Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 1479: Night of Butchery

"My Lord, do we return immediately?"

Those were the first words out of Oswin Calder’s mouth as they stepped out of the castle, the massive gates slamming shut behind them. Theodore had just finished his audience with King Orion and a private meeting with Ava.

Theodore shook his head. Northguard had a new anchor now. The Stoneheart Horde was assuming full administrative control. While Theodore remained its Lord in title, his actual authority was limited.

Of course, the benefits the Horde provided were maximized to compensate. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The weight he had been carrying for so long finally lifted, leaving him exhausted. He had been trudging through mud for years; now that he was free, he needed to catch his breath before he could start running again.

Be ready at all times. The Stoneheart Horde never wastes talent.

That was the message Ava had drilled into him. She was now Lilith’s right hand, buried under mountains of administrative paperwork from every corner of the empire. She knew better than anyone how desperate the Horde was for competent governance.

The Titanion Realm, the Emerald Dream Realm, the Silverwood Realm, and now the burning crusade in the World of Eldoria—the Horde was expanding faster than it could breed administrators. They needed managers, and they needed pioneers.

Theodore was overqualified for both.

Opportunities lay before him like a feast; whether he could carve out a place at the table depended entirely on his own ambition. The Stoneheart Horde was no longer a tribe; it was a leviathan capable of nurturing its own Archlords. If Theodore stayed, served, and accrued enough merit, he would eventually be enfeoffed with vast territories and elevated to heights he had never imagined.

But first, he needed to recover. With the collapse of the Human Kingdom, Theodore’s power—anchored to the old royal bloodline and the Mandate of Kings—had fractured. He needed time to decouple his strength from the dead kingdom and forge a new foundation.

"General, have you ever visited the Silent Goblet?" Theodore asked, adjusting his cloak. "There’s a bard residing there, a traveler from another world. He’s seen things we can’t imagine, knows secrets lost to time. Listening to his stories is an education in itself."

He clapped the old man on the shoulder. "I have a bottle of vintage spirits reserved behind the bar. Come. Drink with me."

Theodore needed the rest, but Oswin needed it more. This white-haired veteran had followed him into the abyss without a single complaint, guarding civilians when all hope seemed lost. Theodore owed him a future. He wanted to see the old general break his mortal limits, ascend to Lordship, and find his fire again.

"My Lord, but... Northguard..." Oswin hesitated, looking north.

Theodore waved a hand, cutting him off.

"Rest easy. Northguard belongs to the Stoneheart Horde now. His Majesty and his kin won’t let it fall to the insect swarms. We need time to integrate, and frankly, the people of Northguard need time to accept reality."

"If we aren’t there," Theodore said, his voice lowering, "they will assimilate faster."

It was a cold calculation of civilian psychology. If Theodore returned now, he would remain their crutch, a symbol of the old days. They would rally around him and resist the new order. But if the "Giant King" and his Horde were the only shield between them and destruction, the people would embrace the Horde to survive.

Theodore was the past. For the merger to work, he had to disappear for a while.

And if disappearing meant drowning in the debauchery and fine wine of Stoneheart City, Theodore was more than willing to make that sacrifice.

"My Lord," Oswin asked quietly, "is there any hope of... restoration?"

Restoration. Returning the Human Kingdom to its former glory.

Theodore smiled, then shook his head. He didn’t answer verbally, but the answer was clear.

The continent was united under the Horde. Even the name of the land had changed. If the old kingdom returned, it would only be as a vassal. As long as the legendary Giant King lived, this continent would never change masters.

"General, stop looking at the ashes behind us. Look forward." Theodore gestured to the sprawling city around them. "Don’t you want to ascend to the rank of Lord under the Horde’s banner? I hear they’ve recently elevated a new batch of non-native commanders to the Legendary tier."

It was a hint, and a lure.

At the mention of the Legendary tier, Oswin’s pupils contracted. The heart that had beaten with the slow rhythm of despair suddenly skipped a beat. A seed of ambition, long thought dead, began to sprout.

"Compared to the Human Kingdom, the Stoneheart Horde offers a stage without horizons," Theodore continued, his voice taking on a visionary quality. "Besides... don’t you want to build a kingdom of your own one day?"

If he couldn’t inherit a kingdom, Theodore would build one.

Thanks to his royal education, he saw the board clearly. Orion had achieved Demigod status. His eyes wouldn’t linger on a single continent, nor would he settle for being the Emperor of the Stoneheart Horde forever. That role was for his children.

Orion was a conqueror. He wanted expansion.

What Orion needed was infinite Faith Energy. Territory, civilization, worship... these were the fuel for divinity.

One day, the high-ranking officers of the Horde would be sent out as Viceroys and Kings to manage the worlds Orion conquered—guardians of his pastures. Different worlds, different races, different civilizations. The most efficient way to manage them would be through vassal kingdoms, with Orion as the supreme deity and his church as the state religion.

This was the inevitable path of the Stoneheart Horde.

Theodore knew that if he kept his head down and worked for the Horde, he would eventually wear a crown again.

"General, the game has changed," Theodore said, stepping into the street. "We need to rest up. We have an empire to build."

World of Eldoria, Andor Diocese.

Night fell like a shroud.

In Dolame Square, the barrier of light had shattered. The holy illumination was extinguished, replaced by a suffocating gloom filled with the sounds of butchery.

The Undead Legion advanced through the darkness. Skeletons marched in eerie silence, their bone blades gleaming with a cold, bloodthirsty light. Above the square, Draconic Beasts and spectral horrors circled like vultures, screeching coordinates to the ground forces, pinpointing every hiding spot where the defenders cowered.

The Draconic Beasts swooping low were the most terrifying. They trampled the sacred architecture with reckless abandon, their scales reflecting the flashes of fire and spilling blood.

But the true nightmares were the Demons.

Accustomed to darkness and slaughter, they moved like phantoms. To their eyes, the prey hiding in basements and attics shone like beacons in the night.

Sharp roars and piercing, manic laughter echoed off the walls. Dolame Square had been transformed from a holy sanctuary into a slaughterhouse.

In the shadows, scattered pockets of Holy Order knights tried to resist. But against the tidal wave of the coalition army, their light was a flickering candle in a hurricane.

They fell. They died.

"Goddess..." a dying knight gasped, blood bubbling from his lips. "Open your eyes... look upon your faithful..."

"Evil has descended... Hell is empty... the Demons are here..."