The Ice Prison, as an aura-type skill, doesn't deal high damage—only around 500 points per second. However, its real strength lies in the summons it creates and the continuous, mindless control it provides. As long as there's enough mana and the opponent lacks powerful anti-control skills, they'll be frozen continuously.
Orson's eyes flashed as he adjusted the range of the Ice Prison aura to two kilometers, with a precise mana consumption of around 1000 per second. While this wasn't the maximum output of the aura, for most players, just keeping it up for two seconds would drain their mana completely. But Orson had over 50,000 mana, and with the 2% mana regeneration from his [Power Sanctum Shoulder Plates], his consumption and regeneration were perfectly balanced.
Within that two-kilometer radius, Orson was the undisputed master of the domain. Coupled with his five-kilometer range, he was essentially a mobile, chaotic freezing turret.
"How dare you trespass!" shouted the elite NPC.
Before the NPC could finish speaking, he was frozen solid. The priest behind him quickly used [Mana Dispersion] to break the ice, allowing the elite NPC to move again and continue advancing through the mist of frost toward Orson.
Meanwhile, several melee NPCs rushed forward, covering a distance of several hundred meters in a matter of seconds. But Orson remained calm, watching everything through the mini-map.
[Mana Dispersion] was an effective counter against negative auras, but its duration was short and had a long cooldown of one minute.
The first NPC knight was frozen again, but strangely, fire began to appear on his frozen body.
The fire-and-ice effect made it impossible for the knight to move freely, and his health rapidly dropped. Orson smiled faintly, casually strolling deeper into the Lord's mansion.
Absolute Kid: "Something's not right. Why is it snowing outside? It's freezing as hell!"
I Ride Donkey Looking for Girls: "Where are the guards with the torches? It looks like something's crawling toward us!"
Madman frowned as a servant rushed in, whispering to Lord Cain. Cain's eyes widened in anger, and he left the banquet hall with a few elite guards through the back door. At the same time, Madman and his crew received a mission prompt telling them to hold their position. Successfully defending it would result in generous rewards.
"Mission rewards just went up. Did we trigger an Easter egg?" Ride Donkey looked excited.
Madman, however, wore a dark expression, swearing under his breath. "What the hell? The rewards just got a major boost, this is almost like completing a legendary dungeon. A simple defense task getting this much of a reward? Something's off."
"With Godslayer's brothers leading the charge, this mission's as good as done," a bold voice boomed. Over a dozen players from Slaughter Guild walked up, and at the front was their leader, Demon Emperor.
"Are we supposed to be the rear guard? You're giving Demon Emperor a hard time, aren't you?" Madman grinned and motioned for Old Yin and the others to pull back from their defense positions.
Absolute Kid: "Who the hell are they trying to fool? We've got six of us, we're good."
Dynasty Old Yin: "Sorry, bro, can't move. You wanna take my spot as vice president?"
Madman was nearly furious. These five newbies in Godslayer were well-equipped and highly skilled, but their brains seemed to be missing. The map showed that the number of guards had mysteriously halved, and suddenly the rewards were through the roof. If there wasn't something fishy going on here, then nothing made sense.
Madman had been planning to let others test the waters, see if things were off, and then retreat if necessary. After all, the dungeon had a respawn point, meaning even if they died in the dungeon, they'd come back immediately. Seemed like a good deal, right? But what if they were facing an opponent capable of crushing them? They'd be trapped at the spawn point, getting beaten up.
Slaughter Spree: "I suggest you show some respect, don't think because you joined Godslayer that no one can mess with you."
Ride Donkey: "Come on, I've heard you're pretty strong, Madman. But I just got my hands on a Fire Knight, same as your A-grade hidden class."
Hearing this, the players from Slaughter Guild's eyes gleamed with killing intent. During the territory wars, they had allied with Godslayer out of mutual interests, but that didn't mean they were actual allies. Now that Dragon's Kiss Guild had fallen, Slaughter Guild had taken over multiple locations for farming and opportunities, and their numbers had surged to over 3000.
As Godslayer's power grew, a clash with Slaughter Guild was inevitable.
"Let's see what you're made of, after all, we can respawn," Absolute Kid said, grinning, as he brandished a 25-level Hero's Staff. He was a rare violent support type, with very low healing output but devastating single-target damage.
One of Slaughter Guild's A-grade Fire Mages stepped forward, and the atmosphere immediately shifted. The rest of Demon Emperor's crew were also A-grade professionals, and there was even an S-grade Berserker, Demon Emperor himself.
Ride Donkey and the others stood firm, their weapons ready. They were full of confidence, unwilling to bow to anyone. Even if Orgod, their guild leader, was here, they wouldn't back down—unless they were convinced through a good beating.
"The hot-blooded young man," Madman said with a twitching eyebrow. He sighed and messaged Demon Emperor: "They're getting a bit cocky, Demon Emperor, don't laugh... They're about to get a lesson."
They were asking for it. They really were.
This mission's reward was based on how many kills players accumulated. The hundreds of players in the banquet hall meant there would be limited opportunities to get kills, and those who could hold the defensive position would collect the most kills. Those who lagged behind would have fewer chances.
Madman wasn't worried about the battle strength; with the Godslayer tag above their heads, no one dared to challenge them.
Demon Emperor: "Haha, I still have some patience left for these kids."
But to Madman's surprise, Demon Emperor simply waved his hand, telling his crew to back off and continue eating.
Madman, unable to hold his temper, stood up and slapped one of his own in the head. "Last chance—if you don't want to stay in Godslayer, you're free to leave!"
Ride Donkey raised his head in defiance, staring at Madman. "You slap me? Who the hell do you think you are?"
Just as Madman was about to lash out, a cold flash of white light erupted across the room.
True Damage Bleed -1500!
In the blink of an eye, Ride Donkey's 20,000 health was slashed down to under 2500!
"Orgod's dog life is mine!"
He gasped in disbelief, as a shadow passed by him. A sharp dagger scraped against his armor, leaving a shower of sparks.
Blank, with his eerie mask, paused for a moment, turned slightly, and gave him a cold glance. "Little thief, tell that man to get ready for his dog's life. I'm coming for it."
"Little thief? Damn... her output just keeps increasing!"
A chill ran down Madman's spine, and his wrist trembled uncontrollably. He wanted to confront this opponent, but he knew he was outmatched in both skills and stats.
Godslayer's group was completely rattled by Blank's display, and the atmosphere turned awkward. Just then, a voice echoed from outside the door.
"The weather's so cold, could I come in and have a drink to warm up?"
The door creaked open as a white-robed mage, smiling brightly, stepped into the room.