There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 256 - 249. The Dim Corner of The Light

Chapter 256: Chapter 249. The Dim Corner of The Light

Bassena Vaski’s outrageously large mana core was already common knowledge ever since his first trial’s clear, and only became more cemented with his rapid tower climbing.

For espers, mana was like a battery. The bigger their mana core, the more mana they had, the longer they could fight. It translated to power, and then...misery.

Proportionate to their prowess was the disadvantage. The larger their mana core, the longer it took to clean the corrosion inside. And with Bassena, there was an added bonus.

His darkness.

The power bestowed upon him by the Snake Bearer, the power that brought him to the highest height, to become the youngest Saint-class. That power, which kept so many people safe, had kept many guides in nightmares.

Before, when he was still in the Golden Viper, this fact hadn’t been revealed. After all, the guild and the family never let their internal affair come to public. But once Bassena was active as a solo esper, and then later as Trinity, he had to start using regular guides. Guides with the freedom to talk.

And they talked. Whispers among guides who had experienced guiding Bassena. It was scary, it was exhausting, it was dreadful. Sure, the esper paid them higher than the usual rate, sometimes even double--but it came with nightmares, with them dreaming about drowning in vast darkness.

It was a natural side effect. When the esper’s soul was too strong, it would affect the guide, since their soul were practically connected during the guiding. The perpetual darkness inside Bassena’s mana core was bleeding into this guide’s soul, and it manifested through their dream.

They saw what Bassena dreamt about every night.

Soon, most regular guides were unable to keep up with the mental burden, and the rest were reluctant to experience it. The only person who could, unfortunately, was an unnamed guide he met in the middle of nowhere, who was so hard to find even while deploying the power and influence of the Mallarcs.

There was only one place left for him; the Temple.

What was special about the Temple was its state of safety. As the central beacon, the place boosted guiding effects, and kept mental burden to a minimum. There, the guiding could be done quicker than usual, and the fragment of Setnath would keep the guide from experiencing burnout.

Of course, the cost of using the Temple service was many times greater than the regular ones.

But Bassena wasn’t the kind of person to worry about cost. He was just tired of having guides trembling while cleansing him, looking at him as if he were a monster not unlike the beasts he had to slay in the dungeon. If a random guide in the middle of nowhere could cleanse him with no problem, the Temple should be able to, right?

Wrong.

Getting a service in the Temple wasn’t easy. They only guided for a limited number of esper per day, and the booking stretched for so long. The only reason Bassena could get immediate service was because of his Saint-class status. But even then, the guides still faced difficulty in front of the one favored by his patron deity. Not even the High Priest could fully cleanse him.

And so, he was assigned to the Saintess.

The guides chosen by the Temples’ patron Goddesses. Each Saint and Saintess was an individual who couldn’t just be ’booked’. People might request for services, but it was the Saint or Saintess who chose whom they might cleanse. So those who had the opportunity to receive these individuals’ guiding, treated the experience like a sacred event.

And it did feel sacred, for the guiding done by the Saint or Saintess would always be a wonderful experience. They were the chosen individuals, gifted with skills and beauty beyond compare. Most espers could only dream of being guided by the Saint and the Saintess, who almost never left their sanctuary.

And yet, Bassena felt underwhelmed. Not that it felt bad. Obviously, compared to other guides, the Saint and Saintess were superb.

But it didn’t feel better than the guiding he received inside that cave.

Granted, he was on the verge of eruption, and it was a sexual guiding. But the fact that he still remembered the sensation even while being dazed was a testament to the guide’s ability.

So, rather than acting like he wanted to worship the Saintess, he simply said thank you and got on his way after the guiding, paying the Temple an astronomical amount of money for the service. Well, at the very least, the Saintess didn’t go all trembling and scared in front of him, which was nice enough.

The Saintess, however, felt intrigued. Was her skill rusted? Was her guiding unsatisfactory? She thought Bassena Vaski, who had been troubled by the lack of guides able to guide him, would be elated by her performance.

Curious, the Saintess let Bassena receive her guiding regularly. And Bassena, with no other decent place, kept coming to the Temple.

Soon, it became apparent that the Saintess acted partial around the Serpent Lord. The curiosity turned into obsession. Why did this esper never seem to be satisfied by her guiding? How could it be, that there was an esper who didn’t look at her with reverence after receiving her guiding?

It hurt her pride, and turned into obsession; no matter what, she had to capture the esper’s heart. This obsession was so apparent that even the guides started gossiping about it. It got chalked up to a mere rumor, obviously, but those who got involved understood enough;

The Saintess desired the Serpent Lord.

Gradually, Bassena reduced his visit to the Temple. Obviously, he didn’t want to flame these rumors when his heart was already fixated on someone--even though he had yet to find that someone. The rumor stayed a rumor, and without further proof, it died down.

