Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

"What is this thing?"

A Ghost Dragon phantom materialized directly in Yilaya's path, its spectral form freezing her in mid-air. The only thing she could still move was her mind. A suffocating wave of despair washed over her. This is it. This serpent-demon avatar is a lost cause.

A crackle of lightning echoed from behind her. An instant later, a bolt of incandescent fire and lightning tore through her, incinerating her body from the inside out. Death had come so suddenly, she never had a chance to prepare.

Orion collected the Survivor's loot box that dropped from Yilaya's vaporized form. A clean, efficient kill. It was a good start. After a quick scan of the area revealed no other surprises, he resumed his inexorable advance on the Black Tower.

The Black Tower, Fifth Floor.

Within the grand palace that belonged to Yilaya, the oppressive darkness receded, revealing a hall that was equal parts opulent, sinister, and profane. On the high walls all around, countless figures were hung upside down. They were Yilaya's trophies, all long dead, their bodies drained of every fluid until they resembled desiccated husks.

CRACK!

Suddenly, the throne at the center of the hall exploded, as if destroyed by a force from within. The violent spray of debris only added to the chamber's grotesque atmosphere. From a hidden compartment beneath the shattered throne, a single, enormous serpent egg was revealed.

The egg shuddered, and cracks began to form, spreading outward from the inside.

CRUNCH!

A slender, pale hand punched through the shell. Two hands tore the opening wider, and Yilaya, covered in a foul-smelling, viscous fluid, stepped out of the egg, completely unharmed.

"Sssstupid… giant!" she hissed, her voice slowly transitioning from a sibilant snarl to articulate speech. "An entire arch lord avatar, destroyed just like that. Damn you! Just wait until I get my hands on you.I'll drain every last drop of your essence."

Yilaya shook her body, flinging the viscous fluid away. A dense layer of scales erupted across her skin, then hardened and sharpened, forming a suit of interlocking scale mail that encased her body. She cracked her neck and strode toward a side chamber.

This room was bare, containing only a single altar and a mysterious, serpent-like statue. Yilaya approached the altar and poured fresh, unknown blood into its central vessel, then began to chant a prayer.

Less than three minutes later, the blood in the vessel had evaporated. The statue before the altar stirred as if coming to life.

"What is it?" a voice rumbled from the stone, and a mighty aura washed over the room, filling Yilaya with an overwhelming urge to prostrate herself.

"Lord Pontiff," she said, her head bowed low. "There is a situation in the Forest of Nature. A vast army of the undead has descended upon the realm. Their leader is an Abyssal giant of incredible power. My primary avatar engaged him and was easily destroyed."

Lying to a demigod-level Pontiff was a death sentence. The unvarnished truth was the only form of respect such a being would accept. The Witch was confident she wasn't much weaker than a demigod, but her true body wasn't here. Adopting a deferential posture was her best play.

"Based on my probing, he is likely an Over-tier existence," she continued. "His attitude is arrogant and dismissive; he holds no respect for the Cult of Four. They are advancing on the Black Tower now, intending to overthrow our rule and seize this fertile land from our holy order."

While she couldn't lie, a little embellishment was necessary to ensure the Pontiff took the threat seriously.

"I suspect a mighty power is backing him from the shadows. I beseech you, Lord Pontiff, to send down your will and expel these invaders."

Passing the buck, diverting the threat—it had always been the Witch's preferred style. Leveraging the power of others was just another tool for destroying her enemies.

"What does this enemy want?" the statue asked, not immediately agreeing to her request. As a Pontiff of the Cult, he was well aware of the true capabilities of his High Priestesses.

"Lord Pontiff, I attempted to recruit the giant arch lord, but I failed," the Witch sidestepped the question. "He is brutish and unreasonable, demanding the Forest of Nature for himself and showing nothing but contempt for our holy order."

She waved a hand, and a large mirror flew from the side of the hall, positioning itself beside the statue.

"Lord Pontiff, the enemy is approaching the Black Tower's core territory as we speak."

She tapped the magic mirror. Its surface rippled like water, then cleared. It showed Orion, trident in hand, wreathed in lightning, speeding toward them. In the mirror, however, Orion suddenly looked up. A flash of lightning erupted from his body, and the image in the mirror dissolved into static. He had detected their scrying and destroyed the link. The Pontiff saw it all.

Undeterred, the Witch tapped the mirror again. This time, it showed the front lines of the undead army's advance. Blight Wyrms circled in the sky while a knight in bone armor raised his sword, causing more skeletons to claw their way out of the heaps of fresh corpses. Amidst the chaos, the Witch and the Pontiff could even see two of their own demonic monster lords, now twisted and reanimated to fight for the other side.

"Lord Pontiff, I have no confidence I can defeat this foe," the Witch said, her voice grave. "The situation is critical."

Presenting hard evidence was her most persuasive argument. She knew this greedy Pontiff would be unwilling to abandon a territory as rich as the Forest of Nature. Furthermore, they had both invested heavily in the construction of the Black Tower.

"A powerful Abyssal giant, you say?" the statue mused. "Strange. Why would a giant be leading an army of the undead?"

The demigod was no fool; he sensed that something wasn't quite right. But there was no time to ponder the mystery. Orion and his army were, undeniably, advancing on their position.

"Prepare for battle," the statue commanded. "I will undo the seals on the Black Tower's guardians and place them under your temporary command. I will then make my way there and descend my will into the tower as soon as I am able."

As he finished speaking, the statue began to glow. The divine power stored within it flowed out, seeping into the very foundations of the Black Tower itself. The statue then returned to its normal, inert state.

A faint, cruel smile touched the Witch's lips. She had gotten everything she wanted.

She vanished, reappearing in the lowest level of the Black Tower. In the center of the vast summoning and conversion formation, the floor had opened up into a massive birthing pit. The walls of the pit were lined with countless, pulsating gestation pods.

As the seals were undone, one by one, they began to stir.