There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 468 - 461. Onward

"When I got your report, I couldn’t really believe it, but...you went through a war, huh?" Ashur said the moment Hagalaz’s squad members entered the tree fortress, glancing past the closing wall to the piles of burning corpses at the far side of the valley.

"We’ll have to face it sooner or later anyway; now we have an example," Bassena looked at the squad members who, just like anyone else, stared at the shards and the dome with parted lips and pure amazement. "How’s the journey?"

"Thanks to you, it was even easier than dungeon raiding--except for the miasma level and the perpetual darkness," Ashur shrugged and pointed at the crates and chest they brought. "Where should we put this?"

"Just pile it near the wall; we’ll take everything to the ruin tomorrow anyway. Give your recording to Kei, and we’ll send the report together. Have you guys eaten?"

While the espers were busy with logistics and whatnot, Zein was welcoming the three guides who looked like they wanted to cry at the sight of him. They didn’t go as far as hugging him as Dheera did, thankfully, but they did look like kids who finally saw their parents at the end of the school period.

"Captain!"

"Captain, I miss your nagging so much!"

"Not hearing the sound of your scolding feels weird..."

Zein rolled his eyes, but he also patted the three guides one by one. "Was it hard?"

"Not the guiding," Brisk shook his head. "There’s not much battle anyway, so no one went past yellow. It’s just..."

"The miasma level is..." Silva let out a heavy exhale that was mixed with a breath of relief since she could finally take off the goggles. It wasn’t fun wearing one when you were already in glasses to begin with.

But alas--they didn’t make dark-vision goggles with eyeglasses lenses in mind.

"You’re right, Captain; it’s worse than the simulation," Dead added, hugging himself while shuddering. "It feels so heavy and...disgusting."

"But you persisted, didn’t you?"

"Of course!" the three of them replied without hesitation, and Zein nodded with a smile on his face.

"Get some rest for now," he patted their shoulders and pointed to his back. "These two will take you to play if you want."

Dheera and Leehan grinned, raising their arms as they welcomed their three colleagues; the difference in their facial expressions was palpable. Zein turned to the command center then, where Bassena, Ashur, and the scouts were.

"Are your level good?" Zein asked the Hagalaz Captain.

"I barely did anything," Ashur shrugged. "There’s not many beasts attacking us, and the troublesome ones were the wight--which I couldn’t attack, since all of my skills are physical."

Zein scanned the esper to check, and the man was right; even without guiding for days, he was still in yellow. Ashur chuckled and added. "I was basically useless the whole way."

"Isn’t it good that we managed to make you useless?" Bassena smirked. "Means we’re doing it right."

Ashur laughed. "I hoped you left something for me to do tomorrow."

"Oh, don’t worry," Bassena turned toward Ron. Combining Bassena’s children of darkness with the scout’s shadow travel, they had tried to see as far as they could, checking the path and what lay in the path toward the city ruin. "There’ll be a lot more tomorrow--enough for everyone."

"Oh?"

Ashur raised his brow and took a seat on the bench of the command center, listening to Bassena’s deliberation about their route tomorrow while being guided by Zein. The discussion was a good thing to distract him from getting flustered by Zein in front of the guide’s own boyfriend.

"So...some of the hordes came from our direction, and the rest came from the area beyond the valley?" Ashur summarized. "It’s such a coincidence, isn’t it, that you arrived when the attack happened?"

"It’s not," Zein shook his head. "The core had no concept of time measurement, so I can’t say the exact time they got here, but...they’ve been here for a while, mindlessly trying to break the wall."

"Ah..."

"They should be rallying after our team left," Ron said. "Since there’s no trace of any horde when we checked the last time."

"A few weeks or a few months, it doesn’t matter," Bassena muttered. "What mattered is whether they came by instinct..."

"Or by order," Zein finished the words.

"Hah--" Ashur frowned and rubbed his lips. "Among all dungeons I had experienced, the only creatures with this kind of order are undead and bipedal ones. Even then...it would be just one kind of creature..."

"Right," Bassena nodded. "While there are clear hierarchy based on miasma level, it’s usually more of a prey and predator relationship."

This was why pitting creatures against each other was one of the feasible strategies in the dungeon raid. But that was in the dungeon. While Deathzone was established due to numerous outbreaks that were left unattended in an area--which meant the creatures still retained the characteristics of the dungeon’s beasts--the last excursion showed that these creatures were able to evolve.

