There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 427 - 420. Quality Over Quantity

The first thing Bassena did after Zein’s mind-boggling statement was to slap his cheek. It wasn’t light too, but one hard enough to make the sound echoing in the room.

"Wow, it hurts," Bassena muttered, but contrary to his words, he was grinning so wide people would have thought he just won a lottery or something.

But this was even greater than winning a lottery.

He swiftly looked back at Zein and grasped the guide’s face. "No take back."

"Why would I do that--"

"No take back!"

The esper insisted aggressively, and Zein could only chuckle in response. Yeah; this is his Bassena. Instead of answering with words, Zein pulled the man who was now technically older than him for a kiss. This one was soft and gentle and spelled with love in every touch of their lips.

"Wow..." Bassena muttered in a daze, feeling all the butterflies he experienced during their first kiss at that lakeside in the Deathzone.

"Well, that’s only if we manage to get rid of the Deathzone," Zein added with a smirk and a shrug, prompting the esper to roll his eyes.

But the damp mood didn’t last more than a second. Bassena immediately smiled deeply with blazing eyes. "Don’t worry; we’ll get rid of it."

Oh? Zein tilted his head. He recalled the look of worry in Bassena’s face when he told the esper about his vision--about the Fallen Star. But now, those eyes were filled with confidence; with a fire that seemed ready to burn any darkness.

"Seems like you get a massive power-up," Zein smiled and patted the esper to get away from him so he could get up.

"Wouldn’t it be weirder if I don’t?"

After a thousand days of intense isolated training? Yeah. Zein nodded as he slid out of the couch. "I get something too," he said, just as someone knocked at the door. "But you should eat first."

"Hmm," Bassena did not press on. He was happy enough that Zein was finally willing to be imprinted that he wouldn’t mind even if Zein never told him after this.

Hell, he wouldn’t mind doing whatever Zein told him to do at this point. He could dump all of his money to fund Zein’s project if the guide wanted him to. He could hand over all of the shares he owned.

He could change his name now if Zein told him to.

But for now, he realized that he was hungry--which felt weird, because he never felt hungry for the last thousand days. Northern Alliance’s food was too bland for his taste, but even then, everything looked delicious to him.

"I’d rather feel hungry than unable to taste food," he said while stuffing his mouth.

"Don’t say that when you never feel truly hungry," Zein warned the esper--although he did it while piling up more food on Bassena’s plate. Usually, it was the esper who did it for him, so it was rather fun.

Bassena stiffened at the guide’s remark and his movement got slower. "Sorry..."

Zein chuckled and patted the messy platinum hair. "I agree, though. Eating is not a matter of filling one’s stomach. But only people who don’t need to worry about filling their stomachs could say that."

Zein remembered how back then, even being able to bring stale bread home that was enough for three mouths felt like an achievement. He didn’t care about taste because...what taste? What spice? Even salt was a privilege.

Scratch that. Even good water was a privilege.

But even back then, Zein wouldn’t have chosen the option of never feeling hungry if that meant he couldn’t eat. He would rather ask for a whole storage of food that might only last for a hundred hours.

Well, right now, he didn’t need to ask for that. He could provide himself with any food that he wanted. He could eat as many vegetables and fruit as he wanted. Meat and fish too. And sugar. Candy and chocolates.

"I live well, right?" Zein smiled as he popped a berry into his mouth.

Bassena nodded swiftly with cheeks full of food. He swallowed some quickly so he could speak. "I’ll make sure you’ll never be short of food at all."

Zein chuckled as the esper coughed from eating too fast. "I know that already, so just eat slowly."

He pushed a glass of water in front of Bassena, watching the esper fumble with a fondness that he never thought he had last year. Ah, yes; he just realized that it had been exactly one year since they met in the borderland. Who knew that in just one year, he would move from thinking this esper was conceited to thinking he couldn’t live without him?

"So you don’t feel hungry inside? Is that so you don’t need to stop for food? Does it mean you don’t go to the bathroom too?"

"There was none anyway," Bassena shrugged. "The place wouldn’t give me any benefit if I’m a warrior, since my muscle wouldn’t get developed from the paused metabolism."

