Chapter 35. Where Strange Things Happened

"This is…"

They found the ruin. And it was…well, in ruin. Obviously, the structure of the complex itself was already cracked and collapsed in some places, but more than that, it was also half buried beneath the earth.

Honestly, it wasn't that surprising, when they thought about how the Deathzone had been swarmed with monsters and miasma since the age of the apocalypse. How many hundred years ago was that? During that time, multiple landslides had plagued the area surrounding the ruin and buried the complex in stones and dirt.

"From the look of it, the shard is underneath all of that," Zein spread out his hand, to the two third of the ruin section that got buried beneath the hardened soil.

"Again?" Han Shin groaned. Damp, underground places usually filled with bug-type mutant beasts like those disgusting giant worms he loathed so much.

Bassena tapped on his chin and lips, darkness fleeting around the ruin complex from every side. But the esper frowned, tilting his head here and there as if scrutinizing an imaginary map.

"I can't find any entry point..." he swatted his hand, and Zein saw shadows dispersing from the faraway ruin. "It means the entrance is buried beneath...that."

Again, Han Shin groaned.

But it made sense that the shard was buried underground, since they couldn't see any sign of a safe zone being established on the surface of the ruin.

"We have to look for it, then," Bassena shrugged and was about to signal for them to get back in formation, when he saw the researchers crouching in exhaustion. "Tomorrow."

Han Shin stretched his body in relief. He might not get as tired as the two civilians, but as a support type, he lacked the stamina that the combat esper had. They had been walking nonstop ever since the tree fortress, and while it only took half a day to reach this point, the stress they got from being surrounded by miasma again after two days of purified environment was taking a toll on everyone's spirit.

The moment they were told they could rest, they immediately prepared for a camp in a trained manner. Han Shin was confident he could survive well in any kind of dungeon now, even the one that spanned for an entire week.

The difference was that this time, they didn't camp near a source of water, so they had to preserve the one they packed from the core's domain before. Meaning no shower, no hot stew, or any kind of wasted water anymore, since there was a probability of having no water source until they found the shard.

For Zein and Ron, it was like their usual excursion, but the face of the three researchers as they prepared the device was full of sadness—and Han Shin even boast he could survive for week-long dungeon excursion now...

"Where's Bassena?" Zein asked the healer when Balduz finally laid out the folded chairs for them to rest. Han Shin dove straight away into one of those chairs and started to massage his shoulder when Zein came to him.

"What, he's not here?" Han Shin looked around, and realized they were lack of one tall, imposing presence. "Oh, don't you think he's just patrolling like usual?"

"For two hours?"

Han Shin stared at Zein, who was looking towards the outside of the camp, and smiled in amusement. "You mark the time?"

"...I do,"

"Wow~" Han Shin grinned at Zein's rather curt reply. "What should I do to be treated that special?"

Zein sighed. "I'll wonder where you are too if you vanish for two hours."

He was quite confused about the healer's stance in Bassena's effort. It seemed like he was actively trying to tease and besmirched Bassena's reputation in front of Zein when they were together. But at other times, he would also do something like this—like probing into Zein and seemingly helping Bassena.

How confusing. Was that how friendship worked? Zein had no idea, since he had no one he could comfortably call 'friend' throughout his life.

"Really? Wow, I feel honored," Han Shin put his hand over his chest, staring at Zein with an exaggerated touched expression.

"Sure, but seriously..."

"Yeah," Han Shin grimaced, feeling the playtime was over. "There's no reason for him to spend that long patrolling the area—especially with you here," he checked on his link with a slight frown. "And no contact either."

Seeing the frown on Han Shin's face made Zein tense. He had been spreading his senses around the campsite, but he didn't find anything amiss. It was still dark and eerily quiet. He couldn't even sense Bassena's kids which usually guard the vicinity...

"Shin..."

"Yeah?"

"How strong is the barrier?"

