There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 562 - 556. Into the Void

Chapter 562: Chapter 556. Into the Void

"This is..."

"It is, isn’t it?"

The dungeon team stared at the stretch of thick darkness in front of them; the field of fog. Aside from singling the Fallen Star’s dungeon, it was another one of their main objectives.

After cleaning up the fourth dungeon, they found out that the dungeon was located in the middle of the canyon that Jock had seen on their first night. Nestled between two imposing giant rocks, it was not visible from where the esper had seen it before. But it was the first time they managed to make the connection between the two dungeons’ locations, and they were glad to be able to integrate the map.

They did not immediately find the field of fog, however. They climbed the rocks and decided to make a camp and rest so Zein could guide everyone without burdening himself. The next day, they traveled from rock to rock instead of using the ground path, while making a map of the canyon.

It was when they almost reached the end did they saw the grey meadow outside of the canyon, and what seemed to be an obscured horizon was actually the field of fog they had been looking for.

"Phew...we finally found it, but..." Bassena swept his gaze across the line of darkness. "It doesn’t seem like they made it across yet."

"It seems to get harder the further they go," Jock said. "And there’s no guarantee that it’s really only two hundred meters across."

"You’re right," Bassena nodded. "It could be an illusion to trick us into thinking it’s not that far and pushing further without stopping."

"Mm."

The others gave their agreement. Of course, it had only been a few days since they started to split up the operation, so the lack of progress was understandable.

"In that case...we should wait, right?" Han Shin asked.

"We should," Bassena nodded. "We need to establish the path as soon as possible. That way, even if we can’t get rid of the source, there will be enough time to devise a crossing plan."

"We also need to give them the map to that canyon," Jock added. "Or...should we look for a different path?"

"It’s always good to have many alternatives," Han Joon said. "Should we split? I don’t think you’ll need everyone to figure out the fog field."

Bassena nodded. He only meant to send one person inside anyway, most likely himself. Sending more would just be a burden to Zein. "Then, you can go with Jock and Ashur."

Han Joon smiled and patted Bassena’s shoulder, before walking away with the two appointed espers.

"Now," after watching the three disappear from sight, Bassena turned toward the fog again. "What should we do with this?"

Entering the field was one thing, but they couldn’t just enter from anywhere on this side. They needed to match with the other side’s location if they wanted to meet Naoya’s team halfway. But it was such a long line, at least one kilometer long. How could they pinpoint a ten to twenty-meter section from the thousands available?

"Can’t we calculate it based on the other’s side location in the desert?" Han Shin stroked his chin. "It should be the same length whether it is here or there, so if we calculate it...perhaps not the exact place, but the difference should only be a hundred meters at most."

Bassena raised his brow. "Can you calculate that?"

Han Shin, who was already fiddling with his commlink, just replied briefly. "I’m doing it."

Bassena smirked and ruffled the healer’s hair. "Heh--you’re useful for things like this."

"Fuck--I’m useful for many things--get away!"

While the two childhood friends had their lovely spat, Zein stepped closer to the fog. Naturally, Cohen prevented him from advancing. "Young Master, you can’t get closer," the man frowned and said with a firm tone.

Bassena immediately left Han Shin. "What? Why are you going here?"

"I want to test something," Zein said, raising his hands to pacify his bodyguards. "Don’t worry. I’m not going to go inside."

To not make them doubt him more, Zein pointed to his sealed storage ring. Bassena blinked and exclaimed softly, before stepping back to make room for the shy shard.

"I was wondering if we could use the shard to provide a barrier," Zein said. "This child is very good at managing energy, so perhaps..."

"Does that mean you’re going inside, Young Master?" Cohen frowned, and Zein shook his head immediately before Bassena could say something too.

"No, it doesn’t have to be me," Zein said. Honestly, he wanted to; but seeing those two’s expressions, Zein decided to respect their concern. "Bas, you do it."

"...ah," belatedly, Bassena recalled the ’experiment’ they did inside the cavern. The shard didn’t mind being around those with Celestial stigma.

