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

"Phew. What a fu—a ducking day." Viktor corrected his language the second Ambrose elbowed him, reminding him of Orion’s presence.

The group—composed of Ambrose, Aura, Devon, Viktor, Valentine, Gabriel and Orion—all trooped out of the Grand Summit Complex, under the noises of other delegates either boarding their ships or helicopters home.

Above them, Geneva quietly shifted into early evening, the sun calmer and the air a bit chillier. All around the world, the ’anomalies’ as they’ve been termed... stopped.

There were still no clear directions on what was causing them, although everyone who’d attended the Conclave could make a wild guess.

But at the very least, humanity now had time to breathe and go back to their usual, whimsical lives. And that included the ever-increasing bubble of the Hale-Ferguson family.

"Did you see the way Josiah ended up clicking the vote button for the United States Federation?" Valentine barked a laugh, head angling to Ambrose. "You did that, by the way."

Ambrose’s cheeks gained a hint of red. "I didn’t do anything."

"You stood up to that man and kicked him outta that high horse he’s been in for years," Valentine blew raspberries. "Trust me—I know when someone’s successfully trained a stubborn dog."

Orion, who was in his Papa’s arms, tapped him. "Who’s Uncle Valentine talking about?"

"... Uhm." Devon shot the Necromancer the briefest glare. "Just adult talk, buddy."

"I thought he was cursing out President Josiah. Y’know... that grumpy guy."

Devon blinked speechlessly. "Cursing out?"

"Yes, my friend Mildred from school always used to tell me how her daddy says cursing out isn’t nice. Or... something like that."

As Devon faced the brunt of having this conversation in the little boy’s presence, Ambrose drew in a breath.

His head arched to the clouds—the way the gentle golden rays of the setting sun seeped past them, still painting Geneva in some of its light.

"Ugh." He pursed his lips. "God, when can we have a ’break’ that’s ACTUALLY a break?"

"Did I hear someone talking about a break?"

Every head turned to the source of that new voice as one.

Walking toward them were none other than Aurelia’s star Guild Masters: Irina and Magnus.

Side by side, they contrasted like ice and fire—Irina with her icy silver hair and the white pants matching her silver blouse. Then Magnus with his black suit and golden red eyes.

Viktor was the first to stop walking as they approached.

"Mother? I... aren’t you going to use the ship?"

"Oh, that," Irina waved dismissively as they finally halted in front of them. "Never mind that now. You see, Magnus and I were talking."

Devon’s brows furrowed. "Talking?"

"Yes." Magnus carried on smoothly. "We reminisced about the old days. After handling the first SSS-Rank crisis. The celebrations. The world wide fire works—"

"Is there a point somewhere here or...?"

Magnus chuckled lightly. "My point, son, is that even back then with how the world always seemed like it was about to end—we never forgot how to have fun. No raids, no monsters... just human fun."

Valentine whistled. "Lord," they snapped their necks to him. "I’m not the only one who thought they were about to announce getting married or something, right?"

Magnus’ features twisted so hard you’d think his beards were about to fall off.

Irina’s face paled.

"Heavens!"

"Good God, no!"

Everyone, including Ambrose, laughed at their expense.

Then they both froze, cutting each other a look. As if contemplating the idea.

Irina harrumphed. "Magnus is too old for me."

"And you’re too young."

"Why, thank you." She nodded curtly. "Anyway, I suggest we all head into the city and do something exciting."

"I agree." Magnus walked up to Devon, beaming when he saw Orion. He never understood why the boy looked so much like him. "There should be a ton of fun activities. Like—"

"Uhm." Aura raised a hand, pulling attention to her. Seeing all the eyes, she lowered that hand with a small smirk. "I’ve got an idea, actually..."

★★★★★

"Whoa. Shillong Castle, right?"

"Viktor."

"Hmm?"

"It’s Chillon."

"Isn’t that what I said?"

"Like... ’Shee-yon’ Castle."

"Whatever. It’s a pretty castle."

The ancient stone walls overlooked the entirety of Lake Geneva, the evening breeze carrying with it the scent of fresh water and distant pine.

"It’s so pretty..." Orion whispered around another lick of his vanilla ice cream.

His little fingers searched for Ambrose’s hand almost instinctively.

The SS-Rank smiled to himself before intertwining their fingers. "Told you we’d come eventually."

"You did." Orion rocked their joined hands back and forth. "And Daddy actually kept his promise."

Something about hearing those words made Ambrose’s chest tighten.

For one quiet moment there were no monsters to kill. No meetings to survive. No cities to save.

Just his family.

"I wanna come back again," Orion declared with absolute confidence.

"We literally just got here." Devon laughed.

"And?"

"That..." Devon pointed at him dramatically. "...is a dangerous amount of confidence coming from someone who hasn’t even finished one ice cream."

"I’ll finish it!"

"You said that five minutes ago," Viktor snorted.

Before Orion could defend himself, Valentine suddenly clapped.

"Alright, enough talking. Everybody over here. Let’s take pictures."

Aura was the first to move. "Oh! Yes. Humans do this a lot."

Irina and Magnus exchanged an awkward look at the way she said ’humans’. Neither still knew who she was—assuming she could be Orion’s babysitter.

"They’re called evidence," Viktor added. "Evidence that Devon actually smiled for once."

"I smile."

"Once every leap year."

"You’re about to miss your chance to live another one."

Laughter rippled through the group as everyone gathered along the castle wall overlooking the shimmering lake.

Magnus gave the phone to a passing tourist who kindly offered to take the picture.

"Everyone ready?"

Orion immediately threw up two peace signs. Valentine leaned halfway onto Gabriel. Devon sighed like he wanted absolutely no part in this.

CLICK.

CLICK.

CLICK.

As Magnus accepted the phone back from the kind tourist, his brows knitted together.

"Hm."

"What?" Irina asked.

He glanced toward the sky.

"That bird." His eyes followed the black raven lazily circling above the castle. "It’s been following us since Geneva."

Ambrose looked up.

The raven met his gaze for the briefest second before giving the tiniest tilt of its head.

Loki.

’Seriously?’ Ambrose sighed through their link.

’Hey, don’t look at me.’ The raven sounded completely unapologetic. ’Apollo said one of us should keep an eye on you. Besides...’ Loki chuckled. ’You lot looked disgustingly wholesome.’

’As always, you’re impossible.’

’I prefer "charming."’

Rolling his eyes, Ambrose rested both forearms against the ancient stone wall, quietly watching the evening sunlight dance across Lake Geneva.

Maybe peace really could exist.

A familiar chime suddenly echoed inside his mind.

[SPECIAL MISSION UNLOCKED!]

Ambrose’s smile faded.

[OBJECTIVE: Establish first diplomatic contact with an intelligent Rift civilization.]

[TimeLimit: 72 Hours.]

[PENALTY: Random transportation to any dungeon.]

The shimmering blue screen lingered before his eyes as the laughter behind him slowly faded into the background.

His head swerved to Aura, who innocently acted like she knew nothing about the mission.

Of course.

Work had found him yet again.

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