There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 551 - 545. A Brutal Reception

Chapter 551: Chapter 545. A Brutal Reception

"Never thought I’d be unsheathing my sword in a wedding reception," Gus laughed while taking his sword out of the storage ring.

"How exciting!"

Perhaps due to the joyful occasion, Dheera didn’t even feel nervous this time despite the scary experience in the last war. But then again, it was hard to feel anxious with these many high-ranking espers and her Captain present.

In a trained manner, the ship Captain immediately returned to the control room while Bassena ordered the ship to keep going. Sierra immediately climbed the crow’s nest and Ron moved to the turret along with another crew. The berserker had already jumped to the front of the ship with a flaming blade, faster than anyone.

"It’s good to be energetic, but don’t forget to be careful," Gus patted the young guide’s head before turning to the front of the ship. "There, your Captain’s calling for you."

"Be safe too, Brother Gus!" Dheera saluted the moving swordsman with a laugh before running toward Zein and his bodyguards.

"You’re very close to her," Senia muttered while running next to Gus.

The swordsman laughed. "Well, she reminds me of my third sister--they’re around the same age."

"I’m the same age too..." Senia mumbled.

"Yes, you are," Gus smiled, flicking the girl’s nose. "Stay here and help me like before."

"Tsk--I know," the girl grumbled and climbed the short ladder to the viewing deck on top of the control cabin. Gus chuckled and jumped into the air, sending a flock of bird-shape wind pressure to slice the incoming giant wasp.

Meanwhile, Zein called out Dheera and Charlot to stay near him in the middle of the deck. It might look like a bad position, but it was a place that allowed Zein to guide everyone at the same time. Besides, it was easier for Senan to protect them in a spacious place.

"Cohen, go and make sure the newlyweds are protected."

"Understood," Cohen gripped his shield and moved with a little smile on his face. Just from that order alone, he could see how much the Patriarch treasured the two.

He glanced at Dheera who carefully put the bottles of wine and champagne inside the icebox, humming about how she should keep it safe for the newlyweds. Looking up at the sparks from Sierra’s mana bullets and the flash from the railgun Ron and a crew operated, they almost looked like deadly fireworks.

The anger he felt from the disturbance earlier turned into amusement. Just like the younger guide, Zein did not feel anxious--just annoyed that the celebration was delayed. But also...

Funnily enough, this kind of stuff was very fitting for a berserker’s party.

And that said berserker was busy fuming because his flame got snuffed by the beasts coming from the water. "Sir Vaski, please make me some foothold!"

In annoyance, the flaming berserker gave up on the beasts coming from the water and decided to target those jumping from the cliff and mounting the flying beasts. Bassena, whose role had been reduced to mere support, snapped his fingers to create several platforms in the sky.

"Much thanks!" the berserker, with a totally different kind of emotion than he used during the war, shone brightly as he jumped onto the platform and sliced a jumping devil ape.

Well, with a crew this good, Bassena didn’t need to do much against regular beasts.

Meanwhile, the underwater beasts were being taken care of by Gus. "Senia!" he called out to the elementalist before jumping off the ship. He heard a sharp grumbling sound, but a protective layer of air had already encased him before his body touched the water.

Yeah, Bassena could totally sit this one out. And he did, sitting on the viewing deck while giving general instructions and distributing stepping platforms. With Ron and Sierra managing the sky, Gus and Senia taking care of the water, and Agni annihilating everything in between, he had nothing much to do. The children of darkness patrolling around the ship had enough sentient and skill to get rid of those that managed to slip past the other espers without Bassena needing to control them.

One of those shadowy children even pulled a chair and patted Zein to take a sit while waiting for the battle to be over.

"Thanks," Zein patted the child-sized darkness that nuzzled his palm as its owner would.

Zein did not usually take a relaxing approach in a battle, but this one did feel relaxing. Everyone was within his detection sense, so he could guide them easily--even Gus who was underwater, and Sierra in the crow’s nest. No one needed Charlot’s service, and Dheera was sitting on top of the ice box to secure those bottles of celebration, humming with her forearm in front of her chest, and her other hand on her gun.

Relaxing.

Was it because they had been going through so much worse? Regular beast attacks like this just felt routine--like training, even. It was easy enough that they had no qualms about continuing the celebration after taking care of the beasts. Bassena showed his improved cooking skills, and Dheera took out the bottles she had been guarding. They even managed to sleep well that night, after activating the ship’s barrier and docking near one of the beacons they had set on the previous expedition.

