There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 495 - 488. The End of The Tunnel

"Urk--"

Dheera clasped her hands over her mouth, even though it was already covered by a mask. The shrieking sound filling the chamber was unearthly and inhumane, made of the stuff coming out of the worst nightmare.

A pair of hands took off her goggles then, blessing her with the darkness that protected her mind from the horrifying scenery that almost made her feel pity toward a miasmic beast.

"Better close your eyes, Missy," Gus whispered gently. "Protect your sight."

And your mind--the esper muttered inwardly. Even among the espers, the use of hex had never been seen favorably. It was rather hard for a black magician like Hari to find a place in a prominent guild, but fortunately, their Guildmaster favored functionality over image.

And that decision had proven right countless times, including this moment.

The shriek of the hobgoblin they chose to be ’interrogated’ continued as the creature was mind-bent by the hex and started to scribble on the hard floor with bloody fingers. It was hard to discern; apart from the wobbly squiggly lines inevitable by the pain, they had to look at the dark blood against the dark floor. Thankfully, Kei had better vision than most esper and managed to replicate the scribble--or rather, drawing--in her commlink.

"Here," Kei pointed at a square with many circles inside. A line was drawn on the top side, with a diamond-shaped thing on its edge. It almost looked like a box birthday cake, and they would laugh if it wasn’t for the implications of the drawing. "I think this is referring to the base."

And the ’diamond’ was definitely the shard.

Beneath the square, the hobgoblin had drawn what they thought was a path--a complicated one, which represented the Stone Eater’s path perfectly. And then, at the bottom of that path were indecipherable lines that they couldn’t read. However, from how much the creature’s hand shook while making those lines, they concluded that the lines referred to the Specter.

"So it seems like our conjecture is true," Zhan said after stabbing the creature to its much-wished death. He dragged the dead body and threw it to a path they wouldn’t take. "So? We will pursue them, right?"

"Of course," Kei nodded while making an input into the map she made. She had been calculating how far they were from the base, and the result wasn’t that good. "If my calculation is correct, we are a day away from the base, even if we run all the way."

"Wait--is that mean those creatures are already..."

Kei frowned and shook her head. "Perhaps not," she said finally, although they could feel a slight doubt. "Moving in a horde is difficult, and even the leftover tails wouldn’t be too far behind. They shouldn’t be able to move as fast as us. Even if the head had reached the end of the path, they would probably gather in the last big chamber and make sure their numbers are big enough."

"But we still have to chase them fast, right?"

"Well, then..." Zhan put his spear back in his back with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. "Let’s hurry and--"

"No," Kei shook her head before sweeping her gaze across the squad members. "We are not Commander; we wouldn’t last if we keep going without any rest--even more if we have to fight at the end of it."

The support magicians were especially relieved by this decision. They might have better physiques than guides or civilians, but they weren’t made for prolonged physical exertion, and didn’t have as much stamina as the defenders.

"We’ll do what the Borderland Unit does when they have a Deathzone expedition," Kei said, putting down her bag on the ground. "We’ll rest for four hours, and continue for six before taking a rest again for two hours and continue."

It would be their first rest without a proper camp or purification device, and they had to get used to sleeping in short hours. But it was the best they could do in that situation and at least, they could have a drink and make some instant meals during that time.

As they started to find the best spot to rest, Han Shin approached the scout. "Hey, is there any way we can warn the base?"

Kei shook her head with a sigh. "We can’t get any signal underground. Even if we stay in range, the beacon wasn’t designed to breach the ground."

The healer frowned and chewed on his cheek in contemplation. "Hey...what if we use the flare paper we shared with the base?"

"We can’t," Kei frowned too. "That one is supposed to be used when we are in an emergency and they have to enact the defensive protocol."

"But isn’t this an emergency too?" Han Shin argued. "Sure, they won’t know what actually happened, but at least the defensive protocol will be in place; the guides and supports will be in a safer place and everyone will be on alert. Isn’t that better than suddenly getting attacked out of nowhere without anyone but the guards being ready?"

