There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 580 - 574. Tracing

Chapter 580: Chapter 574. Tracing

"Is it that place?" Jock asked once again to Eleanor beside him.

"Yes," Eleanor replied as her dazed, glassy eyes that had been staring at the empty air returned their focus. Her voice, however, sounded firm. "It’s getting fainter, but...I don’t see any branching."

Jock chuckled wryly. "We should have done this before all the dungeon gates got eliminated."

The thread of energy they should be tracing came from the dungeon gates. Naturally, when the gates disappeared, the energy threads also vanished. Unfortunately, the dungeons closest to them, the ones that appeared around the newest camp, were the earliest to get rid of, which truly hindered the tracing.

They had no choice though; the ruin was the source of the Fallen Star’s wrath, so most of the dungeons there were on the verge of breaking. Immediate elimination aside, the threads would disappear when the dungeons broke anyway.

"Well, it means the young masters are doing a good job, isn’t it?" Eleanor let out a rare smile. "So we need to support them well."

Jock chuckled inwardly. Of course, as someone who was brought into the Mallarc household since her childhood, Eleanor had more loyalty than anyone. She was just like House Ishtera’s Senan in many ways.

Perhaps that was why they couldn’t work out in the end.

Ah, it wasn’t the time for old sentiment. Jeck returned his gaze to the ’place’ where the threads were gathering according to Eleanor. "I can’t believe we missed this."

In front of them was a familiar huge lake they just passed a few days ago. According to Eleanor’s sight, the thread of energy came from the island.

At least, it should be the island. The energy, faint as they were, came from the middle of the lake. But it was more logical to think it came from the island instead of the water--not to mention, it would be better for them.

That being said...

"There’s no way we can cross now," Jock muttered. He was also worried about how difficult it would be if they had to attack the island in the near future, considering how many dangerous underwater beasts were down there.

"There’s nothing we can do if we cross now anyway," Eleanor said. There were only the two of them since they were trying to move under the radar. Naturally, they would not possess the ability to survive in a place where their main enemy was. "But there’s a way to check."

"Oh?"

Jock raised his brow as Eleanor took out a velvet pouch from her storage ring. From the shimmering runes on its surface, it was clear that the pouch was an artifact from the Tower. She opened the pouch and proceeded to pour the content of the pouch into the ground, which was actually...a handful of sparkling sand?

As Jock tilted his head in curiosity, Eleanor kneeled and hovered her hands above the sand while reciting a druid spell. It was a long one, and in the middle of it, the sand started to shift into a more tangible shape until it turned into a small bird. By the end of the spell, the bird’s beige color had turned black, melding into their surroundings.

"Did you get that on the fifth floor?" Jock watched Eleanor blow the bird softly, and it hopped onto Eleanor’s hands as if it were truly alive. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that told him he would have known about it had they stayed together.

Eleanor simply nodded with a smile and let the bird fly toward the island. Again, her eyes glazed as two identical runes glowed in her eyes. It was the same rune carved in the bird’s eyes and allowed her to see what the bird saw.

"It really looks inconspicuous," she told Jock. "There’s hardly any reading that indicates a gate. I think there’s some kind of barrier to hide it..." she paused as she sent the bird around the island’s outer edge. "No, wait--I think it’s because of the trees."

"The trees?" Jock stroked his chin. "Are the trees letting out miasma to cover the reading?"

"Yes, I’ll try to get in now."

"No wonder; we espers would be too distracted by the underwater beasts too," Jock narrowed his eyes as he looked at the lake. The wavelength came out of the boss-class monster and other high-level beasts would blur a dungeon’s presence.

As Jock made an assessment of the surrounding and wondering how they should go about crossing the lake in the future, Eleanor had managed to slip between the thick fence of trees. "It’s dark--darker than where we are now, so I can’t see the dungeon gate yet," she told the scout. "Oh, I think there’s also a barrier inside the forest. I’ll try to get closer."

"Hey, wait--do it carefully," Jock held her arm. "Most barriers have a warning system."

"I know," she raised the hand that wasn’t being held. "I’m just trying to circle it to see if we can get a visu--oh..."

"What? Do you see it?"

"Shush," Eleanor put her fingers over Jock’s lips. Her glazed eyes narrowed as she tried to control the bird--which grew harder because of all the miasma.

