There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 36

Chapter 36: 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.

"Is it only there or—" _{freewebnøvel.coɱ}