Han Shim raised his brow. "It should be enough to deter something from B-class dungeon. Why—"

*BAM!*

A loud slamming sound suddenly blasted from the vicinity of the safe zone. Zein could see a snout behind the shimmering barrier of the device.

"Wow, you really are on point for things like this, Zein..." Han Shin laughed awkwardly. The beast retreated into the darkness and slammed down the barrier again.

Seeing that the barrier was fine, the beast seemed to be that in a lower class than B. Zein couldn't see it much because he didn't wear his night vision goggles. "Don't worry, you'll learn that when you spend seventeen years in the field like me."

At that time, Sierra and Ron came running at them, while Balduz stayed with the surprised researchers in the middle of the camp.

"What was that?" Ron asked with a frown. The beast had retreated again by the time Sierra and Ron arrived.

"...a kobold?" Han Shin scratched his neck awkwardly. The other three looked at him with a frown and tilted heads. "Don't look at me like that, it's also seemed ridiculous to me!" he pouted and crossed his arms.

"Don't sulk," Zein patted the black hair. "You do know it sounds ridiculous."

"So it's really a kobold? But it's strange..." Ron frowned. He narrowed his eyes toward the point where the beast struck earlier.

"Yeah, there's no way something like a kobold could breach Bas's guards," Han Shin nodded.

Kobold was a beast that was commonly found inside the low-class dungeons. They were usually treated like mobster pawns and weak enough that even Zein could subdue one using his trained physical strength alone without using any magic energy.

So there was no way a beast of that level could bypass Bassena's children of darkness.

"But you see..." Zein looked at Han Shin, "I couldn't sense Bassena's darkness either."

"...ah,"

It was at that time they realized the absence of the darkness that always stood guard within their shadow.

"I can't see beyond the boundary..." Ron muttered, eyes glowing brightly from the use of his skill.

"Me neither," Sierra held out his gun. If a sharpshooter like her and a scout like Ron couldn't see even after they use their skill, then it was a situation worth getting worried about.

"Is it only there or—"

"It's all around. We're surrounded," Ron informed them.

Zein grabbed Han Shin's arm and dragged the healer back into the center of the camp. Ron and Sierra followed them, eyes and weapons still facing the place that got rammed earlier.

"Hypothesis," Han Shin called out once they were huddled in the center.

"Some kobold can use magic, like goblin shaman. They might conjure up an isolation domain around the barrier," Ron started.

"Does kobold has enough power to conjure up something that grand? I mean, bypassing Bassena?"

"I don't know, but Deathzone's monsters are generally stronger than the ones in dungeons," Ron shrugged.

"It's also possible that the kobold is only a foot soldier or a scout, and the one that makes the isolation domain is another kind," Zein took his goggles and wore them again. Although it wouldn't really help with a long-distance vision since everything was blocked, he could at least know when the kobold returned to the—"ah, it brings its friends,"

Their surrounding, which was filled with darkness, were suddenly decorated with countless pairs of red eyes. And just a second after those eyes appeared, they jumped and slammed against the barrier simultaneously.

It was pretty disturbing, to see the barrier got plastered with snarling snouts and glaring red eyes. Thankfully, Balduz and Sierra had swiftly covered the two civilians' eyes before they could be objected to such horror.

"Eugh..." Han Shin shivered. "It's better than worms, I guess."

"Will the barrier hold?"

"As long as they don't get stronger than B-class beasts," Han Shin shrugged. "But just readied your barrier formation, Balduz, in case of emergency."

"Yes, Sir."

Han Shin sat down again, deciding that there was nothing he could do. Even if the kobolds broke in, he didn't have any combat skills anyway. Better preserved his magic energy for sanctuary. "Right now, I'm more intrigued about where Bassena is, and what happened to him."

Zein clenched the Black Pearl in his hand tighter. "Do you think the same isolation spell is cast on him?"

They fell into silence and looked at each other, countless scenarios cooking up within their mind. "Is it even possible?"

