Ryuji held his breath, waiting for something terrible to happen to him. The girl, who had stood up, started to slowly wade through the sea of death that was separating them.

'If she's getting near me, then maybe she can only test me if I get touched?!'

Ryuji decided to start his offensive and buy time for Jessy. He ran forward, his clothes becoming stained with the color red as he did. Once she entered his range, he stopped dead in his tracks. His sword arced through the air three times. Each swing sent a torrent of magic energy whose sole purpose was to separate. 'Using an impact isn't nearly as good as a skill, but if I caught her off guard, then maybe...'

"Why?" The beautiful woman stopped her approach and asked a question devoid of malice or pain. The slash he aimed at her head hit its mark, lopping off her ear and some of her jaw. The horizontal slash meant for her stomach reached as well. Red and black waterfalled into the sea below. Intestines peaked through, threatening to be whisked away by the flow. His last attack was meant to remove her head but was stopped by a ghastly black aura.

"Dark magic? Just like Caldwell. But if that's the case, then why...?" Ryuji gazed at the wounds he inflicted. If she was proficient enough with dark magic to protect herself with an impact, then she should also be capable enough to seal her wounds. Despite that, she made no move to do so. Instead, she continued to stare at Ryuji.

"Why?" Her head tilted to the side, allowing more blood to be collected on the floor. "Why did you attack me? I thought... you loved me." For a moment, her lips quivered as her heart broke. Then in an instant, she clutched her hand, placing it on her chest with a smile. "I see now. This is how you show your love. By inflicting pain, you discern and present love."

She spoke smugly as if she had just solved some puzzle that many had failed. Ryuji didn't understand what was happening and decided it would be best to slowly back away and let the injuries do her in.

"How messed up is your head? I don't love you! Explain to me how cutting you to pieces is any way to show someone love!"

"Well, there are many forms of love. Love is just an emotion, yet unlike other emotions, it can only truly bloom if it is reciprocated. Hate can exist even if it's one-sided. Happiness as well. But love will slowly start to fade if it isn't constantly nourished by another's love. So to make sure that their love is felt, people act. How they act is entirely dependent on the person's soul. Some people kiss. Some people hug. Others buy gifts. Write poetry, have sex, hurt others, hurt themself, hurt the one they love, kill others, kill themselves, kill the one they love. All of these are proper and real ways to show love."

Ryuji continued to step back, but it was no longer for a strategy. It was so he could get farther away from the lunatic in front of him. "Are you deaf? I said that I don't love you, so get it through your goddamn skull!"

"Are you afraid because you're self-conscious about showing your love? It's okay." The broken smile she gave was free of any unwanted feelings. All it portrayed was her boundless and infinite love. "I'll accept all of your love no matter what others may call it. All I ask in return is for you to love me and only me. Love me with all your heart. Make me your number one. Make me your one and only. If you can do that, then you have nothing to fear from the test."

With her speech done, her smile filled with love incited fear into the man before her.

Then his breathing stopped.

Then his vision faded to white.

Then his knees dropped to the ground.

The world seemed still and almost empty to him. The only thing filling the void was a heavily wounded and yet still captivating woman.

'Am I... still alive?'

A crushing pain echoed throughout him all at once. As if his body had just realized that it was in danger. His heart felt as though it was undergoing the same treatment one might use when juicing an orange. A strange warm feeling spread. Drips fell off of him into the pool he was wading in. And to his surprise, they were much the same color. The pain ebbed with every drop he shed as if he was releasing some kind of pressure inside of himself.

"So you won't put me first." Her voice reminded him that he wasn't alone. He had an observer watching him writhe in pain. "It's okay. I understand that you have someone else you love, or maybe it's even more than one. That's fine. In these last few moments you have, we can express our tragic and short love." She slowly stepped forward. Each one seemed harder for her to accomplish than the last. Her legs wobbled, and she collapsed face-first into the life of her previous 'lovers.'

