The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 152: Uninvited Guests

Chapter 152: Uninvited Guests

The ground shook. Did people in the Arena notice that? And if they did, did they realize it was coming from the OUTSIDE, or did they simply assume it was from all the intense fights?

Lane didn’t know. He wasn’t there. He was still in the hallways when all the hell broke loose.

In the end, he didn’t manage to reach Damien in time.

He was still running through the hallways...

And then, there was a deafening boom.

Somewhere further ahead, followed by rumbling, as if the wall was hit with a wrecking ball. So loud that Lane’s ears started ringing painfully.

And they didn’t get even a moment of rest, because another boom followed.

And another one...

And then, a crash from the inside of the Arena, as something broke through the glass ceiling.

Those were Mana-reinforced walls. And Mana-reinforced glass. And yet, they were broken through like it was nothing.

Well, they were designed to stop the monsters up to A-rank, because only those were brought to the dungeon for the summit. The developers didn’t take into account the dungeons’ native S-rank monsters, which now decided to join the party, uninvited.

A few seconds later, people started flooding the hallways, pushing and elbowing others out of the way as they rushed through their nearest exits, escaping through whatever it was that broke through the ceiling.

As if outside the Arena was any safer...

Well, the tribunes were crowded, so it indeed would be better if they managed to get out of the building. It was hard to defend when squeezed by others from all sides, after all.

But now that they were all running out, it made it even more difficult, no, downright impossible, for Lane to get back inside and find Damien. Because Damien would definitely stay in the Arena, fighting monsters and helping people evacuate...

The only thing Lane could do right now was to jump up onto one of the ceiling beams, so that he wouldn’t be swept away by the crowd, as he listened in on what was going on around. Besides the gut-wrenching screams, crashes, crunches and clangs, there were also squawks and roars...

What were the monsters from this dungeon like again?

Ah, right. They were dinosaurs. Not like the dinosaurs that once walked the Earth, but resembling them quite a bit.

Except that they were stronger. And had Mana. And, obviously, Mana abilities.

But what sorts of abilities, Lane had no clue. He could only remember glancing over the photos and illustrations on the information boards on their way... Back then, however, he wanted to get to the Arena, so as not to miss the exhibition fights. ’There’s no time for it now,’ he thought. ’I will look at it later...’

He thought.

How could he have expected that instead of looking at the photos, he’d get to see the real deal, in the flesh, in action?

Not like that knowledge would be of much use to Lane. With just Xavier’s ability, he stood no chance against S-rank monsters... And he couldn’t use anything else, not in such a crowded place. Still, he was not the one to run from a fight, so he took out his daggers and the light armor he got from Damien - a good thing he always carried them around in his spatial bag! - and jumped from beam to beam, moving closer to the nearest exit, waiting for the moment the crowd underneath him would thin enough so that he could pass.

Luckily, it didn’t take long. After the first massive wave stumbled through, the space opened. There were people still passing through, fleeing the scene, but not in such a dense mass, so Lane was able to squeeze through without much difficulty.

And as expected, the scene that came into view was complete chaos.

The tribunes were drenched in blood, with body parts, with dismembered and... melted? bodies scattered here and there. The seats were all damaged, broken, scorched, melted, frozen, slashed, torn apart, by both the monsters and the Espers fighting them. The monsters flying around were pterodactyl lookalikes... Well, not exactly, but that was the first thing that came to Lane’s mind. They circled over the field, attacking the people who still hadn’t escaped, while spewing blood from their beaks...

Blood?

No, not blood. Just a stinky toxic, corrosive substance that resembled blood.

’Ah, so that’s why it’s so bloody everywhere!’ Lane came to a sudden realization.

It wasn’t really that the tribunes were covered with blood, but instead with blood AND the toxic substance, the latter in a much greater amount. Lane did find it a bit odd that they were so red considering the number of corpses - human and monster - didn’t quite add up.

That was not important at the moment though. He scanned the field, looking for Damien... But considering there was so much going on, Espers and monsters moving everywhere, it was hard to fish the man out in this mayhem...

What he did spot, however, was long blond hair, partially dyed red with blood, swirling in the air in a chaotic dance. And one of the pterodactyl monsters lunging after it with its sharp beak. The owner of the hair dodging desperately as she swung her heavy sword, with clear difficulty, as her right arm was injured. The monster chasing relentlessly, as if it couldn’t just be a good boy and find itself another target...

Before he realized what he was doing, Lane was already running down the stairs, jumping every few steps. No, was he even using the stairs, or rather charging forward with Sky Step? He didn’t know, nor did he care. He wasn’t thinking about anything, in fact, and it was just a blink before he was down, on the messed-up field, sliding in the red corrosive substance, that quickly started gnawing on the soles of his uniform boots. Paying it no mind, he rotated on the spot, sending a large wave of Toxic Ooze the monster’s way with a swing of his arm, and hitting it right in the eyes.

Just in time, because it was about to treat itself to Nyla’s left arm.