There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 376 - 368. Paladin’s Shield

Chapter 376: Chapter 368. Paladin’s Shield

It was clear and bold on the screen; the process of taking the storage ring from Baaleon’s finger, taking out the contents, and the sinister black orb inside a protective tube.

"Would you look at that," Ludya remarked calmly, but her eyes were full of mockery. "Surely you’re not going to claim it was plated by someone?"

Torodeo gritted his teeth as the camera showed even more; the document of agreement between all the people who were involved. There were more, including the log of meetings between the parties involved, and a detailed report on each planned ’accident’ which at this point could be concluded as predetermined murder.

But for now, just the existence of the Specter core and the contract agreement were enough to detain them.

"Torodeo Horin, Ali Chodjim, Rokin Naalaka; you are under arrest for your involvement with Operation [Kronos]--"

Before the President could finish his word, Torodeo roused his mana, while the entourage of House Horin brandished their weapons. People from Caishen and Kamui immediately moved to apprehend them, but Torodeo blasted his thick mana and pushed the others back. He snatched the nearby weapons from the owner’s hands with his mana and hurled them across the table.

"Young Master!" A huge tower shield covered Zein from the weapons, and the rest of the weapons were being repelled by Cohen.

"Matriarch, are you alright?" Zein turned to the side; Jock had pulled Ludya down and the other guard had erected a barrier in front of her. But mana blast could not be blocked by a simple barrier, and Ludya was just a normal, non-awakened human.

Thankfully, she looked relatively well. "I have consumed an anti-mana tablet, you don’t need to worry about me."

Zein exhaled in relief, but the other non-awakened representatives weren’t as prepared as Ludya, and some of them had breathing difficulty due to the pressure of mana.

He stood up and glanced at the struggling representatives, as well as the bodyguards and agents who were clashing with the people from Horin, while the bodyguards from the other representatives were busy protecting their charge. The only ones who moved against the people from House Chodjim and House Naalaka were the people from the Apsoro clan.

"Go help them," Zein told his bodyguards, and before either Senan or Cohen could prevent him, Zein jumped on the table and slid to the other side.

"Foolish brat!" Torodeo compressed his mana above his palm and threw it at Zein. "Just die if you don’t want to come to us!"

Zein swiftly raised his arm and the compressed mana blast struck three layers of mana barrier coming out of his bracelet. Torodeo widened his eyes, and that second of astonishment was enough for the guide to arrive in front of him and grab his hair.

"You--"

Wordlessly, Zein slammed the old man’s head to the table; the cracking sound was enough for the skirmishes inside the room to halt. Even the President, who was in the middle of asking for backup from the personnel outside the room, stopped talking and stared at the table with parted lips.

"It’s you," Zein said with a low voice amid Torodeo’s cough. A shimmering white knife appeared in his hand. "The one who ordered my father’s death."

The words were uttered with a dry, cold fury that struck fear in people’s hearts. With an unchanging gaze, Zein swung the knife in his hand.

"Patriarch!"

"Young Master--"

"Gaaah!!"

Torodeo’s scream resounded inside the room as the knife of Acheron pierced his hand and pinned it to the table. "This should seal you for now."

"You...son of--"

SLAM!

Zein bashed Torodeo’s head to the table once again, with the same force he exerted when he drove Bassena’s head to the cave wall the first time. "I’m the son of Alteroan and Lucia Ishtera," he said with a hiss. "Don’t think you can break me when you can’t break them."

* * *

While the little skirmish in Rexon was happening, Radia walked through the secret corridor of the archive hall.

"Take everything," Radia told the people who came with him. ’We’ll peruse them later, but don’t let them hide anything. Check each storage ring for any evidence."

"Yes, Sir!"

"What is this?" he stopped behind Baaleon, before shifting his gaze toward the door. "Deva,"

The infiltrator peered out from one of the rooms to reply. "It’s sealed with biometric keys, Sir. I think it’s iris--living one--and manaprints."

"Hmm..." Radia glanced at the man on the ground. "And I guessed this one won’t just give it, huh? Makes me wonder what exactly you are hiding there."

