There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 556 - 550. Star Excursion

Chapter 556: Chapter 550. Star Excursion

"I’m surprised Radia let you do this," Zein glanced at the ex-soldier as they walked across the meadow inside the dungeon.

"Our first big fight since getting married," Han Joon smiled deeply with a mischievous spark in his eyes, as if enjoying the memory of their screaming match--although Zein had a feeling it might be the make-up sex after the man was recalling about. "It was quite flavorful."

Zein gave the man a side eye, and Han Joon chuckled in response. "No one slicing anything this time, don’t worry."

"That’s not what I’m worried about."

"It’s alright," Han Joon smiled fondly. "My darling knows how to separate what he wants and what he needs to do."

"I really can’t get used to you calling him that," Bassena shuddered slightly.

"Sure, baby."

Ugh--Bassena groaned. Han Joon was even harder to face when he no longer hiding behind his prim and proper act.

"Hmm...I thought you were calling him Dee from Ra’dee’a but it’s actually from ’darling’?" Han Shin tilted his head. Contrary to Bassena, he had no qualms about his brother using pet names and such--it was just awkward seeing the stoic man he knew turn into this easygoing lover boy.

"Why not both?" Han Joon shrugged, patting his little brother’s head. Han Shin giggled--at this moment, he didn’t even mind if worm creatures surfaced.

No--it still better if they stayed in their place. It still better if they were all dead.

He shuddered at his own thoughts and shifted his focus to the tiny flying creatures that came out once in a while. Not all elemental spirits followed Senia; some stayed inside the dungeon to keep it going. Otherwise, it would turn into a barren land and disappear.

"Zein, can these spirits guide us?" Han Shin asked. "They should recognize the Fallen Star’s trace, right?"

"Hmm...maybe?" Zein glanced at Bassena.

Initially, they would try to use the dungeon core to identify the Fallen Star’s hiding place. But taking out a dungeon core for too long posed a risk of unstabilizing the dungeon, so they would need to return the dungeon core every day. That would make the journey too long, however, so they thought of just going in blind. The Fallen Star’s trace should be pretty strong anyway--or so they thought.

But it wasn’t a bad idea to have a real guide if they could. The problem was...

"I don’t know how to talk to them," Zein looked up. He could talk to the shards, but elemental spirits were out of his expertise.

"Hngg~"

"I can try," the support magician from House Mallarc, Eleanor, spoke from the back. "I have an artifact that allows me to understand spirits."

They stopped to look at her, and when Jock exclaimed softly, Han Joon smirked. "Did my darling prepare it?"

"Yes, Master Joon."

"So, it belongs to House Mallarc?" Bassena chuckled. So much for acting sulky.

Well, actually, it made sense that Radia would do even more to make sure the operation concluded quickly. Now that they poured everything they had, prolonging it was just a waste of resources. Even if he had to dig into his family’s treasure.

"In that case, please proceed," Bassena nodded.

They resumed their walk to where the dungeon core was. Time had passed since the first liberation, and the environment inside the dungeon had become better. The lake was fully filled with fresh water, so the core looked like it was hovering above the water’s surface.

When Bassena approached the small lake, however, a section of the water churned and parted; a stripe of the lake floor raised and made a bridge to the small island where the core was.

"So it does recognize you as the Master," Han Shin chuckled. "After being beaten up so much."

"Sounds familiar," Zein muttered with a smile.

While Bassena grumbled inaudibly, Eleanor took out the artifact Radia gave her; something like a small flute made of wood carved with runes. She played it, and the elemental spirits flying around the lake stirred, gradually flying closer in curiosity. Eleanor opened her mouth, but what came out wasn’t something that the others could understand.

"Is that spirit speech?" Ashur stroked his chin. "How fascinating. Can it be used by anyone?"

"No," Jock shook his head. "As you know, some artifacts need compatibility with the user," he explained, smiling as he looked at the support magician. "This one, if I recall correctly, needs someone who uses druid magic."

"Ah..."

Soon, Eleanor finished conversing with the spirits, and one of them hovered toward the waiting group. Even before Eleanor gave any introduction, they could see that this spirit was a special one. It glowed brighter than other spirits, and instead of a single color, it glowed in a beautiful rainbow hue. Her wings were large and elaborate, and if someone were to look at her from afar, she would appear like a fluorescent butterfly.

"This is the Spirit Queen," Eleanor gestured politely toward the spirit, who promptly flew in Bassena’s direction and touched the esper’s forehead while murmuring something.

Naturally, only Eleanor knew what the Queen was talking about.

"She would like to thank you for liberating this place," the support magician explained. "As such, she would help you find the trace of the entity that had caused her kin misery."

