Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 322: I’m sure

Half-Moon Lake lay along the border region of Thunderwood Forest. On the bank of a small river, Gareth stood alone, watching the slow flow of water in the creek.

"Lord Gareth, you’ve certainly got a taste for the finer things."

Orion emerged at a leisurely pace from the forest depths, catching Gareth’s attention. She focused on him carefully; some time ago, this giant’s presence had suddenly vanished from the black forest, and she’d had no idea where he went.

"You’re punctual—and pretty respectful, too," Gareth remarked.

Orion just smiled without saying anything. Respect goes both ways; if you give someone respect, they tend to treat you the same.

"I lost my fight," Gareth said plainly, skipping any small talk.

"Is Lokiviria really that strong?"

The smile faded from Orion’s face, replaced by a more serious look. He was eager to learn whatever he could about Lokiviria.

"Yes, he’s powerful. Probably mid-Legendary in strength."

That confirmed Orion’s suspicions. In short, the lords down south did tend to be stronger.

"How does Lokiviria fight?" Orion asked, hoping Gareth would share that info.

Gareth stared intently at him without speaking, and the two fell silent. The creek’s gentle current made soft splashing sounds against the stones further downstream.

"His raw power is immense, and he’s incredibly fast. He mostly fights with his fists, and he attacks with brutal force," Gareth finally said, seeming to have convinced herself to speak up. "He likely wields a wind-type transcendent power."

Orion narrowed his eyes. Enhanced by wind-based transcendent power, that kind of enemy was naturally going to be lightning-fast. If you couldn’t keep up, you were bound to take a beating or lose outright.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Gareth just nodded, not particularly bothered by it.

"Next year, are you sure you want to head south?" she asked.

Orion nodded firmly. "I’m sure."

Relief washed over Gareth. Lokiviria had beaten her badly and mocked her relentlessly, leaving her feeling resentful. Even Lord Ariel, who had injured her multiple times in the past, had never been so nasty.

"Next year, I’ll send my messenger to visit Thunderpeak Mountain," Orion said coolly, turning to leave with that final remark. He could tell Gareth wanted to team up with him for payback against Lokiviria.

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Next year, Orion’s going to be playing the role of the muscle—some very formidable muscle at that.

Meanwhile, in the far north—the extreme-cold domain—a massive glacier towered against the icy landscape. At that moment, runes covered the glacier’s surface. Lord Jorik stood upon it, while the colossal shape of the Glacial Dragon appeared shrunken and withered.

Splutter!

Another mouthful of vital blood was coughed up, splashing across the glacier. As the dragon’s blood seeped in, the runes grew fainter, one after another.

"The millennial promise is upon us. Arise from your slumber, my ancestor!" Lord Jorik cried with excitement. "Our clan’s glory should light up this continent!"

He could see it clearly now—the ancestor sealed inside the ice had opened one eye, an ancient, rage-filled dragon’s gaze. Anyone flying overhead would realize the entire glacier was actually the body of a dragon.

Its two massive wings had yet to unfold, yet the sheer size of its form defied description. The chain of "mountain peaks" stretching away from the glacier was really its winding tail, and through the thick layer of ice, one could glimpse its jagged spines jutting along its back. This glacier was, in truth, a dragon—a real one.

Half a month later, back at Blackstone City, Orion hopped off the thunderhawk’s back and landed in the western ridge.

This area housed the Horde’s magical plant gardens. Strangely, Lilith and Lysinthia were nowhere in sight.

"Greetings, my lord!"

A crowd of attractive, curvaceous women in the garden all fell prostrate at the sight of Orion, not daring to make a sound.

"Where’s Lilith?" Orion asked one of them, Lady Jasmine.

Lady Jasmine was the guardian elder of Violet. Though she was a bit older, she still radiated charm. Many of the Garland Tribe members captured from Half-Moon Lake now served under Lady Jasmine.

