Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1416: No Mercy

"Master, I’ve found a treasure!"

When it came to business, Lorelia’s excitement was infectious.

"Come, Master! You have to see this. I’ve discovered a new territory."

She grabbed Orion’s hand and practically dragged him deeper into the earth.

They descended into a labyrinth of subterranean trenches where Lorelia’s original nest was located. Now, however, a new feature marred the landscape right beside her lair: a pitch-black, bottomless pit that hadn’t been there the day before.

"Right here. It opened last night," Lorelia said.

Before Orion could respond, she released his hand and leaped. She dove into the darkness with the grace of a koi slipping into a pond, vanishing instantly.

The Wormholes Realm, Core Zone.

It was a grotesque, alien dimension. The topography resembled a colossal, organic honeycomb, the landscape pitted with innumerable craters.

Inside these craters lay pools of a gelatinous, paste-like substance—nutrient gel designed to fuel the rapid evolution of insectoids.

Lorelia moved through the realm without resistance, heading straight for the largest crater at the center. Lying within was a golden, fleshy grub, roughly four inches long.

"Zerin! Big Sister has come to visit!"

Lorelia skittered up to the golden worm, giggling as she reached out to poke its soft, segmented body.

The golden worm stirred, sensing the disturbance. It began to open its eyes.

Smack!

Lorelia delivered a vicious slap, instantly knocking the creature unconscious. It rolled onto its back, exposing a belly etched with countless golden runes.

"Oops. I forgot Master is coming for an inspection," Lorelia whispered conspiratorially. "Little brother Zerin, it’s better if you sleep through it. Hee hee!"

It was the laugh of a true Demon.

At that moment, space distorted in the distance. Orion stepped into the Wormholes.

"This sensation..."

Demigod suppression?

The moment Orion crossed the threshold, a strange, hostile force slammed into him. The realm itself seemed to reject his presence, attempting to bind him and expel him from its borders.

But the attempt was futile. The suppression came fast, but Orion’s reaction was faster. He flared his own divine aura, shattering the invisible shackles instantly.

"Interesting. A selective barrier targeting anything Demigod-tier or higher?"

Orion stood his ground, extending his senses. He analyzed the structure of the Wormholes while observing the effects of the suppression.

Lorelia, a Broodmother, faced no resistance here. Yet Orion had to fight for every step upon entry.

Is this a natural law of this pocket dimension, or a restriction placed by the invaders?

Orion leaned toward the latter. The targeting was too specific.

"Hmph."

He took a single step, warping space to appear instantly at Lorelia’s side.

"Master! It’s this little wretch," Lorelia cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at the unconscious grub. "He sneaked into my dreams last night! He tried to abduct me, to drag me to his lair for unspeakable reasons! If I weren’t so clever, you might never have seen me again!"

She wailed dramatically, wiping fake tears and snot on Orion’s armor.

Orion rolled his eyes. The creature before him was a Larva. Lorelia was a prehistoric apex predator. The idea of the grub kidnapping her was laughable; if anything, Zerin was the one who had been duped.

Seeing that her performance wasn’t garnering the desired sympathy, Lorelia dropped the act immediately. She leaned in close to Orion, her expression turning deadly serious.

"Master, this little thing smells incredibly nutritious. Rich in protein."

She licked her lips, saliva pooling in her mouth. "Shall we roast him?"

She was entirely serious.

"Forget it. He’s tiny. Roasting him would render all the fat out," she muttered, answering her own question. "Better to give him to Ursa. She can steam him. Maybe with a nice dipping sauce..."

Lorelia’s eyes began to glow as her appetite took over. She reached out, her claws inching toward the golden worm.

Smack.

Orion swatted her hand away.

"I have a use for this thing. It stays alive." He gestured to the surrounding pits. "Those pools contain high-grade nutrients. Go see if your spider-kin can make use of them."

Orion crouched, his gaze fixed on the golden larva.

"Oh..."

Denied her snack and given a chore, Lorelia pouted. Reluctantly, she turned and skittered off to inspect the slime pits.

Once she was gone, Orion narrowed his eyes. He reached down and picked up the unconscious Zerin.

It was just a Larva, currently comatose thanks to Lorelia’s heavy hand.

Orion recalled a technique he had acquired some time ago: Devouring Avatar.

It was a dark art that allowed the user to devour the soul of a juvenile creature and seize its body as a secondary vessel. The technique had a strict limitation: the target had to be unconscious for the possession to have a hundred percent success rate. If the subject was awake and resisting, the chances of success plummeted.

Orion needed answers about the enemy, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Without hesitation, a brilliant crimson light erupted from Orion’s hand, spinning around the golden worm like a cocoon.

The next moment, Orion projected his consciousness into the creature.

Inside the Mindscape.

Zerin’s sea of consciousness felt familiar.

It was a near-perfect replica of the Wormholes realm Orion had just physically entered. Since Zerin had likely been born within that dimension, his mind could conceive of nothing else.

"Who are you?"

A hazy, infant-like projection hovered in the void—the manifestation of Zerin’s soul.

Orion looked down at the spirit. It was weak. As a larval form of the insectoid race, its consciousness was unformed and fragile.

If Orion couldn’t devour something this insignificant, he had no business calling himself a Demigod.

"Let’s see what you are really planning."

Orion didn’t bother to answer Zerin. He offered no pity.

They were enemies. In war, there is no distinction between the old and the young, only the living and the dead. History was littered with the corpses of conquerors who had hesitated out of mercy.

WAAAGH!

The mental projection of the Stoneheart Titan bellowed.

The roar shook the foundations of the mindscape. Suddenly, a colossal figure materialized above Zerin—a Titan with four heads and eight arms, its skin etched with blinding golden runes. Its head scraped the zenith of the mental realm.

Squelch.

Zerin died.

His consciousness was obliterated instantly.

Orion hadn’t even attacked. He had simply taken a step forward, and the sheer weight of his soul crushed Zerin’s existence into nothingness.

The gap between them was not one of degree; it was one of dimension.

As Zerin vanished, Orion’s titanic form shrank rapidly, walking to the spot where the infant soul had dissipated. He inhaled, absorbing every fragment of the Larva’s scattered memories.