There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 514 - 507. Star Corridor

Chapter 514: Chapter 507. Star Corridor

"Try asking the core," Zein patted Bassena’s arm, who was now more or less a dungeon master.

Again, just like the time he called in the elemental spirits, Bassena gripped the dungeon core and inputted his thought command. It was simple; he just asked for a door.

"Oh!" Han Shin exclaimed as the air swirled above the lake--more precisely, at the place where the Specter’s core used to be. A portal gate, not as big as the entrance to the dungeon, formed on the small island in the middle of the lake. "Are we going in? We’re going in, right?"

"Well...we’ve got this far anyway," Bassena shrugged and took Zein’s hand to cross the lake, even if it was shallow and only going as far as their calf.

But he also knew Zein had just expended some energy to peek into the broken shell’s memory. That was why he didn’t even use his shadow steps, so he could keep his corrosion level at bay. And well...Zein didn’t object to it.

"Together?" Han Shin asked around. This time, they truly had no idea what they were going to face on the other side of the portal. Would it be another dungeon? Would it be some places in the Deathzone?

"Yeah, together," Zein nodded and put his mask back on.

Han Shin grasped the scout’s hand while also holding onto Senan’s sleeve. He grinned at them both before stepping inside following Bassena’s count.

Crossing this portal did not feel any different than crossing the dungeon gate, which was a good sign. But the scenery greeting them was definitely not a dungeon. It was...dark; at first, they thought they stepped back into the Deathzone. But then, they realized it was also empty, like a void. Only after a few seconds did they realize there were some glittering dots all around, like stars in the night sky.

"Ah--this is..." Zein and Bassena looked around before looking at each other. Yeah, this was familiar to them. It looked just like the ’outer space’ in the fragments’ memory.

"Huh? You know this place?" Han Shin blinked, curiously looking down. There didn’t seem to be any floor, and he didn’t feel like standing on solid ground. But he stood, and he could walk--although it kind of felt like walking on water. His steps halted, however, when the two people he cling to stopped in their tracks.

"Ugh--" the scout clutched her chest and kneeled on the ground, while Senan, though did not make a sound, bowed his head and frowned in pain.

"Hey--what’s wrong?" Han Shin looked at the two espers while sending a healing mana through his hand. It could only help a little bit, however; helping them breathe better, but not more.

Immediately, Zein patted the twins and the shimmering barrier resumed around them like a cocoon. Only after that, did the pain in their face lessen, gradually, until it vanished altogether.

"What? What is happening? Why is it only affecting the two of you?" Han Shin tilted his head in confusion while helping the scout stand up.

"There’s a...pressure," Senan replied with bated breath. "I feel like I’m being crushed, it’s like..."

"Like entering a higher tower’s trial we aren’t qualified to," the scout added. "I remembered since I failed to advance once..."

"A cosmic energy, huh..." Bassena tapped his chin in contemplation. "So Shin and I are alright because we’ve been to the high floor?"

"And Zein is basically made of cosmic energy," Han Shin added with a wink, which granted him a smack on the back of his head. "Ouch?"

"Well, it’s good that the barrier works," Zein patted the twin shard who buzzed proudly. "But where is this place?"

Now that the condition had stabilized, they started to look around more. It did look like outer space at first, but if they observed keenly, they could see that the place was like a tunnel. Only, the walls, the ceiling, and the ground were all the same starry night sky that made them feel like they were floating in outer space. As they observed more, there was something they finally saw; gates, portals, entrances to--possibly--other dungeons.

"Oh! Is this like...the backstage?" Han Shin’s eyes sparkled with more interest. This was definitely something new regarding dungeon study, and the researcher in him was perking up.

"You can say that, but we don’t have time to look around," Bassena raised the hand holding the dungeon core, and then started walking. "Let’s go; I’m following the trace of where the mana was being absorbed."

Encased in the protective cocoon of the twins, they followed Bassena further down the ’corridor’. It reminded Zein and Han Shin of their first time in the underground system, not knowing where they would end up. But of course, there was no worm here. Hopefully.

After walking around for what felt like a few minutes and passing through several gates, Bassena stopped in front of a grey portal. All of the portals here were grey, which made it quite hard to find the first time. For the first time since they arrived in that place, Bassena let go of Zein’s hand.

"I’m going in first," he said, looking at the guide. "I’ll take a look first for thirty seconds, and if I don’t come back by then--"

"I’ll make you," Zein nodded; the black dagger was already in his hand.

"Alright," Bassena exhaled once and, without any more hesitation, stepped through the grey portal.

