Chapter 5: Guiding the Crown Prince

"Too slow."

The Chimera slammed into the ground where he had been standing. Ephraim twisted aside, but the red snake whipped toward him from behind.

Ephraim met it head-on, his claws tearing straight through the snake tail and ripping it apart.

With another furious roar, the Chimera lunged again. Ephraim dodged, but the goat head sank its teeth into his thigh. Sharp claws raked across his side, spraying blood across his clothes.

"Gah!"

Ephraim staggered, barely keeping himself upright.

"Ephraim!"

This wasn’t just a physical injury. His Resonance Stress was dangerously high, and if it climbed any further, Ephraim could lose control—or worse, turn into a Mindless.

Lydia tapped her bracelet to check his status. A red notification panel flashed into existence before her eyes, pulsing urgently.

[Sentinel: Ephraim Rion Adelstein]

[Sentinel Rank: S-Rank]

[Animal Spirit: Golden Lion]

[Element: Fire]

[Resonance Stress: 93%]

[Warning: Immediate guiding is required.]

"Your Resonance Stress is 93%!" Lydia’s face paled. "It’s even higher than before. If it climbs any further, you’ll lose control and become a Mindless!"

Ephraim turned his head toward Lydia. Red sparks flickered across his crimson eyes like violent static, flashing and snapping with every surge of his unstable Resonance power.

"I know I’m only an F-Rank Guide," Lydia said, tightening her grip on her rapier. "But I’ll do my best to guide you."

"Don’t! Your mental power won’t be able to handle my Resonance."

Despite his warning, Lydia gathered her mental power and poured it into Ephraim to guide his unstable Resonance.

Blinding pain shot through her head in an instant. It hurt far more than she expected.

"Kyaaah! It hurts!"

"Damn it, Lydia!" Ephraim snarled through gritted teeth, his voice rough with desperation. "Stop being so stubborn! Our Guide and Sentinel ranks are too different. That’s what causes backlash!"

[Resonance Stress: 89%]

This won’t do. Four percent wasn’t enough.

Lydia clenched her fists. Her power as an F-Rank Guide was far too weak, but there had to be another way.

She needed something stronger.

Their compatibility had reached an unbelievable 95%.

Wait. If there was ever a time to find out what that number truly meant, it was now!

"Sorry, Ephraim," Lydia muttered.

His eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Lydia pointed her fingers at Ephraim. "Be my guinea pig!"

Random bullshit, here we go! Here goes nothing!

Lydia pushed her mental power deeper to guide Ephraim’s unstable Resonance.

Instead of forcing my way in, I need to move with Ephraim, find his rhythm, and let my mental power and his Resonance flow and become one.

Something changed.

The unstable energy inside Ephraim began to respond to her power instead of fighting against it. It gathered inside him and surged through his body, growing stronger with every second.

"My Resonance... it’s getting much stronger."

Lydia let her mental power flow with his Resonance, synchronizing with it. The energy inside Ephraim suddenly exploded, sending a burst of raw power through his entire body.

Ephraim’s voice tightened. "What are you doing?"

Lydia guided him even deeper.

"Resonance Amplification."

Ephraim frowned. "What?"

"That’s what I meant by secrets make a woman a woman." Lydia smiled mysteriously.

Our 95% compatibility had allowed us to synchronize as Guide and Sentinel.

"Your Resonance Stress is climbing again, Ephraim," Lydia muttered. "Well, at least this Guide can buff you enough to end this faster."

Lydia pointed at the Chimera.

"Blitzkrieg! Bring it on!"

A violent burst of power tore through him. Flames surged outward as Ephraim charged straight at the Chimera, his golden lion ears pinned back and his long tail blazing behind him.

Ephraim’s burning claws blazed brighter as the flames surrounding him intensified, radiating the fierce heat of the sun.

"Take this!"

The Rift Barrier shook from the impact as Ephraim tore through the Chimera’s thick hide as easily as paper, flames swallowing all three heads in a raging inferno.

"Is it dead?" Lydia asked.

The Chimera shattered into huge pieces of green crystal, scattering across the Rift Battlefield. One by one, the shards dissolved into green light and shot into Lydia’s bracelet.

Lydia let out a long breath. "That was a close call."

Ephraim stood among the fading flames, his crimson eyes fixed on her bracelet. "We managed it somehow."

At the same time, the enormous rift in the sky began to collapse. Its dark opening contracted inward until the dimensional distortion finally knitted itself shut.

The Rift Barrier flickered once before vanishing. When Lydia opened her eyes, she was back on the university grounds.

"The Dimensional Rift is gone!"

"We’re safe now!"

"Get the injured to the medical wing!"

For a brief moment, relief spread across the campus. Students and professors began gathering together, while security spheres continued their emergency scans.

"What a day..."

Lydia barely had time to relax when a terrifying roar suddenly tore through the campus.

Ephraim no longer looked human.

He was hovering above the ground, his blond hair completely disheveled. Black veins crawled from his neck across his face like living corruption, while red static crackled across his crimson eyes.

Golden lion ears twitched wildly atop his disheveled blond hair, while his long golden tail lashed through the air behind him. His clawed fingers hung loosely at his sides, twitching uncontrollably as flames flickered around his body.

"Your Highness?"

"What’s happening to the Crown Prince?"

"Don’t get close!" a professor shouted. "His resonance is out of control!"

A wave of pressure exploded across the courtyard as Ephraim’s head snapped toward the crowd.

Students closest to him collapsed onto their knees, gasping for air.

"I-I can’t breathe!"

"Get away from him!"

"Run!"

Lydia immediately tapped her bracelet. A red notification panel flashed before her eyes.

[Sentinel: Ephraim Rion Adelstein]

[Sentinel Rank: S-Rank]

[Spirit Animal: Lion]

[Element: Fire]

[Resonance Stress: 98%]

[Warning: Critical resonance corruption detected.]

"98%..."

Lydia’s face paled.

"No, no, no. This is bad."

If this kept going, Ephraim would turn into a Mindless soon. He had almost hit the limit.

"Ephraim, don’t you dare become Mindless on me." Lydia clenched her fists. "You still have an annulment to sign!"

Before Lydia could even process what to do, Ephraim’s head snapped toward the nearest group of students.

His crimson eyes crackled with red static as he suddenly charged toward them, sending the students screaming and scattering in panic.

"Ephraim!"

Lydia didn’t hesitate. She rushed after him and threw her arms around his waist from behind, using all her strength to stop him.

"Stop! It’s me!"

Heat seared through Lydia’s arms as flames burst around Ephraim’s body. She gritted her teeth against the burning pain and held on tighter.

"Ephraim, listen to me!"

His body trembled violently as Ephraim’s uncontrolled Resonance surged through him. The flames grew hotter, biting into Lydia’s skin, but she refused to let go.

Lydia slowly poured her mental power to guide Ephraim, and the world around her disappeared as darkness swallowed everything.

She couldn’t tell whether she was falling or floating through the endless darkness until her feet touched the ground.

When Lydia looked up, a vast desert stretched before her. The cracked black ground was covered in dry sand, with nothing but an empty horizon beneath the barren sky.

There was nothing but sand.

Endless sand.

"This must be his Spiritual Domain. I don’t know what happened to you, but if you’ve already dragged me this far, then I’ll bring you back, Ephraim."

Cold wind swept across the barren desert as Lydia stared into the endless darkness ahead.

"Even if I have to purify every last trace of your corruption myself, Ephraim."