Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Deep beneath an unknown region in the Emerald Dream Realm, inside a maze-like cavern, Loska slowly opened his eyes.

"Dark Worm is dead!

Has the teleportation array I left in the Titanion Realm been exposed?"

Loska narrowed his eyes, and a mix of regret and hatred flickered across them.

Loska, current lord of the Red Thread Clan, was a Legendary-level figure.

A thousand years ago, he had followed his grandfather into the Titanion Realm, only to be crushed by a demigod and forced to flee. His grandfather died in that defeat, and the Red Thread Clan had never recovered since.

And just now, he sensed that his companion beast—Dark Worm—left behind to guard his teleportation array in the Titanion Realm had been killed.

"Is Grandfather's legacy about to be wiped out entirely?"

After his grandfather fell, the enemies of the Emerald Dream Realm attacked the Red Thread Clan's territory, demolishing every structure in sight. Loska had managed to lead a portion of his people out of a hidden escape route, wandering from place to place.

Thankfully, his grandfather's influence still lingered; through sheer luck and resources, Loska had managed to scrape his way to Legendary level.

He was a freshly advanced lord and could not yet build his own territory. Besides, the territory he held now was worlds away from his ancestral land of a thousand years ago.

With Dark Worm dead, there was nothing Loska could do.

"That teleportation array was hidden deep. Maybe someone will come through it from Titanion Realm.

I need to think carefully… If I play my cards right, maybe I can ambush a lord…"

…

Blackstone City, outer walls.

It had been seven days since the last great battle. During this time, the Horde's bloodline warriors had resupplied and were well-rested in both body and mind. Even the fighting at the underground fissure had wound down since Thundar arrived, making further support unnecessary.

"Lorelia reports the Dark Creatures outside the city haven't left," Lilith announced. "Ninety-eight percent of the little spiders who ventured out got wiped out."

The Alpha-level powerhouses present all looked decidedly grim when they heard that.

"It's obvious they're not afraid, but are just biding their time, waiting to launch another attack."

"My guess? They're waiting for reinforcements," Slagor said, eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the walls, face drawn tight.

Slagor had never seen so many Dark Creatures attacking at once back in the Poison Dragon Swamp. Sure, sometimes an Alpha-level Dark Creature would show up.

But a whole squad of them? And not to mention the countless lower-tier Dark Creatures? It was nuts.

All at once, the scale of conflict the Stoneheart Horde was facing now made it clear to Slagor how they'd managed to grow so fast and produce so many Alpha-level powerhouses.

Fights on this scale meant more chances for glory—and if you didn't get yourself killed, the Horde would dole out Alpha-level resources afterward.

Thinking about that set Slagor's heart on fire. He had family, too—descendants who needed a future. Those Alpha-level resources were that hope.

In the Poison Dragon Swamp, whenever Dark Creatures of that level would invade, Slagor simply led his people deep underground to hide.

If beasts that tunneled through the swamp threatened them, Slagor would hold his own—after all, the swamp was his domain. As long as multiple Alpha-level monsters didn't show up at once, Slagor could handle it.

But the swarm now threatening the Stoneheart Horde was something else entirely, far beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

"We can't send our broadskull ravens out scouting anymore," Delilah said with a weary sigh. "We've lost too many—at this rate, we might not have any left to hatch those new eggs. And we really need those potential reinforcements."

In a situation like this, it would be ideal to use flying beasts for reconnaissance. But the Horde had precious few, and they were dropping one by one.

"At least we've got those arrow towers," Onyx reminded them. "We can just wait behind our walls for the Dark Creatures to strike. No need to stress yourselves out. You've seen how deadly those towers are. The invisible butterflies would get shredded if they flew too close. It's just that things on the ground would heat up."

Rendall nodded. He didn't have any better suggestions, but he agreed with Onyx's outlook.

"The prophet's got a point," Rendall added. "As long as we rely on our walls and the arrow towers, we'll hold Blackstone City. And Orion said we should never sally out to start a fight, so that's where we stand."

Just then, the city's alarm bells clanged.

"That's the western alarm!" Rendall snapped to attention—the moment he heard it, he knew exactly which part of Blackstone City was calling for help.

"Get to your positions," Delilah commanded, standing up and leaving the meeting room with her team in tow.

At the western wall, the alarm kept ringing. Once Delilah, Onyx, and Slagor arrived, they saw immediately why the Dark Creatures had chosen that particular area to attack.

That section was out of the arrow towers' range, plus it had only recently been completed.

Back when they built the Horde Hall, Orion ordered the ridges on either side of Moonshadow Valley to be torn down to free up space for the outer arrow towers. The spot the Dark Creatures were now attacking happened to be that unsettled zone.

At the time, the Horde didn't have any extra arrow towers to spare. Although they'd put up a few watch towers there, they were more for show than actual defense. Sure, the arrow towers outside Horde Hall could just barely cover the city walls themselves, but they wouldn't reach beyond them.

In other words, to bring the Horde Hall's arrow towers into play against this threat, the Dark Creatures would have to actually breach the walls. Of course, the elders had no intention of letting that happen.

"Clever jerks scouted out our one weak spot," Rendall muttered, cussing under his breath as he hefted his spiked club and headed for the frontline.

"Why didn't they go for the eastern side? There aren't any towers there either," asked Slagor, still new enough to Blackstone City not to know all the nitty-gritty of its defenses.

"Because the east side is crawling with cave spiders," Earthshaker said in a rumbling, sincere tone. "Any Dark Creature that dares to climb the walls over there will just be devoured on the spot. These enemies clearly know the east is a death trap, so they're hitting us here instead."

All the Alpha-level elders knew that fact. Even if the rest of the city fell, the eastern underground fissure would still stand firm—Lorelia had her entire cave spider army holed up down there. The small spiders she'd sent to aid Blackstone City or collect intel were just a fraction of the massive force under her control.

"They're coming!"

Out of all the elders, Lysinthia's senses were the sharpest.

The moment her voice rang out, a flood of Dark Creatures burst through the misty darkness, surging right at the west side of the city wall.