“…….”
The woman looked considerably displeased that the cyborg boss had kept his promise.
Or perhaps she was unhappy that I had trusted him.
For the record, the moment I woke up, he took back the cloth he had lent me.
I would not need it anymore if I managed to return home from here anyway, but it was still a shame. I had genuinely felt as though I had slept soundly for once.
[And while you were asleep, I also repaired the items you have equipped. They looked as though they might break at any moment.]
“What?”
At those words, I opened the Equipment Window and checked the condition of my Equipment Items.
Every piece of equipment except the weapons stored in my Inventory had its Durability completely restored.
Its Maximum Durability had dropped slightly, though.
‘Did he repair them by consuming some of their Maximum Durability?’
The amount lost was negligible, about as much as I might lose from failing an enhancement attempt once or twice.
What he had done was practically the same as giving my equipment a fresh Durability value.
[I could not repair your weapons because I could not see them. If you hand them over now, I will take care of those as well.]
Even if the King wanted to face me in perfect condition, they were going so far as to restore both the enemy's physical condition and equipment?
I could not understand why they were treating me this well, and it left me bewildered.
“You want him to hand his weapon to you? You could take it and refuse to give it back.”
At the woman's provocation, the boss sneered.
[I thought I had already given him sufficient reason to trust me.]
“No matter how well you treat him, you cannot be trusted.”
[The same applies to your side. No matter how much you may have changed, I cannot trust you. Even if you truly have changed, that does not erase what you people did in the past.]
The boss glared at the woman as though he wanted to kill her.
Then, as though that expression had never existed, his face relaxed as he turned toward me and extended a hand.
[I will repair your weapon as well. Will you hand it over?]
“No!”
“What do you gain from going this far?”
Ignoring the woman, I asked him directly.
The boss gave a faint laugh and crooked his fingers impatiently.
[I am doing it because it is the King's command. There is no other reason.]
“If I refuse to hand it over, are you going to keep me here?”
[Then it cannot be helped. I will simply have to send you to where the King resides. I may be reprimanded later, but I can merely say that you refused.]
As expected, his attitude was completely different from the Doppelgänger boss's.
The Doppelgänger boss had seemed to fear the King as though he were some omniscient and omnipotent being.
This one seemed to regard the King as merely someone somewhat more exceptional than everyone else.
[Even if it is an order, showing favor to someone who will become an enemy does not feel particularly pleasant.]
“…….”
At his words and gaze, the woman's face went deathly pale.
[And sending someone who openly intends to attack the one I chose to serve is even more unpleasant.]
Was he simply reluctant to send a perfectly healthy enemy to the King?
The weapon was going to run out of Durability soon anyway, so I would not particularly care if it disappeared.
Even aside from that, I had plenty of spare weapons. Whatever this creature might be plotting, losing one weapon would not make me incapable of fighting.
“Now I want to hand it over even more.”
The instant I took the weapon out of my Inventory, the woman grabbed the arm holding it.
“N-No!”
[I dislike agreeing with that woman, but this time, I would prefer that you listen to her.]
“Ha.”
He really was ridiculous.
If this were the Doppelgänger boss, it would have acted as though I too was obligated to obey every command from the King.
That would have been irritating in a different way.
“You absolutely cannot give it to him!”
I shook the arm the woman was clinging to, and she was flung away helplessly, tumbling across the ground.
“Aah!”
“Do I look like someone who makes decisions based on what that woman says?”
[Regrettably, not in the slightest.]
The instant the boss took the weapon I offered him, it flashed brightly.
“I-I knew it……!”
The woman's voice almost sounded pleased.
The boss sneered at her.
[You knew it?]
When the light faded, a perfectly intact Greatsword remained in his hand.
“Ah…….”
[What is wrong? Disappointed that things did not go the way you wanted?]
“Ugh…….”
The woman now openly glared at him.
Apparently, she had finally become convinced that he would not harm her.
“B-But it might only look fine on the outside!”
I took the weapon he handed back and checked its Durability.
[Durability : 275/275]
As expected, the Maximum Durability had decreased, while its current Durability was completely full.
I checked the item's name and Options as well, but the Durability appeared to be the only thing that had changed.
[This is a Greatsword Imbued with Sehextra's Will. Its structural strength has been slightly weakened by an unknown force, but the Magic that grants it tremendous power still remains. If you possess another of Sehextra's works, it will exhibit even greater power.]
“An un…….”
‘An unknown force?’
I almost said it aloud.
Even though I had been forced to travel with the woman after descending this far, I still spent more time alone than I did with her, so talking to myself had become a habit.
‘He did not hammer it out like a blacksmith repairing something. If the description calls it an unknown force, then maybe it was not Magic.’
If the woman heard what I was thinking, she would undoubtedly start babbling again, looking for some excuse to criticize that boss.
She would probably say she knew he was suspicious, or that she knew he would do something strange.
“……You said you only did it because the King ordered you to, so I assume I do not need to thank you.”
The boss merely dipped his head in agreement.
Just before I crossed through the doorway, however, he spoke again.
[Let me give you one more warning.]
“Let us go!”
The woman hurriedly pushed against my back from behind.
But she was far lighter than I was, and she barely used her body for anything. There was no chance she could actually move me.
[You said you were searching for the [Final Door], did you not?]
