Background: Thousands of years ago, Celestial Fortress fell, and the Battle Saint Darkbo was sealed by the God-Emperor. Though time has left scars on him, he still retains most of his power before the seal. He eagerly seeks someone to free him from the endless torment of the years...
In front of Orson, a brief description of the Battle Saint appeared.
With only a fraction of his original health remaining—500 million HP reduced to a mere 10,000—based on the information, the Battle Saint retained nearly all of his combat abilities!
Something is definitely wrong here.
Orson suspected that Darkbo might be a monster with an extremely bizarre battle mechanism. His low health pool was likely a facade. It was like an ultra-rich person wearing anti-magic gear, fighting a regular player. The health might appear close, but once the fight starts, it's a whole different story. The player's strongest attack may not even break the rich person's defense.
Moreover, based on the current information, Darkbo was second only to the God-Emperor within the Celestial Legion. If he weren't extremely strong, Orson wouldn't believe it.
The most crucial thing, however, was that unlike other ethereal spirits or heroic souls, this old man in front of him was very much real.
"Anger Blood Gladiator" countdown: 1 minute. The teleportation portal to Celestial Fortress will close shortly!"
The prompt rang out again, and all the players on the first battlefield saw a two-way teleportation portal appear in front of them. They received two prompts:
"Would you like to teleport back to the main city?" "Would you like to participate in the Anger Blood Gladiator event?"
Wedge glanced at DonutWizard hesitantly.
At the maze's exit, the SSR group awaited their allies. They were looking for weak spots in the NPC defense, trying to avoid areas occupied by the dragons and launch a surprise attack on Celestial Fortress's key nodes. However, with the 1v1 deathmatch mode now triggered, it had completely disrupted their plans.
C-Team: "Sorry, we're just here to assist our allies, not to die. Hope you understand."
"Scaredy-cats! If you're going to leave, leave now!" Reaver furiously shouted at the UC guild, seeing them preparing to retreat.
C-Team: "I'm scared, but I'd rather be scared than foolishly die. Those dragons can't be stopped by Orgod, and even if the King of Hell showed up, they'd still lose!"
UC-Xinghai: "It's not that I don't want to help you. There's no point in trying to capture Celestial Fortress."
"I know, but I just want to see him die. It's that simple." Wedge replied calmly, with a smile, unbothered by the situation.
"Crazy woman..." muttered C-Team, before issuing a guild-wide notice for players to retreat.
Area Announcement: "[World Dominators] has chosen to withdraw from the Celestial Fortress area."
Area Announcement: "[Rattlesnake] guild has chosen to withdraw from the Celestial Fortress area..."
Dozens of smaller and larger guilds followed suit and chose to retreat. They had no other choice. The Bone Dragon Stronghold had been flattened by Demon Emperor's million-strong US player army, and SSR had once again lost control. Other players had no means to compete.
As for the struggle for Celestial Fortress in the air, it was beyond their scope. In the face of the dragons' power, few guilds had the capital to challenge the situation head-on.
Sky Wolf-Demon Moon: "Oh my god! Vice President, make up your mind! Let's get out of here!"
Sky Wolf-Black Moon: "Shut up, you glory-seeking bastard!"
Sky Wolf-Demon Moon: "Damn, I just saved the guild from a huge loss, or else we'd have all been killed!"
"Uh... that's true." Sky Wolf-Black Moon mumbled awkwardly. They almost got wiped out by Orgod's passive skill "Nuclear Light," and now they were arguing over a fight!
In the end, the Sky Wolf guild chose to withdraw.
However, not all guilds were backing down. Demon Emperor's dark aura surged, his eyes burning with combat intensity: "I love 1v1 mode!"
"I'll kill anyone! If he can slay dragons, why can't I?" Blank, full of pride, scoffed coldly.
With that, Demon Emperor, Blank, and others entered the teleportation array, ready to join the chaotic Anger Blood Gladiator battle.
At the entrance of the first battlefield, Supreme Guild arrived late. The Silver Dragon Knight King, dressed in dazzling silver armor, shone like a bright galaxy.
"What's with this cowardice? If you're scared, just sell me the Silver Dragon!"
"Hey, stop insulting him. He's just playing it safe, looking as clueless as a dog, hehe."
Behind him, two figures—Drunken Dream, and his half-sibling—mocked him mercilessly. Other players in the Supreme Guild seemed used to it, exchanging looks without understanding the president's behavior.
With the current power of US's first Dragon Knight, even if the two others were equipped with legendary gear, it would still be a walk in the park for the Silver Dragon Knight to defeat them.
Drunken Dream's gaze flickered with internal conflict. He couldn't forget the kindness Wedge had shown him. But he also couldn't betray Orgod, who had been both mentor and friend. The emotions raged inside him, like a tangled mess, making it hard for him to take action.
"We will participate in the battle." Drunken Dream said coldly.
Supreme Guild roared in unison: "Orgod must die! Godslayer must fall!"
Countdown: 10 seconds! 9 seconds! ...
"This land of the Empire will not be desecrated! The Xian family will obliterate Crimson Butcher Orgod's lair!"
The roar of a thousand voices surged.
Drunken Dream's gaze sharpened. Behind him, hundreds of silver-armored knights appeared—these were the elite Silver Dragon Iron Guards, part of the Light Dragon Empire's Duke Xian's forces. They had answered the call of the God-Emperor's heirs to slay Orgod, the Triple Crown winner!
These soldiers rode silver dragons or terrifying silver wolves, their armor shining as brightly as stars. Their strength far surpassed the average soldiers.
"This is chaos... How many factions are involved in this?" Drunken Dream gasped, unable to fathom the scale of the impending battle.
As the countdown ended, countless blood-red beams of light descended from the sky, flashing across players, NPCs, and monsters, randomly assigning them to 1v1 battles.
A pillar of red light formed, and the players found themselves suddenly transported to a grand arena.
"Attention! You will now face the leader of the Dragonkind Imperial Guard!"
"Engage in combat to the death, adventurer!"
A 34-level thief from the Unmatched guild stood stunned, looking up at his opponent in disbelief: "I… I'm going to fight you?!"
Before him stood a towering figure over 2.5 meters tall, wielding a massive war hammer thicker than the thief's body, with a health bar that reached millions. This was the Imperial Guard Commander!
But the true focus of the chaos was still Orson and Cain. Neither had been selected for the gladiator match. Instead, their opponent was none other than the living Battle Saint Darkbo—an actual king-level life form!
Darkbo's deep, abyss-like eyes slowly walked toward the middle of the arena, positioning himself between Orson and Cain.
Battle Saint Darkbo: "Who is the challenger? Step forward."
"I…" Orson began to speak, ready to take on the challenge, when suddenly he froze.
Cain, the lord, knelt on one knee and spoke with reverence: "Great Battle Saint Darkbo, I carry the God-Emperor's bloodline. I am a descendant of the God-Emperor. Please allow me to pass. The Celestial Fortress power core will forever be under your command. Let the God-Emperor clan rise again and rule the Infinite Dimensions once more!"
Cain's gaze flickered as he shot a mocking glance at Orson.
"You motherf—" Orson nearly exploded in anger. Just a moment ago, this guy had been so full of bravado, and now he was kissing up for favor? What kind of NPC is this?