And finally--finally--he found his guide. His one and only guide. He stopped going to the Temple after getting back from the Deathzone, saying that he was afraid his mental condition would affect the Saintess.

His mental condition was at its peak; he had never been happier in his life.

And after that, he just stopped altogether, along with the other five-stars from Trinity. It was only later that the public and the Temple found out the cause; a new A-class guide who mysteriously came out of nowhere.

Luzein. An enigmatic guide that broke concepts left and right, even went so far as to go inside the dungeon. It was clear to the public that the blue-eyes guide held the Serpent Lord’s affection. Whispers could be heard in some corners;

The Saintess was being thrown away for this mysterious guide.

A silly conjecture, for the Saintess should not be involved romantically with anyone in the first place. Such was the bane of living as the Saint and Saintess. And so the whispers ended up just like that; a whisper. One guild retracting their service wouldn’t change anything.

Or would it?

Because now, that same guide even went as far as criticizing them--the Temple? Wouldn’t that mean he was criticizing the Saintess too?

And what--people actually accepting that critique as valid? Guides were changing their stance?

Shouldn’t the Temple do something about this?!

That, was the train of thought that Radia and Bassena predicted from the Temple and the guide movement.

At first, they didn’t think about the Temple. But the moment Bassena’s commlink system was being attacked, and someone was putting a tracer skill on him, they couldn’t help but get suspicious. Stalking him while targeting Zein?

It was almost like they were baiting Bassena to move.

Because, unlike other people, they knew the Saintess’s obsession with Bassena was real, and not just rumors. It was apparent from the last time Bassena was there during his ’journey’ after his mother’s death anniversary, that this infatuation only grew instead of waning. It was why Bassena had a hard time leaving the place, because she kept finding reasons to hold the esper there. And Bassena couldn’t just walk away without damaging his--and Trinity’s--relationship with the Temple.

Untamed as he was, Bassena couldn’t just go against the pillar of the Sentinel community without any justification.

And this time, he stepped back to the Temple to search for that justification.

--It would be better if you find nothing

Radia said that before he took the helicopter there. Honestly, Bassena felt the same. Because he was angry, and if the Saintess was truly behind this, he wasn’t sure he could hold his anger back. Should that happen...

They might lose everything.

Including the reclamation project.

But weighing between Zein and any other thing in this world? Bassena wouldn’t even hesitate about his answer.

"Do you find them?" he whispered into his shadow. It wriggled slightly as an answer, and Bassena nodded. "Good. Just stand by for now."

The shadow went still, and Bassena let out a long sigh, leaning back to the chair he’d been sitting on for the past few hours. He stood up and walked toward the window, staving away his boredom by staring at the lake visible from the room he was in.

It had been almost a day. The winter sun had started to sink into the horizon. The only reason Bassena still maintained his patience was the thought of his guide, the memory of Zein’s tired face during the call yesterday.

Ah...how he missed his guide. Even the lake down there didn’t look as pretty as Zein’s eyes.

Again, he let out a sigh, glancing at the closed door. This felt so childish, purposefully making him wait there, saying that the Saintess was busy tending to others. Bassena wanted to laugh--they should at least make a believable lie.

Others? What others? Bassena was alone in this room. And this was the room provided for the Saintess’s guest. The only room.

The last time, it was hard to leave. Now, it was hard to enter.

He wondered if this was some kind of petty revenge. Or was this an attempt to say that Bassena had no authority or influence here? Perhaps she wanted to make it seem like she didn’t care about Bassena at all.

Whatever it was, Bassena would endure it for his guide. To seek the truth and...

And then what?

Before he could decide on a plan, the door opened and this time, finally, it wasn’t the staff, but one of the priests--the title used to call the guides working in the Temple.

"Sir Vaski, if you would follow me," the priest said, bowing slightly.

Of course, he would.

"The Saintess just finished her appointment for the day, but she’s willing to spare her rest time just for you, Sir Vaski," the priest said, sounding almost like script reading.

"How generous of her," Bassena replied politely, holding back his laughter.

He was led to the garden inside the Temple; a beautiful place that was still vibrant with blooming flowers, unaffected by the winter. There was no winter in the Temple. The place was adorned with beautiful garden lights that glowed softly in the early evening light.

In the middle of this garden, a white, open rotunda acted as a centerpiece, and a beautiful lady sat elegantly on a chair, holding a teacup. Soft, hazel eyes glanced at Bassena as the esper came closer.

"Good evening, Sir Vaski," a nice, smooth voice flew like a melody.

Still, it only made Bassena miss another melodious voice. One that was low and firm. But he bowed politely, and gave her his charming, business smile that Zein hated.

"Saintess,"

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