There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 471 - 464. Fragment of Fallen Star (2)

At the first strike, the Specter was laughing. At the second strike, it was growling. And at the third, it roared.

The human was stronger than it thought, and slowly pushed it back with the strike that got heavier with each swing. The burning amber gaze--the brightest color it had ever seen--reminded the Specter of its Creator.

And so it roared, sending the order to the other puny beasts to attack those this human tried to protect.

But the human growled. "Like I’ll let you."

A surge of mana--which the Specter hated--came out of the human. It didn’t rush toward the Specter, however, but to the human’s back; a surge of darkness that quickly materialized into eight hundred and eighty-eight spikes, converging into a giant snake that kept rotating, shredding anything on its way.

The troops of beasts, which were about to rush toward the group of humans at the end of the field, crushed under the giant snake and chewed inside its maw. The rest of them scattered to get away from the merciless dark snake, although some with exceptionally strong defense tried to attack the giant reaper.

The Scepter, however, roared again to urge the beast forward--toward the human, no matter what. Even while it was being pushed further and further away from the battlefield by the human who swung his scythe with the power of a giant, as well as bombarding it with stakes upon stakes, it got its priority set on the group of intruders.

Especially, toward that lump of pure mana that felt even more dangerous than the human with the amber eyes.

Dangerous, even for its Creator.

"Seems like it’s our turn now," Zhan put his elbow on Ashur’s shoulder. "It’s on you now, Ashur."

"Mm, get ready," Ashur glanced at his vice-captain. "You’re in charge of the ranged attack, Iore. Focus on the minion."

"Yes, Captain."

"Banner, Ike--" he looked at the defenders next. "Go forward and taunt the commander classes."

Without delay, the two defenders ran forward with their heavy shields to meet the rushing beasts that looked like a wave of darkness. But they stopped to roar and cast a taunting skill, attracting all of the beasts’ attention to them. At the same time, the support magicians sent out the best buff in their arsenal to the advancing espers.

The waves of beasts crashed into the defenders, as if wanted to swallow them whole. Before the head of Banner and Ike drowned inside the wave, however, volleys of arrows and elemental magic rained down the surging beasts that managed to escape the giant shredding snake. Many perished, but more was coming. This time, they were met with an onslaught of cold weapons.

"Arsenal."

Ashur stretched out his hand, and the space behind him opened like a torn curtain. Dozens of weapons from swords to spears and even maces poured out and struck the advancing beasts. Following the armaments were the warriors brandishing their own weapons, slicing and thrusting into the oncoming beasts.

"Focus on the commanders--leave the minions to the rearguard," Ashur shouted as he grabbed a sword in his left hand and a spear in his right hand, before kicking the hard ground to face a two-headed Ogre stomping toward them.

In annoyance, the Specter realized it wouldn’t be as easy as it thought. By number alone, they should be winning against these puny humans, but that lump of dangerous mana--which bore similarity to the scattered power that could burn them--strengthened the small number of humans, enough to keep them at bay.

Hmph--no matter. They had numbers, dozens of times more than these humans. Soon, that lump of dangerous power would be--

"Where have you been looking at?"

A tight hold gripped the Specter’s neck--a pair of hands made of pure darkness that was different from the miasma filling this place. The Specter snarled--too bad...it could burn the human’s hands if he touched directly.

"You shall not cast your gaze in that direction."

With a cold voice, the amber-eyed human threw the Specter past the edge of the field--at an ancient city wall that had been fused with boulders and trees.

Bassena narrowed his eyes as he felt a familiar sensation assaulting him when he touched the Specter--even indirectly. It didn’t feel like a regular Specter, that much was obvious. What surprised him was that the creature gave him the same sensation he had inside the black pearl; in the memory of Celestial War.

The sensation of a Celestial Being.

It wasn’t that strong, like a diluted version of it. But it gave him some kind of confirmation;

That creature was a fragment, just like Zein. The fragment of the Fallen Star.

Realizing this, the amber eyes blazed even more, and he rushed forward before the Specter could get back up. But shots of miasmic tendrils pierced him from all directions, each containing the same burning poison in the dark purple spear shaft. Some grazed him, but he managed to cover his vital area with barriers.

