Chapter 39. Where One Takes No Bullshit

"A breeder," Eugene stroked his chin as if there were a beard hanging there. "Could that be the same creature that trapped Sir Vaski before?"

"Ah..." there was a collective exclaim as everyone turned their head to look at Bassena.

The esper, who was in the middle of moving out the rest of the corpses out of the way, paused. There was a deep smile etched on his face, and Zein, who stood the closest to him, could see the fire blazing inside those amber eyes.

"They better be," he chuckled; a bit eerie, a bit dark. "It'll be nice to focus everything on one single target."

A lot of killing intent.

Zein tilted his head, body swaying a bit from the pressure. It was the first time he was exposed to Bassena Vaski, the Serpent Lord's murderous intent. There was an effect of fear, mettle, that emanated from the imposing frame, which reminded Zein of a dungeon's commander beast.

"Ah," thankfully, the esper snapped and culled his fury before Zein totally toppled over. Swiftly, Bassena took a hold of the guide's waist, holding him tight. "I'm sorry..."

"Hmm..." Zein stared at the ground still, feeling the slight trembling in his hand. It was a sign that his body responded well to the killing intent, and recognized the fear instilled in one body toward such predator.

And yet his mind was calm, his heart was still. He didn't feel the fear in his heart. Such discrepancy was the first for him. Was it because he had become so familiar with Bassena's system? But during his time in Umbra and the Unit, he had guided the same people repeatedly that he could differentiate them just by sensing their mana cores. And yet, he wouldn't say that he became 'familiar' with them. It was like the difference between patients and close acquaintances.

Zein frowned, lips pressed tight at this sudden realization.

Or perhaps...it was because he considered the esper's attribute to be comfortable to have around? His body was grazed with the thick killing intent, but his heart and instinct told him that the fury would never hurt him.

"Zein? You're okay?" Bassena was no longer holding his waist, but grabbing his unresponsive face with two hands, voice laden with panic. "I'm sorry, are you—Shin!"

"Wait, I'm still calming these two!"

It seemed like the mettle seeping out of Bassena was enough to make the feeble researchers shiver in fear. Well, even the other esper flinched from that, so how could mere civilians leave unscathed?

And then there was Zein, who was right beside the esper. A guide's constitution was actually as good as a civilian, which meant lower than even the weakest support type esper. If Zein didn't build his constitution in his early days, and didn't have his reserve magic energy, he would have collapsed.

So Bassena was in a panic right now. That bloodlust was accidental. He didn't mean to let out any, but the thought of the time he spent inside that void, which resurfaced all kinds of traumas and nearly made him crazy, and the thought of what could happen to the rest of the team, to Zein, if he couldn't come out...

It triggered everything bad inside of him—everything Radia and Joon had trained him to bury. And now, now it was hurting someone he didn't want to hurt the most, and it was—

"I'm okay," Zein patted Bassena's pale cheek. Wasn't it ironic how the esper looked more frightened than he was?

"...you're...you're okay?" Bassena repeated dumbly, and Zein almost chuckled, if it wasn't for the genuine concern inside the esper's voice.

So he smiled, and while it wasn't visible through the mask, it was visible from the softened blue eyes, hand gently patting the younger's cheek. "You can let go of me now,"

"...oh, okay..." Bassena retreated his hands from Zein, standing still for a while, dumbly, before sighing audibly. "Sorry for scaring you."

"Hmm," Zein looked at the researchers, who looked okay now, and held out his hand to signal Han Shin that he was alright. "I'm not scared, don't worry."

Bassena paused, looking at Zein keenly, staring so deeply he felt the amber eyes might burn him. "But you were trembling earlier..."

"Hmm, yeah. The body of a guide can't handle that kind of pressure, just like it can't handle miasma. So of course, it reacted that way," Zein moved his hand, clenched and unclenched it several times. "But I wasn't afraid."

When Zein lifted his gaze from his hand to Bassena's face, he saw the remnant of fear inside the silent, parted lips that seemed like they wanted to convey something but couldn't. And then a slight relief, and a creeping blush that the esper quickly hid with his hand.

"Haa..." Bassena swept his head back, and took a deep breath, closing his blazing eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I told you it's okay."

