Chapter 165: _Saw Something You Weren’t Meant To

Phoenix Flight HQ

"Are you ready?" Valentine asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

Meanwhile, Ambrose, who was still seated on the sofa before the Necromancer, felt a subtle tug. From the link connecting him to Viktor.

He recognised the sensation because he felt something similar during the Echo Rift raid. When the ice Prince was close to being berserk and needed his guidance.

Now that he thought about it—no wonder Gabriel and Valentine immediately looked at him like he was a monstrosity and a secret worth unravelling respectively.

What ’C-Rank Guide’ out there successfully guides an S-Rank THEN destabilises an SS-Rank core?

"I–I’m ready." Ambrose brushed aside the odd feeling as he stared into Valentine’s red eyes. "Let’s get this over with."

Hopefully, Viktor was okay wherever he was. Right now he had far bigger fish to fry.

Valentine’s fingers splayed on his forehead as an energetic pulse travelled from him to Ambrose. On the flip side, the Guide ran probabilities with Aura.

[Your chances of establishing a permanent Guide-link with the target are heightened due to the physical touch and transfer of energy.]

[NOTE: There’s a high risk of being discovered during the procedure. So tread carefully.]

Ambrose gulped hard.

Well, that didn’t sound unnerving at all.

"Open your mind..." Valentine whispered just then. "Let go of every inhibition. Don’t fight my energy pouring into your essence."

Again—not creepy at all.

With a light exhale, Ambrose closed his eyes. His aether energy thrummed through his chest like a river waiting for an entryway into a vast ocean.

So he created one, reaching out gently to the energy Valentine poured into him while creating the Necrotic Mark.

As this went on, Devon watched from the kitchen island, taking a long sip from his drink. He flicked his tongue over his upper lip, tapping an impatient finger against the glass.

’What could they possibly be doing now to require... all that?’ he asked himself, his eyes narrowing when he noticed Valentine’s aether energy giving out a creamy glow between his fingers. ’It... feels oddly like guiding from this angle.’

Ambrose stiffened once his aether coiled just enough around Valentine’s. A stream of psychic information flooded from the latter into him—thoughts, memories, emotions.

He saw a flashback of a teenage boy awakening his powers. He’d been bullied. Ostracized. Mocked simply because of his goth aesthetic. Then on the day of the Emergence, he awakened in the most terrifying way imaginable.

Chills crawled down Ambrose’s spine when he saw teenage Valentine yelling out during one of the usual bullying incidents. The boys gasped for breath in the hallway as they collapsed, their bodies quickly dissolving into lifeless, skeletal husks.

[WARNING: Psychic backlash imminent. Host advised to pull out of the target’s memories and focus on creating a link.]

Ambrose hesitated but eventually withdrew from the memory just when it got to a point where he was being called a monster.

His aether tightened around Valentine’s— unbeknownst to him, the SS-Rank noticed something off.

’Why is it taking so long to create the mark?’ he thought to himself, his eyes opening briefly to take a quick look at Ambrose.

The Guide’s eyes were sealed, his expression twitching like he was trapped inside a nightmare.

Valentine could’ve sworn he sensed a trickle of his emotions. But then he brushed it off as a side effect of creating the mark on a Guide.

[UPDATE: Permanent link creation in progress...]

Ambrose got so excited that his eyes almost blew wide. He bit back his excitement, watching the system screen in his mental space.

[45% done.]

Sweat dripped down his face. He gradually opened his eyes but almost instantly shut them back. Because the Necromancer had his gaze locked on him.

’What are you up to?’ That thought zapped past the barriers in Valentine’s head and slammed into Ambrose, almost making him jolt back.

He hastily closed his eyes again, hoping the Esper didn’t—

’I know you can hear me.’ Valentine’s mental voice chimed with a snigger. ’So what is this? How strong is your aether to let you hear my thoughts from mere physical contact?’

The Guide fought hard to keep his thoughts to himself.

Don’t think of anything. Don’t think of anything. Don’t think—

’Why are you so tense?’ The SS-Rank didn’t stop. ’Did you see something you weren’t supposed to? Oh wait—my memories, right?’

Ambrose was one more scary sentence away from shitting himself. ’I... I didn’t mean to—’

’Oh, it’s fine. Totally.’ Valentine didn’t even sound fazed. ’But come on. The Necrotic Mark is almost complete. Why don’t you use this opportunity to let me in on your secrets?’

Panic flooded every ounce of Ambrose’s being. He restrained himself, willing himself to think of one thing and one thing only.

Apples.

[Progress: 76%.]

Almost there...

Valentine’s brows knitted when all he got from Ambrose’s mind was a repetitive image of a red apple. He wasn’t supposed to hear the Guide’s thoughts to begin with—but he’d just decided to grab the opportunity.

And now he has... nothing.

[81%... 83... 87...]

A piercing headache struck Ambrose just then. He arched his back instinctively, pushing his chest against Valentine’s face. The SS-Rank’s eyes widened but he didn’t get distracted.

Because right there on Ambrose’s forehead, an ankh-shaped symbol flared to life. The light illuminated the room, forcing even Devon to squint.

By the time the light cleared... so had the mark. It etched itself into the Guide’s soul, staying there as though it had always been a part of it.

Valentine huffed a breath of relief. "For a moment there I thought your soul would reject—" he’d just been about to break his fingers away from his forehead when he seized his wrist.

Ambrose’s eyes fluttered open. This time, his silver orbs glinted with a subtle blue glow for a microsecond. Enough for Valentine to sense something alarming.

Too late.

[Permanent Guide link created!]

[Congratulations! Mission accomplished. Rewards loading. Please stand by...]

"Rose?" At this point, Devon rushed to them carefully, his gaze darting to Valentine. "What’s happening to him? Why’s he—"

His words died when Ambrose swerved his head to him. A small smirk twitched on the corner of his lips. But Devon barely had time to appreciate it, noticing something beading down his left nostril.

Blood!

"Why’s the room spinning?" The room lurched violently.

Devon’s voice warped. Valentine’s crimson eyes blurred into streaks of red.

He didn’t get the chance to push out another word as darkness swallowed him whole.

"Rose!"