The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Behind the Glass Tanks (1)

"Swallow."

The voice reached her before her senses fully returned. Something cool touched her lips. Aisha frowned and tried to turn her head away, but a hand curled beneath her jaw, holding her still.

"Open your mouth."

Her brows twitched. The voice was familiar. She just couldn’t remember who it belonged to, with the ringing in her ears still bothering her.

A bitter liquid touched her lips. Aisha’s expression darkened. Even half-conscious, she wasn’t particularly fond of swallowing something given to her by an unidentified person. She tried to pull away again, but the hold beneath her jaw remained firm.

When the cold, wet substance touched her lips, Aisha instinctively tried to spit it out.

"Don’t." Her jaw was held firmly, and there was enough force behind the grip for her to understand that struggling would be pointless. "Swallow it."

Aisha’s lips parted slightly, and the bitter liquid slipped into her mouth. Her first thought was that it tasted terrible. Then she swallowed.

The liquid slid down her throat, leaving behind a faint cooling sensation. It didn’t remove the exhaustion weighing down her body, but the burning pain in her throat gradually eased. The pounding in her head had also vanished, no longer feeling as though her skull was being slammed against a wall.

"Again," the voice said.

Aisha frowned.

"No." Her voice came out hoarse and weak.

The person beside her fell silent, and for some reason, she could almost picture whoever it was staring at her. Then a low chuckle reached her ears.

Aisha took a slow breath. Her eyelids fluttered, and the darkness before her eyes began to recede. At first, everything remained blurred—the ceiling, the walls, the faint shapes of people lying across the floor, and the remnants of what her battle had left behind.

Her memories returned gradually.

She remembered entering the contaminated zone, coming across the room with the woman in it, the Sentinel, and the man with the strange corrupted hand. Then she was—

Aisha’s fingers twitched. Her eyes snapped fully open. Pain immediately pulsed through her head. She frowned and slowly pushed herself upright.

Something moved beside her.

Aisha turned. Darkness had gathered along the floor. It stretched upward, shifting and twisting until a vaguely human shape stood beside her. The edges of its body remained unstable, occasionally dissolving into thin streams of shadow before gathering again.

Aisha stared at it for several seconds. Her eyes slowly narrowed.

"Nykos?"

The only person she knew who could control the shadows was him.

A quiet sound came from the shadow. "Awake now?"

Aisha glanced around the room. The man who had attacked her before she lost consciousness was nowhere to be seen. Did he escape?

Her gaze returned to Nykos. "What happened?"

"I’m not fully sure what happened either. But I can tell you I already killed the man who was in this room with you," Nykos explained. Then he proceeded to add, "When I arrived, I saw him standing over you with a knife in his hand. So, I killed him. You won’t hold a grudge against me because of that, right?"

Aisha looked at him. Nykos’ form didn’t completely capture the beauty and charm he always exuded, but nonetheless, it didn’t reduce the majesty he held despite the intangible form he had taken. And there was no need to hold a grudge over him killing someone she would have killed herself. She only felt it was a shame she didn’t get any information from that man.

But if Nykos hadn’t arrived and killed him, she would have died. So, in the end, the information he held no longer mattered. Aisha could search for them when she wanted to, since she already had the name of who they were... The Order. Such a grand name for an organization that did unlawful and evil things. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Aisha lowered her eyes to the bodies of the guards scattered throughout the room. None of them were moving. They had already been dealt with before she lost consciousness.

She raised her hand and turned it a few times. Her body felt heavy, but she could still move. That was good news.

Feeling slightly better now, Aisha placed one hand against the floor and stood. The moment she shifted her weight forward, her knees softened. The shadows curled around her waist and chest before she could fall.

Aisha stopped and looked down at the shadow-shaped hand that had landed on her breast before turning toward Nykos.

"Let go."

"When you’re standing properly."

"I am."

A brief silence followed.

Then Nykos’s voice came from beside her.

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