Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1340 The Fracture in the Woods

Orion bore the weight of a truth he could not share, a solitary burden on his shoulders.

There were certain revelations he simply had to keep silent. His grasp of the fundamental laws of the world—honed through the very process of creation—far surpassed the limited understanding of his comrades. Unless he carefully guarded these mysteries, Kairon, Seraphina, and Evander would continue to live in blissful ignorance.

The current situation was far more terrifying than a simple incursion. Unlike the Emerald Dream Realm, which merely sought a bridge to the Titanion Realm, this encroaching dimension was attempting to overwrite it. It was a violent collision of both physical and metaphysical realities.

The fallout was already becoming visible. The natural laws of the realm were splitting apart, paving the way for the local wildlife to undergo a rapid and aggressive evolution. The insects, in particular, were changing the fastest.

Orion reached out with his senses. His divine perception drifted across his lands until it caught on a strange disturbance in the northern reaches.

The Black Forest.

The humidity within the ancient woods was nearly unbearable at the peak of summer. The air felt heavy, saturated not only by the heat but by a constant, chittering swarm of life. The periods of dawn and dusk had turned into prime hunting hours for predators, turning any journey into a risk that only the reckless or the desperate would take.

Snap.

“Damn it! Where are all these stinging bastards coming from?” Redfang growled, cleaning a glob of green fluid from his leather armor. “I swear, the woods weren’t this infested last year.”

The young giant glanced down at the smashed bug near his boot, grinding it further into the mud. It was a Viper-Fly—a vicious, beetle-like insect native to the Black Forest. Its venom contained a powerful neurotoxin; a sufficient dose could leave even an adult giant paralyzed for several minutes. Typically, the tribe’s specialists, such as Rendall, gathered them to create paralytic concoctions.

“Good thing we Pandaren have thick fur,” Zhenlo remarked with a chuckle, shifting his gear. “Those tiny needles can’t pierce through this coat.”

Raised in the harsh environment of Blackstone City, Zhenlo and Redfang were long-time friends. They were the face of the Stoneheart Horde’s newest generation, their very souls shaped by the presence of the giants. This territory was their home and their pride.

“Redfang, level with me,” Zhenlo said, squinting up into the thick branches. “Are you certain Bagbirds live out here? We’ve been trekking for hours.”

They were hunting for treasure. Bagbirds were elusive and rare, highly sought after for their natural ability to produce spatial storage pockets—essentially living, biological inventories.

“You calling me a liar, Zhenlo?” Redfang snapped, his voice echoing through the quiet forest. “Since when have I ever steered you wrong? My old man swore on the ancestors that the Giant King himself caught Bagbirds in this exact sector back in the day.”

To Redfang, this area was sacred ground. It was the location where Orion had first encountered the Ironbone Giants.

“I know, I know,” Zhenlo said, raising his paws in a defensive gesture. “But you talk like you were there personally. It’s all legends, man.”

“It’s not just legends. When I was at the War Camps, I saw the records,” Redfang countered.

The War Camps served as the proving grounds for the youth of the Stoneheart Horde. It was the place where commoners trained alongside the sons of Elders and the Giant Prince, all vying for a position within the elite vanguard units.

“Well, my dad was a Vanguard,” Zhenlo replied, puffing out his chest with pride. “He served directly under a Horde Elder. He says I’ve got the potential to break past Alpha-level.”

“Heh.” Redfang gave a dismissive snort. “In Blackstone City, stopping at Alpha-level is considered a failure. I’m aiming higher. Elder Dirtclaw made Warden, and I’ve got better talent than he did at my age.”

It was the typical arrogance of the young, yet it was rooted in truth. This new generation was being raised with superior resources, better training, and higher limits than those who came before them.

“Redfang, wait—” Zhenlo stopped abruptly, his ears twitching at a sound. “What is that?”

Redfang looked where his friend was pointing. High on the trunk of a massive ironwood tree hung a cocoon the size of a human head, pulsing with a sickly, glowing violet light. It shone like a beacon in the dim dawn light.

“Let’s check it out.”

Fifteen minutes later, by combining Zhenlo’s climbing claws and Redfang’s brute strength, they managed to tear the cocoon from the wood and bring it down to the forest floor.

Redfang looked at the thing, feeling a sense of dread. “By the spirits... tell me that isn’t a Viper-Fly.”

“It’s... evolving?”

Redfang pulled his dagger and carefully sliced through the silk exterior. A pungent odor of ozone and acid filled the air. Inside was a monster—a Viper-Fly the size of a softball, equipped with two extra sets of translucent, razor-edged wings.

“Look at the abdomen,” Zhenlo whispered in horror. “It’s pulsating. The damn thing is alive.”

“Since when do bugs in the Black Forest get this big?” Redfang’s voice wavered.

He stared at the creature. A single Viper-Fly was a nuisance, he thought. But a whole swarm of these? They could slaughter an entire patrol.

“If this thing bites you, you aren’t just getting paralyzed,” Redfang said darkly. “You’re dead.”

“We need to move,” Zhenlo said, his playful mood completely gone. “The patrol needs to see this. Now.”

“Agreed.”

The two friends stowed the specimen and ran, sprinting toward the forest's edge. They were unaware that their find had already been detected by a divine radar.

Miles away, Orion remained perfectly still, his eyes open but focused on a different plane of reality. Had this mutation occurred in neutral territory or the lands of another faction, he might have overlooked it. However, the Black Forest was his own domain. He was aware of every heartbeat, every leaf, and every insect within his territory.

In his memories, a Viper-Fly was no larger than a thumb. The monstrosity Redfang had discovered was a deviation that confirmed his most terrifying suspicions.

The laws of the Titanion Realm were failing.

The insect kingdom was the primary beneficiary of the alien world’s presence. They were adapting and evolving at a frightening speed to align with the incoming reality.

Orion narrowed his eyes. He would keep this knowledge to himself.

It was a calculated, selfish decision, but a necessary one. Information was a form of currency. By the time Kairon and the others understood the situation, the Stoneheart Horde would have already developed defenses.

The discovery of the mutated Viper-Fly revealed something else to Orion. The timeline was speeding up. The civil war and Lokiviria’s sacrifice were now years in the past. The enemy had utilized that time effectively.

The invasion wasn’t merely approaching. It had already arrived.