She wore a dress that looked made of pure frost. Frost aura puffed out around her as she strode through. She made her way to the tower as though there were no crowd at all.

  “She’s undergone a Title evolution since we last saw her,” said Tyler, voice a little hushed. “She took her mother's old title—and her powers have just exploded since then...she’s just untouchable.”

  “Vanessa rounds out Earth’s top-tier defenders,” added Becca.

  Then two shadows gathered in the portal—silhouettes coming closer. But it was easy to tell who they were.

  Folks started leaning over the ships, pointing and whispering.

  “Make way!” Security had to hold the reporters back.

  Then Zane and Reina stepped through.

  She strode out in a black wrap dress—classy, yet it subtly showed off her figure. He wore a leather tunic with rawhide shorts; it showed off his physique too. She looked quite comfortable on his arm.

  The gasps turned to uproarious cheers.

  “Just listen to that reception!” said Tyler.

  “You can tell how much he means to folks,” said Becca. “Reina’s come to be the same way.”

  “They just have a presence to them, don’t they?” said Tyler.

  “They sure do…” said Becca. “If ever there were royalty on Earth—folks, you’re looking at them.”

  “It says something about just how serious this event is—Zane’s even got a shirt on!”

  Evan and Avery scampered in right behind.

  ***

  Reina smiled and waved to the reporters. Zane raised a hand. She whispered something in his ear, and he nodded.

  Then they headed on in.

  “Folks, it all goes down…” said Tyler. “Starting now!”

  ***

  The meeting would take place in the highest floor of the tower—a great amphitheater of wood paneling and steel walls, all under a stained-glass ceiling.

  Their seats were ordered by World Ranking. The lower-Ranked sat higher-up, some in the nosebleeds, as though it were a stadium.

  The lowest table—in the center of the room—featured only the top Rankers.

  Reina sat at the head of it. She’d also put Zane right next to her.

  He’d help out if it came to that, but he figured she would handle things just fine. These kinds of speeches were her thing.

  She’d chosen his outfit. He thought she might go for a suit, but she wanted something that fit who he was.

  She’d looked him up and down, and seemed quite pleased with the result.

  He figured she meant to use him as a statement.

  ***

  Soon the World Rankers started filtering in; the room was soon packed. A handful of reporters crowded around the back.

  Every Great Faction was there. Here there was a girl with a wolf cut hefting an earthen hammer, there a pretty-boy ice mage with a sapphire-crowned staff.

  “Things are about to get going,” said Tyler. He kept his voice hushed. “We’ve got some action up-front. Looks like Eze and Zane are up there, exchanging a few words—they just shook hands!”

  “Those two do go way back,” said Becca.

  After Eze left, another man strode up—“Henry Colt?” said Tyler.

  “Goodness, he looks nervous,” said Becca.

  As Henry started talking Zane looked a bit bewildered. Then he looked pleased. He said a few words, clapped the young man on the back.

  “Would you look at that—he’s starstruck!” said Tyler.

  “He’s not the only one,” said Becca. “Just look around the room… if they’re not staring, they’re sneaking glances. I mean, these are World Rankers we’re talking about!”

  “It really is a sight. He doesn’t look much bothered by it,” said Tyler. “Then again, that’s Zane for you.”

  “Everyone, kindly take your seats!” called an usher. “We’re about to begin.”

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  The room quieted down.

  All eyes were on Reina as she strode up to the podium. She beamed.

  “I want to thank you all for coming this morning,” she said. “The work we do today will make or break the future of Earth. It’s crucial we get this right.”

  She went straight in.

  ***

  “At first,” said Reina. “It might seem like there’s no reason for the Monsters to target Earth especially. Our planet lies on the far fringe of the Galaxy. There’s no Empyreans here, or even True Gods. And it’s true we won’t see the worst of the fighting.”

  Zane nodded. Noughtfire and the Barbarian Sage were busy gearing up for war. They were expecting the worst this wave had to offer—Malzareth’s fiercest End-Bringers and Calamities.

  He’d heard the speech before; she’d rehearsed it for him. But he was happy to hear it again. He just liked hearing Reina talk, and as he looked across the room, it was clear he wasn’t the only one. Something about her just seemed to hold folks’ attention.

  “But there’s one crucial issue. Earth is an Ur-Planet, and that makes us a threat.”

  She’d pored through the depths of the Archives these past few months. Now she dove into what she’d found.

  In the First Wave, the Monsters tended to try to destroy Dragonspire’s future. That meant crippling humanity’s resources—Spirit Stone mines, treasure stores, ley lines, portal networks and the like. But it also meant wrecking humanity’s best talents.

  In the past they'd thrown elite Monster Princes at Ur-Planets—True God threats often proved to be extinction events.

  When the wave started, Monster attacks would explode out of sealed, high-Tier dungeons all over the local space sector.

  The biggest threat was ‘Dungeon X.’ The Tier-2 level threat. A vast dungeon shaped like an ancient pyramid of some unknown metal, sealed by chains of untold power. But they were older than the Chaos Cycle, and quickly shattering.

