Just as they got past the statue, the guide suddenly swung his arm at Asher, a sword appearing out of nowhere in it.
'For the One, die!'
The guide had a ferocious look on his face as he struck out with the weapon in his hand.
However, Asher seemed to have expected that as he dodged just as the guide made his move. At the same time, he also widened the gap between them.
The guide was stunned that Asher had dodged his attack, but he still moved for a follow-up attack. It was at that moment that Asher made his move.
Bang.
The guide abruptly came to a halt as he grabbed his head.
"Ah!"
An immense pain akin to getting his brain hit by a moving truck assaulted his senses as even his vision blurred for a second. This was undoubtedly Asher's work.
In terms of mana cultivation, Asher was not the guide's match, but when it came to psychic abilities, the reverse was the case. Not even Luther knew how strong Asher's psychic abilities much less the guide. All they knew was that Asher was capable of creating a psychic net for scouting the area. The guide was only a second-stage Guardian mage whereas Asher's psychic strength was close to that of a third-stage Guardian mage. It was like enduring a blow from someone of that calibre and the guide was unable to do so with ease.
Even though he seemed to now have the upper hand, Asher didn't stay behind to finish the job. He was still a Human stage mage, so facing someone of the second Guardian stage was still suicidal.
"Get back here!" The guide roared right after the pain subsided.
Just when he was about to attack again, he felt a presence behind him. The stone guardian had already recovered and had set its sight on him.
"Shit."
The guide cursed as he sent a spell right at the stone guardian, but it was easily blocked with just an arm.
The only reason the guardian was delayed earlier was because of Asher and the guide's joint attacks, but in truth, it was mainly due to Asher's precise strikes that targeted the critical spots on the stone statue. Without Asher's psychic ability to guide his attacks, the guide's spells were pretty much useless against the statue. When facing a human third-stage Guardian mage, this normally won't be so, but the stone guardian was a statue made from some mysterious rock. This mysterious rock had a high resistance to spells and although this feature was nerfed by some mysterious force, it was still effective.
"Enjoy yourself."
Asher's voice could be heard as he dashed towards the door on the other side.
The guide couldn't follow suit as every action of his attracted the stone guardian, and it easily overtook him to block his path forward.
"Damn it. Why are you only going after me?" The guide cursed at the guardian.
Nonetheless, the inanimate existence paid no attention to his words and sent a punch at him.
. . .
After getting right through the door, Asher closed it and was prepared to run away when the door suddenly disappeared.
"What is this place?"
Seeing doors disappearing out of the open was nothing new to him, but it made Asher begin to question whether this underground cavern was similar to one of those inheritance sites in his past life.
'At least the entrance is gone. He shouldn't be able to catch up to me, especially since he still has to deal with that guardian.'
Asher sat down and decided to recuperate before going forward. While doing so, he also replayed the past incident that had just occurred.
Truthfully, Asher never expected the guide to attack him. Although he took measures against such, he never expected it to happen.
'Elijah wouldn't dare to go so far as to try and kill me, and if he doesn't wish for such to happen, Randel wouldn't dare. But if the explosion were related to Randel, it would make more sense as to why the guide tried to kill me. Since I didn't die there, the guide would want to do better work. But that would mean that Randel was acting on his own. Nonetheless, how sure are they that they could prevent my father from finding out about it if they're really the cause of the explosion?' Asher mused.
'There are three possibilities right now. The first is that the explosion is related to Randel, and he wants me dead. Since I didn't die back then, the guide, who's obviously a close compatriot of Randel, would have wanted to finish the job well. However, my departure from the mansion was known by very few people. Only uncle Fang, Luther, Aaron, Raven and Isabella knew about it. Even when I left, I did so stealthily and had Raven pretend to be me until I got to Vermont mine. It's impossible for Randel to have known about my arrival beforehand or even make such preparations in just a day[1]. Plus, I doubt he has the guts.' Asher speculated.
While he wasn't a professional at physiognomy, Asher was quite good at reading characters. Fifty years was enough for one to learn a lot, much less six million years. From his experience with the elder, Randel didn't come off as one to take unnecessary actions or make hurried decisions even if it profits him. It was this cautious personality of his that had made it difficult for Asher to find any incriminating evidence to evict him out of the mine. Without enough preparation time, Randel wouldn't dare to assassinate Asher lest Darius finds a clue that points back to him. If that were to happen, even if he was a yellow-robed elder, Randel would still end up six feet underground.
Hence, the first possibility of the explosion being associated with Randel was cancelled out, as well as the idea that the guide was operating under Randel's instructions.
'This brings me to the second and third possibilities.' Asher closed his eyes and focused on his thoughts.
'The second would be that the guide made this decision of his own free will in an attempt to please Randel. The opportunity was present, and the success rate seemed high for him. There was even an alibi of sorts to cover him up. Luther and Aaron had both seen him leave beforehand and Asher's death could be pinned on the explosion that caused the tunnel's collapse. But this is possibility was similarly unlikely. Randel wouldn't bring an average individual by his side. He would require a loyal and intelligent person to aid him. Considering Randel's covert actions, he would put loyalty above all else; someone who followed his words to the letter. Someone like that wouldn't go against his wishes, and currently, his wish was for nothing to happen to Asher in this underground mine. If the guide was truly such a loyal follower, he wouldn't dare to kill off Asher even if there was a high chance that no evidence could be found.'
'The third option…' Asher sighed.
'The guide is a spy.'