There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 511 - 504. Eye of The Storm

Chapter 511: Chapter 504. Eye of The Storm

"Welcome back," Zein welcomed Bassena back with wide arms and a kiss two days later. He had fun watching the fight captured by the Tower’s camera from the command center, which honestly, looked rather easy for the seasoned hunters.

Bassena received the kiss and the hug with a wide grin and an arched brow. "Feels like newlyweds."

"Take it as practice," Zein shrugged, and Bassena raised his arched brow higher.

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You’re going to ask for something reckless, do you?"

"Maybe?"

Bassena glanced at the two hovering lights behind the guide that had been following Zein while buzzing like excited children. Or anxious ones. It was the first time they came down to move along with Zein, and Bassena could feel it wasn’t just for a change of pace.

"Where?" he sighed. "We can’t travel the river yet. I still have to put on a proposal for Radia."

"I know," Zein gestured with his chin and walked away from the stadium. "I just got fed up waiting for a path through the underground tunnel, so I thought we could just go through the surface."

It had been almost a year since they found the underground system, and still, they hadn’t found any exit toward the other side of the desert. It wasn’t the scout’s fault, of course. The system was just too vast and confusing; it was as wide as Althrea and they no longer had a compass to point the way for them.

Radia did say all those things about marathons, but

Again, Bassena glanced at the shards, which were already warming up to him instead of being afraid--after all, he was the ’guardian’. They did not reject him in their proximity, unlike with other humans.

"Are you thinking of going with them?"

Zein smiled and patted the esper’s cheek gently with the back of his hand. "How clever, my baby."

"You’re very generous with your words," Bassena chuckled. Well, he still gleefully accepted it.

"They told me they can try to protect us in the desert against the tornado," Zein explained. "Of course, it still hasn’t been proven yet, but--"

The two shards buzzed heavily and Bassena laughed in response. Even if he couldn’t understand them, he could guess easily. "Seems like they don’t accept that."

Zein scoffed and flicked the twin shards like he would his other kids and Bassena. "I didn’t say anything wrong; it hasn’t been proven," he said. "Still, I am willing to bet on your confidence."

The shards buzzed again, but this time softer. They rubbed themselves on Zein’s side as if nuzzling the guide.

"Anyway, they said they saw a dangerous-looking dungeon spawn in the middle of the desert--which was the reason they got in hiding," Zein continued. "It was before the tornado going around terrorizing the desert, so..."

Bassena tilted his head. "Are you thinking that...the dungeon caused the tornado?"

Zein stopped and turned around while blinking. "I...didn’t think about that, actually."

"Huh? Then..." Bassena paused and frowned as he got his brain churning. The amber eyes gleamed as realization hit him. "Are you thinking about the Fallen Star?"

Zein nodded. "The shards wouldn’t run away just because of a normal dungeon. They must have sensed the trace of their--what did you say--anti-thesis?"

"Yeah."

"That," Zein snapped his hand. "It was a long time ago though. I don’t think It’s still there."

"Obviously," Bassena shrugged as he took out the tube with the fragment of Fallen Star inside. "It would already come to us if It’s still there."

The twins shrieked and ran to hide behind Zein, trembling. "Ah, sorry about this," Bassena smiled wryly. Just like Zein said, their trauma ran deep.

"You don’t need to be afraid with us here, do you?" Zein chuckled and patted the shuddering twins. "But you should go to him for now, since I’m going to get rid of it."

Without hesitation, the twins shot toward Bassena, peeking behind the esper’s shoulder as Zein dragged the tube away. They were at the edge of the main base, a space they left empty because it was a weak point. No one came there except for the patrol, so it was a perfect place to get rid of the fragment--especially a small one.

This fragment was only half the size of the one harassing the twins. In fact, no other fragments were bigger than that one. It strengthened their theory that the one chasing the twins was one of the strong ones--the high ranking among the fragments. Perhaps one of the three big fragments Zein saw in the vision.

That being said, Zein didn’t like the smaller fragments; they usually had no vision, so Zein would feel like wasting a lot of energy with less reward.

This one, however, was not a disappointment.

"Haa, fuck--" Zein pressed his lips to prevent himself from cursing more in front of the innocent twins.

"What is it?" Bassena held the guide and helped him stand up, taking out a bottle of mineral water for Zein.

The twins nuzzled the guide as if trying to give an energy injection. They couldn’t literally, but they were adorable enough to give him energy. "It came from the sea--or at least somewhere near the sea," Zein said after finishing an entire bottle of water.

