There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 528 - 521. All Battlefield Are The Same

Chapter 528: Chapter 521. All Battlefield Are The Same

"Our first target is D-7, please prepare your position," Kei spoke to the speaker, instructing the assist team. "Do it well, Naoya."

[Have I ever not done well?]

Kei wanted to scoff at the archer, but they had no time for jest. She turned to another screen and tapped another channel. "They are preparing to shoot, Commander."

[Alright]

Right after she relayed it, a massive mana increase could be felt from the right side of the Fallen Star’s clone. A dozen giant stakes, each was enough to pierce an eye, appeared and hovered in the air. The sudden increase of mana pulled the frenzy clone’s attention and temporarily halted its movement, and the tentacles it used to move forward were lashing out toward the creator of the stakes.

Ah...it was truly an incredible show of power that made 5-stars even swell with envy.

But there was no leeway to admire it.

The espers were busy containing the rampaging fragments. Ashur, who was supposed to be part of the assist group had joined the fragment suppression force instead, taking turns with Gus and Zhan so the two espers could get their much-needed guiding. Four high-class guides had been assigned to take care of the five-star espers before, and it increased to six with Ashur joining the fray.

That left the other six guides hustling to care for the rest of the espers, which was not easy to say or do. Silva had meticulous management, but even she struggled to assign the guides.

They couldn’t whine, however, since Zein was taking care of everybody else by himself; the supports, the healers, the commands, those who weren’t a part of the fragment attack force--especially the assist group including Senia.

And that assist group was now positioning themselves on a dune. It was great that they had clear vantage points everywhere in the desert, so they didn’t have to take long to prepare.

"Tell me when," Senia said to Naoya, raising her hands that were surrounded by the tiny elemental spirits.

Naoya took a deep breath and pulled his bow, pouring more and more mana into it. A condensed arrow made of light attribute mana flickered across the bow before solidifying. Calmly, he muttered with sharp eyes on the target.

"Taking D-7," he muttered. "Three...two..."

Senia pulled her arm back and made a throwing pose while the spirits hunched themselves like a ball in her hand.

"One."

As the arrow of light left the bow, Senia threw the spirits. The tiny creatures wrapped themselves around the arrow, circling it and making it bigger, faster, denser--electricity crackled around the arrow, and it was as if horizontal lighting shot across the sand until it found its target.

STAB!

One second, the clone was busy defending itself against a dozen dark stakes and assaulting the black scale esper, and in the next second, its left side was hit by a searing needle.

The arrow was tiny compared to the house-sized eyes, but the crackling electricity blazed, turning into searing white flames that consumed the whole eye.

Khieeeeekhh!

It screamed and howled at the new painful sensation. The dark stake was painful and destructive, but it only felt the pain for two seconds before it turned into frustration. This one was different.

This one persisted for a long time; more than two seconds, more than five seconds, and it still continued even after the tenth count. The flame burned like a vengeance, clinging persistently and refusing to stop even though the clone was attacking it with its energy. But the flame was very much alive, dodging the energy attack while eating away the eye.

While the clone was distracted by the flame, it forgot about the dark stakes still hovering on the other side. Bassena did not waste the chance and flung the remaining four stakes to four eyes on the left side.

For a few seconds, rather than growling in anger, it fell silent; with white flames roaring from one eye and four stakes sticking out of another four. Its nine working eyes were blown wide, shaking, staring at the other side of the desert; at the shining crystal and the human bearing the power of its slayer.

And then, it screamed.

A furious, blood-curdling, bone-chilling scream rang through the desert, so much so that the people in the main base, and the Borderland Unit rushing through the Deathzone could hear it.

"What the fuck is that?" Agni looked up, even though there was nothing he could see but the dark canopy.

He never heard that kind of sound before, or knew any creature that could produce such a powerful roar. He was also sure the fragment thing that Ron told him was not of this caliber.

"Hurry up," he knocked on the hood and turned toward his subordinate. "Get ready to move right away."

The driver gripped the wheel and pushed the vehicle even faster. It didn’t matter even if it broke down right after, as long as they could reach the battlefield as quickly as possible. They didn’t even turn to look as they passed the closed gate of the quiet main base, just staring forward at the path leading to the desert.

The eerie sound stopped after a few seconds, but it resounded again a few minutes later. It gave them a bit of relief since it was a sign that the battle was still ongoing; that there was still hope. The humvee was quiet as they flew through the jungle and the canyon, holding their breath for anything they would witness once they passed the tall cliffs.

Surprisingly, as they approached the exit of the canyon, they saw light. It gave the same sense of light as the one hovering on top of the main base. Agni stood up, making sure he would be able to see the desert clearly once they took the last turn and...

That was when they saw it; the source of the furious roar.

The gargantuan creature that seemed to be consisted of only eyes and tentacles. It was trashing and wildling, and Agni reckoned it had something to do with the two white flames eating its left side and seven stakes jutting out of its right side.

"Holy shit--what in the devil’s name is that thing?"

"Are we going to face that, Captain?"

"Let’s just go over first," Agni narrowed his eyes to focus his mana there, trying to see what happened on the third lane. "They are fighting down there too."

The driver nodded and pushed a button to change the vehicle mode, allowing it to drive through the sand smoothly. When they reached the second lane, Agni and the other personnel jumped down and ran toward the third lane, using any movement skill they had in store. Even before they reached the command base, they could already hear the various shouting.

"Preparing for B-8 now, preparing for B-8 now," Kei spoke to a channel.

"Incoming from C-3."

"Barrier to MH924659! Julian, get the other tanks there! Iore, deploy your barrier!" Kei barked to another channel. "Gus, Number 5 is trying to break through!"

"Ah, fuck--can’t you let me heal first?!"

"I’ll guide you so go!"

The Captain finally heard Zein’s voice and immediately ran there, greeted by the guide’s shouting.

"Kei, it’s getting hard containing the fragments!"

"Just five more! Five more eyes! They’re on a mana regen break right now!"

Running toward the command base, Agni had no idea where to look; the thrashing mass of eyes and tentacles; the commanding scout surrounded by five hovering screens; the fierce fight between the espers and three fragments; a shining barrier surrounding a rattling chest and two cracking tubes; or at the aid and guide station filled with at least a dozen of injured espers. The guides were out in the field guiding since the espers had no leeway to step back, and Zein had both of his arms stretched as he guided five people at once.

And the sounds--the sounds were intense. The frustrated scream of the giant creature, the furious shrieks of the fragments, the shouts and yells of the fighting espers, as well as the painful groans from the injured...

While Agni used to be a soldier, there was no ’war’ in this continent, not exactly. They did not fight other nations, since each of their country was busy fighting the miasmic beasts. The military was essentially just a guild owned by the government, to be used for dungeon raids and cleanup during outbreaks--all with lower pay rates but guaranteed pensions.

During his training days, however, Agni had watched video archives of what transpired during the early day, when humans still had to fight to take their territory from the encroaching miasmic beasts. Those were the days when enemies were abundant and humanity still tried to figure out how things worked, with minimal technology on their side.

There was also a recording he kept playing over and over again for a few months before his ’betrayal’ that led to his punishment here; the recording of a massive outbreak in the middle of a city, filled with pained cries and growling creatures. Broken debris and weapons strewn about, and desperate soldiers trying to salvage the situation while the one who caused it sat inside the military fortress as if they knew nothing.

The sky was different, the creatures were different. The time, the cause, and the way things unfolded were different.

But the screams and the wails and the blood...they were all the same.