Through the bird, she saw more trees, although those in the deeper part did not spew miasma like the one outside. Carefully, she traced the barrier that was clearly made of non-miasmic energy, circling around it. Honestly, just the barrier alone already gave them a confirmation, but she wanted to see the dungeon gate and the condition around it because she knew how meticulous Young Master Radia was.

And her persistence was finally rewarded when the bird’s keen eyes caught a gap between the trees. She hovered at one point to stare at the gap and zoomed in through the rune, tracing the faint energy thread to a distortion in the space.

She forgot though, that using the rune to zoom in on her vision meant sending her mana past the barrier. As she stared at the distortion, her bird exploded before she knew it, and her mana core slammed hard by a twisted energy.

Without even being able to scream, Eleanor coughed up a stream of blood, choking on the warm liquid. Her body seized in pain and she let out a silent scream as she lost the strength in her legs.

"Ella!" Jock held his collapsing ex-wife, immediately taking an elixir that Radia gave them before the mission and held it to Eleanor’s lips; it was supposed to be for an emergency, but who cares? What was this if not an emergency?

Jock didn’t need to ask to know that they were busted. Thankfully, Eleanor did not lose consciousness, although she clearly couldn’t function well after that invisible blow. He immediately wrapped her in his protective coat and was about to carry her away, when a familiar burst of energy shot toward them.

* * *

[We’re almost done here, Captain!] Dheera’s voice rang cheerfully from the commlink as Zein listened from his bed. Silva sounded like an office worker confined in her cubicle for three days straight, but it seemed like Dheera had no problem maintaining her energy.

Well, Zein was glad.

"How are the kids?"

[Good! We did as you told us, Captain; we guided immediately after the espers came out of the dungeon so the corrosion did not pile up and digest the miasma while they were in the dungeons] the girl reported. [Some were just tired from the endless shift, but no one has burnout so far]

"Good, just let the tired ones rest. I’m going to send some help over," Zein checked on the reports from each section and swiftly assigned the now-recovered A and B-class guides to the bases.

[Oh? Are they recovered now, Captain? What about you?]

"Better," Zein moved his fist, clenching and unclenching it to feel his returning strength. "I managed to have a walk around the ruin today."

[Oh, good!] A clap and cheer could be heard from the other side. [Do you hear that?]

Zein couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard more cheers in the background. It was nice to hear his kids were still in high spirits despite the hard work they had to endure the past two days.

[Still, have some more rest, Captain!] Dheera said after shushing the others, even though she was the loudest one. [Please don’t push yourself too--oh! The espers are out of the dungeons! Bye, Cap’n!]

And just like that, the call was cut, leaving Zein with a beeping disconnected sound. He finally let out a laugh he had been holding since earlier. "Cute..."

"Who’s cute?" the tent door opened and Bassena asked with a raised brow. He had just back from sending the hunting team to the port city, and it was nice to hear Zein’s laughter first thing when he went back--but who was this his boyfriend called cute?

"My kids," Zein shrugged.

Oh. Alright, Bassena could take it. He still tilted his head and asked though. "But I’m still the cutest, right?"

Zein chuckled and waved his hand to beckon Bassena closer. The esper obediently crouched in front of him like an eager puppy and Zein finally replied to the question as he cupped the bronze cheeks. "No one can beat your cuteness."

Bassena laughed, even as Zein leaned down to kiss him. But he stopped and widened his eyes when he felt the soothing water trickle into his core, Bassena pulled away immediately, shocked. "Wait, why are you--"

"I can guide now," Zein grasped the esper’s face again and pulled him closer. "And I want to feel good too."

"Oh..."

Bassena swallowed for a second before going for the kiss himself this time. The kiss that grew into more touches as Zein dragged the esper on top of him on the bed. Gods, it was so nice feeling Zein’s hands on his chest and Zein’s legs on his hips, but Bassena put a brake on it.

"What?" the blue eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction, but Bassena muttered in more dissatisfaction.

"If we start, I won’t be satisfied with just one round," the esper pursed his lips, which got Zein to chuckle half-exasperated but also half-understanding. "Also...someone is running over here."

Zein tilted his head toward the door, and just as Bassena said, someone knocked on the door.

But no--it wasn’t just a knock. Someone was beating the door. "Young Master! Sir Vaski!"

"Cohen?" Zein raised his brow in surprise. Cohen wasn’t one to disturb him unless something serious happened, so they couldn’t just ignore it.

With the same concerned look on their face, Zein and Bassena opened the door to the frantic-looking defender.

"Young Master! Sir Jock and Miss Eleanor are..."