31: Ascension Elixir 

Meanwhile, Empress and her team noticed Orson locked in a fierce battle. 

LuckyBird: "That mage… he seems to be getting ganged up on by NPCs. Should we go over and take a look?" 

SpeechlessFace: "Are you kidding? Why would we help a competitor? He got himself marked as a red name and now NPCs are beating him up. How's that our problem?" 

LuckyBird: "...Fair point. But we should hurry up. Those anonymous players might already have their hands on the boss." 

The five remaining members of the Moonlight Guild, survivors of the earlier attack, were now a significant force vying for the injured boss. 

With Dragon's Kiss Guild and Usher's team crippled by Orson, Moonlight Guild found themselves among the strongest contenders. 

Empress hesitated. She admired Orson's skill and boldness, and perhaps forging a friendship could draw him into their guild. However, her guildmates strongly opposed assisting Orson and vetoed her suggestion. 

Reluctantly, Empress chose to respect the team's consensus for the greater good. 

---

Elsewhere, Orson, supposedly outnumbered and beaten, held a decisive upper hand. 

He danced around the battlefield, weaving in and out of range, dealing continuous AoE damage with relentless precision. 

Aimed shots to the head broke the earth mage NPC's defenses, obliterating its skull in a shower of arcane energy. 

With precise timing, he activated Radiant Sun Shields to block heavy strikes and seamlessly retreated, weaving in basic attacks to trigger Blazing Burn. 

-1440! 

-1440! 

… 

Heavy-armored swordsman NPC Lujianjia roared, his movement speed spiking as he raised his massive greatsword and unleashed Savage Combo Strikes. 

Orson's expression tightened as three of his shields were destroyed in quick succession. 

-119! 

His health dropped by a third. 

Orson frowned. He had underestimated them. 

These NPCs weren't especially powerful but each had their trump cards. Savage Combo Strikes alone dealt over 2,000 damage—a near-lethal blow. 

Fortunately, Orson's strategy to prioritize the mage NPC paid off. Eliminating the highest-damage threat first prevented a disastrous situation where the three NPCs could focus-fire him. 

Now, Orson refused to leave any room for error. He held back his only knockback skill, Flameblast, timing its use to disrupt Lujianjia's approach while maintaining a punishing hit-and-run style. 

---

"You have killed Lord Kain's Guard. EXP +5000!" 

"You have killed Lord Kain's Mage. EXP +…" 

Ten minutes later, Orson wiped out all three NPCs. He waved his hand and activated his party leader privilege, looting everything into his inventory without delay. 

Exhausted, Orson plopped down and activated Meditation to recover mana. 

---

"Due to killing NPCs under Lord Kain, Sin Value +10,000. Reputation +4,000!" 

A system notification popped up. Killing NPCs incurred sin values thirty times higher than killing regular players. Orson's name, once faintly red, now turned a deep purple. 

His total sin value hit 11,300, making him an infamous red-name player. To clear his record, he'd have to kill monsters equal to the sin value—a colossal grind. 

---

"Villain achievement unlocked. Regional announcement imminent. Do you wish to remain anonymous or hide the cause?" 

"I'll go public, but hide the details," Orson chuckled. 

He wouldn't pass up the chance to get some free publicity. However, to avoid tipping off Lord Kain, he opted to obscure the reason for the announcement. 

---

[Regional Announcement]: 

Player Orson has committed heinous acts, unlocking the Villain achievement and earning the title [Vile Tyrant]. Players are encouraged to hunt him down on sight. 

[Regional Announcement]... 

---

HoldByHolder: "Here we go again. What did this guy do now? Who pissed him off this time? That title requires over 10k sin value to unlock." 

8littleP: "Damn! Big bro's savage! Truly the model red-name player. I'm obsessed!" 

… 

Players were dumbfounded. Orgod's antics kept escalating to new heights. Even the system couldn't take it anymore, encouraging everyone to kill him. 

But who dared? The guy had solo-killed Usher, the Dragon's Kiss Guild leader, and now had a villain title to boot. Taking him down would be no easy feat. 

---

"Vile Tyrant… It suits him perfectly." 

