....
Silence.
Silence hung in the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity.
Dolores stared down at Choco, or rather, Vikir, with a blank expression.
"...Choco, did you just say that?"
She tugged at Vikir's body.
seueug-
Vikir closed his mouth and avoided eye contact, but it was already too late.
"Choco? Are you Choco? Yes, you are, with the mole on the bottom of your foot and the scar on the bridge of your nose... Has the demon transformed? but I can't feel any magic at all... No, but I thought you just said it clearly."
Dolores began to examine every inch of Vikir's body.
From his lips to his gums to his eyelids to his eyeballs.
Vikir's mind was barely able to comprehend after the battle with the Ryumajin.
He had no choice but to speak, if only to avoid suspicion.
"...meong."
But the crisp, careful pronunciation, which made the line feel all the more awkward and unnatural, only served to heighten Dolores's alarm.
"You, who are you, who are you?"
Dolores was now more than a little frightened.
If he left it at this, things could get out of hand, so Vikir simply told her the truth.
"Calm down."
The moment Vikir spoke, the warm bath water seemed to freeze.
Dolores stiffened as if she were an ice sculpture.
"...."
"...."
There was another infinite silence.
"Hmm. I think there's a misunderstanding...."
"Kkyaaaaah!"
Unable to bear the weight of the silence, Vikir opened his mouth once more, only to be met with Dolores' screams.
There was nothing he could do about it now.
Vikir put on his mask and transformed into Night Hound.
A human body with a face covered by a mask would somehow explain it.
It would be much faster and more intuitive than trying to communicate with words.
…Pop!
The effect of the picaresque mask reveals Vikir's human body.
Splash! -Slosh!
The water ripples as Vikir's body drapes over Dolores' half-laying body in the bathtub.
A look of horror on her face, clearly visible even through the steam.
Facing Dolores like that, Vikir twisted his voice as low as he could.
"It is me. Night Hound. Van...."
However.
"Split in half!"
It was Dolores' fist that returned.
… Pow!
Dolores was so embarrassed that she performed the miracle of splitting the bath water in half.
She lashed out with a fist strengthened by divine power and defeated the pervert in front of her.
Jukbang.
The fist shot out with a tremendous aura, reminiscent of Dolores in her prime, when she was known as the Saint of Steel.
And the moment that fist met Vikir's chin.
…Tug!
Of course, Vikir's thinly held consciousness was cut off.
* * *
Vikir slept soundly for the first time in a while. It was a good night's sleep without a single nightmare.
"...!"
Vikir jerked out of bed.
His wounds were almost healed.
But the mask on his face and his clothes were still off.
Pulling back the covers, Vikir stood up and locked eyes with Dolores, who was sitting on his bedside table.
"...."
"...."
The silence was eerily thick.
So thick you could hear cells dividing.
After a long moment of silence, Dolores was the first to speak.
"Hey, are you awake? Night Houn... no Van... no Vikir...."
She spoke with her head bowed, her face bright red.
"I wasn't going to take that... mask off, but it's full of water and you can't breathe...."
Vikir nodded. What can he do?
"I owe you."
It was a conversation starter.
But it only made Dolores' face turn even redder.
Earlier, Dolores wondered if she could get any redder in here, but apparently she had plenty of energy left to do so.
Dolores remained silent, her head bowed, so Vikir turned his attention elsewhere.
Then he saw Madame cub and Decarabia sitting somewhat uneasily on the couch beyond.
"...Where have you been?"
[Sorry, human, I tried to hide, but I got caught].
[hack-hack-]
There's no point in disguise or pretense now that he's been spotted with his bare face, his distinctive mask and voice, and now the cub and Decarabia.
Vikir sighed and opened his mouth.
"This is...."
"I know."
But before Vikir could say anything, Dolores spoke up.
"I'm sure you meant it all."
"...."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. We're colleagues."
Dolores echoed Vikir's words from before.
'Don't be too hard on yourself. We're colleagues.'
She'd been trying to get those words back to Night Hound, to Vikir.
'I can finally tell him this!'
The timing was a little odd, but who cares!
