There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 501 - 494. Behind the Curtain of Stars

Chapter 501: Chapter 494. Behind the Curtain of Stars

[Why are you calling it ’invasion’?] one of the entities scoffed. [It’s not like those planets have owners]

[True. We simply introduce them to a better way of living]

[No, friend; we give them the honor of being guided by our wisdom]

The Celestial Beings hummed in agreement, including the Fallen Star. It was annoying for Zein because it meant he had to nod to that absurd opinion. He did wonder, however--what was this ’invasion’ they were talking about?

[How far is the progress?] The ’wings’ asked. Or at least, it sounded from that direction. For all Zein knew, it might come from the one made of twinkling stars beside it.

[About sixty percent of the tunnel had been deployed] someone replied. [The gatestones are still being spread in other patronless planets. Once we activate the system, we can open the portal simultaneously]

Zein stiffened; the fingers gripping Bassena’s hand tightened hard. Bassena so badly wanted to ask what happened as he saw the guide’s pale face, but he held back and let Zein continue to listen to the memory.

[But, is there really a need to make it so complicated? Why can’t we just go down and make them submit? They are just puny things anyway--]

[Shut it!] a hissing sound came from somewhere--perhaps one of those cloaked figures. [I don’t want to make the same mistake with those stupid old things. Look at what they were doing! Making that silly game and now what?! A puny human climbed to our place and dirtied the Council!]

The atmosphere suddenly became tense between these entities, and Zein instinctively knew who they were talking about. He had no idea how many people from ’lower realms’ managed to achieve godhood, but Zein knew from Frejya that Setnath did that.

Although it didn’t seem to be a nice prospect, becoming a Celestial Being.

[But...what’s that got to do with any--]

[Oh, you silly stuff] a giggling sound echoed within the garden of stars. [If we go down, those puny mortals will be exposed to our energy, and some might manage to receive powers]

[And that’s why we will open gates and send those slaves to spread terror and make them hopeless] the wings explained calmly. [Once they do, they won’t even think about fighting back. They’ll gladly receive the blessing of our guidance]

The garden of stars was suddenly filled with a plethora of eerie laughs, and Zein felt so nauseous to find himself laughing as the Fallen Star. He trembled heavily that Bassena had to catch him, and as he closed his eyes, a warm force pulled them back and away--far, far away from the cold, glimmering world.

"Zein? Zein!"

Gasping sharply, Zein opened his eyes to find himself in Bassena’s arms. Somehow, they were inside the twins’ barrier, and both shards were circling them in palpable concern. Zein looked down at his wet hands--not of sweats, but regenerative serums. It seemed that his hands were burnt slightly from the fragment’s force--which thankfully, had turned into an insignificant dust.

"Hey, are you okay?" Bassena grasped his cheek, stroking gently but urgently. "Honey, can you talk?"

"...once more," Zein whispered.

Bassena blinked. "What?"

"Call me that again," Zein looked at the soothing fire inside the esper’s eyes.

Again, Bassena blinked and repeated rather bashfully. "Honey?"

Zein let out a long sigh of relief, letting his body slack in Bassena’s warm embrace. "Haa...it’s good to be back," he whispered while closing his eyes. He opened them a few seconds later, reaching up to stroke the esper’s cheek. "Were you really there?"

"Yeah, although I had no idea what they were saying," Bassena took another vial of regenerative serum. "Here, have this again."

Bassena helped him stand up and Zein gulped the serum while patting the concerned shards. "How long did we..."

"Not too much, I think," Bassena checked his commlink. "About...two hours?"

"That’s still long," Zein frowned. Granted, he usually went for ten hours or more, but any seconds rolling by felt too much when they had an emergency in hand. He immediately checked the red sheet inside his coat’s inside pocket, and sighed in relief when he saw it still intact.

"You’re right," Bassena nodded. "Let’s get out of here first."

The shards, seemingly realizing the humans were about to leave, flinched and vibrated heavily. They latched onto Zein’s chest as if they were afraid the Guardians would leave them there.

"Of course, not," Zein patted them in assurance. "Of course, you’ll come with us."

The shards buzzed, circling them swiftly as if dancing in joy. Even the vibration in the air started to sound like a giggle.

"They’re...kinda cute?" Bassena tilted his head. "Very different, but...cute?"

"They are," Zein chuckled.

"They can even move freely," Bassena stroked his chin in amusement.

He didn’t have the time to observe the shards earlier, and now that he did, the twin crystals looked very active and fascinating--especially after seeing the stationary core and the quiet shard in their base.

