"Orson? I don't know him, get out of my way!"
Seeing the SSR group, Orson waved his hand impatiently, pretending to be "Boss Bai" and pulling some distance between them.
"We've been tracking you for a long time. We saw you change your disguise outside the city. Stop acting," Wedge said with a light laugh, calmly staring at him, with no immediate intention to act.
Orson's expression shifted slightly; it seemed like they had some kind of leverage. Given the output he had displayed so far, he could easily send the SSR group to the respawn point, but Wedge, being the scheming woman she was, wouldn't be unaware of this.
"Master, I think you'll disrupt the balance of this battle, it's better if you don't participate," Snow Dream stepped forward, speaking calmly.
"Master?"
Orson furrowed his brows and chuckled mockingly. "I'm not worthy to be your master, Snow Dream, the main member of SSR and the annual Newcomer King."
Snow Dream's cheeks flushed. She had risen through the ranks of SSR all thanks to Orson's personal guidance. But she knew she had deeply hurt him—her involvement in the match-fixing scandal was undeniable.
Snow Dream didn't respond, but her silence, still maintaining the confrontation, clearly showed where her loyalty stood.
"Why waste time talking to him? Let's just move already!" Reaver snorted, wearing legendary armor and speaking with the confidence of someone at the top.
Orson's eyes turned cold, and with a smirk, he said, "I've told you, not only will I participate in this base battle, but I'll make sure you don't capture a single point."
Orson waved his hand and casually removed his imperial robe disguise.
Reaver's face changed in an instant, his voice filled with shock. "The number one on the legendary weapon list, it's in this bastard's hands?"
To surprise his old foes, Orson had chosen to remain anonymous on the gear leaderboard, but now, it seemed there was no need for secrecy.
"Not just the legendary weapon; he's also wearing two pieces of armor."
Wedge's face turned serious as she noticed Orson's gear—two other legendary items, the 20-level Power Sanctum Shoulder Pads and the Robe, also ranked number one on the armor sub-list.
Currently, a single legendary piece was worth a fortune. SSR wasn't one of the wealthiest guilds in Infinite Dimensions, with only two legendary items in total—one in her hands (the staff) and the other on Reaver's body (the battle armor).
Not to mention that Orson had a full set of three legendary items, significantly enhancing his practical combat abilities.
"The Power Sanctum Legendary set with the Fox Clan Hero set, 3x3 double-activation skills... I could walk all over Pondenorlin City with these," Orson said, exuding confidence.
"Who dares to stop me?"
Orson's tone remained emotionless, and as he walked out of the blacksmith's shop, his aura became so powerful that it left the SSR members feeling suffocated.
"I dare!"
A loud shout came from behind Orson. He turned cold as he saw a level 20 thief trying to sneak attack from behind.
"Just one person?"
Orson's mind raced. Although the SSR group was powerful, they had already experienced total team wipes before. So why would a single thief dare to sneak up on him? Something was off.
Orson activated his Sun Shield to block the attack. The thief's damage was ineffective.
The thief, known as "Gold Farmer No. 17," grinned, suddenly feinting a move and quickly throwing a concealed weapon.
This trick was nothing to Orson. He easily predicted the flying trajectory of the weapon with a single basic attack.
But, unexpectedly, after his attack hit the weapon, the Chaos Magic Ball shot straight through it and struck the thief.
Critical Hit -1900!
Burning -4800!
"Gold Farmer No. 17" was easily killed.
Orson raised an eyebrow. The hidden weapon had struck him as well, but instead of simply dissipating, it grew like it had a life of its own, rapidly expanding into a pair of white shackles that tightly locked his hands.
This felt oddly familiar... wasn't this the magical inhibitor shackles he had been bound in before when he was caught by NPCs?
[Warden] Special Skill: [Mana Seal Cage] Triggered!
You will be unable to use any attacks, items, or skills for 20 hours.
Orson's heart sank as the message appeared, his face showing a hint of confusion. "The Thief Hidden Class [Warden]? One of the worst 20 hidden classes in Infinite Dimensions?"
