"So it really is this thing." Orson muttered to himself, his face dark.
Void Heaven Demons were one of the higher-tier Heaven Demon species, their traits similar to the rogues of Infinite Dimensions. They couldn't fly, but possessed the ability to crawl through the void.
They were invisible to the naked eye, only revealing their outlines for an instant when launching an attack.
They were infamous as the bane of rogue trial-takers, with a special preference for hunting down rogues.
Most rogues didn't have true 360-degree defense. These creatures, however, could move through solid matter, burrowing or surging up from below.
Which meant an ambush from above or an attack from beneath could catch anyone completely off guard.
But the worst part wasn't even that. The royal bloodline among the Void Heaven Demons had the ability to corrupt flesh.
Once someone took damage exceeding fifty percent of their health, their body would start to be infected by Heaven Demon genes, slowly transforming into a demonic creature.
Even a high-tier priest couldn't dispel this with ordinary magic; the only way was to kill the afflicted before the transformation completed and then resurrect them.
Sensing something moving underground, Orson's brow twitched. He immediately signaled Aeloria to take to the air.
Just because the naked eye couldn't see these damn things didn't mean there weren't ways to reveal them.
He raised the Supreme Arcane Blade and swung it. Thick white fog burst out from a hexagram underfoot.
As the mist roiled, hundreds of ghostly shapes stirred within.
Void Heaven Demons were like rogues—even in stealth, if you used spells or aura-type skills to flood the area, you could still detect their movements.
"Awaken: Judgment Flame!"
Orson's eyes gleamed. Death's Bright Galaxy slashed across the sky, Ice Prison Ring pulsing, forcing a massive horde of Heaven Demons out of hiding.
Where ice and fire met, shrill wails tore through the air.
Sparks scattered like stars. The mere million HP of these Heaven Demons was instantly burned away.
Clearly, these Void Heaven Demons were just projections sent by the Void Sovereign, mere shadows cast into Infinite Dimensions, nowhere near even one or two percent of their true bodies' strength.
Their stats were weaker, but their flesh-corrupting power remained brutal.
If this had been his past life, facing them alone, Orson wouldn't have hesitated for a second—he'd have run immediately.
"I'm not who I used to be anymore." Orson whispered to himself.
The scattered Heaven Demon limbs faded into nothing, leaving behind no loot at all.
"Stage one quest progress: 1%!"
Hearing this, Orson fell into thought, roughly guessing the meaning of this "protect the world's pivot" mission.
It was the ninth Void Prince from another plane, using projections to spy on or sabotage Infinite Dimensions' core secrets.
Specifically, the Golden Divine Pillar right before him.
Protecting this world pivot was originally the task of the eight Dragon Kings of the US server—or perhaps it was more accurate to say they had been created for this very purpose.
"More demon projections are invading this secret realm. Prepare for battle!"
A prompt sounded. Orson checked his Soul Seal mastery. It hadn't increased at all, and he shook his head. "A pity they're just projections—no rewards to gain."
"I did it! Hahaha… Tecumseh, I did it. I finally made it to this point!"
Laketon was on his knees now, laughing manically, his head thrown back toward the endless sky, as if proving his loyalty to someone. "Who dares call me trash? I'd destroy them myself!"
"What exactly is this thing?"
Orson's expression shifted. He walked over and grabbed Laketon, hauling him up.
"This? Hah, it's your US lifeline, your cage, and also the source of your power in this world!" Laketon laughed wildly, eyes glinting with mockery.
"Stop talking in riddles. Don't forget—your true body's still back at the military base." Orson said coldly.
Laketon snapped back to himself, then grinned strangely. "Kid, put your hand on the divine pillar. Then you'll understand."
Orson eyed Laketon warily, then shook his head.
The Ocular Demon and BlazeKing clearly had some connection, and as the inheritor of BlazeKing's will, there was no reason Laketon would try to harm him.
He motioned for Aeloria and Ignis to keep watch, ready to incinerate any demon projections at the slightest sign of trouble.
"Infinite Dimensions' core secret."
Orson took a deep breath. He was someone determined to defy fate.
And also an explorer of ruins.