"Sacred High Heal." Ryuji wasn't about to just let his life end here when he had made such remarkable progress. One of the four obstacles he had to overcome lay dead in front of him. All of his friends were still breathing. He couldn't have been more ecstatic. He went to rise out of the filth, but his legs wouldn't move.

"Huh?" Something didn't feel right. All of his limbs were unresponsive, and the blood still poured. "I... I healed. How... HOW!?"

"Your miracles are no match for our deep and tender love. You cannot hope to sever the unbreakable connection we share with something as flimsy as a skill."

"...?" His blood-stained eyes froze. A shadow covered fist slammed into his chin. Ryuji's vessel of flesh flew through the alley at top speed. His head reeled, and the world spun. Another punch sent him further. Then another, then another until his ragdoll body lay convulsing on the street.

When his mind sharpened, he vaguely felt pressure on all of his limbs. He looked up to five copies holding him down. "What?" Words formed in his mind, but he had a hard time getting them out. The girls all gave the same loving and yet chilling smile while locking him in place. Considering how hard it was to just barely nudge his fingers, he figured he wasn't that close to dying just yet.

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"It's okay, honey. I've been shown many times how everyone, no matter who they are, reciprocates their love." It took Ryuji a second to realize what was happening. His pants slowly began to be undone. He felt a warm breath on a spot that shouldn't be breathed on.

"Wait a second. I said, wait!" No matter how much he budged and pushed, he couldn't move a single inch from the spot he was in. "You don't want to do that! I'm bleeding there, aren't I? Isn't that disgusting!? Hey, hey!"

"That's fine." As she spoke, a torrent of hot air passed over. "My love will accept everything. It doesn't matter how filthy you are." Ryuji's already blanched face turned one shade paler. Afraid to be conscious for his deflowerment, he closed his eyes and prayed.

"Snipe!"

A harrowing voice filled with moxie shouted from the rooftops. Ryuji heard intense whizzing sounds followed by disquieting splats. The weight on his limbs disappeared. When he opened his red eyes, he saw five bodies strewn about in various poses. Each one seemed to be missing the center of their heads.

"Are you okay down there!? Or did I interrupt when it was just starting to get good?"

Jessy sat on a rooftop a few buildings down, leaning on her sniper rifle grinning from ear to ear. Ryuji still felt like shit, and the bleeding still hadn't stopped, but even so, he couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I'll forgive you this one time but don't make it a habit!"

"Is that so? By the way, can you please pull your pants back up? Nobody want's to see that Pardner!"

Ryuji slowly moved his addled limbs to pull his pants back up. He was beginning to gain motor function, which really only meant one thing, he was dying. His miracle hadn't worked. Hell, it hadn't even stalled it for a second. Ryuji looked back up at his friend. A fresh new face of fear took him over.

"Behind you!"

Jessy turned instantly once she heard the warning. With a crisp draw of her sidearm, the purple assassin met the same fate as her counterparts.

"Are you one that draws some of his love?"

On the street below her walked the same vixen. A bullet rang out, splitting her skull in two.

"Don't worry, I have enough love for both of you."

Another walked out of the alley only to be gunned down.

"My love is infinite, and its reach is much the same. Your hearts, no matter how frugal, will succumb to the embrace of my love. Slowly but surely, it will squeeze you until you have no choice but to accept it!"

"What are you?"

Jessy asked with abject horror as more and more of Peitho climbed out of the darkness. From every corner in every place that even a smidge of shadow existed came hand after hand clawing their way up from the darkness. A whole army of Lust stood before Ryuji, each one giving him the same unnerving smile.

"Dammnit!"

Jessy screamed in frustration, firing shot after shot into the crowd. Body after body fell, each one doing nothing to protect itself. Even after being mortally injured, they would still just continue smiling at Ryuji, who was struggling to find the strength to stand.

"It's about time, isn't it? For my love to tear you down."

