It had been more than a year since Zein retrieved the shard from the jungle across the plain. It was shielding itself from hordes of beasts and Specters, expanding its energy so much that after Zein took it, the shard went into a deep slumber.
It felt tired and it felt safe--until it wasn’t. Its natural warning alarm rang over and over again until it became so unbearably loud it couldn’t help but wake up.
It was in danger. They were in danger. The big brother was in danger!
And so the shard burst out and used the energy it had saved during its slumber to contain the rattling dark purple energy. Since it was a concentrated energy, the light and the purification effect on the surrounding area wasn’t as big as the other shard, but it still created a considerable safe zone that reached the aid and guide station.
"Haha..."
The frantic espers stopped and stared at the shining jail that came out of nowhere. Well, it did come out of Zein’s sealed storage ring, but not even Zein knew it would happen.
"Can...can it hold?" Kei asked with heavy breath--not out of physical exertion, but a mental one. They had been plagued with crisis upon crisis, and it sapped her energy more than if she had to swing her dagger.
"Yes," Zein nodded, sending his gratitude to the newly woken shard. "It can’t purge them, but containment is not a problem."
"That’s great," Kei exhaled in relief. "Now we can start--"
CRASH!
Khieeeeeekh!
Along with a loud crash, a consonance of shrieking, howling, and screaming sounds reverberated across the desert like a symphony of a rising hell. The fragments that were busy with the espers suddenly turned toward the shard and screeched.
But the one with the strongest reaction was, of course, the clone. However, instead of trashing its tentacles like before, it combined the force into one and lashed it toward the lone dark knight fighting it, before letting out a deafening cry as it wriggled forward, starting to step toward the fourth lane.
All of its still-functioning eyes were on the shining crystal.
And no matter how thick Bassena’s armor was, he couldn’t completely withstand the force of the piercing tentacle. His armored body was flung far by the force of a skyscraper-size freight train, sliding across the sand.
He wondered if he were to be hit by a full-speed diving military plane, it would feel less hurt.
Bassena might have the greatest firepower, but he was no tank. Even with the armor, he couldn’t prevent the increasing bruises. And it was one thing being hit, but the tentacles were also jagged. The sharp thorn on their side scrapped and pierced between the link on his scale armor.
When his body finally stopped sliding across the sand and his eyes were staring at the dark canopy of the Deathzone, Bassena knew he was bleeding inside and out.
"Bas!"
Ignoring the rampaging Fragments, Zein grabbed Cohen and Han Shin, before running toward the esper.
* * *
"Do you have any updates?" Captain Agni asked Naomi as he fastened his claymore behind his back.
"Not yet, Captain," the Mortix’s proxy said with a heavy heart, thinking about her baby brother in the frontline. "The main base said there was still no communication from the desert, but I think it’s because they are busy on the battlefield."
Agni nodded, glancing at the personnel he gathered to be sent into the Deathzone. They were people who had signed up by their own will, including the people who went with Ron to scout the path to the Tree Fortress before.
"We’ll go in anyway," he said.
Originally, the Borderland Unit would only be sent if an official request was made. But with Ron coming back in the way he was, Agni didn’t think they should wait.
Especially if they became too busy to even make a report.
"The emergency call is yet to be made, but..." Naomi bowed her head sincerely. "Thank you."
"I will put the rest of the personnel in the marsh to guard against any possible breach, although it’s unlikely," Agni said before abruptly turning around and stretching his arm to prevent Ron from taking more steps. "Not you. You stay."
Ron blinked and raised his brow. "I’m heale--"
"You, stay," the berserker’s eyes glint sharply as he hissed through gritted teeth. The voice was low and fierce, but the fingers on Ron’s chest were trembling slightly.
How could he not? His lover was getting back in a bloody mess and drained out of mana, which meant the man was, once again, in a death’s door. No matter how many times they said to each other that they could always lose their lives the next day, Agni would never be fine seeing Ron in that condition.
"You’re useless now, so just stay put!"
Bassena chuckled briefly without uttering any words, but it was enough for an answer.
Zein gripped the esper’s nape a tad bit tighter, although it had nothing to do with his guiding, just frustration. Of course, he wanted to drag Bassena back and make sure the esper was completely fine, but he knew it was not possible on the battlefield.
"At least turn on your communication," the guide sighed.
"I needed to concentrate," Bassena smiled, allowing himself a glance to enjoy the concern in those blue eyes.
"Then we’ll help you concentrate, so just turn your device on," Jock, who followed Zein to approach Bassena, said. "We’ll start aiming for the eyes on the left side, so you just concentrate on the other side. At this point, it doesn’t matter which eyes we’re destroying, right?"
Bassena nodded. Yeah, it didn’t. At this point, they should just aim to destroy as many ’faucets’ as they could. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Bas, the calibration for the bombs is finished," Zein reported. When Bassena turned to look at him inquisitively, he added. "I’m just saying we have another measure."
"It wouldn’t be enough..."
"But we could try it," the guide insisted. "If things are getting dire, you should come back and we could try it. It doesn’t matter if we lose a portion of the desert."
Bassena stared at the adamant blue eyes; the concern and the shadowing fear. What could he do in front of such a gaze?
"Fine," he nodded. "The option is on the table, but we’ll try to wound this shit as much as possible first, alright?"
It wasn’t alright at all for Zein, but he nodded.
"Two minutes," Bassena said, turning on his communication device again. "You better prepare for that assist right now, Kei."
[Roger that, Commander]
"Alright," Bassena stood up, even though his healer and guide looked at him disapprovingly. Chuckling, he leaned down and kissed the forehead above those concerned blue eyes. "This is the last leg, so let’s do it strongly."
And once again, he flew toward the moving mountain.
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