There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 594 - 588. Phase Two

Chapter 594: Chapter 588. Phase Two

It was an ambush in every sense. Not only they were ambushed by a meteor out of nowhere, but a group of humans suddenly appeared in the dungeon even though the entrance was guarded by an army outside and watched by Its offshoots inside.

How?

To make matters worse, there was the presence of that human who wounded the clone severely before. There were two similar others outside but this one...this one was bad news.

As if confirming Its worry, the black stakes from the clone’s memory stab right through its outer eye. And as if it wasn’t enough, the searing white flame for that time came right after. It was slightly different, but the power of spirits contained inside the fire was all the same.

How humiliating! How utterly humiliating!

Never had It felt this cornered ever since that Celestial War; ever since that accursed weapon meister hacked It into millions of pieces. That Setnath! That damn Setnath!

Having its clone defeated was one thing, but having its real body beaten so much like this...how could it not even realize their presence? The Chimera Master was seething at how much it used its energy earlier. It had thought It was attacking the human who killed the clone before, but It got scammed! It was a ruse!

In the middle of the onslaught of darkness and fire, It abandoned the energy used to absorb the piece of cosmic energy caught a while ago, and averted it to strengthen the outer body. The suspended sphere was very cost-effective to conserve energy, but its inability to move freely made it hard to do any counterattack.

With a roar, the Chimera Master blasted the abandoned energy it used to maintain the sphere shape, using it to slam the enemies away. The building collapsed from the pressure, but what did it matter? It would be too small for its new shape anyway.

More and more flesh of forgotten failed creatures in its inventory was summoned from the abyss. They latched and crawled all over the protective sphere, stacking on top of each other and turning themselves into new parts; thick limbs, thorny twin tails, a fanged snout, a horned head, and tough armor the Chimera Master didn’t even think it could break with Its own power.

When the thick dust from the collapsing building finally settled, the Chimera Master stomped its four limbs to the ground, summoning a quake and sending more debris flying all over the place. The fanged and horned head roared into the sky, and the billowing smoke of corrupted cosmic energy formed a deadly canopy not unlike the dark ceiling of the Deathzone.

"What the fuck is that?" Han Shin cursed at the tall, dragon-like creature in the middle of the rubble.

Although, it looked more like a big, hideous, overgrown lizard with no wings. The huge belly still looked like the wriggling mass of organs from earlier, but the rest of it was getting upgraded. It if couldn’t kill them with its power, Han Shin was sure it could kill them just from the visual distress alone.

It was still better than just the disgusting blob earlier though. Also, anything is better than a worm.

[What do you mean what?] Zhan’s voice came out of the earpiece amidst the sound of clashing and clanging on the fragments’ side. [It’s the second phase, duh]

"What are you talking about, you idiot?" Han Shin rolled his head. "Our second phase does not have an abomination dragon in it!"

Their second phase was simply to get rid of the fragments--instead of just separating them from the Fallen Star--in preparation for their third phase, which was to attack the Fallen Star together with the other two Saint-class.

Funnily enough, sometimes dungeon bosses would have some kind of changes in the middle of battle, which made them stronger. And they did call it a ’second phase’.

So Zhan just laughed heartily while parrying a blow from a fragment. [Oh, look--you even give it a name!]

"Fuck you! The fragments are trying to get away, you moron!" Han Shin shouted to his heart’s content since there was no need to be quiet anymore.

[Oops!]

While the silly line was exchanging useless banter, Iore asked Bassena the important question. [What to do now, Commander?]

Bassena, who had slid back to where Zein was during the storm of miasma that brought down the palace, narrowed his eyes at the rampaging creature. It was still howling in ecstasy at its new shape, but soon, the dragon would start to attack.

Should they attack the dragon altogether? Bassena contemplated hard. He could feel that the Chimera was just as strong as the clone. As they had predicted, summoning so many dungeons and churning out fragments must have weakened it considerably--not to mention that continuous energy attack. It hadn’t even used one since missing Sierra earlier.

It was tempting.

Bassena swallowed, feeling swayed for a second. But then, he saw the pulsing big belly of the dragon and shook his head to clear his mind.

No--the dragon was just a shell. He glanced at Zein, the dungeon entrance, and then at the Chimera. Let’s stick to the plan--he took a deep breath and gave his order.