"No, it's not for that," Bassena huffed, the heavy air mingling between the two of them. "It's just that...I don't think I could ever give up on you, even if you reject me again and again."

He smiled—not the usually confident, firm smile. This one was a little crooked, a little restrained. A mix of guilt and shamelessness. He reached out his hand to fix Zein's clothes, and pulled up the guide's hood again.

"You might get annoyed and angry later because of that, so I apologized in advance," he grinned, before taking Zein's hand and pulling him gently toward the other.

Zein looked at the wide back of the esper, wordlessly, as his mind swam in bitter conclusion.

Attachment was...contagious.

* * *

The closer they got to the center of the signal, the beast attacking them increased, swarming in hordes, as if the whole community had joined the war effort.

It might as well, since the one attacking them was now limited to one type at a time. And after that particular species got annihilated, no member of that species could be found after.

"Seemed like the last effort of the commander," Ron commented. "Kind of feel like we're approaching a fortress."

A fortress where the general sent out its squads one by one until none left but itself. "Whatever that is, it seemed to be intelligent enough to unite various groups, practice cross-breeding, and organize troops," the scout continued. "That kobold group attacking us must be part of them, right?"

"Weirdly, it seems like this...commander...is waiting right outside the area where the shard's influence reached," Zein frowned, sensing that one huge obtrusive energy preventing him to feel the shard clearer.

"...like the Wood Specter?" Sierra tilted her head.

"Hmm? Then wouldn't it seems like they tried to protect it?" Eugene rubbed his chin, again, as if he had a beard.

"That didn't make sense, isn't it? Since the shard supposed to kill them?" Zein looked at Bassena then, which in turn looked at him and nodded.

"It makes more sense if they act like a gatekeeper, so people who can utilize the shard, like you, do not approach,"

That notion of 'gatekeeper' seemed to be the most plausible explanation, and they decided to go with that. But it also made them think, that if every shard had a gatekeeper, then...

"Is it just instinctual?" the researcher muttered. "Or something ordered them to?"

The expedition team grew silent after that, as they each went into contemplation. Well, either option was bad for them—the difference was just in the degree of danger.

The fact that the beasts could cross-breed showed them the possibility of social structure among the resident of the Deathzone. If there was a foot soldier and a commander, they could have a king. Or something equal to that. Which meant there was a high degree of intellect presided within the Deathzone.

And that would mean their reclamation effort would need a lot of adjustment.

"The place around the shard is big, like it's in the middle of a convention room...or something," Zein was sitting down, eyes closed, head tilted like he was searching for a signal. "Around that one big room are many smaller empty rooms, hallways, and then another big space...like a stadium…" he opened his eyes, and looked up at Bassena. "There's a big wall obstructing my signal there, so I guess it's where the commander is?"

"Whoa…your detection sure is amazing," Han Shin clapped quietly.

Zein shrugged while taking the bottle of water Bassena gave him. The only thing he could sense was the strand of energy from the shard, and from how those strands of energy moved about, procuring the environment surrounding it. It was the same as how esper used magic energy for detection.

"The number of enemies who came after us has dwindled," Bassena reached out his hand to receive Zein's bottle while looking at the dark, long hallway connecting two buildings that they had to traverse next. "And that last one consisted of young ones."

"So the general run out of troops?"

"Run out of troops it can spare, maybe. It will station some 'knights' to protect itself."

Bassena crossed his arms, the amber eyes glinting as they did earlier. But this time, the esper contained his bloodlust carefully. But the hardened jaw and the twitching eyes told them he was barely holding it in.

"I'll take them alone," he said without averting his gaze from the dark hallway.

Han Shin, who had seated himself beside Zein, leaned his body forward to look at Bassena. "Hey, this isn't like before, isn't it? There's no risk of the ceiling collapsing or anything?"

"No,"

The healer scoffed then, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "So why are you trying to act cool?"

Bassena tilted his head with a raised brow. "Huh?"

"Why are you trying to do things alone? It's not like you train Sierra so she can't help. We even rented—I mean contracted the best scout here. If it's just for protection, isn't Balduz sturdy enough already?"

