There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 275 - 268. Lakeside

Chapter 275: Chapter 268. Lakeside

When an esper was heavily injured, typically, they would get emergency treatment from a healer, and then be brought to the hospital or the guild’s clinic depending on the level of their injury and the guild’s facility.

But Trinity brought Bassena to the basement floor.

And for a good reason.

"He’s where?!"

The third-floor basement where the high-rank espers sparred was trashed. The arena that was usually bright became dim as tendrils and fog of darkness spread throughout the entire room. The walls were dented, railings were bent, glass was shattered.

Han Shin had done his best to heal the esper earlier, but healing ability wasn’t an all-cure. The skill essentially used up the healer’s mana in conjunction with the target’s life force. So he couldn’t heal everything all at once.

But before he could perform more healing, especially to the internal injury, Bassena was already awake and the first thing he asked about was Zein. Because Bassena knew he was still heavily corroded, and there was no way Zein would let him stay like that if the guide was there.

And the moment he found out what happened, all hell broke loose.

Bassena had been so calm and in a good space for the past seven months. He had even stopped locking himself inside his training chambers to lash out. But the espers did not forget that Bassena was a bomb. And now the bomb’s stopper was being taken away to another state.

Han Shin, who was also worried about the magician’s injury, tried to calm Bassena down. But it was always hard talking to his temperamental friend. "Bas--"

"You let them take him away?!"

"It’s not that we’re letting them! I told him not to go!" the healer tried to reason with Bassena, but it was truly hard talking to the man when he was consumed by anger. The fact that he was still heavily corroded also contributed to the mental burden that made him more irrational.

And as expected, Bassena responded with a slam of his darkness to another part of the basement wall. "You should have held him better!"

"I want to!" Han Shin was screaming in anger at this point. Zein wasn’t just important to Bassena. Zein was also his friend. He was the one who grabbed the guide’s arm so the man wouldn’t go. "I don’t want him to go away too!"

"Commander, you should really calm do--ugh!" Gus ducked in time as a dark tendril whipped above his head. He sighed and looked at the other members of the [Anzus] squad. "Do we really have to fight him?"

But it seemed like they didn’t have to do that far since another group of figures fleeting out to restrain Bassena. Woods splintered and twisted to hold the esper’s limbs, green vines tightened around the esper’s torso, and shining three circles circulated around Bassena to form binding formations. Two hulking figures grabbed the esper’s hands and shoulder to completely restrain him.

His movement anyway.

"Calm down, Bas," the Guildmaster walked into the Arena with three other summoned warriors and once he was close enough to the restrained Bassena, a transparent isolation barrier was erected around them.

"You think they can hold me down?" Bassena hissed and glared at the Guildmaster.

"Probably not," Radia replied nonchalantly. "But Zein risked everything to lower your corrosion, and now you’re going to waste it?"

The words made the amber eyes flicker and like a fuse being doused by water, Bassena stopped his struggle. But that didn’t mean his emotions dwindled; they were just suppressed by the notion of undoing his beloved’s hard work. And it still pissed him off that Radia used Zein’s name to knowingly control him.

"You fucking bastard," he hissed at the summoner who walked closer again now that he stopped rampaging.

Radia smiled; the kind of smile that did not reach his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Bassena’s jaw, staring straight into the amber eyes. "I’m going to forgive you this one time because I know you’re in shock," he said in a calm but cold tone. "But if you still acting bratty, I’m going to lock you up even if I have to call Joon."

Bassena did not say anything for a while, and during that time, his face slowly shifted from anger to desperation. "I have to go there," he said in a strained voice. There was no longer a trace of fury in his face, and he was straightly begging quietly. "Please, you know why I have to go there..."

"I know," Radia sighed and gave a signal for the isolation barrier to be taken down. Yes, he knew. He knew that Bassena was scared that Zein would never come back as Zein, because while the other was getting distracted by the mark of Frejya, he could see from the recording, the mark that was originally there first; the mark of Setnath. "I know that, but you have to calm down first before you can go."

He could see how hard it was for Bassena to keep his calm when he didn’t even know if his Zein was still his Zein at this point. The mental burden of the corrosion, and the remaining injury inside his body just made his state of mind worsen. But Bassena managed to restrain his emotions and took back all of his darkness. The Arena got bright again, and they could see better how miserable Bassena looked now.

"Good," Radia nodded and rubbed Bassena’s neck. "Let him go."

The hulking figure let Bassena go and the woods, the vines, and the binding formation were retracted. Radia reached inside his suit and took out a commlink. He held Bassena’s putty arm and put the commlink on the esper’s wrist.

