Chương 19: Family Feud

Peeper is your brother?" Oscar asked in shock.

"How could you do that to your brother?" Calus gave him a sad smile.

"Have you felt your classes influence on you? I've noticed the changes, but have you, Oscar?" he asked as he approached Peeper's frozen form.

"What you and I have is a gift, but also a curse. Our values become redefined, and we begin to view ourselves and the world differently. My brother no longer became a man I loved, but a mangy mutt that incessantly barked at me. He didn't understand why I had returned changed, only that I was different. Perhaps him being a [Healer] was what inspired him to try and save me."

"So you warped him into something hideous and cruel?"

"Feras did that to himself, but I will admit that perhaps… I went a little too far," Calus admitted.

"What's strange about this is how I'm just now realizing that. I believe our connection has… restored… something in me. With my soul having been torn into fragments, a lot of the time I'm forced to make myself react and feel a certain way because my capacity for those reactions has been stolen. I believe because of you, for the first time in a very long time, I'm feeling genuine regret. And that makes me wonder…what else could you do for me?"

"I… I don't understand. Are you saying that I'm making you a better person?" Calus looked at Oscar, and gave him a cold glare.

"A better person? Such frivolous matters of morality mean nothing to me. I only make note of the changes you're inspiring in me because if something were to destroy one of my soulstones… then I shall just pluck from your own soul, what I have lost."

"W-What… you can do that?" Calus ignored him and flicked his wrist, resulting in the memory of Peeper shattering. A new recreation of Peeper took its place, but this one was different as it was the current version that he was dealing with. As if Calus were now a professor, he pointed at Peeper's midsection and began to lecture.

"Using the term you already know, my brother has been corrupted. Within him lies a core. It used to be his soul, but now it acts as the heart of what he has become. If you wish to kill him, you must shatter the core," Calus said.

"The issue with that is you'll find it difficult to access his core. The eyes that my brother has stolen has many functions. The one that I've no doubt you've figured out already is that he's always prepared to dodge or parry any attack you or anyone else throws his way. The eyes on the wall are bait meant only to ensnare idiots like yourself who opt to destroy them. That skill doesn't work otherwise. I wouldn't put much focus onto them."

"So… what counter measure did you place to defeat him?"

"None," Calus replied.

"Why would I create something to have such a glaring weakness? That's not to say there are none, but I didn't purposefully add something to make him easier to kill. What there is, however, is the fabrics that stitch together my brothers identity. And over the long years since his creation, tears have begun to make themselves apparent. Now, keep in mind this is also my observations during a short amount of time, but… this is my brother, after all." When Oscar didn't say anything, Calus continued.

"I made Peeper to be fascinated with eyes due to how he saw and feared what he looked at me. What he does is cultivate fear within his victims and feast upon them by stealing their eyes. During the whole process, Peeper obtains their memories and gains more power himself, resulting in the death of the donor. But Peeper has… evolved, or maybe devolved? Regardless, it now it seems that he seeks to restore vision by giving his victims new eyes that have been seeped in corruption.

But the result of that is of course the victim becoming corrupted themselves, as well as seeing the world from a now distorted lens. And that's all assuming they can even survive the transplant."

"That'd explain Dorian…"

"What I'm getting at is Peeper is now weakening himself in attempts to do what he thinks is saving others. Feras was the first soul that I experimented on, and as a result, it seems that he has begun to deteriorate. His past as a [Healer] is conflicting with the job that I've forced upon him, but he's not healing anyone. What he's actually doing is far worse, and all you need to do is make him see that."

"How the hell can I possibly make Peeper see that?" Oscar asked.

"Peeper is absolutely insane. There is no way that he will listen to me if I tell him Dorian became a monster because of him."

"That's true, so you will just have to show him. Perhaps if you had spent enough time in the dream, my brother would've seen through your memories what had happened with Dorian for himself," Calus said, and then gave Oscar a terrible, crooked grin.

"Good thing Peeper has a new brother that can instill some sense into him… but you'd have to get his guard down first." Confusion struck Oscar as he had no idea what Calus was alluding to. There was no skill he possessed to do that. He also had no possessions of Dorian's to convince him that they'd actually met, and neither did he believe using [Erasure] would prove anything either. A possible answer dawned on Oscar that made him feel nauseated.