Han Shin took a deep breath and wiggled his nervous hands. It was hard to quell his curiosity about this whole place, and his brain had already conjured up a lot of topics for his next thesis. But he shook his head immediately, since he had to focus on his friend right now. What if Bassena came out all injured and bloody and--

"Hey, it’s empty again," the platinum head peeking out of the portal.

"Gah!" Han Shin flinched in surprise. "Why so fast? You said thirty seconds!"

"It’s thirty seconds he--" Bassena paused. "Get in for now."

"So there’s a slight time dilation," Zein muttered.

Still with the shards’ barrier in place, they entered the grey portal together. Just like Bassena said, the dungeon felt empty. They couldn’t feel the presence of any beasts, not even elemental spirits. The landscape was also almost similar to the one they came from; wide grassland surrounded by forest--although in this one, there were also mountains behind the forest.

"There are traces of miasma left by beasts and signs of colonies," Jiu informed them right away. "There’s a leftover settlement from a long time ago."

"The beasts were probably being driven out of the dungeon," Bassena said while tapping his fingers on the dungeon core near the portal.

"But I thought beasts could only get out during an outbreak?" Han Shin narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, but the Fallen Star was one of the entities who designed this dungeon system."

"Ah!" Han Shin clapped his hands. "So it’s like a developer tweaking the system a bit for their advantage."

"Yeah," Bassena looked at the current dungeon core, which was slightly red in color. "I’m going to see if I can read anything from this one. Go explore the dungeon a bit and take care of my boyfriend."

Han Shin rolled his eyes, but obediently ran to follow the guide who was already walking further into the dungeon with Senan. Zein was busy staring at the ground, and then at the sky.

"There are traces of Fallen Star’s fragments here..." Zein muttered. "A lot."

Han Shin flinched and looked around, making sure there was none lurking in the corner somewhere. He got closer to the guide and Senan’s shield and the hovering shards. "They’re not here anymore, right?"

"No, but..." Zein stopped and closed his eyes as he tried to dig a memory. "This is where they were born."

"...whoa..." Han Shin clasped his mouth, feeling goosebumps on his neck. "So that Fallen Star thing was really here, huh?"

"Yeah, It was," Bassena was the one who answered, coming from behind. It seemed that he had finished reading what he could from the dungeon core. "It absorbed mana from several dungeons at the same time, woke up, and then created the fragments before getting out of the dungeon."

"Because the leftover mana was no longer in good quality?"

"Who knows what that creature thought?" Bassena shrugged. "But it’s interesting that It didn’t use the corridor back there and came out from the entrance to the dungeon side."

"Because it couldn’t stand the cosmic pressure too," Zein said. "It lost the war and is no longer a Celestial Being. Even with a huge power, godhood wasn’t something one could obtain easily."

"Hmm," Han Shin nodded and typed everything in his commlink, before turning toward the swirling gate on the horizon. "What should we do now? Should we check where this dungeon is and try to get to the base from there?"

Quickly, Bassena shook his head without hesitation. "No," he said firmly, eyes on Zein. "We don’t know where it is, and we have no bearing. We can’t afford to get lost without supply and contact, and especially not in Zein’s current condition."

Zein was all about making progress, but he agreed on this one. "Yeah, I can’t guide much in this state," he said. He might be able to move just fine, but his mental capacity was almost two-thirds full. "And we still have to think about the time dilation inside that corridor."

"Oh, okay then."

"Why don’t we take a look a bit and install a beacon right around the gate so we can find the dungeon again in the future?" Jiu, who had just come back from scouting, offered an idea.

For that, Bassena agreed. As expected, they had no idea where it was once they got out of the dungeon. The area looked like a jungle, and would definitely be prone to make them lost. They quickly set up a beacon to mark the place and got back to the first dungeon--which fortunately still stood despite Bassena taking the core with him.

Leaving the core behind, they came out of the dungeon to be greeted by a calm, quiet desert.

"Woohoo!" Han Shin threw his arms up after a few minutes passed without any tornadoes chasing after them. "We did it!"

"Hmm...I think we can use this dungeon as a hub and make a watchtower here," Bassena nodded in satisfaction. "For now, let’s go back and let Zein have his rest."

"Yes, let’s," Senan nodded eagerly.

With a cheery note, the group returned to the base with a sense of triumph. Meanwhile, far away, two hazy figures stared at the foreign blinking stick they had never seen near their ’home’. What they recognized, however, was the trace of their enemy; the one who could hurt their creator.

With a loud shriek that shook the jungle, the two figures slithered away, to make a report to their creator.