There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 608 - 602. Poison and Thorny Path

Chapter 608: Chapter 602. Poison and Thorny Path

Zein blinked his eyes slowly. His head felt muddled, and everything around him felt blurry.

He remembered running...or was he not running? Did he fall? He did remember his knees touching the ground. And what happened after? He heard someone scream, someone shouted--he wasn’t sure...that Fallen Star was so loud with the shriek. Zein hoped it was its dying shriek.

Someone held his shoulder and carefully moved him to his back. Oh, he did fall, then. He opened his eyes and stared at the gloomy dark sky. Ah...he had grown bored of that sky.

"Young Master! No--Young...Young Master!" Senan’s shield dropped heavily on the ground, sending a cloud of dust around. But no one protested. No one cared.

The only thing they cared about was the guide lying in a pool of blood. Not far from him was a lifeless remnant of a bloody tendril stabbing his chest as Zein stumbled slightly on his run. Leehan kicked the tendril away furiously while Han Shin scampered to Zein’s side.

"Zein!" he touched the guide’s eerily calm face. "Zein, can you hear me? I’ll...I’ll heal you know, so...hang on there okay? Hang on..."

Han Shin raised his trembling hands over the bloody gaping hole in the guide’s chest. He poured his mana aggressively, only thinking about regenerating the organ as quickly as possible.

But instead of regenerating, a hissing sound came out of the gaping chest, along with a dark purple fume.

"W-why...why?!" Han Shin cried out. "Why doesn’t it work?!"

Zein blinked at the loud, anguished scream he barely registered. Oh...his chest felt heavy? There was a dull pain, a sharp pain, a burning pain...

He belatedly realized the assault of pain all over his body. There were a lot of them that he couldn’t even start to fathom it. His eyes flickered and for the first time, Zein’s body reacted.

Blood flooded into his throat and he coughed out the burning liquid into his mask. Poison. There was a poison in his blood. It seeped beneath his mask and flowed down his neck.

"Y-Young Master...oh...oh, Gods..."

"E-elixir..." Han Shin scrambled inside his storage ring and took out a bottle of glowing silver liquid. "We need to give him an elixir."

It was clattering heavily in his hand until Senia snatched it and opened the bottle, pouring the content into the wound while tears flowed down her shaking, reddened eyes.

Hisss...

And yet, the result was the same. Even when Senia took out her own elixir and poured it carefully into Zein’s mouth after removing his mask, nothing changed.

"W-why?! Why?!"

Han Shin persistently poured his mana into the wound without care, squeezing every bit of it in the hope that it would work somehow. Perhaps he just did not use his mana enough. Perhaps--

Something touched his hand then; callous and weak. The elixir couldn’t heal him at all, but it gave Zein enough energy to at least move his hand. His burning throat was too uncomfortable to speak, however, so he just heaved out a painful puff of air and folded the healer’s hand.

"W-what...what are you..."

Han Shin seemed to be slow today, perhaps due to shock. But Zein knew why his body could not heal. He put his other hand above his chest, where he could feel a cluster of corrupted energy clashing with the cosmic energy. That fight, happening without a care inside his body, prevented any healing from taking effect.

After all, a drizzle of water could not change the course of clashing hurricanes.

Since the healing wouldn’t work, it would be better for him to preserve the mana and heal the others. Zein was sure a lot of espers were wounded during the last rampage.

However, not being able to speak made it hard for him to convey his mind, and Han Shin grabbed his hand in frustration. "What is this? Are you telling me I shouldn’t bother?! No! I won’t give up!" the healer screamed with agitation. "Why are you like this again? What about survival? Didn’t you tell me you won’t think about dying anymore?!"

Survival...dying...

Ah...was he dying? Zein felt his wound with his hand, which almost couldn’t cover the gaping hole. Haa...no wonder it hurt like hell. His inside felt burning, but his spine felt so cold. He wondered if his little brothers felt like this too as Zein carried them to safety.

Zein wondered though...why didn’t he feel scared? Did he not mind dying? No--Zein didn’t think so. If he had to look for a reason, perhaps it was because it happened after they took down the Fallen Star. There was a sense of fulfillment that made him a bit proud of himself and think ’ah...it wasn’t such a bad way to go.’

It was too bad that he couldn’t unite the shards yet. If only they found the last one...perhaps he could do it at this moment before the energy that the elixir provided him ran out.

