The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 153: Like Twin... Like Twin?

Chapter 153: Like Twin... Like Twin?

"Squaaawrgh!"

The pterodactyl monster let out an ear-piercing squawk-like roar, as it shook its head violently, trying to get Lane’s Toxic Ooze out of its eyes. Since it was distracted, Lane used that opportunity to launch and attack, slashing its side with his daggers...

He didn’t slash too deep. In fact, he barely left two scratches on its thick, scaly skin.

"You are..." Nyla looked at him with surprise, a flash of recognition passing through her eyes. Although Lane was still wearing a face mask and a jacket over his uniform - he completely forgot to take them off after he left the room with the glowing orbs, his thoughts preoccupied with other things - seeing him up close, she could tell that Lane was ’Xavier’, Damien Lennox’s boyfriend.

"Don’t talk!" Lane clicked his tongue, jumping back. "Just fight!"

The monster had managed to get most of the sludge out of its eyes, and while they were reddened, and the monster was blinking uncontrollably, clearly in pain, it could see once again. The fucker had a high tolerance to various kinds of toxic, corrosive substances, since its ability was very similar.

Now that it was injured, it was in an even more offensive mood, charging at... Nyla.

Yeah, still at Nyla. Even though Lane was the one who threw Toxic Ooze into its eyes, it was bent on turning the woman into a snack.

"Damn that! Stupid! Thing!" Lane lounged forward, jumping onto the pterodactyl’s back, and stabbed at its neck with one of his daggers.

Of course, it just bounced back with a loud clang.

He didn’t give up though, stabbing again and again at the same spot, until finally, he was able to draw some blood. He wanted to continue, until he reached the monster’s spinal cord, but the pterodactyl, annoyed by the pest on its back, started flying up, so Lane had no choice but to jump off. Xavier wasn’t supposed to have any aerial abilities, after all.

He landed on the ground, splashing the red sludge around, and ducked behind one of the obstacles, joining Nyla.

"Ditch that sword," he said, side-eying the heavy weapon in her hand. "You can’t handle it now."

"But... I don’t have anywhere to put it... Or another weapon to use..."

The tournament participants were only allowed to bring one weapon and light armor to the preliminaries, and no spatial bag. Those were the rules, so it wasn’t Nyla’s fault for being unprepared.

But Lane still clicked his tongue with annoyance. Whether it was at Nyla, the organizers, or their situation, no one knew, not even Lane.

It wasn’t the time to think about it though, because their ’friend’ was back, squawking as it slammed its beak into various obstacles. It seemed its vision was damaged from Lane’s earlier attack, and it couldn’t tell clearly where they went...

Still, this situation wouldn’t last long, because even if their ’friend’ didn’t find them, another of the pterodactyls would undoubtedly take interest in Nyla and Lane.

"Give it to me, I have a spatial bag," Lane muttered through clenched jaws, lowering his voice. "I can let you borrow my spare daggers instead... Do you know how to double-wield?"

"Yes."

"...You do?" Lane blinked, taken aback. Yes, he asked, just in case, but...

Nyla was always using heavy longswords. Just like Miles. She was Miss Heiress, after all. And there was never any mention, in any of the intel Lane gathered about the Allen Guild, about Nyla ever using any other weapon, let alone twin daggers.

"Squaarrwgh!"

The monster’s roar snapped Lane out of his thoughts. He quickly grabbed Nyla’s sword, and swapped it for a pair of daggers.

"Oh, right. Do those monsters have any secondary abi-"

Lane didn’t even get to finish his question, and he already received an answer. Not from Nyla, to whom it was originally directed, but instead from the very object of interest itself, as the pterodactyl opened its beak again, letting out yet another roar...

No. Not roar, but a sound wave. At a frequency humans couldn’t hear, not even the Awakened. But one that could disturb the matter on its way, causing some of the weaker materials to disintegrate.

Such as the obstacle Lane and Nyla were hiding behind, for example.

The earthen wall crumbled, tiny pieces falling all over, splashing the red slosh as they hit the ground, and revealing the twins to the monsters. But even though they knew they were visible, they couldn’t move, not immediately...

Because their bodies were also made out of physical matter. And, as a result of the sound wave attack, all of their insides stirred.

Nyla, with her A-ranker’s body, was the first to recover. She grabbed Lane by the arm, and dodged to the side with the help of her telekinesis, barely avoiding the monster’s beak. She continued to dodge, jumping between one obstacle to the other, until she felt the man in her grasp move.

"Are you alright?" she asked, putting Lane down behind one of the larger walls - a metal one this time, so that it wouldn’t fall so fast.

Lane couldn’t answer her though. He was holding his hand over his mouth, fighting the urge to throw up. That sound wave... It was one of the most disgusting feelings he ever experienced! And he had gone through a lot, being active in the field for so many years!

Once he finally managed to suppress the urge, he lifted his head, stealing a glance at Nyla. She was also deathly pale, her skin glistening with sweat, but she was holding on. Well, she was supposed to be close to advancing to an S-rank, so it was expected she should be able to endure this much...

Tsk.

Lane involuntarily pouted his lips, averting his gaze.

If he was in his real body, then something like that sound wave wouldn’t faze him at all! He wouldn’t end up looking so uncool then...

The pterodactyl continued to rummage through the field, getting closer and closer. It was almost at their hiding spot again...

Nyla closed her eyes, pressing the daggers against her chest as she took a deep breath. "Stay here for now, I’ll try to deal with it," she said, and jumped from behind the wall, charging at the monster.

There was no way she would be able to win against it though, not on her own, not in her current state. So, Lane shook his head, popped a Recovery Pill in his mouth to deal with the dizziness, and followed after her...

Only to stop in his steps as he saw her fighting, slashing at the monster with her - that is, borrowed from Lane - daggers.

This style...

It was awfully similar to how Lane used to fight, back in his early days, when he was an (unofficial) member of the Allen Guild! When their parents tossed him, barely a fifteen-year-old F-ranker, in dungeons far above what he could handle with no abilities... More polished, yes, and faster and stronger than how he was back then, but the general technique Nyla used was almost an exact copy!

Just what the hell was-

BOOOM!

A massive boom sounded out, not far away behind them. Lane glanced back...

Only to see massive pieces of rubble flying over, one directly at Nyla and their pesky ’friend’.

"Watch out!" he yelled, jumping forward to push the woman out of the way, the shadow of the chuck of reinforced wall already looming over them...