Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1277 It was feeding time
It was a decision reached through a compromise brokered by the High Lords of both factions.
Orion could respect that. It was merely statecraft. He ruled his own house the same way—his kin were not permitted to incite civil strife within the Stoneheart Horde. The principle was the same, merely scaled to cosmic proportions.
"We wait," Orion said, turning from the window. "And we pray the new Abyssal Ruler possesses strength sufficient for the task. If he falls, Foundry Citadel becomes our grave."
He was not speaking in hyperbole. The fate of the entire Sixth Layer was literally riding on the shoulders of the Ruler and his vanguard of Demigods.
"When I hit Demigod," Orion mused, "maybe I should join the raid next time the Gray World invades."
It was a shift in perspective. Unlike his "brothers"—Leonidas, Alexander, Arthas, Edward—Orion was playing the role of a Titan. His lineage originated in the Abyss.
The Stoneheart Horde's future was tied to this hellscape. Giants, succubi, gnolls, ogres... these species thrived here. They received massive endowments of strength in the Abyss. This place was a treasure trove for rare reagents and paths of evolution.
If the Horde wanted to establish a permanent dominion here, they needed to earn the Abyssal Ruler's favor.
It was basic logic of rulership: if Orion were the Abyssal Ruler, he would prioritize the allies who helped him defend the realm over the opportunists.
I need to consult the brothers about this, Orion noted mentally. See if they possess any wisdom on diplomacy between such distinct powers.
But for now, all Orion and his subordinates could do was stare at the spores and wait. They were completely halted by the obscure nature of the Unhallowed.
Time did not merely pass; it vanished in a breath.
In the blink of an eye, a year turned.
Foundry Citadel on the Sixth Layer remained in a state of silent vigil, waiting in the gray shadow of the invasion.
But for Orion, the tides of fate finally turned.
The Second Layer was clear. The Gray World had been purged. Vigil's Point was open once more.
When Orion extracted the hibernating Abyssal Dreadfin from the region, he left Makareth behind. The Demon was on a warpath, expanding aggressively into the territory once held by the Demondrake. Makareth was hastening his ascension to High Lord with reckless abandon before the original master could return. If he wanted to keep the land, he had to be strong enough to hold it.
Valkorath Realm. Garland.
Orion's true body opened its eyes.
He stood over a massive glass containment vessel—a borrowed artifact from Kraken, who collected strange aquatic curiosities—staring at the Abyssal Dreadfin floating inside. His Manifestation of Faith stood next to him, having just deposited the creature.
Orion stood up. With a thought, the Manifestation of Faith dissolved, merging back into his main body. A rush of World Essence and Faith Energy—the ever-flowing bounty from the Miracle Divine Tree—flooded his spirit.
He walked out of the secret chamber, transporting the vessel and the Dreadfin to the Silverwood Realm. After barking a few final orders to his captains, he returned to the chamber and sealed the door.
This was it. The great transformation. He was not coming out until he achieved Divinity.
Orion sat in the center of the room, closing his eyes. He sank deep into the Sanctuary of his mind, silencing all callings from the waking world.
In the mental arena, his Asura Titan Form manifested.
Floating before him were the catalysts for his ascension:
Two Gray Crystals harvested from the Unhallowed.
Three Lord's Stones, radiating the power of his primary disciplines: Trident Mastery, Lightning, and Abyssal Energy.
The World Dragon egg.
The Thunder-Core relic.
But that wasn't all.
Orion's remaining Mirror Avatar and his Curse Avatar stepped out of his physical body, standing before him in the mental space.
"This is going to be a monumental working," Orion whispered to himself.
I am using the Heart of the Abyss as the foundation. The primitive world inside the World Dragon egg will be the vessel. The laws of the Trident, Lightning, Abyss, and Blood Curse will be the intricate weave. And I am feeding it all into the Bloodline Seed I claimed from the Realm of the Guardian Towers.
I am not just growing in power. I am forging a dominion inside my own body.
I will reforge my bloodline. I will elevate my soul. I will become the Sovereign of my own internal world.
I am shattering the boundaries of the soul. I am stepping beyond the known laws.
It sounded like a prayer, but it was a declaration of intent. A design.
"Return to the primordial state," Orion murmured.
In the real world, his true body's eyes snapped open.
He reached out, placing a hand on the shoulder of the Mirror Avatar and the Curse Avatar.
His chest began to glow. Where his heart used to be, a strange, crystalline Bloodline Seed pulsed with an eerie red light. He had spent the last year gathering resources just to empower this seed. His biological heart was gone, replaced six months ago by this engine of potential.
Now, it was time to feast.
The Mirror Avatar and the Curse Avatar were extensions of himself. Reabsorbing them was the only way to reach perfection.
The Deathly Soul-Reaper and the Abyssal Dreadfin? Those were external assets, separate entities. Absorbing them wouldn't perfect his form; it would merely bloat the essence and potentially attract the ire of high-tier cosmic entities during the ascension ritual.
"The First Rite begins," Orion growled.
The Bloodline Seed in his chest flared. Crimson roots erupted from his veins, piercing the skin of his palms and burrowing into the two avatars.
The avatars didn't fight back. They were him.
The roots spread like a living vine, breaking down their spectral flesh and converting it into pure essence.
It was a slow, gruesome process. Once it started, there was no turning back.
Orion felt no regret. He was sacrificing pieces of himself to build something greater.
The Miracle Divine Tree hadn't just given him energy; it had shown him the primal pattern of how a world is born. That was the blueprint.
Orion's ambition was terrifying. By using the Heart of the Abyss as his core framework, he was essentially designing his internal world to be harmonious with the Abyss itself.
If this worked, he wouldn't just be a Demigod. He would be an aberration on a cosmic scale—a parasite burrowed into the hide of the Abyss, siphoning its power forever without being rejected by the natural order.
It was a mad, forbidden transgression.