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Chapter 68 by neo_kenka neo_kenka

Blood began to pool below the Gamer.

Eyes of the Beholder

"John...?" Her word was strangled and high, and everyone present, and staring at the murdered Newman, realized now that the Gorbachev had re-awoken. "No... it... you can't..."

By knowledge and empathy, Moira knew what was coming... and her resolve almost faltered before that fear, more so than before a swordsman who moved too fast to be seen. Said swordsman flicked his stump of a blade, and not a single bit of viscera or blood stuck to its ugly length. Travolta and Rave, paralyzed by the bizarre seconds of John and Yarrick's invisible dance, finally sprung into action now that Yarrick seemed spent. They were wrong. They were going to die... and by one path of logic or another, be they rivals or strangers or the only boy she ever had in her home... all this was because of Tricia.

"No..." Tricia's words were quiet. No matter what she tried now... Newman was dead because of her. She stared upon Yarrick, and his smug, intrigued expression.

No... because of people like him.

The Eye of Gorbachev began to swell. Yarrick's grin widened as he watched Tricia rise with a sea of Eyes snapping open across her arms, breasts and stomach. Despite the hopes of the Collide members, Yarrick was more than able to keep up his pace: he dashed to the left as an eye on her collarbone winked light in his direction. He looked back as he ran, admiring how her attack eviscerated the wall mere feet away from where he left John Newman to perish. Yarrick moved quickly; his impromptu amputation wiped all desire to toy with his prey. He circled behind Tricia on a wide arc before dashing in, ready to gouge out her heart from behind, letting her join that infuriating John New-

An eye opened on her back, with the same speed upon which Yarrick operated, and twinkled as he was mere inches away.

He threw his body to the side, watching the near-invisible beam of light just barely skirt past him, and then past the punk girl's ear before it punched another seven-foot hole into the lab wall. More such attacks came as the Gorbachev stood motionless, eyes now covering her legs, her back, and everywhere that bare flesh waited. Smaller eyes fired faster shots, and Yarrick's body was a blur even to himself as he tried to evade the growing matrix of beams and beads of annihilation that quickly began to undo all the rubble of of the fourth floor and, indeed, the fourth floor itself. The speed by which they operated meant that Yarrick soon found himself in a web of after-images and active attacks emanating from Tricia, always just barely missing the others, always just barely missing him. He would be stuck, soon, and he didn't want to test his odds against these salvos of . He gave hiding behind the armored Brighton one more shot, and balled himself up behind her even as she took a defensive pose. Moira had done so because, like Rave and Travolta, she was nearly frozen in terror as the world seemed to explode all around them in perfectly round bites of vanishing roof debris and walls, each time by attacks they would never be capable of seeing. By the time the sea of flickering lights around Tricia stopped their menacing glow, they had all balled up, waiting for falling remains of the fourth floor or an errant attack by the Gorbachev.

Tricia turned to where Yarrick had fled, and Moira peeked over the lip of her shield to see. Tricia's face had turned monstrous; her eyes had grown, and were now slowly merging into a single massive black orb, her mouth gaped open to reveal an eye clutched between her teeth, her nose began to shrink as a second pair of eyes flanked it, and her hair, gorgeous if burnt in patches from an earlier encounter, began to elongate, knot and rope together into stalks, each topped with a small black orb, each orb with a glimmering ruby iris. They rose as if made of flesh, and joined the rest in her . Her body rose slightly into the air, and Moira looked behind herself, cursing as she found herself flanked by such monsters. Yarrick knew his cover was blown even before Moira dashed away from him, raising her shield for what she thought was an attack. A quick roundhouse slash at the floor, and the ground dropped out of the arena and into the third floor, nearly crushing Jimmie as the teacher desks just behind the terrified man were flattened by the debris.

Moira stared at the gap, and then at Tricia as she slowly floated towards it, the bottoms of her feet now blasting small holes into the ground until it threatened to cave under them. Yarrick was moving fast... and Tricia's aim seemed barely hampered by the presence of an intervening floor. Rave and Travolta dove for John's side of the school, the only place not being potholed by Tricia's wrath, and Moira soon joined them, albeit for another motive entirely. The redhead spat curses at feeling embarrassed about what she was about to do. Damning her hesitation, she ran towards John's body, to where the overgrown demonic fairy kneeled by him. To where his summon remained corporeal. Moira didn't know much about John, but she had felled him once before: Fairy should have been banished by the near-, or , of her master... yet here she remained, even as she cursed and whined while flipping John's body over. "Demon!"

Fairy stared daggers at Moira, and the latter thought that, for a moment, the fiend might actually be about cry for her master. "Whore of the Golden Rose! Your precious Lady is known to me, as are her gifts! Heal my master, before it's too late!" Moira stared with a desire to smite the demon, but she barely had enough of that hallowed energy (that she would not know to be mana) left to accomplish even what she feared to be a futile goal: to try and save the one whose apparent seemed to set Tricia off. Looking at the wound, Moira was certain it truly was futile: the enemy had struck true, and the blood that soaked the entire scene could be from nowhere else save an artery or the very core of a human. "Enough of your hesitation, Slut of the Order! My Master lives!"

