The Guide was still there.Leaning in.Too close.Far too close.
His smile hovered—insolent, oversized.His eyes shone with a light you could neither read nor escape.
Kael drew a slow breath.His heart was still beating out of rhythm, but his features hardened.He did not look away.
A breath.Then his lips parted.
— "I have a… serious request."
Silence fell at once, heavy, suffocating.Even Thana turned toward him, surprised by his tone.Morpheas, standing back, went rigid.
Kael clenched his fist.He locked eyes with the Guide and did not waver.— "Not only to you…"
A heartbeat.A golden flash in his eyes.
— "…but to the one behind you who runs all this."
The Guide let out a small crystalline laugh.His steps began to circle Kael—slow, measured.Every movement seemed choreographed, an absurd little dance.
— "Mmmmh… interesting."
His arms rose, tracing exaggerated arabesques in the air.One finger toward the ceiling, the other toward the floor,as though addressing the entire cosmos.
— "It's rather unique, you see…Rare, even.You intrigue me."
Kael tracked each step without moving, impassive.
The Guide bent closer, eyes bright with a child's curiosity.— "In that case… I'll hear your request."
He clapped once—pure theater—then pivoted on his heel and stopped dead in front of Kael.
A too-wide smile split his face.— "I'm all ears."
Kael lifted his chin a fraction.Golden eyes held the Guide's, unflinching.His voice fell, low, direct:
— "I want to trade every reward I'm due to receive…for the chance to send the souls imprisoned here—and Morpheas with them—back to Hypnos."
A heavy silence dropped.Even the air seemed to freeze.
The Guide halted mid-circle.His arms sagged loosely, then swung back into another theatrical gesture.He tilted his head, as if amused.
— "Mmmh… a rather special petition."
He raised a finger, wagging it like a schoolmaster scolding a child.— "Know that only the main and secondary objectives can potentially be put on the table.The hidden objective cannot be included."
That too-wide smile cleaved his face again.— "But fine… I'll submit the request."
His tone shifted.Lower.Darker.
— "One last thing."
A cold spark lit his eyes.— "The Balance never lies.And I already sense it will show a loss…a mismatch between the price and your request."
He snapped his fingers.Echoes of chains rolled through the walls, as if the whole floor were holding its breath.
— "Simply put: you'll have to pay something extra.A price imposed by the Tower itself."
The Guide lifted his arms, gestures carving the air like an old ritual.His words rang out, heavy, almost mechanical now:
— "The request has been entered into the Balance."
A cold draft swept the room.Pale runes flared briefly along the walls,as though the entire floor were suspending judgment.
The Guide inclined his head.— "Unfortunately… the conversion is insufficient."
The smile returned, too broad.— "But there is an alternative."
A sharp flick of his hand.A black flame spun to life in his palm,whirling on itself, unstable.
— "A random penalty will be applied…in a future trial.That will restore equilibrium between the price asked and the value of your request."
His voice deepened, theatrical:— "If the candidate accepts this condition… then the exchange will be validated."
He had barely finished when Kael answered—firm, without the slightest hesitation:
— "I accept."
Thana's eyes flew wide.Morpheas drew breath to protest.Too late.
Kael had sealed the bargain before anyone could stop him…or even tell him to think it through.
A whisper wrote itself through the air.The pale runes withdrew, and a silent notification slid through Kael's mind.
⟡ [ Hidden Objective Reward validated ] ⟡→ Whispered Truth obtained.(Effect: revealed on the next floor.)
The Guide snapped his fingers.A carnivorous smile tugged at his lips.
— "And for the feat… two specters felled.That doesn't happen every day."
Two pallid lights drifted before Kael, splitting like crystalline shards.
⟡ [ Additional Reward ] ⟡+50 Merit points per specter.+30 bonus points for sacrificing all rewards in pure altruism.
→ Total: +130 Merit points.
The Guide let his hand fall, as if closing the rite.— "There. The Tower has spoken."
Then he extended his arm.A rip opened in the air—vertical, yawning.An icy wind breathed from beyond, gently drawing.
— "Go home," he murmured.
The souls moved one by one.Their wavering silhouettes slid toward the cleft, each bowing briefly to Kael.Morpheas lifted his head.His chains chimed once more in respect.
— "Thank you, Conqueror.May you not come to regret your choice."
And he stepped through the tear.
At last, the little girl remained, her hesitant steps tapping on the stone.She looked up at Kael, a fragile smile clinging to her face.In her translucent hands, she clutched her old teddy.
She untied the ribbon from the toy's neck.And in silence, she held it out to Kael.
— "It's for Mister Shadow," she whispered."For the 'smoky black gentleman' who protected me."
Then she stepped back, her image slowly thinning, and vanished through the rift with the others.
Silence returned.
The Guide snapped his fingers.A scroll of light unfurled in the air, numbers and sigils drifting like constellations.
— "Ah… I almost forgot.There are arrears."
His smile widened.— "Forty from the first floor… fifty from the second…and a hundred and thirty from this floor."
He closed his hand. The figures fused into a single glow.
— "Which brings you to a total of two hundred and twenty Merit points.Currently in your possession."
Kael drew a breath.The number sounded weighty, though he had no idea what it was truly worth.
The Guide leaned in slightly.— "With that, you now have access to the Merit Shop.Care to take a look?"
Kael nodded.— "…Yes."
An instant later, dozens of interface panes unfurled before him, choking the air with shifting runes and light.Too many sigils. Too many choices.
He clenched his teeth.— "It's… chaos."
He looked up at the Guide.— "Help me."
A spark of amusement crossed the ambassador's eyes.— "Very well. Are you looking for a skill? An item?"
Kael thought for a moment, then answered:— "…A bag.Or something that can carry my gear, my finds.Rewards, fragments… it always piles up."
The Guide tapped his chin, feigning deep thought.Then he snapped his fingers.
— "Ah… I see what you mean by 'bag' in your world.No. We've nothing like that here."
A grin split his face.— "However… we do have dimensional runes."
He conjured a charred shard before Kael, veins of moving symbols running through it.— "Each bears a unique effect.Some are etched into skin.Others… into bone."
He held the shard between two fingers.— "This one is a storage rune.Etched into bone, it lets you open a dimensional space.The smallest model costs one hundred and twenty points.Upgradable thereafter."
His smile turned predatory.— "Would that suit you?"
Kael didn't hesitate.— "Yes."
He confirmed the transaction, and the rune dissolved into light, sinking into his flesh with a cold burn.
⟡ [ Dimensional Rune acquired ] ⟡→ Basic storage space unlocked.
Kael inhaled slowly, steadied.Then said, firm:— "I'll keep the rest of my points. For safety."
The rune thrummed in his bone—cold, burning, alive.Kael closed his fist, his fingers trembling.
Behind him, the rift sealed shut, swallowing the souls' last gleams.Silence thickened.
The Guide clapped.Too-wide smile.Too-dark sparkle.
— "There. The matter is settled.The gaols are shut.The floor is officially cleared."
A dull rumble passed through the walls, like an otherworldly heartbeat.Then a luminous fissure opened before them—vertical, blinding.
The Guide stepped aside, inclining his head like a master of ceremonies.— "Conqueror…your next hell awaits."
The icy breath spilling from the fissure made every bone in Kael's body vibrate.He inhaled—slowly—then stepped forward.
And as his foot crossed into the light,a voice resounded within him.Dry.Implacable.
⟡ [ Whispered Truth — To be unveiled on the next floor ] ⟡