"No way! I can't do that! There has to be another way, Calus."

"Then find it yourself. I've given you all the help I can. Use it and find the opening you need. You have the means to destroy his core already with [Malleable Shadow]. Now you must create the moment you need to strike," Calus said and dismissed the spectral image of Peeper.

"Wake yourself up the same way you did before and end my brother's pathetic existence." Calus faded away leaving Oscar alone in the void. Doing the same method as before, he returned to his body. He was unsure of how long he'd been out for as Bruno was still throwing himself at Peeper. Dan was back on his feet again and seemed to be somewhat normal. Knowing what he had to do and actually doing it were two different things.

It wasn't until Bruno noticed he was awake that he actually began to mentally prepare himself. Before doing anything, Oscar tested his new passive skill, [Quick Creation], and changed his shadow claws into a small dagger. Once he'd done so and confirmed how the skill worked, he dismissed his shadow, but kept it pooled around his arm, hidden underneath his shirts sleeve.

"Peeper! I'll give you one of my eyes if you promise to let us go," Oscar called out. Instantly Peeper ceased attacking, but the shock of Oscar's words had caused Bruno to get hit by that last attack, sending him flying against a nearby pillar.

"Bargain? Brother Oscar wants deal? Hmm… freedom for brothers eye?" Peeper paused to think and narrowed his eyes at him after a moment.

"How awake? Skill shouldn't end without outside help… but people occupied. Brother Oscar, how?"

"Father helped me escape. Told me that you only seek to help, and that you can give me a better eye," Oscar lied. Peeper hopped once in glee.

"Father said so? Thank you, Father!" he cried and turned back towards Bruno and the others.

"All agree? I want to help all, but I will settle for just brother Oscar. All agree… or die." Bruno picked himself up looked at Oscar skeptically. Oscar sent back a nod telling him to trust his plan.

"Alright, when you put it that way, I don't believe I have any other option but to accept."

"I don't care, I just wish to leave with my brother," Emily said. Gita gave him a concerned stare, but he ignored it. Peeper was too observant for him to risk any more covert signaling. Peeper approached with each sickly looking eye locked onto him, all looking joyful. Once Peeper was right in front of him, he grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him against a pillar. The act was harsh, forcing the air to be expelled out of his lungs.

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"Your eyes… so beautiful, brother Oscar. I'm glad to help you…" Peeper said. The stench of him being so close was suffocating.

"You look at me with hatred… disgust… fear. It's because you cannot see true truth! I help… have perfect eyes for you," he said, and then reached a repulsive hand towards Oscar's eyes.

"Was Dorian able to see the truth?" Oscar asked. Peeper halted his hand and stared at Oscar.

"Dorian? Brother Oscar met Dorian?" Oscar nodded his head.

"I did. And I also killed him because of what you did to him."" What?

"Peeper screamed in shock." Brother, no! Dorian was saved by me! Father said he was healed… he was to go out into the world and heal others!"

"You haven't healed anyone, Feras. All you did was destroy an innocent man's soul…just like how Calus did to you." Now Peeper was truly shocked. His eyes blinked madly and flicked to random directions.

"No! No! No! I saved Dorian! He was first to survive the transplant… I'd figured it out. You lie …" Peeper muttered, and as his eyes slowed down and focused back on Oscar, he looked at him with raw fury.

"Old Peeper? How know old name? Only Calus would remember… wait! Only Calus would know escape…" As realization dawned upon Peeper's brain, Oscar summoned forth his shadow into his hands, and used [Quick Creation]. A sword formed in his hand and with a loud grunt, he pierced right through Peeper's midsection. This time Peeper wasn't ready for the blow. The shadowy sword entered flesh, and Oscar felt his weapon come into contact with something hard.

As he pierced through the obstacle, Peeper screamed in agony, dropping him to the ground. His heart was aching from the sheer panic, rendering him unable to do anything but watch and hope he'd shattered the core. Bruno sprinted and scooped Oscar up and took him to where the other three members of their group were.