Slowly, he raised his hand toward the Golden Divine Pillar. Learning Infinite Dimensions' core secret was simply too tempting.
His fingertips touched its surface, and it felt oddly like pressing against heated jade—no hostile reaction at all.
A peaceful, soothing aura instantly filled his heart, his mind drifting blank.
His eyes slowly widened in shock.
"Nearly a hundred million players'... data?"
Orson muttered in disbelief, his hand trembling.
In an instant, a flood of data poured into his mind. A searing burn, impossible in the Infinite Dimensions world, flared through him.
It felt like his body was about to be scorched to ash, his brain set ablaze by heat waves, thoughts rushing through a torrent of time and space, tens of millions of scenes flashing by.
He saw players struggling to slay monsters, others riding beasts across the skies chasing side quests, all for meager stat point rewards...
Orson's heart clenched. A familiar figure popped up—Madman, riding his Quarla in search of dragon hoards.
"Stop." Orson commanded silently. The vision instantly locked onto Madman.
At that moment, on the empire's western border.
Madman sneezed, scratched his nose, and cursed. "The hell, why do I feel so weird?"
With a crooked grin, he checked the dragon treasure in his bag, eyes brimming with greed.
His assassin group had just raided a viscount's estate, triggering a hidden quest that led them to a fire dragon nest—hauling in a huge payday.
"Madman, you know who your daddy is?" Orson tried mimicking Bradley's voice.
Madman's grin froze. He looked around like he'd seen a ghost, hurriedly stuffed the treasure back.
"Shit! Hearing things now? Sounds like that bastard Bradley..." He checked his private messages—nothing from Bradley.
"Madman." Orson called again.
Madman nearly jumped out of his skin, lost his balance, and fell off his dragon saddle. Some assassins playing cards nearby rushed over to steady him.
"Madman? What's wrong? Maybe log off, take a break."
"It's... it's nothing. Just spaced out. Scram, all of you." Madman wiped cold sweat and stood up.
Then that damn voice sounded again. "I'm gonna kick your ass so hard."
"Fuck... did you guys hear that? Someone talking?" Madman grabbed his buddy's hand, panicking.
The other thieves just shook their heads, baffled.
Madman's face turned pale, sweat pouring down. He muttered to himself, "Artifact effect... that's gotta be it. Dead Bradley daring to prank me!"
His Quarla landed. Madman logged off immediately, then stormed off to challenge Bradley in person.
Orson withdrew his hand, looking utterly shocked. Now he understood what the world's pivot truly was.
This towering pillar was linked to other Infinite Dimensions pillars.
It contained the foundational rules tied to players—like level progression, stat rewards and penalties, quest payouts, and so on.
It was basically the database of a typical online game, holding players' backup data.
Players used these "backups" to gain their endless resurrection ability.
If any of these pillars were destroyed, it would trigger a chain reaction, breaking these foundational rules.
But it was clear that the mere Void Heaven Demon projections couldn't destroy the divine pillar outright.
They were only using memory sharing to spy on players' capabilities, preparing for the Heaven Demon vanguard's invasion.
The projections couldn't do it—but Ocular Demon Laketon could.
"How long would it take to topple this pillar?" Orson took a deep breath and asked.
"My true body spent a thousand years calculating for this day. At most, forty-eight hours before Infinite Dimensions collapses!" Laketon roared with a twisted smile. The screech of his voice grated on Orson's nerves.
But he had to endure it—for the sake of countless others.
"All right." Orson sat down on the ground, his expression indescribably complex.
In his past life, when the fusion world descended, Heaven Demons devoured everything.
The Ten Overlords of the US, the Sword God, Blank, Drunken Dream... they all charged into the demon hordes without hesitation.
Countless trial-takers shed their blood and laid down their lives, swearing to drive the demons back and reclaim the light of the world.
The apocalypse was about to begin early—because of one man's choice.
Orson asked himself again, glancing at Laketon who was sprawled strangely on the pillar.
He knew he'd had countless chances to break this off—to log out, destroy Laketon's true body, stop it all.
"People are selfish."
Orson ground out the words through clenched teeth, his heart bleeding, eyes fierce with resolve. "If I lose you, then what use is this world to me? This endless sin—I, will bear it!"