The [Warden] class was indeed weak, with a mere E-rank rating. Not only did it offer little in terms of stat boosts, but its special skill, [Mana Seal Cage], could only be used once in a lifetime.
Orson had seen this class on the forums before and had thought it was basically useless. Anyone who picked this hidden class was essentially throwing away their chances.
Orson shook his head. "Infinite Dimensions doesn't have bad classes, just bad players who don't know how to make use of them."
"Not bad, just go talk to the management for your character compensation," Wedge said, gesturing toward the thief's corpse, which had already been deleted by the player.
"Hahaha… finally caught you? Try to call for backup again, you arrogant bastard!"
Reaver laughed maniacally, confident that, no matter how strong Orson was, he was now trapped and helpless.
"We'll tell Annly about this great news. Let that fool enjoy it for a while," Reaver sneered.
"What top-tier magic user? The so-called Phoenix guy, now reduced to a chicken ready for slaughter?"
"Shut up, show some respect, guys. We owe our current SSR to him, don't forget," one of the SSR members commented.
Orson remained calm despite their taunts. He had dealt with far worse in his past. After all, he had once been slandered as a match-fixer, enduring the wrath of millions of online trolls.
"Using my teammates as pawns just to trap me for 20 hours," Orson smiled grimly. "Nice strategy."
Wedge was no stranger to dirty tactics. She had been the one who framed Orson for the match-fixing scandal. Without cunning, she couldn't have pulled that off.
"Since you've managed to form your own guild and have all this good gear, you must be pretty wealthy by now?" Wedge smiled sweetly, a victorious glint in her eyes.
"Your sin value should be over 5000, so we should get a lot of good stuff from you."
Reaver, his bloodlust evident, eyed Orson as he drew his dual blades and stepped forward to finish him off.
Suddenly, a sharp wind blade sliced between Orson and Reaver, creating a jagged line on the ground.
Reaver glared, "Are you crazy?"
"Watch your mouth, Reaver. We agreed only to trap him and stop him from entering the base battle. Are you planning to go back on your word?" Snow Dream's voice was stern, as she raised her staff.
"Fake, hypocritical bitch, get out of my way!" Reaver shouted, ignoring Snow Dream's warning as he charged toward Orson.
"I said, no!"
Snow Dream's voice was ice-cold as she summoned a gust of wind. The [Wind Envoy] class ability activated, greatly enhancing her combat strength.
"Sorry," Wedge gave a signal to her teammates, and six high-level players positioned themselves in front of Snow Dream.
"Still lying to me? Wedge, do you even have any credibility left?" Snow Dream's face turned pale as she glared at Wedge.
"This is serious. I'll explain everything to you later." Wedge's expression turned hard, signaling Reaver to act.
"Ha, still talking about credibility with this woman. Pathetic."
Orson didn't show any fear as Reaver charged at him. With a cold look, he glanced at Snow Dream and said, "Stop pretending. Our relationship ended the moment you joined the match-fixing scandal."
Snow Dream's face drained of color. His words hit her like a lightning strike, shattering the last vestiges of hope she had.
"Son of a bitch, die!!!"
Reaver roared, his dual blades glowing with enchantments as he swung them in a devastating arc.
Orson's lips curled into a smile, and just as the dual blades were about to strike his face, he waved his hand. "Sorry, we'll see each other in 20 hours."
In the blink of an eye, Orson vanished from the battlefield, forcibly disconnecting from the game.
"Vanished? How is that possible?"
The SSR members stood frozen in shock. They couldn't understand why a player could disconnect mid-battle like that.
Even if someone pulled the plug on their game system, their character would remain in place for five minutes as a penalty to prevent players from using disconnections to avoid death penalties in battles.
"Damn it, that idiot didn't inflict enough damage to trigger a combat state."
Wedge's face darkened as she quickly realized what had
happened. She hissed, "Get the gold farmers to stand guard at his respawn point. The moment he logs back in, we kill him!"