There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 577 - 571. Rampaging Force

Chapter 577: Chapter 571. Rampaging Force

Han Joon stepped out of the fog with Dean just as the field of fog started to rampage. He felt the heightening pressure and jumped out of the field just in time.

"What the actual hell..."

The rest of the operation members watched in dread as the thinning fog churned and swirled into one single point in the sky, before rushing toward the ruin. The storm inside the black shard had materialized in the outside as the field of fog shrunk into a deadly tornado pointing at the ruin.

"Not in my watch!" Tian Yu stomped his feet on the ground, and a dome with one hundred and eight layers circled the black shard chamber, clashing against the rushing tornado. The leftover miasma inside that dome was getting obliterated by the slithering snakes of darkness from Bassena’s shadow.

In the center of that dome, a triangle of light shone brightly as another battle was raging inside the shard; a silent battle that could only be felt through the vibration of the three shards. Zein, gripping the shard tightly, flooded the entire world with soothing water that chased the rampaging miasma.

He struck the attacking miasma and absorbed the weakened part, immediately turning the absorbed part into mana to strengthen the staff and the field of sanctuary around them. Slowly, as the world inside the shard was filled with water, the blackened surface crumbled. The painful scream and cry that filled the world turned into a fighting shout filled with anger.

"That’s right," Zein gripped the shard tight. "You fight too."

The black shard vibrated strongly as if shouting its battle cry, and the two shards responded with an even stronger vibration. The light shining from the triangle beamed out strong enough to push through the thick miasma, stretching out to the sky like a beacon.

But it wasn’t just the shards who sent their battle cry--the miasma was rampaging even more as if it was their last struggle. Indeed, Zein would make it to be their last struggle.

"Aaagh!"

Digging every experience he had for the past two decades, Zein’s water crashed into the rest of the miasma rushing into the core. Like an open dam, he poured every blessing and Celestial power he had to clean the shard, ending the twelve years-long misery.

Khieeee!

The shriek of the rampaging tornado was akin to the desperate cry of a monster on its last breath. Might as well. The moment Zein flooded the shard’s core with his soothing water, the light formed by the combined might of three angry shards exploded kilometers away.

The espers and guides closed their eyes as the light of purification washed over them; washed over the miasmic tornado and the persistent poodles of tars over the fifth lane; washed over the obstacle that had been plaguing them for weeks and months.

But most importantly, washed over the pain and misery of the poor shard.

Zein slumped into Bassena’s arms, who quickly caught the guide before he hit the floor. All of Zein’s attention, however, was on the shard in front of him, who was shivering in his arms and sobbing in his head--this time not in pain but in relief. The two shards rushed over and tried to console the crying shard, and Zein leaned back against Bassena’s sturdy chest in relief.

"Haa...we did it."

"You did it," Bassena wiped the guide’s drenched forehead, planting a soft kiss on top of the black hair. "You’re the best."

Zein chuckled softly for a start before gradually turning it into full-blown laughter. He was out of energy, and his mental capacity was almost at his limit. Elena’s bracelet was completely black, and the white staff had returned to his wrist. He didn’t think he could move at all, probably until the next day, but he was satisfied. His laughter, ringing beautifully through his mask, could be heard by the people who approached the now-purified area.

"I don’t think I ever heard you laughing that nicely before," Radia chuckled as he stepped into the chamber. Well, it was a chamber before, but it became more like an open amphitheater after the fog cleared.

"It used to be my privilege," Bassena muttered childishly, but Zein just laughed even more.

It was only purifying one shard on the verge of corruption, but he felt like he was winning already.

No--it was indeed a victory. The one who caused the shard to get corrupted by the miasma was the Fallen Star after all, so canceling that meant a victory for them. "Another victory," he smiled widely behind his mask.

"You’re right," even Radia looked up to the dark sky and allowed himself a wide smile he had never done before. "It’s another victory."

"I did nothing but...I can’t lie that I feel happy," the old man Tian Yu laughed too, filling the ruin and the forest with a boisterous sound.

"Don’t say that, Sir. It’s thanks to your presence that we can do our job with more ease," Naoya, who had grown rather close with the old man, said with a smile.

