The silent watch beside Rai'kanna passed without any physical setbacks at the edge of the rocky plateau. The next guard shift, taken over by Scarlet and Elara, allowed me to finally retreat to the small travel tent to seek the rest necessary for my mind and muscles. The isolation of the canvas shelter, warmed by the residual mana barrier of the external protective rune, brought immediate relief to my exhausted senses. As I closed my eyes and regulated my breathing, the accumulated fatigue acted like a heavy anchor, pulling my consciousness into the depths of a sleep without a gradual transition.
However, the calmness of physical rest did not extend to my spiritual plane.
Instead of the empty and comforting darkness of ordinary rest, my mind was abruptly dragged into a vast and gray setting, devoid of any geographical relief or ambient sound. The ground seemed like a liquid, mirrored surface of stagnant mercury, reflecting a sky covered by heavy clouds of cosmic dust that did not move. There was no wind, heat, or cold. I was standing, wearing my full combat attire, but the absence of physical weight clearly indicated that my astral projection had been intercepted in the middle of the flow of sleep.
"You took less time than I estimated to overcome the first floors, hero," a calm voice, yet charged with a vibration that made the gray plane subtly oscillate, echoed behind me.
I calmly turned around, maintaining a firm posture and my arms relaxed at my sides. A few meters away from me, sitting casually upon an improvised throne of floating black rock, was the Demon King. His silhouette displayed the same dark grandeur as his previous projections: an armor of dark plates that seemed to absorb the little light in the environment, adorned with runes that glowed in a dull violet hue. His face, partially concealed by the shadows of his helmet, revealed only a slight smirk that mixed genuine amusement with millennia-old arrogance.
"I don't usually waste time with preliminaries," I replied, taking two slow steps forward across the mirrored surface of the ground. "Your message on the second floor was a nice dramatic touch, but the slimes and giant wolves were a little disappointing for someone who built a tower one hundred thousand meters high."
The monarch let out a low laugh, a dry sound that vibrated through the chest of my astral projection. "That was merely the calibration of the system, Takumi. An intelligent host does not spend his best attractions at the palace reception. I needed to see if you still remembered how to move on a board structured under the rules you so idolized in your lost youth."
He rose from the throne of runic stone, descending invisible steps with predatory elegance. With every step he took toward me, small violet cracks opened across the mirrored surface beneath his feet, closing immediately afterward as if the dimensional plane itself were attempting to heal from his massive presence.
"You think you understand this place because it was shaped from your memories," the Demon King continued, stopping at a safe distance while keeping his arms crossed behind his back. "But forgetting that the physical reality of this world imposes real consequences is your greatest danger. In your old digital world, death was merely a delay of a few seconds and a restart button. Here, every drop of blood spilled on the upper floors strengthens the foundation of my tower. Every member of your squad who falters beneath the miasma will become part of the engine that sustains my sovereignty."
"I know perfectly well what the risks are," I declared, holding his dark gaze without hesitation for a single second. My mind remained cold, analyzing every word of the sovereign in search of unconscious clues about the structure of the higher levels. "And it is precisely because I know these terms that I did not bring an army with me. We are a surgical group. We are not going to wear down your monsters with numbers; we are going to dismantle your systems floor by floor until we reach the top."
The Demon King's smile widened subtly, revealing genuine satisfaction with my answer. "Determination is a beautiful quality for a condemned mortal. However, the true test has not even begun, Takumi. The third floor you are exploring now is merely a kindergarten. As you climb beyond the tenth level, the biological suppression mechanics will begin to crush your sanity. I want to see if this unshakable confidence of yours will survive when your companions begin to wither beneath the weight of the miasma without your sacred magic being able to save them."
"We will not falter," I affirmed with absolute conviction, taking a firm step toward him. I felt the sky-blue mana of my own spirit beginning to emanate around my hands in the dream projection, confronting the violet aura surrounding him. "I spent months studying every tactic and every weakness of your legions. We overcame each of your generals, and we will do the same with every guardian you placed in that needle. Remember my words well: I will reach the top and destroy the core of this structure with my own hands."
"Excellent," the monarch murmured, raising his right hand and snapping his armored fingers. The sound produced a shockwave that began tearing apart the gray plane around us, causing the ceiling of clouds to collapse into fragments of pure mystical darkness. "I will be waiting for you on the top floor, hero. Do not disappoint me before reaching the twentieth level. The game is only beginning."
Darkness swallowed the figure of the Demon King, and the mirrored ground disappeared beneath my feet, causing me to plummet into an endless abyss of chaotic energy.
I woke with a start inside the travel tent, breathing heavily as cold sweat ran down my forehead. The soft sound of the campfire that was still crackling outside and the low murmur of the nighttime wind brought me back to the safe reality of our temporary camp on the third floor. I sat up on the travel mat, running my hand over my face to clear away the remnants of that intense spiritual projection.
Despite the aggression implicit in the conversation, I felt a profound mental clarity settle in my chest. The Demon King had not attacked me directly in the dream because he could not break through the protective barrier of the plateau's rune sheltering us, which confirmed the absolute effectiveness of the tower's runic resting zones. He had attempted to use the dream channel only to test my psychological resilience and try to plant the seed of doubt regarding the safety of my companions.
"He is anxious," I thought, smiling subtly as I stood up and organized my combat garments. "He built this giant monument to lure me away from the northern front because he knows that, in a traditional war of attrition, the Alliance now possesses the tools to resist. He wants to decide everything with me on individual tactical terms."
I quietly left the tent, finding Lyannis and Vespera active during the last guard shift near the campfire, which now remained only as reddish embers. The bluish light of the simulated sky indicated that only a few hours remained before the beginning of the new artificial daytime cycle. I approached them with calm steps, receiving attentive and tranquil nods that confirmed the perimeter remained completely pacified from external physical threats.
Our journey of vertical ascent would continue soon, and the revelation that the sovereign was actively monitoring our progress only increased my determination to execute every move with the surgical precision of someone who already knew the ending of that highly complex dimensional chessboard.