Madman let out a long sigh. Shirtless Bradley wandered over, snatched the cold beer right out of Madman's hand, and chugged it down in a few deep gulps.
"Ahhh… why does it feel like we're basically living the retired life now?"
Bradley patted his shamelessly ripped eight-pack, belched, and muttered, "What if Orson comes back and says we've just been slacking off this whole time?"
"Screw him. Who knows if he's alive or dead? Either way, it's none of my damn business."
Madman curled his lip in disdain.
But as his gaze drifted toward Sienna, there was a hint of relief.
He finally understood why Orson had said she was the most suitable person to lead the guild.
Under Sienna's command, it had taken them less than a week to steamroll through the Dark Dragon Empire.
Not because the Godslayer army was so overwhelmingly savage—rather, because this little fox had mastered the art of scheming to a frightening degree.
She exploited the rifts between the Dark Dragon Empire's internal factions, weaving alliance after alliance, playing them all like pieces on a board.
Their coalition of native Infinite Dimensions forces had swelled from a mere 700,000 to an astonishing 3 million.
Incredibly, there had been hardly any large-scale battles—it was all Sienna's silver tongue, which kept the US adventurer casualties to a bare minimum.
Of course, this was the merged world, not the old Infinite Dimensions.
Everyone understood that war inevitably meant death.
All they could do was be prepared to sacrifice themselves at any moment.
Originally, the Dark Dragon Emperor had still been raging like a cornered beast.
But Sienna shocked everyone—she walked into his palace alone to negotiate with Sylothor.
No one knew what sort of conditions she offered him, but during what should have been a bloody siege, the emperor instead emerged and pledged loyalty—no battle, not a single casualty.
He even willingly became Sienna's personal guard.
Madman and the others nearly had their jaws drop off.
It was a perfect outcome for everyone involved.
The Light Dragon Empire had Ursula standing watch, and now the Dark Dragon Empire was firmly under US control too.
Of course, there was one person who wasn't quite so pleased—Usher.
He might've gained control of eight major cities, but his dreams of wearing a crown were shattered.
Still, he couldn't complain; during those original talks with Orson, it had only ever been promised that they'd crush the Dark Dragon Empire, not that he'd be installed as emperor.
Usher's Dragon's Kiss Guild swallowed the bitter pill in silence.
When the war countdown hit, they turned and unleashed all that pent-up fury on the MX war zone, vowing to make it their private playground.
"Whoever you people are, hand over Orgod and we'll void all our national tithes!"
Davis's demand rang out.
Sienna paused, then gave him a soft smile.
"I'm truly sorry. My brother isn't online right now."
"Not online? Ha! In this merged world, does that mean the bastard's finally dead?"
"Don't think you're the only ones with nation-defending relics!"
Davis sneered. He lifted a hand, and a beam of light fell from the sky to the sea's surface.
A colossal magical battleship emerged, rivaling even the Imperial King class in size. Beside it, a massive altar began rising from the waves.
"An altar? Some kind of summoning altar?"
Bradley sounded hesitant.
"This could be trouble. Every region's got a few of these trump-card war machines tucked away. Are they actually serious about triggering a full-scale war?"
Madman's brow twitched.
Behind them, a tall, striking female aide stepped up to hand Madman a dossier.
While other nations probed the US for weaknesses, the US intelligence apparatus wasn't idle either.
The report detailed it: an ancient divine relic from the Australian sector—"The Sage's Sacrificial Altar."
It could summon the most powerful life form within thousands of kilometers to fight on their side.
And in this perilous Endless Sea, plenty of thrill-seeking adventurers had already ended up as snacks for terrifying sea beasts.
Compared to terrestrial monsters, the ocean's tyrants were infinitely more horrifying.
Someone had once glimpsed a sea creature the size of an island near the coast—leaping hundreds of meters into the air to swallow a Saint Lord-class sea serpent whole.
"Without Orgod present, you're nothing but lambs to the slaughter."
Davis laughed coldly. Two divine relics at his back gave him overwhelming confidence.
"Crisis is looming. Why not sit down and talk things through?"
