"You will regret this... Lying to me!" Aelon gritted his teeth, glaring at Orson.
"Of course, of course." Orson grinned, not willing to let Aelon off easily and knowing full well the prince still had value to offer.
Veijander stood off to the side, eyes cold and filled with schadenfreude, feeling a sense of satisfaction. What good was a noble elf prince? In front of this demon, he couldn't even lift his head!
Aelon, seeing his life was at stake, finally gave in. He held back the pain and complied with Orson's demands.
"Aelon begs for mercy and offers you all of his valuable items. Do you accept?"
"Note: Once the transaction is completed, you will no longer be able to deal damage to this individual (limited to 30 days)."
The notification sounded, and Orson frowned slightly, muttering to himself: "As agreed, his body goes to Unit One, his blood to the small plane, and his soul to me..."
Orson sighed internally. He had hoped to kill him off after the deal, but now it seemed that wasn't going to happen.
Well, there was nothing to be done. To maximize the benefits, he would have to agree to the terms.
"You have acquired Weapon Fragment."
"Description: The divine item material Wood Spirit Mithril fragment."
"Description: This item is a failed forging product."
"You have acquired the damaged Elf Queen's Statue."
"Elf Queen's Statue 2/2, can be fused."
"You have obtained 12,112.33 gold coins."
Orson couldn't help but laugh, the noble elf prince was truly afraid now. He had even handed over his last few coins, and in addition, there were plenty of rare materials and high-level potions.
"Adventurer, I have one more thing to give you. I'm just afraid you don't have the guts to accept it," Aelon said coldly.
Orson just smiled and said nothing.
The bolder you are, the bigger the prize.
"Here, take it!"
"You have acquired an invitation letter from the Light Dragon Empire Supreme Council."
"In response to the impending turmoil in Infinite Dimensions, and to prevent the invasion of foreign continent forces, a special invitation has been extended to the great Elf King Rodan to attend a banquet in the capital and discuss defense strategies!"
"Note: Due to Elf King Rodan's old age, he will not be able to attend personally. Prince Aelon will represent him at the banquet!"
Orson examined the letter, deep in thought. "Foreign forces invading? Preparing for the kingdom war..."
The invitation made clear there was a countdown for a major event, with the kingdom war starting in less than two months.
Orson speculated that this time, he had come out of nowhere. The top players across the regions were under increasing pressure.
This pressure fueled motivation, and his battle power progression was far stronger than it had been in his past life.
His weaponization process had accelerated, and the butterfly effect was still rippling through the game world.
Great changes in the power dynamics of Infinite Dimensions had come much sooner than expected.
"You have received a hidden quest clue."
"Check." Orson nodded.
"Quest: Mortal Form"
"Difficulty: Hell-Tier."
"Quest Details: You will represent the injured elf prince and attend the banquet in the capital in the name of the elf race. You need to navigate the challenges posed by the high-ranked beings and even face assassins from the elf race's enemies."
"Quest Penalty: You will receive a temporary title 'Supreme Dishonor'."
"You will be unable to change this title for six months and will become the laughingstock of the empire's major forces."
"Note: Experience gain is reduced by 50%. When purchasing items, forging, or identifying through NPCs, the cost will increase by 500%."
Orson almost spit out blood. No wonder Aelon was so confident that he would refuse the quest.
The high difficulty of this quest aside, just the penalty of a permanent title would drive anyone mad.
He couldn't even imagine the embarrassment of a Triple Crown winner having the word "dishonor" attached to their name. Even with thick skin, it would be hard to endure.
"Afraid to accept? Seems like you're not as brave as you claim!" Aelon mocked, sneering when he saw Orson staring at the invitation.
"Why would I be afraid? I've got business with the emperor anyway."
Orson smiled lightly and accepted the hidden quest.
Quest Updated.
"You will head to the Light Dragon Empire's capital with the invitation letter in 15 days. Since you are going in the name of the elf race, your Infamy will be temporarily cleared."
The higher the risk, the higher the reward. Anyway, sooner or later, he would have to visit the capital. It was a perfect opportunity to meet the so-called Supreme of Infinite Dimensions.
And if he wanted the Divine item Reincarnation Tree to fully mature, he still needed Heaven's Soil from the Light Empire's Holy Church.
Even without the quest, he would've gone there to get it anyway.
After accepting the quest, Aelon turned into an invincible state.
His severed leg quickly healed, and he glanced nervously at Orson before quickly summoning a portal and making his exit.
Veijander: "I am honored to serve you, my lord!"
Orson raised an eyebrow and tossed a Supreme Series blueprint to Veijander.
Orson saw the forging interface pop up before him.
With Veijander's forging skills now surpassing Ashen King, his success rate had gone from 15% to 25%.
Orson's eyes glowed. He also noticed that the Divine Forge had the ability to enhance the quality of the equipment.
Every time he used a Divine-tier material, the Divine Forge would have a 2.5% chance to elevate a Forbidden Magic set into a rare Artifact!
Orson was especially interested in this feature and had gone to great lengths to acquire the Divine Forge.
At the same time, he noticed that Veijander's Rune Sigil Stone options included a stone with the "Sublimation" effect.
By paying a 10x forging fee, it would double the chances of success in forging.
This would give him a 5% chance of forging a Supreme Series Artifact set.
The potential to upgrade his equipment to the max was now within his reach!
Although it was a high-stakes gamble, Orson wasn't worried about failure. What concerned him was the possibility that, during the forging process, the Soul Devourer feature might trigger.
He would then have to choose: the Forbidden Magic-tier set or the chance to transform into an Artifact.
Since acquiring Divine-tier materials was extremely difficult, he knew he couldn't depend on luck forever.
But if he chose greed, every attempt would cost him over 800,000 gold, and his 2 million gold might be gone in an instant.
"Veijander, we're brothers, right?"
Veijander froze, a look of panic crossing his face.
Veijander, meeting Orson's gaze, nodded nervously: "Of course! We fought side by side to overthrow Ashen King! We're battle Bros!"
"You think that after merging the life's work of fifteen generations of Grey Dwarves kings, you'll surprise me?"
Orson's smile was warm, but his eyes were sharp as knives.
"Well... I'll try my best!"
Veijander forced out a strained smile.
"You don't have much time. If you don't create an Artifact... hehe." Orson couldn't stop laughing, his threat full of menace.
"You submit Wood Spirit Mithril"
"You submit Archaic Star Iron"
"You submit Flame Astris"
A ton of premium materials was submitted to Veijander, who looked shocked. Clearly, Orson was putting his life on the line to get him to forge the equipment.
If Veijander lost the gamble, he couldn't even begin to predict what his fate would be.
The sensation of his soul being lashed by the demons, he never wanted to experience again!
"Continue heating the Divine Forge!"
Orson waved his hand, and Crimson Lizard King, reluctant but obedient, resumed his role as the chef.
"Forging takes 4 hours."
Orson glanced at the time. He was prepared for a long fight.
He messaged Madman and Lauren, telling them to find materials worldwide.
Everything—whether buying from players or the black market—was geared toward forging the Artifact!
At the same time, he placed a call to Mr. Carter, asking him to prepare the necessary funds.
Mr. Carter was confused. Orson had already paid back the 10 million gold—including interest—just an hour ago!
But now, Orson was asking to borrow another 20 million gold...