Floor 20 closed behind him.
After long amount of time Kael stepped out of the Tower without the weight of imminent combat pressing against his spine.
The exit plaza was quieter than usual not because climbers weren't present.
Because they were watching the global announcement which had spread hours ago.
Rank boards across the city displayed his name at the top of Floors 15 and 20.
And that too it was Solo Clear.
Kael ignored the people around and he didn't look at the boards and he didn't slow his pace.
The domain remained compressed tightly around him nearly invisible now. Sixty meters reduced to less than one which was stable and contained.
He moved directly toward the Gateway Exchange District.
The Gateway Exchange Hall was a towering circular building of reinforced stone and enchanted steel designed to handle volatile loot and unstable artifacts.
As Kael entered conversations died mid-sentence.
Clerks recognized him instantly because of the last incident and how he was taken by the branch manager.
He approached a reinforced counter and began placing items one by one.
Crystalline cores from Glacial Reavers.
Gravitational cleaver fragments from Execution Sentinels.
Infernal chain segments.
A partially intact Frost-Volcanic composite shard from the Delta Chieftain.
High-density bone alloy from Wardens.
Shadow Lurker neural cores.
The appraisal master a middle-aged woman with augmented vision implants took one look at the pile and inhaled slowly.
"These are… consolidated upper-tier materials."
"Yes you are correct" Kael replied simply because he already appraised through his talent.
She began scanning.
Numbers appeared across her lens interface. Her composure cracked slightly halfway through.
"These cores alone would fund a low-tier guild for a year."
Kael waited.
She finished calculation and turned the display toward him.
Total Valuation: 78,400,000 Cates
There was silence lingered in the room. Most climbers never saw that amount in their lifetime.
Kael didn't react.
"Liquidate" he said.
She blinked "All of it?"
"Yes."
"Even the Delta Chieftain shard? That piece alone could—"
"Just Liquidate."
Her hands moved faster. Within minutes confirmation pinged on his mobile
Transfer complete. 78.4 million cates deposited.
Kael left without negotiation. Outside the city felt different.
Kael did not return to his old apartment because there was literally nothing there just some bed and the walls.
Instead he walked toward the upper residential district an area previously irrelevant to him.
High-security gated estates. Sky-view terraces. Enchanted barrier perimeters.
He selected a property overlooking the eastern edge of the city which had modern architecture, black glass exterior, reinforced foundation, private training courtyard, subterranean vault and layered privacy wards.
Price: 52,000,000 Cates.
He paid in full. He did not feel like taking in loan and he did not want to delay it any longer.
Ownership transferred to him instantly.
The doors opened with bio metric recognition. Interior lighting adjusted automatically.
There were polished stone floors which had minimalist design. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking city lights and sound-dampening architecture.
For the first time in months it was silence without threat.
Kael walked through each room slowly there was bedroom, kitchen, training space and a simple library.
He placed nothing on the walls. He unpacked nothing. He simply blended in it.
He stepped into the private courtyard and expanded his domain slightly.
Five meters. The air thickened gently. He reduced it again. Control was smooth. There was no instability.
He entered the house removed his boots and lay down on the bed.
The mattress adjusted to his weight.
His body now was of level 161 which was pretty high compared to a floor 23rd player and felt heavier in rest than in battle.
Muscle tension gradually eased. His breathing slowed.
For the first time since Floor 11 he slept so peacefully.
Hours passed. The city dimmed into late night.
Kael's breathing remained even. But something shifted during his sleep
It wasn't just the sound. It wasn't just the movement. It was feeling of absence in his domain.
A minor fluctuation in ambient mana flow outside his property barrier.
So slight most wouldn't notice.
Kael's eyes opened instantly. It was still dark outside. Kael didn't move.
His domain expanded silently to two meters. There was nothing inside.
The fluctuation came again from beyond the barrier.
It did not feel like someone is attacking, its lie someone is observing him.
He activated his appraisal skill without lifting his head.
[Appraisal Activated]
[Target: Unknown Presence (Perimeter East – 142 meters)
Processing…]
Information unfolded clearly in his vision.
[Name: Rhyen Calvar
Level: 104
Class: Shadow Operative – Recon Specialist
Guild: Obsidian Crest
Position: Outer Intelligence Division
Equipment: Cloak of Diminished Signature (A Rank), Silent Pulse Communicator
Current Objective: Surveillance of Target "Kael"
Threat Assessment: Minimal (Direct Combat), Moderate (Intelligence Risk)]
Hmmm Obsidian Crest.
That was a top ten guild of Solaris and their branch exists in Genova city too.
They are a strategic and most Influential and politically aggressive.
Kael's eyes remained calm. He closed the appraisal window.
So, they were watching that was expected because the Gateway Exchange Branch Manager did talk about this.
He waited. The operative shifted position slightly maintaining distance outside property wards.
He was a professional and cautious.
Kael sat up slowly. He didn't expand his domain outward.
He stood and walked toward the hallway.
And then He disappeared.