Radia crouched in front of Baaleon and stared into the other’s eyes. "I hate wasting time, so listen to me, Baaleon Horin,"

Bassena glanced at Nirmala, who stepped back and out of the corridor in understanding as Radia continued.

"I’m not here to uphold justice, and since you have no regard for other’s life, I don’t see the need to offer you some. You should know that my brother here is capable of doing so," he said. "But oh, I guess you’re thinking that we still need you to open this door. I bet you’ve already put some destructive spell in case we open it by force."

Baaleon’s eyes twitched, which was all the confirmation Radia needed.

"You’re right, we do need you. And I bet you also think we can’t torture you because there are government agents here. You know what? You’re right; we can’t hurt you," Radia lowered his voice. "Physically, that is."

"Urk!"

Baaleon widened his eyes as a cold hand gripped his head. "Now, now--why don’t you have fun with me?"

The pale-skinned summon that Radia called earlier grinned widely, before vanishing as if being absorbed inside Baaleon’s head. The esper’s eyes rolled into his head and his lips parted in a silent scream.

"What happens to him?"

"A dream that feels like reality," Radia said. "We can’t torture him here, but we can do it inside. He might think the pain is just in his head, but..." he looked at the time in his commlink. "After a few years, it’ll start to feel real, I reckon."

Bassena blinked. "A few years?"

"Every second that passed will feel like a year’s worth," Radia replied nonchalantly. "Alright, we don’t get a lot of time, Cero."

The summon appeared not long after, whining but still licking his lips in satisfaction. "Well, that was fun after a long time."

Baaleon gasped, eyes wide and red, body trembling so hard he would topple over if it wasn’t for the black tendrils that bound him.

"Now, Horin," Radia tilted the man’s head so their eyes met again. "If you think I did that to make you open that door, you’re mistaken. I did that so you would know," he leaned closer and whispered in Baaleon’s ear, "what I might do to your sons, and your illegitimate sons, and your nephews, and everyone who has the right to succeed your father’s position."

Radia leaned back and gave the old man a deep smile. "See if they can still revive this House after they experience what you just experienced--twice longer."

Baaleon shook even more, his wide eyes got redder as tears streamed down his cheek and the binds gagging his mouth.

"Now, be a good boy and open this door," Radia stood up. "I might just spare your lineage if you do well."

It took less than a minute for Baaleon to crawl into the door and open the seal. Bassena pushed the door open and waved his hand so black tendrils dragged the weeping Baaleon and staved him in the corner.

"What do you think is this place?" Bassena asked curiously, sweeping his gaze around. The place was filled with shelves and screens that were connected to apparatus one might see in a laboratory. There was a pedestal in the middle that seemed to be a perfect place for the tube carrying the Specter’s core.

"A research room?" Han Shin peeked from the door.

"When did you come here?"

"We’re practically done, right? It’s not like I’m the only healer here," the healer stepped inside and looked around. "Are they researching weapons? Why is there a shield here?"

While Han Shin hopped to the weapon shelves on one side of the wall, Radia checked on the computers while telling Bassena to pack whatever he could find in the drawer. He narrowed his eyes when he was met with a security wall, regretting not taking Masa here with him.

"Hey, this is..." Han Shin turned around, finger on the screen attached to the shelves and eyes widened. "This shield, it’s--"

"Bas,"

Before the healer could finish his words, Radia already cut him with a cold, dreadful voice. Bassena and Han Shin looked at each other, before walking toward Radia, who was standing at the door in the back of the room.

When they arrived behind the summoner and looked inside the room, Han Shin clasped his mouth to muffle the scream that threatened to come out. Radia gritted his teeth and told the trembling esper;

"Go get Zein right now."

* * *

"Since there’s a lot of victims outside of the Old House, we would need to hold the trial for this one publicly," Li Caishen looked at the representatives after they managed to put the people from the three guilty Houses in mana-restraining cuff. "I hope you understand."

His gaze stopped at Zein, who nonchalantly fixed his suit as if he hadn’t just bashed an old man’s head to the table and stabbed him with a sealing knife. He knew Luzein Ishtera wasn’t just a regular guide, but...he wasn’t a regular anything at all.

