I frowned and turned to look at him.
“Can’t you read ancient script?”
“……”
“It’s written right here. ‘Bring a bone stained with the blood of a pure maiden.’ If we place it here, the door will open.”
A “pure maiden,” seriously.
It sounded like complete nonsense, but that was exactly what was carved into the door.
Among Leonard’s companions, there was someone from a devout priestly family.
So they immediately figured out what that phrase actually meant.
‘Though when I picked up those stones, everyone looked at me like I was insane.’
Anyway, thanks to the fact that I had prepared several stones in advance, they were able to open the door and descend without having to backtrack.
After using the stone stained with my blood to open the door…
they abandoned me.
“Anyway, let go of me.”
“……”
With a reluctant expression, Isael released my wrist.
“Then that stone—”
“You saw the statue crying tears of blood on the way here, right? It’s just a pebble from beneath it.”
“You really had the foresight to pick that up beforehand.”
“I knew it would be needed to open the door.”
When I replied smoothly, he clicked his tongue and asked,
“You’re going to say you figured that out with your so-called clairvoyance too?”
“Of course. I knew it from the upper floors.”
“……”
“Anyway, if we place this here, the door will open.”
Ignoring Isael’s suspicious gaze, I set the blood-stained stone down in front of the door.
A moment later, the tightly sealed door swung open as if it had never been locked at all.
As soon as we stepped through, the door shut behind us—and then vanished completely.
What lay before us was a staircase stretching endlessly downward.
Without a word, Isael and I began descending.
The stairs seemed as though they would go on forever.
But we both knew, from experience, that there would inevitably be an end.
After a long silence, we finally reached the fourth underground floor.
What greeted us there… was nothing.
An empty, vast expanse filled with smoke.
The thick haze made it impossible to even estimate how large the space was.
“…So it’s true.”
Isael spoke.
“There’s really nothing here.”
Muttering in disbelief, he turned to me with a strange expression.
“Well? I was right, wasn’t I?”
“……”
“This place is like a resting floor. We just have to endure until the door to the next level opens.”
“Endure… what exactly?”
“Everything that tries to keep us from enduring.”
After saying that, I looked around again.
We needed to find a suitable spot.
There was still a chance Leonard and his group hadn’t left this floor yet.
‘I still need time before I can properly use the fruit’s power.’
Until the door to the fifth floor opened, I had to make good use of that time.
“First, we need to find a dead end. We’ll settle there.”
I grabbed Isael’s arm as he walked ahead.
He flinched at the sudden contact.
“W-what? That startled me.”
“Ah… sorry. Did I scare you?”
“……”
“Sorry. But bear with it for now. It’d be a problem if you got lost.”
The entire place was thick with smoke—perfect for losing sight of each other even a short distance away.
That made it ideal for hiding from unwanted encounters, but still.
Holding onto Isael, I groped forward with my other hand, feeling through the air.
Before long, my hand touched a solid wall—a dead end.
We didn’t know where or when the next door would appear, and finding it in this smoke-filled floor would be extremely difficult.
But that wouldn’t be a problem once I could properly use my ability.
‘Come to think of it, this guy hasn’t complained even though I’m not treating him like a prince.’
If it were me, I’d have said something by now.
After all, he was a prince.
Yet Isael didn’t seem to mind that I spoke casually to him and treated him informally from the start.
Well, in a place like this—where you could die at any moment—status didn’t really matter.
“Wait here. Stay right here and don’t move.”
I warned Isael firmly.
Then I pulled out the flower he had uprooted from the cliff earlier.
“What’s that for?”
“I’m going to plant it here.”
I crouched down and planted the flower into the dirt.
Isael, who had been watching me quietly, soon plopped down beside me.
With his arms resting on his knees, he tilted his head and stared at me lazily.
“…Suspicious.”
“Huh?”
“You’re definitely suspicious.”
He tossed the words out and looked at me intently, his gaze filled with doubt.
My eyes kept drifting to the sword at his waist.
Something crossed my mind.
But before that, I needed to deal with his suspicion.
“What’s suspicious about me?”
“If all of this is just based on your clairvoyance, then your attitude doesn’t match. You’re way too calm.”
“……”
“It’s like you already know everything about this place.”
…That was a sharp observation.
Well, having him gather items for me earlier was a bit much.
But I was injured—I didn’t have much choice.
“To be honest, I have another ability even more exceptional than clairvoyance.”
“What kind of ability?”
“Insight.”
“……”
“I was born with it.”
Isael stared at me, momentarily speechless.
I avoided his gaze and changed the subject.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering… that’s a sword, right? Did you get it in the tower?”
“I picked it up on the second floor.”
“Can I see it?”
After staring at me for a moment, Isael must’ve decided there was no harm in showing it. He drew the sword from its sheath.
The blade was chipped in several places.
But I recognized it instantly.
No way…
‘That’s the Holy Sword.’
Exolid.
I had searched everywhere for it.
So Isael had gotten to it first.
That’s why I couldn’t find it on the second floor.
I didn’t know how it ended up in his hands, but originally, it was supposed to belong to Leonard—the protagonist of this world.
‘I guess this is a good thing.’
At least I didn’t end up finding it and stupidly handing it over to Leonard.
I wouldn’t become some disposable extra who delivers the Holy Sword and gets abandoned.
“…It’s actually pretty useful.”
Misinterpreting my intense stare, Isael muttered that and sheathed the sword again.
‘How do I awaken it so he can become the true owner of the Holy Sword?’
Since he had already taken the protagonist’s weapon, it wouldn’t be bad if he truly became its master.
As I was about to sink into a new line of thought, my vision suddenly went completely black.
‘It’s starting.’
In a calm voice, I explained to Isael,
“If we just wait it out, it’ll pass. No need to be too scared.”
“…You know what this is?”
“It’s just… the void.”
“Void?”
“Yeah. Dark, silent… and it’ll repeat several times.”
The trial of the fourth underground floor was simple.
In a place with nothing—
in darkness—
in silence—
you just had to endure the passage of time.
But enduring it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
As the empty time dragged on with no end in sight, most people would eventually lose their sanity.
It would feel like this repetition would never end.
Like escape was impossible.
‘And on top of that, hallucinations creep in from time to time.’
But the flower I had just planted could neutralize the power of the demon governing this trial.
So there was no need to worry about hallucinations.
‘Hmm…’
Just in case, I asked Isael,
“If you’re scared, do you want me to hold your hand?”
“Ha… I don’t need that.”