Adrian directly went to Aurgelmir's forge and could see that the frost giant is making his finishing touches. This is actually one of the rare times where you can see a frost giant sweating. The hard work and dedication is definitely visible if you look at the frost giant's state right now.
Adrian wanted to wait patiently but he already exceeded his log-in time. He went to search for the Ice Queen Elona as she would be the only one capable of protecting him now. He is a bit thankful though that the Arch Lich retreated due to unforeseen events but in the back of his mind he knows that it is not for the best.
Adrian logged out and did not hear the in-game world message about the Lich King being revived but he read it all on the forums the next day he woke up. He thought that it was strange that the Arch Lich retreated and he speculated that their undead faction is currently outmatched so they revived the Lich King.
Adrian did not have much information of the Lich King as even the Undead King has blurry memory towards it. The undead king did say that in terms of danger level that the Lich King is a hundred times more powerful but the Arch Lich Malus is a world ending danger by himself.
"I am pretty sure that the Lich King would not be more powerful than the Arch Lich as of now as the Undead King did say that he was weakened when he was freshly released from his seal. Uhhh! Another headache. Maybe I should take a hiatus from the game and let someone else do my job." Adrian stated as he seriously considered lessening his headache.
"Today is therapy session anyway. Calm yourself. Too much stress would increase my chance of an episode." Adrian stated as he went downstairs.
====
Meanwhile at a futuristic building inside a room that has only holographic monitors, some people could be seen crying. They were not crying tears of joy but actually tears of frustration. Even their chief could be seen weeping his heavy eyes. The chief now resembles a panda due to how much overtime they did.
"Why has no one reported that the Cursed Finger was no longer in its hiding place!?" the chief yelled out loud to vent his frustration.
The chief calmed himself down as the super AI managed to redirect the situation by killing all of the witnesses. The super AI Deus controlled the Arch Lich so that the future expansion would not happen so suddenly. The only problem was that some managed to get a glimpse of the Cursed Finger but then their worst fears came true.
By a twist of fate, the Arch Lich was left with only one option and that was using the Cursed Finger in order to escape the Quantum Corridor. The Arch Lich would have easily escaped the Quantum Corridor given a day but the Nether Energy was a big miscalculation by its AI.
The chief did not know whether to be amazed or enrage by a player's ingenuity in using the energies present in the game. He is impressed because even alchemists in game have yet to do that. The chief did see that the player Equinox' sub job class Scribe helped in making it happen but it is still quite a feat.
"Put the player Equinox in the always to be observed list. We need to act fast if he somehow unlocks another expansion without us knowing." The chief said as he rubbed his temples.
"Chief, it seems that he might unlock the undead character creation after his quest." An employee with a futuristic visor stated.
"That is fine. We at least expected that because the undead are the first step in Project Deva. What about Eldritch? What did he do to the Cursed Finger?" The chief asked as he knows that the Cursed Finger is a key item to unlock the last step in Project Deva.
"He used the key to unlock the Lich King but we issued that the AI use a choice option as a next quest for him." The employee with the futuristic visor stated.
"So what was the choice he selected?" The chief asked as he needed to revise the next steps they needed depending on Eldritch' choice.
"He chose the option to use the Lich King or Star Mother as a power source instead of helping it return to full power. The only problem is that he managed to get in contact with one of the most powerful dark gods which is Azathoth." The employee with a futuristic visor replied.
"Azathoth is not much of a problem as of now. It is dubbed as the 'blind idiot god' and supreme gods are controlled by us and the AI directly. We will have enough leeway. I can finally apply for a vacation." The chief stated while he lowered his volume on the last sentence.
====
Adrian finally arrived back at home after the therapy session. The session is not that difficult as he was mainly just asked questions and all he needed was to answer honestly. He did try to be as honest to the best of his abilities as long as he could remember all the things that the doctor asked.
Some of the questions are mainly about the past but all Adrian could remember is him playing Pandemonium. It seems that he finally became a gaming addict but he did say that he was having fun. The doctor did say that happiness is a cure in and of itself.
He finally is able to log back into the game and is just in time for the grand finale. One would expect that the last swing of a blacksmith would be full of force like he is pounding it with all his strength but the frost giant's last strike is different.
Aurgelmir swung high but the hammer descended in such a slow motion as if Adrian applied Chrono Lag on the frost giant's arm. The frost giant just did a simple tap but it felt like that tap had the power of an exploding star. The hammer strike did not result in the usual clanging sound but the sound of something like a beautiful chime.
A shockwave of powerful energy is once again released unto the world but this time it felt clear. This is what usually happens when a Transcendent tier item is born into the world. It is clearly felt by all the people regardless of ability or energy understanding.
The Crown of the Undead floated mid-air like it was alive. Adrian wanted to touch it but Aurgelmir stopped him from doing so.
"You cannot just touch Transcendent items casually. They are already are born with egos and know who their master is if their owner has yet to perish." Aurgelmir warned.
"How am I going to put it in my inventory then?" Adrian stated out loud.
"Inventory? Do you mean subspace magic? You just need to envision it being absorbed inside your subspace then it would enter it. You are a demon after all. Your race basically manipulates space. " Aurgelmir stated which came as a shocker towards Adrian.
Adrian envisioned the crown that is floating being absorbed into his inventory and it actually did. A system prompt then appeared.
[You are currently holding a Transcendent Quest Item.]
[If you die then the quest item will be dropped from your inventory.]
[You will fail your quest if you drop the quest item and not retrieve it in under 24 hours.]
Adrian did not dread the system notification as he only needed to call Creepysoo to fetch him. Adrian took out a shrunken head from his inventory. Adrian fiddled with it a bit before knocking on it a few times and to his surprise it actually said 'Ouch!'
"Contact Du'an" Adrian stated.
"Yes, Champion Equinox?" Du'an answered.
"The crown is finally fixed. Can you pick me up?" Adrian stated and even before Du'an replied a portal already appeared behind him.
Du'an came out of the portal along with two death knights. It seems that the crown is of the utmost importance right now. Du'an bowed to the frost giant and gave a few thankful messages. Adrian also bowed to the Ice Queen Elona.
"You can do it, grandma. I am rooting on you. You need to up your game for the old man to notice you." Adrian teased the Ice Queen before he stepped inside of the portal.
"Yah! You brat! Do not forget your promise." The Ice Queen stated while her cheeks becoming red.
====
Adrian, Du'an and the death knight are all transported directly to the throne room of the castle of the undead king. The doom knights were all battle ready in case an intruder entered the portal but they were all ordered to be at ease once the needed people arrived.
Adrian took out the crown from his inventory. Just like Aurgelmir said, the crown immediately flew towards the Undead King. When the crown is situated on the head of the Undead King, he radiated an aura so regal that made all the undead bow.