But first, Zein had to see if the shard could withstand the harsh miasma fog.

Convincing the timid child was not easy. It was cautious and fearful by nature, and Zein had to speak extra gently, promising that he wouldn’t push the shard too much. Even when the child finally agreed, it didn’t like the fact that Zein wouldn’t be there. Still, at least, it did not reject Bassena.

At first, the regular light that the shard gave out didn’t do much. Indeed, the thickness of the miasma fog was lessening--but new fog filled the space as if it wanted to fight the shard.

"Can’t you condense the energy field? It’s fine to have it as big as a person only," Zein asked the shard, who was whining that it was too scary.

Thankfully, the shard was still willing to follow Zein’s request, and a barrier formed around Bassena, who held the shard. They tried it for a bit at the edge of the forest, and after staying still for half a minute, Bassena gave an okay sign.

Meanwhile, Han Shin was also done with his calculation based on Naoya’s team’s last report they had before going to the dungeon. "I sent the approximate location to your link," he told Bassena. "Shall we go? We need to walk a bit further."

"Let’s," Basena nodded, and the shard turned off the energy field.

They walked along the field for about six hundred meters, where Han Shin nodded after checking his calculation once again. "Alright, I think it’s around here. If we can’t find it, we’ll broaden the scope around ten meters to each side."

"What time is it on the other side?"

Thanks to the time dilation in the star corridor and the dungeon, they had to keep recalculating time because their commlink could not keep up. There would be no point in making their way through the fog field if the team on the other side was on their break.

"It should be a bit after lunch there," Han Shin checked the note he made.

"Good timing," Bassena muttered. "Install a beacon for now."

"Oh, are we trying to contact them too?"

"Of course. We should try to see if the beacon could penetrate the fog. It’s not exactly ’solid’ like the ground," Bassena shrugged while Zein was talking to the shard again. "Should I bring rope?"

"Yeah," Zein nodded. "Let’s just be extra cautious. Just go slowly and make notes of as many things as you can."

Bassena looked down at the restless shard, who still obediently put a strong energy shield around him. "Do you think this one can sense where the source is?"

"Maybe? We can try later," Zein shrugged, and then added before Bassena moved away. "Don’t forget to monitor your corrosion level."

"Roger that," Bassena grinned and placed the end of a rope in Zein’s hand. "Hold my lifeline."

"No way," Zein scoffed. "I’ll tie it to that boulder."

Bassena’s laughter echoed briefly after he disappeared into the void.

For a while, Zein could vaguely see the light coming from the energy field, like a torchlight beneath a blanket. Slowly, the light grew smaller and thinner until the thick darkness covered his view again.

Whoo...Zein took a deep breath and clutched the rope for a while, before going into a big boulder taller than him. He tied the rope together with Cohen, while Eleanor helped Han Shin install the beacon.

"Should we install the purification device too?" Han Shin asked Zein while working on the beacon. "We might need to wait still, so isn’t it better to set a camp?"

"Sure," Zein nodded. Even if they found the other team, they were also planning to look for the source since they had an excellent shard with them.

With Zein’s approval, they proceeded to build the camp while waiting for the beacon to finish its self-activation. In the middle of their busy construction, the three pathfinders came back. They did not comment on the camp, since they had expected to stay there for a while--but they were intrigued that Zein was also building the camp instead of waiting for Bassena on the edge of the field.

"Is Bas inside already?" Han Joon asked curiously. "How long has it been?"

Zein looked at Han Shin, who checked on his commlink. "About thirty minutes?"

"What?!" Ashur widened his eyes; especially since Zein looked relaxed.

"He’s not alone," Zein smiled behind his mask and stood up, looking at the field.

"What do you mean he’s not--"

Before Ashur could finish his words, a loud rustling sound could be heard from the field. A flash of light emerged from the darkness, and Bassena ran out of the field of darkness with a shard in one hand, and an esper in another.

Indeed, he was not alone.

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