"Kind of feels like a moving base, isn’t it?" Bassena grinned, drinking the after-party coffee on the viewing deck with Zein.

To make sure the others could celebrate to their heart’s content, Zein and Bassena only allowed themselves to have a glass so someone could still stay sober during the night watch. Thanks to that, while the other was sprawling in the dining cabin, the two had a nice, calm date on the viewing deck.

Although there was not much view to be seen.

It’d be quite perfect if they could see past the dark canopy above and peek at some stars, but then, it wouldn’t be a Deathzone.

"A wedding in the Deathzone," Bassena chuckled as he leaned against the railing, glancing at the guide beside him. "And you said there’s no love here."

"The ’love’ did not happen in the Deathzone, did it?" Zein shrugged, prompting Bassena to laugh.

The esper leaned his head against Zein’s shoulder, smiling. "That’s true--so I want to do it when this place is no longer a Deathzone. Something that you deserve," he said. "Besides, I’m sure those two would prefer to have it done outside if they have the option."

"Mm," Zein smiled and stroked the platinum hair on his shoulder. "I just thought you’d like to do it quickly."

"I want to do it quickly," Bassena closed his eyes. "But I want to do it right."

"So you want to get rid of the Deathzone quickly because you want to do it right?" Zein smirked. "How greedy."

Bassena laughed softly. Of course, saying he wanted to get rid of the Deathzone so he could tie the knot with Zein would make people smite him. But it was just one of the many motivations he had, and it helped him trudge forward even when he faced that clone and got ready for the future battle.

Well, for now though, he just wanted to savor the blessing of feeling Zein’s love in the middle of this accursed Deathzone.

But of course, it couldn’t be that relaxing all the time.

After fighting for quite some time while heading forward at full speed, the ship soon approached the last point they reached before; the delta. It was where the Fragment radar activated last time, and this time too, it started beeping.

"Seemed like it did not move away?" Bassena confirmed it with Gus.

"Seemed so...even though the last attack was clearly sent by this one," the swordsman rubbed his chin. "Why do you think, Commander? Is it stationary, or is it guarding something?"

"Well," finally, Bassena stood up after doing almost nothing the whole journey. "Only one way to figure it out."

This time, the ship went closer to the delta, and they could finally see a small island beyond that, where a hooded figure was rooted to the ground. From the eerie glowing eyes that glared at the ship, it was clear that the figure was still lively.

Bassena told the Captain to stop the ship before disappearing from the others’ sight, while Gus grabbed Senia’s hand and hopped through the protruding rocks and ice sleets that the elementalist made.

"Cohen, don’t let that uncle who forgets his age charge the Fragment," Zein sighed when he saw Agni preparing himself to jump off the ship.

"Yes, Young Master."

"Tsk--what’s that talk about trying not to die earlier, huh?" the guide shook his head in exasperation. "What about taking care of Ron?"

Dheers giggled as she watched Cohen grab the berserker’s coat and drag the sulking man back to the deck. "Captain Khan is fiery after all!"

Zein stared at the berserker’s flaming hair. "Literally."

Once again, the ship was filled with laughter--including the time when Ron came down from the turret and smacked his new husband’s head for being reckless again.

Hmm...it was still relaxing.

With a Saint-class and two five-stars, a single Fragment was not hard to subdue. The fight did seem to be fierce enough to destroy the small island, and there were several minion beasts attacking them again. But the island fight never reached the ship, and those on board were more than enough to get rid of regular beasts.

So, in the end...it still felt easy.

Perhaps they had become rather powerful? Zein hummed, recalling what Han Shin said playfully before.

If this is a game, we should all be leveling up after the war.

Well, it wasn’t a game, but they did seem to become stronger. If not physically, then mentally. Surviving such an ordeal, they knew more about their weakness and strong points. They were more familiar with the restrictions they felt in the Deathzone, and more importantly, they were less afraid of the creatures here--except for the damn Fallen Star.

And once that fear lessened, their body moved better, and their skill came out more powerful than before.

All in all, it was a good result.

With this lighthearted mindset, Zein destroyed the fragment that Bassena returned with, and flooded with a vision.

At the end of it, he was deathly pale and shivering, and they never showed him this terrified.

Not even Bassena.

No, this is not relaxing at all.

"It was eaten," Zein grabbed Bassena’s arms, trembling. The blue eyes were shaking as if they saw the world ending. "The shard...it was eaten."

Perhaps, he really saw the world ending.