CrimsonTiger: "Pirate nature never changes. Are you trying to covet treasures from the US region?"
Orson scanned the area. The palace where the eight sages were located turned out to be an ancient relic as well.
"Ridiculous. Publicly entering the secret realm, even if there are treasures, it's not your turn to speak," Kanting sneered.
The Sword Soul Guild had only a few members present, but each was above level 45, with Thunder God Kalrien even reaching level 50.
"If I want something, I'll take it," Usher said with a calm smile, dismounting from his dark dragon. Although it was only level 40, its stats were on par with a Lower Pinnacle Dragon.
His personal level was unusually high, second only to Orson, reaching level 52.
"That's a ridiculous speed of leveling up," Orson frowned.
It seemed that Usher had gained a lot from his time lurking in the Dark Dragon Empire. Orson had seen Usher's image in the Half-Orc Sacred Land, back when he was only level 50. Yet in a matter of hours, he had gained two levels.
While not as exaggerated as Orson's mass slaughter of tens of thousands of orcs, it was still quite impressive.
This led Orson to suspect that Usher's Divine Soul Seal might have a unique property that accelerated experience growth.
In Infinite Dimensions, leveling up didn't provide much stat growth, and free attribute points were rare. Most attribute increases came from quests or random opportunities. However, rapid leveling was still highly beneficial, as the higher the level, the better equipment one could use.
Level 50 was a critical milestone, not only enabling the second career awakening but also allowing the use of another Divine Soul Seal. This was a devastating advantage over players below level 50.
"No wonder he dares to show up here. He must have this as a backup," Orson's eyes darkened.
One key thing that bothered Orson was how quickly Usher and his group had arrived. They were within the Dark Dragon Empire, which meant they had to enter through a rift above Celestial Treasure Island.
Given Madman's usual style, if Usher had appeared, they would have bombarded him with artillery. Yet Orson hadn't seen any sign of damage to his group.
"Usher that bastard must have used a group invincibility skill to withstand our heavy artillery! He even followed us here!" Madman sent a message.
Bradley: "Orson, do you need support? The Abyssal Rift crack isn't large enough for the Celestial Fortress to get in, but Nightshade's airship can make it!"
"No need. There's something off here. Too many people entering may not be a good thing," Orson replied after some thought.
Just as he finished speaking, another spatial rift appeared with movement.
Poisoned -5000!
Poisoned -7000!
Poisoned -10000!
A strange poisonous mist suddenly spread, causing Usher and his group to change their expressions as their health began to rapidly drop. The grey mist transformed into dozens of poison dragons that seemed to have their own intelligence, spraying venom at everyone in the area.
"Is a powerful boss showing up?" everyone thought, looking around for any signs of a boss. But there were no signs on the floating corpse islands below.
"Intermediate antidote ineffective?" EclipseRider exclaimed, popping a detox potion, but his health continued to drain, quickly reducing him to critical health.
The team's priest stepped forward, using Magic Dissipation to try to dispel the poisonous mist.
Ineffective!
Ineffective!
…
This mist was extremely domineering. Not only did it drain health quickly, but it also reduced healing effects. Most crucially, no one could figure out what was emitting the poison.
Usher frowned. His relic's invincibility skill had just been used and was now on cooldown. Several of his priests tried to keep their teammates alive but ended up being poisoned to death instead.
"[Vishnu's Plague], A-class dispel skills are ineffective," Orson raised an eyebrow, as poison dragons surrounded him and Naoko. It was just as unavoidable as it was for everyone else.
"Orson-kun, do you need me to protect you? I'm a summoner with a priest subclass," Naoko smiled seductively, summoning her Black Soul Shikigami and activating the skill Shikigami Guardian, transferring the damage she took to her summon at four times the original damage.
"Damage isn't too extreme, just tank through it," Orson said calmly.
He stood his ground, eyes focused on the Abyssal Rift. He could sense something was off with the mass of corpse insects, which seemed to be circling around as if searching for something.
Naoko didn't fully understand at first, but as the poisonous mist swirled around Orson, she was astonished to see his health bar barely drop.
"At least five thousand health gone, yet his bar shows less than 10% loss? Could it be…"
Naoko was shaken. She had once seen an S-tier knight with a Soul Seal boosting health, bringing their health up to a staggering 100,000, allowing them to withstand hits from even a boss. But compared to the man before her...
Was that even really a comparison?
After all, he was a mage!
A class that should be fragile by nature, yet his health was terrifyingly high!
A large number of players rushed through the Abyssal Rift into this strange space, but many of them were immediately hit by the poisonous mist and died before they could even understand what was going on.
"I didn't expect this to turn into a grand event," a gentle voice suddenly rang out. A bright light erupted from a rift behind Orson, and a snow-white altar flew out, carrying thousands of NPCs who arrived at the scene.
"Dispel it."
The voice echoed again, and a tear-shaped phantom appeared in the air. The light from the tear dissolved the poisonous mist.
"Damned woman, you ruined my fun!" A venomous voice came from the area where the poisonous creatures had been circling.
A man wrapped in thick green mist emerged, and the surrounding corpse insects exploded, all disintegrated by the eerie poison mist.
"Poison King Sinternan from the IND region, this is getting more interesting by the second," Naoko's eyes flashed. Sinternan was infamous for his poison-based city-wide killings, and the most terrifying thing was that he possessed a cloaking item, making him a master of invisible killings.
"The Holy Angel's Tear! A semi-divine artifact of the Holy Light Order, she's here!" EclipseRider's eyes lit up with excitement.
It was none other than Snow Dream, who had stolen the position of the Saintess from Wedge.
Orson lazily glanced over at the newcomer. Naoko smirked and muttered, "My sixth sense is telling me I'm going to dislike this woman, so I'll deal with her first."
"Whatever, you're free to do as you please," Orson replied indifferently.
Naoko grinned with satisfaction and waved her staff, summoning Yamata no Orochi.
"Looks like Sinternan finally met a player who can counter him. But from my perspective, there are too many US players here. How about we team up and kill them first?"
A group of figures emerged from the spatial rift, apparently familiar with Sinternan, and they all laughed in unison.
Sinternan chuckled. "Yes! Let's team up and kill these filthy creatures!"
"Orson-kun, don't they look like they're from a circus?" Naoko giggled, pointing at Sinternan and his crew with contempt.
Orson nodded, a smile on his face. The group conversing with Sinternan had high levels, but they gave off an odd vibe, as if they didn't quite fit together.
Each of them wore peculiar magic-powered exoskeleton flight suits and carried arcane energy firearms.
Orson recognized their region. They followed a magical + steampunk route, initially strong in the early and mid-game, but becoming weaker as the game progressed.
"I agree. There are too many people here. Let's test things out with him first."
Usher's face was grim as he raised a crimson longbow from his waist. His gaze locked on Sinternan, who was jumping around releasing poison.
"Level 50 Dark Reverse Scale · Breaking Domain Bow!"
Naoko was stunned. This bow was famous on the UJ region forum, ranked first on the Dark Dragon faction's divine weapon list. Its rumored power was said to rival Kalrien's growing forbidden weapon.
"I don't like people hiding in front of me, and since I'm here, I expect you to keep a low profile."
Orson, who had been observing the scene, suddenly spoke, pointing his Heavenly Fire Staff at Sinternan.
At the same time, Crimson Lizard King roared, its wings unfurled, and it shot into the sky, charging toward the dark dragon Naoko had long coveted.