Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

The next day, just as Orion finished dressing and stepped out of the inner keep, ready to inspect Blackstone City, the dark beast tides descended.

How did Orion know the dark beast tides had arrived? It was a sudden intuition that hit him out of nowhere.

At the same time, his pupils contracted sharply—he sensed an irresistible, immensely awe-inspiring force that landed on Blackstone City in that instant and pulled him away.

Thankfully, that power didn't seem hostile. But Orion found himself whisked away by this colossal, mysterious force to an unknown place.

Dace, Otho, Beyn, and Torba stood right behind Orion. They watched him vanish before their eyes in the blink of an eye.

"My lord!"

"Where did our lord go?!"

…

All four guards called out in alarm. They scoured the area, only to find no trace of Orion.

There was no lightning overhead, which meant he hadn't left of his own accord. Usually, whenever Orion departed with his guards, he'd leave some sort of message. This time, he gave them no warning whatsoever. His disappearance happened so suddenly that the guards were thrown into a panic.

"Otho, you go find Rendall and Onyx. Tell them what happened and have them call a meeting in the council chamber."

"Beyn, you notify the Elder of Stewardship and the Elder of Combat, and get them to come too."

"Torba, you go alert the Wardens so they can join the council discussion."

Among the four, Dace was the quickest to react—he gave orders immediately, then hurried off toward the Horde Hall's inner keep, clearly to inform Lilith.

Meanwhile, Orion had arrived in a void-like space, drawn here by that strange force. A rift hovered in his field of vision, resembling a half-open, pitch-black eye.

[Two-world battlefield… Void passage…]

The moment Orion saw that void passage, a holy, majestic voice echoed in his mind. It felt elusive yet reverent and commanding, and Orion got the distinct impression that whoever spoke might be some sort of god.

"So this is where the dark beast tides come from?"

He had a sudden realization, as if simply being here enlightened him to the fact that the void passage before him was the direct source of the dark beast tides.

Muttering under his breath, Orion took a step toward the void passage. Abruptly, a familiar voice sounded behind him, making him pause.

"Master… is that you?"

Unsure, Orion spun around in search of the source.

"Master!"

"Violet!"

He gasped in surprise. Why was Violet, who had already turned into a seed, standing here before him in human form? Orion carefully probed the familiar contract bond that connected him to Violet. It was definitely her.

He rushed up and pulled Violet into a tight embrace, as if afraid she'd slip away again.

"Violet, why are you here?"

"Master, I came with you!"

Orion frowned, recalling clearly that after extracting the pink seed, he'd handed it over to Lilith for safekeeping.

"Did Lilith put the seed back on me without my knowing?"

That thought flashed through Orion's mind as he steadied Violet, gazing at her irresistibly beautiful face before kissing her deep and hard.

Violet was gorgeous, and Orion was a man who adored beauty. Yet the moment he kissed her, he realized something was off.

Orion knew Violet had a curious habit she always displayed when kissing him: she'd wrap her arms around his waist. But right now, her arms hung limply by her sides—she wasn't responding at all.

"Crap!"

In that split second, Orion regained perfect clarity.

Crackle!

A surge of transcendent power burst from deep within him and flowed into the Violet in his embrace. She let out a pained wail under the assault of Orion's lightning energy. With that anguished cry, the surroundings appeared to shift. The void was still the void, but now there were countless specks of star-like radiance floating all around.

And the Violet in Orion's arms changed: she morphed into an entirely different woman. This one had butterfly wings sprouting from her back, her eyes shining with a rainbow-like glow. Something about her looked strangely familiar, though Orion couldn't recall where he might have seen her.

Then, in a flash, that woman disintegrated into countless sparkles of light, drifting away in the void.

"How did you see through my dream illusion?"

"What the heart desires is real. In my dreamscape, she was real. Why were you able to tell she was fake?" Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

A bewitchingly lovely face materialized in the void passage, and the voice rang out again—rich with a maternal warmth.

Orion recognized her at once.

"It's you?"

"Dark Butterfly!"

Hearing Orion address her, the woman at the other end of the void passage let loose a gentle, tinkling laugh.

"Heh… 'Dark Butterfly,' what a unique name. Too bad it's not my real one."

"I remember you too, the one who killed my will projection!"

"Who knew you'd advance to Legendary level and become the guardian of this new passageway?"

"How unfortunate for you—you woke up too late!"

"My subordinates and minions have already flooded into your territory!"

When she finished, the woman laughed quietly again.

Orion frowned. A quick sensory check told him she was telling the truth. While he'd been stuck under her illusion, countless dark creatures had already swarmed into his land via that void passage.

Among them, Orion could sense four beings marked by a powerful energy presence, most likely four Alpha-level dark creatures.

Orion glared at the woman on the other side, letting his transcendent power flare. A streak of lightning flashed into existence near the void passage, wiping out the horde of dark creatures crowded there and crackling continuously to guard the portal.

"Ha… Mysterious, familiar lord… can I at least know your name?"

Realizing she couldn't send more dark creatures through, the woman paused and struck up a conversation.

Orion stared back at her without a word, lost in thought. The last time he'd seen her, she had only been a faint will projection possessing the body of Dark Butterfly, serving as bait to draw Orion and the thunderhawk away so she could devour Blackstone City. She'd underestimated the city's might, and her plan had failed.

Now that he was seeing her again, her true nature appeared to be that of a Legendary-level powerhouse from another world.

"So that's it," Orion reflected. "The dark beast tides—this phenomenon that obliterates all life that isn't one of their own—is just another world's method of invasion."

"In this world, there's never been a single truly peaceful place. No safe haven."

"Not then, and not in times to come."