Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1397: The Chitinous Tide

Titanion Realm — Blood Elf Territory

This region was a rugged tapestry of dense ancient forests and sweeping grasslands. It was beautiful, but the terrain was complex, a haven for beasts and venomous insects.

Fortunately for the caravan, the Raptor Cavalry Regiment was riding point. The massive war-mounts tore through the underbrush, trampling beasts and crushing insect swarms into paste before they could pose a threat.

To Tristan Greymount, protected behind this wall of steel and scales, the world looked like a painting. Every leaf, every wildflower, every shaft of sunlight piercing the canopy felt profound.

"Young Master, the mercenaries say that once we clear this forest, we’ll be crossing the border," Adelina said. Her voice trembled with excitement.

She had heard the stories her master told about the Stoneheart Horde. To her, crossing that border meant salvation. It meant they were untouchable.

"Adelina, do you not appreciate the view?" Tristan asked, breathing in deeply. "This is the territory of the Blood Elves. Can you not feel it? The forest calms the mind. It purifies the spirit."

He closed his eyes, savoring the air. "The very atmosphere is humming with mana. Can you feel the elements dancing?"

Since the invasion of the other worlds, the Titanion Realm had changed. The cataclysm had shifted the ley lines, saturating the air with magic that had once been scarce. Now, the forest felt alive, vibrating with latent power.

"Young Master, with all due respect, the Stoneheart Horde is just ahead," Adelina pressed, ignoring his poetry. She gripped the reins of her mount tightly. "We are almost safe."

Compared to Tristan’s romanticism, Adelina was pragmatically focused on simply staying alive.

"Relax, Adelina," Tristan chuckled, shaking his head. "Look around you."

Tristan Greymount found Adelina’s anxiety entirely misplaced.

Marching ahead of them was the Raptor Cavalry Regiment of the Stoneheart Horde. On this continent, Tristan was certain no one had the spine to target such a force.

So, Tristan relaxed. He spent the journey admiring the wildflowers, the scenery, and, of course, Adelina.

"Young Master, do you think your father and the others reached Stoneheart City safely?"

"Relax. If anyone can survive, it’s that old man. He’s too stubborn to die."

"But..."

Adelina’s sentence was cut short by a low, vibrating hum rolling out from the depths of the forest.

Bzzzzzzzzzt.

It was the unmistakable sound of millions of wings beating in unison.

Tristan, who had been lounging in the carriage, bolted upright. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the tree line.

"Man dares not strike, so nature takes its turn?" he muttered.

At the rear of the convoy, the Blood and Fire Mercenary Corps sensed the shift instantly.

"Brundar! Stoutgut! Bloodear! Weapons up!"

Godfrey was the first to react. As a seasoned veteran, he knew the drill. The convoy was stretched thin, and the Raptor Cavalry was miles ahead at the vanguard. Predators always targeted the stragglers first.

Near the center, guarding the royal carriage, Kronos felt the disturbance in the air. His aura flared.

"Halt! Defensive positions!" Kronos’s voice boomed through the ranks.

But the order was redundant. Ahead, the Raptor Cavalry was already wheeling around, their mounts screeching as they fell back into a defensive phalanx. Rolan had sensed the threat seconds before anyone else.

The hum grew into a roar. The sky above the forest darkened as a living cloud blotted out the sun.

"Leafmaws!" someone screamed.

"Holy crap! Since when do Leafmaws get that big?!"

"It’s a swarm! Incoming!"

The convoy was packed with veteran mercenaries and bloodline warriors. They recognized the enemy immediately. Leafmaws—voracious beetles that stripped forests and crops to the bone. Normally a nuisance, but in these numbers, they were a plague. A single queen could birth hundreds of larvae at once, and they matured in weeks.

ROAR!

The Abyssal Dragon and the Raptors shrieked challenges at the buzzing cloud, the primal noises mixing into a cacophony of war.

"A swarm of this size means there’s a King or a Queen driving them," Rolan’s voice cut through the panic, calm and commanding. He was already moving. "You lot, stay here and guard the Prince!"

He signaled his personal Protectors—elite veterans forged in the fires of invasion—to hold the line.

Rolan spurred his Abyssal Dragon. He led a strike team of Raptor Knights straight into the heart of the incoming black cloud.

"Mother, it’s a swarm," Kronos said, leaping onto the carriage to shield Ava.

"Garrett, Lambert, Klythia, Drustan! Protect the... Prince!" Ava corrected herself mid-sentence. Soaring Bird City was gone. Her son was royalty now.

"At once, my Lady!"

The retainers of the former Soaring Bird City moved with practiced efficiency, forming a triple-layered shield wall around the carriage.

As the swarm descended, the buzzing shifted to a terrifying, metallic grinding noise.

Skree-skree-skree.

It was the sound of mandibles clacking and chitin rubbing against chitin. They were sharpening their weapons.

"Lambert," Ava ordered, her voice steel. "Order the Soaring Bird Guards to shield the civilians. Tell them these bugs are weak individually. Any man with a stick can kill one. Mobilize every able-bodied male to defend their families!"

Ava knew they were close to the Stoneheart territory. She refused to let this migration fail at the finish line.

At the rear, Godfrey and his lieutenants tightened their grip on their weapons.

"The noise is closing in. Ground level, too. Lots of small impacts. Things are jumping through the brush," Bloodear reported, his gnoll ears twitching frantically.

"Air and ground assault," Godfrey grunted. "Standard swarm tactics. Larvae on the ground, adults in the air."

"Hold the line!" Godfrey drew his greatsword, stepping in front of Tristan and Adelina’s carriage. "The Blood and Fire Mercenary Corps doesn’t lose clients. Not today!"

"Shields up! Crossbows, loose!"

The air filled with the thrum of bowstrings and the thwack of bolts hitting chitin. The battle erupted instantly.

Mercenaries swung axes and swords, chopping through the carapace of the diving beetles. Spears transfixed leaping larvae mid-air. It was a meat grinder.

Deep in the forest, Rolan was a force of nature. Standing atop his Abyssal Dragon, he wielded his trident like a god of war. His mount smashed through ancient trees, carving a path of destruction.

Behind him, the Lancer Raptor Cavalry worked in lethal synchronization. They skewered the Leafmaws with precision, their mounts snapping jaws to catch and crush the beetles, swallowing them whole for a quick stamina boost.

The Stoneheart Horde was no stranger to insect plagues. Since the Cataclysm, the Horde had organized extermination squads to purge their territory. Rolan knew exactly how to dismantle a swarm.