Ding!

[Level: 11 -> 16 (0/3,400)]

[Combat Score: 15.95 -> 15.95]

[You are the first person to clear a Raid in your Origin Domain.]

[Reward: +50 Reputation Points]

[Reputation Points: 260 -> 310]

As soon as the notification rang out, a new, completely unique prompt appeared in his vision.

Ding!

[The Winter God, Ullr of the Norse Faction, has taken a keen interest in you.]

[However, he realizes that you already possess the Aura of the Frost Monarch.]

[He is demanding you select another person to receive his blessing.]

’Damn,’ Caelus thought in surprise.

No wonder everyone was desperately teaming up to be the first to defeat the Frost Giant. They all wanted the Winter God’s blessing.

Without hesitation, he chose Sylvia.

In Sylvia’s vision, a barrage of new notifications suddenly appeared.

Ding!

[You have obtained the Upper A-Rank Talent: Frost Monarch.]

[You have obtained the Skill: Frost Impact (Epic, 2-Star).]

[You have obtained the Skill: Sub-Zero (Epic, 2-Star).]

[Frost Impact (Epic, 2-Star): Freeze the moisture in the air to create a dense ball of frost. Consumes mana to deal massive piercing damage.] [Cost: 15 MP]

[Sub-Zero (Epic, 2-Star): Freeze even the hottest volcano by utilizing this absolute zero skill.] [Cost: Varies depending on the ambient temperature. If it is naturally snowing around you, the cost is 0 MP.]

"I got your talent, Caelus," Sylvia said, her red eyes widening in pure surprise.

"Indeed," Caelus smiled. "Congratulations and it seems like the skills you obtained was different from mine."

An Upper A-Rank Talent. This would make it Sylvia’s third talent after previously obtaining Projection Frame. She was getting incredibly strong.

Just then, Caelus heard Ryan, one of the royals, exclaiming something in absolute panic.

"Our sister... She is gone!" Ryan shouted, frantically checking his party interface.

The Regressors and the other royal lackeys immediately froze in shock.

Even Caelus was slightly surprised by this. He casually glanced over at Sylvia, only to see her innocently whistling while looking up at the snowy sky. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He sighed inwardly but did not say anything. He was going to eliminate Isolde anyway. Sylvia just saved him the trouble.

"Stop making a big deal out of it," Caelus spoke lazily. "I am sure your sister also had a life-saving treasure with her."

"You!" Ryan roared, glaring at Caelus with bloodshot eyes. "Was it you, Player 555?! You dare to harm the royals?! First it was our brother Sebastian, and now my sister Isolde!"

"Yeah? Buddy, this is the Origin Domain. Not your Royal House’s backyard where you can just do as you please."

As he spoke, Caelus casually unleashed a wave of his sword energy.

The two Silver-ranked Regressors seeing this immediately frowned. They blurred, arriving right in front of Caelus to deflect his attack and protect Ryan.

But before they could even raise their weapons, a flash of overloaded lightning and hollow fire sheared through their bodies. They fell to the ground, completely dead.

"You... How are you so strong?!" Ryan shouted, his face turning pale as he stumbled backward.

"The power of friendship," Caelus said deadpan.

He waved his hand. The Origin Light Sword shot forward as a blur. The following moment, Ryan’s head rolled onto the snow.

"You will know better than to make an enemy out of the Royal Family, Player 555!" Theron stuttered, his arrogant facade completely shattering. He fell to his knees. "Spare me! I will follow you from now on!"

"No," Caelus replied with a smile.

SLASH.

Theron’s avatar shattered into light.

Ding!

[Server Announcement: Region Cluster 312’s Region Lord has been eliminated. It will now merge with Region Cluster 513.]

Caelus slowly turned his gaze to the remaining players. James, Cyrus, and the other top rankers.

"Either surrender your Lordship right now, or I take it by force," Caelus commanded.

