Chapter 453 - 446. The First Beacon
That morning, almost all of the Unit’s personnel came out of the dorm, even those who had just come back from the night shift. Some were lounging on the bench outside the mess hall, or congregated in the assembly yard, while some were peeking from the window of the command center.
Wherever they were, their eyes were focused in one direction; the gate leading to the Deathzone.
"Ah, it’s so sort..." one of the guides commented while looking out of the clinic’s window. "I still want to see Zen..."
"He should be here again from time to time, right? Like...during resupply or whatever? It’s not healthy to stay there for a long time, after all."
"Stuuupid," Yath said dryly, pursing his lips. "Don’t you know Zen at all? He will probably stay there until everything is over, unless there’s an emergency or something."
The guides let out a sigh, and just mumbled a silent prayer and a good luck to the masked man standing at the front of the group at the gate.
The target of their prayer, however, looked the most at ease among that group. Not without tension, but there was no nervousness or anxiety in his eyes, as if this was nothing but another job for him. Although, perhaps, it had something to do with the bracelet on his wrist that consistently changed colors from white to black to white again.
"I’m not going to say much," Radia said as he swept his gaze across the sharp-looking espers and guides in front of him. "It’s been a long road, and we’ve done what we could so far to prepare for this."
The crimson eyes stared at the two groups in front of him; one wielding their weapons at the ready, and the other one standing around a pile of dimensional storage chests. He could see the nervousness inside their eyes, and along with that, anticipation. Wry smiles, as well as excited ones, adorned their faces.
Each one of them bore a plethora of expression, but there was one thing that persisted behind everything; firm conviction. His gaze stopped at a reliable pair of ambers and sapphires, and he smiled.
There was only one thing left Radia could say at this point.