Failure

"It can't end like this…" Des whimpered, staring at the Horror who looked at him with a twisted expression of perverted pleasure.

His body felt hot, and he ached all over. The creature's pincers dug through his flesh and even went into his bones, so even the slightest movement he made caused its hard limbs to scrape against his bones.

Needless to say, it hurt like hell.

But what did it matter?

"Haa… haa…"

Des already knew the Horror took pleasure in his suffering. 

It rejoiced in his affliction.

But… there really was no point in doing any of that—especially on the part of this Horror.

Yes, it was over for him.

But, that also meant it was over for the Horror as well.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~

At that instant, Des only caught a glimpse of what happened, but it was more than enough to tell him exactly what happened.

A lone figure descended from above and crashed on the approaching head of the Horror, resulting in a shockwave that caused the interior of the room to tremble fervently—even more than it did before.

The hard exoskeleton of the Horror broke at that very moment, causing juicy poison and shards to fly off once the impact was made.

Afterwards, the Horror fell straight down and crashed upon the ground—breaking everything below in an instant.

Yes… everything!

The whole platform ruptured into pieces, turning into no more than massive chunks of rubble that began crumbling downwards.

All of this damage—this chaos—was caused by one entity.

The entity that moved faster than his eyes could properly process, and whose single punch caused the dense body of an unbeatable Horror to shatter into numerous pieces in an instant.

That entity was none other than Eve.

She caught him as he was descending to the falling ground, due to the appendages no longer holding him in place, her crimson hair dancing in the air as she swiftly ascended high in the air—most likely back to the cave above.

"Too bad, Des. Looks like you failed your test!" Her amused voice echoed at him as he felt the rush of wind from all angles.

He felt a tight feeling in his chest, his heart aching more than the rest of his wounded but healing body.

'I endured for years in order to get to this point, yet…' 

He failed miserably.

He had to rely on Eve's intervention to defeat yet another mob, and he could not even recover the bag—which was now lost forever under the abyss that was the bottom of the darkness that consumed the centipede-like Horror and all the other pieces of shattered earth.

Eve told him there was nothing below that point, which meant it was a 'Hollow Spot'.

That meant one simple thing: Now that the bag was lost there, he would never get to retake or complete the test.

It was all over.

"Nooo… it can't end like thisssss!" He cried out loud, but it was too late anyway.

"Hahahahaha!!!"

Eve laughed, while he squirmed like a baby as they both ascended to the cave—and ultimately, to their home.

*****************

[Later That Day]

"Hm? This tastes different. What Horror is this?" 

Des was currently eating with Eve when he noticed his soft, flavorless meat had a particular taste that he didn't recognize.

"It's the Colossus. Since you killed it, I managed to scoop some bits from it and prepare it for you as a special treat. What do you think? Tastes pretty unique, right?"

"If what you mean by unique is fluffy and raw, then yes…"

"S-shut up! It's not like you could do any better." Eve swiftly responded, her face red as she frowned at Des for his response.

This caused him to laugh a little, since he rarely ever saw her flustered.

"I could get the taste of salt and all the other seasonings right, you know? I'm sure it would taste a lot better with them."

"Buuuut…"

"It'll be a waste of my genius mind and limited time. Rather than wasting time on useless stuff like cooking, isn't it better I dedicate my time to the glorious cause of—"

"Pfft! Just say you can't do it."

"H-hey! Look who's talking…"

"At least I'm honest with my shortcomings." Des smiled, taking a sip from the distilled water that Eve taught him to make. "I can't cook well, and I don't deny it. But hey… my distilled water remains unbeatable."

"What? It's just water."

Des made a mock gasp, overexaggerating my covering his mouth. "How dare you call it 'just' water? You realize we Natives are made up of about 60 percent water, right? We require water for so many things such as drinking, bathing, even—"

"Shut up! I obviously know all that. Who was the one that taught you how to make distilled water anyway? Was it not me?"