"Lilith and Warden Lysinthia have already returned to the Horde Hall," she answered.

Orion cast a glance at Lady Jasmine and Ivy next to her. They both had unwavering loyalty to Violet—so much so that even without any binding contract, they’d sacrifice themselves for her. Orion had to admit he didn’t fully understand that kind of bond.

"Take good care of the magical plant gardens and keep your tribe in line. Make sure they know the rules."

"As you wish, my lord!"

Lady Jasmine’s manners were humble and deferential, a far cry from how she treated Orion before he became lord. Orion nodded and left without further delay, heading straight for the Horde Hall.

Inside the Horde Hall’s inner keep, Orion couldn’t help but marvel at the mysteries of creation. Unless he contacted the territory core, he couldn’t sense anything within the Hall from outside its walls. But the moment he walked in, he could tell Lilith and Lysinthia were soaking in the hot springs.

A grin spread over his face. He strolled toward the hot springs, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

...

Early the next morning, as soon as Orion woke, a succubus maid informed him that Delilah, Rendall, and Thundar had been waiting just outside the inner keep for quite a while. The three senior elders arriving together probably meant something big was happening in the Horde.

Orion got dressed and headed for the outer fortress.

"My lord," Thundar complained the second Orion showed up, "Arch Elder Rendall’s bullying me! He snatched all those Thunderstorm Bearmen we pulled from the cannon-fodder troops and put them in the Hunting Party. Now all the bloodline warriors sent to my cavalry regiment are gnolls or geckos—this just won’t do!"

Before Orion could respond, Rendall retorted in his booming voice, "Thundar, be reasonable. The cavalry regiment doesn’t even have enough mounts. What do you even want the Bearmen for? And can your cave spiders even carry those Thunderstorm Bearmen around? They’re big guys!"

Thundar sputtered incoherently at that.

"Lord! You decide who’s right here!" Thundar pleaded, since Orion had tasked him with expanding the cavalry regiment to over ten thousand soldiers.

Orion merely smiled, choosing not to jump into the internal power struggles between elders. Then he turned to Lilith.

"And you?" he asked. Lilith’s gaze was warm and alluring enough to captivate anyone.

"The Sentinel Corps could use a few Thunderstorm Bearmen, but not many. No need to fight over them," Lilith said with a shake of her head. "Actually, geckos and satyrs are better at infiltration and more suited to scouting."

She knew exactly how the Sentinel Corps should operate.

"Lord Orion," Lilith went on, "we’ve released three new races from the cannon-fodder troops, and it’s really messing up the outer city. It’s about time we subdivided that area properly."

Orion nodded—he’d nearly forgotten about that. Previously, when the cannon-fodder troops were still locked up, the outer city was pretty underdeveloped.

The captured crowd of various races—men, women, children, and elders—had mostly been crammed into shelters. Conditions were indeed atrocious.

"All right. Handle it however you see fit. I’ll send Slagor to assist you; he needs to reorganize some of his clan members too. Once you have a solid plan, just let me know."

Lilith acknowledged his instructions, planting a kiss on Orion’s arm with a bright smile before leaving the Horde Hall. Rendall and Thundar, however, were still bickering over who got the Thunderstorm Bearmen.

"All right, listen up," Orion cut in, causing Rendall and Thundar to fall silent and look his way.

"I’ve got big plans for those Thunderstorm Bearmen. Let’s keep them in the Hunting Party for now. Thundar, as for the cavalry regiment’s wolves, cave spiders, and crows, you should pick your warriors based on body size and fighting style. Don’t just cram everyone into the cavalry, and don’t focus solely on combat power, either!

"Giants, succubi, buffalofolk, gnolls, geckos, lizardmen—you have to consider each race’s body type and match them to whichever mounts they can handle best."

A shadow of disappointment and embarrassment crossed Thundar’s face. Orion thought for a moment, then continued, "Here’s what I’ll do—I’m giving you a direct order: you can choose cavalry recruits first from those particular races."

