Chapter 97: Trial of the Forsaken (1)

They remained at the northern checkpoint until Hiiro could walk without collapsing. And that took four days. Hiiro complained through nearly all of them.

Misha had considered making them wait another day. Then Hiiro tried to challenge a wounded checkpoint soldier to race down the eastern wall. In the end, they entered the portal to Floor Ten the following morning.

Their footsteps echoed beneath a ceiling too high for the torchlight to reach. The flames mounted along the walls shivered without wind, their weak orange glow licking across thick pillars that lined both sides of the hall.

Goblin faces had been carved into every pillar. Some snarled with blunt teeth exposed, others screamed soundlessly, mouths stretched wide enough to split their stone cheeks, and a few wore expressions that might have been fear.

At the far end of the chamber, beyond rows of blackened braziers, stood a massive throne fashioned from stone and yellowed bones. The seat was broad enough to hold something three times the size of a normal goblin. Rusted weapons had been driven into its back like trophies. No king sat upon it. Not yet.

Hiiro walked past Misha by half a step before stopping so abruptly. His eyes moved from the throne to the carvings, then toward the darkness above them.

"This," he announced, lowering his voice as though the empty throne might hear him, "is definitely a boss room."

Astrid glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "The throne gave it away?"

Hiiro ignored the sarcasm with the practiced dignity of someone who survived most conversations by pretending insults had not landed. He pointed toward the dark ceiling. "Do you think the boss drops from up there?"

Astrid followed the direction of his finger. "Then it lands on you first."

"You joke now," Hiiro said, narrowing his eyes at the rafters they could not see. "It would land on you, not me."

"Why would it choose me?"

"It senses hostility and targets whoever it considers the greatest threat."

"Then staying near Misha will only draw it toward her."

Misha looked at her while Astrid kept her face perfectly composed.

Hiiro covered a laugh with a cough, immediately regretted it when he met Misha’s glare.

"Keep doing that. Maybe the Goblin King will hear you wheezing and surrender out of pity." She stepped around him.

Caius lowered the head of his staff-spear toward the floor. He did not join their argument. His gaze tracked the thin grooves carved through the stone pillars, following them toward the throne. "Stay alert."

Hiiro turned toward him. "You say that on every floor."

"And you still need reminding." Caius dragged the metal tip lightly over one of the grooves. "These channels are meant to carry something."

Hiiro crouched beside him. "Mana?"

"No... blood." He nodded toward the dark stains clinging to the lowest points in the grooves. Someone had cleaned the broader sections of the floor. They had not bothered with the narrow channels.

Hiiro rose again, slower this time. "Right, of course it’s blood."

Misha barely heard them. She knew this chamber. The last time she stood here, other people had been beside her. They were gone now and only the memory came in pieces rather than a complete scene. In the end, she had remained.

Closing her fingers more firmly around Twinfang, she turned toward the yellow portal that stirred before the throne.

"There." Hiiro pointed as he straightened so quickly that pain flashed across his face. He hid it a second later behind a triumphant grin. "See? Boss room."

Astrid looked at him without blinking "No one disagreed."

Ding!

「 〔FLOOR QUEST〕

’Trial of the Forsaken’

Select one Raider to challenge the Goblin King alone.

The Goblin King’s Trial will begin after the rest of the party has proceeded to the next floor.

Failure Condition:

If no Raider is selected, passage through the portal will be denied to all participants. 」

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Hiiro read the notice again, the grin disappeared from his face. His hand lowered slowly from where he had been pointing. "What?"

The single word echoed farther than the rest. His eyes moved over the quest window a third time, as though the condition might change if he stared long enough. "We have to leave someone here?"

No one answered. Astrid tightened her hold around her sidearm while Caius remained staring at the Floor Quest window.

Hiiro’s brows drew together, and the muscles along his jaw tightened. "That’s ridiculous! Why bring a party to a boss room if only one person gets to fight it?"

"Hiiro," Caius said.

"No, I’m serious." He looked between them, the humor had left him completely. "We cleared everything together. We don’t just pick someone and walk away like this is some terrible game-show elimination."

Astrid glanced at him. "I don’t know what that means."

"It means the rule is stupid."

Misha watched him without saying a word. The quest did not surprise her. It had already taken what shock it could from her the first time.

"I’ll stay." Her voice carried cleanly through the chamber.

All three turned toward her.

Astrid’s brows drew together first. Hiiro stared as though Misha had calmly offered to cut off her own hand. Caius’ expression remained unreadable, though his attention settled on her with a focus that tightened her chest.

"No," Astrid said, her fingers had already closed around the grip of her sidearm. "We’re not leaving you alone."

"It has to be someone." Misha rested one hand on Twinfang’s sheath. "I’ve fought the Goblin King before."

That was not exactly true, not in the way they would understand it.

Astrid’s eyes narrowed. "Before?"