John's glassy eyes betrayed no such sign of life... yet even with Moira's innate doubt of the words of the infernal, she detected something within the ruined body before her. Perhaps it would not be a waste... even if she needed every ounce of the Lady's blessings she had remaining. She would not be able to kill the Gorbachev herself if she failed... but perhaps they were doomed even if she mustered that strength to put down the crazed beast that now lurked inside this barrier.

But for all her worries, the truth was that John Newman wasn't even dying... yet. The pop-ups floated before his eyes, unable to be dismissed in his current state.

-510hp

Gamer's body failed! Real damage sustained.

Critical damage: sternum (shattered), heart (eviscerated). -30HP per round. Consciousness maintained.

Achievement unlocked! "Shot Through the Heart"!
Your heart was destroyed by an attack! You should really be more careful with those.
+5 END
+1,000XP

Achievement unlocked! "Indestructible"!
You suffered over 500 damage in a single attack and didn't pass out or die! Bet it doesn't feel as good as it sounds, huh?
+2 END
+500XP

Gamer quest: "Heart-Shaped Box"
First time for everything: repair some or all of your first critical damage!
Rewards: Gamer's body will have its damage limit raised to 1,000HP, +3,000XP

John couldn't even operate the interface to try and keep pumping himself with even more endurance, if only to buy him precious more seconds of consciousness. As was, he was quickly approaching the bottom of his HP pool, and he could will no magic in his state. <Fairy... my...> John's thoughts began to slow as he felt the effects of his blood loss, but Fairy could see his pop-ups as clearly as he could. She didn't need his intellect to know what he needed... and moreover, what would keep him in the fight.

She held John's head up towards Moira, and did her best to sound grateful, compassionate, and calm. "Stick your tongue in him as quick as your Lady can urge the same, or we'll lose him!"

"W-What? What?!"

"Your lot likes to kiss people to goodness, righteous perverts that you are. Tell me you've been taught that much?!"

"W-We deliver the lady's blessings-" The ground rumbled as Tricia's siege below continued. "I need only kiss him on the forehead!"

"Can that fix his chest?"

"It... It can mend bones and flesh, but... but to restore a heart, is..."

"You worthless, contrarian bit of overgrown, sentient smegma!" Moira's grip on her hammer tightened. "If we don't... wait... wait wait... yes... with the three thousand... yes.... yes! That works!"

"What will work, demon?" Moira grumbled darkly. "... aside from banishing you while I've still the chance."

"You can save him! But you have to... you HAVE to... heal him and kiss him on the mouth at the same time! The exact same time!" Her excitement was genuine... and she did a double-take as she realized it. "I can't believe I'm helping him with this..."

"You taunt me even now-"

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T!"

An explosion, and the laboratory side of the fourth floor finally collapsed. "Jimmie!" Travolta screamed, wide-eyed and helpless as he was. Rave stood by him, struck speechless by the rising cloud from where they had left their companion. Silently, they hoped he had the good sense to get away... presuming any of them would survive this nightmare.

Moira looked back at them, and then down to John's pale face. His mouth hung open slightly, and Moira gritted her teeth as she prayed. "Lady forgive me, if this is not your will... I promise I act only in purity and your good will, so please..." She leaned over him, tossing an unsure glance at Fairy one more time before whispering just before his mouth. "The Lady bless you." She joined her lips to his, restoring his sternum albeit without a heart to protect.

Quest complete!
+3,000XP
+Gamer's body now guarantees protection for up to 1,000 damage

Quest complete!
+10 HP
+100XP

Quest complete!
+500XP
+$500
+2 stat points
+the sonic mace of returning

His new quest, his quest to kiss Moira, and his quest to complete two of them at once all popped in quick unison, a coincidence so fortunate that it could only be a mercy from Gaia. His eyes tried to focus on the experience bar, and the blurred numbers there as life threatened to leave him...

DING! You're now level 14!
+20hp
+20mp
+5 stat points
+1 paragon point

Flesh grew in his core and wounds resealed. Blood burst into existence and filled and repaired veins as they ran life through him once more. His mind went into overdrive to revive and restore him, and his eyes blinked open and clear as his pulse rang in his ears. He was alive... he was better than alive! His hands rose to scoop Moira's face; he could kiss her like this forever-

"Gah, you bast-! How dare you!" she cried, raising her warhammer as if to strike him. "You were faking all along!"

"N-No, Moira, you healed me!"

"Think you can take advantage of me as you did the Gorbachev?! Go and show her you're alive before we're all-!"

The floor began to buck and heave beneath their feet, and all around the outside they could see a ring of debris exploding out from the academy.

Tricia had just demolished what remained of the third floor.

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