Chapter 249 47.X Interlude: Life Saver

[*BOOM!*]

"Oh fvck!"

Guidance knew that she had done the wrong thing the moment the giant ball of glowing flame exploded right in front of her. Her shield held, thank god, but now she was trapped at the bottom of this hell pit without so much as any time to rest. And the worst part was that she didn't think that even Moriya would be able to go down to get her with how quickly the heat was eating through her shields.

"[Adloqium]!"

Recasting her shield for the umpteenth time, Guidance went back to the drawing board as she looked at the barely functioning control panel in front of her. After fiddling with it in an attempt to destroy the ball of energy, she had inadvertently made it explode with a burst of pure light. It almost even blinded her if it wasn't for her [Keystroke] being able to heal her eyes somehow.

"Fvck... FVCK!"

Casting yet another barrier over her, the dev sweated bullets as she flitted her eyes all throughout the control panel. How she wished that she had Shizu's eyes right then just so she could code herself out of the situation she was in, but no. She was on her own for now with no help guaranteed to go and get her.

"[Adloqium]!"

Shaking her head, Guidance recast her barrier yet again before narrowing her eyes against the blinding light. There was no way that she could keep this up forever. Once her [MP] ran out from constantly casting her [Move], she was going to get fried by this glorified ball of light.

[*SLAM!*]

"Dammit!"

Frustrated, she began slamming her fist against the control panel. Unfortunately, it did little to nothing as the problem persisted despite her protests. She could barely see the dials and buttons in the first place, and trying to destroy it outright might just make the entire thing go nuclear on her and explode the entire facility.

'I'm not going out like this,' Guidance inwardly grimaced as she cast another barrier. 'I refuse to die because of my own stupidity!'

Taking a deep breath, the dev refreshed her barrier before going to work again. This time, she slowly ran her hands through the scalding hot metal, ignoring the heat threatening to burn through her barrier as she turned a prospective dial.

[*HHuummm....*]

Behind her, the ball of light seemed to dim. It wasn't much of an improvement, but at least she could see her own shadow again.

'Okay, this is might be it...'

Turning the dial further, the light coming off from behind her grew dimmer and dimmer. For a brief second, it almost felt like she was on the right track. But then...

[*BOOM!*]

"FVCK- [Adloqium]!"

Guidance grimaced as she hastily refreshed her barrier, the explosion washing over her as the light came back to bathe her in full force. Whatever progress she had made had been undone, replaced with a searing light that just refused to die down.

"UGH! Why won't anything work!?"

She gritted her teeth in pain, sweat instantly evaporating from her skin as she cried out in frustration. Was there no way for her to get out of this? Was she going to just stand there and keep casting her barrier until she ran out of resources and died? This wasn't the life she envisioned in life... In her own world, no less!

"NO! I'm not dying here!"

Desperate, Guidance slammed her fists onto the control panel once more, the force of the blow instantly bending metal as sparks flew out from the broken thing.

"This isn't my end..." she growled out, her anger slowly coming undone as hopelessness began to settle. "I have so many more things to do... So much to fix..."

She didn't want it to end. Not yet... Not when she had actually found a fledgling love growing deep within her heart. She knew that Moriya would try his best to save her, but even he would probably be unable to brave this kind of scalding light without assistance. If it was more than enough to keep eating through her health, then what more for someone as low leveled as him?

"Guidance?!"

Her eyes widened despite the brightness around her. Looking up, her heart soared as she searched desperately for the source of his voice. "Moriya?!"

"I'm coming!" he called aloud through the light. "Just hang on!"

She couldn't believe it. How did Moriya get to her? Surely he had help. He couldn't possibly stand this much damage without being vaporized in seconds!

"Guidance! I finally found you!"

Whatever tears she had in her eyes evaporated immediately even before they could trickle down her cheeks. Seeing Moriya right in front of her had given her new hope, and the love she felt for the man only grew bigger and better as he came to save her. Only...

