There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 453

Chapter 453: Chapter 446. The First Beacon

That morning, almost all of the Unit’s personnel came out of the dorm, even those who had just come back from the night shift. Some were lounging on the bench outside the mess hall, or congregated in the assembly yard, while some were peeking from the window of the command center.

Wherever they were, their eyes were focused in one direction; the gate leading to the Deathzone.

"Ah, it’s so sort..." one of the guides commented while looking out of the clinic’s window. "I still want to see Zen..."

"He should be here again from time to time, right? Like...during resupply or whatever? It’s not healthy to stay there for a long time, after all."

"Stuuupid," Yath said dryly, pursing his lips. "Don’t you know Zen at all? He will probably stay there until everything is over, unless there’s an emergency or something."

The guides let out a sigh, and just mumbled a silent prayer and a good luck to the masked man standing at the front of the group at the gate.

The target of their prayer, however, looked the most at ease among that group. Not without tension, but there was no nervousness or anxiety in his eyes, as if this was nothing but another job for him. Although, perhaps, it had something to do with the bracelet on his wrist that consistently changed colors from white to black to white again.

"I’m not going to say much," Radia said as he swept his gaze across the sharp-looking espers and guides in front of him. "It’s been a long road, and we’ve done what we could so far to prepare for this."

The crimson eyes stared at the two groups in front of him; one wielding their weapons at the ready, and the other one standing around a pile of dimensional storage chests. He could see the nervousness inside their eyes, and along with that, anticipation. Wry smiles, as well as excited ones, adorned their faces.

Each one of them bore a plethora of expression, but there was one thing that persisted behind everything; firm conviction. His gaze stopped at a reliable pair of ambers and sapphires, and he smiled.

There was only one thing left Radia could say at this point.

"I trust you."

* * *

"Are you alright up there?" Bassena peeked out of the hatch on top of the van they used to traverse through the wide marsh between the Unit’s headquarters and the Deathzone.

Crouching on the roof of the van was Kei, who watched the vast marsh with her sharp eyes, Naoya with his bow and arrow ready, as well as Julian and his magic shield ready to be deployed at any time. The three had been working together before the establishment of Anzus--even before Trinity itself. Within the squad, they had the best synergy for long-distance sniping, and it was their job now to clean the marsh from the wights and the lesser specters that would hinder the van.

Usually, things like this would be handled by the Unit, just like the excursion last year. And it wasn’t like Agni didn’t offer to do it, but taking over the marsh was one of the steps in this operation, and the team needed a warm-up before entering the real battlefield. The creatures coming up in the marsh were like a perfect introductory course for the squad, since they only existed here.

And those creatures would surface for sure, since Bassena was here. It was in their nature to get wilder when a Saint class esper was there--as Bassena had already proven last year.

"It’s kind of fun," Kei replied without looking away from the marsh. "Reminds me of the old days--you know, when we’re still running around the desert and jungle looking chasing rogue groups?"

Naoya and Julian responded with a chuckle. "It’s too bad that we can’t bring vehicles inside the dungeon, huh? Zhan would love it so much."

Except for Kei, they turned back to see the spearman riding on a trail motorcycle behind the van without a helmet like a hooligan. The excited grin on his face could be seen even from where they were. In this dull march under the gray sky, the only thing shining brightly was the tip of the halberd on the man’s back.

"Did you give him permission to ride his bike here so he can be a bait, Commander?" Julian asked curiously, to which Bassena just replied with a smirk.

"Eh--as long as he’s having fun."

Bassena laughed and decided to lounge there on the hatch to observe them some more. He didn’t need to wait long though, because Kei raised his hand slightly--a signal for Naoya to get ready.

"How many can you let loose?" the scout asked while watching several spots on the marsh wriggle and the air writhe, forming astral bodies.

Naoya glanced at Bassena, who gave him an okay sign to go all out. Such was the privilege of the scout with an honorary Saint in their midst.

"If I don’t need to reserve for anything then; twelve, thirty-six, and eighty-one."

"I don’t think we need the big gun yet," Bassena said, as someone who had already slain those creatures before. "Just a medium one is enough for the specters, and low for the wights. If it’s not enough, Zhan will have fun either way."

"Roger that," Naoya nodded and took out his bow. There was no arrow, however--not a physical one, at least. Mana came out of his fingers, which were pulling back the strings, as he raised his arms and directed the bow to the sky.

Eyes on the field, several screens hovered in front of the scout’s eyes, allowing her a precise calculation of every miasmic creature that showed up in five hundred meters radius. "Wait," she said, grabbing Naoya’s shoulder. The archer’s eyes glowed, and the information from Kei’s eyes entered his system in real-time. "Seven specters... twenty-eight wights--you riled them pretty hard, Commander."

"What? I’m just existing," Bassena shrugged. It was a lot more than when he was in the outpost last year. It could be because of the location, or...

Because he was getting stronger.