Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1497 Authority of the Grave

Are all Archlords this utterly unkillable?

Dirtclaw felt as if he'd slammed into an impenetrable barrier. When it came to raw battle prowess, he had no more moves to unleash. His full barrage of blows, dodges, and feral assaults had been expended, but the foe stubbornly clung to life.

Acknowledging that sheer power wouldn't claim victory, Dirtclaw's frenzied vigor ebbed away. His face transformed from savage glee to icy, grave seriousness. He locked eyes with the creature's multifaceted gaze.

"What's your name?"

It was ridiculous to query a monster amid a lethal clash. All he got back was a cautious, chirping screech.

"Have you lost your sanity entirely?" Dirtclaw shook his head. "Very well. You'll stay nameless."

He bowed his head low, claws flexing as though clutching at invisible threads in the atmosphere.

"No matter who you might be... I will entomb you."

A murmur escaped him, his tone sinking into a hypnotic, zealous chant.

"Not from rage. Not from loathing. But to thrive myself. All foes must be interred."

Dirtclaw appeared entranced. He no longer addressed the bug; instead, he chanted a personal creed.

"This day, I entomb the foe. Next day, I greet the sunrise. Thus, I quell you. I reduce you to powder. I scatter you as ash."

Dirtclaw lifted both palms skyward. His look was pious, his stare relentless.

A dense, pure block of gray rock materialized in his hold. An unmarked gravestone.

"SUPPRESS."

The command dropped like a judge's hammer.

The unmarked gravestone disappeared from his grip and materialized above the colossal bug's crown in an instant. It ballooned outward, swelling to eclipse the sunlight, its shadow pressing down heavier than the mountain peak.

It was grand, horrifying, and final.

To Dirtclaw, it wasn't merely smashing an insect; it was like sepulchering all beneath the heavens, shoving the entire realm into oblivion.

"SACRIFICE."

Yet another decree. The enormous bug, trapped and writhing under the phantom mass of the headstone, abruptly ceased its struggles. An enigmatic, universal power seized it. The beast's shell melted away. Its body rotted in moments.

Within under a minute, Eryndor's titanic body had vanished.

No remains lingered. Just a blood smear on the stones—Dirtclaw's own, spilled in the frenzy.

With the rite finished, the enormous gravestone contracted to tablet size and drifted back to Dirtclaw's palm. Still no name etched on it, merely a carved image of a massive bug.

"Is this Authority's might?" Dirtclaw whispered, tracing a claw along the rock. "My strength? The God of the Grave's power?"

For the first time, he grasped the true scope of the boon from My Lord Orion.

"Don't overuse the Authority. It consumes your own Faith Energy, pulled straight from My Lord's Divine Power."

Gustalon materialized nearby, his tone matter-of-fact and blunt, breaking Dirtclaw's awe.

Dirtclaw blinked, jolted from his reverie. "Does it cost much?"

"The Faith Energy you expended to suppress and sacrifice that beast exceeded what you gained from its demise," Gustalon clarified, like a stern bookkeeper. "You took a loss. A poor deal."

"Huh?" Dirtclaw glanced at the stone, then the void where the Archlord once stood.

"The wise approach," Gustalon advised, "is to pummel the enemy to their last gasp. Then sacrifice. That optimizes the harvest."

Gustalon went on to explain Exarch fundamentals. Though of different kinds, both commanded Authority, and divine resource management stayed the same everywhere.

"So Authority shines best as a killing blow?"

"Usually, yes. Though exceptions exist..."

In truth, Authority offered flexibility. Dirtclaw had executed two separate feats: Suppression and Sacrifice. Suppression drained energy heavily, scaling with the target's might. Plus, a strict cap—he couldn't bind anything surpassing Orion, or the Authority would break and backlash, maybe revoking his status forever.

Far southward, within Stoneheart Citadel.

Lounging upon the throne, Orion gradually parted his eyelids. His vision bored through the rock barriers, zeroing in on the central continent's battle's end.

He sensed it. Dirtclaw had invoked the Authority. He had offered up a fresh Insect King, imprinting a fragment of Insectoid Law into Orion's Divine Kingdom.

Each world emerged with full laws intact, but activation hinged on evolution. Like DNA in a cell outlining the full organism, yet only certain features emerged. A Divine Kingdom's progress truly gauged a god's depth and might.

"Sacrifice aids the Kingdom immensely," Orion pondered. "Shall I grant more Authority to the rest?"

He wavered. Dividing Authority temporarily drained his Faith Energy pool. Yet over time, it forged self-sustaining growth paths.

Timing posed the problem. War loomed with Eldoria's sea folk. He required reserves for the Titanion Realm's dimensional strife. Aid must reach Arthas in Minor Hell too.

Above all, Orion craved ascension. He yearned to advance through Demigod sub-stages. Individual power alone offered real security.

He sensed a vicious cycle. More Faith Energy demanded more conquests. But conquests burned Faith Energy. It resembled endless stagnation, gains and losses canceling out.

"Legends hold true, it seems," Orion reflected. "Slumber accrues power most efficiently."

He now comprehended why countless elder Demigods slumbered for ages. Dormancy slashed usage, letting stockpiles swell gradually like a cistern in the rain.

"Enter."

Orion's musings halted. He detected someone fidgeting beyond the grand hall's doors.

He recognized her. Besides Lilith, just one female would linger so uncertainly at his threshold.

At his call, she paused briefly, then entered the room blending ease and anxiety.

"Approach me," Orion bid gently.

He observed Vixen Sylvana draw near. A seldom scene.

Though a Vixen—folk famed for charm and temptation—Sylvana stood apart. She remained subdued, nearly shy. In intimacy, she yielded fully, following his cue.

Since reclaiming vision, she grew even more timid. Holding his stare proved hard. To her, it transcended sight; it invaded like tangible force, divine weight flaying her essence.

"You seldom come to me unbidden," Orion noted, his words resounding through the immense chamber. "Let me hazard a guess. Major events unfold. Ones tied to the realm's fate... or mine?"