Zein looked at the two espers, smiling subtly. Han Shin had been showing more concern for Bassena after that trapping incident—despite spending almost two weeks acting like he didn't care about Bassena's well-being. It was kind of cute and reminded him of his younger brothers...

Ah...was that why he was getting swayed easily? Zein frowned a bit at that. Because he was young, and had a childish side despite looking though?

No—that would be kind of disturbing seeing it like that. Well, he opened up easier because they do act cute like that, but...something with Bassena was different.

Meanwhile, hearing the healer made Bassena raise his brow even higher, staring wordlessly at Han Shin, before breaking into a laugh. "Heh," he chuckled, lips stretched into a rather mischievous smile. "I mean, I'm going to use [Nightfall] so it's not like any of you can come."

[Nightfall] was Bassena's territory declaration skill; a graveyard of darkness that brought the enemies within a certain radius into an isolated dimension filled with countless weapons, restriction debuff, and hallucination spell that the esper would hurl to the enemy.

"I just...want to have some payback," the esper smirked. The void that restricted him earlier had a lot of similarities to his own skill in how they confined the target into prison-like darkness. But while the void trapping him was made of miasma, his skill utilized pure darkness, and Bassena would actively attack the enemies trapped inside.

Zein blinked as he stared at that smirk. A wicked one, that made the esper look like a harbinger of doom. And it reminded Zein of the sea of darkness he was swimming in the past two weeks.

The soul of a playful child and a bitter adult. No, he wasn't like Zein's brother. They youthfulness that he longed, and the maturity that brought comfort.

Zein shifted his gaze, and sighed inwardly.

He shouldn't breach the line that time, now it was flowing nonstop, and he had no idea if he could stop the floodgate now.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on that.

"...oh," Han Shin pressed his lips, sheepishly averting Bassena's gaze.

Bassena shifted to chase the reddened healer's face, smirking. "Heh, you think I'm trying to play some heroic drama or something?"

"Oh, shut up!" Han Shin yelled finally, pouting with crossed arms. "Fuck, fine! I won't worry about you ever again!"

"Haha, what, you're worrying about me? Me?" Bassena shrugged with arms wide open, and Han Shin hurled all kinds of profanity at him.

The familiar, constant bickering made the atmosphere feel lighter somehow, despite the enemy seeming to be the strongest they ever faced in the Deathzone. So they walked through the long connecting dark hallways toward the stadium where the commander resided.

No, it did not sit in the middle of the field like some kind of meditating expert. Instead, they saw its fleeting, squirming foggy figure behind what seemed to be a VIP tribune a long long time ago. Now it just looked like a decayed balcony. It looked more like a wraith twice the size of an average human—if a wraith could talk, that is.

Or could it be considered talk with a scratchy voice that vibrated and invaded their sensory perception into understanding what it wanted to convey?

[Bee...goone]

The tone did not feel like an angry yell or demanding shout. In fact, it was flat, almost robotic. But with the way the voice—or sound—delivered, it felt even more sinister, sending a cold sensation grazing their spines.

[Yoou...caaanthouuch eeeeeit]

A blasting fog of miasma burst forth from the tribunes, and it was as if someone putting weight on the air, for it felt heavy, oppressing, cold.

"So I don't have to worry about you, then?" Zein glanced at Bassena, who despite the scowl above, was grinning below.

"Hmm, that's hard," the esper lowered his head, and his fingers found themselves on Zein's thigh, tapping on the Black Pearl. "I do like it if you worry a lot about me."

Zein looked at the blazing amber eyes, the three black scales beneath them, and the easy smile that was full of confidence, and sighed.

Attachment, truly, was dangerous. It was contagious and unstoppable.

He lightly brushed the platinum strands that trailed down the esper's forehead, before patting the bronze cheek.

"I don't like cutting myself on a dagger," he said, and the amber eyes rippled, before they curled into a crescent and a deep smile ensued.

"I'll make sure you won't have to do that, then."

[I wooont let yooou tooouch eeeeit—]

"Oh, shut up!"

With that grumbling remark, the esper dispersed into darkness, and reappeared in front of that balcony-like tribune.

The last thing Zein saw was the creature writhing fog before everything inside the stadium drowned in darkness.