"During my first climb through Floor 10." She kept her expression steady. "I completed this trial once."

Hiiro moved before Astrid could respond, planting himself between her and the throne as though his body alone could prevent the System from accepting her choice. "I’ll do it instead."

Misha stared at him, raising a brow. He stood straighter than he had any right to after spending four days complaining about his ribs. He immediately regretted it and tried not to breathe too deeply.

Astrid turned so sharply that the heel of her boot scraped against the stone. "Are you serious?"

Hiiro glanced toward her and saw her restraint crack.

"You barely held your ground against a Hobgoblin Commander!"

"I survived."

"Because Misha arrived."

"I softened it up!"

"You got beaten up dumbass! Very badly too!"

Misha rubbed her thumb along the seam of her dagger’s hilt. Four days of recovery had apparently repaired Hiiro’s confidence faster than his bones.

Hiiro looked toward Caius for support. The other boy did not offer any.

"You’re not staying," he said. "Your ribs are still fractured.

"Barely." He pouted. "I won the race, remember?"

"That doesn’t mean it did the healing on you," Astrid said.

Hiiro frowned at her. "Whose side are you on?"

"The side that prefers you alive, unfortunately."

For a moment, he looked almost touched. Then the rest of her sentence caught up with him.

His shoulders dropped in disbelief. "But I also want to fight the boss."

All three stared at him. Even the stone faces carved into the pillars seemed disappointed.

Hiiro lifted both hands as he quickly explained himself. "That’s not the only reason of course!"

"It was the first reason you gave," Astrid said with a sigh.

"I was just being honest." Then he turned back to Misha. Aside from his hunger for a boss fight, he was afraid to leave someone behind. "And you don’t know what condition the boss is in after the reset. It might be stronger. It might have new abilities. It could summon something, or split into two, or–"

"Split into two?" Misha raised a brow at him.

"I don’t know what bosses do here."

She chuckled at his imagination. He was not entirely wrong. Inside the Tower, anything could be possible.

"I can handle it."

"You don’t know that."

"And you think you can?"

The question landed harder than she intended. Hiiro’s expression changed. The corners of his mouth flattened into a thin line, and his chin lifted by a fraction. Pride first. Hurt beneath it.

Misha knew that look. She had worn versions of it herself but that did not make her feel sorry. Almost dying once did not earn him the right to volunteer for a second attempt.

Astrid stepped closer to Misha’s side. "I agree with Hiiro."

The boy blinked at her, she did not look at him. "We can’t leave you here."

Her voice remained controlled, though anger had begun slipping through the cracks. It showed in the way she held her shoulders and how firmly her thumb rested against the safety lever of her sidearm. "There must be another condition or maybe a hidden method."

"Exactly!" Hiiro inserted. "Some trials reward participants for refusing the obvious choice. You said you completed the trial. That doesn’t mean you tested every possible method!"

Misha exhaled slowly. "I know what happens. The trial won’t begin while all four of us remain here."

"Then we search first," Astrid replied. "We lose nothing by checking."

Hiiro nodded immediately. "Yes! We check everything! There could be an invisible lever, or maybe the statues react to mana. We could split up and–"

"No splitting up," Caius said.

"Fine. We stay together and search inefficiently."

Another sigh escaped Misha. "We are not spending three hours touching goblin statues."

"Two hours," Hiiro bargained. "Then we reassess."

"That’s enough." Misha dragged one hand over her face. At this rate, they would remain in the chamber until the Goblin King died of old age. Assuming it aged.

Knowing the Tower, it probably sat in some sealed pocket of space, sharpening the same axe for eternity while Raiders argued outside.

Hiiro stopped talking, Astrid did not.

"We’re not leaving anyone here."

"I’m not asking you to abandon me," Misha said more gently. "I’m asking you to go ahead."

"That is the same thing."

"No." Misha stepped closer and raised one hand, placing it lightly on top of the girl’s head.

Astrid went still. The gesture clearly had not been expected

"Abandoning someone means leaving them without a choice. I’m choosing to stay."

Astrid’s fingers tightened around her sidearm. "That distinction won’t matter if you die."

Misha’s hand paused against her hair. There was no easy answer to that. She could promise, she could tell her not to worry, but promises inside the Tower broke as easily as bones.

Caius spoke before Misha found the right words. "She won’t."

Everyone turned toward him.

He was now standing beside the yellow portal with one hand resting against the shaft of his staff-spear. His expression held no doubt, not even the small uncertainty a reasonable person should have shown before leaving someone alone with a floor boss. "Let’s go. Misha can handle this."

Misha slowly raised one brow. Why did he look so certain?

Hiiro stared at him as though he had spoken in another language. "You’re serious?"

Caius’ gaze shifted toward Misha. For a moment, the chamber seemed to narrow around the space between them. He looked at her strangely, not like someone hoping she would survive.