Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Titanion Realm—Aenari Island.

Sunlight dappled across the turquoise water of the lagoon. Gentle waves lapped against a shore of golden sand, a stark and peaceful contrast to the deep, tumultuous ocean beyond. The sea breeze that drifted here was soft and delicate, as quiet and gentle as a sleeping child. It ghosted over the skin like a caress, soothing both body and mind.

"My lady, is this island… is it really ours now? Part of the Stoneheart Horde?" Rendall, leading the other elders, still looked as if he were in a daze. It all felt a bit like a dream. In their minds, they had prepared for a bloody, life-or-death battle to claim this prize. They never imagined the fiercest part of the invasion would be the slaughter of some monstrous rays.

Marina, who had been gazing out at the sea, turned back to them. "It is ours," she confirmed, allowing a small smile. Her expression quickly turned serious, however, as she gave voice to her concerns. "But the Sea Race will not give up their territory so easily. I know my people. They won't let this go without another fight."

As a member of the Sea Race herself, Marina knew their nature better than anyone. This was the deep ocean, an island isolated and far from their true centers of power. The Sea Race had countless ways to make their lives difficult.

"Then we must build our city at once," an elder urged. "As soon as the teleportation array is built and linked to the Horde, we'll have nothing to fear, no matter how many enemies come."

Marina nodded in agreement. The plan was sound: establish a camp, build a city around it as the core, and slowly radiate their influence across the island and into the surrounding waters.

"Alright, elders," she said, her voice clear and decisive. "Let's choose a site together."

Marina knew that building a city on land was entirely different from building one beneath the waves. She was not so arrogant as to take on the task alone, instead inviting the experienced elders to join her.

"My lady, this is a small inland sea. I believe we should build our city along the coast."

"I think we should build at the river mouth, where it meets the ocean. It would be a more defensible position."

"…"

The group talked as they walked, their voices filled with purpose and excitement. Marina led the way, a small, genuine smile touching her lips. She found that she rather liked days like this.

***

Valkorath Realm—Soraya City.

When Orion arrived, a sense of dislocation washed over him. This was Soraya's city, but she was nowhere to be found. After Lorelia had been reassigned to the Silverwood Realm, Soraya had taken her place, standing guard over the cross-realm teleportation array in Lorelia's former post. Even his adopted daughter, Elara, was now in Stoneheart City.

Orion didn't linger. Soraya City was merely a waypoint. He entered the intra-realm teleporter at the city's center and, in a shimmer of energy, was transported to the central region.

This was the commander's domain. Even during the height of the slime molds invasion, when the Champions Alliance was at its weakest, this place had stood unshakable. No enemy had ever breached its borders.

There were no luxurious palaces here, no grand walls to keep enemies at bay. There was only a mountain. A mountain that was itself a blade. It wasn't just shaped like a blade; its very presence, its aura, was that of a keen, cutting edge. Orion's hearing was sharp. Besides the countless blade-like peaks and stone carvings, he could hear the distant, rhythmic clang of a smith's hammer ringing through the air.

Orion gazed up at the massive peak, its primary edge pointing skyward, and started his ascent along a path of neatly laid stone slabs. Sword-wielding sentinels stood guard at regular intervals on either side of the path, but his arrival seemed to be expected. They remained perfectly still, letting him pass without challenge.

He climbed at a steady pace, and after half a day, he was nearing the summit. Three hundred yards from the top, he stopped. He could feel a change. The stone steps of this final stretch looked identical to the ones he'd already climbed, but as he took the first step, he knew they were different.

His legs suddenly felt immensely heavy. With every step he took, his very soul seemed to tremble. Yet, after each tremor, a strange, pleasant sensation washed through him, a feeling of lightness, as if some unseen burden was being stripped away.

Orion took a deep breath, steadied himself, and continued his climb, one laborious step at a time.

It was another half a day before he finally reached the summit. Those last three hundred yards had taken him as long as the entire journey before it. He had walked a celestial path, but at its end, there was no celestial gate waiting for him. There was only a small, grassy plateau, dotted with overgrown weeds.

"You're the last member of our Champions Alliance to come see me here."

The voice came from nearby. Beneath a tall pine tree sat a simple A-frame tent. A man with eyes as dark and deep as polished jet, wearing a loose-fitting, sleeveless tunic and a simple leather headband, was taking a drink from a wineskin as he curiously watched Orion crest the final step.

"Commander?" Orion asked, instinctively knowing this rugged man was the leader of the Champions Alliance.

"Yeah, something like that," the commander, Thresh, replied without much explanation. He took another swig before asking a question of his own. "So, what do you think of the view from my Blade's Edge Peak?"

"It's incredible," Orion answered truthfully, his gaze sweeping over the landscape. "A majestic range of colorful peaks. From up here, you can see everything." It was only now, standing on the summit, that he realized the other side of the mountain was a sheer, miles-deep cliff. He was standing on the very tip of the blade.

"Ha! A view like this, and a man like you… I thought it might inspire a bit of poetry," the commander laughed. He tossed a wineskin to Orion, then paid him no more mind, simply lying back in his tent to watch the clouds drift by.

In Orion's eyes, the legendary commander looked like a total slacker.

Orion took a few pulls from the wineskin, his gaze shifting from the clouds in the sky to the man in the tent. It felt surreal. This was the invincible commander?

"Commander, I…" Orion began, wanting to state his purpose, but the timing felt off. The situation was too bizarre, too informal.

"Spit it out," Thresh said lazily, not taking his eyes off the sky. "Whatever it is, say it. In this place, if you've got the guts to say it, I've got the guts to listen."

Since the commander had put it that way, Orion didn't waste any more time. He recounted the entire series of events that had happened to him, leaving out no detail.

When he finished, Thresh gestured to the grass opposite him. "You want to lie down and watch the scenery for a bit? You're just standing there. The wind's pretty strong; you might get blown off."

Orion blinked, then let out a short, quiet laugh. He ducked into the tent without another word.

"See? View's different when you're lying down, isn't it?"

"It's alright," Orion said, not really feeling it but going along with it.

"Hahaha… your strings are wound way too tight," the commander chuckled, shaking his head. "Looks like today's not a good day for philosophizing about the view." He took another sip from his wineskin and went back to his cloud-watching.