Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1443 The Abyss is staring back at you

Orion let out a sigh, giving up on the notion of a brutal brawl.

"You have no clue," Belthar mocked with a sneer. "Someone as lowly as you can't grasp the secrets of the Divine Soul."

"Just play the role of a obedient mortal and serve as my meal!"

"Hahaha..."

The ghostly figure disappeared once more. This time, it reappeared right before the main face of the Stoneheart Titan, its mouth wide open to rip into Orion's neck.

Victory was mere inches away.

Then, Belthar went rigid. His bite refused to close. Movement eluded him entirely.

An unseen power had pinned him down, halting space in its tracks.

Orion gazed straight into the ghost's eyes. His tone remained steady, weighty, and absolute.

"The Abyss gazes back at you."

The ghostly form stood immobilized, blind to anything beyond its immediate view. Yet in the overhead mirror, Belthar's core awareness witnessed it all with stark clarity. Terror gripped him.

Moments earlier, the emptiness had trembled. This realm's laws were under assault from an external invasion.

Under Orion's stance, a shadowy realm emerged. A massive abyssal whirlpool unfurled, rotating with deliberate, horrifying grandeur. Waves of warped gravity surged out, endangering the whole Ashenheart Domain.

Up high, the Mirror of Theras loomed. Down low, the Abyssal Vortex churned. Heaven clashed with Hell in a fierce contest.

"This is..."

Leonidas drew in a sharp breath. Having nurtured a World Dragon to emergence, he knew the mark of a realm's arrival.

"A Divine Kingdom!" Edward murmured, his words quivering. "Hulk... he's truly awakened his World Dragon and shaped it into a Divine Kingdom."

"Does that mean... he's at the Fourth-Stage Demigod level?"

Edward felt profoundly rattled. Only then did the Commander's statement sink in fully. Hulk surpasses us all. No exaggeration there.

"This is hell," Orion told the immobilized specter, "yet I doubt you've ever faced the Abyss."

"It doesn't take kindly to intruders."

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

ZZZ-ZZT!

A gruesome blend of noises filled the air.

The snapping echoed a Divine Soul crumbling under overwhelming might. The crackling signaled the specter's essence howling in futile defiance.

Together, it mimicked a cry being choked off.

POP!

In a flash, Belthar's ghostly projection burst inward. It wasn't mere destruction; it was total annihilation. All its strength, devotion, and awareness got pulled straight into the whirlpool at Orion's base.

After consuming the projection, Orion tilted his gaze toward the sky's mirror.

"Did you really believe it was over?"

"The Abyss craves more."

Orion lifted his seven surviving arms and unleashed a mighty bellow.

ROAAAR!

The whirlpool accelerated its spin. Gravity's grip surged a thousand times stronger. An entire realm's force hooked onto the Mirror of Theras, yanking it earthward from the skies.

This was no illusion. No deception. Orion had called forth his genuine Divine Kingdom.

Even as the kingdom failed to fully enter the Minor Hell, the barriers between dimensions collided in the emptiness, leaking energy through the fissures.

"No!"

"That's... that's the presence of a Divine Kingdom!"

"How can this be?!"

Within the mirror, Belthar descended into frenzy. As a Third-Stage Demigod, he recognized the whirlpool's nature precisely. And he understood battling a world was impossible.

Flee.

The urge blared in his thoughts.

With no delay, Belthar cut loose. His primary mind detached from the mirror's rear, breaking ties with the relic. He ripped open a rift in the void and bolted, dodging the Abyss's gravitational maw.

"That item answers to the Demon King!" Belthar's shout lingered as he slipped into the distortion. "He'll claim it himself!"

It served as a final warning, one that would linger in Orion's mind for ages. But for the moment, the foe had vanished.

Now without guidance, the Mirror of Theras quivered. Lacking Belthar's intent to hold it steady, the relic yielded to the whirlpool's draw.

Gradually, relentlessly, the enormous dark mirror lowered. Hours passed, but in the end, the abyssal whirlpool engulfed the Demigod Artifact completely, hauling it into Orion's Divine Kingdom.

With the task complete, Orion plummeted from above, crashing down hard next to Edward and Arthas.

Exhaustion marked his features. His form shimmered and faded away.

"Brothers... I'm wiped out," he muttered.

Then he toppled over, his awareness withdrawing to the cavern for profound healing rest.

Edward, Arthas, Alexander, and Leonidas lingered quietly, eyes fixed on the cave's mouth.

"Is the kid... out of juice?" Leonidas joked at last, easing the strain.

Arthas and Alexander swiveled together, fixing him with deep disdain.

"He burned through his Divine Power excessively," Edward clarified. "Sleep will restore him."

Far overhead in the turbulent void, Orion's Divine Kingdom's aura started to withdraw, pulling back from the Ashenheart Domain.

In reality, Belthar had fallen for the ruse.

He'd been driven away by the mere idea of the Divine Kingdom. Had he remained and battled via the mirror, triumph might have been his. Orion's "Fourth Stage" lacked substance—he'd bypassed kindling Divine Fire (Second Stage) and crafting a Divine Soul (Third Stage). He was a fragile powerhouse with devastating potential.

Still, Belthar would've faced Orion plus the four ground-based Demigods. Running likely saved his life.

"My god... the kid's a beast," Leonidas grumbled, shaking his head. "We were once his top enforcers. Now he's the one hauling us along."

He slung an arm over Arthas's shoulders, beaming without shame. "Arthas, show me the way. How do I snag a disciple that wild?"

Arthas eyed the arm on his shoulder, stayed silent, and headed into the cave.

"Keep wishing," Alexander quipped as he trailed Edward within.

Leonidas paused solo for a beat, watching their backs fade. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Damn. Now I get how Squiddy felt when we outpaced him."

"It stings. It really stings."

Within the cavern, stillness prevailed.

At the heart of their rest area rested a tiny Stoneheart Titan figurine. This held Orion's manifestation. Nearby stood a dragon figurine (Leonidas) and a mage figurine (Edward).

Arthas and Alexander required no such anchors. Arthas appeared in his authentic form, having committed fully to guard the volcano. Alexander employed his Asura Avatar, needing no tether.

Arthas approached the Titan figurine. From his robes, he drew a jet-black skull—a potent necromantic heirloom—and set it softly in one of the Titan's stone palms.

Noticing this, the rest acted.

Edward summoned a globe of sacred radiance, settling it in another palm.

Alexander unsheathed a see-through, spectral blade and positioned it over a third hand.

Leonidas, always the performer, skipped an object. He extended a hand, his limb melting into golden glow, reshaping into a tiny dragon that wrapped affectionately around the Titan's fourth arm.

They were staking their hopes on tomorrow. And tomorrow slumbered directly before them.