There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 589 - 583. Last Gathering

Chapter 589: Chapter 583. Last Gathering

No one knew the shards more than Zein, so when the guide went silent in palpable confusion, everyone could only look at Zein without uttering a single word.

Except for his boyfriend, that is.

"Is that possible?" Bassena asked quietly above the guide’s shoulder, hiding the sighing Zein from sight.

"Rather, it’s the only possibility, isn’t it?" Zein shrugged. He thought about the possibility that the shard found an anchor and followed it, but what that anchor was, Zein could not fathom. "At least, we know it hadn’t fallen to the Fallen Star’s hand. There’s no way the sea would be cleaned off the beasts otherwise."

"Hmm..."

Bassens nodded wordlessly. He suddenly had this thought that this wandering shard might had a hand on why the lake was full of underwater beasts. Recalling how Jock considered an underwater tunnel connecting the lake to the sea, there was a possibility that those beasts in the lake were running away from whatever it was cleaning the sea--whether it was the shard or something that was together with the shard.

[So, what do we do now?] Gus broke the silence amidst the faint beeping sound in the background. [Ah, the twins said they want to see Zein so much much much]

Zein, who was rather anxious before, let out a quiet snort; his worries evaporated by the adorable twins. Honestly, Zein had started to miss the chatterbox duo since the other shards were quiet most of the time.

"...just stand by and clean the port city as planned for now. Find a good vantage point and make a temporary base; we need a better position for the beacon," Bassena gave the order after finished laughing silently.

[What about the shard?]

"Ask the elemental spirit to scour the sea for now."

"The twins said the shard keeps on moving, so perhaps it would get closer to the ship one day," Zein added. "Ask them to tell you when it does."

[Alright]

The connection was cut right after, almost hurriedly. Perhaps the swordsman was fed up with the constant beeping sound of the translation machine--the twins would keep yapping as long as they heard Zein’s voice, after all.

"This is peculiar," Bassena pointed at the conference table to tell them they’d have a meeting.

"Indeed," Zein let out another sigh as he returned to his seat. "But it also tells us the shard is alright--as long as it doesn’t fall to the Fallen Star’s hand later."

"Not that we’ll let it," Bassena said reassuringly before patting the table to get the others’ attention. "How’s the bridge going?"

Earlier, the trucks bore more logistics, equipment, and especially the materials to build the bridge had finally come, along with personnel from the Borderland Unit, including Ron and Agni. A wide area at the edge of the forest had been cleared to be used for the construction site after calculating the optimal distance between the camp and the lake.

"We’ve finished taking the parts out, so we’re going into assembly soon," Han Shin, part healer part engineer, reported. Since swapping the bridge was his idea, he was made supervisor right away.

"How long do you think it’ll take?"

"Based on the distance..." the healer paused to make some calculations in the air. "I reckon three days."

"Hmm..."

Three days was extremely fast for a kilometer-long bridge to be made, as temporary as it was. But three days also felt long in the wake of a great battle. Would the Fallen Star attack during that period? Or if not, would delaying their attack make the Fallen Star stronger?

One thing was certain though; they could not attack before the bridge was done.

"Are we going to attack right after?" Ashur asked.

"We’ve gathered, so it doesn’t matter," Bassena nodded. All the troops, except for those in charge of guarding the bases, were already settling in the new base, ready to depart anytime. "Radia said the Eastern Sun might get completely healed in two days, so it’ll be a perfect time."

Thinking about having another Saint class in their midst, one who was a damage dealer nonetheless, made them stir. They straightened their back consciously because it really felt like a final battle when the big gun was dragged out and being used.

"Alright, what’s the plan?" Zhan, who had been holding back all this time in the boring plains, looked more excited than ever. "Are we just going to clash head-to-head?"

"Yes and no," Bassena chuckled. "We’ll be doing a siege and a blitzkrieg."

