The two Magic Rings were identical. Orson smacked his lips. "Not bad, at least you're learning."
These two accessories were quite good, especially the Ethereal Echoes passive skill, which significantly altered his basic attacks.
What was once single-target damage now became an area-of-effect magic attack. The 10% chance might not seem high, but it was certainly useful.
The attack speed boost allowed him to cast Chaos Magic Ball ten times per second, making it incredibly easy to trigger the effect frequently.
The damage was of the diminishing-return type, but with Orson's exaggerated critical damage, this meant that a simple auto-attack could trigger the effect of an awakened magic skill.
After removing the two Fox Clan Rings, he equipped the new rings, bringing his critical hit rate up to 80%.
Given Orson's mastery of basic attacks, he could easily reach 100% critical hit rate in close combat unless the target was out of his attack range.
As for pursuing the full Chaos Series ring set, it would only provide a 5% increase in the chance to trigger effects and a negligible 15% reduction in all skill cooldowns.
Moreover, equipping the full set meant he'd have to remove the God-Emperor Earrings and Archmage's Necklace, which were both incredibly valuable in terms of their skill mechanics.
The God-Emperor Earrings doubled the damage to Dragon Blood units, which was nice but not overwhelmingly powerful. The real value came from their teleportation ability, which had saved Orson countless times by allowing him to scout and lock onto targets from a distance.
The Archmage's Necklace doubled his mana cap and, combined with the high mana boost from the Heavenly Spirit's Right Eye, essentially allowed him infinite sustain.
Though the rings were not of the highest tier, in Orson's hands, they were worth far more than two Artifacts.
Having completed his equipment swap, Orson felt invigorated, holding the War Supreme Staff, surrounded by a halo of stars.
With six unsealed Artifacts and four top-tier Forbidden Magic accessories in hand, he was beginning to fully embody the Infinite Dimensions War Supreme.
He had already far outpaced the rest of the Infinite Dimensions players, yet he maintained a calm and collected demeanor.
But despite his growing power, Orson still felt an oppressive pressure bearing down on him. He could sense the challenges and dangers that lay ahead.
The previous Era of Immortals saw even the mightiest beings—the War Immortals and the Three Dragon Gods—fall. Even the US God, Tiamat, saw their Artifacts shattered.
"I will lead everyone to survive." Orson's gaze was deep, his mind in quiet contemplation.
Only those who had witnessed their loved ones, brothers, and friends perish before their eyes could truly understand how precious life and breath really were.
Orson calmed his mind, pushing away any lingering hesitation with firm resolve.
No matter how dark the road ahead seemed, even if that path to hope had been severed, he would carve a new way forward.
Whatever the cost, he would march ahead, sword and magic in hand, and carve out a path to survival!
He quickly moved through the various battlefield zones, scavenging everything he could before the Dragon corpses vanished.
"Domain Lord-Class Boss blood quality increase!"
"Blood Devour +10,000!"
"Blood Devour +20,000!"
"You have successfully captured a Domain Lord-Class Earth Dragon Soul using [Soul Collector]: 15/20."
The number of fallen dragons in this battle was incalculable. Even just a scavenged body of a dragon held significant value for Orson.
The Dragon Blood could be used to incubate Phoenix Eggs at a much faster rate than monster grinding.
The Demon Ascension Pill manufacturing couldn't stop either; Darkbo was still waiting for his life-saving elixir.
"I'll need to pay a visit to the Dark Dragon King Rebellion soon."
Orson's lips curled into a slight smile as his Soul Collector filled up, and he received two magical items that could be used to upgrade his magic.
Given that Rebellion, the developer of the Demon Ascension Pill, probably had plenty of Soul Collectors, Orson hoped to find him soon—perhaps Rebellion could provide some vital clues to the missing fragments of the Chaos Cauldron!.
"Talent Fragment, here you go."
Orson turned to Grevor, who had reverted to his more humble demeanor, and handed over the Dragon King's Horn (Gold) and Titan's Magic Eye.
"You have submitted [Dragon King's Horn (Gold)] 1/1."
"You have received a fragment of the Chaos Scroll: Middle Section."
A new fragment appeared in Orson's hands, but he paused suddenly. "Why can't I submit the Titan's Eye?"
Grevor's expression stiffened. He awkwardly scratched his head, not reaching for the Titan's Eye.
Orson frowned. Earlier, when Grevor had attempted to make a trade with him, he had clearly seen the two fragments in his possession.
Grevor: "I'm sorry, my other self deceived you."
With that, the Chaos Scroll: Upper Section in his hands turned to ash.
It was obvious now—what had seemed like a trade was nothing more than a scam.
"Well, well, Fraudster Grevor, huh?"
Orson's expression turned cold as Grevor lowered his head in shame, looking guilty and ready for whatever punishment was to come.
"I'm willing to atone for my actions!"
Flame Fosset hurried over, laughing nervously as he explained, "Don't worry. As long as we have [Titan's Vertical Eye], the upper section of the scroll can be traded in the imperial city's black market anytime."
Orson sighed in resignation, deciding to let it go. Grevor, who had once been a schemer, had now become embarrassingly humble, making it harder for Orson to act.
With only the middle section of the Chaos Scroll, he couldn't directly awaken the SSS-level Chaos Overlord.
However, he didn't need to rush. In a few days, he'd be heading to the Light Dragon Empire's capital, representing the Light Elven King and attending a banquet. He could complete his class quests on the way.
For now, the pressing issue was solving his debt crisis.
The Chaos Sect Leader title, combined with the 20 million gold debt from crafting Artifacts, meant Orson owed over 70 million gold in total...
Converted into US dollars, that was well over 700 billion...
This kind of debt was enough to crush any large guild, even making wealthy players contemplate the unthinkable.
Orson mounted the Crimson Lizard King, flying over Pondenorlin City, looking down at the slowly repairing cityscape.
"Sorry, everyone—NPCs and players." Orson thought to himself.
Step 1 of repaying the debt: Become the city's lord.
Step 2: Make money by becoming the ultimate capitalist.
Step 3: Build a massive gold-sink!
"Adventurer, though I don't know how you did it, your courage has deeply moved me."
The voice of Judicial Executor Daziel Adela rang out, and the old man hovered in front of Orson on a flying magic carpet, carrying a scale that made a soft metallic sound.
Four towering Barrier Stones reappeared at the corners of Pondenorlin City, enveloping the city in its protective shield once again.
"This is what you deserve."
With a wave of his hand, a golden document floated towards Orson.
Orson's eyes lit up as he caught it.
"You have obtained the [Pondenorlin City Certificate]!"
"Due to the Light Dragon King's compensation, the new imperial decree grants you the right to name [Pondenorlin City]."
"You have absolute control over this capital city!"
"You may adjust taxes from NPC transactions and control the fees for using the [Imperial Auction House]."
"You have life-and-death authority over NPCs."
"You can introduce NPCs/players to settle and trade in this city."
...
"Interesting! Absolute control!"
Orson shivered with excitement, as the compensation was nothing short of incredible. Gold was practically calling to him!
Owning these Lord powers, Orson thought, was more like owning a country within a country than just a city.
A prompt rang in his ears:
"WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to your character's change, you are no longer eligible for new LDs. This announcement will be made anonymously. You may write a message to prove your existence."
The message box appeared in front of Orson.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he confidently wrote the following:
"WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: A new Lord has emerged in the US's capital city, [Pondenorlin]!"
"WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: The US's capital city [Pondenorlin] has been renamed [Forever City]!"
"Anonymous player message: US Forever City—forever!"