Floor 11: Two Doors (3)

A red door and a black door.

Just like at the very beginning, two doors had appeared again. Since I'd already chosen the black door once, I found myself mildly flustered. So choosing once didn't mean it was over, huh.

Then which one was I supposed to pick this time...? Two doors stood before me, and my intuition offered no answer at all.

Hold on.

I shouldn't simply choose a door on gut feeling alone. I had just come in through the black door, and I'd seen once already what choosing the black door resulted in — the Tu'tuli Guardians poured out of it. So maybe the only thing that changed was the kind of enemy that appeared? Open the red door and a different batch of Guardians came out?

...Huh?

Suddenly, I remembered the moment I first entered this chamber. The instant I'd stepped inside, I distinctly felt the room grow a little darker.

Of course, it might have been nothing. The torches in this boss room might simply have been fewer, making it dimmer. But the fact that the door had been black snagged on something in my mind.

There has to be some connection there.

Hmm. Looking at the situation, it seemed like the boss room wouldn't end just by passing through the next door. The Tu'tuli from before had been far too easy. So choosing the black door made things grow gradually darker?

Come to think of it, if Tu'tuli came flying at me in total darkness, that would be somewhat difficult. But surely they wouldn't make it this intuitive? A black door, and darkness. Doubt flickered through me for a moment — then, no. It actually could be that simple.

Right now I knew exactly two things: after choosing the black door, the room had gotten a bit darker, and Tu'tuli Guardians had appeared. If that pattern held, then what happened when I chose the red one?

Red... the first thing that came to mind was flame. Blood seemed unlikely, so intuitively — fire. Hmm, would I be fighting amid heat and flames, then? Huh. That doesn't actually sound bad.

If the proposition "black door dims your vision" were true, I might eventually end up fighting in complete darkness. Compared to that, the red door seemed better. I had a fire resistance skill. Fighting would be easier than in the dark, and as a bonus I could level the skill up too.

So this time, the red door—

Wait a second.

A thought suddenly brushed through my mind, and the Tower's message swam back into view.

Choose one of the two doors.

The Tower's message had clearly said to pick one door. Red and black — two doors had stood before me, but I had already chosen the black one. I might be overthinking this, but up until now the Tower's messages had carried a great deal hidden inside them. The Tower loved playing word games. I couldn't afford to just skim past one.

What if changing doors now is exactly what I'm not supposed to do?

I couldn't be certain. But I couldn't recklessly pick the red door either — no one knew what the consequence would be. An ordeal beyond my ability to handle might descend on me, or in the worst case, I could die on the spot. I couldn't lean on an uncertain possibility. I had to act according to the Tower's message.

The black door. I'll choose the black door.

Once the decision was made, there was no hesitation left. I walked over calmly and opened the black door.

It was the same kind of room as the one I'd just left — a domed arena, with holes punched here and there in the walls. Just as I thought... The only difference was that the room was a shade darker than before. Exactly as I'd predicted, the structure seemed designed to grow darker the further you pressed on. If I'd picked the red door at the start, would I really have been fighting in a wall of fire? I couldn't know what would have come out, but the odds looked decent.

Then again, thinking it over, this isn't bad either.

Calling up old memories, I knew I needed to learn how to fight in sightless darkness sometime. The darkness of the passages on Floors 1 and 2 had rattled me badly. This was my chance to overcome that. There was no telling what kind of trial the Tower would throw at me later — I needed to master the sensations of the dark as well.

Well, conveniently enough, it's getting darker by the step.

My vision wasn't all that impaired yet. I just had to acclimate, little by little. It seemed like perfect training ground, honestly. The more I thought about it, the more my personal floor felt like something tailor-made for my growth — Floor 1, Floor 2, now Floor 11, all structured so the enemies multiplied and strengthened as you went deeper. A good thing for me, but...

"Kkiik?"

Dobby's voice cut through my reverie. Had I really been lost in thought that long? Right — breaking this boss room came first. Refocus.

"Fall back to the rear like before."

"Kkiik! Got it!"

Leaving Dobby behind me, I walked forward carefully. There was no real tension. It was darker than before, but still bright enough to make out things clearly. I doubted I'd have much trouble here — even if Tu'tuli Guardians came pouring out mindlessly, I'd be fine.

Which gave rise to another thought. It's going to get even darker soon... Considering this was the Floor 11 boss room, a darkness where I couldn't see an inch ahead would eventually arrive. I could of course brighten my vision with the Essence of Lightning. But having committed to getting used to fighting in the dark, I couldn't very well use it when there was no emergency.

Why not try it with my eyes closed this time?

It seemed like a good idea. That future was coming soon either way — like it or not, I had to get a feel for combat in the dark. And if it turned dangerous, I could open my eyes whenever I wanted. There couldn't be a better moment for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a test run. Better to practice while the safety net was still there.

All right, let's try it.

