Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1461: A Meal of Light

"Since you refuse to attack, I suppose it’s my turn."

Makareth extended a long, scarlet tongue, licking his lips in a grotesque pantomime of hunger. In the next instant, his form blurred violently. A shadow detached itself from his flesh—a perfect, silhouette doppelgänger of the Demon.

The shadow possessed no features save for a pair of glowing crimson eyes that radiated crushing pressure.

It flickered out of existence, teleporting instantly behind Albrecht and wrapping its arms around the High Inquisitor in a mockery of an embrace.

"Welcome to the Fragmented World," Makareth’s voice rasped, low and cruel.

Before Albrecht could react, reality warped. He was pulled into a bizarre dimension stripped of all life—no mountains, no rivers, no birds. There was no sky, no earth. Albrecht felt as though he had been trapped inside a sketching, a flat world void of color.

Just as he attempted to probe his surroundings, the world fractured.

And Albrecht fractured with it.

It felt as though his three-dimensional body had been flattened into a sheet of paper, and a dozen invisible hands were tearing him apart from every direction.

Pain. Absolute, fatal agony.

Just as Albrecht regained a shred of consciousness, grateful to have survived the first wave, the second fracture hit.

Pain, then darkness. His consciousness shattered. He was dead.

With the collapse of his mind, his Body of Faith disintegrated.

The attack of a high-ranking Demon was no less terrifying than the power Orion had once wielded.

Back in the material world, as Albrecht died, the shadow clinging to him vanished. Makareth flapped his leathery wings, landing beside the corpse. He unhinged his jaw to a horrific one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and swallowed Albrecht whole.

Belch.

Makareth patted his stomach, his eyes heavy with a drunken, euphoric glaze. He looked ready to pass out.

"Ugh... that Holy attribute really gives me indigestion."

With the battle over and both powerhouse scouts from the Holy Order dead, the war horn had effectively been blown.

" The allied forces haven’t arrived yet. Let’s move to the next drop point."

With Makareth and Elara guarding her, Aina felt an overwhelming sense of safety. Their current objective was to let the undead legion snowball into an unstoppable force and safely usher in their allies.

"Sis, you watch the perimeter. I’m going to take a nap," Makareth mumbled to Elara before shrinking back into the ranks of the Demon legion and falling into a deep slumber.

Titanion Realm, Stoneheart City.

On his throne, Orion opened his eyes and looked North.

Now that the Stoneheart Horde had unified the continent, the entire land was his domain. No significant disturbance could escape his senses.

He had just detected the fleeting aura of a strange Archlord in the central region.

"Too fast," Orion mused.

Even with the resources and territory of the Wormholes Realm, the Insectoid Race couldn’t naturally evolve an Archlord in such a short time. There’s something unnatural about this.

As a Demigod, Orion trusted his judgment.

There were only a few possibilities. One was that the extra-planar Insectoids possessed a secret technique to forcibly elevate their strength. This was unlikely; even a warrior as powerful as the Commander didn’t have such a method.

That left one option: The Broodmother or Insect King that had descended with the Wormholes Realm was already an Archlord or higher. What they had seen in the Wormholes Realm was merely an avatar or a reincarnation.

"The wilds are no longer safe."

"Dace," Orion commanded into the empty air. "Issue the order. Appoint Gustalon as Vice Commander of the Third Legion. Order him to sweep the insect swarms from North to South, starting at Blackstone City."

Kaelen’s Second Legion was sweeping south from Stoneheart, but even with two armies working tirelessly, massive gaps remained.

Currently, the lawless central region was where the Insectoids were most rampant.

Theodore’s territory, the Northern Bastion of Menethis, sat on the edge of this zone, subjecting the city to constant insect raids.

"The sweep isn’t tight enough. The Fourth Legion... needs to wait."

Orion was selective about his Vice Commanders. Both Kaelen and Gustalon had the potential to ascend to Archlord. Orion intended for Dirtclaw to lead the Fourth Legion, but the gnoll was currently secluded in the Stoneheart Temple.

Dirtclaw’s personality—steady, precise, and ruthless—was perfectly suited for these extermination missions.

Orion withdrew his gaze from the north, glanced briefly toward the south, and slowly closed his eyes, returning to his slumber.

South, Soaring Bird City.

Since the Insectoids had taken the city, the bandits and villains who once ruled this roost had mostly failed to escape. They had been devoured, leaving not even bone scraps behind.

Soaring Bird City sat on the most direct route between the Human Kingdoms and the Stoneheart Horde. By occupying it, the swarm had cut off a vital lifeline.

recently, the hidden lairs of the "local emperors"—warlords who had fled the kingdoms to rule over scraps of land—were being discovered and overrun by the growing swarm. Many refugees trying to flee to the Stoneheart Horde for asylum died at the claws of the insects in Soaring Bird City.

The arrival of the Second Legion wasn’t a rescue mission for the warlords. It was a strategic necessity. Soaring Bird City was too close to the Stoneheart Horde; Orion would not allow the swarm to grow unchecked in his backyard.

Ten miles outside Soaring Bird City, beneath the canopy of a dense forest, three men gathered around Kaelen in a command tent.

They were Thundar, Godfrey, and Aldwyn.

Thundar was a veteran of the Giant Tribe, assigned by Orion to provide Kaelen with seasoned counsel. Godfrey and Aldwyn were knights; Godfrey was a high-ranking officer in the volunteer legion, while Aldwyn was the scout who had brought the intelligence on the swarm. Both knew the city’s terrain intimately.

"Your Highness, Soaring Bird City is divided into an Inner and Outer district," Godfrey explained, pointing to a map spread across a rough-hewn table. "The Inner City is mostly palaces and old keeps, designed with secret tunnels and basements. These are the spots most likely to be overlooked."

"According to Horde intelligence, these are also the prime locations for a hive."

He circled the key areas.

"However, the intel provided by the Horde has not confirmed the presence of an Insect King."

"He is either well-hidden, or he doesn’t exist."

Godfrey looked at Aldwyn. He wasn’t doubting the man—as a fellow knight, he trusted Aldwyn’s honor implicitly—but the discrepancy was worrying.

"Your Highness, I guarantee it," Aldwyn insisted. "The night I escaped, I saw the Insectman. He stood on the ramparts, raising a trident and screaming to the sky."

For the current Stoneheart Horde, exterminating a swarm was, in theory, a routine operation.

Between the disciplined army, magical artifacts, and the specialized oil-based incendiary weapons they now possessed, the Second Legion was more than equipped to burn the infestation out.