"But you’re not one."

"But I’m not one," Bassena smiled and nodded. "For a magic user like me, the important thing is developing our mana--which is located in our astral body."

He put a finger on his solar plexus, where he could feel his mana core, even though it wasn’t physically there. Zein narrowed his eyes and looked at Bassena sharply.

"Don’t tell me your mana core got even bigger?" Zein frowned. He had yet to look into Bassena’s core when he touched the esper earlier, too busy indulging in his longing. "I don’t think I’ll have the confidence of cleansing you in one sitting anymore if it does."

And if Zein couldn’t do it, then no one could.

But Bassena, fortunately, shook his head. "No, don’t worry about it," he chuckled at Zein’s worried expression. His boyfriend was more worried about his mana core getting bigger than wondering if he got hurt inside--should he be proud or worried about it?

"Ah, that’s good. But what changed, then?"

"The density," Bassena raised his left hand and produced his usual pitch-black stake.

It was only one, but Zein couldn’t help but wince. It was vibrating so strongly that the edges looked blurred. He could instinctively feel that he would get cut just by touching that stake.

"Seems like it got sharper?"

"Yep," Bassena shook his hand and the stake disappeared. "Rather than quantity, I focused more on quality. I don’t think we can flay a remnant of Celestial Being with numbers alone, anyway."

Flayed a remnant of Celestial Being--Zein smiled at how casually Bassena said that. "Sounds grand."

"Rather than grand..." Bassena lowered his gaze and made a contemplative look. "It was truly dire. I felt like I was going to die just by being there."

Zein frowned, finally thinking about what kind of perilous situation Bassena had put himself in. "What exactly did you do there?"

"Nothing much," despite the ominous allusion, Bassena shrugged nonchalantly. "I just need to survive in the middle of Celestial War until the timer runs out."

Zein was grateful he wasn’t eating right now because he was sure he would have choked on the food. A what now? He straightened his back in interest. "Was it like a fragment of memories?"

"Something like that--more like a simulation, honestly, although I was no more than a puny outsider," Bassena chuckled wryly. "It feels grand if we’re just watching, but...knowing that we’ll face one of them..."

"Did you see--"

"No," Bassena shook his head. "I mean, I’m not sure. I couldn’t have known which one was the entity you saw in the Deathzone, or if they were in the battle I was a part of. I don’t think I even saw Setnath--it was made of Ophiucus’s memory after all."

A vision where he could act as himself--no wonder the item came out as a reward for the top floor’s trial. Zein wondered if Bassena was to be killed there, would he be...dead for real? The thought of it sent a cold dread along his spine, and even though Bassena was right there in front of him, his heart almost stopped breathing in response.

But the esper only looked like he just went through a tiring hike, stretching his back after a full meal. Zein felt the corner of his lips raised on their own and proceeded to stand up so he could draw a warm bath for Bassena. After a thorough rinse later, the body that had only bathed in the blizzard and vicious flood for three years finally experienced true bliss.

"Ahh..."

Zein could hear a slight tremble on Bassena’s contented sigh as the esper soaked himself inside the tub, eyes closed and flush spread along the bronze cheeks. "Seems like there’s no bath inside too."

"Technically, I could bathe in a magma pool if I wanted," Bassena shrugged. "It’s just too hot for my taste."

Zein chuckled as he leaned against the cool timber wall, eyes staring at the water dripping from the platinum hair to the bronze shoulder. Bassena tilted his head as he watched the guide’s warm stare.

"Why are you so far away?" Bassena pursed his lips. What was the point of Zein staying in the bathroom if he was going to be staying across the room?

Zein didn’t answer, though, just continued staring. The blue eyes were dimming, shaded by something that Bassena slowly realized was desire. Oh...he thought, and shifted slightly in a provocative manner. He parted his lips to invite the guide in, but as his eyes caught the interior of the bathroom, he realized what might be the source of Zein’s hesitation.

"If I do this..." Bassena snapped his fingers and the room instantly darkened as a dome of darkness enveloped the suite. "Even the Goddess wouldn’t be able to peek."

Only then did Zein move from the wall.