When Nacht came to his senses, he found himself surrounded by wooden pillars beneath a starless black sky. The air was strangely calm and it was deathly quiet. It was also pitch black but that didn't matter since he could see in the darkness. In fact, he felt more comfortable staying in the darkness than in the light. However, what he saw in the darkness left him dumbfounded.
'A forest?'
Nacht had never seen a forest before. Hell, he had never even seen a tree before! To the best of his knowledge trees were giant plants that populate a vast amount of the world. Despite this, he had never seen a plant before let alone one of this magnitude. In District Nine there was no kind of greenery whatsoever.
He could count a number of times where he had gazed at the towering wall which surrounded his district and imagined what lay beyond. Usually, only the people in the higher districts were afforded the luxury of plants or any kind of greenery for that matter.
Well, the trees he was looking at were kind of green? They looked more decayed and rotten rather than the vibrant trees he had imagined.
'...How disapointing.'
With a shake of his head, Nacht snapped out of his trance. Due to the silence he could hear the beating of his heart and the sound of his shallow breaths. However, the silence didn't last long.
"I can barely see! What kind of floor is this?"
Nacht whispered in a slightly annoyed tone
"Do you want the other sinners to hear us?"
Alister turned slightly and chuckled.
"So what if they do? They can't possibly defeat me."
"I'm over here you idiot."
Alister blinked and turned his head towards where Nacht was standing.
"Oh… I didn't see you there."
Nacht shook his head and resisted the urge to facepalm. Alister was looking at him but it was clear that he couldn't actually see him. If it weren't for his [Herald of Darkness] trait he wouldn't be able to see Alister either.
Under normal circumstances, a powerful sinner like Alister would be able to detect Nacht if he was standing right next to him, but the [Unmarked] trait seemed to null his ability to be detected.
'This floor is actually good for my abilities, but horrible for Alisters.'
Nacht didn't know any of Alister's abilities since he hadn't seen his battle on the first floor, but he was confident that Alister didn't have any abilities related to stealth or detection.
"Stay here while I scout out the area and don't make any noise to alert anyone of our presence."
Alister gave a hesitant nod as if he was unwilling to let Nacht out of his sight. After all, if he died then Alister would die as well, but even he understood that they couldn't sit idly by either. Nevertheless, he started making his way through the forest.
Nacht figured that splitting up would be the better option for now. If he stuck with Alister then they would be sitting ducks. In this circumstance, It was better to search then to wait and be found.
Nacht walked with slow deliberate steps while on high alert for the floor's participants. As he made his way through the silent forest, he began to formulate a plan. He was going to scout the terrain for any possible ambushes or vantage points.
Nacht knew that Alister was strong since he was able to dispatch another sinner before he himself could die to an enlightened. Even so, Alister would probably have a hard time getting ambushed in the dark by two other sinners. Nacht had already confirmed that in a battle between enlightened, he was helpless. So he would leave all of the killing up to Alister.
The only thing Nacht could do was give Alister a fighting chance. So he was going to search for any dangers and any position that could be advantageous. At least that was the plan anyway, but from what Nacht could see, he knew that this floor was going to be difficult.
He had been wandering this forest for quite a while and all he saw was more and more trees. The forest was still deathly quiet and there was no sign of the other participants. Nacht eventually came across a tree which had been knocked over.
He looked at the tree's stump which was severed haphazardly and determined that it hadn't fallen due to natural causes or due to a sinner chopping it down either. It seemed that something powerful had collided with the tree and toppled it over.
The collision didn't seem recent but it also didn't seem like it happened that long ago. Nevertheless it didn't give him any clues to where the floor's participants could be hiding. For all he knew, the tree could have always been knocked over and it was simply a part of the floor's design.
After all, he wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to how this place runs. In the end he sighed in frustration and continued on his way. He walked for quite some time but the further he travelled through the forest, the more uneasy he became.
Nacht was starting to doubt himself.
'Are they hiding or did they find Alister?'
Nacht had the feeling that something was deeply wrong but he didn't know what. If they really did find Alister then he would at least hear some kind of fighting given how quiet the forest was.
The only other reason Nacht could think of why he hadn't seen the other team would be that they were stalking one of them.
Suddenly Nacht got a very bad feeling in his chest. His heart thumped loudly in his ears and he desperately looked around.
He turned his head and froze.
Out there in front of him weren't the sinners which Nacht had been searching for. No, it was something much worse and far more terrifying. Out there behind the numerous branches of trees and wild untamed bushes was a seven foot tall eyeless monster.
It was humanoid in shape and had four long arms which extended from its torso. Despite its height, it was relatively skinny but that didn't mean it was weak. In fact, Nacht knew that this thing was immensely strong.
'An abstract!'
What he was looking at wasn't a weak abstract either. It was most likely a tier II blight, maybe even a tier III.
In front of this monster he was helpless! All he could do was pray that the creature didn't notice him. Nacht couldn't help but curse. The humanoid abstract seemed to not have noticed him, but it was still slowly making its way toward where he was standing.
He thought of running or trying to hide but based on the way the abstract was acting, if he made even the slightest sound he would be found.
'It probably navigates by sound or through vibrations.'
Nacht had made quite a few assumptions ever since he saw the abstract. This floor was its territory and it reflected both its strengths and its weaknesses. The abstract could not see so there was no need for light. It was also deathly quiet to enhance sound.
Most likely, it wasn't a coincidence that it was heading in the direction where Nacht and Alister had entered. It probably heard them talking, or rather Alister talking since Nacht had been whispering while the loud mouthed clown had been conversing in his regular voice.
'If I make it out of this predicament alive I'm going to make sure that bastard suffers.'
Nevertheless, Nacht silently raised his saber to prepare himself for the worst case scenario.