Kei bit her lips in contemplation. "That protocol means they will contact the Guildmaster too..."

"So? Is losing people better than making a fuss?"

Kei pressed her lips. Han Shin could easily say that because he was a higher executive, a shareholder, and the Guildmaster’s future brother-in-law. It was different for a normal employee like her. But...what he said wasn’t wrong.

"I’m going to take responsibility, so let’s just do it," Han Shin said. Kei might be the appointed leader for this sub-squad, but Han Shin had the highest rank. "Even if we manage to prevent anything from happening before they breach the ground, it’s still better to make them ready for the worst situation."

"He’s right, K--better safe than sorry," Gus draped his arm across the healer’s shoulder. "It’s rare for him to say sensible things, so let’s do it." ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Hey!"

"Alright," Kei let out a sigh before chuckling and taking out a black piece of paper from a secured box. "In that case, we better inform Commander too that we decided to pursue."

Han Shin nodded and took out the red sheet from his storage ring. Together, they infused their mana into the sheets, which shattered after two seconds.

"That’s it," Kei exhaled slowly before looking at the others again. "Let’s replenish our energy and continue."

* * *

"The blue flare is gone," Zein told Bassena. "It seems they determine our theory."

"That was fast," Bassena muttered. But then again, the distance to the base was shorter than wherever the twin shards were. He glanced at the guide, whose arms were tightening around him. "Trust them," he said gently.

"I know," Zein pressed his forehead into the back of the esper’s head, sighing. But trusting them wasn’t the same as not worrying.

How funny; he used to think death was inevitable, especially in a place like the Deathzone. He had faced a lot of death during his career, especially when he was a part of the Borderland Unit. Almost all expeditions into the Deathzone ended up with at least one death, and even the ones that didn’t have the members heavily injured.

He thought he was already numb about things like death and injury, but...

Was it because he could finally appreciate life? He couldn’t help but wish for no casualty during this whole project--which, he knew enough, was a pipe dream. But at the very least--at the very least, he wanted the guides to be left unscathed.

When he first took the job of training these high-zone guides to be strike guides, he had never thought he would end up getting this close to the guides. However, before he knew it, he had thought of them as his little siblings he needed to take care of, and they, in turn, had treated him like a strict but protective older brother.

Naturally, Zein didn’t want anything bad to happen to them.

"They’ll protect your kids," Bassena reassured the guide. "Don’t worry."

"Yeah," Zein nodded, wondering if it wasn’t better when he was still just a numb, jaded person. But he took a deep breath and convinced himself in the confidence that Bassena always had. "Yeah, I know tha--"

He paused and stiffened, prompting Bassena to look back worriedly. "What’s wro--"

"Sush," Zein covered the esper’s mouth with his fingers as he closed his eyes in concentration. Bassena waited patiently, but he didn’t stop running in the direction pointed by the arrow. After about twenty seconds, Zein opened his eyes again. "I sense them."

"How far?"

"Several ten kilometers," Zein frowned and spread his detection more. "I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s more than a hundred."

"Alright, I’ll speed up," Bassena tightened his hold on Zein’s legs. "Hang tight."

Instead of holding onto the esper’s shoulder, however, Zein slipped his hand inside the collar of Bassena’s shirt. "I’ll guide you on the way."

Bassena laughed softly, before returning to his stern face. Putting more strength into his legs, he kicked the hardened floor and rushed forward, sending his children of darkness ahead to scout for the situation.

At this point, the terrain had become even more uneven, and after running about twenty kilometers, they ended up in a widened path--not as big as a chamber, but bigger than the one Stone Eater dug. The walls on the widened path also lack the hardened mucus of the worm--or rather, there was no mucus at all.

"I think they dug up this part themselves," Bassena told the guide. "It should be close."

"Bas, we need to hurry," Zein bit his lips. "They were crying for help."

Bassena wasted no time to rush even faster. The path widened even more, and they could feel the trace of corrupted mana along the way--the trace of the Fragment. Bassena ran and ran until, finally, they saw it;

The light at the end of the tunnel.

And the large shadow eclipsing it.