Empress stared at the announcement in astonishment. Nearby Moonlight Guild members who'd criticized Orson earlier were utterly stunned. 

SpeechlessFace: "You mean to tell me… that guy killed the NPCs? Are NPCs really this weak?" 

The Moonlight Guild party exchanged awkward glances. They'd assumed NPCs were dominating a helpless player, only to realize it was Orson who had singlehandedly wiped out the NPCs. 

---

"Didn't plan on playing red-name… but I'm broke," Orson sighed and inspected his new title. 

---

[Vile Tyrant] 

Effect 1: Killing players increases their loot drop rate by 10%. 

Effect 2: Killing NPCs increases their loot drop rate by 50%. 

Penalty: Upon death, all equipment, items, and gold will drop. 

---

Orson flinched at the penalty. This title was both a blessing and a curse. On the bright side, killing NPCs was now incredibly lucrative. On the downside, dying meant losing everything—including his underwear. 

"Nice!" 

His haul from the NPCs didn't disappoint: 

Four heroic-tier gear items, nine skill books. 

Among them, two were upgrades for C-tier magic, while the rest belonged to other classes. He planned to auction those off. 

Additionally, three heroic-tier armor pieces and a priest's staff—all Level 20—could easily fetch 2,000 gold if sold together. 

---

"Wait… What's this?" 

Orson's brow furrowed as he unearthed two peculiar quest items from his inventory. 

---

Quest Item: Barrier Stone 

Use: One piece of the Six-Sided Barrier Formation. Returning it to its proper position will restore the barrier. 

---

Confused, Orson checked the [Night Banquet] quest tracker. 

Barrier Stone: 1/1. 

One of the objectives was already marked as complete. 

"Wait… Didn't the Lord claim the boss had stolen the Barrier Stones?" 

Orson smelled something fishy. Pair this with the Lord's attempts to lure players into danger, and it became clear: the Lord intended to manipulate players into killing the boss and "retrieving" the stone… which had been with the NPCs all along. 

"Such a sneaky bastard…" 

---

Rummaging further, Orson uncovered an old vial. 

---

Quest Item: Soul Collection Bottle 

Use: Collect the souls of 20 elite-tier bosses to synthesize a [Ascension Elixir]. 

The more powerful the bosses, the greater the elixir's effects. Only usable by NPCs. 

---

"Holy crap! Ascension Elixir!" 

Orson's pulse quickened. He immediately recalled a major event from his past life—the Demonic Surge Invasion. 

During this first large-scale event, multiple major cities, including Pondnorlin City, had their barriers shattered by relentless demon waves. 

Lord Kain had suddenly appeared, wielding incredible power to assist players in defending the city. Thinking back, Orson realized the truth: the Soul Collection Bottle wasn't for assisting players. It was for the Lord's own purposes—to create the Ascension Elixir. 

---

With this elixir, NPCs could ascend to demonic forms. Many years later, during the hardcore trials, even NPCs would betray humanity after consuming such elixirs. 

"Lord Kain, you sly bastard. Plotting ascension from the very start." Orson sneered. 

---

Now understanding everything, Orson turned to Blank, disappointed. 

"This is it? The great God-tier assassin? Pathetic." 

Throughout the fight, Blank stood like a soulless doll—neither assisting him nor betraying him to sell his position. 

"Blank, you're wasting my time," Orson said as he approached her. 

---

Blank grabbed a handful of dirt, her voice low: "Don't you think all of this feels too real?" 

"I know." 

Orson's face darkened. He had hoped Blank would be pivotal to his upcoming plans, but her current state proved she wasn't up to the task. 

"Then how can you act so decisively? Have you… killed before in real life?" Blank asked, her brows furrowed, her captivating face tinged with unease. 

Orson smiled, shaking his head as he strode toward the boss's lair. His laughter echoed meaningfully: 

"Who cares if I've killed or not? I act decisively because I don't want to die." 

"You're too soft. Get lost." 

Blank's eyes widened, but before she could speak, a searing fireball struck her directly. 

Blank's expression shifted

from shock to resignation as the flames consumed her. Staring at Orson, she murmured: 

"Next time, when I come for revenge… you'd better keep that cocky attitude."