It was not a teleportation or skill. It was pure movement speed compressed into a blind frame gap.
Rhyen Calvar crouched atop a neighboring structure his was cloak active and his signature dampened nearly to zero.
He had monitored S-rankers before but this was different. According to the information he has received he was merely a F rank player. But why the pressure from the house earlier had been faint but feeling like oppressed.
He adjusted his viewing lens slightly. Then blinked.
The bedroom window he had been watching was empty.
There was no movement detected leaving through primary exits.
There were no mana spike and no portal activation.
His pulse elevated slightly.
He scanned left and right.
Above and below.
But there was nothing.
A chill moved down his spine.
Then a voice from directly behind him.
"You're looking the wrong way you know that right "
Rhyen's body reacted instantly.
He spun drawing twin daggers infused with paralysis toxin.
But a hand clamped around his throat before he could complete the motion.
The world tilted forcefully.
He was lifted off the ground and slammed into the rooftop surface. The cloak flickered and deactivated.
Kael stood over him.
Domain expanded even further.
Rhyen tried to activate an emergency burst skill but It failed and suppressed.
He swung a dagger upward. Kael caught his wrist mid-motion.
There was a sound of a crack the bone snapped cleanly.
Pain exploded through his arm. Three seconds had passed.
Rhyen attempted a shadow displacement skill. The domain compressed instantly.
Rhyen couldn't move at all.
Four seconds.
Kael drove a controlled strike into his stomach.
Air evacuated violently from his lungs.
Five seconds.
Rhyen lay pinned both wrists immobilized by sheer grip strength.
The fight was over. Kael didn't increase pressure further.
He simply held him down.
"Who sent you?" Kael asked calmly.
Rhyen gritted his teeth. There was silence he didn't want to reveal it to anyone.
Kael already knew his guild. Already knew his rank. But not the sender because someone must send him to investigate me and someone ordered him.
He expanded the domain even further. Pressure increased. Not only crushing his body
Rhyen's heartbeat spiked erratically.
"I can't…." he began.
The pressure deepened even further. His muscles trembled uncontrollably. Breathing became difficult.
This wasn't physical pain. It was existence being denied.
"I can't say…." he tried again.
Kael's eyes did not change.
He increased density slightly. The air around Rhyen felt like solid stone pressing inward from all directions.
Instinct broke training.
"It was…."
His voice cracked.
"It was ordered by High Strategist Vaelor."
Kael's grip tightened fractionally.
Vaelor. High Strategist of Obsidian Crest. He was the political manipulator.
But why him?
Rhyen continued involuntarily.
"He believes it's you that changed the rankings and he believes you are the LINE EMPEROR and you weren't supposed to surpass Floor 20 this fast…"
Kael's mind sharpened 'They got to know that quickly that I'm the Line Emperor, such a sharp person, but one day or the other it will out but this fast, how did he know about it'
Rhyen's breathing became ragged.
"I was only to observe… report patterns… nothing else…"
Kael studied his expression. His talent can detect lies and the truth too, from what he says he is telling the truth.
Domain pressure didn't allow it. He released him suddenly. Rhyen collapsed to the rooftop, gasping violently.
Kael stepped back. The domain retracted fully. The night air felt normal again.
Rhyen didn't move. He couldn't.
Five seconds just five seconds that was all it took.
Kael turned away slightly.
"Tell Vaelor" Kael said calmly "that watching from shadows only works if shadows exist."
Rhyen didn't understand.
Kael disappeared again. This time returning to his own courtyard. He stood there quietly.
He wanted to conduct a experiment on Rhyen's where can he erase the memories using his talent, but he thought not to do it now let's see later.
"Vaelor the High Strategist. Why surveillance now? Why after Floor 20? Political maneuvering? Preemptive containment? Or something else?
For the first time since leaving the Tower Kael felt something unfamiliar a threat which was not from the tower but from the human or the person where humanity belongs to.
He looked toward the skyline.
Obsidian Crest's headquarters towered in the distance which was massive, fortified. Lit in dark crimson.
His domain expanded briefly to ten meters. Then reduced again.
But inside questions began forming. Who truly ordered the surveillance?
Was it just Vaelor? Or someone above him?
And why did It start immediately after Floor 20 just because of the ranking changed.
What if? If we see according to the novels which I've read whenever the main character does something exceptional and soon as Guilds come to recruit the MC, but he may join the guild or not and that's the problem if the MC won't join that's where the problem starts.
Kael returned inside. Closed the doors. Sat on the edge of his bed.
He didn't lie down immediately. Something about the timing felt deliberate.
As if someone wanted him to know he was being watched.
He activated appraisal one more time scanning the broader city radius.
There was nothing immediate. There was no second observer.
He leaned back finally. But sleep did not return easily.
High Strategist Vaelor. The name echoed once more in his mind.
And for the first time Kael felt the excitement he thought can I enact the same way as the main character if he what he thinks will happen heheheh hahaha this is fun.
And while he thought about it this time the battlefield was no longer inside the Tower.