There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 131. The Fog That Creeping Closer

"There’s no way it was a coincidence, right?" Bassena muttered while staring at Zein, who looked so focused to the point that he looked angry.

That Zein, who was probably the only person in this world capable of sensing and communicating with a shard, who was a living fragment himself, got dragged inside a place with a shard.

"So do you think it was the shard who dragged you inside the dungeon?" Radia asked.

"Most likely," Zein nodded. "Since it reached out to me. Or..."

"Or?"

Zein tilted his head as he tried to recall something. "If that’s the case, it’s kind of weird, though. The power that sent us out felt like the shard’s mana wave, but the one that pulled us into the Deathzone was different, more like miasma. Like..."

The guide paused, frowning even more as he tried to figure it out. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone in this discussion. "Like something produced by the Specter?" Bassena offered a conjecture, which made the blue eyes sparkles.

"Yes," Zein snapped his fingers, which prompted Bassena to grin despite the serious atmosphere.

"Then that is weird," Radia nodded in agreement. "Why would it pull you there and put itself in danger? It’s not like it provided an elaborate trap, and the only other addition is the kamaitachi minions."

At that, they fell into silence, and either looked up at the ceiling, staring down at the floor, or gazing blankly into the air, trying to figure out this anomaly. They said nothing until one of the secretaries asked about their lunch, and they decided to just have it there.

It was after his belly felt content that Zein finally came up with something. He massaged his forehead first, however, since the possibility of his thought being true was just giving him a headache.

"Just spit it out, Zein," Radia said, finally back to calling him normally.

With a deep breath, Zein leaned down with elbow propped on his thigh, hands pressed against each other as he spoke carefully. "Do you remember what the Snake Bearer told me? That the growing power might try to swallow the shard?"

If it was anyone else, they would get confused at asking for more explanation. But since this was the guildmaster and vice-guildmaster of Trinity, they caught on quick. Just that one sentence already put them in perspective.

"Now that I recall correctly, the Specter’s location was awfully close to the shard. No, we could even say that it was right where the shard was," Radia tapped on his chin. "The only reason why it couldn’t reach the shard was because of the barrier."

Bassena suddenly frowned and gripped the armrest tightly. "Was it..." He looked at Zein with furious eyes before continuing. "Was its real objective you? To swallow you?!"

That was why Zein felt a headache. It was just a conjecture, but the minions did target him first. And they kept on targeting him after. The squad didn’t catch on to it because they were moving in a tight formation, so it looked like the minions just targeting them all. Even if they felt like the minions attacking Zein a lot, they thought it was just because Zein killed the first two attackers, so they saw it as a form of revenge.

But once things were put into perspective...

"Maybe..." Zein muttered quietly. "Or it wanted to use me as a key to breaking the barrier with my connection to the shard."

Either way, it was bad news.

"So, to conclude," Radia held up his fingers. "The one who pulled you into the Deathzone was the Specter, and there’s a high possibility that the objective was you--whatever it was the Specter wanted to do with you."

Zein nodded, and Bassena hissed in response.

"Which means," Radia continued while holding up another finger. "The Specter has the ability to connect other dungeons with the Deathzone. We had no idea, however, whether it’s a specific ability to this one, or if all Specters are able to do it."

"And lastly," Radia pulled down his hand, and for the first time had a smile on his face. "The shard has the ability to destroy a dungeon."

"!"

That conclusion was something new that Zein had never thought of. He was too focused on the dungeon anomaly itself that he completely forgot about how they managed to get out. It should be something of concern, since there was no dungeon core for them to escape. And yet, they managed to.

Well, although to be fair, Zein was practically unconscious when they were yeeted out of the dungeon.

"You mean...if we can learn how, we might try to create a device for destroying the dungeon’s gate without going inside?" Bassena asked for confirmation, to which Radia responded with a nod.

"Well, that’s still a theory, though. And I’m not really sure we have the time to delve into that, since we’re busy enough with the preparation for next year," the man sighed, but there was still a slight smile on his lips. "Still, it’s something worth thinking about, don’t you think?"

Zein wanted to respond energetically too, but talking about the shard reminded him of the vision that he got before he got out. And again, which he saw in the dream while he was unconscious for two days.