You Mean the Federation Took Our Guide Away in the Chaos?
But no sooner had he spoken than Shang Yu shook his head in disbelief. A sentinel's mindscape was far too vast and complex, and reaching its deepest part was no easy feat. Even a bonded guide usually needed tools or intimate contact to entrance the sentinel and make him drop his guard, then slip in while the chance lasted. Shang Yu murmured:
"No... impossible. In such a short time..."
"You guessed right. She went straight into the deepest part of my mindscape." Ers lowered his head and gently nuzzled the guide in his arms, his manner extraordinarily intimate.
Oh, this love was like a home invasion.
A thoroughly soothed sentinel would develop extremely strong feelings for the guide, feelings that could even turn into infatuation in a short time. No wonder his reaction was so intense... Shang Yu's teeth itched with envy, but at the same time, he had gained a vague idea of the terrifying strength of this guide who had appeared out of nowhere. "Then doesn't that mean her level is..."
Knock, knock, knock. Someone rapped on the door. "Reporting, Captain, Captain Shang, the squad has assembled."
"Move out." Ers withdrew his gaze, his voice icy. Shang Yu also fell silent at the right moment. They could test the guide's level once they returned to the Federation.
The forest along the Empire's border was vast, filled not only with stretches of towering ancient trees, slippery marshes, and thorny brambles, but also with numerous uncleared polluted entities lurking within. Such complicated terrain made the search extremely difficult for the Empire's knights, but retreating through it was no easy task for the Federation's soldiers either.
Ers held Yuqing steadily in his arms. Though they were moving at a fairly quick pace and the occasional polluted entity attacked them, the guide in his arms was never jostled.
Not long after they left, scouts dressed in the white-and-gold uniforms of the Empire's royal knights appeared before the hidden safe house.
"Consul, there's a lingering scent. They must have left only recently. If we pursue them now, we might catch them!" The tall, muscular sentinel smelled Ers's lingering scent as soon as he opened the door.
"Daniel, don't you think everything has gone too smoothly? That cunning black wolf might have some dirty trick waiting for us." Before the consul could speak, the baby-faced young man beside him spoke up.
"Will, you're too cautious. Wasn't Ers already on the verge of a mental collapse? And then he was struck by the consul's mental power. He might be half-dead by now." Daniel thought Will was making a fuss over nothing.
"Have you forgotten there's a treacherous fox on their team?" Will crouched down and rummaged idly through the discarded medical supplies in the corner. It seemed they really had left in a hurry, without even having time to cover their pheromones. Will sniffed the air around him. Tsk, tsk, what a nauseating sentinel scent...
No. Will seemed to detect a faint hint of... jasmine, beneath the scent of rum?
"Wait, something's wrong..."
Realizing something was amiss, Will released his Spirit Entity—a giant bloodhound.
The tawny bloodhound began carefully sniffing its way around the room. Sure enough, at the innermost part of the secret room, it barked twice and lay down to signal an alert.
"Lord Carlos, there aren't just sentinel pheromones here. There's also... a guide's scent." Will's eyes darkened slightly. A bloodhound's sense of smell was among the finest of all canine spirit forms. Had anyone else conducted the search here today, they might have missed the barely detectable guide scent. "I can guarantee this isn't synthetic guide scent."
A sinister laugh came from behind him. His handsome face, pale from blood loss, looked especially sinister in the dim forest:
"Will, so you're saying a... precious guide appeared in a place as dangerous as the border?"
"Not only that, I'm afraid... the guide belongs to our Empire."
Guides were far too rare and precious; there was no way anyone would bring one along on such a dangerous, secret mission. Besides, the forest was Imperial territory, and there was an Imperial city five kilometers away. So it was highly likely that a guide from the city had wandered off to play and gotten lost here, only to encounter the Federation's sentinels and be forcibly taken away.
"What? Our guide... damn it, what useless sentinel couldn't even protect his own guide?!" Daniel clenched his fist and slammed it into the birch tree beside him. The trunk, as thick as the mouth of a bowl, shook, and several fresh wood chips fell amid a shower of dead leaves. He was already half a head taller than most people, with shoulders and a back as broad as a moving fortress. Now veins bulged on his muscular arms, making him look fearsome.
Before he had finished speaking, the outline of a brown bear emerged faintly from the shadows at Daniel's feet. Its enormous claws gouged deep scratches in the layer of rotting leaves, and its hot, rank breath was almost tangible. Daniel's Spirit Entity had clearly been inflamed by its master's anger as well, its scarlet beast eyes fixed on the northwest.
The others looked no better. Whether in the Empire, the Federation, or any other organization or small nation, every awakened guide had a personal sentinel guard unit to ensure their safety.
These days, guides being stolen was nothing unusual, but losing one in the forest... that really was unheard of.
"After them." Carlos's voice was like a dagger tempered in ice. No wonder they had broken from their usual behavior and stopped engaging them; they had stolen their guide. He licked the blood from the corner of his lips:
"Bring our guide back. As for the useless fools who failed to protect the guide, once we return to the city, drag them out one by one, break their limbs, and throw them to the polluted entities."
"Yes!" Canine Spirit Entities followed the scent ahead of the main force, while avian Spirit Entities circled overhead, checking for danger. The soldiers conducting the search advanced very quickly. This was Imperial territory, after all, and the Federation was at a disadvantage.
"Lord Carlos, your pollution level is too high. Please leave this to us and return to the tower as soon as possible to find a guide to purify you." As Carlos's adjutant, Daniel knew his physical condition all too well.
Before the Federation's surprise attack, the pollution level in Carlos's Spiritual Sea had already reached the dangerous threshold of 85%. He had since severely wounded Ers, and his current condition was unlikely to be good. One moment of carelessness could send him into a level-eight or even level-nine berserk state.
"Ordinary guides are no use to me. I'll be fine for the time being. Don't worry."
The tangled mental threads in Carlos's mind and his lightless mindscape were indeed no small torment, but he had long since grown used to them. Guides capable of purifying an SSS-rank sentinel could be counted on one hand, and the precious guides had never been very patient. With his pollution so close to the threshold, he doubted any guide would be willing to put themselves through that ordeal.