There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 521 - 514. Worse than Worst

Chapter 521: Chapter 514. Worse than Worst

"Whoo! Get them!" Zhan punched the air as he saw the tornadoes shredding the beast’s horde.

The beasts, who seemed to be ordered to rush across the desert without care, didn’t even try to move away as the tornadoes mowed them down, as if the sole reason for their existence was to move forward. The frontline was shredded by the sharp wind and boulders, and those who weren’t instantly pulverized got thrown in every direction.

It took the single-minded beasts a while until they realized they shouldn’t just charge forward blindly and started to scatter away. But Senia controlled the tornadoes so they spread around, prompting the fleeing beasts to go back instead of forward.

"It was a pain in the ass when we were getting thrown around, but seeing it happen to the other team feels nice," Gus smirked as he watched the spectacle from the sand dune hiding the dungeon from sight.

"Thanks to me!" Senia crossed her arms smugly.

It took her months to finally make a bond with the spirits inside the dungeon and control them--or rather, partner with them. Surely it was fine for her to indulge in self-satisfaction.

Gus also thought so and just chuckled in response. "Yeah, yeah; good job, Missy."

"W-who’s a Missy?!"

"Oh, the fragments are attacking the tornadoes!" Zhan’s sudden live commentary stopped the princess from stomping her feet and looked at the battlefield instead.

"I guess they were acquaintance before," Gus said with a shrug.

The hooded figures that had been following the horde were finally making their move, rushing toward the tornadoes and lashing out dark purple energy or their materialized body parts at the swirling giant force of nature. Thankfully, the tornadoes did not break, but their movement was halted by the attack, giving a chance for the beasts to run away and move back toward the third lane.

"Hmph! That’s not all I can do!"

Senia raised her hands and the tornadoes sunk, just enough to occupy the fragments. Tiny creatures that only she could sense spread out and dove into the ground. In the next second, right below the scattering beasts that started to march again, the ground erupted.

A quake not unlike the one Zein and Bassena encountered in the dungeon was shaking the middle of the fourth lane; sprouting boulders impaled the beasts while the others got smashed and thrown back again.

"Careful with the explosives," Gus warned the girl. "We worked hard to put them there."

"I know, geez--those spirits are smart, okay?"

"Haha...the elemental spirits are truly a great find, huh?"

The corner of Senia’s lips curled up in a triumphant smirk. "Hmph--aren’t you glad you have me, now? Huh?"

"I’m never not glad, though?" Gus tilted his head. Just like the Guildmaster, he couldn’t care less about someone’s past as long as they were strong and useful in their team’s dynamic.

Besides, it had been more than two years since Senia joined them, and she hadn’t made any blunder so far; no sabotaging either. After a while, the girls just felt like an official addition to the team, although they didn’t really have a lot of joint missions.

"...huh," Senia blinked, belatedly realizing that the man truly never rejected her being part of the team from the start, even while she was still the notorious fallen princess.

"Hey, hey, what about the one in the air?" Zhan pointed at the sky with his halberd.

With the tornadoes and the selective, precise quake stopping the advancing troops, the Fragments and Specters were now sending the airborne beasts; birds, bats, hybrids, and air Specters--anything that could avoid the ground.

"I’ll--"

"No, let the marksman do that," Gus held Senia’s raised hand. "You should maintain your mana and corrosion level since it’s going to be a long fight."

Senia pressed her lips. It was her chance to prove that she was useful and trustworthy, but--in the end, she relented with a grumble. "Ugh, fine..."

Gus smiled at the pouting princess and ruffled her hair. "Good girl."

"Stop that!"

While Gus was laughing beneath the shade of the sand dunes, Bassena stared at the black could of flapping wings on the horizon. He brought the microphone to his lips and spoke to the general channel. "Alright, the fragments are distracted for now. Archers and gunners on the ready."

Within their own hiding places, the sounds of clacking scopes and pulled strings filled the silence of the third lane.

"Only target the beasts," Bassena ordered. "Archers go first, gunners will take out the survivors."

Without any obstacle, the airborne creatures approached the third lane swiftly. Right before they entered the hundred-meter radius from the border, Bassena gave his signal.

"Fire."

