There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 781: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 63

Inside the dim watchtower beneath the purification tower, a pair of a scout and a marksman observed an area around eight hundred meters in front of them with a high-definition dark-vision telescope. The clock showed it was time for breakfast, and they could hear the sound of footsteps.

When the marksman turned around, it wasn’t one of the people on mess duty, however, but the highest-rank individual within their advance group: the saint class Karna Ishtera.

"Commander," the marksman gave a casual salute, which Kar replied by raising the two rations in his hand.

He dropped the rations to the marksman’s hand and watched the line beside the scout. "How’s the situation?"

"Nothing much, just two spy birds," the scout pointed at two carcasses a hundred meters from the border of their safe zone, where the light from the purification tower ended. And then the scout shifted toward the field they had been watching all night. "No more addition to their troops."

Sending mana to his eyes, Kar could see the blackened field of miasma, and the sea of wriggling beasts gathering there. The beasts had been marching one by one after he went deep with some swift espers to provoke their lairs--all for the sake of creating this controlled battlefield.

After almost two weeks of waiting, the troops finally stopped increasing.

"No need to change formation then," Kar nodded and patted the scout and the marksman. "Alright, good work."

"Good luck, Commander."

Kar waved his hand and walked down the stairs. Two espers and a leader of the combat guide assigned to the group under his command were waiting there. He relayed what the scout told him while they walked back to the command tent.

"Do you think it’ll be the last?" one of the esper asked--a defender from Iron Shield who came with him to the Northern Alliance.

"In our region? It’s possible," Kar checked on the visual recording once more. "Even if it’s not, I don’t think there’ll be another one this big. We can treat this as the final milestone."

"If it’s true, we’ll be in first place, huh?"

They all laughed, and the assassin girl smirked in satisfaction. "Those old men would be so~ pissed!"

"Sounds good to me," the guide leader shrugged.

Kar chuckled and reminisced at the beginning of this reclamation. The fact that it was an operation led by the cooperation between the government, sentinel association, and the Temple meant the troops consisted of many groups instead of one unified front. The participants also came from various places, so there were lots of conflicting interests.

During the week of preparation and briefing, groups were formed and walls emerged. The most apparent conflict happened between the older espers and the new generation--the youngsters around Kar’s age who, objectively, only had a few years of experience. At the center of the two groups were Kar, who was considered clout-chasing and a weaker version of his father, and the military general from the government side.

Thankfully, Kar was brought by the Temple of Frejya--who even sent the Saintess Elena to the battlefield--so he still had some standing. The association, to avoid further conflict, suggested dividing the Deathzone into several sections and each faction would take care of its own region.

Looking back, it was rather an excellent strategy. It was impossible to put people who couldn’t work together on the same battlefield anyway. The competition coming up from this also boosted the completion progress--although there were some reckless moves here and there.

It was fortunate that all they needed to do was get rid of the beasts and the dungeons, not face any fallen celestial being.

Naturally, most were looking down at the youngsters--the rookies--who gathered in Kar’s faction. But they oversaw a lot of things.

Rookies would follow someone clearly stronger and higher in rank than them. They were hot-headed, but were yet filled with stubborn ego. It might be difficult if there were several people with equal power, but there was only one saint class there. A clear hierarchy was easily formed, and Kar had enough experience dealing with his siblings that these espers looked tame in his eyes.

These rookies were also eager for achievement, and considered this ’competition’ seriously. There was nothing more gratifying for youngsters to prove that those older than them were in the wrong.

If money or honor couldn’t motivate them, the thought of sneering right at those ’old geezers’ certainly would.

And Kar has been using this very well.

"Gather the kids," he told the three, who immediately scattered to call the troops--including those on guard duty and emergency squad.

They gathered at the field beneath the watchtower, already geared up and ready to move. Kar had told the squad leaders of every position--who in turn told the troops--that their ’faction’ would be in the lead of most regions conquered if they managed to win this big battle. That fired them up even more.

"Alright, listen up!" Kar clapped his hand once; after two years together in that hell without any death, Kar had gained their complete obedience. "There is no change; we’ll go with the formation we made at the meeting yesterday. There’s always room for some unexpected twist, however, so I need each squad leader to focus on my instruction."

"Yes, Sir!"

"As always, those who don’t comply will be given a strike; three strikes and I’ll personally throw you out of the field--I’m talking about you, Neal."

Kar shifted his gaze toward a berserker in a dark hood. He had been quelling the dissents and taming the troublemakers during the two years leading the troops inside the Deathzone. That being said, mistakes could still be made even without intention, and sometimes people were just losing focus or becoming too absorbed in the fight and the pursuit of glory.

The berserker pursed their lips in response, so Kar added. "I’ll make sure those with three strikes receive personalized guiding from the Saintess."

"Oh, come on!"

The troops groaned--which would look weird anyone else. Why would they whine about getting guided by the Saintess?

Well, the problem was that this Saintess learned from certain someone that she could make a guiding unpleasant if she mastered the art. As the son of that certain someone, Kar had the privilege of using this as a threat of punishment.