"But I was able to get rid of the aftertaste by adding Slint Cores."

"Psh! Pure luck. I already know you got it right by accident, after trying all kinds of formulations."

"I still figured it out before you, didn't I?"

"T-that's only because the aftertaste didn't bother me! So just shut up and eat, or I'll shove the food down your throat!"

At this point, Eve growled at Des, who instantly knew that his time for jokes was over. The last thing he wanted to do was underestimate her threats.

"Yes ma'am…" 

The last time he did, he regretted it severely.

"Speaking of shortcomings, did you recognize any of them today during your test?" Not long after she threatened him, Eve spoke up again.

Des pointed at his sealed lips, playing dumb as if he couldn't speak thanks to her commands.

"If you don't talk this instant, I'll yank out your tongue and force-feed it to you!" As messed up as that sounded, Eve was capable of it.

Since Des knew that, he instantly swallowed his food and flapped open his lips.

"My physical abilities are still lacking greatly. I still don't feel like I've reached the optimal potential for my Horror Aspects yet. I also need to train my base physical abilities more, since the prolonged use of the Aspects caused my body to start aching after a while. Also—" Des stopped and stared at Eve.

"Yes?"

As she looked at him, expecting him to say more, he simply sighed.

'I could bring up the issue of the flare, but I already know she's well aware of her actions. She must also be expecting me to talk about the issue I realized as a consequence of what she did."

And with that in mind, Des continued.

"I didn't plan ahead enough. I thought relying on the information and tools you gave me about the Horrors would be enough, and yes… they were for the most part, but it also made me careless in many regards. I used up all my tools to defeat the Colossus without considering the possibility of another Horror showing up as part of the Floor's mechanics. I also ended up blowing my body to bits with the explosion due to my confidence that I'd heal and still be able to complete the mission before the set time. I should be even more careful in the future and use my resources sparingly—only when necessary."

"And…?"

"I should also make sure I have enough in me to properly formulate and execute an escape strategy."

"Correct." Eve nodded with a smile. "That Centipede Horror has a blind spot behind and above it. If you had the appropriate tools, you could have destroyed a portion of the ceiling or walls behind it, which would cause an instinctive reaction to protect its blind spot. Of course, it wouldn't have forgotten you, but if it was distracted by the explosion and you timed your actions perfectly, you would have been able to dodge its initial attacks and attack yourself to its back."

"It's back?"

"Yes. In exchange for its incredible defenses, the level of stimulation tha Horror feels is very low. It wouldn't even be able to feel that you're hanging on to its back. And since that's its blind spot…"

"... I won't be detected."

"Correct!"

"How was I supposed to take it down, though? Even if I remained behind it, I still would have to find a way to beat it."

"I never expected you to win against it. You could have simply carried your luggage and remained on its back while it slithered around to look for you. It's tall, so it would definitely pass some high walls, which you could have latched onto and used to ascend upwards, while making sure you remained behind it. Once you reached a certain height, you'd just have to dash upward, and you'd be safe."

"What of the bats?"

"They don't appear if the Centipede is around."

"I see…" Des mumbled. "So I could have won."

"Yes. I wouldn't have given you the test if it was impossible for you to win. Why give a person false hope merely to crush it?"

Upon hearing Eve's words, he smiled and nodded.

"You're absolutely correct."

"Hmph! Of course, I am!" She grinned, flaunting herself once again as was her habit to do.

Des honestly would have laughed at that, but he was currently in the mood of self reflection and deep contemplation.

After all, despite all the shortcomings he had addressed, there was still one more he was yet to confront.

At least, until now.

"Eve, I have a request to make of you."

"Hm?" As she slurped down her dish, she looked at Des' serious demeanor and raised an eyebrow at him.

He had the same face as he did those years ago—full of determination and sheer resolve.

"Please teach me how to become an Architect!"

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to more.

I appreciate all the support!