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

Chapter 285: _Collosal Turtle

[WARNING! High-ranking beast detected.]

[Rank: S. Beast type: Desert colossal turtle.]

"If there were an award for extremely terrible timing," Ambrose whispered to the AI, "you would take it over and over again."

The giant turtle had locked its eyes on him. Accessing. Waiting like he was live meat giving it a performance with his uneasiness.

Alright.

An S-Rank creature.

He’s dealt with fuckers like this before.

"Let’s get this over with." His eyes flashed with dark blue light right when the turtle’s body rumbled again. "Oh, I’m sorry. Did I upset you with my presence?"

The moment the turtle opened its mouth, ready to bite down—Ambrose retaliated with a concentrated blast of burning ice. Frost and fire converged into one, searing right into its maw.

Ambrose flew backwards, using a burst of flames to rocket himself away from the beast entirely. However, the second he landed on normal golden desert sand again—

—The beast moved.

It swung its massive tail at him, forcing him to duck so low he got sand on his face and mouth. The turtle was far from over, stomping one foot into the sands.

A massive crack spiderwebbed from the beast, heading right toward Ambrose. It ripped through tonnes of sand, shaking the desert for kilometres.

Ambrose jumped again, grabbing the shaft of his Grave Keeper with both palms firmly. "Eat this, Leonardo!" He channelled burning ice through the scythe, igniting the runes.

With a massive overhead slash, Ambrose sent a crescent blast at the beast. The howls of the undead tinted the blast as it struck the turtle’s shell, shy of hitting its neck.

ROARRRR!

The beast bellowed, tumbling backwards. The attack sent smoke billowing off the shell, forcing it to pause for a breath.

But with Ambrose, there was zero room for breaths.

[Host is using the S-Rank weapon, Chains of Delirium for the first time.]

The massive silver chains snaked around Ambrose. With a clench of one fist, one of them attached itself to the bottom of Grave Keeper.

The others carried out their main function, elongating until they were hundreds of meters long and slithering around the turtle in disorienting loops.

It roared in agitation, attempting to shift away from the chains. Unaware that that moment of distraction was exactly what Ambrose needed.

He spun Grave Keeper over his head, creating a vortex of pure flames, frost and necrotic energy. The phantoms and essence of every undead in his army clung to the vortex.

"Bind!"

The chains of Delirium wrapped around the turtle in a flash, covering its massive legs, shell and even its neck and head.

It thrashed and thundered aggressively—futile as the S-Rank chains constricted harder around it.

Taking control of the vortex like it were a mere disc, Ambrose released it on the turtle. The air hissed in literal retaliation, burning and freezing all at once.

Ghastly moans filled the desert, phantoms trailing the energy vortex to the very end.

BOOM!

The resulting blast was catastrophic.

A sonic boom so destructive that it swept mounds of sand back erupted from the blast point. A pillar of destructive energy connected from the desert to the very clouds.

For the briefest second, everywhere as far as the eyes could see was covered in a darkness thicker than night, blotting out even the twin blue suns.

When it was all over, Ambrose was standing far away from the aftermath. His clothes whipped in the air as he stared expressionlessly at the giant mushroom cloud.

[DING! Congratulations!]

[The host has slain a lesser S-Rank beast in record time. 4 minutes, 12 seconds.]

[HIDDEN MISSION COMPLETED!]

[REWARDS: 3000 EP.]

Ambrose’s lips curled in a small smirk.

He could feel the new aether surging through his being, fixing any strains that may have come from fighting that beast.

One thing that helped was that while the beast was indeed formidable—it was also ridiculously large. And slow. By the time it made one move, he’d already calculated five.

"Phew." He blinked at the system screen glowing before him. "How many total EP points do I have now?"

[Exactly 30,000.]

"And how many do I need to reach an S-Rank Aether hybrid again?"

[40,000.]

A dangerous idea slipped into Ambrose’s head. One that would’ve probably gotten him the stink eye from his boyfriends if he were back home.

What if he maximised his time here? While searching for the black key and avoiding the Void Entity, he could also squeeze in battling beasts to level up.

Heck at this rate he won’t be surprised if he manages to cross over to SS-Rank. By then perhaps even the Void Entity would think twice about hunting him down.

"Is the turtle’s aether core retrievable?" He crossed his fingers.

[Scanning...]

[Yes! Should I initiate automatic retrieval?]

"No," he smirked, that dark light glowing in his eyes again. "No, I’ve got another idea..."

He raised a hand, clenching it into a fist.

Necromancy took root, expanding his shadow until it reached the site of the turtle’s carcass.