Unfortunately for the espers, the Saintess of Frenya was unhinged enough to join in the scheme.

"Anyway, remember this--"

Kar paused to sweep his gaze across the neatly lined-up troops. Their eyes truly showed him that the rookies with minimum experience two years ago were no more. Perhaps this was why all espers participating in Operation Fallen Star could climb more floors in the Tower afterward.

That being said, they were still young. Including him.

"Survive," he looked at them with a stern gaze. "You can only brag if you’re alive. You can only take the paycheck if you’re alive. And more importantly..."

The serious blue and amber curled as Kar stretched his lips slightly.

"You can only smirk and see those geezers’ sour faces if you’re alive."

"Hear! Hear!"

Cheers erupted immediately, even from the guide. Pettiness was indeed a great motivation, just like his Uncle Dia and Joon said. Kar smiled and raised his head toward the watchtower, nodding as a signal.

"Let’s go."

The scout shot out a flare to mark the movement, and sent a signal to the base camp. The troops wasted no time moving based on the strategy devised before, while Kar hovered above them to watch the whole battlefield and control the flow of the battle--all while using long-distance magic attacks on risky beasts.

Soon, the blackfield of miasma was filled with colorful explosions as espers utilized their skills. With his eyes, even more sensitive to mana than before, Kar could accurately see how much mana someone used and calculated the miasma level by that. He’d pull those in yellow back to receive guiding so they could return to the battle later. There would be no one touching red--or even high orange--ever. Incapacitated esper was a useless esper, so he’d rather have prolonged but careful progress than burn everything all at once.

Discount Bassena--that was how people called him. Perhaps he would never escape the shadow of his legendary father. But should he? One thing people seemed to forget was that being in the shadow of such a big figure meant Kar also received the shade; the knowledge and expertise that Bassena had accumulated for four decades.

Not to mention the survival skills and instincts of Luzein Ishtera.

A discount version of his fathers? Kar smirked. It was hardly an insult.

This natural commanding instinct from the genes of two leaders of their generation flowed inside his veins. It didn’t take long for others to realize that he was born for this, and they followed him willingly. The unruly youths outside of battle turned to obedient soldiers. Of course, injury was inevitable; but as always, there was no death. frёewebnoѵēl.com

With the gigantic snow yeti down by the slash of Kar’s arcane scythe, the battle of the northeastern blackfield mountain range came to an end. The sound of green flare and a radio call were mixed with the loud cheer of the troops--happier to be the first in the race than to quell a mountain full of high-ranking beasts.

"Scouts, look for any dungeon," Kar gave an order right away while the espers were lying down on the ground, getting healed and guided. "Support team, initiate new purification tower."

"Yes, Sir!"

"The Saintess is coming," the guide leader told him, prompting various gasping sounds from the nearby espers. "For Captain."

"Oh, thank Goddess!" Neal sighed in relief, closing his eyes again as he let the effect of berserk seep away.

The energetic Saintess arrived at the same time the purification device finished being installed and was about to be activated. It lit up the battlefield, making it possible for her and the other guides to see the entirety of the blackfield mountain.

Elena whistled at the remains of the battle which had yet finished getting cleaned. "It’s a warzone, alright."

"Nothing like what my fathers went through," Kar shrugged.

"For our sake, let’s never hope for another one of those, ’kay?" Elena sighed while taking her nephew’s hand to guide him.

Kar laughed and nodded in agreement. "Yes, Ma’am."

There was no need for another fallen celestial being when Zein.

...at least not until Lucy reached her peak.

"Anyway, a lot of noises in the base camp," Elena, always a glutton for drama, smirked. "Disbelieved, annoyed noises."

"Sounds like music to my ear," Kar replied with a sweet smile, which prompted another cheer from the recovering espers.

"All you have to do is clear the last three areas, right?" Elena looked up. Once the purification device absorbed all the miasma in the air and the sky, they might be able to look at the Eastern Federation’s border from the highest peak.

"Yeah; it won’t be too long if the beasts are flocking into this place," Kar said. Which meant the last three areas would be an empty house for them to raid. "We might be able to check beneath the mountain for some extra."

"Just remember not to be too hasty and fall before the goal line," Elena reminded the young esper.

"Don’t worry," Kar took a deep breath and smiled as he cast his gaze to the East. "Someone will get angry at me for doing that, so I’ve been very careful."

"Brother Zein can be very scary," Elena nodded. But she looked at the young esper’s expression and corrected herself. "...but you’re not talking about him."

She recognized that soft gaze and gentle smile that reminded her of the word avalanche. Avalanche of the heart. Kar smiled sheepishly at her narrowed eyes and Elena smacked the esper on the back while laughing.

"Eyy! Look at you being all grown up!"

"I’m twenty-six, Ma’am..."

"Are you trying to remind me of how old I am?" she hissed.

Kar laughed at the grumbling Saintess that strangely reminded him of that white fluffy immortal rabbit on the Sky Garden. Ah, Byul would love it if he could hold Cloudy.

Thinking about his baby made Kar sigh, muttering heavily. "I still want to finish this quickly though..."

Since there was someone eagerly waiting for him back home.