The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

A wild animal.

She was reminded of that when she looked at him.

Perhaps, not at the same time. But something far, far more dangerous. One that has been captured once, caged, tortured, and starved for years. Endless pain and suffering would remind them to never let anyone get close to them.

Wild animals can still be tamed and trust once an appropriate amount of time and care is shown toward them. But that didn’t seem to apply to this man.

His gaze remained fixed on her. They looked intense one second, then dull the next.

Aisha could tell he was trying his best to hold back the rampaging power within him.

The man sat on the ground with his back against the tree. His hand was pressed against the wound in his chest, but the blood continued to slip between his fingers, soaking the dark fabric of his clothes. That wound on his chest looked severe enough for an ordinary person to be seconds away from dying.

Aisha stopped just three feet away from him.

Then—

A crushing pressure fell on her entire body.

The surrounding trees seemed distorted, as though something invisible had taken hold of the space and kept pressing down on it.

In just a few seconds, it was already hard to breathe in air, as though oxygen was stripped away from that place.

He was a Sentinel. That Aisha could be sure of. Aisha Novalis had seen many powerful sentinels before. In her memories, some were close by, and others were seen from afar. But this was the first time she had encountered such a strong person. Both Aisha and this body.

This sentinel’s overwhelming pressure filled the entire space, making it impossible to physically function. She felt pathetically small for the first time.

So, this is what a true high-ranking sentinel’s power feels like when they’re at full power. Aisha thought as she sensed the pressure growing even more around her.

Any normal person, a guide or a sentinel, would have fled by now. They could never take on this kind of pressure and power. The first thing they would have thought of would be to seek help from the Guide and Sentinel Association.

”Gururu?”

The tiny spiritual beast in her palm wriggled, antennae facing up at her, moving excitedly.

”You want me to save him?”

Aisha lowered her gaze at it.

The tiny antennas waved up and down, which was unusual with the overwhelming pressure still coming from that man. Are spiritual bodies just unaffected by this kind of pressure, or is her little worm just not feeling it?

”But it’s dangerous...”

She looked at the man again. His eyes looked completely hollow now, with his pupils swallowing his irises, leaving only two bottomless, pitch-black voids staring back at her. Arcs of static energy were leaking from the corners of his eyes.

He was already losing his real self.

Aisha wasn’t confident she could help him. This will be her first time trying, and who knows if it won’t work and backfire on her instead? She didn’t want to die with this man. Another reason for her hesitation is that this was too close to the hospital.

As if urging her to help him, the tiny creature started to scratch on her palm. Its minuscule feet crawled, making her feel itchy.

But Aisha was still being cautious. The sensible choice was to go back inside the hospital and report this, but everything would be too late then.

She wished she hadn’t sent Daisy away. At least, the young maid could’ve run to look for help.

”Haa...”

Sighing, she stepped forward. A sudden ringing filled her ears, followed by sounds that didn’t belong to the quiet hospital garden—metal scraping against metal, the sickening squelching sound of flesh being torn apart and mended, and screams of agony that belonged to thousands, millions of people.

Aisha’s knees nearly buckled. The sound of a thunderous roar blasted against her mind, pushing her away. She flinched.

Her ear was still ringing as though lightning had struck inches away from her.

But it wasn’t painful. She was only startled by the suddenness of everything that was happening. Thrust into the path of a Berserked sentinel, no one could prepare her for that.

His unstable mental power was affecting his surroundings.

Gritting her teeth, Aisha crossed the distance between her and that man.

”Go... away.”

A hoarse, deep voice came from the man. He regained a bit of his consciousness and told her to go away. He didn’t know who was around him, his senses already clouded by the collision of unstable mental power and corrupting miasma inside him.

Whoever they were, they’re only asking for a quick death.

He unconsciously cranked up the pressure boiling within him. This should have exploded anyone in the vicinity into pieces.

But—

Delicate and warm fingers touched his cheek, rose to his forehead, and to the back of his ears. The touch was soothing and gentle, like touching something extremely fragile that one wouldn’t dare handle without care.

He had never felt anything like this in his life.

Something was calling for him...

But before he could discover what it was, the corrupted miasma in his body burst out like a whirlpool, like liquid splitting into hundreds of tendrils and fibrous webs so tiny they couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. They were heading somewhere... surging forward like an army of bees.

He didn’t understand what this feeling was. Apprehension quickly took over him, pushing away the hand that touched him.

Just then, Aisha slammed against his chest, a groan slipping past him at the pain.

She had no time to apologize either, stepping directly into his personal space and seizing control of his head and throat. She forced him to look at her.

She dug her nails into his neck as she forced his face up to meet her eyes.

”Look at me,” she said, voice hard with authority. ”If you keep fighting this, you’ll tear yourself apart — and everyone else with you. So, stop. Stop resisting. Accept me.”