"Awaken and serve." He gritted his teeth, feeling the resistance from the S-Rank core. "Come on... AWAKEN!"

Threads of Necrotic energy weaved through the air, connecting him to the turtle’s corpse and aether core. Whatever was left of its will fought.

Yet Ambrose soon conquered.

His fingers trembled as the beast bellowed in response to its new master. Dark blue mist rolled out of its body like a miasma. Its once amber eyes now flared with a midnight blue light.

The colossal turtle lowered its massive head before Ambrose, its shadow swallowing him whole as a deep, reverberating growl rolled across the desert.

The sound no longer carried hostility. It sounded... obedient.

Ambrose let out a slow breath, staring up at the undead monster before rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Well," he muttered. "Guess you’re mine now."

The beast answered with another rumble.

Aura’s holographic screen shimmered into existence almost immediately.

[NOTICE: High-ranking undead successfully added to the host’s Necromancy army.]

[Current designation: Undead Desert Colossal Turtle.]

[WARNING!]

[The undead beast possesses an extremely high aether consumption rate. Maintaining its physical form for extended periods will rapidly drain the host’s reserves.]

Ambrose clicked his tongue. "Of course it does."

Another notification appeared.

[Recommendation: Keep the beast stored within the host’s shadow until necessary.]

He nodded absentmindedly before stretching a hand toward the enormous creature. "Back you go."

The turtle’s gigantic body dissolved into countless strands of blue necrotic mist. Piece by piece, the shell, limbs and even the oasis upon its back crumbled into glowing particles before pouring into Ambrose’s shadow.

Within seconds, nothing remained.

Only silence and the endless desert.

Ambrose rolled his shoulders, feeling the fresh surge of aether still coursing through his veins.

"So..." he smiled to himself. "I just need to keep getting stronger."

His gaze drifted toward the endless horizon.

"And eventually... I’ll kill that thing."

Without another word he resumed walking, Grave Keeper resting lazily across his shoulder while the twin blue suns continued baking the desert.

Miles away... The Void Entity hovered above a canyon of black crystal, countless fragments of darkness orbiting around its body.

For hours it had remained perfectly still.

Waiting.

Then its featureless head slowly turned. Straight toward Ambrose’s direction.

"There you are." Its voice echoed across the wasteland.

Without another word, the creature ascended.

The atmosphere distorted around it before it shot into the sky like a streak of living darkness, disappearing beyond the horizon.

★★★★★

Canada.

Snow drifted lazily through the afternoon air, settling over the bustling Hunter district where dozens of military trucks and emergency vehicles had already surrounded an enormous white Rift.

Gabriel stepped out of a black SUV with both hands tucked inside his coat pockets, earning immediate salutes from every Hunter nearby.

The captain of the raid hurried over. "H-Hunter Gabriel. Thanks for coming."

Gabriel simply nodded. "You’re certain you don’t require me inside?"

The captain quickly shook his head. "No, sir. Headquarters only assigned you as an emergency backup. This should be a standard S-Rank raid."

Normally, Gabriel would’ve laughed before walking away.

Standing guard outside while lower-ranked Hunters earned all the glory wasn’t exactly how the strongest Space Esper in North America preferred spending his afternoons.

Yet, anything was better than sitting alone with his thoughts. Especially thoughts of Ambrose.

"Proceed."

The captain saluted before barking orders. "Move!"

Eight Hunters—five A-Ranks and three S-Ranks—advanced together, weapons drawn.

One after another, they disappeared into the white portal.

Silence followed.

Gabriel leaned against a nearby military truck, eyes fixed on the swirling entrance while snowflakes landed across his dark hair.

Minutes crawled by with nothing happening.

No tremors. No emergency flares. No distress signals.

Just another routine dungeon.

Then... The Rift twitched.

Gabriel’s brows furrowed at the sudden spatial fluctuation. "...What?"

The white surface rippled unnaturally before dark veins spread throughout it like cracks across glass.

Within seconds, its colour shifted.

White became violet. Then an impossibly deep purple.

The surrounding Hunters stepped back instinctively.

"What the hell...?!"

Gabriel immediately straightened. Space rippled beneath his feet as he appeared before the Rift in an instant.

His hand reached toward the portal.

Only for it to stop abruptly.

Not because he wanted it to. But the surface refused to let him through.

His palm met something solid, like reinforced steel.

Gabriel’s expression darkened. "Impossible."

He pushed harder.

Space bent. Reality warped.

Nothing.

The Rift didn’t budge an inch.

Behind him, terrified voices began erupting.

"The entrance is sealed!"

"The team’s trapped inside!"

Gabriel slowly lowered his hand, his heartbeat quickening for the first time in days.