“You do not need to listen to him!”
“Yes.”
[Then you would be wise to leave that woman behind before reaching the [Final Door] at the latest. Otherwise, make sure you use it before she does.]
The woman's expression turned ugly.
I did not know how else to describe it……
But right now, she looked more monstrous than the boss standing before us.
“Yes.”
[That is, if what you truly desire is to return to your homeland.]
……Did he really need to add that?
“Ha…….”
I was too tired to argue over every little thing anymore.
I gave him a vague wave and stepped onto the stairs.
Once I opened this door, I would truly be on floor 100.
Technically, I was already on floor 100.
More precisely, what lay beyond was the Boss Room of floor 100.
“So this is…….”
The doors to the previous Boss Rooms had been distinctive enough, but perhaps because this was the Final Boss, the door before me was absurdly enormous and ornate.
I could not tell exactly how tall it was, but it appeared to rise more than three stories high.
And considering its height, it was correspondingly massive in width as well.
“Do they want me to open this or not?”
“Ah…….”
The woman, who had been staring blankly at the magnificent door, finally seemed to realize the problem with our situation.
Her expression darkened.
“Knock, knock? Hello? If you invited me, you should at least open the door.”
I knocked on it half as a joke.
The woman sighed.
She looked at me as though asking whether I seriously thought something like that would make it open, but it was not as though I had done it because I genuinely expected that to work, so her look did not bother me.
“You really……”
RUMBLE……
“…….”
“…….”
That actually worked?
“……Did you know that would happen?”
“Of course not.”
How could I possibly know when this was my first time setting foot here?
I had no idea whether knocking on the door was enough or whether it had opened because I spoke to it.
Either way, I was glad I would not have to waste time doing something ridiculous just to get the door open.
GRRRRRR……
The doors opened completely inward.
But perhaps the room itself was as enormous as the entrance, because I could not make out anything from where I stood.
Unlike the earlier Boss Rooms, which had deliberately kept their lighting dim to conceal what lay inside, this place was brighter than anywhere I had seen.
Yet all I could see was empty space.
“…….”
Neither of us could bring ourselves to move in the face of such an unfamiliar situation.
Then a deep, unpleasant voice came from within.
[Enter.]
“Ha.”
My fists clenched reflexively.
That manner of speaking.
That tone.
It was exactly what I had heard when I first encountered that creature on floor 70.
So the Doppelgänger really had been imitating the ‘King.’
[We shall inevitably fight, but before that, we should at least be able to speak.]
It was not an invitation.
It was a declaration.
The confidence in his voice made it clear that he did not believe I would refuse, and I frowned.
Beside me, the woman had gone beyond pale and practically turned to stone.
Apparently, the shock was so great that she could not even collapse.
She simply stood there trembling, barely breathing.
“Hmm.”
I waved a hand in front of her eyes, but she did not react at all, as though she had genuinely been afflicted by a Curse that turned her to stone.
Even without the cyborg boss's warning, I had no intention of bringing a woman who only got in the way into the room with me.
I left her standing there in her stunned state and entered alone.
[Welcome, Outsider.]
At the center of the room sat a person as enormous as the room itself, seated upon an equally enormous chair.
With colorless decorations jutting out in every direction, the thing looked less like a chair and more like an instrument of torture.
The way the King sat upon it made one thing even more obvious.
That creature on floor 70 had imitated him.
[I hear that you were not originally a person of this place.]
“If you knew that, you could have told your subordinates to stop calling me a traitor.”
No.
Proper conversation with the bosses had only become possible from floor 70 onward, so even if he had told them in advance, I probably still would have suffered through the same ordeal on floor 70.
And once I killed a boss once, they refused to speak at all afterward, so I still had no idea whether they remembered me.
[Even if you were not one of them, the person beside you could never be allowed to pass. There was no reason for me to stop them.]
At those words, I automatically glanced back toward the doorway.
Because the battle had not begun yet, the door was still open, and I could see the woman standing where I had left her.
So because that woman had insisted on sticking with me, I had been fighting my way downward this entire time even when some of those battles might not have been necessary.
[You must have seen and heard many things on your journey here. Therefore, I imagine there are many things you wish to ask me.]
“Not particularly?”
Even if there were, none of it would matter once I returned home.
……Maybe someday I would suddenly wonder why something had happened.
But that was a completely meaningless possibility.
[Is that truly so?]
“I do not understand why no one ever believes me the first time I say something.”
The woman was the same.
So were the bosses.
Well……
The woman was trapped in a place crawling with monsters, so perhaps her suspicion was understandable.
And every boss had been my enemy, so theirs made sense too.
But this creature should have heard from his subordinates exactly what I had been insisting on throughout my descent, yet even he did not believe me.
[It is not so much that I cannot believe your words……. Rather, I find it regrettable that you would discard such an opportunity so readily.]
“You already heard everything from your bosses, did you not? You know why I came all the way down here.”
[Of course.]
“Then move.”
The door behind his chair was clearly visible.
It was not attached to a wall.
It stood there by itself, awkwardly isolated in empty space.
There was no question that it was the [Final Door].
[That I cannot do. It is my duty to guard another existence—the door you call the [Final Door].]
“Oh, really?”
Then there was nothing else to discuss.
We would have to fight.
I drew my weapon.
The King smiled coldly.