The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

The moment Aisha spoke those words to him, something inside her head split open.

The pain came so suddenly. It felt worse than she imagined. As though thread by thread, her entire existence was being pulled and unraveled.

The hospital garden, the trees, and the man—all of it dissolved into black.

One second, she was kneeling in the hospital garden, blood soaking through her knees from where she crouched between his legs. Then, next, she woke up standing—no—floating before a door.

It was massive. It towered enough to disappear into the red sky that had no sun, no moon, nothing but a fleshy wall of red. The door didn’t look ordinary either. Countless bone-white stones were carved into it. Particularly, the skulls looked extremely ominous as to where they had come from.

Aisha gasped and leaned back in shock.

"Are these all... human bones?"

She looked around her, but aside from the flesh-like red sky and the door, everything was swallowed by dark shadows. Sounds of something snapping and chewing could even be heard from beyond. Aisha didn’t want to test where she’d end up if she dived into it.

Where is this?

For a moment, she was lost in confusion. But she remembered something about this in Aisha Novalis’s memories—how a guide’s consciousness could enter a sentinel’s mental landscape when the connection was strong enough. But knowing it and standing in the middle of it were two very different things.

"This door should be his mental barrier?"

Aisha stared at the towering door, trying to make sense of everything.

"Gururu..."

A tiny chirp came from her shoulder.

Aisha looked down. On the front of her collar, her tiny spiritual beast, clinging to her neck with its antennae touching her skin.

"You’re here, too?" Aisha asked it gently.

"Guru."

It nuzzled against her neck. Despite its small form, it pushed itself forward, floating in midair and pointing its antennas straight at the door as if urging her onward.

Aisha looked surprised. This little thing, which looked like it could be flattened once stepped on, wanted to march into whatever waited beyond that door.

"Guess I don’t have a choice, do I?"

She took a step forward, testing gravity. It’d be such a shame if she ended up falling straight into nothingness. Thankfully, she floated forward.

The closer she got to the door, the clearer the bones became. They were real skulls, hollowed eyes stared into her own, mouths frozen in mid-scream.

Aisha’s stomach turned. Even in her previous world, she’d never come across such a gruesome scene. But unlike many people, she could at least adapt quickly and accept it without fussing.

Suddenly, the skeletons opened their eyes.

Then, one by one, as if they were disturbed from their rest, piercing shrieks came out of their opened mouths. Who knows who started it, but one by one, their pearly white bone arms stretched out, reaching for her, as though they wanted to drag her in and become one with them in the door.

One grazed against her, latching onto her forearm.

"Get off!" Aisha wrenched her arm back, but more bone-like hands tore from the door and started grabbing at her ankles, waist, and hair.

"Gururu!"

The tiny spiritual beast on her collar suddenly floated in front of her. A blinding light igniting from its small form, searing through the skeletal hands gripping her. As though they were burned by it, they started retreating into the door and stopped moving.

"Thank you," she breathed as she glanced down at her spiritual beast.

For some reason, it had dimmed considerably after that burst, looking even more exhausted than before. The silvery patterns that had been glowing around flickered. But it still puffed itself up, floating toward her proudly, and rested on her collar.

Aisha patted it gently and said, "Don’t do anything for now. Leave the rest to me."

She didn’t know how long this little creature would last if it continued using its powers. Aisha didn’t want to part with it just yet. Although it was the first time she witnessed it using its ability, it resembled the light that appeared on the day when the prince visited.

Was it the reason behind that light?

Or was it because of her?

Aisha didn’t have time to dwell on it further. The skeletons attached to the door were no longer a hindrance.

She lunged herself forward and pressed both hands against the door with all her strength, careful not to touch any of the bones.

The moment her palms met the wood, the skeletons writhed and looked like they would move again. But as if they had learned their lesson, they slithered away from her.

She pushed the door open. It groaned as if alive.

And then, she saw it.

Beyond the door was not a room, no, it was a burning space.

Overwhelming heat crashed into her from the front. Aisha almost thought she’d turn into dust from how hot it was.

If hell were to turn into reality, this place would be a perfect match.

Fire stretched endlessly in every direction. The sky was the same outside the door, but this time, the fleshly sky was moved to the ground.

And at the very center of this burning place, rooted into the ground with thick, gnarled veins, was a lone figure wrapped in it.

"That must be him," Aisha whispered.

The flesh-like roots had fused into his skin. His head hung low, as if he were unconscious.

Even from a distance, Aisha could see the dark, oily substance creeping along his skin and veins. It was the same miasma everyone feared, corrupting every sentinel, guide, and human alike.

However, sentinels who fought other-planet creatures in some contaminated zones were more likely to come into contact with miasma. And once they get in touch with it, it’ll be hard for them not to be corrupted by it.

Hence, they needed a guide with a high purification value.

Aside from the miasma that has obviously taken root inside his mental landscape, the compressed mental energy has started to fuse with it.

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