Sienna's smile remained calm, her eyes glinting with cunning that belied her youthful face.
"I've been more than patient trying to negotiate with you fools. Since you refuse to listen, I'll show you exactly who calls the shots on Blue Star."
"Celestial Fortress has Forbidden curse-tier artillery. Don't let them catch us off guard."
One of his subordinates spoke flatly, then raised a hand to toss out a scroll.
Madman's expression darkened.
"A Forbidden curse scroll? They came well-prepared. Old Yin! Get ready to start the fight."
Dynasty Old Yin's voice crackled through the comms.
"Shit. Everyone lock in—eyes on them at all times! If it kicks off, blow these bastards to hell!"
For safety, overall US fleet commander Marcus ordered an immediate pullback, putting distance between themselves and the enemy.
He knew all too well that magical tools had limited effective ranges.
Celestial Fortress and the USS Ford didn't budge an inch.
They stayed right up front, ready to shield the rest of the fleet if disaster struck.
High above, the Forbidden curse scroll unfurled. A dazzling light shot into the sky.
Then, like starlight crystallizing into rings, the glow cascaded over the coalition ships, their magic battleships, and the massed adventurers.
\\[Oragus's Divine Halo]
\\[Grade: SS Forbidden Spell]
\\[Effect: Grants invincibility to all allied legion members within range for 10 minutes. Effect immediately ends if the protected target initiates an attack.]
"…Seriously? All that buildup just for a big group invulnerability buff?"
Bradley rolled his eyes.
He'd been this close to summoning Velorith and transforming into an elemental Dragon Warrior to tank a Forbidden curse head-on.
Worst case? Forbidden curse vs. Forbidden curse—live or die, let fate decide.
Turned out the enemy dropped a giant… support spell.
And the protection was hilariously fragile: the instant they tried to attack, it'd vanish. Might as well not exist at all.
"A defensive Forbidden curse?"
Madman's expression tightened. Not relieved—if anything, he looked even more wary.
He barked over the legion channel,
"Spread out! Maximum distance, right now!"
Marcus blinked in confusion.
"Agent 666, what's your call here?"
"I'm telling you to spread the hell out—they're trying to summon a sea monster to swallow us whole!"
Madman's snarl was almost a growl.
Sure enough, the words had barely left his mouth before it began.
That ocean altar lit up with bloody runes, gradually sketching out a massive six-pointed magic array.
A primordial energy burst forth, churning the sea into a bubbling cauldron, as if some ancient demon was clawing its way up from the depths.
"I've long anticipated Celestial Fortress showing itself. Once your national treasure falls, what'll you use to fight me then?"
Davis cackled, eyes dancing with cruel delight as he watched the US adventurers scatter in panic.
Their intelligence had revealed it: somewhere off the US coast, buried deep in a marine trench, lurked a quasi-God-tier oceanic overlord.
Those submarines lurking nearby? Their whole mission was to track that behemoth's movements.
"My divine, peerless being of the Endless Sea—such terror that even a dragon king would perish if dragged below. Permit us to withdraw for now."
Sylothor inclined his head respectfully toward Sienna.
Meanwhile, countless monster corpses floated up around them.
The ocean itself seemed to drain downward, opening a fissure two kilometers wide—a gaping maw like the eye of a demon, making every onlooker's skin crawl.
Sienna simply shook her head, whispering,
"If the Witch's calculations are correct, that Vilitian sea beast might not even be the strongest creature in these waters."
Moments later, the raging sea settled into an eerie calm.
Everyone's eyes bored into the depths, fixed on the titanic shadow rising toward the surface.
"A dragon? That silhouette… it actually looks like a dragon king."
"How could there be a dragon at the bottom of the sea?"
"That's impossible! Even water-type dragons can't survive at the bottom of a ten-thousand-meter trench!"
Davis and his followers were frozen, eyes wide with horror.
When that shadow finally broke the surface, every face went slack, staring in dumbstruck shock like they'd just spotted an alien.
Summoning some inexplicable dragon king was absurd enough.
But… why the hell was there a person riding on its back?
Wasn't this supposed to be a sea monster?!