The moment I stood in the center of the passage, a sound like iron balls rolling came along the walls. Tu'tuli Guardians, without a doubt. The difference from before was that more than four of them were already rolling from the start.

It was fine. The enemy hadn't changed. I can do this.

I had high-level combat focus and intuition on my side — and setting those aside, I possessed superhuman instinct. Think back to Floor 1: knowing nothing at all, I'd dodged arrows and blades on instinct alone. This time, too, I could do it.

Listening to the iron balls rolling along the walls, I closed my eyes. Even so, the faint light of the room pressed through my eyelids. Even that light would feed me information. I squeezed my eyes shut.

The lingering afterimages of light drifted like fish through the darkness behind my lids. And beyond them, I could see nothing at all.

Come on, then.

Thud— thud—

Two launched first. Ten o'clock and seven o'clock, with a brief gap between them. The sound of them cleaving the air came through crisp and clear.

I shifted my body left first. Thud— thud— thud— Then three more fired from twelve, one, and four o'clock. Those three waited until they saw me move.

The very first one twisted its axe up into a thrusting trajectory. Clang! With a ring of metal, I felt the blade fly away, and swung my axe right to deflect the sword coming at me from seven o'clock.

Three remained. The ones behind had no time gap — they'll come all at once. They might even pass right by me and stab.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This time, instead of predicting, I would simply feel the blades as they stretched out toward me. My stamina stat was nearly at 100; it wouldn't kill me outright. And at that level of danger, surely my intuition would warn me. Besides, worst case, I've got Dobby.

I stepped back a single pace and poured everything into my senses except sight. In the space between focus pushed to its absolute limit — something beyond sound began to come into view. The wind. The air's flow shifted as they came hurtling toward me. And I could feel that flow.

Left.

The air split on my left. I raised my axe toward the blade carving through that current. Clang! Next the right, then straight ahead. Between the rapid-fire ring of metal, I felt the swords leaping through empty air.

Huh... isn't this going too easily? Even I was a little surprised, and I was the one with my eyes shut. I'd braced myself to take at least a scratch somewhere — I never imagined the sensation would come to me this fast.

Once again, the sound of iron balls rolling along the walls pulled me out of the fleeting thought. Good. Time to fight.

With every black door I chose, my vision dimmed further. From the fourth door on, I could barely see at all, and at the fifth, complete darkness arrived. Of course, the Tu'tuli Guardians seemed able to see me perfectly well even in the dark.

At one point I remembered Dobby had been able to see in the darkness of Floor 1. I asked him, but he said he couldn't. Probably, I figured, it was only because that was the floor he'd come from.

As for me, I'd been fighting with my eyes closed the whole time anyway, so it hardly mattered. But there was one thing that defied my expectations: in the fifth chamber, during the fight using the Essence of Lightning, my vision did not brighten through my eyelids. Puzzled, I opened my eyes — and saw no lightning at all. So it wasn't just the light growing scarce.

Even lightning could not illuminate this darkness. Total blackness. Up to now it hadn't posed much of a problem, but if a strong opponent appeared, that worried me a little. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truth was, I'd been tempted to use the Essence of Lightning back there — I could read my opponents' movements in the dark, but not perfectly, and with their numbers swelling, I'd taken a few hits in the fourth and fifth chambers. Naturally, I'd rather fight somewhere bright, too.

Hm... or maybe not?

It felt like things might just end like this. I was in a boss room to begin with — a boss room inside a boss room would be strange. Had I simply grown too strong? I didn't know. Keep moving. Something would show up eventually.

Even in the dark, the Tower's message shone clear as day. I couldn't see the color of the door forming ahead of me... but whatever. The black door had been on the right every time.

I walked forward and opened the black door.

The same darkness. I stepped carefully ahead — and then, abruptly, a voice rose from the center of the chamber.

"Who dares to enter this place?"

A low, solemn voice. This was different from everything that had come before. Judging by the presence I felt, there was only one of them. And unlike the floor's messages, no notification window appeared in the darkness to identify the enemy. But it didn't seem like something I could dismiss as lightly as the Tu'tuli Guardians, either. The aura it radiated was on another level entirely.

Hm. A strong enemy appearing could only mean— this chamber is probably the last one.

I quietly nudged Dobby back, then readjusted my grip on the axe. At the same instant, the sharp ring of a drawn blade echoed through the room. To my heightened hearing, there was exactly one sword-scream. Unlike the Tu'tuli Guardians before it, this one did not carry twin blades.

"Well, only thieves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ever make it this far, so I suppose I understand why you don't have the decency to announce yourself..."

The voice rolled out and spread through the darkness.

"But you have no manners."

The very next moment, though I heard no sound of feet pushing off the ground, the whistle of parting air reached me. Dead ahead — the air's flow tore apart violently. Faster... than I'd expected.

I swung my axe upward, from below.