There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 461 - 454. Across the Valley

Down, down, down they go along the hills, entering the woods and crossing ravines.

The guides thought it was already hard enough before, but this time, it got even harder. There was no easy path or an established one. They couldn’t rely on the warriors to open a wide path like the first day, due to the uneven terrain. The ground was hard and filled with boulders, and they had to constantly go up and down.

Even then, Ron said it was the best path he could find. The other would be too steep or too dense--which wasn’t a problem for the warriors, but would be too much for the supports and the guides.

"We don’t have time to make a path now with this things keep coming at us," Bassena said while slicing the air with his hand, sending several dark scythes to the incoming screeching birds. "Once we make our base, we can level the land more leisurely with the equipment the following group would bring."

That was the decision made after knowing the new route took longer than the original. After all, the underground path only followed an underground river--kind of like a highway, ironically enough. But this time, they had to go through hills and valleys, down the cliff, and jump over a ravine. All while getting attacked left and right by the beasts that originally dwelled in their path.

"But at least there’s no worm here! Hahahaha!" Han Shin was the happiest among these people. He rarely needed to heal since everyone was excellent, and even if he had to, it was only for a few nicks and bruises. He was basically the most relaxed of them all.

"Why is this place full of beasts anyway?" Naoya muttered as he took a little rest after letting out endless mana arrows.

"No idea," Ron shook his head--even the scout had to take part in the battle this time. "The last time we’re here, it’s not like this."

"So...what? Five months ago?" Bassena tilted his head. "Could it be they felt traces of human and came here to check?"

"In that case, would there be any need for them to stay for months after finding there’s nothing here?" Kei frowned while kept giving her visions to Naoya, who was ready to shoot again.

Zein narrowed his eyes at those words. "It’s not like...there’s nothing here, isn’t it?"

Both the scouts, as well as Bassena, stiffened at Zein’s words. Right--it wasn’t that there was nothing here. After all, currently, they were also trying to reach that thing, weren’t they?

The core.

"Do you think...?"

"Hmm..." Zein frowned deeply. "Two Specters were lost around the place, and traces of human were found. It happened in January or February, right? Then..."

"It’s right when the force of Deathzone became quiet," Bassena said. "Well, might be because Joon messed up Operation Kronos, but...there was also less dungeon anomaly during that time."

Han Shin blinked. "Huh, is that so?"

"That’s right," Kei nodded. "We’re just too busy preparing for the second assessment to think too much about it. I think the last one was...right, when Commander almost erupted."

"So...you think they were being quiet because they were focusing on things inside the Deathzone?"

"Might be," Bassena shrugged. It was nothing more than a conjecture after all. Still, Kei wrote it down on her note to be included in her report afterward.

"Hey, then--should we go quicker?" Han Shin asked cautiously; the relaxed demeanor had gone completely.

Bassena, instead of answering, looked at Zein. Among everyone here, Zein was the only one who could feel the presence of the shard after all. The tall guide frowned and closed his eyes in contemplation.

"Hmm...the core seems alright," he muttered. He could feel the faint presence, and it didn’t seem distressed or anything. "Let’s just go with our initial pace. Even if there’s something up ahead, rushing wouldn’t help us, who know less about the terrain."

"Are you sure?"

Zein smirked. "Not even two mature Specters could break the tree fortress, so don’t worry too much."

Bassena shrugged and curled his lips. "If you say so, Boss."

"Hey--" Naoya muttered with bated breath above the grotesque tree. "Can you like...stop talking and start helping?"

* * *

"For some reason, I couldn’t feel as calm as yesterday," Dheera whispered after they finally stopped their advance to make their second camp.

"Going into a new path always fills people with tension," Carra said. "And the path today is harder than yesterday, isn’t it?"

"That’s right..." Dheera whined and slumped against the support magician, even though she was supposed to guide her. "And Captain said it might be harder tomorrow."

Carra patted the guide’s head. Hearing a whine in a squad usually annoyed people, but Dheera was the youngest among them, so they saw her like a little sister. She also only whined during break time, and kept doing her work and following the squad well during the march, so all was fine.