"Shit! Where did that come from?"

"C-Calus…" Oscar spat out.

"Did I break Peeper's core?"

"I don't know! I've never seen something like Peeper before. Who knows how resilient it is," Bruno replied.

"The loss of a core isn't always instant death within the deeply corrupted. According to my boss, that is… but I've yet to see something survive for longer than two minutes without a core, and those were corrupted far weaker than Peeper. Maybe around five minutes for him? It's impossible to say." Emily stepped forth and slammed the butt of her staff against the ground.

"Is it at least weakened without its… core?"

"Most definitely." Oscar looked over at the writhing body that was Peeper. His limbs were flailing around, and some of the eyes on his body were now shut. As he watched, more and more eyes actually began to close themselves.

"Bruno, look at his eyes!" Oscar said, pointing at Peeper.

"Shit… this is our opportunity! Everyone wail on that bastard!" Bruno said and dashed forwards, rapier in hand. Oscar scrambled and followed. Behind him, he heard Gita follow and Emily let forth one ball of fire which streamed past them. The fireball struck Peeper, which evoked another round of wails from him. As they got closer to Peeper, Bruno was the first to attack. His rapier freely bit into Peeper's body, and as Bruno pulled the weapon out, it came out doused in a gross yellow pus.

"Didn't expect to end this by kicking the bastard while he's down, but… here we are," Gita said and struck Peeper. She continued to strike the fallen Peeper, weaving in and out in a smooth rhythm. The beat down was relentless. But despite all four of them landing their attacks easily, Peeper was still living. His thrashing was slowing down, but a few eyes still yet remained open. While Oscar would never admit it, he was feeling a little let down. After all, the chimera had put up more of a fight.

And with a skill called [A Path to Victory], surely Peeper had to have been more prepared. Then again, Calus' guidance was likely an impossible variable to predict. But despite the situation, Oscar didn't truly want Peeper to fight back. That was just the gamer in him expecting more from a boss fight. As if Peeper had been listening to his thoughts, he spoke for the first time since Oscar had struck him.

"[Gaze Upon the Bane of the Stars]," Peeper said, and all eyes opened wide. Oscar and the others all instinctively had looked at the sudden awakening, resulting in that skill to have mentally stunned them. He fumbled around and felt himself fall on someone. Emily, given her yelp. Peeper stood and as Oscar recovered from being stunned, he watched in awe as Peeper transformed. The multitude of eyes that were entombed within Peeper's skin popped.

The sound of the popping was so loud it was as if he'd been thrown onto the front lines of a war. He soon realized it was so deafening because the walls of eyes was also popping as well. As the destruction came to a close, Oscar uttered a quick prayer. He wasn't a religious man, but in the face of something so foul, what other option did he have? The new Peeper was once more a man of normal human proportions, albeit freakishly tall. His arms were still freakishly long and unparalleled with one another.

His face was visible now, and seemed to be a normal man, except his skin looked like it'd been charred and burnt. Peeper had a crown now that hovered above his head. They were what Oscar would expect from him given the theme of the dungeon thus far. Which was to say that his crown was one made up entirely of eyes, all strung together by their connective nerves. The only other thing was the massive singular eye that took over all of Peeper's stomach.

It was perhaps the most healthy looking eye that Oscar had seen on the man. The eye was a multitude of colors which tempted the viewer to never break contact with it as they swirled together. If the rest of Peeper weren't so sinister looking, Oscar very well might've lingered his gaze a bit longer.

"Calus always used to mock me, you know?" Peeper said, speaking for the first time in complete coherency.

"I used to spend my nights gazing upon the stars, yearning to explore that infinity that was forbidden to us. Calus, despite being a [Scholar], deemed my interest as pointless. He'd tell me to focus on being a [Healer], to not waste my energy on pursuits that wouldn't bear fruits."

"Feras?" Calus asked incredulously as he spawned in beside Oscar.

"Yet… I continued to gaze upon the stars, imagining myself exploring their depths. I drew up charts of the stars and shared my findings with local [Astrologers]. I even gained the class, [Stargazer]. A completely worthless class, but one that made me happy. Oh, how I wish everyone knew about the tranquility the stars can bring!" Feras said as he looked up at the mural.

