"Huh? Nothing's happening."
Orson paused. The Crimson Lizard King's corpse showed no signs of change—the ashen decay continued creeping upward, now spreading to its head.
"What's going on, High Priest?" Orson turned to Borlog.
The old beast was clearly at death's door too. His six beast-eyes had reverted to normal, and his HP was plummeting at a terrifying speed.
Orson forced himself to stay composed. The more critical the moment, the more he had to keep a cool head.
"Form without soul… the soul is with me," Borlog rasped. He crawled painfully to the Crimson Lizard King's side. The divine silver fur covering him was falling off in patches, his body breaking down like a husk without life.
"Brave adventurer of the US," Borlog murmured, "If the time comes… please protect my children."
With those final words, he exhaled deeply. A flickering ghost flame—Draconis's lingering soul—floated slowly from his mouth.
Orson gave Borlog a solemn nod.
Borlog continued, "In another world, you must've already discovered something different about yourself. Surely you carry questions in your heart."
Orson's eyes flickered with surprise, just about to speak—when suddenly, Borlog's body burst into radiant white light. A powerful aura engulfed Orson.
King's Authority – Wisdom Awakening!
The world spun.
Orson found himself standing in a massive white space—a library, vast and ancient, with bookshelves as tall as a man filled with endless tomes.
He stared in awe and instinctively inspected a nearby book's attributes.
"Origins of the Underworld"
"Heaven's Dominion and the Immortal Creation"
"Era of Immortals: A Complete History"
"The Rise of God-Emperor Gaedashiram"
"Soul Seals: The Gods' Crystallized Legacy"
"In Praise of the Three Great Dragon Gods"
…
A chill ran down Orson's spine. The Six-Eyed God Wolf's King's Authority was… a library of divine knowledge?
Borlog's voice echoed: "You may study these as you wish. Whether they're truth or myth is unknown, but a Dragon God does not lie lightly."
Orson let out a faint laugh. Most of the titles were about the "Three Great Creators"—clearly Draconis and the other Dragon Gods. Just by the names, you could smell the self-glorification.
This was clearly Draconis's personal archive. Of course it'd be full of overblown praise.
"You have received the Dragon God's Blessing!"
"You've unlocked a special privilege: Dragon God's Archive."
"Your Weaponization Progress has surpassed 50%."
"You now have access to the Real World Interface."
"Your combat potential has exceeded the Leaderboards limit. Your player identity has been removed from the Infinite Dimensions global ranking."
Orson frowned slightly and opened the Leaderboards.
His ID was gone.
In its place was a new, standalone ranking: Heavenly Rankings!
Description: Only the strongest trial-takers may enter this list.
If the Leaderboards were just a measure of combat potential, the Heavenly Rankings were the real deal—a blood-forged leaderboard of unmatched strength.
Only those who climbed mountains of Heaven Demon corpses could earn a spot on this list.
Even the lowest-ranked Heavenly-Tier player was like a god in the eyes of mortals, able to erase the masses with a flick of their hand.
Many trial-takers had stared at that list, dreaming of one day claiming a place among its names.
But for most, it wasn't even a fantasy they dared entertain.
Orson had been one of those people.
Back in that bloody, cruel world, it took everything just to stay alive. Becoming a god? That was a pipe dream.
And yet—
Only one name existed on the current list:
ID: Orgod
Combat Rating: New Recruit
Power Level: Chaos–Lord
War merit could only be earned by slaying powerful Heaven Demons.
Merit Ranks: New Recruit, Veteran, Battle General, War Saint, War God, War Supreme
Power Tiers matched the Infinite Dimensions system: Elite, Lord, Domain Master, Saint Lord, King, God, with an additional exclusive tier: Super God-grade.
No one in Orson's past life had ever reached Super God-grade.
"Real World Interface access…?"
Orson's eyes burned with excitement. Now that was something.
He could use magic in the real world. Even item and equipment skills were now usable.
This… this was going to be fun.
He imagined using his God-Emperor Earrings to open spatial portals—delivering takeout while teleporting. He could be the undisputed king of the gig economy, raking in millions a day.
Orson took a deep breath and closed the ranking window.
First things first—he needed to revive the Crimson Lizard King. As for the Dragon God's Archive, that could wait.
Maybe, just maybe, within those books, he'd find a path to break free of the gods' control.
He already knew from his time in the Orc Sanctuary that divine surveillance could be evaded, even if just for a while.
He looked at Borlog with gratitude and said solemnly, "If I can bring my battle beast back… I, Orgod, swear on my name—I will never go back on my word."
Borlog's final wish granted, his six eyes slowly closed, and his body turned to bone in seconds.
"Hold on—wait a sec!"
Orson called out in a panic, "I haven't harvested your soul! Or your blood! And… come on, drop some loot, at least?!"
A peak-tier King-level boss died right in front of him—he couldn't help feeling a little cheated. "What a waste…"
He turned and saw the flickering dragon-shaped ghost flame dancing in the wind, like it might vanish any moment.
The flame transformed into a mini Draconis and flew toward the Crimson Lizard King.
Orson's eyes narrowed.
That little dragon had eagle claws and a serpent body—majestic and ancient. It instantly reminded him of Soros's final SS-rank forbidden curse.
The size was different, sure—but the dragon's form was exactly the same.
And back then, Soros's chant had been chilling. The ancient dragon-tongue he used… was clearly an exaltation to the Ancient Dragon God.
That was weird.
If the Death God Dragon Clan and the Dragonkin were enemies… why would the Golden Dragon King's ultimate move summon Yinglong—Draconis's own avatar?
He needed to dig into the Dragon God's Archive soon. There were way too many unanswered questions.
If he kept thinking about it… his head was going to explode. And no one liked having their brain overheat.
Boom!
BOOM! BOOM!
Sudden, deep thuds echoed from the Crimson Lizard King's body.
Heartbeats?
Orson's expression changed. There was no time to rejoice—he instinctively took a step back.
The ashing stopped.
An indescribable pressure radiated from the broken corpse.
The heartbeat grew louder—like thunder pounding from within. The shockwaves made Orson's blood churn. Grevor, standing nearby, gulped and tried to slip away unnoticed.
Orson ignored him.
A dark red cocoon of light began wrapping around the Crimson Lizard King's remains, pulsing violently in rhythm with the heartbeats.
"You insect—where do you think you're going?!"
A thunderous voice shook the sky.
Orson looked up just in time to see the Purple Gold Dragon King finally lose his temper after being toyed with by Flame Fosset's illusions.
Dragon Curse: Imperial Purple Gold Dynasty!
With a furious roar, crystal spikes began growing like mad from his body—giant purple spires shot out, turning him into a monstrous blue crystal hedgehog.
The entire sky shook as if the curse aimed to seal everything within this realm into an eternal prison of crystal.