While Tian Yu laughed and patted the archer on the back, someone was running toward Zein and hugged him excitedly. "Captain! You’re so cool!"

"Heh--you didn’t even see me," Zein scoffed while Bassena was prying the girl away from Zein, hugging the guide for himself.

Dheera stuck her lower lip out toward Bassena before replying to Zein. "I heard enough from the others," she grinned. "Didn’t you basically take care of more than half of it, Captain?"

"I didn’t keep score," Zein just shrugged; he was too tired to argue, but also too happy to stay silent. "How’s the other?"

"They’re fine, none of them had burnout," Dheera replied readily, knowing that Zein would ask about it. "But going through the fog without the barrier exhausts them, so they said they just want to sleep until tomorrow."

Zein nodded; he had already expected that outcome. It was enough that they all turned out fine with no burnout or trauma. Even the shard had stopped sobbing, perhaps because everyone had been smiling and laughing. It was now lying in Zein’s lap like an exhausted child getting ready to sleep.

"You can sleep," Zein stroked the shard’s surface, which was now a pristine white. "You’ve done well to hold up until now, so...you can have some rest."

The two shards hovered close to the shard in Zein’s lap and let out soft vibrations as if singing a lullaby to the new addition to the family, and not long after, the purified shard lay motionless on the guide’s lap. Slowly and carefully, Zein put the sleeping shard inside his sealed ring, and the shard from the cavern followed as if to babysit the new kid.

"Just two left," Zein exhaled softly. "And one to rescue."

The cliff shard nuzzled Zein’s cheek lightly; both to thank the guide’s effort and a consolation.

"Yeah, it’s doable," Zein nodded, and the shard vibrated slightly. "What? You’re sure?"

"What is it?" Radia asked curiously.

Zein blinked his eyes slowly, before replying in a daze. "It seems like...there’s one in the sea?"

"Oh?"

The nearest espers immediately shifted their attention back to Zein, who continued to listen to the shard. "Umm...underwater?"

Radia turned toward Ashur, who immediately sent a message to his deputy, Iore, who was in charge of the castle base. The Castle, as the base closest to the river, was the main channel of communication with the ship group. It was a mobile fortress, so the communication took time since it had to go through so many beacons. Still, reports came diligently every three days, showing the ship had been sailing smoothly.

"It must be not far from the cliff if this one could sense it," Zein added. "Tell them to keep a lookout for the beacon we set on that cliff."

"Right," Ashur nodded and typed more in his commlink. "Anything else?"

"Just tell them to be careful since a Specter might be around, and a fight might pull the attention of those residing at the bottom of the lake," Bassena said.

"We haven’t found the port city too, so it might be near it," Radia stroked his chin.

The esper put more opinions to be considered, and Zein shifted his attention back to Dheera. "None of us could do anything until at least tomorrow, so you need to manage the others to guide the espers," Zein glanced at Ashur, Naoya, and Han Joon, who had been spending time going back and forth through the fog earlier. "Put at least three on each. For Ashur--"

"I’ll pick those who are good at control!" Dheera nodded and gave a salute. "I’m going to do it myse--"

"Ugh--"

As if getting sick of their joyful atmosphere, the ground shook and the air rumbled suddenly. Bassena immediately held Zein close as a quake assaulted the area, and Naoya grabbed Dheera’s wobbling figure. Cohen put a barrier around his patriarch and Tian Yu put a bigger one around the ruin. Not only that, the old man also put barriers as columns to support the ruin so it would not collapse.

"What happened?" Radia frowned in Han Joon’s arms, looking down and around. "Is it natural? Or..."

"Something..." Tian Yu looked in one direction and then turned to another and then another. "...a lot of things..."

"What? What do you--"

The answer came before the question could be finished. The air vibrated and the space contorted, swirling into a gate, two gates, three gates...and many more.

Dungeon gates, at least a dozen of them, appeared simultaneously around them; undulating as if ready to burst in the next minute. As if it wasn’t enough, their commlinks rang with reports from all bases, each with similar content;

[Several dungeon gates appearing]

Zein groaned. "Ahh...that bastard really can’t let us rest."