She knew the identity of her 'soul mate', Night Hound, the one she had missed and wondered about so much!
Dolores examined Vikir's form carefully.
She was checking him for wounds, but then her face turned bright red again.
"Oh, you need to get dressed...."
Dolores said in a hushed voice as she handed him a bathrobe.
In all her years of treating patients, she had seen men naked countless times.
But she was surprised that her heart was beating so fast right now.
Finally, Dolores spoke again, unable to bear the awkward silence.
"By the way, how did you get the ability to turn into a dog and why...?"
"It's an ability I gained after hunting down Dantalian many years ago."
"aha...."
Dolores then asked, her voice even more hushed than before.
"Well, then, were you the one who bathed with me last time...?"
"That was me, too."
At the same time.
…hwaag!
Dolores's face was now flushed to bursting.
The first thing she remembers is kissing the soles of Vikir's feet and hands.
After that, stroking his hair, pressing his cheeks, touching his chin, rubbing his belly, rubbing their noses together.
And then...
'Dogs are supposed to kiss.'
'....'
'You don't give me choco? It's a pity.'
'....'
'Are you sure you're not a dog? This is suspicious.'
Vikir's tongue licked Dolores's cheek.
And Dolores kissed Vikir's mouth, nose, and the rest of his face.
Dolores clamping her mouth shut and swallowing the screams that came out.
Trying to lighten the mood, Vikir cracks a joke of his own.
" ...I'm lucky I didn't get neutered."
"Kkyaaaaaah!"
Of course, that only irritated Dolores even more.
* * *
Two more days passed.
Dolores was able to wipe the slate clean of all of her previous thoughts.
"The more painful the reality, the more deeply you should think about the meaning of life and religion. Only then will it lead you to a better realm of greater goodness... So you meant that there is meaning in the process itself, not in the outcome of your agonizing and torturing. Thank you, Vikir."
Her expression was more determined than ever, as if she had realized something.
Vikir nodded, not knowing much about theology.
'Before the regression, this was the floor where Dolores spent most of her time, but this time is different.'
In the past, Dolores had wasted months on this floor.
She'd spent months on this floor, until a desperate Tudor convinced her that she needed to find Bianca, and she'd finally left.
This time, however, Dolores shook herself out of her thoughts very quickly.
Whether it was because of the realization, or the traumatic event in the bathroom, or both, he wasn't sure.
" ...If we go out of this gate, will we be separated again?"
"I suppose."
At Dolores' question, tinged with regret, Vikir nodded nonchalantly.
But even if we are separated now, we will meet again someday. That's what towers are for.
If only Dolores had come to her senses a little sooner, a lot of lives could have been saved.
Step-
Vikir took a step forward.
Dolores hesitated behind him, gripping the cuffs of Vikir's robe for a moment.
Then released.
Step-
She, too, took a large step forward to stand beside Vikir.
<※A small perk for all the trouble you took to get here, send a message to the figure outside the tower who will be anxiously awaiting my arrival!>
"I'm not fooled by your fake answers."
<※ The 'Letter Item', originally worth one golden candy, will be given away for free once a month to residents of this floor only!>
"We don't have time to wait a month, because there are probably tons of people suffering on other floors right now."
<※ Your chances of being in this room are less than 0.0001%, you're the lucky one who's been chosen!">
"I decide whether what is in front of me is luck or not."
<※ From the very next floor onwards, the difficulty will increase by at least ten times compared to the floors you've been through so far!">
"It doesn't matter what penance awaits me, I'm not afraid."
<※ Please rest here to rejuvenate your body and mind so that you can challenge the tower again!>.
"... Are you ready?"
"Of course."
Vikir and Dolores stood side by side at the starting line.
"It's going to be a tough road from here on out."
"With you, I can handle anything."
"Are you sure you want to abandon this place of comfort?"
"My heart will never change, no matter what."
At Dolores' confident answer, Vikir nodded.
And with that, they began to walk away, looking in the same direction, heading in the same direction, with the same stride.
Companions.
Their gazes were unwavering, shining straight ahead.
As if they were not afraid of the 11th floor of the Abyss, the core of darkness they were about to encounter.