks like you." Dorothy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But he also looks remarkably like Devon Ferguson." Her brows knitted together. "I’ve been trying to understand it."

She stopped directly before him. "So now that I have you here, tell me. How exactly is that possible?"

Ambrose only glared. "You kidnapped a six-year-old just to ask about genetics?"

Dorothy ignored the snark completely.

"The resemblance isn’t a coincidence. I can see it." Her black eyes narrowed further. "His smile resembles yours. His jawline and eyes resemble Devon’s. Even the way he frowns..." She looked genuinely puzzled. "It shouldn’t be possible."

Meanwhile... Ambrose wasn’t listening anymore. Not entirely.

’Come on...’ He forced himself to breathe despite the crushing darkness around his ribs. ’Viktor...’

He reached out through their permanent link.

Nothing.

His thoughts scattered before travelling anywhere while the permanent link remained frustratingly silent.

’Dammit...’ The tendrils kept constricting. His concentration shattered each time they squeezed tighter.

He needed anything. One opening.

Just one.

Dorothy sighed, seemingly giving up on getting an answer. "I suppose none of that matters anymore."

She turned away from him.

And there it was.

The opening.

Blue flames erupted violently from Ambrose’s body.

BOOM!

The cavern shook as the fire devoured the black tendrils binding him. They writhed like living serpents before disintegrating beneath the overwhelming aether.

Dorothy whipped around.

Too late.

Shadows stretched unnaturally beside Ambrose. Three massive phantom orcs stormed out simultaneously.

The first reached Dorothy before she could even summon another tendril.

Its enormous fist crashed squarely into her abdomen.

BOOM!

She rocketed backwards, smashing through several stone pillars before skidding across the cave floor.

Ambrose landed lightly, Grave Keeper already materialising inside his grasp. Blue runes illuminated the darkness.

’Viktor!’ His consciousness reached desperately through the permanent link. ’Devon!’

This time... Something answered.

He felt them!

Relief barely had time to bloom before every hair on his body stood upright.

The temperature inside the cavern seemed to plummet. Even the phantom orcs hesitated.

Then... A voice echoed from every direction at once.

"So..." The darkness itself rippled. "You finally understand how to use your little connections."

Ambrose slowly tightened his grip around Grave Keeper. His silver eyes searched the endless black surrounding him.

The voice continued, calmly, sounding almost pleased.

"I’ve been looking forward to meeting you properly, otherworlder."