Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1441 The Goddess of Vengeance

"People enter the world wrapped in darkness, groping blindly for purpose. Just those who carry light within their souls can truly perceive."

"Light remains visible to you. Redemption is still within reach."

"Yield. Allow the sacred radiance of the Order to cleanse you and erase your wrongs."

Moments after Raveth concluded his words, a voice from an elder reverberated from the cathedral's inner sanctum. This tone achieved flawless harmony, infused with a divine echo that could drive away dread and evil.

"If yielding could revive my family and companions, I might think about it," Aina responded, her tone laced with feigned reflection. "Yet the Holy Order has already executed them. The deceased show little interest in atonement."

"Move out of the way, Ascetic. Avoid destroying yourself over a doomed effort."

Aina advanced. Gusts of wind flung her cloak about, making her locks whirl chaotically. Bathed in the cathedral's luminescence, her striking beauty appeared far from infernal; she resembled a heavenly manifestation.

Upon beholding her, the Ascetic—Cyrion—halted as he stepped from the nave.

He gazed at her, confusion filling his gaze. No hint of corruption emanated from her. In contrast to the man trailing her, whose presence churned like a tempest of hatred, this woman radiated... purity.

"You... you do not belong to the shadows," Cyrion determined. For the first time across his extended years, doubt crept into his convictions about the Holy Order and the essence of Light.

"I never claimed to be shadow," Aina grinned, advancing once more. "At worst, I embody Nemesis. The Deity of Retribution."

"Stop," Cyrion urged, his words sincere. "This sacred territory is not meant for you."

"Sacred territory often conceals the worst corruption," Aina shot back. "I've come merely to purify it."

She persisted without pause.

Cyrion sealed his lips. His gaze turned resolute. Gradually, he lifted a hand, thickening the atmosphere. Pure Holy Light coalesced in his grasp, releasing the daunting might of the Legendary realm.

Cyrion served as Port Caelwyn's actual guardian. Bishops and priests functioned only as overseers; he formed the city's defense.

"Foes of the Light shall be ripped apart!"

ROAR!

Confronting the dazzling brilliance, Aina showed no retreat. She continued her stride.

Yet trailing her, Raveth surged into motion. His frame expanded, growing three times larger. A pair of hideous limbs erupted from his rear as he leaped past Aina, bellowing with savage fury while charging at Cyrion.

The carnage commenced.

Throughout Port Caelwyn, afflicted residents initiated the initial surge of flesh-eating. Trailing them came Hellscream's agents, gliding like grim harvesters to collect the slain. Individuals who collapsed into sleep post their mania got loaded onto wagons and transported to hidden shrines.

The grandest among these shrines rose adjacent to Namir Cathedral.

Aina had guided Raveth to this spot for one clear reason: to pursue Cyrion. A zealous Ascetic, overflowing with years of gathered Faith, stood as the ideal, most powerful offering conceivable.

Within the cathedral, Aina positioned herself before a marble effigy of a deity, exhaling as she gazed upward at the carved visage.

"Deities... why won't you awaken? The radiance your Holy Order grasps warped into shadow ages past."

Quietness replied.

"You sparked this chaos?!"

A frenzied cry shattered the hush in the side chapel. The cleric, Deryn—the same one previously indulging with the nun—sprang forth. His fingers twisted into talons, lunging directly at Aina.

He appeared rational. He had restrained the malediction inside him. Regrettably, he remained oblivious to assaulting a beast.

"An Alpha?" Aina whispered, underwhelmed.

Schlick.

Deryn halted suspended in the air. He glanced downward, eyes bulging in shock, at the slender fist that had pierced his torso with ease.

The maiden who seemed as harmless as a doe had just hollowed him out like fruit.

Hopelessness flooded him. His heartbeat eluded his senses. The vigor of his lineage faded. Obscurity engulfed his sight.

"A core brimming with corruption," Aina remarked, pulling back her fist. She raised the oozing organ toward the glow. "Unworthy for the shrine. Yet you'll serve splendidly as nourishment for my cherished ones."

She retrieved a vial of glass, placed the heart within, and secured it. It would sustain the Cursed Tree in time.

She drew forth a delicate cloth and gracefully cleaned a drop of blood from her digits. She resembled no executioner. She appeared as if concluding an afternoon repast.

Minor Hell. Ashenheart Domain.

Shakes from the Ever-Burning Volcano intensified fiercely.

In the depths of the grotto where Orion's demigod avatar rested, gales wailed with eerie ferocity. Before Arthas uttered an alert, Orion, Leonidas, Alexander, and the Deputy Commander all jolted alert.

"Arthas, report?" Leonidas demanded. He sensed a weight in the atmosphere absent since his rise to demigod.

"The foe lurks overhead," Arthas stated, his gaze sharpening as he rose. "I detect his presence, yet can't locate him precisely. He surpasses us entirely."

Orion shared a somber glance with Leonidas, Alexander, and the Deputy Commander. Silently, they exited the cavern.

Beyond, the heavens had vanished.

Utter blackness enveloped everything. The volcano's molten shine appeared smothered, failing to breach the murk.

"We've been ensnared in a spell array," the Deputy Commander declared, his tone strained. He craned his neck, eyes gleaming with celestial patterns as he probed for anchors or energy paths. Typically, targeting vital points would dismantle an array or expose vulnerabilities.

Yet nothing appeared. No imperfections. No framework.

The adversary had enclosed the volcano without a sound, employing mastery beyond their comprehension.

"Damn this deception. I'll shatter it!"

Leonidas advanced. He struck the sky.

An illusory serpent thundered to life, surging upward with gale strength. Peals of thunder boomed and tempests howled as the embodiment of raw power slammed into the world's roof.

Zap.

A ray of ebony darkness lanced from the emptiness. In one flash, the serpent illusion vanished.

However, the strike unveiled reality. Briefly, Orion and his commanders glimpsed it: a reflector.

An enormous, jet-dark reflector spanned the entire vault above. It emitted no presence, no power. It merely existed.

"That's no array," the Deputy Commander grasped, his complexion draining. "That's an electromagnetic zone produced by the relic alone."

An array and a relic's zone represented entirely distinct horrors.

"Relics can't produce zones this vast," the Deputy Commander murmured, fear edging his voice. "Just a Demigod Artifact holds such might."

"The invader... commands a Demigod Artifact."

The declaration struck the team like a tangible strike. A Demigod Artifact embodied a weapon with a fragment of godhood. It signified unchallenged dominance.

A colossal, warped voice descended from the reflector, quaking the ground.

"Yield the Ever-Burning Volcano, and I'll permit your escape alive."