There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 598 - 592. Regroup

Chapter 598: Chapter 592. Regroup

Zein had been thrown out of a breaking dungeon before--interestingly enough, it was also a Deathzone’s dungeon. But at that time, it was more of a reverse summoning that sent them back to the real dungeon in the green zone.

It was different this time.

Not only was it a dungeon in the Deathzone, but it was also a dungeon that had been used by the Fallen Star. Just from the suffocating force that they felt as the dungeon was crumbling, Zein knew the intensity was vastly different. Before the shields finished deploying, Zein almost choked at the pressure he felt just for two seconds.

Fortunately, this time too, they received the same help as that time.

The cliff shard, the one who sent him back at that time, came out of the sealed ring and enveloped them in another layer of barrier. It wasn’t a protection for physical or magical impact, but to neutralize the clash of cosmic energy and miasma that was created when the dungeon was breaking away from the star corridor.

"Haa--" Zein took a deep breath inside Bassena’s tight embrace as the shields were shaken and thrown around the space. The shard was shining above them, and he could hear Han Shin and Zhan incessant cursing from experiencing the same thing in just a few minutes.

The moment the dungeon crumbled entirely, however, the shields could no longer protect them, and they were thrown out just like that moment during the black dungeon anomaly.

Once again, they were saved by the cliff shard.

"Ugh--" Zein groaned at the impact. He coughed into the dirt and black moss, wheezing as his mask worked hard to filter miasma again.

"Are you okay?" Bassena asked immediately, even though he was the one who received more impact than Zein.

"Yeah," Zein raised his head, taking a deep breath and looking around.

As expected, they were on the island. But Zein could no longer see the thick formation of trees that obstructed their view before. The trees had been blown away by the explosion, and half of the island was almost obliterated.

Including the edge of the bridge.

"Oh, fuck..."

Debris of metals scattered on the island and floating on the lake. People too. People who helplessly fell pray to the surviving underwater beasts.

Including Ashur Iddina.

"Captain!"

"Damn it!" Bassena snapped out of his stupor, turning toward Iore and the Queen. "Take those people out!"

Iore scrambled to her feet with panic tears dripping from her eyes. She recognized more of them as she reached the lakeside--they were her friends and colleagues; the members of Hagalaz.

"Bas," Han Joon landed on the island. He barely managed to land on the surviving part of the bridge’s railing while taking six people with his wires, before continuing to the island while jumping from debris to debris. "Was that--"

[Dungeon team] Radia’s hurried voice, accompanied by the sound of rough wind, came through the commlink. [Dungeon team, come in; was that the Fallen Star? Please confirm]

Bassena turned toward Han Joon, who described a blurry, cloaked dark figure he saw exiting the dungeon and causing all this destruction before disappearing into the chaos.

Seemed like the destruction wasn’t merely caused by the dungeon break.

"Radia! Yes, it condensed its energy to create a small vessel!" Bassena looked at the approaching summoner flown by one of his summons.

The man landed on the island just when Iore and the Queen managed to pick up some of the espers--those who hadn’t got dragged down under the water anyway. Han Shin immediately scampered to heal them while Zein guided him at the same time, but as all mortals, one cannot save those who had lost their life force.

And that rule included Radia’s green priest. Not because of the life force, but because someone’s soul had no concept of time.

"Should I help with the healing or go straight to this...bridge?" the green priest tilted their head. "This is a bridge, right?"

"Heal," Radia said with a clenched jaw, and the green priest immediately flew toward the rows of injured espers. "Take care of Ashur--the one in dark green armor--first. Lady Lau, you may bombard the lake now."

[Oho?]

As fire rained down the lake a shower of shooting stars, Bassena looked around, trying to understand the extent of damage. "How’s the status there?"

"Dungeons are spawning," Radia replied while glancing at the commlink and lit up a golden needle at the same time. "Hah--it’s like we start all over again. Tell everyone to regroup--no, Rina, you stay there."

[Rally in front of the bridge] Kei’s voice could be heard from the communication channel, but more bad news was coming. [Sir, the dungeons are everywhere! We had reports of a mass horde marching to the border]

"Fuck!" Agni, who had just got out of his dizziness, turned his head toward the border swiftly. "Ron, let’s go back!"

Without saying anything or asking for agreement, the berserker grabbed his husband’s waist and jumped powerfully to the edge of the bridge. The man was probably so distraught that he forgot the scout could travel through shadow.

Radia rubbed his lips and fixed his eyes on the screen; scarlet eyes flashing from reports to reports. Meanwhile, Bassena contacted his deputy personally. "Kei, can you track the Fallen Star’s energy?"

