Vanguard of Dark Maaax: "What's the mad act from Usher's lackey? It's normal for an NPC to have some strength."
Vanguard of Dark Lone Wolf: "True, the guild leader let his guard down for a moment. Pull him up! Let's fight again!"
A revival light fell, and LightningBlade rose once more.
But as soon as he lifted his head, he saw the smiling figure of the white-robed mage. He decisively chose to blood-sacrifice his mount, pushing it in front of him.
"Fall back! Don't give that bastard a chance to loot our equipment!" Ivy's face turned pale. Realizing the danger, she immediately rode her Nightmare Steed towards them and raised her staff, shouting, "Ice Shield!"
A huge blue hexagram erupted with a thunderous sound, sending ice crystals flying. A giant blue shield appeared, blocking Orson and the Vanguard of Dark players.
"Terrifying! This A-rank ice magic's width is almost a hundred meters!"
"Ice Goddess! The shield's strength is up to a million—it's like dozens of knights holding giant shields at once!"
The Vanguard of Dark players were shocked. They had heard of the Dragon's Kiss Guild's chief mage's reputation, but this was the first time they had seen her actually fight.
"Not bad, quite interesting. The Ice Mage is an extension of the Water Mage class, combining both offense and defense," Orson remarked, raising an eyebrow in praise.
He also noticed Ivy's range had reached at least 800 meters, enhanced by her legendary set. Normally, a level 40 ice mage could only reach 400 meters at best, or 500 meters if fully specialized. At 800 meters, Ivy's ability rivaled top-tier S-rank archers.
As the group was still in awe of Ivy's strength, Ivy suddenly turned her mount around, snapping, "What are you waiting for?! Run!"
Vanguard of Dark Maaax laughed and said, "Run? Didn't you just blow the horn for the attack? Stop kidding around."
"You guys…" Ivy was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to respond.
Skyslasher stared at Orson, then quickly exchanged looks with Ivy. He whispered in a private chat, "Let's go. If they want to die, let them. We can test how deep this kid's abilities really go."
Ivy nodded. With the blessing of the Epic Rank Soul Seal, she had boosted mana and spell power, plus the legendary gear at level 40 as her trump card. But when it came to Orson's challenge, she wasn't fully confident.
The details of the Celestial Fortress battle seemed to have been covered up. Occasionally, players from the forum would post about it, but their posts would be deleted almost immediately. The information Dragon's Kiss Guild had was uncertain, with some claiming Orgod's beast devoured dragons with billions of health, while others said he even exiled king-tier NPCs.
Ivy could tell the reports were exaggerated, but they still indicated something important.
Super-long range!
Enormous mana pool!
Massive-area magic skills!
A top-tier domain beast capable of matching a lower-level dragon!
Any player who had even one of these qualities would easily make it into the top 50 of the Leaderboards!
"Ivy... Skyslasher, I can't believe it! Core members of Dragon's Kiss Guild! They're huge figures!"
"What are they doing? They just… ran off without saying a word?"
On the other side, Divine Slash was equally confused. For a regular player like him, he didn't even have the qualification to interact with top-tier players, yet now, these big names were just running away?
"Is this all Dragon's Kiss Guild has? Laughable! Damn, let me show them what real guts look like! Let's kill this NPC!" LightningBlade sneered, pulling out his sword and charging in mindlessly.
Divine Slash's eyes lit up as he pointed at Vanguard of Dark, laughing wildly, "This is the pressure of Supreme Orsix! Let's blow them up!"
"As you wish, adventurer," Orson said with a smile. Facing the incoming beasts, he stomped on the Chaos Hexagram, summoning the illusion of the Earth Elemental Lord.
"Awaken—Grip of the Underworld!"
The magic was magnified threefold!
Boom!
A massive hand descended from the sky, and LightningBlade's expression froze. His mouth hung open as he stammered, "W-What… the range is too huge!"
The Grip of the Underworld slammed down, sending the Ice Shield flying hundreds of meters. Despite the shield's considerable defensive strength, it shattered into several pieces.