A growl that was different than before, and a roar that was louder than anything filled the dark space. Two spots beneath the dark cloak gleamed eerily like ghost wisps, and a wave of miasma flooded from the Specter, rushing toward Bassena and further away--toward its troops and the humans on the other side.

"Fuck--"

Bassena wanted nothing more than to turn around, but he had no time as the spear came to him, fiercer than ever, along with the Specter’s sneer.

"Hah--you think you’ve won?" Bassena smirked as black scales started to coat his skin, dispersing poison trying to seep into him. "You’re nothing but a fragment."

The Specter scowled and hissed, but the human, who was now covered in black scales up to his neck, snarled. "I’ve survived a Celestial War," the black scythe raised high in the air. "You think I’ll be done by a mere fragment?"

The clash of the Saint class esper and the fragment of the Fallen Star could be felt all the way to the other side of the field where guides and the support magician resided. Zein felt his jaw tense--the Specter was definitely the equivalent of a black dungeon Boss, if not stronger. And he recalled how Bassena turned out in the end after facing a black dungeon Boss alone.

But the Bassena now, who had experienced a thousand days of Celestial War, was different from the Bassena then. He was way stronger, and more proficient in skill management to keep his corrosion level at bay. Still...Zein couldn’t help the churning feeling in his gut, thinking about the Specter’s illusion domain which might trap Bassena.

And he couldn’t even guide Bassena from this distance.

Naturally though, he didn’t let it show in his eyes. Thankfully, the mask covered his tensing jaw, and the goggles shielded his eyes somewhat. He couldn’t show any sign of wavering for his kids’ sake. The battle, which was getting heavier and seemed to be another endless situation, already increased the guides’ worry. It hadn’t been long since the fight, but there was already a batch of espers going back for cleansing and healing.

Unlike before, they were no longer just facing minions, but also commander-class beasts. Even with Bassena’s giant snake shredding the middle of the rank, the oncoming beasts did not stop--which showed how much bigger these troops were.

"Keep breathing," Zein told the guide. "Digest the absorbed miasma as you wait."

"Y-yes, Captain."

They sounded scared and exhausted, but it was a good thing that they could still reply to him. That being said, if this didn’t end soon, it might get really bad. Even the guides had limits to how much corrosion they could absorb, and if they reached their limit in the middle of battle, it was impossible for Zein to take over the rest of the--

Slice!

Stab!

Kieeeeek!

The guides and espers flinched as they heard the shrill sounds of fighting and shrieking. When they looked dreadfully at the back, they saw Ron stabbing a wight and Zein slicing a lesser Specter coming out of the marsh.

Kei gritted her teeth as another group of shadowy creatures rose from the remains of the frogmen’s corpses they had yet to get rid of earlier. "Julian! Naoya!"

The two espers immediately left their position to counter the incoming wights and lesser specters. How embarrassing it was--to think they had to make an injured person and a guide move to fight.

As soon as Julian and Naoya faced the ambushing creatures, Zein slid back to where the shock guides were. The ones Zein and Ron slain were so close to the kids--if they were a bit late, those creatures would have reached the guides.

"I thought you can’t fight?" Zein raised his brow and asked in a lighthearted mode to decrease the tension.

"I just don’t have mana, not losing my limbs," the scout smirked, before taking a deep drag of the golden needle. "And it’s been recovering."

"So I can throw you to the battle again?"

"You’re not in charge of me, Mister Guide."

Zein chuckled, even though the hand gripping the dagger clutched so tightly it was hurt. So close...it was so close. He glanced at the other guides, who were staring at him with clear dread. It was, after all, their closest brush to a fatal encounter.

"It’s fine, just focus on--"

Zein couldn’t finish his words, because in the next seconds, he felt a dreadful energy sweeping the field. Immediately, he pushed the guides to the ground, crouching as waves of miasma rushed over their head. Before they could gather their bearing, a loud roar could be heard, and then a plethora of howling sounds came from the beasts.

This time, there was no need for those purple crystals. In dread, the advance troop of Trinity watched as the miasmic beasts--including the commander classes--went berserk.