Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1549: The Dragonbane Helix

"What kind of power was that? I should be the one asking you that question," Orion retorted. "A golden horn? The Dragon of the Void?"

Truthfully, this was the first time Orion had ever heard of such an esoteric art. Then again, it was highly likely an innate racial ability unique to Tegon Calthor’s specific draconic bloodline.

"Your Excellency," Tegon said, his tone placating but tense. "A mere High Lord is not worth the two of us tearing each other apart in a war of attrition."

A single exchange was all it took for Tegon to realize Orion was lethally dangerous. He didn’t want this fight.

"What you consider a trivial matter is a blood feud to my brothers," Orion replied coldly. "No one orchestrates a hit on our own and walks away."

Since the old dragon had used a mystic art to slip the gravitational crush of his Divine Kingdom once, he could probably do it again. Orion wasn’t going to rely on passive domain powers anymore; sometimes, cutting corners was a fatal mistake.

"Dragon of the Void, was it?" Orion’s eyes went dark. "Let’s see how much punishment you can take."

Orion’s body began to rapidly expand, his muscles tearing and reforming as he took on the monstrous aspect of a Stoneheart Titan—a towering, tyrannical behemoth with four faces and eight arms. A storm of dark, apocalyptic energy exploded from him, radiating an aura of absolute, crushing dominance.

"Abyssal energy... You are of the Demon lineage!" Tegon gasped, instantly recognizing the dark taint in Orion’s aura. Giants hailing from the Abyss were indeed classified under the Demon branch of species, though Orion was fundamentally different from true demonic entities like Makareth.

"Congratulations. Spot on," Orion sneered.

The redundant three heads and six arms dissolved into mist, funneling all of their condensed divine power directly into his primary arms. The energy manifested into a blazing trident—his favored weapon, the Flame of Will.

"If you want to play peacekeeper, you’d better have the strength to back it up!"

Orion raised the trident. Maelstroms of conflicting elemental energies gathered at the tip, spiraling into a chaotic, high-speed drill. The forces clashed and fused, generating a terrifying resonance that made Tegon Calthor’s scalp prickle and his dragon soul tremble.

"Die!" Orion vanished into a streak of light, lunging forward with a devastating thrust.

This was his specialized martial technique: the Dragonbane Helix.

Since ascending to godhood, Orion usually crushed his enemies by sheer force of his Divine Kingdom or engaged in a battle of wills through raw divine power. Now, unleashing his visceral, physical combat arts, he was showing his true, most lethal form. The Dragonbane Helix was specifically engineered to suppress draconic bloodlines, heavily amplifying damage against them. If it dealt a killing blow, it would completely annihilate the victim’s dragon soul; even a glancing hit would severely cripple their demigod phantom.

Locked on and sensing the shadow of death, Tegon Calthor had nowhere to run.

"Forbidden Art: Void-Wyrm’s Domain!"

A defiant roar echoed as Tegon’s form blurred. A split second before the trident struck, he simply vanished.

He didn’t just turn invisible or teleport. To Orion’s eyes, Tegon had erased his physical presence, replacing the space he occupied with an absolute vacuum shaped like a horned dragon—a dead zone completely devoid of any physical or magical laws. It was a brilliant counter: if Orion was locked onto him, Tegon simply removed the target. Without a target, the terrifying Dragonbane Helix had nothing to destroy.

A flicker of surprise crossed Orion’s eyes, but he didn’t pull his punch. He drove the spiraling trident directly into the dragon-shaped vacuum, attempting to violently shred the void itself.

He succeeded, and he failed.

He succeeded because the vortex tore the vacuum zone to shreds before it could fully stabilize. He failed because once the void collapsed, Tegon Calthor reappeared a safe distance away, physically unharmed. The only visible toll was that the old dragon’s demigod phantom looked significantly dimmer and far more translucent.

"You have a wealth of combat experience, and the right tricks to survive," Orion noted with genuine praise.

He hadn’t anticipated anyone breaking his technique like that. Back when he was a High Lord, he believed this anti-dragon art was completely unblockable. It proved that this old dragon was a hardened veteran, easily one of the most formidable Second-Stage Demigods Orion had ever faced.

"Let us end this here, Your Excellency!" Tegon urged, breathing heavily. "I will overrule Kuray and force him to cede this entire ocean territory to your companion."

Fwoosh. As Tegon spoke, a cluster of ethereal fire spontaneously ignited within his chest. This was the Divine Fire—the absolute hallmark of a Second-Stage Demigod.

He wasn’t just showing off his cultivation base; it was a veiled, chilling threat. He was politely reminding Orion that as long as his Divine Fire burned, he was functionally immortal. Even if Orion destroyed his physical body today, Tegon would return. Kraken was a native to this world. Orion and Leonidas could protect the leviathan today, but could they protect him forever? If they slipped up even once, Tegon had a thousand ways to ensure Kraken died screaming in the dark.

"An unextinguishable Divine Fire means you can’t truly die... Is that a threat?" Orion’s voice dropped to a glacial temperature. He heard the underlying message loud and clear.

He raised his trident. The chaotic energies of the Dragonbane Helix swirled at the tip once more, locking onto the old dragon.

Seeing that Orion was completely immune to both diplomacy and intimidation, Tegon’s face drained of color. Watching that lethal energy gather again, the old dragon seriously considered turning tail and fleeing.

"Your Excellency, there is truly no need for this!" Tegon pleaded, shaking his head and desperately trying to formulate a better offer. "If there is something specific you des—"

Tegon froze mid-sentence.

Orion had vanished. But the target of his devastating strike wasn’t Tegon Calthor at all. He had teleported directly into the chaotic fray above, aiming straight for Kuray, the colossal black serpent currently tangled in a death match with Leonidas.

One minute earlier.

The war between dragon and serpent was raging at a fever pitch.

The clash between Kuray and Leonidas was a breathtaking, terrifying spectacle—a brutal contest of raw physical might and divine will. Their battlefield had started in the crushing depths of the abyss and violently breached the surface, carrying their titanic forms high into the stratosphere. They tore through the clouds, their massive bodies intertwining and flashing through the storm in a blur of fangs and scales.

Leonidas, in his majestic Purple-Gold Divine Dragon form, was a portrait of tyrannical dominance. His scales radiated a blinding, regal light, a perfect masterpiece of divine creation.

In stark contrast, the giant black serpent was a creature of the deep—its sheer darkness exuding an aura that was twisted, sinister, and entirely suffocating.