There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 523 - 516. Weight of a Commander

Chapter 523: Chapter 516. Weight of a Commander

Sweeping his gaze across the field, Bassena could see the rest of the airborne beasts had been taken care of. Some of the Specters had been felled, and the marksmen were in the middle of guiding.

Everything seemed to be fine right now, but with that looming presence of the titan and the invisible ray of death, Bassena didn’t think they should spend their time leisurely picking on those creatures one by one. The longer they spent on the battlefield, the more they would have to face the clone’s attack; and even though they could prevent more destruction thanks to Zein, it took a chunk of their defensive force to do so.

Not to mention...

He glanced at the guides who were running around between the marksmen and the magicians.

Yeah. Battle of attrition was not in their favor. Even if there was a looming shard on top of them--which they did not have, fortunately--the corrosion from skill usage would still pile up.

And so, they had to move fast while they still had the advantage. Who knew what the Fallen Star would do once it realized the attack couldn’t get through?

"Cease the spirits now," Bassena ordered, and Senia raised her hands obediently. Her eyes glowed and in the distance, the tornadoes started to wane until they scattered.

The tiny spirits rushed back toward Senia, but to Bassena’s order, she made them go round and zig-zagging instead of flying straight. The fragments, by instinct, chase them like cats chasing blinking lights, and Bassena used the chance to asses each fragment and calculated how many espers were needed for each one.

"All personnel, regroup!" he ordered through the speaker.

Except for those who were in charge of defending against the clone’s attack, the espers moved to make their own squad; each with at least a defender and a marksman, along with a support and a few warriors--just like how they did in a normal dungeon raid.

"Listen up; I’m going to give you your target!"

Within the time provided by the elemental spirits’ distraction, Bassena divided the raid squad and assigned them to each Fragment. Once the fragments entered the border of the third lane, the spirits spread and the fragments split. Immediately, the squads moved out to meet their own target and the battlefield flared up in full swing.

Meanwhile, the first fragment battle--which had happened before the clone’s appearance--finally came to an end. Gus and Zhan rushed back to the command base to deliver the fragment’s core. Unfortunately, it was impossible for Zein to destroy it right away, so all they could do was store it inside a reinforced tube and again, put the tube inside a sealed, reinforced metal box. From the look of it, they would have more fragments in hand later on, and there was no way Zein could get rid of all of them on top of guiding, so they had no choice but to rely on the storage method.

While receiving healing and cleansing, Bassena delegated the same task as Senia to the two warriors. They had finally climbed the fifth floor of the tower during the lull in the operation, and just like Senia, they would have enough prowess to whittle and suppress the fragment’s material body once they were weakened enough.

"You can do it, can’t you?"

"Is that a question?" Zhan grinned, smacking the butt of his halberd on the ground.

"Asses the battlefield yourself and make sound judgment," Bassena said before glancing toward the back of the lane. "The hunting team is here."

The second and fourth hunting squads, which had been away during the ambush, had finally returned. Mainly consisted of the Iron Shield and a few private mercenary individuals, the teams reported back to Zein.

"Young Master," Cohen bowed his head, looking surprisingly tattered. "We encountered two fragments near the southwestern border."

"Must be a split from the plains."

"Damn--they are really attacking us from all sides," Gus chuckled wryly.

Zein glanced at the guides accompanying both teams, who looked like they needed some sleep. "You alright, Heidi?"

"Just need...some rest, Captain..."

"Silva, send me two guides for hunting teams Two and Four," Zein spoke to the guide’s channel.

[Yes, Captain]

"After you receive a cleansing, I want the fourth team to spread out and guard the guides," Bassena wasted no time in giving them more tasks. On the battlefield, no one got real rest until it was over. "Second team--"

"Sir, I would like permission to guard the patriarch," Cohen raised his hand. "Considering the Head is not here, it is my duty to take his place in this situation. I will delegate the team’s leadership to my deputy."