  It would start leaking as soon as the Wave began.

  If her scryers projected right, the most deadly of its creatures would break free at the end—when the wave hit its climax.

  They couldn’t tell much about what lay within. But from the few essence readings they’d taken…

  “Dungeon X contains, at minimum, hordes of True-God level threats,” said Reina.

  An uneasy murmuring at that.

  It made sense. The strongest of the folks here were elite Ascendants. That meant they could compete with early, maybe mid-Minor Gods.

  It’d be a big ask to fight True Gods even after they broke through. It’d take teams of Earth’s finest.

  “It’s time to talk strategy,” Reina said firmly.

  She’d identified the battlegrounds—a zone of space about half a light year from earth where they would make their stand.

  It was called the Frontier Belt. A zone that wrapped around Earth where the reality was rated to take True God-level powers.

  There they would hold off the worst of the threats.

  “It’s doubtful they’d send Empyreans,” said Reina. “But even if they could they wouldn’t be of use there.”

  That region of reality had a ceiling at True God. If an Empyrean unleashed their Inner World there, reality would shatter utterly—and they’d fall through like a bowling ball through paper. They could even invite backlash from the Heavens as a result.

  “That’s our advantage,” said Reina, nodding confidently. “We get to choose the battleground, and we’ll hold them there.”

  Another thing about Reina—it was easy to follow her. She always sounded like she’d worked it all out, like she knew what she was doing.

  Judging by the looks around the room, Zane could tell folks were with her.

  “The strongest threats we’ll face will still fall within True God,” said Reina. “By the end of the wave, that could mean hordes of True Gods—even peak True Gods.”

  She didn’t let the nervous quiet sit.

  “But,” she said. “I’ve done some modeling. And if we fight the right way, I have full confidence we’ll hold strong.”

  She proposed splitting all of Earth’s top rankers into teams. For many, this was quite convenient since they could simply reprise their Superdungeon teams, and already knew how to work together.

  They’d all take a zone to patrol—a chunk of the burden to bear.

  The share of that burden would be determined by relative strength. She showed a mock-up she’d drawn up of what it might look like.

  “This is just a preliminary plan,” said Reina. “If anyone has suggestions, please speak.”

  They all took a moment to digest it… specifically—at the chunk in the middle that would hold down half the Frontier.

  Murmurs and gasps rippled the room.

  D’Angelo Hall raised a finger.

  “Yes?” said Reina.

  “If I’m reading you right,” he said. “Zane will take on the same burden as every other World Ranker, combined.”

  “That’s right,” said Reina. “It might seem like a lot. Based on the power level Zane showed in his last Ragnos run, I feel it’s appropriate. But… I recognize my opinion of his strength could be biased. If you’d like to propose something else, please.”

  “…No. That’s fair enough,” D’Angelo said. “He’s earned that right.”

  She glanced at Zane, looking slightly worried.

  She would’ve liked it if he didn’t take on that much. But she also knew it was what he wanted.

  Someone coughed.

  “Really?” laughed Jason. “Don’t get me wrong—I saw Ragnos, just like the rest of you. Certainly my brother would crush any one of us. But saying he’s equal to all of us? Hello there, by the way.”

  Frowns all over the amphitheater; more murmuring.

  Zane gave him a hard look. Jason waved.

  “It’s not about ego, Jason,” said Reina, pursing her lips. She still despised Jason; she’d never forgiven him for what he’d done to Zane. “It’s just the truth. Giving everyone the right load is a matter of life and death.”

  “Right.” Jason didn’t look convinced. “It’s like you said. Of course my little brother looms large to you, you famously spend so much time underneath him. You’re not seeing things clearly, woman. Zane can break. Push him too much, and he will. I’ve seen it, remember? Gambling the planet on my brother…”

  He let out a tsk-tsk. “Poor. Poor indeed.”

  Zane’s jaw clenched—less about the jab at him, but at the jab at Reina.

  Shock roiled the crowd—then shouts.

  It was clear he wasn’t the only one who didn’t like how Jason was talking to her.

  He knew how Jason worked.

  It was hard to say at times why the man was running his mouth. Whether he believed what he was saying, or if that was just his way of testing her.

  Either way. If he wanted to go after Reina…

  Zane’s eyes narrowed.

  But she beat him to it.

  “If you won’t be civil, you may as well leave,” she said hotly. “No one here appreciates your games, Jason.”

  She took a breath, but Zane knew that look on her face. She was furious.

  “But so long as we’re getting personal,” she said, lifting her chin. “You, of all people, should know better than to doubt Zane. It seems you’ve forgotten that he destroyed you on national television. He can do it again, if you like—and this time, we can broadcast it intergalactically. Perhaps it’ll stick better.”

  Silence.

  Then—“Yeah, get ‘em!” cried Avery.

  She wouldn’t lose her cool like that normally—but Jason always knew which buttons to push, and he seemed to sense Zane was her weakness.

  Jason blinked—then laughed, and settled down into his seat. He tapped two fingers to his palm, a little clap.

  “Hmph.”

  Reina turned back to the hall, still a bit flustered. “Anyone else?”