"What kind of sentence will he receive?" Zein asked dryly; the sharp blue gaze felt like an icicle that seemed too ready to be hurled at the President next, should the answer was not to his satisfaction.

A Patriarch of an Old House, indeed.

"As the one in charge of the whole operation, only a life sentence awaits him."

"Life?"

"Life imprisonment, or death sentence," the President explained further. "It will be decided on the trial."

Zein narrowed his eyes with every bit of dissatisfaction in his cold face, but Ludya Mallarc touched his arm. "Don’t worry. We will precede over the trial, and because he still has the crime for your kidnapping, the House Trial result will be layered over his sentence."

Zein took a deep breath to calm himself, staring at Torodeo to make sure that the old man was truly being detained. But as their eyes met, the old man’s lips suddenly curled into a sneer. "You...are truly a spitting image of your father."

"Shut your mouth! you have no right to speak of Master Roan!" Senan barked at the old man and stepped forward to shield Zein from the vile gaze.

Torodeo, instead of cowering, started to laugh loudly, as if he found the entire thing to be funny. Before they could question him, Zein’s commlink suddenly vibrated.

[Summon me]

It was a short text from Bassena. Zein frowned slightly, but he took out the black pearl. The meeting had ended, so it shouldn’t be a problem to bring Bassena here. With that thought, he slashed his palm and chanted his lover’s name.

With a dark smoke that startled the people in the room, Bassena materialized in front of Zein. The first thing he did was take the guide’s hand and pour a potion on the slashing wound. Zein watched the esper’s tensed face, but his words had to be swallowed back because Bassena already seized his waist.

"Matriarch, I will be taking Zein with me," he addressed Ludya, who was as surprised as the other. The amber eyes shifted toward Senan and Cohen then. "Come to Horin’s residence at once."

In the next second, Zein’s vision turned dark, before it changed into a view of a gate. Just like that, he had traveled all the way outside of Rexon.

"Come," Bassena said. "There’s something you need to see."

Again, Zein frowned at the haste and urgency in Bassena’s voice. But he had no leeway to ask anything because the esper hurriedly took him through the chaotic residence. His senses were filled with the sounds of clashing weapons, curses, and yells. He saw the Trinity espers who also looked at him in surprise as he passed by, and his subordinates who waved at him innocently.

But everything felt like a blur because Bassena was running, and thus Zein had to run too. There must have been an anti-teleportation barrier, otherwise, Bassena would have taken him to the exact place in an instant. Instead, they traveled in silence and haste through the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard, through groaning people in binds and rising smoke in the distance.

Bassena only slowed down in front of a building that Zein presumed to be the archive hall. Here, the esper took his hand gently and led him through the hall, into the secret door and the corridor that he had seen through the recording earlier.

There were quite a few people there; an esper he didn’t recognize, a government agent, a cuffed and tied up Baaleon Horin, and Radia’s summons. Bassena pulled him through all of them, to the door at the end of the corridor.

The first thing he saw was Han Shin, fidgeting restlessly. "Zein..." the healer made an attempt to approach him, but Bassena pulled Zein further into the room.

The room itself was...weird, for a lack of better words; like a messy version of the shard research room in Mortix. At the back of the room, there was another door, but Zein’s eyes fell toward a shelf on one of the walls. There was a big tower shield that had broken and chipped in some of its parts, and he was strangely drawn to that shield.

"No. Later," Bassena grabbed his wrist tighter, and pulled him toward the other door. Radia was standing there, leaning to the frame as if waiting for him.

"Over there," the summoner pointed toward the room past the door, where a faint light could be seen.

Bassena let go of Zein’s wrist and let the guide proceed alone. Frowning with confusion and curiosity, Zein walked to the door and stepped inside.

The room was dimmed, intentionally so. The darkness pulled his eyes toward the only source of light. A tube--no, a huge tank that ran from the ground to the roof shone with bluish light. But what made Zein halt his step was the thing inside the tank.

Floating inside a light blue liquid, was a figure with pale skin and black hair that bore an uncanny resemblance with him.

There, in the middle of the room, was the remnant of Alteroan Ishtera.