CHAPTER 69: 10TH’S PREPARATION

The morning sun stretched wide over Davao City, casting its golden rays across skyscrapers and the glowing spires of the distant Crimson Rift.

Inside our apartment, the atmosphere was different. Focused. Tight.

I zipped up my combat jacket and turned to Noel, who had just finished tightening his bracers.Today wasn’t a shopping day. No laid-back breakfast or sarcastic banter.

Today was war prep.

"Ready?" I asked.

Noel nodded, then smiled with a bit of tension behind it. "Yeah... yeah, I am. Just don’t leave me behind this time."

I chuckled. "Not planning to. Let’s finish your run."

-

Within just a few hours, I had cleared the remaining gaps for Noel — floors 6 through 9.With my guidance and strength, even the enhanced enemies stood no chance.

By the time the Rift’s system chimed in again:

[You may now enter Floor 10.]

I exhaled slowly. One more.

We were already outside the Rift gate when I pulled out my communicator.

Astraia’s call connected before the first ring even finished.

"You cleared it?"

"Yeah. All of it. Noel’s with me."

"Good. I’m on my way. Give me a few hours."

Noel glanced at me from the bench we were sitting on. "She’s really flying in?"

I nodded. "She owns a jet."

-

The private jet touched down at Davao’s secured airstrip just after midday.

Word spread fast. Too fast.

By the time Astraia stepped out of the cabin — dressed in her sleek arctic-blue Vassal gear, her dual shortblades resting at her sides — a crowd had already gathered at the gates. Not just civilians.

Media.

Scouts from minor guilds.

Even a few low-ranking Vassals hoping to catch a glimpse.

Cameras flashed from behind the cordon.

"Is that really Astraia?!""She flew all the way here—what for?""Davao doesn’t have a guild strong enough to bring her here. Don’t tell me..."

-

Astraia didn’t stop to entertain the attention. She moved with that same unshakable presence she always had — cold, efficient, and dangerous.

A convoy met her on the runway, but she ignored most of them. She only gave one instruction:

"Penthouse. Now."

Back at the apartment, Noel and I were already waiting.

I stood by the balcony, overlooking the city, while Noel flipped through news feeds in the lounge behind me.

"...You know the media’s already here, right?" he said.

I looked down.

They weren’t subtle.

Three camera vans were parked across the street, all pointed up. Dozens of reporters, some with cloaking-grade drones, loitered nearby pretending to be tourists.

I didn’t even need to use [Passive Perception]. It was obvious.

Noel glanced at me. "They know something’s up. They just don’t know what."

"They will," I muttered.

Ten minutes later, I heard the door unlock with a familiar access tone.

Astraia stepped in.

Steel-blue armor. Jet-black undersuit. Her trademark twin blades strapped to her back. Her aura entered the room before her footsteps did — cold, refined, and honed by countless battles.

But the moment she crossed the threshold... her posture faltered.

Just slightly.

Her breath hitched. I saw it in her shoulders.

She took another step. Then stopped.

Her mana—normally so clean and focused—wavered. It didn’t collapse. But it trembled.

I turned to face her fully.

She stared at me.

And that’s when I saw it — her pupils dilated, and her pulse visibly slowed.

"...So this is you," she said under her breath. Her voice wasn’t sharp or mocking.

It was quiet. Almost reverent.

"Blank... You’re even more terrifying in person."

The air between us thickened.

Noel looked between us, clearly picking up on the tension. "Whoa, okay. That’s... new."

Astraia narrowed her eyes at me. "I sometimes thought it was just hype. Just data manipulation and isolated reports. But this..." Her voice lowered. "I can feel it. The mana around you — it’s not flowing. It’s recoiling."

I didn’t say anything. There was no need to.

She steadied herself, grounding her breathing. Her fingers twitched — a subtle motion Vassals do when regulating internal resonance.

Then she smiled. But it wasn’t a friendly one.

"Guess I made the right call coming here."

-

Astraia moved deeper into the penthouse, her steps careful, like she was still calibrating herself under the weight of my presence.

Noel guided her to the dining table where I’d already laid out a few holo-panels — maps, Rift metrics, and a visual overlay of previous boss floor data. The light from the interface painted sharp angles across her face.

Outside the balcony, we could hear the noise escalating. Drones hummed. Reporters shouted. The distant thunder of camera flashes pounded against the front lines of Astraia’s private guards stationed at the building’s entrance.

"Media’s losing it," Noel muttered, glancing at his phone. "They’re pushing hard. Some idiot even tried to climb the neighboring building for a shot."

"They won’t get through," Astraia said coolly. "I brought my elite security team. They answer to me, not the Union."

She sat across from me, finally composed, her mana stabilized — but her eyes never lost that cautious edge.

"So. We’re all cleared for Floor Ten. What’s the plan?"

I tapped the panel, expanding a model of the Rift’s internal systems. A clock pulsed red in the corner.

[TIME REMAINING: 2:03:47]

"In just over two hours, the 10th Floor Boss will unlock worldwide," I said. "That means the gates will open for any Vassal who cleared Floor 9. But the system already confirmed... it’s going to scale."

"Based on us," Astraia finished. "Not the rest of them."

I nodded.

"That’s why we’re going in first. We’ll set the tone."

"We’ll be the standard they fail to match," she said, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Noel leaned forward. "So it’s just us. No one else?"

I pulled up the first-clear data on the holo-panel — a sleek list showing the names and timestamps for every floor cleared worldwide. The sequence was clear.

"We’ve got proof," I said, tapping the data. "We are the only ones to have cleared Floors 1 through 9. No one else even comes close."

"If we wait," I continued, eyes locked on the glowing numbers, "we give others a chance to register before us. That means more players entering the 10th Floor, more unpredictability, and higher risk."

Astraia’s gaze sharpened. "So, we move first. Fast and quiet."

"Exactly," I confirmed.

Noel exhaled, feeling the weight of what was coming. "Alright. Then let’s make sure we’re ready."