"It can’t be helped; the place we’re looking for is situated in a valley, and..." Carra glanced at the vanguard team who was in the middle of a serious discussion. "It seems like there will be bigger creatures tomorrow."

Dheera perked up and scooted closer to the esper, whispering even lower. "Is this about that? The things Captain talked about earlier--about miasmic beasts gathering in this place?"

Carra nodded. "It seems that all of us have to work hard tomorrow," she said. "You might need to guide often tomorrow, so better have a good rest today, even if the place is less comfortable."

"Huff..." Dheera looked around the cavern they used as a second camp.

Different from yesterday, they were in a closed space, so the air was heavier. Aside from that, they were quite far from a water source, so all they could use was the water they brought as a supply, meaning they couldn’t shower or use too much water in their cooking.

But then, she remembered the story about how her Captain used to stay in the Deathzone with no protection and minimal supply--just a canteen and dry meat for sustenance. That image was enough for her to grit her teeth.

"It’s alright," she nodded, clenching her free fist. "This condition is already a privilege!"

"Good girl," Carra patted the guide’s head again, and she giggled while continuing the cleansing.

Near the entrance of the cavern, meanwhile, a more serious discussion was taking place between the vanguard, the scouts, and Zein.

"My limit is five kilometers, but...after the ravine over there, there’s no more beasts I could detect," Ron reported after materializing back from the shadow. "There are, however, a lot of traces."

"Direction?"

Ron scrunched his nose, which was an answer by itself.

"So, toward the core, as we thought," Bassena nodded. "It’s fine, we predicted this anyway."

"What do you think the situation is?" Kei looked at the other scout, who immediately rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"Since Zein said the core is fine, it means there’s no breach. In that case, all I could say is...a siege," Ron muttered. "The fortress is situated in a valley, so...it’s a perfect location for a siege."

"Rather than a siege, they probably just trying to break forcefully through the trees, wouldn’t they?" Zhan tilted his head.

"Maybe," Bassena tapped on his knees, looking toward the direction they would take tomorrow.

They would have to cross a ravine--another jump without any bridge in sight. He could deduce that except for the birds, who were probably spies, the rest of the miasmic beasts they faced today were the ones who heeded the call but had no ability to jump over the ravine.

One thing that was certain though; they were really getting organized better, just like in Zein’s vision. It wasn’t just a pack of same-kind creatures like the hounds, but a throng of different species.

"There should be more than one commander-class," Bassena deduced. "And to lead all those different commanders, there would be something in a higher class."

Zhan and Gus straightened their back and exclaimed together. "A Boss?"

"Most likely," Bassena nodded, smirking at the way his teammates looked energized rather than shrinking. Well, that was why they were the advance troop. But he still looked at the two warriors sternly. "Are you confident you can face it alone and snatch the purple stone if it has any?"

Gus and Zhan looked at each other. It was clear that the moment they said they couldn’t, Bassena would deal with the Boss instantly while making them face all the crumbs.

"Eyy, Commander--magician like you should go for the masses, not a single target," Gus shrugged his shoulder. "There will be dozens--probably hundreds--of creatures there, right? It’d be too tiring for melee attackers like us; right, Zhan?"

"Of course!" the Spearman chimed in eagerly, making a frown to show how serious he was. "You know we worked better when facing large-sized monsters, don’t you, Commander?"

Bassena scoffed and rolled his eyes. The way these people made excuses...

"I’m going to ground you if you fail to retrieve the stone."

Zhan pursed his lips and looked away. "We don’t even know if it has one..."

"I’ll be watching," Bassena didn’t budge. Any research material was important in this stage after all.

"I mean...it’s kind of hard you know, to be so precise while thinking about skill management..."

"It’s fine," Zein chuckled. "We’re doing it outside the fortress anyway. I can go all out, so you can too."

"That’s what I’m talking about!" Zhan curled his fist before saluting to the guide. "I’ll make sure to bring the stone back even if I have to lose an arm."

Han Shin scowled. "Why would you lose an arm?"

"Why would we have a five-star healer if I can’t even lose an arm?"

"Hey, don’t take me for granted!"

Bassena sighed and shook his head exasperatedly while leaning at Zein. "See, this is what happens if you spoil them too much."