The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

Aisha felt something warm caress the shell of her ear.

She shuddered instantly. She covered her ear with a hand and stared back at a pair of crimson eyes.

It was Nykos.

It didn’t surprise her to see him after their gaze had met back outside. But to see him inside the room without her even sensing him, she was bound to feel disappointed with her growing lack of vigilance.

But this man isn’t ordinary or a mutated human. He was a dangerous man packed with a power that even she found impossible to beat in her state.

"Care to explain why I have to find you in a room alone with a man, little bird?"

He tilted his head with a narrowing of his eyes.

Aisha found his eyes and frowned.

"Not going to tell me?"

She hadn’t finished thinking of what to tell him when she heard a groan from the front. She turned her head, but a hand suddenly captured her chin, keeping her facing him.

Crack, crack.

"Ughhhh... mmph!"

The sound of something hard breaking and Styx’s painful groan resounded inside the room as a muffled noise. Aisha did not need to see what was happening, but her years of being surrounded by death and seeing different ways a living being could die had already made her familiar with this.

The stench of death had already clearly spread widely in the room.

So, she only said, "I wasn’t done with him."

Nykos replied, "You have me here."

Her frown deepened. "He’s still useful to me."

Styx could tell her the location of Zenick’s crewmates that Theon was unable to locate. Especially the people who had stolen her older brother’s things in the midst of his predicament.

"More useful than me?" Nykos’ question baffled her.

He sounded competitive. But what for? Aisha couldn’t understand why he was suddenly treating Styx like an enemy he needed to beat.

"In this situation, yes."

She probably shouldn’t have said that. The light shining in Nykos’ eyes had only become brighter with vicious intent.

The sickening sound of bones breaking intensified. Styx’s groan also started to grow increasingly louder before a wet, unsettling thud echoed.

Nykos rubbed his finger on her chin, eyes lingering on her lips, before his own lips broke into a stunning smile. "Oops, I guess he won’t be useful to you anymore."

Aisha shot up to her feet and turned around to face him. Styx was no longer alive. Not unless he survived having his entire body misshapen and his neck twisted a few times. No human could survive having this done to them. What unsettled her was the look of terror in his eyes before he died.

But it would be hypocritical to say she felt sympathy toward the man who could potentially have done something far worse to Zenick.

However, that did not mean what Nykos did was forgivable.

"Why did you do that?" she said. "I haven’t gotten everything I needed from him. You only made things difficult for me by killing him."

Nykos looked at her. "You’re looking for your older brother?"

Aisha stared at him. "You know something?"

He must have overheard what went on inside the room. A sentinel who had great control could heighten their senses any way they want, provided that it matches their rank. They couldn’t always use their advanced senses without suffering from sensory overload.

She just hoped that he didn’t witness what she had done to force Styx to tell her what he knew.

Instead of answering, he shrugged and walked toward her. Just as Aisha thought he’d stopped before her, Nykos stepped toward the bed where a satchel was hanging. He pulled it off from where it was hanging and took a whiff, then his face contorted slightly into disgust.

"What is it?" she asked, walking toward him.

Nykos held out a hand to stop her from coming closer.

He said, "Aphrodisiac."

Her feet halted quickly from advancing.

No wonder she felt hot earlier. The beads of sweat on her forehead had been a telltale sign of its effect on her. Although it was slight, Aisha was far too distracted to care about it earlier.

And even if she did, she wouldn’t have connected it to anything like an aphrodisiac.

"Is it potent?" she asked.

Nykos nodded. He stood by the bed in silence, holding the satchel with his back to her.

It unsettled her how he had become quiet all of a sudden. Was it because he had smelled a great amount of it directly from the satchel? He must be feeling it affecting him quickly.

Aisha thought of leaving him there. She had no plans of getting involved in this mess.

But on second thought, she was the reason why Nykos was in this mess in the first place.

He had interfered and killed Styx because of her. Even if he had done it by choice, the reason behind his action was still her. And if he hadn’t shown up in time and found the aphrodisiac, she would still be in this room interrogating Styx. And by the time she realized something was wrong, it would be too late.

The only fortunate thing was that she still had her scarf covering her lower face, blocking her nose from completely ingesting the aphrodisiac. It was the only reason why she wasn’t as affected. But if she had stayed there for longer, the scent would cling to her and seep into her pores.

"Do you need help?" she asked.

She could ask the courtesans outside if he was truly affected by it already. They should be able to quench the effects of the aphrodisiac since they were the expert in this field.

But before she could tell him her plan of asking for help outside, she saw Nykos turn around and look at her.

Her heart couldn’t help but tighten because of the smirk bleeding into his lips.

"You’re offering me a hand, little bird?"

"Yes," she nodded, unaware of what his words actually meant. She saw Nykos looking surprised for a moment, blinking his eyes framed by his long lashes.

Dark mists swallowed the satchel in his hand, disappearing instantly.

Under her confused gaze, Nykos disappeared from where he stood next to the bed. He materialized right in front of her in a blink of an eye.

Before Aisha could react, she was suddenly pushed against a nearby wall. Nykos leaned in and pressed a hand against the wall beside her.

The small space between them heated up as she heard Nykos speak.

"That’s a dangerous thing to say, Aisha," he said. "You don’t even know what you’re offering, do you?"

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