From Dying in the Apocalypse to Being Chased by My S-Class Ex-Fiancé!

"You’ve been guided already? As in, you already luckily found a potion and took it earlier?" Ryder asked, his expression still filled with disbelief.

Xavier didn’t even get the chance to answer.

Ryker suddenly let out a huge sigh of relief, his tense shoulders finally relaxing.

"Ah, thankfully! I knew you still being alive couldn’t merely be a miracle." He rubbed a hand over his chest as though he had only just realized how worried he had been. "We encountered a high-tier monster during the chase. I fought desperately to kill it, but I instantly went into a berserk state during the fight after that stupid monster hit me with its miasma. Thankfully, Ryder was next to me and guided me the next second. If he hadn’t been there, with the high concentration of miasma, I wouldn’t have made it."

He paused briefly before continuing, his expression becoming more serious.

"We started looking for you the next second because we were worried you might have encountered the monster too. Knowing you, we were sure you would have killed it if you ran into it, but that also meant we were scared you would go berserk just like I did. So we hurried over with the potion. Thankfully, you already managed to get one beforehand!"

Xavier, however, only looked at him with an amused smile. "When did I ever say I used the potion?"

Ryker froze.

Ryder froze too.

Xavier calmly continued, seemingly enjoying their confusion. "I was guided. Real guiding. By a Guide."

The twins’ mouths instantly fell open.

For several seconds, neither of them seemed capable of processing what they had just heard.

Then Ryker finally managed to speak. "Did I just hear you say you were guided?"

"You heard right."

"How is that possible?"

Xavier’s expression became slightly thoughtful. "Even I don’t know."

He glanced down at his hand for a moment, as though still trying to comprehend the reality of what had happened to him. "Nonetheless, at least I’m not entirely a useless, unguidable Sentinel any longer." His voice remained surprisingly calm despite the significance of his words. "Today proved it."

If anything, the twins seemed even more excited than Xavier himself.

Their boss had finally been guided.

After all these years, it had actually happened.

Not only was this incredible news for them personally, but it was also incredibly important for their entire organization.

If their leader could finally be guided, then everything could change.

They could finally become legal instead of remaining an illegal organization constantly being chased by the Association.

Their boss no longer being an unguidable Sentinel meant they could finally operate without having to constantly worry about hiding from the Association or relying on the Association’s resources and potions to keep him stable.

Ryker was the first to lose control of his excitement. He immediately rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Xavier in a tight hug.

"Bro!!! This is such big, good news!" he exclaimed, practically squeezing the life out of his boss. "You won’t have to rely on the Association’s potions anymore, and we can finally operate with whatever operation we want!"

Xavier’s expression remained remarkably calm despite the sudden hug.

Ryder, on the other hand, wasn’t paying much attention to his brother’s celebration. He seemed far more intrested in something else as his gaze hesitantly around the warehouse, clearly expecting to see the legendary person who had somehow managed to accomplish what no Guide before him had ever been able to do.

He looked toward the floor, then toward the surrounding ruins, scanning every possible corner as though expecting someone to suddenly appear.

There was supposed to be someone else here.

Yet after carefully scanning the area, Ryder found absolutely no one.

His brows slowly drew together.

"..."

He turned back toward Xavier.

"Sorry to interrupt the fun, but we’d love to see the legendary person who guided you."

Xavier finally pulled himself free from Ryker’s hug before casually shrugging.

"He left."

Both Ryder and Ryker paused at exactly the same time.

They exchanged a look, then slowly turned back toward Xavier, as though trying to determine whether their boss was simply messing with them.

Perhaps this was some strange joke.

Perhaps Xavier was deliberately messing with them.

But judging from his completely calm expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. Xavier didn’t look like he was joking at all!

Which meant.....

Their boss had actually allowed a treasure like that to leave!!!

"He left?" Ryder repeated incredulously.

"How?" Ryker’s excitement immediately turned into urgency. "Should we start searching for him? We need to find him and bring him to our section with us!"

