Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Deputy Commander Edward explained the situation, after which the public channel fell silent for a while.

The mood was low, and tension was evident.

After some time, Deputy Commander Edward spoke again, attempting to spark hope.

Edward: "In at most half a day, the realm formation will fully rise. I only hope Arthas can hold out until then."

However, those words did nothing to calm Leonidas.

Leonidas: "What about Hulk? Is he safe right now?"

Leonidas: "Show yourself. Arthas said you possess the strength to stand against an arch lord. Head to Bone City and aid him in battle!"

But the channel remained quiet. Even after waiting a while, Leonidas received no answer from Orion.

Edward: "Not long ago, I sensed a powerful wave of spatial magic."

Edward: "If I'm not mistaken, that aura belonged to the magic scroll I gave Hulk."

Edward: "I suspect Hulk is currently fighting alongside Arthas."

In truth, Orion was not fighting side by side with Arthas but had been singled out by an especially terrifying broodmother counterpart set on killing him—something even Edward, Leonidas, and Alexander had never guessed.

–––

Bone City. In the death domain.

Boom!

Arthas's body of faith was blasted into pieces.

Yet it swiftly re-formed, revealing the imposing figure of the Skeleton King within.

Compared to when he first unleashed it, the body of faith had shrunk to less than half its original size. Meanwhile, the enemy had also changed.

Within the death domain stood only three figures: the slime molds broodmother and two broodmother counterparts. Clearly, the third broodmother counterpart had been lost forever in the death domain during that recent clash.

"As a mere wandering ghost, you no longer have any power to resist."

Splat!

With a forceful crushing motion of his left hand, Arthas snuffed out a mass of soul fire—that mass was the third broodmother counterpart.

Arthas himself was drastically altered as well. The layer of white bone armor covering him was mostly shattered, exposing the skeletal form clad in bone armor beneath.

"None of you…will escape!"

Fixing his gaze upon the slime molds broodmother, Arthas allowed the remaining white-bone armor to disperse, dissolving into ash.

In the next instant, the death territory morphed into a furnace-like space that enclosed everyone inside.

"Burn!"

Raising his longsword, Arthas ignited the bone flames clinging to its blade, and in that moment, skeletal apparitions all around burst into flame one after another.

Slime molds broodmother and the two broodmother counterparts were likewise scorched by these self-sacrificial fires, causing them to retreat hastily into their main nest for refuge.

Arthas stared down that golden-glowing main nest. An incredibly bright sword flare streaked from his pupils.

Boom!

A deafening crash followed. The main nest shattered, and the slime molds broodmother plus the two broodmother counterparts were sent flying, looks of sheer disbelief on their faces.

A main nest—once bolstered by the power of their slime molds mother deity—had been demolished so easily by a single sword beam.

"This is the Bone Furnace. I'm the only one who can leave alive."

With those words, Arthas again lifted his sword and strode toward the slime molds broodmother.

From his flanks, the two broodmother counterparts roared and lunged at him with renewed fury.

–––

Near Soraya City, the fighting was not yet finished.

Orion, immobilized by the ancient giant-horned whale's sonar binding, had then been swallowed whole when it activated its Gigantic Form.

"Praise be to the Titan God. I offer up half my life energy in tribute—grant me the Titan's power!"

Roaar!

A bestial roar echoed within the whale's belly—the wrathful cry of the Titan God.

Inside that gargantuan stomach, Orion sacrificed half his life energy through Blood Sacrifice. Under the terrifying force of that sacrificial power, he broke free from the sonar binding.

With a thunderous roar, he drove his trident deep into the whale's inner walls, struggling against the powerful suction in its belly. In that moment, Orion's body began to expand, his height surging rapidly.

One by one, mysterious black-and-gold runes spread across his entire body, infusing him with blisteringly pure divine power.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A cacophony of rapid bone growth sounded from within.

Then came two sharp tearing noises as Orion's body grew bigger yet again, muscles bulging, lightning and abyssal energy swirling around him. His hair lengthened, lashing wildly behind him.

Those rune-filled eyes showed only coldness and intent to kill.

Compared to the last time he used Blood Sacrifice, Orion had gained even more power. It gave him such a sense of supremacy that he regarded everything before him with absolute indifference.

Jerking the trident from the whale's flesh, he paid no heed to the suction trying to pull him deeper. Holding his hand aloft, he summoned the Eightfold Spear Barrage.

Yet now the Eightfold Spear Barrage appeared different than before—spider spears were bristling with black-and-gold markings, their aura as savage as a wild beast.

It almost felt like Orion had called forth a swarm of ancient, starved spider creatures rather than simply summoning the Eightfold Spear Barrage.

Szzk! Szzk! Szzk!

The projectiles bored into the ancient giant-horned whale's body, acting like vampiric arachnids that drained the very flesh and blood they pierced.

A shrill, wailing cry sounded from the whale—bearing an eerie resemblance to a sobbing girl.

But this sorrowful lament preceded an even more fearsome strike.

With a series of popping sounds—pup, pup, pup—the whale's bones seemed to come terrifyingly alive inside its body.

They wriggled free of the tissue, clustering into a prison of bone swords that closed in around Orion.

Faced with this bone-sword cage compressing from every side, Orion had few options. Despite the whale's Gigantic Form, the internal space felt noticeably cramped for Orion, whose body had also enlarged under his sacrificial power.

He triggered Battle Will Surge, summoning a spherical energy field that forcibly held back the bone-sword cage.

Just when he sighed in relief, a foul, highly corrosive rush of fluid surged upward from below, enveloping him in less than a second.

"Even if you've reached arch lord level, you will still be eroded bit by bit within my 'Spatial Water Prison' and 'Acidic Corrosion.'"

The ancient giant-horned whale's telepathic message echoed in Orion's mind, carrying a feminine tone.

Sensing Orion's current aura at arch lord intensity, the whale presumed he had broken through during their battle.

"Nobody has ever survived my 'Devouring' … not a single one…"

Orion gave no reply. By now, he was certain fungal creatures were far from mere low-level beasts.