[I’m on it already, still waiting for a response] the scout replied with frantic keyboard sounds in the background. [We still don’t have beacons in every place]

"For now, let’s regroup," Zein took a deep breath and spoke to the guide channel. "Nadine, gather everyone on the bridge--get about fifty meters from the broken end."

[Yes, Captain!]

Radia glanced at Ashur, who was already finished being mended, but still needed time before regaining consciousness. He stared at the lakeside next, where the rest of the troops had started to gather.

Clearing the dungeons itself wasn’t hard--they had done that just last week. Getting to the dungeons in time was a different case altogether.

"Nyx, how many times can you open portals here?"

"About seven times, but Master--I can only send them to the bases since we didn’t set up tokens anywhere else."

Radia nodded and shifted his gaze to Bassena. "Bas, I’m going to need Sierra."

Bassena had thought of using Sierra’s mass teleportation to move them to where the Fallen Star would be, but Radia must have wanted to use it to send some people to the border.

"...alright," he nodded. It couldn’t be helped, since they had to split their forces into three.

At that moment, the Eastern Sun landed on the island. Her shooting star was enough to obliterate the water beasts on the surface, but fire magic wouldn’t be able to get the one underwater--which Radia had been taking care of with his mermaid summon. Using his own barrier to walk on the water, the Iron Mountain also arrived at the same time.

"Zein,"

"You’re okay, Gramps?" the guide turned his head without taking his hand away from Han Shin’s shoulder.

"I heard that bastard got away?"

"Yeah, we’re still tracking it."

"What? The Fallen Star thing?" the Eastern Sun widened her eyes slightly. "Oh, that weird wispy thing earlier?"

"Yes," Radia exhaled heavily. "It’ll be over once we find it."

The old lady’s eyes lit up. "Oh! You’ll send me there, huh, kid?"

’it’ll be over’ meant they were going all out, after all.

"Naturally," Radia nodded, before turning toward the Iron Mountain. "But, Sir..."

"What?" Tian Yu frowned. "You want me to go somewhere?"

"We can’t let the beasts cross the Borderland," Radia said calmly.

It was clear that the old man didn’t like the idea of being away from the main action, especially because it meant once again, he couldn’t fight beside his disciple’s son. But that disciple’s son looked at him with a smile. "Gramps..."

"Tsk--fine," Tian Yu clicked his tongue, looking at Zein keenly with a warning gaze. "You, be careful."

"Of course," the answer came not from Zein, but from his lover and two bodyguards.

Tian Yu scoffed at them and walked back to the lakeside--again, using his barrier. But then Zein also jumped to the barrier and smirked. "Give me a lift to the bridge, Gramps."

Zein cocked his chin toward the guides running across the bridge, and Tian Yu chuckled before waving his hand to create a barrier all the way to the bridge. "How will you get off?"

"My boyfriend will pick me up," Zein shrugged before jumping to the intact part of the bridge. "Thank you."

The Iron Mountain stared at the guide’s back for a while, swaying on the surface while dropping heavy shields into the bottom of the lake, killing the underwater beasts hiding there. He watched Zein meeting the guides--his little chicks--and smiled at how they were throwing their arms and hugging him.

"You live well, kid," he muttered before walking away.

"Captain!"

As usual, Dheera was the one with the tightest hug. Zein didn’t mind spoiling them one by one, but they were rather tight in schedule, so he peeled Dheera off him and swept his gaze across the rest of the guide. The last one was Nadine, who nodded at him with a determined look.

"School circle," Zein told them while taking out the Saint’s staff. Slamming the blunt edge against the bridge, he spoke to them gently, but firmly. "You’ve done this before, so you can do it again now. Keep calm and manage the schedule."

"Yes, Captain!"

Light poured out of the staff and enveloped the guide. This time, it wasn’t only increased their vessel, but also cleansing the corrosion they had absorbed. The bright glow illuminated the dark, depressing battlefield and sent a soothing warm blow to the espers on the island.

"Wow...what is that?" the Easter Sun widened her eyes at the spectacle.

Her assistant told her quietly. "He’s the Lost Child of Frejya, Ma’am."

"Ah! That Saint candidate?" she clasped her hand and watched with increasing intrigue. "Wait...Is that a Saint’s staff?"

"He has privilege," Bassena shrugged.

"Fancy," the Eastern Sun whistled, prompting Senan and Cohen to smile proudly for their patriarch.

But their face turned serious when a voice came out of Bassena’s commlink. [We found it!]

"Where?" Bassena asked urgently.

[The...the East]

"East?"

Radia took a deep breath. "The sea..."

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