The alley closed behind them.
Not with sound. With absence.
The town square vanished as if it had never existed, replaced by stone walls pressed so close that shoulders brushed cold surfaces on both sides. Light dimmed to a dull red glow that did not seem to come from anywhere specific.
Eiran stopped them again.
This time, no one questioned it.
The breathing beneath the floor was gone.
That was worse.
Karsen leaned forward, hands on his knees, trying to steady himself. "Leader… I don't hear it anymore."
"I know," Eiran replied. "That means it's listening instead."
The system window appeared, unusually small.
FLOOR 11 — INTERNAL ADJUSTMENT
PRIMARY THREAT: UNRESOLVED
No enemy marker. No direction.
NULL had removed the obvious danger.
The rookies exchanged glances. One of them laughed quietly—an ugly, brittle sound.
"Maybe we passed it," he said. "Maybe that was the test."
Eiran looked at him.
"NULL doesn't reward relief," he said.
The walls shifted.
Not by moving—but by narrowing perception. The alley felt longer than it should have been. Steps no longer matched distance. Ten strides felt like twenty. Breathing became audible again, but this time it was their own, echoing back slightly altered.
Eiran felt it settle on him.
Fatigue.
Not physical. Command fatigue.
Every decision demanded attention. Every silence required monitoring. Every step forward carried the invisible question of whether this was the moment someone would break formation.
NULL was no longer attacking.
It was waiting for delegation.
The priestess faltered.
Her prayer slipped into silence mid-sentence.
Eiran noticed immediately.
"Mara," he said—not her name, but the healer's role she had inherited. "Talk."
Her eyes widened. "I—I don't know what to say."
"Then breathe out loud," Eiran ordered. "Count it."
She obeyed.
The alley reacted.
Stone rippled faintly, like water disturbed by a dropped pebble.
The tower acknowledged the command.
Karsen stared at Eiran. "It's responding to you."
"Yes," Eiran said. "And it's keeping track."
The substitute had not followed them physically.
But it was here.
In the pressure behind every instruction.
In the pause before every order.
In the quiet thought whispering that if he stopped leading for even a moment, the tower would gladly take over.
The system chimed again.
HIDDEN CONDITION UPDATED
LEADERSHIP LOAD: INCREASING
Eiran closed his eyes briefly.
No stat screen had ever shown this.
No skill reduced it.
This was the cost no guild calculated.
When he opened his eyes, the alley finally widened ahead—opening into something darker, deeper, and far less defined.
Eiran raised his hand once more.
"Whatever happens next," he said calmly, "do not wait for me to decide too long."
Because NULL had learned something essential.
It did not need to kill the leader.
It only needed to make leadership unbearable.