There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 603 - 597. Celestial Path

Chapter 603: Chapter 597. Celestial Path

"You don’t have to do this," Radia talked to his commlink. "You’re still technically injured."

[Are you treating as a bunch of oldies, Young Master?] Jock chuckled from the other side. The sound of growling humvees and snarling beasts could be heard in the background. [If I can walk, it means I’m fine. Besides, it’s not like we even face the dangerous one]

Although they were still recuperating in the Sanctuary, Jock and Eleanor heard what happened on the battlefield through the emergency command room in the Sanctuary. Naturally, when they heard about the danger at the border, they immediately reported that they would move to help with the security attempt. Jock was able to walk without crutches--although he couldn’t run yet--and Han Shin had allowed Eleanor to use mana again, so they didn’t see any reason why they had to take the back seat in an emergency.

[We’ll take care of the border, Young Master. Please focus on the main thing] Eleanor said.

Radia smiled bitterly. "It isn’t even the main thing," he muttered after the call ended, looking to the East. But even if he wanted to, he couldn’t go there yet.

"Have you mapped all the dungeons?" he turned toward Kei, who had six screens linked together.

"Yes, Sir," the scout tapped her keyboard and placed the last dungeon marker on the screen.

"Let’s prioritize the ones closest to the border--areas 1 and 2 will be cleaned first," Radia placed a few dots on the map; three on the westernmost side, and another four scattered around the base. "We’ll drop the troops on these seven points and have them spread out. Go divide them now--Nyx, prepare the portals."

"Yes, Master."

He turned to his commlink next and pressed a few buttons. "Sir Tian Yu, please erect a barrier along the western forest line. There’s also a black dungeon on the verge of breaking in the southern mountain range. It’s too far for any of us to get to, so please isolate it for now; I’ll send the coordinate.

[Alright]

[Guildmaster?] Naomi’s voice could be heard from another channel.

"I’ve sent you a brief; move the reserve forces and the mercenaries to the border. Place one group every two hundred meters, and inform the other units of the possibility of a breach," he glanced at the sensor informing him about the personnel’s commlink’s whereabouts. "Captain Khan is on his way, so make sure to synchronize the borderland unit with ours."

[Yes, Sir]

"The portals are ready, Master."

Radia turned and saw the troops had already divided into seven companies based on Kei’s distribution. In front of each group, there was a portal leading to different points all over the Deathzone. They were all wearing a hardened expression, and some were still in the process of healing; but they gripped their weapons tight and fire was blazing in their eyes.

Just a bit more--they told themselves. Just hang on there a bit more.

Well, almost all of them.

"Rina," Radia walked to the side, on the path of the meadow where the trucks that brought the injured and dead back to the Sanctuary parked a few minutes ago. He stopped behind the defender, who did not reply to him even after a few seconds had passed. "Rina."

"...huh?" she flinched and belatedly turned toward the summoner. "H-huh? You’re calling me?"

Radia looked at her reddened, swollen eyes, and swallowed his sigh. "If you can’t function well, you have to tell me."

"N-no--that’s..."

"Rina."

Radia looked at her sharply. He understood her distress, because even though Ashur did not die, he had received the full brunt of the Fallen Star’s attack and had fallen into a coma. But that was precisely why he needed to make sure. He couldn’t send someone who would jeopardize the whole troops’s safety because they couldn’t get a hold of their shock.

The battlefield was not a place for shock or grief. Because those emotions killed them. If they had any, they had to either push them deep down until the battle ended, or burn them to fuel their spirit.

But Radia could not tell others how they should choose to digest their emotions.

"If you can’t go, you have to tell me so I can put Naoya on the line," Radia continued, this time with a slightly softer tone.

"...no," Rina shook her head. She paused, and, after clenching her shield hard, she raised her head and repeated firmly. "No. I’ll go."

Radia observed her eyes for a few seconds before nodded. "Good. I’ll have Naoya lead the cleaning for the ones that are already breaking, so you take care of the high-level dungeons."

"Yes!"

Radia watched the defender walk toward the troops; her back was heavy with anger, but her steps were light with determination.

Burn it, Radia said inwardly. Burn those emotions.

Booom!

Startled, they were all turning toward the East. They couldn’t see anything, but they could hear the explosions and feel the vibrations.

There, on the sea, things were literally burning.

* * *

"Zein!" Senia called out to the guide, who was just resurfacing at the back of the Sea Serpent.

"Zein is fine, he’s just resurfaced," Gus told the anxious people on the other line of the commlink. "He’s moving to the ship now."

