Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1508: Diamond or a Rock

Deep in the cavern’s recess, Laito felt a jolt of pure adrenaline.

Contact.

Something touched the shell. A rough, calloused hand against the calcified surface.

Laito threw his weight against the inner wall, forcing the heavy egg to rock back and forth. He had to be obvious. He had to prove he wasn’t a dud.

See me! I am alive! I am valuable!

Outside, Ludo the Gnoll froze. His hand was resting on the massive, yard-long egg. In his experience, eggs of this size usually birthed fully grown Insectoid warriors—killing machines ready to tear a throat out the moment the shell cracked.

Ludo raised his scythe, the curved blade glinting in the torchlight. The safest move was to split it open and abort the threat before it drew its first breath.

But the blade stopped inches from the shell.

Ludo cocked his head, his ears twitching. He sniffed the air.

Danger? No.

Malice? None.

Ludo lowered the weapon, his yellow eyes widening. Confusion gave way to a toothy, slobbering grin.

A live egg. A viable giant egg. In the Stoneheart Horde’s markets, biological potential was a currency all its own. If this contained a warrior caste, it was a slave. If it contained something rarer...

"Awoooo!"

Ludo threw his head back and howled—a sharp, rhythmic signal to his pack. Regroup. Loot found.

Moments later, heavy footsteps shook the ground as Redfang barreled into the chamber, with Zhenlo and Bastien close behind.

"Look at this beauty," Ludo chattered, pointing a claw at the rocking egg. "Alive. Heavy. Worth a fortune in slave credits."

As if on cue, Laito threw himself against the shell again, causing the egg to wobble violently.

The mercenaries’ eyes lit up.

"Hah! The spirits are smiling on us today!" Redfang boomed, slapping his thigh. "I knew it! Where there’s a guard, there’s gold. Maybe we got lucky. Maybe that’s a Broodmother in there!"

He was joking, of course. A mercenary squad finding a Broodmother was like a beggar finding a crown in the gutter—statistically impossible.

"Let’s not count the coins before we sell the goods," Zhenlo said, ever the pragmatist. "But we definitely need to get this appraised by the Beastmasters. We can’t let it go for cheap."

"Right. Bag it before it hatches," Bastien added nervously.

Zhenlo reached into his belt and pulled out a leather pouch made of hide that shimmered with a faint, spatial distortion. He opened the drawstring, and the mouth of the bag expanded unnaturally, swallowing the massive egg whole.

"What in the hells is that?" Bastien asked, blinking.

"Easy, rookie," Redfang chuckled, clapping the human on the back hard enough to rattle his teeth. "It’s a Beast-Keeper’s Satchel. Only holds small creatures. Can’t even fit a horse in there. Useless for a real warrior."

Redfang scoffed. "Horde Treasury is full of them. Waste of Merit Points if you ask me."

"That’s why you’re a brute with a big stick and I’m the brains," Zhenlo retorted, pulling the drawstring tight. "It’s a utility item, you oversized lummox. Think about it. Why does the Horde charge so much for them? Convenience."

He patted the pouch, which now weighed no more than a few ounces.

"Unless you wanted to carry a hundred-pound egg back to Stoneheart City in your arms like a baby?"

Redfang opened his mouth, then closed it. "Point taken. Let’s move. We turn in the contract, then head straight to the capital. I don’t trust the novice appraisers in Northguard to know a diamond from a rock."

Inside the satchel, the world vanished.

Laito was suspended in a void of absolute darkness and biting cold. The stasis field locked his physical form, slowing his metabolism to a crawl.

They took me.

Good. They have ambition.

Laito’s consciousness raced. If they’re smart, they’ll sell me to a noble house or a high-ranking mage. Someone with resources. I’ll be hatched in a palace.

But then, panic set in.

Wait. What if they’re idiots?

I heard a Giant. A Gnoll. What if they get hungry on the road? What if they decide to roast me over a campfire?

No, no, no! The Great Laito cannot end as an omelet! I haven’t even unlocked my Legacy yet!

The cold deepened. The sensory deprivation was maddening.

Where am I? Why is it freezing? Did they put me in an icebox? Are they going to forget I’m in here and leave me to rot as a dead egg?

The High Seas, World of Eldoria.

The air above the waves shimmered as Orion stepped out of the ether. Behind him, the Mirror of Theras unfolded like a fan of light, stabilizing his presence.

Before him stood the three Sea Demigods: Coraline, Corren, and Vaelor. They were grouped around a tear in reality—a Void Passage.

"Giant King," Coraline said softly. She had abandoned her translucent, watery avatar for a form of solid, breathtaking divinity clad in emerald silks.

"Aren’t you curious?" she asked, her voice melodic. "The World of Eldoria is surrounded by a Realm Barrier. Don’t you want to know how we bypassed it to open this gate?"

Orion remained silent. Of course he was curious. But asking would reveal ignorance, and ignorance was weakness. Besides, once these interlopers were gone, he and Leonidas would pay the Deputy Commander—Thresh—to completely overhaul the planetary defenses. Thresh had built the arrays for the Valkorath Realm; copying that schematic would be child’s play.

"Did you see them?" Coraline pressed, changing the subject. "The Zeythan Dreadfin Race?"

Orion’s gaze settled on her. She was intelligent, perceptive, and beautiful—a dangerous combination.

"Some truths are reserved for the inner circle," Orion said, his voice low and vibrating with power. A slow, predatory smile touched his lips.

"Do you really want to know?"

He stepped closer, his aura pressing against hers.

"Become my woman. Warm my bed. Pledge your loyalty to me, and I will whisper every secret of this world into your ear."

It was a taunt. A deliberate, arrogant provocation designed to flush the diplomacy out of the conversation.

Coraline’s expression didn’t waver, though a flicker of amusement danced in her eyes.

"The Giant King has a robust sense of humor," she replied smoothly, bowing slightly. "Coraline was merely making conversation. I would not dare pry into your secrets."