Chương 20: The Death of a Star

Peeper stood motionless, its uncaring eye trained on the group. Oscar didn't dare move, lest he draw Peeper's ire onto him. The spell that Emily had unleashed upon Peeper had looked so destructive that he was having a hard time believing no damage had been done at all. And yet, aside from a bit of smoke that was coming off on parts of his body, Peeper looked unscathed. Within his torso's eye, the glorious ball of elements could be seen.

It continued to burn brightly, resembling a star within the eye's dark coloration.

"My sister's spell still burns inside him. He cannot last for long with it within him. We just have to wait," Dan said.

"Are we sure he's not dead already? I don't think I've seen the freak move at all since he got hit," Gita said. Both Oscar and Bruno spoke at the same time.

"No, he's alive." Peeper took a step forward and lifted one hand up. After flexing his hand, he flung it to the side and ripped a whole chunk out of a nearby pillar. He then chucked the whole fragment towards the group. Oscar tackled Gita out of the way as the chunk of stone flew past them. Before he could come back to his senses, a foot crashed into his stomach. The impact sent him careening into the far side of the room. He felt like a rib was broken, perhaps multiple.

His hand reached into the pocket where his healing potion should have been, but yanked his hand back out as he felt glass slice his fingers. It might have been for the best as he had no idea how healing potions even interacted with broken bones. But that meant he'd have to fight Peeper with a broken rib. Thankfully, Peeper had left him alone and was now fighting with Bruno. This time, Bruno was landing hits successfully, but Peeper just shrugged them off.

The little rapier was doing all it could, but it just didn't have enough of a bite to phase the beast.

"[Pinning Shot]," Dan said and launched the arrow at Peeper's meaty thigh. The arrow struck, Peeper seemingly oblivious until the ice began to form around his leg.

"[The Fencer's Dance]," Bruno said, and capitalized on the opening. Bruno stabbed once, twice, and then on the third, the rapier pierced cleanly through Peeper's right shoulder. Due to an attempt at retaliation from Peeper, Bruno was forced to pivot his attack away from the large eye. Even still, true damage had been done, but that had the unfortunate consequence of instilling even more rage within Peeper. The ice shattered and Peeper brought a knee up into Bruno's stomach.

Reaching above at the same time, Peeper also brought down both hands smashing him once more into the same knee. All Oscar could do was watch as he cradled his wounded body. To his horror, he saw Gita run towards Peeper. His back was towards her, and without those omnipresent eyes in his back, she very well might be able to land a hit. But a single hit was all she'd surely be able to do at such a low level.

This was so unlike the Gita that he knew that he didn't believe what he was seeing was real until her cestus adorned fist pummeled directly against Peeper's spine. Panic surged through Oscar as he awaited Peeper's fatal rebuttal. Instead a ball of fire casted from Emily, which briefly draped him in flames.

"Get out of there, Gita!" Oscar shouted and immediately clutched at his side in pain. Gita either didn't hear him, or didn't care as she struck two more times. The third hit looked to have actually hurt as Peeper doubled over. But the staggering didn't last long as Peeper uppercut Gita right in her stomach, knocking her up into the air. Peeper then grabbed Gita out of the air by her leg and slammed her down onto the ground, breaking part of the foundation.

As Gita laid on the ground, unable to get up, Peeper lifted a foot and hovered it over her head. Desperation and panic drove Oscar to hobble closer.

"[Black Out]," he said and targeted Peeper's regular eyes. The fire within the torso's eye was intensifying, and the uncertainty of what might happen should he target that eye made him anxious. The skill succeeded even from Oscar's distance, causing Peeper to lose his balance and stumble away from Gita. Bruno was back on his feet and was about to attack once more, but Emily stopped him.

"Halt! That man is a walking time bomb. I see now that my [Omnibolt] only partially detonated. The rest is gradually happening within him, and it's getting close to fully exploding. The longer the spell takes the detonate, the larger the explosion will be. [Omnibolt] is highly powerful on its own, but the true purpose of the spell was that it is meant to counter the highly defensive. Whether Peeper is doing this on purpose or not… he's cultivating all of our deaths the longer the inevitable is delayed."

"Shit… [A Path Towards Victory]," Oscar said.

"This might have been the route he saw earlier. Might be that this was his only way at killing us all… even if it destroys himself in the process." Dan cursed and shot out an arrow at the still dazed Peeper.

"If that's the case, then he's already seen this conversation play out as well, right?" That had worried Oscar, but he remembered something Peeper had said.

"No, for whatever reason, he said that he couldn't see the ending. We just have to hope his skill only gave him an outline on how to kill us, but not what the guaranteed outcome was," he said and addressed Emily.

"Emily, do you know of any barrier spells?" he asked and looked over at the fatigued young [Mage]. Emily shook her head.

"Not my area of expertise, I'm afraid. Our best chance is to flee before he detonates, but I can't reliably predict when the explosion will occur. If we run away too soon, then he'd surely follow."