Bassena blankly looked at the commlink, and only after the screen flashed that he regained his focus. He recognized his link, and it flashed a notification of a locked document sent from Radia’s account.

"I have acquired entry permission to the Temple of Frejya, only--" Radia grabbed Bassena’s jaw again and stared hard at the younger man, "--only if you promised me to behave will I release it."

"Okay," Bassena nodded swiftly. "Okay, please..."

"The plane is waiting for you at the airport--" the moment Radia said it, Bassena instantly ran toward the exit and the elevator. Radia sighed and turned toward Han Shin. "Shin, go with him, make sure he behaves."

The healer pointed into himself and widened his eyes. "Me? Alone?"

Radia pointed toward Lex and Jock whom he told to come earlier. "Go with these two."

"Yessir!"

* * *

[I need time to find his consciousness, so wait while resting for a bit] the Goddess said when Zein told her he would accept the offer of conversing with Setnath. [You are free to do as you like during your stay]

And with that, Zein was led back to his nice room, and finally had his first meal of the day on the balcony while enjoying the scenery of the sparkling clear lake. Perhaps because of the nature of the lake that came from a tree, which was sprouting as the base for the fragment of Setnath, the place reminded him of that lake in the Deathzone.

But of course, the lake here was much much larger than the one in the Deathzone. After all, it was a full fragment here, not just the core.

Since the Goddess told him he could do anything anyway, Zein decided to take a walk around the base of the tree to take a closer look at the lake. The previous young priest guided him to the lower sanctuary, and left Zein on his own after the guide asked for it.

Just like any other temple, the lower sanctuary was used as a lobby and regular clinics, so there were a lot of people there; espers, priests and acolytes, as well as regular staff. The lower sanctuary, which was almost as big as a small town, was also where the school for future guides was, so he could see young guides who were about to get their lunch break around the waterside.

It was a good decision on his part to not change into the deep blue robe, because he found out later that it was reserved for guides with high status; essentially the dwellers of the peak sanctuary. Wearing such clothes would just put unnecessary attention on him.

Funnily enough, Zein’s appearance made people think he was an esper; with his taller build and strong impression, not to mention the whole combat outfit and mask. Here, people didn’t know him unless they were keeping updated with the Eastern Federation, and his eye color was no longer a rarity. So people barely glanced in his direction, and even those who cast a glance didn’t linger.

Which was nice after all the attention and focus on him for the past few weeks.

The Tree Island, which was the Temple itself, wasn’t connected to the mainland by anything. Those who wanted to come to the Temple would have to cross using boats or aircraft, although movement skills were also usable as a method. So, one side of the Island was a big port and waiting depot for the Temple’s visitors.

Most of the edge of the island, for safety, had been fenced with white timbre crawled with climbing roses so people wouldn’t fall into the water carelessly. But there were several points where there was no fence, and the root dipped into the lake water at a comfortable angle like a beach.

That was where Zein ended up after walking alongside the fence. He looked down from time to time, seeing the extremely clear water in fascination. He was told that the lake was actually very deep, and he could see how the giant roots penetrated into the lake floor. It almost felt like he was staring into a giant aquarium from above--which reminded him that he still had a pending aquarium date with Bassena.

Haa...if only he could use his commlink.

Was he healed already? Did he awake already? Did he get angry? Zein let out a long sigh, missing his esper even more. He looked into the distance and wondered what Bassena would do after knowing he was here.

Would the esper stayed put and waited patiently? Or would he wreak havoc and have a temper tantrum? Zein just hoped that whatever it was, Bassena did not end up hurting himself even more.

And as he watched the blooming trees around the outer side of the lake, he was reminded of his parent’s house. Regretfully, he knew that Lucia did not have a chance to see this scenery in her life.

He let out a bitter smile at the glittering lake and perpetual spring all around. What was the point of a beautiful place without the person he wanted to share it with?

"Hey, Mister; why do you keep sighing? Are you sad?"

Zein turned his head at the sudden question. Without even knowing it, a young girl--probably around twelve or thirteen--looked at him curiously. He raised his brow, not because of the question, but because the girl was wearing a plain deep blue robe despite being so young.

So Zein raised his gaze to the space a few meters behind the girl, where an old lady was watching them with a smile on her face. The lady, just like the young girl, also wore a deep blue robe. But this time, there was a beautiful golden embroidery along the lapels and the edge of the sleeves, so Zein immediately knew who she was.

The Saintess of Frejya Temple.

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