E2M9: Castle of Illusion (No End In Sight)

E2M9: Castle of Illusion is the ninth and secret map of episode The Depths of Doom of No End In Sight. It was designed by Xaser Acheron.

This level is a heavily modified version of E2M1: Receiving Station, with changes to the texturing and structure.

Essentials
Head straight forward to a columned area with an armor then turn right and cross a blood pool to reach a switch on the east wall (move quickly, as nearly all blood pools in this level are harmful). Flip the switch to raise a set of steps behind you, climb up them to a pair of windows and press a button between the windows to lower them so you can step outside. As you walk through the windows the floor below will change to damaging blood - quickly head north to an island with a shotgun and use it to kill some monsters approaching from the east, then step to the neighboring island and approach the floating rock to reveal a teleporter in the south-west corner of the pool guarded by a baron of Hell.

Step into the teleporter to go back inside the castle then head down the steps in front of you to an octagonal room. Head clockwise around the room to its north side, which will open three of the outer walls to reveal shotgun guys and cacodemons, then step on the marble platform that has been revealed in the middle of the room to teleport to a new area at the north end of the level (modified from Receiving Station's exit area). Kill the approaching demons and shotgun guys then head west down some steps and pass through the door at the bottom to a room with columns. Dispatch the demons and lost souls in the room (including those that emerge from a closet in the east wall) then walk past the blood pools by the south wall to reach the yellow skull key.

Go through the wall next to the yellow key that lowers and go down the steps to return to the octagonal room, then head due west through the blood until you reach a hexagonal island with a chaingun. Step round the brick column to find a switch and press it, which will open two walls near the octagonal room and release some spectres - grab the nearby radiation shielding suit if you have not done so already, then head south-east through one of the walls and turn left to see a door ahead. As you approach the door the floor below will lower and drop you into a highly damaging red room - turn right and right again to find a hidden satyr switch and press it, which will lower the wall behind you so you can escape. Climb the red steps and open the door at the top to enter a room with a red crucifix wall.

Head south up some stairs to find a plasma gun on a south-pointing arrow, then step through any of the windows to get to an outdoor area with lost souls. Step into the blood pool by the south wall, which will lower you into a dark cavern with spectres, shotgun guys and cacodemons, then head north-west to a wooden door and climb the steps behind it up to the blue skull key. Drop to the floor below and press the skull switch next to a caged cacodemon, which will lower a lift behind you; ride the lift up and follow the walkway to a set of steps, at the bottom of which is the red skull key. The blood pool under the steps will drop away - instead of trying to jump to the east ledge, go back up the steps and drop off the edge of the walkway you used earlier to return to the hexagonal island.

Head south-east through the wall you lowered earlier, drop into the damaging red room and climb the steps again. The skin wall at the top of the steps is a false wall - walk through it and follow the passage to three locked doors which you can open to reach a small room with cacodemons and shotgun guys. Head south up a staircase to confront some more monsters and open the door next to them, then step through to a circular red room with six spectres and two barons. Cross the room and open the exit door in the east wall, kill a waiting imp then press the switch behind it to finish the level and move on to E2M6: Poison Control.

Other points of interest
Climb the steps north-east of the octagonal room to reach a small chamber with an imp. If you stand in the north-east corner of the room then part of the floor will rise, carrying you up to an alcove with a shotgun guy; from here you can run south to land on some steps leading to a room with several armor bonuses and a berserk pack. There is a switch on the brick column in the middle of the blood pool in this room - press it then step through either of the west windows and look south, where you will see that a ledge holding a rocket launcher has lowered to reveal a baron guarding a partial invisibility. If you fall into the blood next to this ledge, open the east wall to find a teleporter that will let you out.

Secrets

 * 1) Go all the way to the north-eastern part of the first outdoor area to find a radiation suit. (sector 167)
 * 2) From the area with the red crucifix wall, head south up a staircase to find a plasma gun on a south-pointing arrow. Instead of going that direction, jump to the teleporter north of it; the red room you emerge in has a megaarmor and some lost souls. (sector 171)
 * 3) At the large outdoor area at the southern part of the level, go into the blood river to lower into a large cave. Go to the far right side of this cave where a baron is and press on a misaligned wall. The wall opens revealing a supercharge and a box of rockets. (sector 307)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on December 21, 2021.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * The name is a play on E2M9: Fortress of Mystery, and shares its name with a 1990 starring.
 * The DeHackEd lump names this level "Castle of Illusions".