There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 316 - 308. Atonement

Chapter 316: Chapter 308. Atonement

There was a reason why the executive lounge number [03] was used exclusively by the Guildmaster. Attached to the room was a smaller, secret room with a hidden door. And inside that secret room was an elevator that connected the room with the Guildmaster’s office right above.

It seemed that, without anyone knowing, Radia had been receiving a secret guest in his office; a man who was now standing in front of them.

"What the fuck is he doing here?!"

The first time Bassena said it, it was with a mix of surprise and irritation. The second one Bassena said it, it was with hatred and disdain.

Mizar turned his head toward his younger twin, not only to put the headphones back over their guide’s ear, but also because something about that expression felt familiar to them.

"Calm down," Radia sighed.

"You told me to calm down when you bring someone from Celestia into the same room with Zein?" the amber eyes glared toward the Guildmaster.

"What do you expect when I say ’insider’?" Radia shook his head exasperatedly. Well, at least Bassena held back enough from rousing his magic energy. "And we had just done talking about how it’s not a collective doing."

Bassena clenched his fist hard to control his emotion, but it was hard to do so when he had been keeping in his rage without any outlet. Radia had been preventing him from seeing the perpetrators since he didn’t want Bassena to ’accidentally’ kill them out of fury.

So he couldn’t help but point his pent-up emotions toward the man who was known to be Celestia’s head figure in the Althrea branch.

And it probably didn’t help that Askan Bellum had an expression as if he was a sinner.

Ever since the man stepped into the room, he had been looking down. The wide and sturdy back was slumped, and his fists clenched. Above all, he looked like someone who hadn’t been sleeping for days, or even ate anything.

It was enough to invoke pity, but the Serpent Lord obviously had no such mercy.

At this point, Mizar had moved to sit beside his twin, because he felt like he would need to put a barrier over Ren, lest the young guide might get pressured by the the Saint-class mana. He looked at Alcor, and from the way the younger twin returned his gaze, it seemed like they reached the same conclusion;

There was something more than ’abduction’ happening before. Something horribly wrong.

"He’s not the culprit, but he’s here for atonement," Radia explained to the enraged esper.

"Hah! Are you sure about that?" Bassena sneered, definitely not ready to accept anything but a guilty verdict.

But Askan didn’t even look at Bassena. His gaze, which slowly lifted, was only looking at Zein, the person he originally came to see. And then, to all of their surprise, the man who hadn’t said anything even in front of Bassena’s barraging words, lowered himself to the floor.

"I’m sorry," the esper said, kneeling with his head bowed low. "For letting such a thing happen...I’m sorry..."

"Sorry?" Bassena gave out a low, eerie laugh that prompted Alcor to hold his young guide tighter in caution. "Did you say sorry?"

The irritation was now turning unto fury, as Bassena walked toward the kneeling esper--no, toward the space between Askan and Zein, shielding the guide. Radia, frowning a little bit, gave a low warning from the side. "Bas--"

"Do you have any idea what they had done to him?!" the air inside the spacious office shook slightly from Bassena’s trembling voice. "Do you?!"

The twins could see Askan’s knuckles turn white from how hard he gripped his knees. They had no idea what exactly transpired during the abduction, but from Bassena’s reaction...they had an idea somewhat.

After all, they had the same reaction two years ago, when they rescued Xue Ren from the back alley.

They turned their gaze toward Zein, who had been keeping his silence all this time, wordlessly leaning against the back of the couch as he stared at the kneeling esper. There was a coldness inside the blue eyes that they hadn’t seen before.

But still, just like Radia, Zein also called out to the Saint-class esper to stop the man. "Bas,"

Only, the esper didn’t seem to be able to hear any reasoning. "You’re here to atone?! You should have made sure you lot never show yourself in front of him if you truly feel guilty!"

"Sena."

A cold, dry tone came out between the guide’s lips, and this time, it was enough to stop Bassena. The younger man turned his head, biting his lips in an attempt to restrain his anger, but also looking as if he felt wronged.

But Zein only made a gesture with his hand to call his esper back, mainly so he could look at Askan better. Begrudgingly, Bassena shifted to stand beside the guide instead. He felt better, however, when he saw the blue eyes still gleaming coldly.

"Did you know?" he asked simply, in a dry tone that did not accept any bullshit.

"I didn’t," Askan replied with a shaky voice. It was very different from his usual countenance, which was always known to be sturdy and unshaken. And then, after taking a deep breath, he added. "But I should have."

Askan Bellum wasn’t the Branch Head of Celestia in Althrea. But he was an executive, and after rising to four-star, became one of the people with the most authority, at least within the branch office. Of course, Zein already knew there was no way someone righteous like Askan Bellum, who sincerely worked to help the red-zone outbreak, would have anything to do with what happened to Zein.

That being said, the fact that he had no idea about this matter until Nora connected him to Radia was a big disappointment. Like what he said, he should have known.

He should have known that some of his guildmates were planning on something sinister. He should have known someone with questionable character and skill was visiting his guild.

He should have known, and he should have stopped it from happening.

Zein’s disappointment, right now, was his guilt.

"I will do anything...anything at all, to make up for it."

It was a voice that was filled with sincerity and determination befitting of his reputation. No one could say that he was only saying it to save his reputation or lessen his guilt.

But a victim’s heart wasn’t easy to appease, and the blue eyes were cold and merciless. "I don’t need words."

It was brief, it was dry, it was simple. There was no need for too many promises. The only thing that could appease the guide’s cold fury was a concrete action.

And of course, Askan readily nodded. "I understand," he said firmly, and with how he bowed his head, it almost felt like a knight making a pledge to his master.

Xue Ren had no idea what happened, he couldn’t hear anything thanks to the headphones, and he couldn’t even feel the air vibration because of Mizar’s barrier. But he had been watching the Serpent Lord looking angry, the Steel Blood looking remorseful, and Zein looking like he had total control over those two.

He didn’t understand what happened, but he could only think that Zein was totally cool right now.

"Ah...this is bad," Alcor whispered to his twin brother. "Ren is totally falling in love right now."

* * *

"That was quite cold," Mizar remarked after Askan Bellum was gone; no doubt through another secret tunnel that allowed him to be there undetected in the first place.

"Well, we do need his cooperation," Radia smiled subtly. He knew it was cruel, but if he could use the man’s guilt to catch the head of the snake, then it didn’t matter to him. He had no quota of compassion to spare. "And we have to be clear that we are not here for forgiveness."

Well, Mizar still didn’t know for sure, but if those Celestia members did to Zein what he thought they did, then...it was a justified response. They too, hadn’t forgiven the people who hurt Xue Ren in the past, even after ending them with their own hands.

Yes, rather than shallow forgiveness, it would be better to make their stance clear so that later, after everything was over, there would be no resentment left.

"Alright, we’ll cooperate too," Mizar said, glancing at his younger brother, who also nodded while taking off Ren’s headphones.

Now that they had an idea about what happened, there was no way they could sit still and refuse to help. Not that they had any intention to refuse before, since they had a good relationship with each other anyway. But now, even if Trinity asked their help in an all-out war, Mizar wouldn’t be so hesitant in joining anymore.

"Thank you for that," Radia smiled in response, the red eyes curled like a pair of crescents.

Looking at those eyes and that smile, for some reason, Mizar suddenly had this feeling that everything that happened today--letting them see the ’confrontation’ between Bassena and Askan Bellum so they could make a conjecture of what transpired that day--might be part of the summoner’s plan.

It couldn’t be...right?

He blinked, and, as he locked his gaze with the crimson eyes, realized that he had goosebumps.

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