"Oscar, is [Negate] available to be used again?" Bruno asked, his body now healed. Reluctantly, Oscar answered, already afraid as he knew where this was going.

"…Yeah, it came off cooldown a few hours ago."

"Cooldown? Hmm…" Bruno pondered on the word for a moment and Oscar cursed himself for using gaming lingo in this world.

"I like that, I'm going to steal it and take credit should it ever become popular."

"Can you be serious for a second, you old oaf?" Emily asked irritably. Bruno rolled his eyes and then glanced over at Peeper, who was on the verge of recovering from [Black Out].

"Yes, yes. In a minute, dear children. Do me a favor first and cover your eyes," he said and flipped the rapier upside down and placed his thumb over the bottom of the pommel. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Oscar knew Bruno well enough to not doubt the tone in his voice, and covered his eyes. Despite his eyes being closed, a searing flash engulfed the space behind his eyes, painting the interior white over the previously dominated black.

His ears rang from what he believed was a magical flashbang.

"Perhaps I should have said to cover your ears as well, hmm… apologies," Bruno said insincerely.

"Anyway, Oscar, how do you feel about sacrificing yourself for our escape?"" What?" Oscar shouted, both in alarm and in confusion as his ears were still slightly ringing.

"I can't hold him off! My ribs are broken!" Bruno tossed him a vial of healing potion.

"Drink up and pour some into Gita's mouth when you're done. But you're right, restoring bones is a bit lengthier of a process… we're going to need someone else to volunteer," he said and then immediately pointed at Dan, his mind clearly already decided.

"Sorry, Dan, but I can tell you're slightly—and becoming increasingly—corrupted from whatever that monster did to you."

"M-Me? No… no, I'm not dying here!" Dan shouted. Emily jumped in as well, rightly angered at the suggestion.

"My brother is escaping with me! I won't lose two people I love to this dreadful dungeon. Why don't you stay and die, Bruno?"

"Me? I'm far too valuable to die," Bruno said.

"Besides, surely I don't need to point out the fact that your brother has received a new eye from the horrid monster that is obsessed with eyes. We all saw Dan's eye be plucked out, did we not? Poor Dorian was afflicted with seeing things that weren't true, which drove him mad. Dan has already shown signs of that, has he not?" Dan cocked his head at Bruno in confusion.

"What… what are you talking about? I'm fine! This eye… it's done nothing to me! You guys interrupted his process; I'm still me!"

"For now you are, but what if you slip up again? Not even five minutes ago, you were calling for my death because you believed I was trying to kill you. You're doomed, kid, but be a good big brother would you, and save your sister," Bruno said and placed a hand on Dan's shoulder.

"Guys… Peeper's almost recovered. And that bomb within his eye is looking mighty unstable right about now," Gita said.

"We need to get the fuck out of here already." Glancing over at Peeper, Oscar saw he was vigorously shaking his head. His balance looked to be just about restored.

"Gita's right, we don't have time to discuss another plan. My ribs are feeling a little better, but I can't do this alone," he said and them looked over sympathetically over at Dan.

"I'm sorry, Dan, but Bruno's right. The eye that Peeper gave you has been seeped in corruption, it's only a matter of time before you lose hold of yourself. And trust me, you will harm Emily should that come to pass." A bright glow from behind Oscar alarmed him. Turning around, he saw Emily aiming a budding ball of fire right at Bruno." No! I swore to our mother that I'd protect him, and he'd protect me! I can't lose him…" she said, and then began to cry." I can't lose him!