"Ah, thank you," Bassena gave a charming smile he always used for his TV persona--even gave a little curtsy for a bonus, which made the Queen let out a giggling sound.

A pair of blue eyes narrowed. "Hmm..."

Han Shin grinned and poked the guide’s arm. "Are you jealous?" he whispered.

"I don’t like that smile," Zein replied dryly.

"Because you’re jealous~" the healer giggled. It was rare to find a chance to tease the guide, since he was always composed. It seemed like the guide never got flustered, so Han Shin was rather curious to see it.

Unfortunately for him, Zein did not get flustered this time too.

"...maybe?" the guide muttered.

"Huh?"

Han Joon flicked the blinking healer’s forehead lightly. "Stop teasing him, Shin."

"Ugh...sorry..."

Zein chuckled at how fast the healer folded in front of his older brother--just like Bassena, really. And probably Radia too?

...huh. Stunned, Zein just realized that the true owner of Trinity might be someone who, by law, couldn’t even join the guild.

* * *

"So this is the corridor you were talking about..." Ashur looked around the vast darkness sprinkled with glittering stars. It was a strange feeling to stand as if there was solid ground beneath them, even though it was only void all around. He stretched his arm to feel a bouncy wall, almost like a mana barrier, on the side. "I see now why you called it corridor."

The path was invisible, but once they got used to it, they could see a narrow passage. Once they walked along the path, they also found many distorted spaces akin to dungeon gates along the walls.

"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" Han Shin grinned. It was his second time there, so he could properly appreciate the glittering stars. "Isn’t this what those ancient texts said about the space outside our planets? It’s where the Celestial Being resides, apparently..."

"Is that why those people in the Western Republic want to go to this...outer space?" Ashur tilted his head. "Because they want to get closer to the Celestial Being?"

"Hey, that might be it!" Han Shin snapped his fingers. "I mean...why else would you want to go?"

"To enjoy this scenery?" Jock shrugged. "As you said, it’s rather pretty."

"Hmm..."

Bassena glanced at the light-hearted discussion, smiling to himself. Honestly, it got boring for him after a few minutes--perhaps because he had been used to a sea and space of darkness for twenty years. But he was glad that the team found something to humor themselves within this dreary expedition.

That being said, the conversation dwindled after they walked for ten minutes; only Han Shin and Eleanor still exchanging theories with each other.

"It’s further than the one we entered before," Zein said quietly beside Bassena.

"That one shouldn’t be too far from our entrance point, maybe just outside that field of fog," replied Bassena. "I remember it being inside a forest."

"But it wasn’t littered with fog, was it?"

"No," Bassena stroked his chin. "So it’s either another forest, or the fog was a new phenomenon," he paused, before adding after taking a deep breath. "I hope it’s the latter."

Zein nodded silently in agreement. If it was a new phenomenon, then their theory about it coming from a source like the shard might be true. In that case, they might be able to get rid of the fog in the end.

As they mused about it, the Spirit Queen who had been sitting on Bassena’s shoulder suddenly pulled on the esper’s cheek, pointing in a direction.

"Do you find it?" Bassena’s exclaim stopped the conversation in the back and shifted the others’ attention. They hurriedly followed the Queen, turning into a smaller corridor.

"I think we’ll get lost without any guidance," Jock glanced back, trying to place a marker spell to no avail. "I can’t use any detection point."

"Long live the Queen, then!" Han Shin chuckled before the group abruptly halted at the Queen’s discretion.

She let go of Bassena and flew cautiously toward an inconspicuous-looking gate. She hovered in front of the swirling space, and for a few seconds, the group was holding their breath in anticipation. Finally, the Queen hovered back toward Bassena and spoke excitedly in spirit speech.

"It smells bad in there--was what the Queen said," Eleanor interpreted.

Pfft--Han Shin couldn’t hold back his giggle. But the smile on his face withered when Han Joon stepped forward and stretched to get ready.

"Alright," the ex-soldier creaked his neck and fixed his glove. "It’s my turn."

"Don’t go deep," Bassena warned the man. "Just stay near the exit--doesn’t matter if you can’t see or feel it."

"Understood," Han Joon closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, they saw the firm look of a model soldier they used to see. "I’m going in."

Right after he said it, the man’s presence vanished. They flinched; Han Joon was still there, they could see him with their eyes, and yet...they couldn’t feel anything else--no mana, no temperature, nothing. It was as if the man was an illusion, a mirage, or just a cardboard-printed picture plastered on the wall.

And then he stepped forward, swallowed by the gate; truly vanishing from their sight and senses.

Even Jock was swallowing in nervousness. "That’s...something," he muttered.

No wonder his colleagues couldn’t detect this man visiting their Young Master at all for years.

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