"Khan, go to the fragments team now," he glanced at the berserker who was receiving quick healing and guiding, before shifting his gaze to the fragment team. "Iore, take the Spirit Queen and get rid of that cloud."

"What about this dragon thingy?" Han Shin asked.

Bassena exhaled through his mouth as he straightened his back and fixed his glove. "I’ll face it by myself."

"Bas--"

"I know," Bassena turned to his concerned lover, lifting the corner of his lips. "I’m just stalling for time--I’m sure they have already started to clean up the lake outside."

The blue eyes still looked at him doubtfully, perhaps from the memory of the desert war. Swallowing his chuckle, Bassena added more for reassurance. "The important thing is to not let the fragments get absorbed, right?"

"...be careful," Zein said finally, letting go of the esper’s hand.

"You do that," Bassena said while black scales started to cover his body as if showing the guide he had the best protection.

"We’re not the ones facing a visual distress, you know..." Han Shin shook his head with a disgusted expression.

Bassena laughed and raised his hand while walking away toward the Chimera. Hundreds of dark stakes appeared from thin air, but instead of forming a giant snake on the side as usual, they wrapped around Bassena, forming the giant serpent with him as the center.

Watching the esper’s armored figure swallowed by the dark stakes which gradually formed into a serpent as big as the dragon, it felt as if Bassena himself had changed into a serpent.

"Damn..." Agni laughed in awe at the spectacle, while Han Shin grumbled.

"Acting cool as usual!"

* * *

"The fragments are coming for the magicians--requesting defense!"

"Airborne enemies coming for section 8!"

"Helios, go to the marksmen once you’re done with that--medic! Medic for team 5!"

"Mobile team 2, please support section 23!"

"Team 7, please relieve team 13--team 13, you can go for guiding after team 7 comes."

The shout of orders resounded loudly between the battle cries and clanking weapons. The beast screamed and growled at the onslaught of humans. Magic and iron poured down the field blackened by miasma and blood. In this situation, the healers and guides constantly moved through the battlefield.

Unlike the last war in the desert, this time they were not fighting in their territory. The troops had to keep advancing, so there was no time to fall back to receive healing and guiding. The support teams, thus, had to actively move across the field in their vehicle and movement skills, healing and guiding on the meadow. The only people who got sent back were those who fell unconscious, or those whose wounds could not be healed by a healer under five-star.

But what could they do if the only five-star healer was inside the dungeon?

"Count?"

"Twelve had fallen unconscious--nothing life-threatening; five surpassed the red threshold for corrosion--containment and emergency guiding are underway," Kei reported. "We will send them to the sanctuary if they can’t reach yellow--ah, someone is being sent back for blown limbs."

"Alive?"

"Yes, Guildmaster--on painkiller and two vials of potions."

Radia snapped his fingers and a wisp of white and green smoke materialized into a hovering figure in a light green priest garb. [It’s been a while, Master]

"Isn’t it good that I didn’t need you for a long time?"

[Indeed] the summon’s bell-like voice resounded within the camp. [So, which unfortunate soul must I fix]

The vehicle with the injured came with a legless esper. On his forehead, written in blood, was the time stamp for the accident. Radia glanced at it and gave his summon the order. "Eleven minutes."

[Eleven minutes, it is]

The summoned priest raised their hand toward the wounded esper. A tangle of white and green mana enveloped the esper and like a rewinding clock, the non-existent legs reappeared in their burning state, before finally settling in good as new--including the pants, shoes, and equipment.

[It’s done] the priest announced cheerfully. [Can I go and walk around? It’s been a while since I breath--ugh, I guess it’s not fresh air...I’ll just stretch my legs then]

They left after Radia told them not to go too far, and The Eastern Sun looked at him with interest. "So you can heal too? I guess it’s true that a summoner is a one-man army," she chuckled.

It was rare to see one having so many high-quality summons, however, so she was amazed nonetheless. Perhaps it had something to do with Radia Mallarc’s innate trait of authority.

Radia just scoffed and lit his golden needle. Having a lot of high-quality summons was of course a good thing, but what army he could have with his limited mana pool? That was why Radia cherished talented people who were willing to work for him; because an army was never meant to consist of just one person.

And by Gods--he would try his best to not lose those people he picked by his own hands.

"Guilmaster, are 16 to 22 had been cleared," Kei reported.

Finally. Radia took a deep breath and glanced at the lake on the screen. "We’ll clear the lake and cross to the island."