The Guide

Where is this place?

The Guide trudged through an endless sea of blood.

Every step stirred dark-red ripples across the blood plasma. The air reeked of iron and blood, so thick and viscous it seemed almost tangible. He looked down, but he couldn’t see his own feet—the sea of blood had swallowed everything, leaving behind only this boundless expanse of crimson.

His body felt unnaturally heavy, his limbs as though they had been filled with molten lead. He tried to raise an arm, but his joints emitted a grating, labored sound, as if this body had rusted for a thousand years. His memories were like parchment soaked in blood, the writing blurred and bleeding into indistinct smears, leaving behind only scattered fragments.

He was supposed to have accepted a mission—to Guide a gifted newcomer…

What was that child’s name again? Bing… Bingying. Yes, Bingying. She came from a small village on the northern frontier.

Although she had grown up in a remote village, it was said that she could control ice and snow on her own at a very young age. She was a rare prodigy with the potential to become an Ice Soul mage.

The village elders said she was “the reincarnation of the Ice Saintess,” a once-in-a-century talent. When the news reached Frost City, even the high priest of the temple was moved.

That was right. He was supposed to Guide a little girl named Bingying. It was his duty.

…

Where is this place?

He looked around. There was only blood, only red, only an endless, viscous silence. Even the sky was a dark crimson, shrouded beneath a layer of blood-colored mist that would never disperse.

Who was he?

He had forgotten his name. He only remembered his identity: he was a Guide.

Fragments of memory began to surface, like fish swimming beneath the ice.

He had been born into a poor family. Because he ate so much that his family could no longer afford to feed him, his parents had sold him to a noble, and he had become the noble’s servant.

He was exceptionally strong and had been made a gladiator, fighting all kinds of powerful beasts in the arena.

Something else seemed to come back to him: the deafening roar of the spectators, the laughing faces of the nobles beyond the iron bars.

When a beast’s fangs were only an inch from his throat, something inside his body had cracked with a sharp snap—or rather, awakened. Frigid air had erupted from his palms, freezing the charging saber-toothed ice tiger into a statue. The entire arena had fallen silent, only to erupt into even more frenzied cheers.

During a life-or-death battle, he had broken through at the last moment, awakening the ability to control ice and snow before the eyes of everyone present.

As soon as the news spread, people from the Ice and Snow Throne had sought him out and invited him to become a Guide.

And he, who had spent so long drifting through life in a daze, had finally found a reason to keep living.

A Guide. The title had made him straighten his back.

His duty was to Guide newcomers and become their guardian, protecting them from harm until their wings had grown strong enough to bear them.

Yes, he still had something to do. He still had to protect that child named Bingying.

He hadn’t seen a child with such incredible talent in a long time. Her affinity with ice and snow was astonishingly strong. She truly was an unexpected delight.

Afterward, he would escort her to Frost City. With her talent, she might even have a chance to meet the Queen.

Once she grew up, she should become an extremely powerful Ice Soul mage… He only hoped that, by then, she would still remember him.

He didn’t expect anything in return. If they happened to meet in the Temple of Ice and Snow and exchange a greeting, that alone would make him happy. It would feel as though everything he had done had been repaid.

…

The sea of blood seemed to have no end. Time had lost all meaning here. Perhaps several hours had passed, or several days—or even several years. His thoughts began to grow sluggish, and his memories became a jumbled puzzle.

But the Guide continued to struggle forward through the sea of blood.

Where was he going again?

He couldn’t quite remember, but he knew he had to keep moving.

…

At last, he encountered that monster again.

The Guide froze in place. Then his memories came rushing back like a tidal wave.

“It’s you…” he rasped, his voice dry and harsh as sandpaper scraping against stone.

He remembered everything now. His face twisted into a savage, distorted expression.

This was the monster that had attacked the villagers… He had to protect those innocent villagers. He had to protect the little girl named Bingying.

Chill erupted from the Guide’s body, instantly freezing a thin layer of ice across the surface of the blood sea. He spread his hands, and more than a hundred ice arrows condensed in the air. Each one was honed to a needle-sharp point, with delicate frost flowers spiraling at its tail.

The next moment, countless ice arrows shot toward the monster.

Yet the creature simply stood there, not even bothering to dodge.

Clink, clink, clink—the sound was like rain striking sheet metal. The ice crystals shattered into dust, failing to leave even a scratch.

Those ice arrows couldn’t even pierce its hide.

The Guide thought he saw mockery on the monster’s face.

“Guide, save me!”

“I don’t want to die!”

At some point, the villagers had also emerged from the sea of blood, only to be mercilessly slaughtered by the monster.

“Damn it!”

The Guide’s eyes bulged with fury. Ice and snow condensed into a sword in his hands, and he charged toward the monster.

As an Ice Soul mage, his swordsmanship was nothing exceptional, but his fundamentals were solid—the result of the training he had received in the arena.

Since ordinary ice spells couldn’t harm the creature, he had no choice but to take up his sword and fight it himself. Among his fellow Guides, he was something of an oddity.

But the monster before him seemed to see through every one of his moves with ease, dodging them effortlessly.

How was that possible? How could a monster like this possess such intelligence?

The Guide’s breathing grew ragged, but he couldn’t retreat now. He had to protect the Queen’s people…

…

Who was he? Was he a soul trapped here?

Xia Lun could sense that the figure before him was different from the Chaos Demon Gods, so he hadn’t immediately struck him down.

A volley of ice arrows shot toward Xia Lun. He didn’t bother to dodge. The arrows couldn’t even pierce his skin.

“Roar—”

The other man let out a furious roar. More frigid air gathered in his hands, forming another ice sword, and he charged at Xia Lun.

Naturally, this posed no threat to Xia Lun. His steps flowed like those of a wandering dragon, and he easily avoided each of the opponent’s rather clumsy slashes.

Xia Lun studied the figure before him. His body was crystalline, and through his transparent chest, one could even see the white heart within.

The other man didn’t look like a monster. Was he an intelligent species from another world?

Xia Lun suddenly remembered the white planet he and Aina had visited before. It had been covered in extreme cold and snow, and ordinary humans would have found it difficult to survive there… But the Chaos Demon Gods had invaded that place, which meant that a civilization must have existed there as well.

Perhaps the figure before him had been one of the inhabitants who died during the invasion.

They had even taken the souls of these people and used them as they pleased?

A trace of anger rose in Xia Lun’s heart.

“Wake up! I’m not your enemy.” Xia Lun tried to rouse the ice-and-snow creature before him.

But the other man’s eyes were veiled in red. He seemed to have become a beast controlled by the urge to kill, attacking Xia Lun recklessly and without fear of death.