There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 590 - 584. The Sun and Mountain above the Hill

Chapter 590: Chapter 584. The Sun and Mountain above the Hill

Red has always been Radia’s color, but the lady he had been waiting for days and weeks this time was even ’redder’ than him.

Her long flaming hair in deep orange looked like a flowing sunset, perfectly rigorous and healthy--unlike how she looked before Radia gave her the healing artifact. Her bright and rosy complexion this time was natural instead of the result of makeup, and she looked much younger than her actual age.

The bright red clothes and fire drake coat managed to look good on her this time.

"Sorry for the wait," she said rather cheerfully at the two men who were waiting for her. "I’ll return the amount you spent on the field."

The happiness of regaining her power and health was palpable through her voice and light steps, but the two waiting men did not bother to look impressed.

"I hope you do," Radia said dryly.

At the man who did not even bother with a business smile, unlike in the past, the lady chuckled. "You’re quite cold now after we renewed the contract."

"We’ve delayed a lot of things because of you," Radia turned around dismissively. "Let’s go."

"Ah, ah~married man is truly not fun," she clicked her tongue.

"Ma’am..."

The lady’s assistant glanced at the deep black eyes of the other man, who seemed to be ready to swallow them whole. The lady’s firepower might be greater, but the man’s twitching fingers were undeniably faster. At this distance, an assassin was a magician’s worst enemy.

But perhaps the lady forgot about it since it had been quite some time since she gained the power to stand at the field again.

"Relax a bit, Syl," the lady chuckled and smiled at the cold assassin amiably.

Of course, she knew it was dangerous for a magician to antagonize an assassin who stood two meters away from her--she was a veteran for Gods’ sake. But she also knew the assassin’s husband wouldn’t get rid of her after spending an astronomical amount of money just because she acted a bit annoying.

As expected, Radia just swallowed his grunt and called his summon. "Nyx."

"Yes, Master."

A figureless voice rang between the space, and the air twisted to form a portal. On the other side, they could see espers and guides standing in front of a familiar-looking building--the guild tower of Trinity.

"Ho..."

As the lady and her assistant blinked, the portal widened and the space around them warped, merging the two spaces together. For a few bewildering seconds, they stood in a plain white space before a bigger portal appeared this time.

"Let’s go," Radia stepped into the portal, which showed nothing but dark space on the other side.

The lady followed immediately with an excited smile. "Let’s see what this Deathzone place looks like~"

She stepped past the dark portal, and was greeted by a dark space. It was midday just a second ago, but it looked like night over the portal with only several purification devices acting as lamps. What surprised the lady, however, was the neat rows of hundreds of espers in front of them. Each of them was equipped with high-quality armor and weapons, and while they did not look tense, their eyes were vigilant.

For the first time since she was contacted by Radia Mallarc, the Eastern Sun finally realized it was truly a war.

Hidden from the world as it might be.

"Welcome, Guildmaster," Ashur Iddina, the field’s commander, stepped up to greet Radia.

The scarlet eyes looked around the troops. Whether it was their stance or the look in their eyes, it didn’t fall short of the military. These people were just regular espers from the bright, safe world outside, but they had turned into hardened veterans after three and a half years inside the harshest region of Earth.

Even the mercenaries looked like they belonged with everyone rather than exclusively a part of their initial group. Spending time with each other for three years...it would be weird if they didn’t forge some kind of bond.

Radia smiled with his eyes; yes, for a battle like this, all kinds of differences must be eliminated.

"Good job," he said proudly, the clear and genuine praise could be heard by the troops behind.

"Thank you."

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes; we only left a squad in each base," Ashur nodded. Of course, Radia would already know that through their frequent written report, but doing it verbally brought about some sense of accomplishment.

Such was the vibe of a colossal party.

"Bassena?"

"They will call before entering the desert dungeon."

As they had planned before, a small team would act to ambush the dungeon from the star corridor. Due to the time difference, however, they needed to time the attack well. The siege troops would attack first to distract the Fallen Star, and the dungeon team would attack right after while the Fallen Star was still surprised.

