There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 572

Chapter 572: Chapter 566. The Corrupted One

The moment they saw the old man’s expression, they knew something was wrong.

"What happened?" Bassena and Zein immediately approached the Iron Mountain. "You’ve found the source, right? Is there any problem with it?"

"We found it, alright," the old man replied bitterly. He sounded disappointed for some reason; perhaps that was why Naoya took over the explanation.

Finding a way inside a ruin was harder than just trying to find a way across the forest, even with the absence of an illusion effect. Because of that, Naoya only sent four-star espers and above, including himself. It was tricky even with meticulous planning, because the ruin seemed like the remains of an Old Age lab or research center. With many rooms and floors, it was no different than a labyrinth. Thankfully, they still managed to locate what seemed to be the source of the fog.

"The miasma got very thick in the room, to the point that only those with special vision skills could see," Naoya explained. Naturally, an archer like him had one. "It didn’t let out miasma or anything like that, but the fog circling it was fierce and almost alive, and there was something like...vibration coming out--like a pulse?"

"And?"

"And I came inside to destroy it--or at least take it away," Tian Yu took over, still with a disappointed tone.

Well, it was clear that the attempt was unsuccessful because the field of fog was still there. Naturally, they didn’t say anything--not even Naoya, who should know what happened--and just let the old man reveal it.

"We reached the chamber where what we thought to be the source was--me and this kid," the old man pointed to Naoya, who scratched his cheek when he was called a ’kid’. "We planned everything well and moved fast following the rope and markings. We were still in low green when we reached the chamber."

That seemed sufficient enough--Zein thought. It was actually remarkable, knowing how treacherous the miasma’s corruption in that part of the field was. So...why?

Tian Yu shook his head and let out the heavy sigh he had been holding. "I couldn’t get through."

"...what?!" Zein and Bassena replied belatedly from shock.

A Saint class couldn’t get through something? They looked at each other with a worried gaze. Didn’t that mean they were doomed?

"There was some kind of force that repelled me every time I tried to come close," the old man continued. "The more I tried, the harder I pushed, the stronger the repelling force I felt."

"That’s..."

"I tried too, and the same thing happened," Naoya added. "Not only that; the moment we came against that force...our corrosion level spiked dramatically. In the end, we had to give up and come out before we went into red."

Zein stared at Naoya and Tian Yu. He wondered if the heavy corrosion contributed to the bad mood. While they had already received guiding on the other side, their corrosion level still hovering in yellow.

"I’ll guide you for now," Zein told the two espers. "You first, Grandpa. Tell me the rest while at it."

"What can I even tell you," the old man shook his head while following Zein to the dining table in the camp.

As a veteran who came back to the front line after nearly four decades, he probably wished to have a spectacular result. But far from that, he didn’t even succeed decently. No--he failed. It was only the first attempt, but it was still a failure. And he couldn’t see a way to overcome it too.

No matter what skill he used, he couldn’t get past the force field protecting that source. Like the same side of a pole, he kept getting repelled. It was something that couldn’t be solved by having a bigger power.

After hearing the old man’s more detailed account--or rather, grumble--Bassena tilted his head. That feeling of being repelled felt familiar. "Hmm...that sounds like what I experienced coming close to the core," Bassena looked up in reminiscence. "In fact, I was getting pushed back until the edge of the roots formation."

"Really? You?" Tian Yu raised his brows.

"Initially, all the shards reject everyone but Zein," Bassena recalled. "They only let others come close if Zein told them to--ah, but that one allowed us to come close for having a celestial brand."

"Huh..."

For some reason, that account from Bassena slightly uplifted the old man’s mood. Naoya, on the other hand, frowned. He glanced at Zein, who caught the cautious gaze immediately. "What is it?"

Naoya flinched slightly and bit his lips for a second before shifting closer to Zein. "Uhh...this is only my opinion, but..."

"Yes?"

"I’ve been thinking about this since we came out, and hearing what Commander said convinced me a bit more," Naoya intertwined his fingers as if praying--perhaps praying that what he thought wasn’t true. "I think...I think that source is a shard."

Tian Yu felt the guiding stop abruptly and the hand holding his clenched tighter. He looked at Zein and saw the blue eyes shaking. Even in the dim light of the purification device, he could see colors rapidly escaping the guide’s face.

The guiding session was being paused because Zein’s mind was too preoccupied to do it. He sat at the edge of the camp, staring at the void blankly with his fingers intertwined against his lower face. _{free𝑤ebnovel.com}

What is this? A corroded shard? A corrupted shard? How could it be?