Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1442: Mirror of Theras

The voice thundered from the heavens, rolling down from the obsidian surface of the mirror. As Orion looked up, a spectral projection materialized within the glass.

"A Divine Soul."

"He has formed his Divine Soul."

The exclamations came simultaneously from Orion and Edward.

Orion, a warrior whose raw power flirted with the boundaries of the sixth physical stage, instantly recognized the signature. The entity behind the mirror wasn’t just a brute; he was a Third-Stage Demigod who had solidified his spirit into a Divine Soul.

Edward, a Second-Stage Demigod who had ignited his Divine Fire and was currently striving to reach that very same level of spiritual cohesion, recognized it just as quickly.

Following the shock came a collective exhale of relief. Their expressions settled.

As long as it wasn’t a true God wielding a Demigod Artifact, they had a fighting chance. Or at least, that was the calculation Orion and Edward made.

"A Third-Stage Demigod?"

Arthas, Alexander, and Leonidas finally caught up, their faces tightening.

"Third Stage or not," Alexander grunted, hefting his weapon, "we can’t stop him. Not head-on." He spoke for the trio; the gap between their current power and a solidified Divine Soul was an ocean.

"Form up! I’ll take point!" Edward shouted, raising his staff, ready to channel the group’s collective defense.

"Edward. Stand down."

Orion’s voice was calm, cutting through the rising tension like a blade.

Edward, Arthas, Leonidas, and Alexander all turned to stare at their King. Their expressions were a mix of disbelief and fear.

"The last fight didn’t get my blood pumping," Orion said, stepping forward. The air around him began to distort. "I want to see what I can do."

With a single step, he launched himself into the sky, breaking the sound barrier.

"Edward!" Arthas barked, looking to the Deputy for a countermand.

"It’s his choice," Edward said, lowering his staff but keeping his eyes locked on Orion’s ascending figure. "If he wants the fight, let him take it."

Edward’s eyes shimmered with a calculating light.

"Besides... I’ve always been curious about Hulk’s true limits. The Commander always said he was stronger than all of us combined. Don’t you want to see what his ceiling looks like?"

Arthas fell silent. There was no time to argue. Above them, the sky was already burning.

As Orion ascended, his Demigod Avatar erupted into existence. He didn’t just grow; he evolved.

He became a Stoneheart Titan of mythic proportions—a colossus with four heads and eight massive arms, standing tall enough to prop up the heavens.

With a roar that shook the volcanic bedrock, Orion threw all eight fists at the sky.

"Arrogant ant! You dare strike the Mirror of Theras? You seek death!"

A voice dripping with disdain echoed from the mirror. The Third-Stage Demigod, who had laid claim to the Ashenheart Domain, viewed Orion as nothing more than a bug flailing at a windshield.

To him, the Mirror of Theras was invincible. It was a fragment of a weapon once wielded by the Abyssal Demon King Theras himself.

BOOM!

The fists of the Stoneheart Titan collided with the mirror. The impact rippled through the atmosphere, but the glass surface didn’t even vibrate.

"Hahaha... wretched creature. Do you know what this is?" Belthar mocked. "This is the legacy of Lord Theras. You think brute force can shatter it? You are dreaming."

In Belthar’s eyes, Orion’s avatar was impressive, but his actions were pathetic.

"A Demon King’s legacy?"

High in the void, Orion stopped his barrage. Belthar was right; physical force was sliding off the mirror like water off oil.

"My turn," the cold voice announced.

Before Orion could formulate a new plan, a projection shot out of the mirror.

It was a nightmare made manifest.

It had no limbs. It was a floating, grotesque skull—half-demon, half-human bone—with glowing green skin and tusks. Below the head, a tattered black cloak billowed, held aloft by an invisible, skeletal frame.

This was Belthar, the Shadow Wraith, a Third-Stage Demigod.

"A Specter! He belongs to the Undead!"

On the ground, Arthas, a high-ranking Undead himself, identified the creature immediately.

"A Specter? What the hell is that?" Leonidas asked, not taking his eyes off the sky.

"The Undead are classified into five orders," Arthas explained rapidly. "Specters represent the pure Soul order. They have no physical bodies; they exist only as spirits."

"They love to infest Relics and Artifacts," Arthas continued, his voice grim. "It’s the perfect breeding ground for them."

"So, an Artifact Spirit?" Leonidas scoffed.

Arthas rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot. An Artifact Spirit serves the weapon and its master. A Specter parasitizes the weapon. It eats the original spirit and eventually devours the master, too. They are apex predators of the spiritual plane."

Zzzzt!

High above, black lightning began to crackle around Belthar’s cloak. The entity vanished.

"Time to feast," a raspy voice whispered.

Belthar reappeared instantaneously behind Orion’s massive Titan form. He opened his jaws—which unhinged impossibly wide—and clamped down on one of the Titan’s eight arms.

CRUNCH.

The Specter bit clean through the solidified energy of the Stoneheart Avatar. He swallowed the massive arm in two gulps.

"Delicious... oh, simply delicious. I have never tasted such pure Divinity and Faith," Belthar moaned, his voice trembling with gluttony. "I’m going to eat you clean. Every scrap."

"Hehehehe..."

With a bone-chilling cackle, Belthar vanished again, reappearing behind Orion’s primary head, jaws gaping for a fatal strike.

But Orion was a veteran of a thousand wars. The moment he took damage, his instincts screamed.

As the jaws snapped shut, Orion flashed away, putting distance between them. Simultaneously, his remaining seven arms whipped around, hammering the space where he had just been with enough force to shatter a mountain.

The blow connected, blasting the Specter backward.

"Useless! Useless!"

Belthar stabilized in mid-air, unharmed.

"Do you know what a Divine Soul is, little giant?"

"The Divine Soul is the threshold of immortality. As long as my soul remains, I cannot die!"

"Hahahaha!"

Belthar laughed maniacally. He held every advantage: a Third-Stage rank, the protection of the Mirror of Theras, and a spectral form that was nearly immune to physical damage. Against a Second-Stage brute like Orion, he couldn’t lose.

"Immortal? You have a big mouth," Orion growled.

Internally, however, Orion was stunned.

His Avatar wasn’t just rock and muscle; every punch was infused with high-density Divinity. It wasn’t a simple physical collision—it was a clash of energies. Yet, Belthar had shrugged it off as if it were a breeze.

Orion realized the grim truth: his Demigod Avatar, in its current form, could not hurt a Third-Stage Divine Soul.

"Looks like I need to change tactics," Orion muttered, his eyes narrowing.