Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

"Stand up, all of you. There's no need for that!"

Orion spoke up to soothe everyone, then handed a Bagbird pouch to Clymene. Inside the Bagbird pouch were a number of spirit crystals and several Rebirth Stones.

When Clymene saw the contents of the pouch, she was astonished. She looked up at Orion in disbelief.

"These things will be very helpful to you. I hope you won't refuse them!"

At last, Clymene nodded and accepted the supplies.

Orion checked the cross-realm teleportation array once more, then turned to Lumi.

"It looks like you'll need to stand guard here for a while."

Lumi nodded. She had always preferred peace and quiet; staying here was no different from staying in the snowy mountains.

"Where are you going?"

She had only just met Orion, and from the way he spoke, he was already leaving. Lumi felt a pang of regret because Orion's stay this time was all too brief, and he showed no intention of making love to her.

"I'm going south. The situation there is more complicated, and if I don't show my face often, enemies will start to eye my territory."

Lumi nodded; lords in the south tended to be stronger than those in the north, so they needed to be kept in check.

"I can help you."

After a moment's pause, Lumi's cool voice broke the silence, catching Orion off guard as he continued inspecting the cross-realm teleportation array.

"You have something more important to do."

Orion produced two chilled boxes and handed them to Lumi.

"What's inside will help you advance your power even further."

Naturally, the item capable of pushing someone at Legendary level to greater heights was Legendary-level life essence.

Orion's idea was simple: he wanted Lumi to progress directly from lower Legendary level to middle Legendary level.

There were two reasons behind it. First, it would make Lumi stronger, and second, it would help prepare her for entering the Emerald Dream Realm in the future.

At middle Legendary level, combined with an elemental being's innate advantages, Lumi should be significantly more resilient than other Legendary-level individuals.

…

In the south, within Stoneheart City.

Even though Orion had granted Delilah the right to work in the castle, she still preferred her mysterious tavern. After all, the castle belonged to Lilith, and Delilah made that distinction quite clear.

"Your Majesty, here is all the information you requested."

On the second floor of the tavern, a succubus maidservant reverently handed Delilah a compiled report. Dressed in nearly transparent gauze, Delilah's enticing figure was faintly visible as she retracted her gaze from the view of Stoneheart City, then took the booklet and began to read it leisurely.

"Did you send over the share of resources meant for the castle?"

Before opening the booklet, Delilah asked this question in a casual tone.

"Yes, I delivered it myself to that very important person."

"How did she respond?"

"She was quite calm about it, but asked me to convey her gratitude to you."

"Gratitude? That's exactly what she's owed."

Delilah raised her head and looked toward the castle. The "very important person" the maidservant spoke of was Kitsune Sylvana.

During the dark beast tides, Delilah had been stationed on the walls all day, entrusting every matter inside the city to Sylvana. Sylvana turned out to be quite capable and handled everything neatly, which made Delilah hold her in higher regard.

"She does have skill. No wonder Orion arranged for her to assist me."

Retracting her gaze, Delilah turned her attention back to the booklet in her hands. It held two parts of gathered information. The first part recorded the Stoneheart Horde's expenditures and losses from the dark beast tides defensive battle, as well as the battle achievements of the leading bloodline warriors.

An eye-catching name appeared here:

Godfrey, the human knight.

"Godfrey… He's brave, and his achievements are rather impressive. While we can't grant him any dark source crystal, we can reward him with something else."

"Go to the Flame-Tiger beast pens and select a tiger cub. Give it as a reward to the human knight who performed outstandingly in the defensive battle."

"I want every outsider to know that our Stoneheart Horde is generous!"

After issuing this command, Delilah continued reading. The rest concerned the horde's bloodline warriors, who had their own dedicated reward systems, so they didn't need special mention.

Before long, Delilah reached the second part of the booklet, which detailed recent developments in Stoneheart City.

"At daybreak, the caravan stationed at the southern branch of the Golden Apple Chamber of Commerce loaded 120 carts of goods and left Stoneheart City."

"The Blood Elf shop to the south of the city announced that dark source crystals can be exchanged for enchanted weapons."

"A human mercenary team is seeking anyone familiar with the route to the former Beastfolk territory and Orc territory; any race is acceptable."

"..."

As Delilah reviewed these items, she tried to pick out anything of real value. She was especially interested in the humans.

Orion had told her once that humans usually act in pursuit of profit. In other words, their actions revolve around maximizing benefit.

"120 carts of supplies… Beastfolk and Orc…"

"That means the goods those humans require must be among the items taken out of the city."

"So what exactly do those human mercenaries plan to do once they reach the Beastfolk territory?"

"..."

Deep in thought, Delilah found there were some questions she couldn't answer, yet at the same time, there were things that made perfect sense—and amazed her. Regardless, in the process of governing this territory, Delilah was pondering new ideas and growing in the role.

…

Blackstone City.

With plenty of dark source crystals in hand, Orion bade farewell to Lumi and Clymene, departing the underworld. Most of the Dark Worm corpses had already served as food for his little spider minions.

Having returned to the surface world, Orion didn't linger. He set off alone for the north. From north to south, Orion was touring his domain. Along the way, he unleashed his aura to make his presence felt.

In the northern ice plains, even the Mammoth Lord Drakmar sensed Orion's aura and kept its distance rather than greet him directly.

Next came the Desolate Plains, where Ironhoof waved at Orion from afar. After that, he arrived at the Thunderwood Forest, where he met Slagor.

"Honorable Lord, Slagor is truly honored to meet you here!"

Outside the Thunderpeak Mountain Eagle Nest, Orion sized up Slagor. The fellow had finally made some progress—now at mid Alpha-level.

Perhaps if he went to trial in the Valkorath Realm, he might break through to peak Alpha-level.

A being like Slagor, who could ascend to Alpha-level on his own, clearly possessed above-average talent.

"Prepare yourself. Someone will be sent here soon to replace you."

"Make your way back to Blackstone City when you're ready—I have a task for you."

Hearing that Orion himself had a mission in mind for him, Slagor felt a surge of excitement he could hardly contain.