Another shot of blast of agony shook his system. Breathing became impossible as his head fell directly onto the brick. His heaves reminded him of the great fire burning in his chest. Pain exploded out through every pore on his body. Beneath it all, he felt something like a hand gripping his heart. Squeezing him slowly yet firmly like it didn't want him to die immediately. Blood made its way into his mouth, interrupting his heaves as he tried to not drown. The flow of blood coming from his body was more steady than before, and the wooziness that came from his lack of fluid was evident. What was more alarming than anything was how he could now move. He was only a few more steps away from his third death in this place.

"Are you ready to accept it now?"

In front of him, the madwoman held out her hand as if to pat him on the head. A quick draw of his blade separated the filthy hand from her body, and the next did the same to her head.

Spitting up more blood, Ryuji attempted to speak. "Get the fuck away from me!" The look in his eyes could only be described as deranged. "Jessy!?"

On the roof, Jessy hung over the railing with a visible stream of red leaving her mouth. The blue eyes that were normally full of stars were now glassed over, devoid of life.

"Why..." A small whimper escaped him. "Why is this world such a pile of shit? Why am I presented with such a large wall just when I was starting to enjoy myself? Why do I have to see my friends die!?"

His legs no longer wobbled, and the strength emanating from him would make most people think twice about confrontation. Peitho's expression did not change in the slightest.

"Why am I the only one who has to suffer? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why... am I so weak...?"

"If weakness is what you detest, then all you need is love."

The sneer he presented was one stained in a dark red. "Is that your answer to everything!?"

"Love is enough to accomplish anything. If you can find the one you love with all your heart, then as long as you make it for them, you will never be discouraged again. Life can beat you down, but as long as you have the excuse that is love, you won't break. No matter how bashed and shattered your soul is, love is all you need to heal it. It doesn't even have to be mutual. That's just how powerful love is."

"Shut up!" His teeth gritted together causing, the headache he felt to amplify, but he didn't care. "How can you say all that and continue to hurt people? If you care so much about love, then shouldn't you be more sensitive to destroying it!?"

"Has your love faded?"

Her head tilted. Ryuji's grimace was fiery enough to kill.

"WHAT!?"

"Did you lose the love you had for that girl just because she's dying?"

"NO!"

"Then there's nothing wrong with me hurting people. Love isn't something so fickle that death can end it. In fact, hurting the ones you love may just make your love for them even stronger than before."

"Shuten Doji."

A powerful tempest followed the length of his sword. He rushed forward in a blind fit of rage. One, two, three, four. Body after body dissolved into a fine red mist from the pressure of his storm. What could only be described as a kamikaze erupted. Tens of look-alikes perished every second from the pure force of the wind. Buildings surrounding them were ripped off their foundations. Even Jessy was caught in the localized hurricane. The power slowly ebbed from him as the cold reality of death grasped itself around him. His shoulders drooped. The sword shook in his clammy hands.

"Your love certainly was impressive."

He turned around to see yet another group of Lust. His tired eyes that still cried red looked at her with resignation. The supports under him collapsed, and his back lay on the wind scraped brick.

"Make it quick."

His last words escaped him as the pool of his and her blood intermingled under him. Hands that he despised started to caress every inch of him, but he couldn't care less. The body he inhabited barely felt anything anymore.

"I don't want all of your love. I'm not that greedy. I just want this moment." While the others of her massaged him all over, the mouthpiece leaned over his face whispering sweetly. The blush on her face was unmistakable and would have made any unsuspecting man swoon. "I just want this feeling."

"I just want love."

Her lips touched his while her hands rubbed through his hair. The feeling on his heart alleviated for a moment letting him once more feel his body. The eyes that were once dead shook in despair as he realized what they were doing to him. Then with much force, her tongue pushed its way into his mouth. The momentary release on his heart ended. His heart exploded from the refound grip. His blood flowed into her mouth, and she happily lapped it up.

His first kiss ever stayed in his mind long after the void took him.