"It might be because there are two of them," Zein shrugged. "But...I think it’s still better to put them inside the tube. They are too talkative right now, and it might invite another fragment."

"Yeah," Bassena agreed. "Neither of us in a shape to face another one of that."

Bassena’s corrosion had climbed to orange again, and Zein could no longer guide him after destroying the fragment. Besides, if they had to face another fragment, they wouldn’t be able to catch up to the squad anymore.

It took a while for Zein to convince the twins that they needed to get inside the tube, which, in their point of view, probably looked like a cage. But after reminding them of the Fallen Star’s fragment, they shot inside the tube readily like it was the safest place in the world.

Well, since it went into a storage ring that could only be opened by Zein’s manaprint, that might be so.

"Let’s go," Zein gripped Bassena’s shoulder after the twins were safely stored inside the storage ring. "I’ll tell you what those Fallen Stars talked about on the way."

* * *

"Haa...shit--" Bassena spat after hearing Zein’s long story about those former Celestial Beings’ secret meeting, including the Fallen Star’s contextual memory that Bassena couldn’t see. "So they were the ones who created these gates? These dungeons?!"

"Mm," Zein took a deep breath, still feeling a bit woozy from the space excursion. "I guess the other Celestial Being found out and well...the war happened?"

"But the system or whatever still got released anyway," Bassena frowned. "Or maybe...it went overdrive during the war? And in the after-effect, the gates aren’t just releasing their pawns--those otherwordly monsters, I guess--but also miasma, which aggravates everything, and even mutates regular animals and humans into beasts."

Zein just nodded, resting his head on the esper’s broad shoulder. Bassena tightened his hold on the guide while mulling over this new history.

"So...even if it wasn’t for the war, the gates and dungeons would still appear anyway," he concluded. "Just that...instead of Setnath’s fragment, we got those...entities we saw earlier turning us into pawns or slaves or whatever it is."

"Sounds about right."

"Why did they do that, though?" Bassena tilted his head. "I mean...what did they get from ruling over us...ugh--puny humans?"

Zein chuckled and raised at the mockery in the esper’s voice. "How would I know the way those honorable superior majestic Beings whatever think? I’m just a puny human."

Bassena laughed and turned his head slightly to glance at the guide. "Well...I guess I owed Setnath an apology for all the times I cursed Him, huh?"

"I think he kind of likes it," Zein smirked. "Makes himself feel human or something."

"Hmm...why do you think he chose to help us? I mean, this planet specifically, instead of the others..."

Zein tapped his fingers on the esper’s chest while looking for an answer through his memory. "I think...it’s because we have the most similarity to his own world. It was called Earth too, if I’m not mistaken."

Bassena almost stopped in his tracks. "Realy?" he skipped to avoid stumbling ungracefully.

"Yeah, just in another dimension. Also, because most of the other planets have mana or enough life force to offset the miasma--unlike our place," Zein continued. "If what they needed to do was just fight against the monster without worrying about miasma, I think it’s doable."

"Oh, definitely," Bassena nodded. "I think Radia told me once that before the apocalypse, humans even had something that could destroy a whole country with just a press of a button."

"What kind of fuckery is that?" Zein scowled. "Not even the best magician Rankers could do that, right?"

"Scary, isn’t it?" Bassena smiled wryly. "When I heard Radia’s stories, sometimes I felt like the days before the apocalypse weren’t so different in terms of danger and such."

"And still..."

Still, the Old Age met its end.

"Oh, well...that snake old man always said everything happened for a reason," Bassena shrugged. "Oh, we almost arrived at the initial point."

Bassena fastened his steps and soon, they were greeted by the light from the purification device. The fact that it was still there meant no enemies from the other side of the tunnel had breached the rear guard--which gave them even bigger relief.

"It’s indeed faster going back," Bassena looked at Zein. "Should we stop for a bit?"

"No."

Short and firm. Bassena nodded with a smile. Yeah--there was no way they could rest calmly anyway.

And so, Bassena continued to run, even faster than before. It was a good thing that they took the twin shards with them, because now the compass could just point toward the shard in the base to guide their way. Soon, they found the chamber with leftover destroyed carcasses of some beasts, and after running and running through uphill paths, they arrived at a huge chamber that was filled with piles and piles of bodies.

Thankfully, not of humans.

In the middle of the chamber lay scattered remains of huge boulders. And on top of those huge boulders, laid two panting warriors.

"Hey," one of them raised an arm and pointed a halberd in Zein and Bassena’s direction. "You’re late to the party!"