In the manner of discipline that could rival the military, countless mana arrows were released from their bows, none crossing the others’ paths. They found their target swiftly, and the weakest spy-level blackbirds fell to the ground with screeching shrieks. The bigger beasts that were pierced staggered for a bit, but continued with their flight only to be met with a shower of mana bullets.

The dead bodies of the airborne troops started to pile up right outside the third land. Still, some of the bigger, stronger beasts managed to avoid the onslaught, ever parrying the barrage of projectiles with their innate barrier skill.

"Naoya, take over the marksman channel--eliminate the rest and give suppressing fire to the Specter," Bassena delegated the task and turned toward the approaching Specters. "Scout, identify the Specters; Kei, organize the magician’s attack based on the Specters’ characteristics."

"Yes, Commander."

With the hordes being halted and the advanced airborne troops nearly annihilated, the enemy was relying on the Specters to gain the upper hand. Naturally, Bassena wouldn’t let them. They needed to stall for time so their emergency measure would be ready, and the support could come before it was too late, so he couldn’t let the warriors advance right now.

Thankfully, they had rather marvelous magicians, including himself. Summoning his children of darkness to support the magicians, they managed to halt the Specter’s advance and kept the enemies on the fourth lane.

But this also made some of the fragments decide to move forward themselves.

"Gus, send Senia back here," Bassena frowned. If the spirits couldn’t distract them anymore, they better pull Senia to support the other magicians. "Take care of the fragment running toward the dungeon with Zhan."

[Roger that]

"Seems doable for now," Zein commented as he returned to Bassena’s side after giving instructions to the guides.

Soon, the marksmen would need guiding, and they had to get some while the warriors did their part. Afterward, it would be the warriors and the magicians, so the guides would have a tight schedule. Without proper management, no one would be able to guide later when the fight was at its height.

But at least, they looked like they had an upper hand for now.

"For now," Bassena muttered, eyes darted from the hordes to the Specters to the fragments. The battlefield ended up divided into several fights, and he had to keep tabs on everything. And yes--so far, they managed to get through it. No miasmic creature or fragment breached the third lane yet; the defenders and the warriors were still fresh and ready.

But Bassena couldn’t get rid of the churning in his stomach. Had the casualty in the mountain base affected him that badly?

He took a deep breath to steel his mind. "We do have an emergency button on our hand, but let’s just hope that--"

*Dziing*

Bassena froze as the sound of fleeting wind crossed the desert. The moment he looked up to see where the sound came from, however, it was too late.

CRASH!

The top of one of the Watchtowers flanking the third lane’s defense line exploded. Shattered glass and metals rained down on the defenders below, and the turret toppled to the side before crashing with a thunderous sound to the sandy ground. The silence filling the third land only made the scream of agony from the guard chamber echo louder in the vast desert.

For a few seconds, no one made a move. Even those who were in the middle of attacking stopped to stare at the crashing tower; frozen.

Wide-eyed and shaken, Zein parted his lips in a tremble. "What..."

"Where is that coming from?!" Bassena yelled despite his resolution to not lose his cool anymore, glaring at the horizon as he grasped Zein and jumped down to run toward the Watchtower.

[Is it a fragment?!] Kei’s voice, coming from the other, still intact Watchtower, was as shaken as Zein’s earlier.

"K, evacuate the Watchtower!" Bassena commanded hurriedly, before pointing at the nearby squad. "Support team one, asses the fallen watchtower right now! The rest of you, maintain formation!"

"Yessir!"

"Shin, to the tower!"

"On it!"

"Bas..."

Bassena stopped when the guide tapped his chest, letting the support team and Han Shin advance without them. He looked at Zein, but the guide was staring at the horizon instead, in the direction of their enemies. "What?" Bassena asked.

Instead of replying, the guide shifted his gaze from the enemy camp to the watchtower, almost painfully slowly, as if following a line.

"Zein, what?!"

"It’s not a fragment," Zein said almost dazedly.

"What? Then what is..."

Bassena didn’t need to wait long for an answer, because it had already shown itself. There, at the very back of the enemy force, lording over the troop, was a towering figure that gradually filled the sky like a sprouting mountain. In fact, they almost thought it was a mountain--only if a mountain had several glowing pale eyes staring at them like a judgment call.

"What the fuck is that..." Bassena whispered the same question that transpired in all of their minds.

Zein took a deep breath because it was the only way he had the wit to open his mouth.

"It’s the Fallen Star..."