Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 827: They have taken the bait

The Lord Who Despoiled Marina

Orion’s gaze settled on Brakthul. The Alpha-tier troll had followed his brother into the Stoneheart Horde long ago, earned his stripes in the brutal charges of the cannon fodder legions, and had since served ably here in Lysinthia. After so much time working alongside Lysinthia and Slagor, he would have developed some measure of command capability.

"As you command, my lord!"

Orion nodded, then turned. With Lysinthia at his side, he walked toward the city’s central citadel.

The next morning, the low, mournful call of a war horn echoed across the harbor. Within the citadel, Lysinthia attended to Orion, helping him don his wargear for the journey ahead.

Before long, he stood upon the deck of his flagship. Gazing out at the endless expanse of the sea, he felt something long-dormant uncoil within him. Once, in another life, he had dreamed of being a king of the open water, a reaver whose only master was the tide, chasing the horizon in a relentless pursuit of freedom.

He breathed in the salty air, watched the rolling waves, and felt the rhythmic pulse of the ocean’s heart. A fire ignited in his spirit, and he threw his head back, his voice booming across the fleet in a great shout.

"Set sail!"

The deep, powerful command was picked up by the warriors, echoed again and again in a thunderous chorus.

"Set sail!"

"Set sail!"

Buoyed by their king’s spirit, the morale of the entire fleet soared, every heart filled with fierce ambition.

In a deep-sea palace, somewhere in the Silvercurrent Sea.

Ever since the two Stoneheart warships had been destroyed, Mist Bay had been under constant surveillance by the Sea Race. The departure of a twenty-ship fleet, a bold and undisguised movement, was intelligence that traveled swiftly to the depths.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, if we withdraw now, there is still time," urged Vorluk, the fourth brother. Before Gulas and Heket, he held little sway. They were both Merfolk lords of purer bloodline, their power far exceeding his own.

"Withdraw?" Gulas snarled. "I will not be satisfied until I have flayed the skin from the Stoneheart Horde. My hatred will not be sated otherwise." As Marina’s second brother, his voice carried the most weight here. He hurled his goblet, and it shattered against the coral floor.

"Second Brother is right," Heket slurred. He was drunk, barely coherent, but the mention of their sister’s name stirred him to a fresh rage. "Everything Marina suffered began with that giant lord. He and his entire tribe must pay the price."

His eyes blazed with a drunken, humiliating fury. "Blood must be shed to wash away the stain on our family’s honor. Let the damned Giant King join our sixth sister in the grave!"

"Ah..." At the mention of Marina, Vorluk fell silent. As her full-blood brother, he had watched her tragic end unfold, and his grief was the deepest and most painful of all.

"They think they can challenge the Tidefang Clan with a mere twenty ships?" Gulas scoffed. "Tomorrow... tomorrow, we brothers will lead our entire host and annihilate them all." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

.....

Seven days later, at dawn.

At the place where the sea met the sky, the sun burst forth from the horizon, casting the world in a brilliant, fiery light. Orion stood on the deck, admiring the magnificent, sweeping vista. The ocean was boundless, a majestic and terrible power. In the distance, the water merged with the sky, its vastness painted in a thousand shades of blue.

The rhythm of the waves grew more urgent, the sound a low, steady rumble. It was a signal that the fleet was approaching the deep sea. Lysinthia and Slagor could feel nothing amiss in the water, but Orion, an Archlord, could.

The enemy has arrived, he thought. And they have taken the bait.

He kept his aura reined in, his power concealed. He did not summon the undead leviathan. The twenty warships were his lure, and his only goal was to draw out the force that had ambushed and killed Clawpincher.

The sea level in the surrounding area began to rise, the precursor to a tsunami. Waves, large and small, slammed against the warships, which had been steady until now. As they entered the deep water, the ships began to pitch and roll violently. The roar of the coming tidal wave was like the charge of a great beast, sweeping toward the fleet, threatening to drag it down into a watery grave.

"My lord!" Slagor appeared at Orion’s side. This was not his first time at sea; as a commander, he knew what the signs meant.

"Do not be afraid," Orion said, his back still to Slagor. His voice was calm, and it settled the commander’s frantic heart. "And do not be hasty."

Yes, why am I so anxious? Slagor thought, his panic subsiding. My lord is an Archlord. The enemy has only come here to find their own ruin. Those damned Sea-folk killed Clawpincher... he was my friend. Unforgivable!

A surge of vengeful fire replaced his fear. I must prepare. Perhaps I can even avenge my brother Clawpincher myself. At the very least, I can send more of them to join him in his grave.

He moved to the ship’s rail, preparing to personally unleash the Ocean Hunters he had spent so long cultivating in Mist Bay.

Just then, a roar echoed from the churning sea—the cry of a dragon-beast. It was joined by the hiss of water being displaced and the great, splashing sound of something breaking the surface.

In Orion’s line of sight, a Tidewyrm and two colossal Hippocampus Drakes burst from the waves, floating on the turbulent water. Atop them stood the three Merfolk lords: Vorluk, Gulas, and Heket.

Including their mounts, they were a force of six Legendary-tier beings. A force like that could have easily overwhelmed Clawpincher. Even a true abyss dragon would have been hard-pressed to escape.

"I did not think we would meet again in this way, Vorluk," Orion said, his voice calm, his aura completely suppressed. He stood at the very prow of the warship, his gaze fixed on the Merfolk prince.

"It’s you!" Vorluk started, not having sensed Orion at first. But he recognized the voice instantly. It was the Giant King who had once intimidated him into submission. "I did not expect you to come to sea yourself!"

"Fourth Brother, you know him?" Gulas, the second brother, turned to Vorluk, surprised that he was acquainted with the enemy. The figure in the distance had no discernible aura, which likely meant he was powerful. But what of it? He was, at most, Legendary-tier. Six against one. The giant had no chance of victory. The calculation was instant—the mark of a prudent commander weighing his enemy.

"Since you know him, Fourth Brother, you need not act," Heket chuckled. "Leave this to Second Brother and me today, hehehe!"

Vorluk frowned, his gaze shifting from Orion back to his two brothers.

"He is the King of the Giants. Orion of the Stoneheart Horde," he said, his voice flat. "And he is the lord who despoiled Marina."

The air grew suddenly still. For a moment, Gulas and Heket thought they had misheard.

"Fourth Brother, are you joking?"

Vorluk met his second brother’s incredulous eyes, then turned his head slowly back toward Orion, his expression confirming the terrible, impossible truth.