Ethan didn't rush into the darkness. He kept moving, but slower than before, testing each step like the ground might change if he trusted it too much. The space around him didn't feel like a corridor anymore. There were no walls he could sense, no edges to measure distance against. Just a dull, flat kind of black that swallowed everything past a few feet.
He glanced back once.
Still nothing.
No path. No entrance. No trace that he'd ever come from somewhere else.
"…Alright," he muttered under his breath.
No response.
That part still felt wrong.
He'd gotten used to the flicker, the short answers, even the pauses. The silence now wasn't the same kind. It didn't feel like something choosing not to speak. It felt like there was nothing there to answer in the first place.
Ethan exhaled slowly and kept walking.
Step. Pause. Listen.
Nothing.
Even his footsteps sounded muted, like the space didn't carry sound properly. The usual echo that followed him through the dungeon was gone. Every movement felt contained, cut off before it could spread.
"…You still watching," he said quietly.
He didn't expect an answer.
He got one anyway.
Yes.
The message appeared faintly, slower than before, like it took effort to reach him.
Ethan didn't stop, but his focus sharpened.
"…You're not gone."
A pause.
No.
Short.
Simple.
But different.
He let that sit for a second.
"…You feel anything."
The flicker came again, weaker this time.
Something.
Ethan's grip tightened just slightly.
"…That helps."
No reply after that.
He didn't push it.
Didn't want it to disappear again.
He moved deeper.
The darkness didn't change. No shapes formed, no pressure built the way it had in the corridors. But something else took its place. A kind of distance that didn't make sense. He'd been walking long enough now that he should've reached something—anything.
But there was no sign of that.
Just the same empty stretch.
Ethan slowed again.
"…This isn't space," he murmured.
No response.
"…It's a delay."
That thought came out before he fully understood it.
He stopped walking.
The moment he did—
Something shifted.
Not around him.
Through him.
Like the space had been waiting for him to stop long enough to catch up.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"…Yeah."
He adjusted his stance, lowering his center slightly, blade ready but not raised.
"…You're still playing with timing."
No answer.
He took a step forward.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
Then—
He stopped again.
And this time—
He felt it.
Close.
Not ahead.
Not behind.
Right beside him.
Ethan didn't turn.
Didn't react immediately.
He just stood there, letting that feeling settle, trying to understand it before he moved.
It didn't press in.
Didn't build.
It just stayed.
Like something standing close enough to reach out—
But choosing not to.
His grip tightened.
"…You're here."
No reply.
Of course not.
He exhaled slowly.
"…You don't want me to see you yet."
Silence.
That was enough.
Ethan shifted his weight slightly, just enough to test the space without committing to anything.
The feeling stayed.
Unmoving.
Watching.
He almost turned.
Almost.
But stopped himself.
"…No," he said quietly.
The word felt heavier than it should've.
"…You're waiting for that."
No answer.
He nodded once.
"…Yeah."
Instead of turning, he stepped forward.
Not away.
Not toward.
Just forward.
The feeling stayed for half a second—
Then vanished.
Gone completely.
Ethan stopped again, eyes narrowing slightly.
"…Too slow."
No response.
He exhaled quietly.
"…You need me to react."
The words came easier now.
More certain.
"…You can't act first."
Silence.
That silence felt different.
Not empty.
Tight.
Like something had shifted behind it.
Ethan adjusted his grip.
"…So I don't give you that."
No answer.
He started walking again, slower now, more controlled than before. Every step felt heavier, not because of the space, but because of what he was starting to understand. This wasn't like the earlier floors. It wasn't about forcing enemies out or breaking their patterns.
This was about refusing to follow one.
And that meant holding still when his instincts told him to move. Moving when everything else told him to wait.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
"…You still there," he said quietly.
The screen flickered faintly.
Yes.
Weaker again.
But there.
He nodded once.
"…Then don't tell me what you feel."
A pause.
Why.
"…Because it's using that."
Silence.
He let that sit.
"…It's reacting to when I react," he continued. "And I react faster when you talk."
The flicker came slower this time.
I see.
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Do you."
No answer.
He almost smiled.
"…Yeah."
He kept moving.
The darkness didn't change.
But the feeling came back.
Faint.
Distant.
Not beside him this time.
Somewhere ahead.
Ethan didn't speed up.
Didn't slow down.
He just kept his pace steady, letting whatever was there adjust to him instead of the other way around.
Because now—
He wasn't just fighting something that could predict him.
He was walking through something that needed him to make the first mistake.
And for the first time since he stepped into this place—
Ethan decided he wouldn't.
Not even if it meant walking blind.