At that, Thundar visibly brightened, looking more and more excited. Orion simply shook his head and walked out of the Horde Hall.

"Do you know where the prophet is?" he asked a guard named Dace.

Dace nodded, pointing to the eastern ridge.

"For the past couple of weeks, prophet has been meditating over there," he said.

Orion ascended the city wall, heading toward the eastern ridge. After a long walk, he finally spotted Onyx perched on a huge boulder.

"My lord!"

Onyx stood up, moving aside so Orion could take his spot. Climbing onto the rock, Orion took in the sweeping view of Moonshadow Valley and Blackstone City.

"Prophet, the scenery around Blackstone City isn’t half bad, is it?"

Onyx nodded earnestly.

"Prophet, do you want to break into an even higher realm?"

Orion could guess Onyx’s mindset. Their recent venture to the Godforsaken Land was still fresh, after all. From all the powerful creatures Onyx had seen, he now had a renewed drive to grow stronger.

"Before meeting my lord Orion," Onyx said, "my biggest dream was just reaching Alpha-level and leading my tribe out of the black forest. But now, under Lord Orion’s guidance, that dream feels way too small—and way too easy!"

Orion burst out laughing. It was a pretty flattering thing to say, and Orion enjoyed it.

"Prophet, I promise you this: if you ascend to the Alpha-level peak, I can grant you a shot—one shot—at achieving the Legendary level."

Orion wanted Legendary-level followers of his own. Arthas had raised someone like Rumbold to Legendary—there was no reason Orion couldn’t do the same.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Onyx could practically hear his own heartbeat echo in his ears.

Orion had personally offered him an opportunity at Legendary level. He felt like fate had singled him out for a special gift.

After all, in the Godforsaken Land, Onyx had seen Orion slay a Legendary-level fighter with his own eyes, seizing the Lord’s Stone.

"My lord, I, Prophet Onyx, will forever follow you, fight for you, and forge a brighter future for the Horde!"

Orion nodded and turned to renew their contract. Since Legendary level was on the table—even if it was just a possibility—Onyx needed to sign again. He did so willingly.

Once it was done, Orion pulled out a piece of beast hide covered in intricate markings.

"Prophet, this is a set of blueprints for a special structure: a building that provides a Shield Warrior class transition, straight from the Godforsaken Land. I want it built in Moonshadow Valley.

"I don’t trust anyone else with this. You’ll supervise construction yourself. I’ll have Lorelia team up with you and use her little spiders as builders."

Onyx examined the hide for a few moments, looking absolutely stunned. He seemed almost unable to believe such an item existed.

"Prophet, there’s a lot in this world we don’t know or understand," Orion remarked, speaking from the heart. Back before he’d met Arthas or joined the Champions Alliance, he hadn’t really seen it that way. But ever since joining, Orion often felt he was both weak and clueless in the grand scheme of things.

Onyx said nothing, simply following Orion’s gaze as they both looked out across Blackstone City—the very place they had built with their own hands.

–––––

Time flew by. One day, Orion leaned against the window of the inner keep, immersing his consciousness in the Survivor’s Platform.

With enough crystal cores and materials on hand, he was on a buying spree—snapping up anything that might benefit the Horde so long as it wasn’t outrageously priced. And amidst all that trading, Orion ended up meeting a decent number of weaker survivors.

"Sir, can you tell me what you plan to do with the stuff you just bought?" asked someone named Julius Caesar, sending Orion a private message.

"I could tell you," Orion replied, "but it’ll cost you a hundred C-grade crystal cores."

Incidentally, Orion had just bought an arrow tower from Caesar with a hundred C-grade crystal cores—an incredibly low price for such a thing.

Orion was thrilled with the bargain, and he finally understood why Arthas stayed on the Survivor’s Platform day in and day out. There was a unique thrill and satisfaction in finding such deals that just couldn’t be found anywhere else.