The Sea Serpent no longer had the shard in its forehead, but just as Zein said, it did not get corrupted. Not immediately, at least. If it stayed in this environment for years, the miasma would turn the Sea Serpent back into the mindless, grotesque figure it had before meeting the shard. Hopefully, it wouldn’t get to that point.

The elemental spirits, perhaps feeling the sense of kinship as entities who were also freed from the curse of miasma, circled the Sea Serpent as it swam to deliver Zein to the ship. Naturally, both the Sea Serpent and the elemental spirits worked to swat the water beasts away from the path.

"Oof," Zein jumped to the ship, and stroked the Sea Serpent once before it returned to the battle. Just like the beasts on the land, the underwater beasts felt endless with just twenty or so of them.

"That was something," Gus welcomed him with a chuckle, and Senia fidgeted around the swordsman while peeking at Zein, as if trying to hold herself back from looking too excited.

"I needed to get this fast before the Fallen Star did something," Zein shrugged while storing the shard inside his sealed ring. "Where’re the twins?"

"In the vault," Gus placed a key on Zein’s palm and pointed toward the command bridge. "Over there. Ask the Captain for the passkey."

"Thanks," Zein nodded, before running through the busy crews that had resumed their attacks on the beasts.

Gus or Senia would have accompanied him normally, but they had no leeway for a casual greeting. He didn’t even have the chance to take out a towel and dry himself. On his way to the bridge, he had glanced at the port city, and briefly watched the fierce battle happening there.

Constant explosions could be heard, devastating the ruin of the city even more. Zhan’s hurricane had imbued with fire from the blaze circling the battlefield, obliterating the beasts on its way to the Fallen Star. Still, none of their attacks actually managed to hurt the cloaked figure.

Attacks from skills were constantly being thwarted or failed to break the barrier. Strangely enough, stuff without mana like the debris could actually bypass the barrier and make an effect. Not that it would really harm the Fallen Star, just like being thrown a paper wad wouldn’t harm people.

Still, it annoyed the fallen deity, and they used it to aggro the hell out of it. At this point, Zhan’s and the Easter Sun’s focus was on preventing the Fallen Star from reaching the ship. With their attack, they pushed the Fallen Star back to the edge of the city ruin while cleaning the beasts on their way.

Waiting for Bassena to acquire the cosmic energy.

* * *

The Star Corridor looked like an invisible path with specks of light scattering around. It was peaceful in a way that it brought a feeling of nothingness, and one might get lost if one did not have a proper guide.

The Celestial Battlefield, however, gave no leeway for feeling lost. It was the swirling vortex of clashing cosmic energy, and to survive just the shockwave was already a difficult task for mortals.

In fact, Bassena’s black scale armor was something he developed after experiencing countless near-death experiences just from the aftermath of an attack alone. Even after he managed to endure the shockwave, he had to face the stray spark of the clashes, running around through dark space with all kinds of planetary debris and exploding stars. Not to mention the thick undulating energy that came out of those Celestial Beings.

If was the equivalent of human’s mana for a Celestial Being.

As Zein suggested, this cosmic energy might be able to shatter the Fallen Star’s barrier and even further, destroy its core. He had to find that cosmic energy in the middle of his wide sea of darkness, which almost felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Which was no problem; Bassena was persistent if nothing else. But for him to find the needle in the haystack, he had to first identify the needle.

First, by looking at the metal used to create the needle.

Swimming through his memory, Bassena fell into deep concentration to catch the grandiose concept of cosmic energy’s energy pattern. Much like mana, all energies had their own footprint, and Bassena had to catch this.

But in doing so, he had to swim so deep in his consciousness, entering a meditative state that prevented him to move or react to anything. He wouldn’t dare do something like this if it wasn’t for the presence of another Saint class esper, but also...because there was no choice.

This might be the only path to victory.

But when a whisper came to his senses, echoing in his sea of darkness, Bassena almost broke everything because it smelled like a million bad feelings. He almost snapped and canceled all of his efforts to catch into the puzzle of the cosmic energy pattern.

Before he could make a move, however, the sea of darkness slapped him in the face with a harsh splash. No, Bassena Vaski; get a hold of yourself! His rationale scolded him, telling him how stopping this progress would only put Zein in further danger because they wouldn’t find a way to counter the Fallen Star.

Gritting his teeth, growling, and howling inside the sea of darkness, Bassena traversed through every nook and cranny of his mana core, looking for the cosmic energy inside himself.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was greeted by a sea of fire.