"Well, we deduced as much, since half the troop was water beasts," Bassena nodded. "It only gives us a stronger reason to request a water vessel."

"Yeah, but the most important thing is what the fragment did near the sea."

Bassena paused briefly after squashing the bottle in his hands. He looked at Zein with blinking wide eyes. "A shard?" he parted his lips. "It was looking for a shard?"

"Yeah," Zein let out a long sigh and patted the twins who were suddenly perking up and buzzing excitedly. "It had no idea where, but the Fallen Star remembered one of the shards fell into the sea, so it ordered one of the fragments to search the area ever since it woke up."

"Like...two years ago?"

"Seems so," Zein nodded. "It couldn’t find the shard, however, so it shifted to our bait since it was getting desperate--seemed like it sensed the shards through the water."

"...well, a hint finally!" Bassena shrugged and grinned widely.

Zein chuckled and raised his arms so Bassena could hoist him up. "Right," he nodded, happy that they had something to go on again. "Let’s form a small group and go as soon as we’re ready."

Bassena shook his head in exasperation before laughing in defeat at how eager the guide was as he pulled Zein closer to support the man. Well...what could he do? He had a workaholic boyfriend.

* * *

To maximize the shard’s protection, they only brought a very small number of people. Bassena, Zein, Senan, a scout from Jock’s group, and Han Shin who was eager to find another way through the desert so he wouldn’t have to go through a freaking worm tunnel.

The twin shards hovered between the five humans the moment they stepped into the black desert, creating a shimmering barrier around them. Zein didn’t even need to wear his mask or goggles if he wanted since it was basically a mini mobile safe zone.

"Why didn’t we do it since a long time ago?" Han Shin asked amidst the boredom of walking through the empty sand.

"Because it makes us into a glaring walking bait," Zein shrugged.

"Ah!"

Besides, the twins didn’t even want to move out of the main base before, and the shard they found in the plains had been sleeping inside Zein’s ring since it was found. It had been expending its energy to hide inside the jungle surrounded by Specters and other beasts, so it was still in recovery.

"Do you think we’ll lure something today?"

"We’re going to lure the tornado, obviously--" Bassena narrowed his eyes. "Speak of the devil..."

"Speak of the tornado," Han Shin chuckled.

Senan took out his shield and covered each individual in an invisible protective barrier. None of them slowed down, however; just kept on moving like they were strolling in a park. The twins buzzed and stayed beside Zein’s ears, as if whispering.

"I know, I know," Zein chuckled. "He’s just overprotective of me, okay?"

"Are they offended?" Sena laughed. "I’m sorry, it’s just occupational disease, yeah? It’s my job to protect Young Master."

The shards twirled once and buzzed for two seconds. Somehow, all of them had a sense of what the twins wanted to convey and pressed their lips to hold back from laughing. Fortunately, the tornado was closing in quickly and gave no time for them to laugh. It doubled quickly and the tornadoes rushed and crashed into them in seconds.

"Whoa..." Han Shin flinched for a second, bending his knees to hide behind Senan’s shield. But he also looked up and around as the shrapnel hit the barrier like a mean hail. "This is kind of awesome."

And the barrier stood.

"I wondered if this is what it’s like inside your giant snake, Bas."

"You can try to get swallow if you want," Bassena shrugged. "Maybe practice your self-healing while at it."

"Wow..." the healer looked at Zein while pointing at Bassena. "Did you hear the way your boyfriend talked?"

"Be good, children," Zein shook his head with a smile. The shards, who thought Zein was talking to them, buzzed hard in surprise. "Oh--no, no--you both are good children, don’t worry. The best."

They continued to walk through two tornadoes while chuckling and laughing. The shrapnel kept hitting them for minutes while they walked, chasing them persistently. Bassena tried to stave off the shrapnels and the wind with his mana just for fun, and slowly, the tornado got chipped into nothingness.

"Hah! The weather’s cleared!"

With Han Shin’s cheery thoughts, they continued their journey while enjoying the emptiness of it all. It looked like the edge of the world with how empty it was, and they started to wonder about the afterlife written in those ancient scriptures from the Old Age. Even Han Shin got quiet after some time, feeling like a speck of dust in the middle of the vast desert.

That was, until the twin shards buzzed again and they saw a familiar swirl in the horizon.

"Damn--there really is one."

Almost invisible amidst the darkness and the black sand, was a black-colored dungeon gate.

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