There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 272

Chapter 272: Chapter 265. The Calling

The number of times Zein got worried about Bassena’s safety could be counted on one hand.

No. Actually, if it came to it, Zein only ever worried about the esper’s safety once; when they were isolated from each other in the Deathzone.

He still remembered the gut-wrenching sensation and the unsettling beat of his heart at that time. Yeah, he remembered it. He remembered it to be way way way less than what he felt when he watched the swirling black gate in that intersection.

He saw it from the car window first. His heart told him to immediately get out of the car and find out what happened. But when his hand reached the door, he found out he was trembling.

No, he wasn’t scared of the black gate.

He was scared of what might happen inside.

He leaned down slightly and took a deep breath, trying to think of good thoughts. Lakes. The sea he watched through videos. Chocolate. Candy. Ambers. A pair of ambers. Fuck.

No--Zein exhaled through his mouth. No, nothing happened yet. Yes, it was a black gate. But Bassena was used to black gates. He should be alright. He was clean; Zein had cleansed him two days ago. He would be able to use everything in his arsenal, and as usual, he would prevail.

Yeah. Yeah, okay. Zein took another deep breath and finally put his hand on the door. It opened from the outside, as if Jock already knew when Zein would be ready.

"Be careful," the bodyguard said.

The moment Zein stepped out, he had to hold onto the doorframe to steady himself from the harsh mana flow coming out of the black gate. Even though Jock had parked the car outside the barricade erected by the government, the blast of mana that was mixed with miasma still affected them.

Accompanied by Jock, they came inside the barricade to where the other members of Trinity were. [Anzus] was there already, and they said Kei was also coming inside with Bassena and two other government agents. Apparently, Trinity was the one who arrived the fastest.

"They’ll be fine, right?" Han Shin, who came with Rina not long after Zein arrived, bit his cheek nervously.

"The formation isn’t ideal," Gus sighed. There was no defender or healer since they only came to scout. "But I believe in Commander."

Or so he said. But the usually relaxed and aloof Anzus squad was looking tensed and nervous, so how could Zein believed that claim. Still, for the sake of them all, for the sake of himself, he had no choice but to trust Bassena’s mightiness.

Yeah. He was the youngest Saint-class Esper. He recently got an upgrade on his skill. He should be fine. It wouldn’t be easy, but he should be able to survive, at least.

It was just...what kind of condition would they be when they came out? Zein bit his lips and crossed his arms to prevent himself from moving anxiously. If he was there...if he came with Bassena...he should at least able to guide them inside so they didn’t have to worry about using their skill.

But even if he chided himself, even if he regretted what happened this morning, there was nothing Zein could do but wait. Wait and trust his esper, his lover.

Suddenly, as they talked about the many possibility, the air vibrated and the gate started to swirl loudly. It only happened during two possibilities; an outbreak or dungeon clear. Whatever the results, it was advised for every personnel around the gate to move to a safer place, especially non-esper.

Even so, Zein couldn’t bring his body to clear the premises. How could he? His Esper was still inside!

And the Trinity members understood this. Rather than coaxing him to move, they surrounded him in a protective circle. Rina was erecting his strongest barrier in front of them, and Han Shin was holding his arm tightly, just so he could immediately heal Zein in the worst case. Jock was standing behind the guide, and the other members of Anzus were spread around them.

They watched the black gate with bated breath, fervently praying that it was a dungeon clear, however low the percentage was. Zein wanted to close his eyes to calm himself down, but he didn’t want to miss anything, so he forced himself to keep looking at the swirling vortex, letting the earring do its work to stabilize his mind. Steadily, he kept rubbing the bracelet around his wrist, chanting his esper’s name in his mind.

And then, after waiting while holding their breath, someone came out of the gate. They could hear some cheering, because someone coming out of a locked gate meant it was a dungeon clear. But immediately, the cheering stopped and the personnel started to move. From the yell for healers that he heard, Zein knew it looked bad.

And from the way the other Trinity members stood still, he knew it wasn’t Bassena or Kei.

Zein heard Han Shin curse, and he really wanted to be able to see the area below the gate. From the level of urgency, it seemed like the person who came up was seriously injured. Medical personnel ran with a stretcher, and Zein heard Rina mutter that it was the government’s scout.

It was cruel to say that the man wasn’t what they hoped for, but Zein was getting antsy. Yet it was hope.

"I’m going to ask what happened inside," Gus told them, and ran to the commotion along with Naoya.

Zein almost followed them by instinct, but he was held by Han Shin and Jock. He frowned and spat annoyedly. "Isn’t it safe already? Isn’t it a dungeon clear?"

"Let’s wait for Gus a bit, okay?" Shin clutched into his sleeve, looking at him with a troubled, worried face. It made Zein realize that Bassena was also important to Shin--he was the man’s best friend. And he was also important to his colleagues.

It got him calmer to some extent. But still...why was no one coming out--

Just then, another one came out of the gate. Another rush. Still not Bassena and Kei. But Gus came back not long after, and it seemed like the one who came back then was coherent enough to give them information about what happened inside.

"It was a two-chamber dungeon, and the moment they stepped into the second chamber, the dungeon got locked and the miasma level was spiked," Gus told them. "Because the boss suddenly came out."

"Who cares why--where’s Bas and Kei?!" Han Shin responded agitatedly. They could talk about how things unfolded later, but where were the people they had been waiting for?

"They said Commander used [Nightfall] during the last attack, and told the others to go over to the gate first, so..." Naoya said. "Kei was staying back in the second chamber, so they should be coming out soon--"

And exactly at that moment, the gate shook and the air vibrated wildly. It felt like a gate would collapse after a dungeon cleared, but Zein knew better. This time, he firmly shook the healer and his bodyguard’s hand and ran toward the gate.

"Zein!"

He heard several people call his name, but he didn’t stop. The only thing he could hear was the sound of his heartbeat. The only thing he could see was the gate and the emerging two figures.

Clad in a dark fog of thick miasma.

Come on, Bas--Zein swam to the deep and touched the sleeping face, stroking the black scale and the closed eyelids. Come on, baby.