While Zhan was tilting his head, Bassena pulled up the map from his commlink--the newest one that had been integrated by Kei after receiving Jock’s map. He zoomed in on the map so it only included their camp, the lake, and everything in between. Bassena tapped on his keyboard and an area between the canyon and the lake glowed red. Another tap and a small area right in front of the canyon, nestled behind the red one, glowed green.

"The meadow had become a buffer zone now, so we better secure some spots in front of the canyon to gather the troop," Bassena pointed at the green area. "We’ll clean the area and set up aid stations and logistic depots there. A third of the troops will be sent to guard the place while the rest of the troops are moving."

"Are we going to send one-third of the troops each day?" Kei asked, hovering her fingers on top of the keyboard.

"Yes," Bassena drew a line between the green area and the camp through the canyon, following the best route that Jock and the reconnaissance team had deemed as the fastest and easiest one. "By the time the Guildmasted and the Eastern Sun are here, we’ll be ready to be deployed. Kei,"

Bassena turned to the scout, and Kei replied immediately after pressing a button. "I’ve made a list of personnel to be sent for each day; detailed positions will be updated once the Guildmaster arrives."

A notification came to Bassena’s commlink and he spent some time to briefly look at the document. He nodded in approval not long after, and the same document was then released to the other executives--and their honored guest, the Iron Mountain.

"At that point, the field commander will be Ashur," Bassena turned toward the warrior, who simply nodded since he had spent almost a whole day talking with Bassrna about this. "Please take charge of the personnel from the Plains base too."

Naturally, the original captain of the plains blinked in confusion. "Huh? What about me?"

"You’ll come with me," Bassena said nonchalantly.

"...oh!" Zhan slammed his hands against the table. No--he wasn’t angry, just overly excited. "To the dungeon?!"

Zhan loved fighting; but while he could fight a lot of beasts in the lake, he would be able to fight the strong Fallen Star if he was with Bassena. His lips stretched wide even at the high possibility of death on his part.

"Yes," Bassena smiled. "While the enemies are distracted by the siege, we’ll be going through the star corridor and attacking the Fallen Star from behind."

There was no reason they could not exploit the door they had discovered on their own. Besides, there was a possibility that the Fallen Star might escape and move to another dungeon if It felt threatened. It wouldn’t be able to do so, however, if they invaded the dungeon and fought the enemy there while the others cleaned up the ’minions’.

"This time, we’ll be the ones taking the initiative."

* * *

Later in the day, they gathered the personnel around the auditorium and announced the mobilization. Afterward, Ashur took his and Zhan’s former team, along with two groups of mercenaries and one hunting group consisting of the Iron Shield and House Mallarc’s agents to clear up the green area.

This time, they truly made a war camp. Their focus was on the aid stations and the guide clinic, as well as the logistic depots filled with food and weapons. A fierce defensive line with mana-stone-fueled barrier generators was established at the edge of the meadow, and every lurking beast was instantly eliminated.

This time, there was no comfortable and fancy residential tent. Several long barracks were erected on their place, and the espers would share the space from now on. There was no need for elaborate facilities, for the moment they decided to attack, they would be in battle mode all the time. The moment the flag of the final battle fluttered, it would be a full day of non-stop fighting.

Sleeping? There would be no time for sleeping.

But knowing that everything would be over once they finished this one big battle, no one could even complain about the harder mattress. ’This is it’ they thought; as they looked at the dark horizon, they told themselves they’d be going home after this one final push.

More troops came each day with the same mindset, and each day, the green area looked more and more like a warcamp of Old Day. They recalled their history lesson, of how the ancestors of the now Old Houses led hundreds and thousands of people to free the zones from the encroaching monsters, providing them with the comfortable and safe cities the world could enjoy.

Yes; this place too, after this, would surely become such a city.

And just like that, the troops had gathered beyond the canyon, and Ashur placed a runestone in front of him on the third day.

The space cracked and swirled on top of the stone, and a portal opened not long after to deliver the last troop.

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