"And the purple stones," Han Shin reminded them.

"Yes, the stones," Bassena exhaled heavily. "I think we can’t no longer deny that Zein’s vision about their gathering and marching is true."

"So...is that mean one of their rally points is in the city ruin?" Ashur asked based on Bassena’s earlier deliberation.

This time, the one who replied was Ron, since he was the one who scouted the area. "From the traces, there were a lot who headed in the direction of the ruin instead of the valley. There’s a field where I saw a converging point, and the trace was much higher than the number of beasts on the siege."

"Well, that ruin is way bigger, though--I mean...it’s a city," Bassena shrugged. "We expected that much. Isn’t that why we no longer advancing alone?"

Ashur curled his lips, recalling how Bassena said there would be ’enough for everyone’ earlier.

"But since it seemed to be more dire than our initial thought, let’s leave the luggage here," Bassena strokes his chin. "Let’s leave a person or two here--in case of emergency. I think one of the guides also..."

"Sure," Zein nodded in agreement, looking at Bassena with a smile. "You want to try testing this as an emergency point right away, don’t you?"

Bassena grinned. "You know me so well."

* * *

"So that’s what--you can decide among yourself who will stay behind," Zein said to the five guides dipping on the lake.

Without hesitation, Dheera and Leehan turned toward the other three guides. "It should be among you three," Leehan said. "Me and Dheera have enough rest already, so we’re at our peak condition."

"Yup!" Dheera nodded. "We’ll be moving tomorrow, so it’ll be harder for you, right?"

Similarly, however, Dean and Brisk looked at Silva. "You should stay," Dean said. "We’re used to the harsh terrain because we’ve been going with Hagalaz. So it’s not that hard--and we’re not even guiding much yesterday. Right, Brisk?"

"Uh-huh."

"Uhh...I don’t mind going, though?" Silva bit her lips. "Shouldn’t I go precisely because I’m the one less used to this? That way I’ll get more experience to go along the way."

"Well..."

Zein raised their brow as he watched the guides fall into deep discussion. His lips stretched in amusement. And pride--that none of his guides were willing to take the easy route. That all of them wanted to move forward despite the comfort of this little paradise--even those who just arrived.

Ah...it was the same feeling he had when the twins came home saying they took first place in the school’s exam.

"Let me tell you this first," Zein propped his arm on Leehan’s head, staring at the guides one by one. "Staying here won’t make you less brave or less diligent than the others, alright?"

He waited until they all nodded before continuing.

"Now, the reason one of you will stay here, do you understand what?"

"Umm...because in an emergency situation, someone might end up heavily corroded," Silva replied carefully. "And it’ll be good to have a guide with an empty vessel at the ready."

"Yes, that’s what it means to be an emergency reserve," Zein nodded. "But there’s something more."

"...more?"

"During an emergency, a lot of hard decisions should be made. Should you stay here or come out to help, what kind of situation happening outside and what emergency report should be made to the headquarters...these are the kinds of things people who stay in emergency points will need to make."

Dheera grimaced. "Uaagh...that sounds like a heavy responsibility."

"Exactly," Zein nodded. "Of course, we pray that we won’t ever need to be in that kind of situation, but...well, you get the gist of it?"

Again, the guides nodded like the good students that they were.

"So, decide again while considering this."

"In that case, I shouldn’t stay," Dheera shook her head with a wide grin of self-conscience.

"And in that case, my choice is still the same," Brisk looked at Silva while cackling.

"Yup, since you’re the most level-headed of all of us," Dean laughed without a shred of embarrassment, and Leehan just patted the bespectacled girl’s back.

"Just accept it."

Silva looked up at Zein, who just smiled calmly while waiting for her decision. His gaze was as serene and firm as usual, and it was clear to her that he meant everything he said before--that it would never be a sign of cowardice or laziness.

In the end, she nodded--not with resignation, but with a firmness that believed this role too, was as important as the one stepping back into the Deathzone.

"Good," Zein smiled and patted her shoulder. "Rest for now, and come to me after dinner."

"Yessir."

With that, they decided on those who would stay in this natural bunker while the rest of the squads continued their march to the place that would become their first headquarters--their real flag of reclamation.

And so, after a moment of respite that felt like a dream, they march again. Onward, to the first city ruin.