Senan, unfortunately, was back in the higher zone to attend his daughter’s wedding. The old man almost didn’t want to attend, and his daughter also said he didn’t have to--but naturally, Zein threatened the old man to go. Well, who would have thought the attack happened exactly during his absence?

Zein was glad, however. If the worst should happen and Senan ended up not being able to see his daughter for the last time because of it...he would never be able to forgive himself.

"Granted," Bassena agreed without hesitation. With him having to face the clone, he could only trust Cohen to guard Zein at that point.

Especially--

"Incoming," Zein announced through the defense channel, and just like before, tapped on a point in the line of fire.

The many shimmering mana shields and barriers materialized in the air; this time less than a hundred meters in front of Zein.

--because Bassena knew the clone would try to attack Zein eventually.

"What is..." Cohen and the rest of the hunting team members widened their eyes as they watched the shields shattered layer by layer.

"It’s that many eyes over there," Bassena pointed at the titan who was slightly obscured by black fog again. "It’ll shoot some kind of energy beam in intervals."

[It’s once every half an hour] Kei announced through the earpiece.

"The blinking eyes..." Zein added.

"Yes, It attacked where the blinking eyes were looking at," Bassena nodded. "But it happened in a split second, so without Zein’s trajectory reading, it’ll be almost impossible to defend against."

Cohen frowned and immediately shifted his shield to the front, covering Zein from the chest below while the patriarch himself started to guide him.

So, It had started to target Zein, if not all of the guides. Bassena could no longer prolong this war, nor stall time for support from the Borderland.

"I’m going to try attacking," he decided, clenching and unclenching his fists in preparation.

Those who heard him stopped in their track and turned to look at him. It wasn’t weird for Bassena to take the frontline, since he had always done it before. But this one was different. It was a war, and in the absence of Radia’s command, they relied on Bassena’s.

[Commander...]

Of course, they knew Bassena would have to enter the battlefield eventually, especially to face that titan. But for them, it was just too early.

"I have to shift its attention and get rid of the rest of the horde while at it," Bassen said, ignoring the voice of disapproval. "I’m going to attack the clone right after its next attack--it should be the perfect opportunity."

Each attack happened by compressing energy into a single point before releasing it. Naturally, right after the attack, there would be almost no energy as the clone was charging and focusing its energy for the next attack. And if the clone decided to use the energy to face Bassena instead, it would mean preventing another energy beam.

It was worth the risk, and Bassena really didn’t want to drag the battle to the point of exhausting the guides and the healers or worse; to the point where there would be more fatal casualties.

"We have to do it anyway," he took a deep breath and steeled his eyes. "Better now that I’m still clean."

Kei, who had finally arrived at the command base, nodded. "Alright," as usual, in Bassena’s place, she would have to organize the charge. "You may leave the rearguard to us, Commander."

For the frontline, there was no better assurance than knowing they didn’t have to worry about their back.

"I’ll protect the patriarch with my life," Cohen nodded, and Bassena patted his shoulder in response.

"Bas," Zein looked at the amber eyes, watching all the anxiety, conviction, and confidence swirling into one. "It’s a marathon."

Bassena almost burst out laughing as the guide repeated Radia’s words. Of course, he remembered that. He would remember that as he charged later, that they didn’t have to win.

They just had to survive.

"I’ll remember that," he smiled before kicking off the ground and jumping up.

As if woken up by his kick, the darkness over the black desert rose up. Stakes upon stakes materialized and flew to the sky, turning and churning above the third lane like a giant deadly canopy. Creaking and hissing sounds from the joining stakes made it seem like a living, shrieking creature as it rushed toward the edge of the third lane and dove into the marching horde, shredding them to pieces like a second wake of the tornadoes.

Watching the rampaging giant serpent and the lone man riding its head, Senia pursed her lips in wonder.

"Would it be possible for me to ride the tornado?"