But well...what could he do?

"Don’t close your eyes!" Han Shin scolded him harshly. "Don’t act like you’re giving up! Not now! Not...not now..."

Ah...but what could they do? Even Radia’s summon wouldn’t be able to do anything. Not unless they were a Celestial Being or used a cosmic energy.

"I said don’t make that face!" Han Shin screamed again before gasping and turning his head. "Bas! Bas..."

Zein flinched. Ah. Ah...he shouldn’t hear that name.

He shouldn’t see that face.

That shaken, stunned face. It was caked with blood and burned in many places, but it was a face that shook the foundation of Zein’s confidence. The sturdy wall of his emotion, hanging by sheer tenacity, crumbled like nothing in front of the man he loved.

In front of the future they had drawn together with their heart and carved in their soul. In their promise.

Ah...

Zein didn’t want to die.

* * *

What...

What went wrong?

Where did things go wrong?

Would things turn out differently if he persisted in chasing the shard instead of letting Zein do it? Bassena had no idea. He couldn’t use his head or move his body.

Even when Zein lay there, bleeding with dark purple smoke seeping out of his wound, Bassena could only stand frozen. Even when that calm face and serene gaze started to shake, and tears started to flow from the dim blue eyes...

Han Shin was shouting frantically. From the lips movement, it was about how he couldn’t heal Zein, and Radia, who came with Han Joon right after that last shriek, was told by his priest summon that they couldn’t manipulate the wounded area.

Nothing?

Did he read that right? That two five-star espers couldn’t do anything to heal the love of his life?

"Bas! Why are you just standing like that?!"

Bassena, who still couldn’t hear, felt a tug on his arm. But he still couldn’t move. How could someone move when their entire being was crumbling down? He couldn’t even feel his legs. He couldn’t even feel himself.

He had always been gripped with fear of losing Zein, but when he was facing the real thing...

Bassena looked up helplessly and caught the sharp stare of a pair of black eyes.

Joon...

If he asked someone...could they know the answer?

"Bas!"

Could they?

No. Those eyes told him the answer lay within himself. Those eyes reminded him of the conversation they had inside that cavern.

One day, you will have to make a choice between a poison and a thorny path.

A choice...

The black eyes closed slightly as Han Joon rubbed something beneath his eyes, and Bassena flinched.

The choice. He had it.

Slowly, fearfully, he turned his head toward Zein.

A choice that would probably make Zein hate him. Loathe him. Because it was an entrapment.

Bassena clenched his jaw to stop his trembling lips. That would be fine. It was better to be hated. Zein could only loathe Bassena if he lived.

Hah...

As he moved his legs, Bassena finally understood how Han Joon could make such a decision in the past. Yeah...there was nothing else to consider when it was about the life of the one they loved.

"B-Bas..."

Han Shin seemed to say something, but Bassena couldn’t hear it. He crouched beside the guide, whose eyes were still shaking, and caressed the pale cheeks. "I’m sorry," Bassena whispered softly. "I’m sorry, Zein, but..."

Bassena raised his other hand and shifted on top of Zein, flanking the guide’s slightly convulsing torso with his legs. On his raised hand, a black stake was forming.

As the blue eyes blinked in a daze, Bassena rubbed the lips smeared in red. "I want you to live," Bassena whispered. "You can hate me later, but...I want you to live, so open your mouth."

"B-Bas?"

Taking a deep breath, Bassena swung his hand down--

"Bas!!"

--and stabbed his own heart.

Blood splattered as Bassena felt his body seized by pain. But he forced his mind to focus on one thing. Because of his position, the blood trickled down Zein’s face, and found its way to the guide’s mouth. With bated breath, Bassena whispered sharply.

"Drink it, Zein..." Bassena heaved. "Please, drink it."

The blue eyes flickered and, whether by miracle or a conscious decision, Zein’s throat bobbed and the blood entered the guide’s system.

Bassena knew, because he could feel it.

"What--what are you doing?!"

Ignoring the scream around them, Bassena leaned down and pressed his lips softly on the guide, sealing their future. Be it one filled with love or hatred, it didn’t matter.

"My blessing..." Bassena whispered against Zein’s lips. "I will use it for him."

The black scales beneath Bassena’s eyes glowed and a giant serpent in eerie white light and glowing green eyes came down from the sky, swallowing the two dying humans.