"Alas… my brother has forsaken me to become this. But, while I am still whole, I would ask of you all to snuff out the poison that lives within the lands beyond and within ours."

"Is the poison the Father you mentioned?" Bruno asked. Feras continued to gaze up at the mural as he responded.

"Yes, I call him a he, but I believe their nature transcends gender. But do not ask me what he is. Even in all my time locked within these walls, I have yet to figure that out. All I know is that he is the one responsible for Calus becoming what he is. It's slumbered for so long, but now—" Feras let out a piercing shriek and gripped his head tightly. Oscar watched, paralyzed by his fear. The outburst lasted a moment, and it was thankfully still Feras that returned.

"I can feel my insanity returning… Please dispose of me before I cause anymore harm. That skill I used before becoming lucid… it's a last resort option. I don't believe Peeper expected it to briefly restore me, even if briefly. Your destruction is inevitable should I lose hold over my sanity."

"The skill you used, [A Path Towards Victory], what did you see?"

"I'm sorry, but my memory in that state is blurry. I cannot recall what it— I —have planned. All I can really recall, and please understand that I might've misinterpreted the emotion, but… I think Peeper is desperate to win." Emily stepped forward and aimed her staff at Feras.

"So be it. [Omnibolt]," she said and the gem at the tip of her staff begun to glow. Oscar, Bruno, and Gita immediately ran for cover near Dan upon seeing the spells activation and the following intensity that swirled around the young [Mage]." Emi, stop! You're not strong enough to use that high level of a spell! You'll fry your manaveins. Let Bruno and Oscar handle this!" Dan said, his first words since they'd rescued him. The room began to intensify in pressure.

The wind became hostile, swirling around Emily like she was a tornado herself. An intense heat mixed with the wind, creating a violent ball of fire at the tip of her staff. Despite the intense heat, Oscar felt a chill creep up on his body. Then he saw ice began to form within the center of elemental ball, but reformed as quickly as it melted. It was genuinely the most beautiful thing that Oscar had ever seen.

He could feel how destructive the spell was, but there was something so stunning about seeing those elements be fused together. Emily herself looked absolutely radiant with the wind pushing her auburn hair back, and the fusion of colors being painted upon the chamber's walls.

"I can… do this… Daniel," Emily said, grunting the words out. The pressure was reaching extreme levels now. Her fiery hair was flowing wildly, and her face was contorted from exertion with sweat dripping down from her forehead.

"Lighting and Earth… is all that's left…"" Emily! Bruno is trying to kill me, send the spell at him!" Dan screamed suddenly. Bruno flung his hands up in a protest of his innocence.

"Uh… I'm nowhere near him! Please for the love of whatever god you worship… unleash that fucking spell at that man-become-monster!" As Oscar looked over at Dan, stunned at what he was saying, he saw that the boy was now collapsed onto the ground, coughing up some strange black phlegm. Thankfully, Emily ignored him and sent the spell towards the right target. The [Omnibolt] surged forth, billowing through the air until it crashed against Feras.

The ball of elements exploded upon contact, creating a massive wave of smoke. It sounded immensely powerful based on the sound of the explosion, but until the smoke cleared, they'd have no idea if Feras was dead or not. After what felt like a century of waiting, the smoke finally dissipated enough for them to see the outcome.

"Did she get him?" Gita asked with squinted eyes.

"Damned smokes so thick, I can only see—wait, I see him," Bruno said, then cursed.

"Fucker is still standing! He had to have been cooked from those flames and pierced by the ice. There's just no way…" Standing tall and seemingly unharmed was Feras. Within the iris on the massive eye his torso featured, Oscar saw a bright blue and red flame burning bright within the eye. It was stunning, almost looking like a star itself frozen in place within the iris. Disbelief washed over the group as they all came to the same conclusion; Feras' eye had absorbed the spell.

That same disbelief quickly turned into fear as the massive eye blinked at them. In spite of such a magnificent spell, Emily had failed. Peeper had persevered.