The passage did not wait.
Stone folded inward behind them, sealing the space they had just crossed. Not collapsing—locking. The shadows thinned into the walls, becoming texture rather than entities.
Only the narrow path ahead remained.
Single file.
No room to turn around.
No room to assist.
Eiran stopped at the threshold.
The system did not appear, but he felt its attention sharpen.
This was not a puzzle.
It was a selection.
"Only one at a time," Karsen said quietly, stating the obvious because silence had become dangerous again.
Eiran nodded.
He did not give an order.
He looked at each of them once.
The priestess avoided his gaze immediately. Her leg trembled, pain pulsing with each heartbeat. She would not make it ten steps alone.
Karsen met his eyes.
He understood.
That was the problem.
If Eiran chose him, it was command.
If Karsen volunteered, it was intent.
NULL needed intent.
Before Eiran could speak—or stop him—Karsen stepped forward.
"I'll go," he said.
No hesitation.
No glance back.
The shadows along the walls stirred faintly, like something pleased.
"Karsen," Eiran said.
Not an order.
A name.
Karsen paused, just for a second, and turned his head slightly.
"If I wait," he said, voice steady but thin, "it becomes your decision again."
He smiled—not bravely, not tragically.
Tiredly.
"That's not fair to you."
Then he stepped into the passage.
The stone closed around him immediately.
Not crushing.
Separating.
The corridor ahead darkened, swallowing his outline within three steps.
SYSTEM NOTICE: PARTY MEMBER ISOLATED
STATUS: UNDETERMINED
The priestess collapsed to her knees.
Eiran did not move.
This was the cleanest cut NULL had made all floor.
No scream.
No blood.
Just removal.
The tower had achieved what it wanted.
A choice made without command.
A death—or survival—unattached to leadership.
The passage ahead brightened faintly.
A signal.
Permission to proceed.
Eiran clenched his fist once, slowly, nails biting into his palm.
Floor Eleven had taken its due.
Not by killing in front of him.
But by proving that even when he said nothing, people would still walk forward alone—and pay the price for it.
He stepped toward the passage.
Because waiting would not bring Karsen back.
And NULL never returned what it isolated.