The pieces crashed into the Vanguard of Dark players, immediately turning ten or more melee fighters into mincemeat.
"Thieves, go! Don't let him keep casting!" LightningBlade ordered, his face turning red with rage.
Ghostly shadows flickered as more than 20 thieves entered stealth, surrounding Orson and his allies.
"I'll protect you, Lord Orson!" Divine Slash's expression changed, but he didn't hesitate to step forward and stand by Orson's side, nervously scanning around.
"Adventurer, your courage is commendable," Orson nodded with appreciation and whispered with a smile, "Ice Prison Ring, lowest power."
A thin layer of icy mist spread, outlining the hidden thieves. The players gasped in surprise as they realized they couldn't move.
Divine Slash's eyes sharpened: "Eat my sword!"
He rushed forward, slashing wildly and knocking two of the frozen thieves to the ground.
"Don't think you can hide from my eyes!" Divine Slash laughed arrogantly, scolding the thieves for their poor skills, calling them easy targets.
"Die, you're just lagging!"
"The hell? My ping is 180! What's with this delay?" The fallen thieves cursed angrily.
Divine Slash scoffed, "Can't afford to pay for your internet? Maybe you should stop playing Infinite Dimensions!"
Was this what wealthy players could do?
"Can you survive my sword?" Divine Slash shouted, and his combat power soared to new heights. He realized for the first time that cutting people down could be so easy.
LightningBlade gritted his teeth, "What are these thieves doing? A bunch of idiots!"
"Why don't you come do it then!" The thieves continued to yell insults as they were struck down one by one by Divine Slash, who had equipped himself with scavenger gear.
LightningBlade was furious but had no choice. He mounted his mount again and rushed forward.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Critical hit -5000!
The mount screeched in pain as two arrows pierced its eyes, causing it to go wild. LightningBlade jumped off in shock.
"Your opponent is me."
A cold voice rang out as Raven emerged from the mist.
Divine Slash looked back in surprise. Something had changed about this guy.
Raven was no longer the cool, reserved person he used to be. There was now confidence in his expression.
He drew a mid-level enchanted arrow worth 30 silver coins from his quiver, pulled the bowstring, and aimed at LightningBlade, beginning to fire skill-enhanced arrows in rapid succession.
"Omfg! He's using skills with enchanted arrows!" Divine Slash gasped in disbelief, exclaiming that Infinite Dimensions was about to change. The stingy player was now going all out!
"Finally figured it out? Good," Orson smiled with satisfaction, deliberately giving space for Raven to take over LightningBlade.
VD-LightningBlade: "Damn it, you dared shoot my mount! I'll kill you in an instant! Poor bastard!"
Even though the opponent was a wealthy warrior, Orson believed Raven could win in a 1v1.
A Wild Gale roared as a massive black figure shot out of the mist. Before Vanguard of Dark could react, the Crimson Lizard King swooped low and bit into a hybrid-blood dragon.
"A dragon!! This NPC mage has a dragon mount? What the hell?!"
"This dragon looks familiar... is it the mutated lizard from the forums? But it's way bigger!"
Crunch! Crunch!
Blood spilled, and the sounds of bones cracking echoed. Both the rider and the mount were devoured in a single bite.
"Ugh…" Crimson Lizard King spat out half a corpse, leaving the Vanguard of Dark players stunned.
"Don't be picky, please. There's not enough brain matter for you," Orson grumbled, tossing aside his white robe disguise to reveal his true form, standing atop the "picky eater king."
"Or… Orgod! That bastard is Orgod!!" Vanguard of Dark Maaax froze in terror. Finally, he understood why Dragon's Kiss Guild had run!
Faced with the triple crown champion of the US, who had crushed NPC legions and dominated the UJ region, even Dragon's Kiss Guild had to avoid him!
Orson smiled calmly and raised his hand, whispering, "Awaken—Judgment Flame!"
As he spoke, a dark star floated towards the Vanguard of Dark players, resembling a black sun crushing down on them.
The terrifying gravitational force began pulling them into the air.
Boom!!