Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 828: A Black Tide of Rage

"Do not underestimate him," Vorluk warned his brothers, his voice tight. "His power is formidable!"

Gulas and Heket exchanged a look, a flash of avaricious glee passing between them. They had not dared to hope they would find their true target on their second raid.

Across the churning water, Orion heard them. From their words, he understood two things: something terrible had happened to Marina, and these three were ignorant of his ascension to Archlord. It made sense. The distance between the north and south was vast, and there were no channels of communication between the sea-races and the peoples of the land. As for the demigodess Seraphina, why would she trouble herself to warn her descendants about a single, newly-ascended Archlord? Such a being would hardly register to one of her stature.

And if Marina were well, with her and Vorluk acting as intermediaries, it was unlikely this attack would have ever occurred.

"Vorluk," Orion’s voice carried across the waves, calm and steady. "What has become of Marina?"

Before he annihilated them, it would be best to learn what he could.

It was Gulas who answered, his voice thick with rage. "What becomes of a princess who has lost her honor? Who has given away her mermaid pearl? She is the shame of the Tidefang Clan, and it is all because of you!"

At the mention of their sister, both Gulas and Heket seethed, their fury coiling into a murderous bloodlust.

A flicker of true worry finally crossed Orion’s placid features. His relationship with Marina had not been one of love, but of mutual curiosity, a fascination with the desires of another’s flesh. Still, her gift of the pearl had been an unexpected, profound gesture. He felt a debt to her.

A princess who had returned to the deep, waiting for him to come and ask for her hand. That knowledge was the very reason his avatar was here. The holds of his ships were laden not just with weapons of war, but with bride-gifts fit for a queen.

"Vorluk," Orion asked again, his tone turning to ice. "What happened to Marina?"

"Our sister was given as a Sea Offering," Vorluk said, his voice hollow. "She is dead. She died in the deepest trench of the Silvercurrent Sea."

The sea frothed. The waves churned. And in Orion’s chest, his heart erupted in a black tide of rage.

"You killed her?" The question was a low, chilling whisper, laced with disbelief.

"I told you before," Vorluk replied, his voice strained with grief and accusation. "The princesses of the Tidefang do not marry outsiders. When you took her pearl, you took her last chance for survival. Marina died because of you!"

Orion stared at Vorluk, then at Gulas, then at Heket, searching their faces for any hint of a lie, any flicker of deception. He found none.

"Marina... is truly dead?" he murmured to himself. He had never imagined such an end. In his grand design, he had envisioned a marriage alliance, a bridge between his people and the Tidefang Clan that would lead to trade and lasting peace.

"Enough talk, Fourth Brother!" Heket roared, brandishing his harpoon. "Kill him! Let his corpse sink to the depths and keep our sister company!"

"One last thing," Orion said, his voice a low sigh. "The two Stoneheart warships. Was that your work?"

He already knew the answer, but some things needed to be confirmed, to settle the soul before the slaughter.

"Hehehe... you mean those two little rowboats?" Heket jeered, throwing his head back in a braying laugh. "And you call them Sea-Devouring Warships? Don’t make me laugh myself sick!"

Orion watched the laughing merfolk prince, his own face a mask of stone.

"Then you will be the first to be buried with Clawpincher and his men," he declared. "And from this day forward, let every creature in the Silvercurrent Sea learn this truth: those who offend the Stoneheart Horde will be annihilated."

He flipped his hand, and the black funerary urn appeared in his palm.

"Hah! Laughable! Utterly laughable!" Heket bellowed. "A petty giant lord from a backwater tribe dares to speak such arrogance! I will take you alive and use you as a blood sacrifice for my sister Marina!"

He spurred his Hippocampus Drake forward, raising his harpoon high as he charged across the waves. Orion didn’t so much as blink.

A thick, cloying death-energy poured from the urn, a dense fog that instantly enveloped Orion and the fleet behind him.

A low, haunting song of ancient sorrow echoed from the mists. The undead ancient giant-horned whale emerged, its colossal horn piercing the fog. Its maw, a chasm that seemed to swallow the light, appeared directly in Heket’s path.

A wave of sonar paralyzed the charging prince and his mount. Before they could break free, the great mouth snapped shut, swallowing them whole.

Deep within the leviathan’s gullet, a prison of crushing water, corrosive acid, and a cage of erupting bone activated in unison. A few seconds later, the whale opened its mouth and spat two glittering Lord’s Stones into Orion’s waiting hand.

He casually tossed the two stones in his palm, his gaze lifting to meet Vorluk’s and Gulas’s.

The two princes were frozen, their faces pale with a terror so profound it stole the air from their lungs.

"A-Archlord..." Gulas stammered. "Impossible... that is absolutely impossible..."

"That... that thing..."

The whale let out another mournful cry, and the sound finally snapped the two brothers from their shock. But it was far too late.

"Now, you will join him," Orion stated, his voice as flat and final as a death sentence.

The whale roared and with a single, colossal sweep of its tail, it unleashed a wave of pure, kinetic force. The tsunami the Merfolk had summoned was rendered a mere ripple in the face of this new, monstrous tide. The sea itself seemed to bend to the creature’s power.

Just as the impact was about to hit, a shimmering barrier of light erupted before the two princes, absorbing the full force of the blow. Within the protective dome, a spectral projection of a kingly figure materialized, radiating an aura of absolute dominion.

"What grievance could possibly compel you, my lord, to personally strike down my sons?" the apparition demanded, his voice echoing with the power of the deeps. "I am Jaklas, King of the Tidefang Clan. As one Archlord to another, I ask that you grant me the courtesy of an explanation."