The sea lay like glass, smooth and still. Sunlight spilled across its surface, and everything was quiet—too quiet—except for the faint flicker of scattered ripples.
"So salty... so spicy salty!"
Berenice screeched in a high-pitched wail. Her already leaky little home was now flooding on all sides.
Aeloria floated on the water with her snout pointed skyward, her belly so swollen it looked like an overinflated dragon-shaped beach ball.
"Where the hell did you bring me this time?"
A one-armed young man stood up on her bloated belly, blinking in confusion.
Suffocation Immunity!
Suffocation Immunity!
His head and torso had been submerged in seawater, but as he moved, the surrounding ocean parted by itself—almost as if it had a will of its own.
On both sides—US forces and the multinational coalition—everyone froze in disbelief.
Especially the top-tier adventurers from the Australian region.
They stared at the trio—a man, a dragon, and a talking egg—like they'd just seen aliens.
Where was the summoned sea beast?
Murmurs rippled through the ranks. Then, something floated to the surface: massive, red-stained chunks of tentacles—each like a monstrous suction cup dozens of meters long.
The severed limbs burned with black fire, a blaze so potent not even the Endless Sea could extinguish it.
Instead, the fire continued to devour the twitching, half-melted remains.
The altar holder went pale as he scanned the attributes of the remains.
That was the creature they had just summoned.
A quasi-God-tier Vilitian sea monster, so powerful even dragon kings avoided it in open waters.
"OMFG—what is that thing?! That dragon actually ate a pseudo-god?!"
Davis and the Maple Nation adventurers all felt their scalps go numb.
They stared at the one-armed youth, recognizing that all-too-familiar face—a face that haunted their nightmares.
"Wasn't the old Phoenix supposed to send me to Vault Room #11?"
Orson mumbled, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked around at the gathering crowd.
All around him, war machines loomed—some he'd only ever seen on TV before.
A multinational, joint-force welcome party?
"Could it be… that my global reputation has taken another 180 and now I'm adored by adventurers the world over? Beautiful."
Orson looked genuinely thrilled. He knew the past month of hellish combat in Era of Immortals had nearly cost him his life.
Even if his actions hadn't been understood back then—eventually, he believed people would come to see the truth.
Someone, somewhere, would sing of his deeds.
Sienna's shout rang out from atop the Celestial Fortress.
She ignored Sylothor's attempt to stop her and soared down on the back of a radiant crimson divine bird.
"What the—Orson, you bastard, how the hell did you end up here of all places?"
Bradley and Madman were equally shocked. They both popped open their Battle Spaces, summoning two hulking dragon kings that roared to life beside them.
"Huh? You guys are here too? Don't tell me you were the ones who summoned me?"
Orson blinked. His status bar showed an active "Summoned by Altar" buff.
The buff didn't do anything helpful—but it did forcibly teleport the region's strongest lifeform to the battlefield.
Sienna flew straight into his arms, scowling through her tears.
"You trying to leave Emma a widow?!"
"Do you even realize she talks about you constantly? It's always, 'When Orson comes back...' 'He better not get himself killed…'
You know how mentally exhausted I've been?! She's not the one annoying me—you are!"
She punched him square in the chest, eyes gleaming with worry and fury.
Orson winced, letting out an awkward chuckle.
Guess Blank hit her emotional awakening a little earlier than expected.
Punch after punch, each with critical hit-level impact, drove Orson back step by step.
But then, her fist swung through empty air.
His sleeve lifted slightly—and that's when she froze.
"Relax. I'll just off myself later and respawn good as new," Orson said, still smiling like it was no big deal.
"Who the hell wants to see that, you jackass?! You promised you'd be careful!"
Sienna's voice cracked as her nose reddened. She pushed his open arms away in a flustered panic.
Orson opened his mouth to explain, but seeing how genuinely upset she was, he settled for gently patting her head.
"It's alright now. Whatever I set out to find—I found it. I've got enough power now to keep all of you safe."
"Who said I needed your protection…"
She mumbled, tears dripping freely as she finally noticed all the wounds covering his body.
Even Aeloria, normally majestic and untouchable, looked like she'd been through hell.
Her brother wasn't just any adventurer—he was the strongest on the planet.
And now she could only imagine the nightmare he'd endured.
They had been abandoned by the world. By their own parents.
But they'd always had each other.
That warmth—the simple act of standing side by side—meant more to her than anything else.
"I'm here, aren't I?"
Orson ruffled her hair again, purposefully messing it up.
"Ughhh, you're the worst!"
Sienna shrieked, launching another flurry of playful punches.
Aeloria let out a low, guttural growl—not of anger, but deep resonance.
She'd been through this before.
Everyone in Orson's life eventually got "bullied" this way.
"Just wait till we get back—Emma's gonna kill you!"
Sienna sniffled, glancing away with a pout.
But the upward curve of her lips betrayed her.
A wave of flame shimmered nearby as the divine bird beside her transformed into a bald-headed young man, red spear in hand.
He hovered above the waves, raising the ocean temperature to a boiling frenzy.
Despite the chaos, the boy looked honest, even harmless.
"My Lord, you've finally returned. Ignis now stands ready to fight by your side!"
Orson's expression changed instantly.
"Whoa, whoa—nope. Listen, little ancestor, let's just say we're peers, yeah? I'll even call you big bro if you want!"
"And your dad said if I mistreat you again, he's gonna burn Forever City to the ground!"
Ignis blinked in confusion. "Aren't you my dad?"
"…Can we not mess around with the family tree, please?"
Orson was already sweating.
He'd never even signed a master-servant contract with Ignis.
At best, he was like a… part-time foster parent.
Besides, just before returning from that ancient teleportation circle, he had witnessed something truly terrifying.
When Saryantos, that lower-tier god, learned how his only son had been "trained" by Orson, he went absolutely nuclear.
He turned Heaven Dragon City into a hellscape of fire and blood—an Asura realm incarnate.
Orson honestly believed that given enough time, the guy could turn Twin Suns into a burning ocean of death.
Still, before he left, Saryantos had tossed him a bone: a drop of phoenix blood.
Now Orson was immune to drowning and took half damage from water and related magic.
"Damn, even you lost an arm? From three limbs down to two, huh?"
"Orson's built different," Bradley grinned. "Broken body, unbroken will!"
The two jokers chuckled obnoxiously.
Orson ignored them. "That damn place… I'll fill you in later."
They huddled up, quickly exchanging intel.
"I don't know what triggered it, but suddenly all these nations piled in, demanding that we turn you over," Bradley said.
He glanced toward Davis and the Maple Nation delegation.
He and Madman exchanged a glance.
And then both broke into matching evil smirks.
Madman cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled:
"Hey! Blondie! The 'murderer' you're looking for just arrived!"
"So, what's the play now? Should we gift-wrap him for ya, or do you wanna come collect him yourself?"