"M-Moriya?! W-What's happening to you!?" she blanched as she quickly raised her [Manifest]. "[Me-!"

"Guidance, it's fine," he chuckled. "My passive regen can handle it."

The dev narrowed her eyes as she stared at her savior's appearance. Moriya looked like he was being cooked alive. His clothes were practically burnt to a crisp, and bits of his skin seemed to sizzle and evaporate only for new skin to grow over the wound just as quickly. Through the light, she could barely make out the bits of blood coming out of his wounds, rapidly moving and clotting as if they had a mind of their own.

"That's... Is it your [Manifest]?" she could help but ask.

"Yeah, I have a new passive move that gives me ridiculous regen," he nodded. "But never mind that. Can you move?"

Guidance nodded as she took a step forward, her barrier dangerously shimmering as she quickly refreshed it with a simple word. Standing side-by-side with her boyfriend, she flashed him a smile as she chuckled. "So, how are we gonna get out of here?"

"Well, the plan was to just climb out of the hole this thing made," Moriya nonchalantly replied. "I can only assume that this is the thing that exploded, right?"

"Yeah," she weakly grimaced. "I kind of tried making it explode, but instead of just crumbling to bits, it only kept on glowing white hot."

"And that's gonna be a problem and a half," Moriya clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I can list out a dozen things someone can do to make this thing the ultimate weapon, but that'll have to wait. For now, we have to get out of here."

"Right."

As a unit, the two of them moved, making their way to the nearest ledge they could get their hands on and started climbing. With each floor they climbed, Guidance felt the impact on her shield weakening as she refreshed her barrier every so often. Eventually, she didn't even need the barrier to keep herself alive, her natural regen being more than enough to keep her topped up on health as they slowly inched their way upward.

"Lady Guidance! You're alive!"

Somewhere along the way, the dev was surprised by yet another person that she didn't expect would be here. Shizu's hug had almost been rib-crushing, but she still couldn't help but smile as she comforted the clearly distraught princess.

"Told you she's still alive," Moriya cheekily chuckled. "She's just too stubborn to die."

"On that, I agree," Guidance smirked. "I refuse to die like that. It's just boring."

"Thank the Gods you're both alright," Shizu embraced them in a group hug, her tears staining their shoulders as she sobbed. "I couldn't see any further down, and I thought.... I thought...."

"It's okay, Shizu," Moriya soothed them both, rubbing their backs as he hummed. "We're both here, and we're going to get out of this place alive."

"R-Right!" Shizu cheered, her black and green eyes shimmering with tears. "Lead the way!"

"Wait, aren't you going to get that problem of yours looked at?"

Guidance looked at Moriya with a questioning gaze. "Problem?"

"Oh, that!"

Before Guidance could even turn to face her, Shizu had already taken her top off, exposing her bare chest to the two of them without any shame whatsoever.

"S-Shizu?! W-What're you-"

"Get used to it," Moriya chuckled with a sigh.

"I have this blasphemous thing stuck inside my chest!" Shizu cried out, the bright light from the crater almost seeming inconsequential compared to her own problem. "I can't get it out, and I have a feeling that it'll control my actions if given enough time!"

"Wait, you didn't say that last time," Moriya narrowed his eyes at the princess. "Are you serious about that?"

"W-Well, yes?" Shizu hesitantly replied. She then turned her gaze to Guidance and pleaded, "I just have a feeling about it. Now please get it off me!"

Guidance couldn't help but laugh. "Alright then. Let's make this quick though. There's still a lot of things we have to address in this mess we found ourselves in."

"Yeah, right," Moriya chuckled. "I'm pretty sure the rest of our group's already just panicking looking for us."

Shaking her head, Guidance gave Shizu a nod before brandishing her [Manifest]. Likewise, Shizu began spewing out code, their flow tried and tested as she began to work.

Really, this might be stressful and kind of bad for the heart, but she wouldn't have her life any other way.

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