"I mean, it would explain why his skill is getting detached from us..."

Zein frowned, looking down at the black dagger in his hand. Two hours. Bassena had been away for two hours. When did the spell start? When did the enemy isolate him? Could he even get out by himself?

"You'll hurt yourself if you grip that dagger any tighter," Ron whispered with a smile, arm flung around the guide's shoulder. His eyes were still watching the encroaching kobolds intently though, only glancing at Zein for less than a second. "He's Bassena Vaski. He's probably on the way here already, or in the middle of dispelling the spell on us."

"That...wasn't my concern," Zein muttered, loosening his grip on the Black Pearl.

"Oh? So what is your concern?" Ron chuckled, leaning his head close to the guide. "Our safety, or his safety?"

"His safety is our safety," Zein answered curtly.

"Well, that's not wrong,"

"Ron..."

"I won't meddle," the scout smiled, finally turning his head to look at Zein. "But surely you realized how different you are with him?"

"I thought you don't want me to go?"

Ron smirked, tapping Zein's shoulder softly. "But you said you'll stay until the end of your contract," the scout shrugged. He lowered his sight, and added in a soft tone. "And joining them will make it easier for you to find the other shards."

Zein whipped his face to look at Ron with sharp eyes, but the scout held up his hand before he could say anything. "I don't know what connection you have with them, but I can see it's quite important for you. So you should do it if you want—joining them, I mean."

Zein turned his head to the other side. He did have such thoughts before, but it was also true that he could just join them when they started another expedition in the future. There was no real need for him to stay in Mortix or Trinity just for that.

"Zen," Ron let go of the guide's shoulder, smiling subtly while looking at Zein. "In the three years I know you, I have never seen you laugh until a few days ago,"

Ron still remembered the sound of that laughter, light and free and ringing beautifully like the chime of the summer bell. And not just that laughter—Zein was smiling more times in this expedition than in the whole three years he spent in Unit 02-4.

And in the center of all his changing expression was Bassena Vaski.

Even if others—or even Zein himself—couldn't see that, the professional scout Ron Hillard would not miss it.

"...what's your point?"

"Hmm," Ron tilted his head and closed his eyes to ponder. "Just do what's comfortable for you, I guess?"

What comfortable...Zein looked down at the dagger again. They seemed to be in danger with how fierce the kobolds were, but the barrier seemed to be sturdy. Han Shin was just watching the kobolds with a bored expression, face propped in his palms. The researchers were now covering their own eyes so Balduz and Sierra could freely ready themselves for unforeseen circumstances.

Still, for how long they should wait?

Zein clenched at the dagger again; the pure black color of the blade reminded him of Bassena's darkness. Well, after all, it actually belonged to the esper. "Where are you?" Zein stroked the blade, feeling the thin layer of darkness that always coated the sharp metal. "Where are you, Bassena Vaski?"

A wind blew. Zein blinked, and looked around. Where did this wind come from? He was startled by the wind that his fingers accidentally grazed the sharp end of the blade, enough to draw blood. The blood trickled into the blade and vanished, as if being absorbed.

As Zein winced slightly at the sting, his eyes widened at the vanishing blade. He held the dagger closer to his eyes, and watched the darkness coating the blade shift. The hilt vibrated in the next second, and Zein hastily let go of the dagger, only to have a dark smoke bellowing from the dagger, enveloping him.

"That took quite a while,"

Zein turned his face with a start, as the billowing dark smoke turned into the missing esper. Bassena stood behind him, holding gently into Zein's shoulder, one arm stretched to catch the falling dagger.

"What the hell?!" even Han Shin, who should be used to Bassena's shadow teleportation, looked shocked.

"...did you... come out of this?" Zein stared wide-eyed at the Black Pearl that Bassena put back in his hand.

"Yes," Bassena gripped Zein's hand while at it, lowering his face to Zein's level. "Thanks for summoning me."

"Summon—what?"