"We will give it to you! Just take it!" James and Cyrus trembled violently as they hastily opened their interfaces and handed their Lordship titles over to him.

Unlike the royals, they did not have any life-saving treasures to rely on. Dying here meant permanent death.

Ding!

[Server Announcement: Player 555 has unified the Region Domain. The Region Domain’s name has been changed to: Region Domain 513.]

[Rearranging Player IDs. Player ID 555 and Player 222 have been automatically bound to their previous owners. Other citizens will now receive new randomized IDs.]

[The Region Domain is effectively at Region Tier 2. Automatically upgrading all affiliated towns to match the region level.]

[The newly merged players have received the +5 Combat Score Buff.]

With the entire region now firmly under his control, Caelus and Sylvia walked back through the blizzard to meet with the mysterious figure holding the lantern. As for the Boss, he used extraction but got nothing.

"Oh, you are back," the hooded figure said, his raspy voice cutting through the cold wind. "Here, take your reward."

Ding!

[You have completed the Mysterious Figure’s Quest.]

[You have obtained the following rewards:]

[1. +5 Levels]

[2. Map to the Kingdom of Snow]

[3. Frostbite Lantern (Rare, 3-Star)]

[4. EXP Card (Legendary, 3-Star)]

[5. Ascension Token (3-Star)]

[6. Town Building Update]

[Level: 16 -> 21 (Capped)]

[Combat Score: 15.95 -> 15.96]

Just as quickly as he handed over the items, the mysterious figure vanished into the swirling snow.

"Let’s advance to Bronze III," Caelus said, not paying the NPC’s disappearance any heed. Sylvia readily nodded.

Ding!

[Ascension initiated.]

[Your Divine Halo, Fighting Spirit, and Chaos Ring are being recalibrated.]

[+100, +2, +50]

[Your Tier 2 Region Domain Combat Score buff of +5 is active.]

[Your Chaos Faction buff of +6 Combat Score is active.]

[+163 Combat Score]

[Combat Score: 15.96 -> 1.19 (Silver II)]

Once they were done ascending, Caelus looked at the newly acquired Town Building Update.

It was an incredible feature. It allowed the Region Lord to mass-install defensive structures and adjust town layouts remotely. It was exactly like a strategy game where you could pay Resource Points to instantly place down buildings across your entire personal kingdom.

He could either use his banked Resource Points or use existing physical materials.

He could also grant permissions to others to do it for him. They could rearrange everything in his Region Domain to make it more aesthetically pleasing or tactically sound. What was most important was that placing them down via the system interface no longer required a dedicated Engineer or Blacksmith to physically be there.

"The Origin Domain without updates is so primitive. What is next? Making the four hidden dimensional stats visible?" Caelus muttered. He really felt like the early phases were just a massive testing ground.

Then, Caelus went ahead and opened the Random Profession Skill Card he had received from the Raid Boss.

Ding!

[You have received a Blacksmith Profession Skill: Apex Forging (Tier 2: Bronze I)]

[Apex Forging (Tier 2: Bronze I): Merge a lower-ranking weapon with a higher-ranking one by using high-grade ores to bypass rank caps.]

"Damn. Sylvia, I got my hands on something incredibly good. Look at this," Caelus said, happily sharing the skill description with her.

"We just need to find some raw ores at the Silver II rank. Then we can use this skill to perfectly bring back the effects of our old Origin Light Set and your Blood-Moon Set," Caelus said with a bright smile.

"But before we worry about crafting, let’s open the Raid Chest."

Sylvia nodded excitedly. Caelus retrieved the glowing Epic chest from his inventory and popped the lid open.

...

Ding!

[You have opened the Raid Chest.]

[You have obtained: Armor Set Card (Rare)]

[You have obtained: MOD - Frost Monarch (EPIC)]

[You have obtained 10x Mod Fragments]

[Replacing your MOD: Golden Light with MOD: Frost Monarch...]