Radia checked on several more details with Ashur and Kei regarding positions and formations. Meanwhile, the Eastern Sun watched the troops and the surrounding area in fascination. It was her first time to be part of such a large operation. Of course, it wasn’t comparable to the city raid in the Old Age, but since becoming a Saint class, she had used to do raids with as few people as possible.

But then again, if she thought about it, this battle should be comparable to the Old Age’s city raid. After all, they were fighting to free a whole region.

Strangely enough, the Eastern Sun felt a surge of excitement. Just standing among those youngsters with strong and hopeful gazes made her feel a bit--no, a lot younger.

"Oh, you’re here?"

She flinched at the voice she hadn’t heard for decades yet stayed in her memory persistently. Turning around at the old man who was coming from the canyon, she watched Radia give a polite bow--definitely different from the treatment she received.

"Sir,"

"Heh," the old man chuckled at the weird feeling crawling his back. "It’s weird being called that again after Grandpa this and Grandpa that."

"Our kids do have a need for a grandparent figure," Han Joon--who barely knew his grandparents too, replied nonchalantly.

The old man laughed like a grandfather would at his cheeky grandson, before his eyes caught the sight of the unmistakable flaming sun lady. "Oh, so you decided to come."

"Sir," she too, made a courtesy bow. "Well, I’ve been paid."

"At least you’re aware of that," the old man smirked.

The lady who had been acting graceful pursed her lips. "Why do you paint as someone who lacks self-awareness?"

"Because you were?" Tain Yu raised his brow.

"Ugh--Sir, that was forty years ago! I was still a teenager!"

"You were almost twenty,"

"Same thing!" the Eastern Sun raised her voice slightly, but managed to stop herself from stomping her foot childishly. "Ah, I didn’t think I would lose my cool so early..."

"This is called warming up," the old man cackled, making her pursed her lips again.

"You’ve come to like jest now, Sir?"

She recalled how stern and serious the Iron Mountain was. As if trying to embody his nickname, he was uncompromising and could hardly take a joke--much less make them. That was why his figure still evoked subconscious fear in her generation’s mind.

She wondered if living in isolation softened the old man a bit.

"I’ve been surrounded by a lot of scoundrels these days," Tian Yu chuckled and glanced at the youngsters busily preparing for the big battle. "Right, let me tell you something."

"Sir?"

Curiously, she followed the old man walking to a slightly higher ground. From there, she could see the meadow better, although the distance and the thick miasma prevented her from seeing further. If she recalled correctly from Radia’s brief earlier, there should be a lake on that side.

The real battlefield.

The old man gazed at the obscured horizon. Among everyone, he was the only one who could ’see’ the place, and knew for sure how many enemies were there through his detection.

"My grandsons need this win, so," he turned his head to look at the lady’s bright eyes. "Do your part well."

The Eastern Sun blinked curiously. "Your grandsons...huh?"

"Just do it well," he waved his hand dismissively. If he started to talk about Zein, it would take several hours of yapping--not exactly the right time or place to do such things.

"I know," the Eastern Sun scoffed. "I’m not that immature girl you used to know."

"Oh, so you admit you were immature?"

"...Sir!"

Tian Yu laughed heartily in nostalgia, and the Eastern Sun, the girl who used to be called Mentari Lau, followed after. For a while, it felt like they were back as the raid captain and the rookie esper from forty years ago.

As the small hill filled with the laughter of two people, the troops around them watched in fascination.

"It feels surreal...seeing two Saint classes joke around," one of them whispered.

"But somehow...doesn’t it make you think that everything will go well?" another one replied with a lighter complexion than what they had a minute ago.

"Yeah, you’re right," another one said with a smile, looking at the sturdy mountain and the bright sun on the small hill. On the other side, they could see their reliable Guildmaster surrounded by the executives.

They smiled and nodded, even as they stared at the dark horizon. It was as scary as the battle in the desert, but even then...they survived that one, weren’t they?

"Everything will go well."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.