Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1543: Absolute Lockdown

"No one knows exactly what is coming, so it never hurts to be prepared."

The cataclysm had already begun, and it would spare no one.

"Pass down the order. In three days, every major city in the Horde goes into absolute lockdown. No one gets in, no one gets out."

"Send word to the scattered outland clans. Tell them to evacuate to the nearest fortified city immediately. Warn them that the realms are colliding. If they ignore the summons, their blood is on their own hands."

Orion’s tone was frigid. He was a king, and a king had obligations. Half a day without a sun wasn’t enough to spook the veteran clans. The northern tribes, having endured months of polar nights, might shrug off the current darkness as a natural phenomenon. They needed to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Next, sound the war horns across all cities. Mobilize the garrisons and the volunteer legions. Prepare for immediate combat."

"Unseal the teleportation gates between the major cities to let our people retrieve their distant families."

"Finally, issue a public decree: for the duration of the war, the Horde’s royal vaults are open to anyone possessing military merits. No restrictions on status, gender, age, or origin."

Orion rattled off the commands with machine-gun precision. Behind him, under Lilith’s coordination, the women claimed the tasks best suited to their expertise and scattered to execute his will.

Half a day later, the news had swept through Stoneheart City, transforming the capital into a buzzing hive of activity. Surprisingly, the atmosphere wasn’t thick with terror or panic—it was electric with excitement.

This was especially true in establishments like Seeker and the Silent Goblet. The faces haunting these places were lit up with naked ambition.

Inside Seeker, the premier auction house.

"My Lord, the materials you requested are exceptionally rare. We are still tracking them down. I estimate it will take at least six months to transport them here."

In one of the VIP lounges, a stunning succubus attendant was reviewing inventory for Nivarus. Nivarus scowled in disappointment. He was a regular at Seeker, but he wasn’t a native of the Titanion Realm. He had crossed dimensional boundaries purely because Seeker had provided him with a lucrative tip: the items he desperately needed could be found in this new world.

Nivarus was a High Lord. To advance his power, he needed more territory and a larger congregation of faith. In his home realm, every inch of land had been carved up by entrenched superpowers. Ascending further there was harder than scaling the heavens.

"My Lord, take a look at this decree newly issued by the Stoneheart Horde." The succubus handed Nivarus an elegantly penned parchment—Seeker’s meticulously transcribed copy of the public edict.

"This world is undergoing a metamorphosis. As the realms collide and fuse, vast tracts of unclaimed territory will be born. This world is about to become a goldmine. Choosing to align with the faction we recommend would be a highly profitable investment."

The succubus delivered the pitch with a radiant, professional smile. She hailed from Lilith’s own succubus lineage and had passed rigorous screening to work at Seeker. Her training here had vastly broadened her horizons, granting her a profound understanding of other realms and foreign races. It also made her fiercely proud of the Stoneheart Horde; she knew exactly how glorious it was to stand beneath their banner.

"The Horde’s royal vaults are opening to the public," she continued, pointing to the specific clause on the parchment. "As long as you possess enough military merits, you can exchange them for anything in the treasury. According to our branch manager, the Horde’s vaults contain a staggering stockpile of restricted, priceless artifacts."

"My Lord, the very materials you have been hunting for? The Horde has them in stock." She bowed respectfully, having delivered the bait exactly as the Horde intended. Seeker was deliberately leaking this information to attract high-tier foreign talent. And to the succubus, a High Lord like Nivarus was prime mercenary material.

"The Stoneheart Horde’s vaults? Open for merits?" Nivarus’s eyes blazed with sudden hunger. He pored over the parchment, devouring every word. "Are you certain they have what I’m looking for?"

"Indeed, My Lord. And it is not just materials. If you are willing, you could even earn..."

...

Meanwhile, in the Outer City, the Silent Goblet was booming.

The third floor of the tavern was usually a quiet sanctuary, hosting maybe seven or eight patrons on a good day. Today, every booth and private parlor was booked solid.

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen the third floor this packed," the bard Cloudsong mused, taking a slow sip of his ale as he watched the continuous stream of unfamiliar faces filing up the stairs. They were clearly out-worlders, not natives of the Stoneheart Horde.

Grand Magus Rhazuun lounged deep in a plush leather sofa, neither eating nor drinking, utterly ignoring the bustling crowd. He truly couldn’t care less about these strangers.

"Seeker leaks a few rumors, reaps a massive profit, and draws in a swarm of free muscle for the Horde," Rhazuun remarked dryly. "These wandering scavengers and sellswords will make excellent cannon fodder."

To Rhazuun, these mercenaries were just background noise that might slightly complicate his Order of the Dandelion’s grand debut in the coming war. The Order had specifically dispatched an elite cadre of war mages to fight for the Stoneheart Horde, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash a spectacular display of arcane might and steal the spotlight.

"Has Her Highness not returned yet?" Cloudsong asked, shifting his attention to his old friend. He was, of course, referring to Elara.

"She hasn’t, and she doesn’t plan to. This particular battlefield has been reserved for the Fourth Highness," Rhazuun replied with surprising nonchalance.

Cloudsong had expected his friend to complain bitterly about the situation, but Rhazuun looked entirely unbothered.

"You’ve got that gleam in your eye," Cloudsong noted, studying the mage. "The one you get when you’re sitting on a very lucrative secret."

Rhazuun leaned in, unable to suppress his grinning anticipation. "My friend, let me tell you a secret. Her Highness acted as the vanguard and successfully conquered an entire domain for the Stoneheart Horde. She’s been granted a massive fiefdom of her own. She has an entire realm to manage now; she couldn’t care less about the squabbles back here."

Rhazuun was practically vibrating with joy. His Order had gambled heavily on Elara, attaching a specialized squad of mages to her retinue. To their utter shock, that squad had followed her into a foreign dimension, achieved total victory, and had all been elevated to magical aristocracy within her newly conquered lands.

When the intelligence reports reached the Order of the Dandelion’s headquarters, the demigod elders had been left speechless. Others might be ignorant, but the Order knew exactly how terrifying the Holy Order was. To forcibly rip the World of Eldoria from the grasp of Goddess Agaman... it completely redefined their understanding of Orion’s power and the terrifying foundation of the Stoneheart Horde.

That revelation was exactly why the Order of the Dandelion was now throwing elite mage battalions at the Horde, desperately volunteering their aid.