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

A Manor In Washington DC

"Yes, sir. We’ve already communicated with the Canadian Federation." A woman spoke hurriedly as she and a man with a thick moustache walked out of the secluded manor. "Sir, you still have that meeting scheduled with the United States’ president tomorrow."

"Right, right." Josiah took a long drag from his cigar as they approached his limo. "Tell him I still hope to be present for the meeting." He scoffed. "Although I fail to see what a normal human has to say in matters concerning Hunters and dungeon anomalies."

His driver stood by the car, ready to open the door.

Until a voice resounded around them.

"Saying that like you weren’t nothing but a ’normal’ human once."

Everyone froze.

Suddenly, the shadows around them stretched unnaturally. Chills crawled down their backs even though there wasn’t any wind.

Josiah’s jaw clenched.

His eyes darted across the street—landing on the unusually dark shadow of a tall peach tree. It was hard to notice at first glance, but anyone who looked close enough would see a figure waiting there.

"S-Sir?" His assistant trembled, clutching her iPad to her chest before drifting to his side cautiously. "Is... is that—"

"Wait here." Was all he said.

Then he adjusted his coat, stomped what was left of his cigar under his boot and crossed the street to the peach tree. Even before getting there, he could easily tell who it was.

"That was a waste of a good cigar," the voice echoed again, more casual as the figure stepped into the sunlight. "Good day, Josiah. Missed me?"

The Federation President did not seem pleased at all. "Valentine," he took in the Necromancer from head to toe, slipping his hands into his coat’s pockets. "Can you seriously be asking me that now?"

"You don’t have to answer the question, Josy boy." Valentine’s grin didn’t reach his crimson orbs beneath the sunglasses. "I merely came to check in on you. With the news brewing within our neighbour’s borders and all."

"You’d first ’check in’ on a dead raccoon before checking in on me." Josiah didn’t even crack a smile. "What do you want? You go under the radar for days, and now you’re just popping up at my door?"

Valentine straightened.

Guess there was no need to beat around the bush anymore.

"I believe," he dragged himself closer to the SS-Rank, "you at least have a clue about why I’m here."

"No, I don’t. So enlighten me."

After searching the man’s eyes, Valentine blurted. "Ambrose." he let the name settle, brushing off the way his chest tightened. "The Guide who you were so obsessed with that you almost stripped him of his Fifth Amendment rights just to get him to answer you."

Josiah sniggered. "What a way to refresh my memory."

"My point is, I know you kept tabs on him." Valentine didn’t stutter or pause. "I know you gave the Pantheon hints on the ’unexplainable’ circumstances surrounding his existence."

"So you—"

"I know you’re aware of what truly happened to the Void Entity." Valentine deadpanned. Something flickered across Josiah’s expression just then. "I’m correct. And if that’s the case, that means you know Ambrose is no longer on earth."

Josiah remained silent for several long seconds, eyes wandering to the late afternoon sky.

Eventually, the Federation President sighed.

"The Pantheon gave me a report." His voice lost much of its earlier edge. "An encrypted one. They informed me that both the Void Entity and Ambrose disappeared through some unknown spatial anomaly." His eyes settled on Valentine again. "As for what happened after that? Your guess is as good as mine."

Valentine studied him carefully. "So they truly don’t know."

"No."

The answer came too quickly to be a lie. Josiah rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Believe it or not, that report has irritated me more than any political headache I’ve dealt with this year." A faint chuckle escaped him. "An unexplained dimensional event. The disappearance of the greatest threat humanity has ever known since the Emergence. And the disappearance of the one Guide who kept rewriting every rule we thought we understood."

He clicked his tongue. "My curiosity is killing me."

Valentine’s lips curved into a knowing smile. "I figured it would." The Necromancer folded his arms. "You’re still wondering where Ambrose went. Even now, a part of you wants the answer."

Josiah didn’t deny it.

"I’ve dedicated decades to understanding Hunters, dungeon phenomena and the laws governing aether." His gaze drifted toward his car. "Then one young Guide came along and seemed to break every assumption we had."

His eyes returned to Valentine. "How could I not want answers?"

Silence settled between them.

Eventually, Josiah turned away. "I suppose that’s all?"

"It is."

The Federation President took a few steps toward his limousine.

"Josiah."

He stopped.

Without looking back, he asked, "Yes?"

Valentine’s voice lost every trace of humour. "I know you." That alone made Josiah’s shoulders stiffen. "You’ll use every satellite, every classified database and every piece of Federation technology available to figure out what happened."

The older man smiled faintly. "I probably will."

"If you find anything..." Valentine lowered his head. "Anything at all. I want to be the first to know."

Josiah finally turned around.

Only to find the peach tree standing alone.

The shadows beneath it had returned to normal. And Valentine Lockwood was gone.

★★★★★

Calgary, Alberta.

Most of the surrounding cities had become ghost towns.

Military convoys rolled endlessly down abandoned highways while helicopters patrolled overhead. Emergency sirens had long since faded, leaving behind an eerie silence broken only by the occasional rumble from the expanding exclusion zone.

Gabriel remained exactly where he’d stood for well over an hour.

His arms trembled.

The crystalline spatial lock wrapped around the Purple Rift flickered violently, thin fractures beginning to creep across its surface.

"It’s getting stronger," He muttered through gritted teeth.

"You’ve done well." Kali’s voice came from behind him.

She and Wukong approached once more, the Monkey King casually resting his staff across one shoulder.

"We’ve informed the others," Kali continued. "Apollo, Yemoja and Loki are already on their way."

Wukong stared at the pulsating Rift. "At this point," he said grimly, "all we can really do is wait for the inevitable."

Before anyone else could answer—Kali froze.

Her pupils dilated as the world around her vanished.

She saw the Purple Rift split open, something colossal forcing its way through.

It had no shape her mind could properly comprehend, only an endless mass that devoured everything its presence touched.

Gabriel’s spatial lock shattered like fragile glass.

Cities disappeared.

Mountains collapsed.

The Earth itself cracked apart beneath the beast’s impossible weight as oceans, forests and continents were stripped of life, swallowed into an abyss of endless hunger.

Then—A woman’s voice drifted through the vision, filled with despair.

"Under no circumstances... must the Devourer cross into your world."

Kali’s eyes widened. "The... Devourer?" She reached toward the unseen speaker. "Who are—"

The vision shattered, forcing Kali to stumble backwards. She breathed hard as cold sweat rolled down her face.

The Purple Rift continued to pulse before her. As though it already knew its next meal lay waiting beyond it.

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