Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1635: Off the Leash

In the north, within Blackstone City, The Astral Clock chimed across the inner plaza. With every toll, arcane runes flared to life—cascading from the stone statues to the central keep, along the watchtowers, and across every inch of the battlements. The massive defensive ward breathed like a living beast, a sea of shimmering glyphs. It was merely Lorelia, performing her routine surveillance of the city.

"I am so bored," she groaned to the empty air. "The prophet gets to go to Stoneheart City. Dirtclaw gets stationed at The Bastion Wall. But the great Lorelia? Trapped here, rotting away in time and misery." She struck a dramatic pose atop a jagged boulder. "Oh, my magnificent master! Show yourself and comfort your most beautiful, kind, loyal, and fanatical queen! I would bleed for you, I would march through hellfire for—Who’s there?!"

She whirled around, a rose-colored illusionary light flaring in her eyes. The fact that someone had approached her undetected sparked a vicious, panicked fury. But the moment she recognized the aura, the suffocating pressure of a peak Archlord vanished.

In a flash, Lorelia teleported to the battlements above the underground caverns. She circled Orion’s Insect King avatar, sniffing at him like an eager hound. "Mmm... that intoxicating scent. My master’s soul, mixed with the stench of pathetic bugs. Oh, great master, I am lost in your majesty!"

Orion reached out, catching her restless head to stop her from nuzzling him. She was intimately familiar with his Insect King avatar; she had personally guarded it while it incubated. She was just horribly bored, playing the drama queen to pass the time.

"To the most beautiful, kind, loyal, and fanatical Lorelia," Orion deadpanned, tapping her forehead. "Your master declares you liberated."

Lorelia’s eyes instantly welled up, shimmering tears threatening to spill. "Master, are you abandoning me?"

"Drama queen," Orion muttered, flicking her forehead hard enough to snap her out of the act. "The Emerald Dream Realm is officially part of the Devour Plan. A demigod will be deployed to oversee it soon. You don’t need to hold the fort here anymore; it’s time to lift the final burden from Blackstone City."

The subterranean caverns beneath the city connected directly to the Emerald Dream Realm. It had once served as a vital escape route for the Stoneheart Horde, but also a persistent security threat.

Lorelia’s eyes lit up. "Does that mean I can finally go raise some hell?"

Orion chuckled. He was the one who had taught her the phrase. "Anywhere on the Titan continent. Go wild."

It was rare for Orion to give her such off-leash freedom. As the Stoneheart Horde’s primary broodmother, his usual advice to her was strictly about survival.

"You’re at the peak of the Archlord rank now," he continued. "You’ve awakened your Lord’s Stone, and you lack neither territory nor resources. Go test yourself on the battlefield, then come back and prepare to break into the demigod realm. Don’t disappoint me."

Orion spoiled her, and for good reason. Before his children were born, no one in the Stoneheart Horde outranked Lorelia—save for Orion and Lilith. Beyond her crucial role as a broodmother, her sheer, overwhelming combat prowess had cemented her status. For a long time, she was the Horde’s heaviest hitter next to Orion himself. Lorelia was the backbone that gave the Stoneheart Horde the confidence to wage war and expand. She had bred countless spiders for the cause, sacrificing endless swarms on foreign battlefields. Her favored status was entirely earned.

"I have two tasks for you. Pick one."

Lorelia nodded eagerly. Ever since he mentioned raising hell, her mind was already out the door.

"First option: Head to The Bastion Wall—either the east or west end. Slaughter ten times your swarm’s number in enemies, then return here to cultivate. Second option: I have a batch of special eggs. Incubate them, then head out to sea to reinforce our allies."

Orion waved a hand, tearing open a spatial rift. A chunk of sandy reef crashed down into the cave spiders’ nest, littered with pale blue eggs. These were the spoils the Abyssal Dreadfin had claimed while rescuing the Kraken—aquatic insects perfectly suited for naval warfare. Orion intended to refine and hatch them to fight for the Horde, but the refinement process required the aid of an Archlord-tier broodmother. Hence his visit to Lorelia.

Lorelia took one look at the eggs and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew. No. They reek of pathetic bottom-feeders. I’m not hatching those! My little spiders are much cuter. Look at them, so pale and plump with their shiny little eyes!"

To prove her point, she held out her hands. Two pocket-sized Alabaster Arachnids materialized on her palms. She shoved them toward Orion’s face, her expression practically screaming for a compliment.

"Not bad. You’ve improved," Orion said. One glance was all he needed to read the Alabaster Arachnids’ Archlord-tier strength and innate skills.

"Hehe..." Lorelia giggled proudly. "I bred these specifically for assassinations. Tiny, untraceable, and perfect for gutting anyone who tries to come for my head."

Orion nodded, a wave of pride washing over him. Lorelia was finally a broodmother capable of spawning Archlord-tier guards. With her around, the Stoneheart Horde’s mid-tier combat power was firmly secured.

"Refine these sea eggs for me first, then you can go play," Orion said.

"Fine!"

Lorelia bounded after him, circling him like she did when she was just a fresh hatchling. Together, they descended the stone steps, disappearing into the depths of the underground cavern.

The World Tree’s essence was earth; its mandate, fertility.

Right now, three massive realms belonging to the Cult of Four served as its fertilizer.

Upon his throne, Orion sat in perfect stillness. Beneath that calm exterior, however, boundless joy surged. He saw Hope.

The three worlds dragged in by Archbishop Kysar were colossal. Orion calculated that by the time the Titanion Realm’s World Tree fully devoured them, the roots of the World Tree within his own Divine Kingdom would siphon off a staggering amount of World Essence.

With that much essence, he could condense a new Divine Vessel.

When that happened—one Divine Vessel in the Titanion Realm, another in his Divine Kingdom—if both reached maturity and eventually fused, what kind of terrifying evolution would trigger?

The mere thought sent thrills down his spine. Still, to mask his raging anticipation, he maintained his stoic facade.

He wasn’t the only one faking it.

The Lifeless Dreadgod cast a sidelong glance at Orion and Moriphara, who were silently channeling their power. Because Orion had secretly slacked off earlier, both he and Moriphara had strength to spare.

And idle strength bred ambition. With three impossibly massive prizes sitting right in front of him, how could The Lifeless Dreadgod not be tempted?

The Lifeless Dreadgod held onto the Hope that the Titanion Realm would grow, increasing the territory he had a claim to. But more than that, his greatest Hope was to forge his own strength—to gain the raw power needed to crush his three rivals.