The pedestal did not retract.
It dissolved.
Stone sank into itself without debris, leaving behind a circular depression that slowly filled with dull red light. The platform vibrated—not violently, but with a deep, resonant tremor that traveled upward through bone and into thought.
The final phase had begun.
No enemy emerged.
No roar announced arrival.
Instead, the space around them unfolded.
The darkness ahead peeled back layer by layer, revealing depth that should not have existed beneath a single floor. The ramp they had descended was gone. The town above felt impossibly distant, like a discarded memory.
They were no longer on Floor Eleven.
They were inside it.
SYSTEM UPDATE: FLOOR 11 — FINAL PHASE
THREAT DESIGNATION: ENVIRONMENTAL
PRIMARY MECHANIC: ATTRITION OF COMMAND
Eiran felt it immediately.
The pressure multiplied.
Every sound carried weight now. Every breath from behind him registered as something he needed to account for. The tower was no longer targeting individuals.
It was targeting decision density.
The priestess swayed.
Eiran caught her before she collapsed.
Her eyes were unfocused. "It's… loud," she whispered. "But nothing's speaking."
"That's because it's not using voices anymore," Eiran said. "It's using expectations."
The floor ahead rippled.
Shapes formed—low, uneven, like shadows cast by people who weren't there. They did not move forward. They mirrored.
When Karsen shifted his stance, they adjusted.
When the priestess inhaled sharply, they leaned.
They were not enemies.
They were delays.
Every mirrored movement added weight, friction, resistance—forcing Eiran to constantly correct positioning, spacing, posture.
NULL was flooding him with micro-decisions.
Too many to delegate.
Too many to ignore.
"Karsen," Eiran said, voice tight, "you will move when I tell you. Not before."
Karsen nodded—but a fraction too slow.
A shadow peeled off.
It did not strike.
It simply stood between them.
Space compressed.
The priestess cried out as pain lanced through her leg—no wound, no impact, just consequence.
SYSTEM NOTICE: PARTY MEMBER STATUS DEGRADED
CAUSE: COMMAND DESYNCHRONIZATION
Eiran felt his chest tighten.
This was the real kill mechanism.
Not violence.
Not fear.
Exhaustion through responsibility.
Every second he stayed conscious, someone else paid for it.
Every second he hesitated, the tower adjusted.
NULL had built a floor where leadership itself caused damage.
And Eiran understood, with brutal clarity, what the tower was moving toward.
A choice.
Not of who would die—
But of when he would stop giving orders.
Because the moment he did, the tower would happily take over.
And it would lead them far more efficiently into extinction.