"Yeah," Ryder immediately agreed. "Someone who can guide you is too important to just let disappear!"

Xavier listened to them for a moment before his lips curved into a faint confident smirk as his gaze shifted briefly toward the empty spot where Ethan had disappeared.

Then, with the same calm confidence he seemed to possess about everything, he said, "Never mind. What’s mine will naturally come to me."

His crimson eyes narrowed faintly.

"And if he doesn’t, I’ll find him and bring him with me."

***

Meanwhile, Ethan had remained hiding inside his dungeon all this while.

He had deliberately waited, refusing to take the risk of coming back out while Xavier and the twins were still around. He had no idea whether they had left yet, and Ethan wasn’t willing to gamble with his life just because he was impatient.

Eventually, however, he decided to trust his gut.

The coast should be clear by now.

Hopefully, those terrifying people were gone. And hopefully, he wouldn’t step out only to find himself staring directly into those terrifying crimson eyes again.

With one final mental sigh, Ethan left his dungeon.

He glanced around immediately.

Nothing.

No Xavier.

No twins.

No suspicious figures waiting to grab him.

Ethan’s shoulders instantly relaxed.

Phew.

Luckily for him, they had already gone.

He was just about to move when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching again.

Ethan immediately tensed.

His heart skipped a beat as he instinctively prepared to disappear back into his dungeon.

But then familiar voices reached his ears.

"Ethan!"

"Ethan, where are you?!"

He blinked.

Those voices...

Jake and Lara.

Ethan immediately relaxed again and called out to them.

"I’m here!"

A few moments later, Jake and Lara appeared, and the moment they spotted Ethan, they hurried toward him.

"What happened to you?" Lara asked. "Why did you suddenly run off in that direction?"

Ethan scratched the back of his head, and could only stare at the two of them awkwardly.

"I honestly don’t even know when I lost my way from you guys."

Jake stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Lara soon joined him, and before long, the three of them were laughing over the entire ridiculous situation.

The entire situation was almost too ridiculous to believe. They had broken into the Empire Research Facility, nearly gotten themselves killed by a group of thieves, been tied up, nearly executed, encountered a terrifying organization they knew absolutely nothing about, run for their lives, gotten separated, and somehow survived the entire disaster.

And after all of that?

They hadn’t even gotten what they originally came for.

"This has to be the stupidest decision we’ve ever made," Jake complained between laughs.

"I know!" Lara agreed. "After all that, we didn’t even get what we came here for!"

Ethan could only laugh awkwardly along with them.

Eventually, the three of them made their way back to the academy.

By the time they returned, Ethan was more than ready to finally get some rest.

After bidding Jake and Lara farewell, he headed straight back toward his room. The moment he was alone, Ethan finally allowed himself to relax.

He was exhausted.

Not the normal kind of exhausted either.

His body felt heavy, his mind felt even heavier, and somehow, even his spirit seemed completely drained.

Mentally, physically, and spiritually...

If being exhausted spiritually was even possible, then Ethan was experiencing all three at once.

All he wanted was to sleep.

So he tried.

He really, really tried.

But no matter how he shifted around or closed his eyes, rest refused to come.

His mind felt strangely heavy, as though someone had poured an entire ocean of exhaustion directly into his head. A wave of heaviness washed over him again, making his eyelids feel unbearably heavy while his thoughts remained restless and tangled.

And then Ethan suddenly realized what it was.

The guiding.

Of course.

This had to be the aftereffect of the guiding he had performed earlier. The thought alone made him inwardly sigh.

It was already a miracle that he hadn’t become unconscious from it.

Guiding Xavier had consumed far more of his spiritual energy than he had ever used, and now that everything was finally over, the exhaustion was catching up with him all at once.

Ethan shifted restlessly on the bed, trying to settle down.

Then, suddenly, a certain small spiritual companion flashed through his mind.

Lumi...

His eyes widened slightly.

If he was feeling this terrible after the guiding...

Then what state was his baby girl in right now?