Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

After listening to Rumbold, Orion glanced up for no apparent reason at the Black Sun hanging at the highest point of the sky.

That unsetting Black Sun never budged, never dipped, making it impossible to tell day from night in this godforsaken land.

"Could it be that all the power here in the godforsaken land actually comes from the Black Sun above?"

It was a ridiculous thought, but the idea was definitely circling in Orion's mind.

A bizarre, low growl suddenly erupted, interrupting Orion's train of thought.

He realized the noise came from some of the undead mobs, which had gorged themselves on enough flesh that they actually began to morph.

"What in the world is that…"

Orion pointed toward the undead cannon fodder troops that were undergoing transformations, genuinely puzzled.

"Eh…they're evolving on their own," Rumbold replied.

"Even though they're simply corpses raised by the summoning array, they still count as a kind of living organism—just at a very low level of life.

"As they evolve, the rotten flesh on them gradually sloughs off, and ultimately they become part of our skeleton clan.

"Orion, I'm sure you've already gotten a feel for our clan's power."

As he spoke, Skeleton General Rumbold was visibly proud. He also cast a glance at the Ghostbone Armor on Orion.

Even in Arthas's territory, not every Legendary-level powerhouse qualified to possess Ghostbone Armor—seeing Orion's armor in action during the fight had only made Rumbold that much more polite and forthcoming.

"Add in those regular Goblins that just converted into zombified bodies, and our total undead army is sitting at half a million," he continued.

"Lord Orion, at our next stop, your little guys can finally have themselves a good meal."

Orion nodded. The cave spiders had been fighting non-stop and were clearly starved by now. Although Orion had brought along some backup supplies, they were hardly enough.

From the get-go, Orion's idea for this cross-realm invasion was to let the cave spiders devour their way forward. In the end, whoever survived would be the best of the bunch in level and combat prowess.

He was also halfway hoping to use this invasion to weed out the weaker cave spiders. Though Lorelia had a million offspring, the vast majority were low-level with too little combat ability. If he didn't need them stationed at the underground fissure, Orion would likely have dragged almost all the spiders—aside from Lorelia—on this trial by fire.

From start to finish, Orion's goal was to upgrade the overall quality of the cave spider army.

"Once we pass through this territory, we'll be close to Goblin King Murktooth's lair. You think we might draw the other two Legendary-level figures over?"

Orion asked while heading down from the city wall.

"Doesn't matter if they come or not," Rumbold said.

"If they show up, we can just wipe them out in one go. If they don't, we'll have to do all the grunt work ourselves—scouring this entire region."

Rumbold's tone was wildly confident—facing a two-versus-three situation still didn't seem to shake his faith in himself and Orion.

In truth, Orion wasn't so sure. After all, ever since ascending to Legendary level, he hadn't gone toe-to-toe in many life-or-death battles against other Legendary-level beings. He had yet to develop a crystal-clear sense of his own limits.

Two against three left him both eager and uneasy.

Not long after, someone torched the city they'd just conquered—nobody knew who set it ablaze once Orion and his group had departed.

Illuminated by the flames behind him, a calm-faced Orion sank into his own thoughts.

––––––––

Survivor's Platform, four-person public channel:

Leonidas: "Squiddy, Hulk, how's it going on your ends? We've already taken the central region and are building our base camp.

Leonidas: "Once you guys finish, bring your troops over to help out in the center. It's risky, sure, but it'll definitely get your blood pumping."

By joining forces, Leonidas and Arthas had driven away Goblin King Gollum and taken over the central region of this godforsaken land.

Now that they had some downtime while constructing their new lair, Leonidas messaged the public channel to check on the others' progress. After all, he and Arthas were here this time to help the newcomers "level up," not just to drag them to their deaths.

Kraken: "Mr. Leonidas, I've already secured the smaller big island over here, so I'll wrap up soon."

Leonidas: "Be careful. Don't draw too much attention from other lords; we might not get there fast enough to bail you out if they swarm you."

Kraken: "Got it!"

Orion waited until Leonidas and Kraken were basically done talking, then shared his own update.

Hulk: "Bro, I've run into a Goblin Lord's domain. I've beaten him back and I'm pushing into his territory."

Leonidas: "Hahaha… Goblins are all alike. If they can't win, they run—greedy, cowardly, scummy to the core.

Leonidas: "But anyway, be careful: there are three lords living in that eastern region. You two versus three—watch your backs.

Leonidas: "Plus, from what you mentioned, Hulk, you missed your best chance to take them down one by one!"

His words were both a heads-up and a hint, which set off some waves in Orion's mind.

Leonidas was absolutely right: Murktooth's successful escape meant Orion had lost a golden opportunity. Had he been strong or fast enough to kill Murktooth right away, then taking on the other two Legendary-level enemies later would've been a much more manageable scenario.

Letting Murktooth slip away basically gave those three Legendary-level foes time to join forces.

The moment to strike had passed, he hadn't entirely missed the thought of finishing Murktooth—he'd considered chasing him down. Orion's reflexes told him to seize that moment, but Rumbold persuaded him to let it go.

Not that Rumbold was trying to sabotage anything or made a bad call. The rationale Rumbold offered was persuasive, and Orion had accepted it. The only real issue was that Orion hadn't stuck firmly to his own instincts.

Rumbold had also taken note of that hesitation and quietly lowered his estimation of Orion.

For any true powerhouse, being steadfast—right or wrong—is critical. Some people stay so committed to their path that they can even turn a mistake into a victory.

Hulk: "Thanks for the advice. I've missed my shot, so I'll just have to wait for the next."

Leonidas: "Remember, once you're ready to strike, do it like a bolt of lightning—so fast your enemy can't respond. That's how you avoid unnecessary trouble!"

Arthas: "Leonidas, will you shut your yap, you mangy puppy? If you keep running your mouth, we'll have the enemy knocking on our front door in no time!"