[Draped in Fla—" Emily dropped cold unconscious. Gita caught her before she face planted onto the hard stone floor." No time to argue. Bruno, carry Emily," she said and headed for the way that they'd came in. Dan made an effort to leave as well, but Oscar grabbed his wrist. He hated what he was doing, but this was how it had to be. Bruno was right, Dan had to die here. It was unfair, and Emily would rightfully forever hate them for it… but he was just as much a walking time bomb as Peeper was." Damn you, Oscar! Let go!" Dan yelled as he struggled to break free from Oscar's grasp. Abruptly, Dan stopped fighting and dropped his jaw in horror." Oscar, I'm not the one corrupted! Look at Gita!" Oscar obliged the request and saw her waiting by those large doors, her hands urgently motioning for Bruno to hurry. Dan looked at Oscar, and then back at Gita. When he noticed that Oscar wasn't feeling even remotely the same level of panic… he completely shut down." G-Gita's not about to cave in Bruno's face, is she?" Dan asked dejectedly, and then gripped his head tightly with both of his hands." I really am doomed… you're right."" I'm sorry, fr… friend." The word sounded false, but they'd been through a lot together, and surely letting someone know they were dying with a friend was the right thing to say. Even if it wasn't true." Promise me you'll make sure my sister finds safe passage back home," Dan requested as he looked Oscar deep within his eyes." She's a stubborn girl, so at least make sure she doesn't go off and do something dumb, please."" I will. I promise," Oscar said." We fucked up that chimera together, didn't we? You can count on me, I swear it," he stuck his hand out and the two shook on it through tears coming from both sides. Dan whipped out his bow and strung an arrow." I have one last [Pinning Shot] to use. Your skill…" he paused and fished around for the name." [Negate], will it fully protect you from the blast?"" I believe so. I'll worry about that when the time comes."" Okay, I'll save the last [Pinning Shot] for when you call for it," Dan said and then became solemn." Don't exert yourself too much until you've healed more. Allow me to finally help in a significant way." It was nice to see Dan's resolve in such a dire situation. If he were in Dan's position, he didn't know if he could put on the same brave face. Where there something he could do to save him, he would've. But it was just far too risky to have Dan freely leave here and maybe subject more poor people to the same torment that Dorian unleashed on Ascot. Oscar pointed at Dan's thin supply of arrows within his quiver." Damn, I didn't realize how low you were on arrows," he said and then an idea popped in his head." [Malleable Shadow: Essence of Arrow]." An arrow of shadow formed in his hand, which he passed over to Dan. To his surprise, Dan was actually able to hold onto his shadow creation." Do you think this will work for your skills?" Dan knocked the shadow arrow and aimed at peeper." [Triple Shot]," he said as the shadow arrow flew forwards. Mid-flight, the shadow arrow split into three, striking Peeper in his shoulder." Holy shit… just what is your class? You owe me this in my final moments, just a bit of truth." With no reason to lie, Oscar told him." I'm a level 5 [Abyssal Acolyte]. If the name sounds evil, that's because it likely is. There too much to explain about how I got the skill, but… I promise I'm not evil. I didn't ask for this class, or to even be here in this w—" Oscar stopped himself from saying more, but then realized… he wanted someone to know. Even though it was a selfish want on his part, if there were someone who deserved the whole truth then it was Dan." Dan, listen, I know we hardly know each other, but I want you to know the true truth about me… I'm from another w—" he got cut off once more as Peeper let out a loud roar. With Peeper was back to his senses, he scanned the room in confusion, having no doubt already noticed the others were gone. Dan placed an open hand out towards Oscar, indicating he wanted another shadow arrow. He obliged and this time created multiple." Stand back, Oscar. I can hold my own for a bit until you recover a bit more. I've trained enough with Emily to know just how far along that [Omnibolt] is on the path to annihilation," Dan said." Two minutes, Oscar. We— you —just need to survive for two minutes," he sighed and then he took a deep breath." [Staggering Shot]," he muttered and with a loud thum, the arrow shot off towards Peeper. The shadow arrow slammed into Peeper's neck, causing him to… well, to stagger. Evidently striking the neck wasn't fatal as he picked himself up and began to charge their way. Oscar turned [Negate] on and fell back behind Dan. He wanted to create a shield, but all he could create was a small buckler at the moment. Too much of his shadow was tied up in those arrows. Something was off about Peeper, he thought as he watched the monster's run become more laggard. Dan was able to easily dodge and launch counterattacks as a result of the decrease in speed. He also couldn't be sure, but it looked like Peeper was now sweating very heavily. Another thought struck Oscar in that moment. Perhaps it should have struck him sooner, because it had been well over five minutes since he had shattered Peeper's core. So, as he looked at the bright, burning ball of light that had essentially consumed all of the large eye's iris and at that sweat that had now turned into a thin layer of steam… He wondered how much longer Peeper could go on without his core and how much longer the corrupted brother could even maintain hosting that destructive power that consumed him from the inside. The answer turned out to be… not any longer at all. What Oscar and Dan had expected to have been an epic final showdown had ended up being a surprising and abrupt but explosive finale." Use it now, Dan!"" [Pinning Shot!]" Dan roared and froze Peeper's left leg. With perhaps his last surge of strength, Peeper formed a fist and slammed it into the ice, shattering the limb up to the knee. Despite the missing leg, Peeper still managed to hop forwards and tackle the shocked Dan. Peeper looked up and threw his arms out wide as he pinned Dan down. He smiled wide, first at Oscar, and then the starry mural above. Meanwhile, Dan thrashed to push the monstrosity off of him. But the attempt was futile. The [Omnibolt] within Peeper detonated in a blindingly radiant flash of colors. In the last possible second before the explosion, Oscar's instincts had flared. He quickly created a dagger and ran it across his throat, activating [Negate], right as the first spark escaped Peeper's wondrous eye. Worried that the flames would still burn him after the skill had ceased to offer its protection, he then morphed it into a tall shield for him to hide behind. Oscar had never been one to concern himself with the stars and the moon. To him, they had just been things he'd never be able to truly see. He'd never be on the moon, or orbit space close enough to see a star up close. And he likely never would, even should he somehow return back to Earth. But for the briefest of moments, he peeked over the shield and saw the source of the blinding light that had begun to fill the room, and… he thought that this was what it might've been like to witness the death of a star.