Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1618 Rot of Ages

Vaelian didn't dare show any disrespect, desperately trying to curry favor with the matriarch, knowing she stood on equal footing with The Lifeless Dreadgod.

"I heard the Giant King's wife is a succubus. Why don't I sense the bloodline of the Succubus Race in him?" the Abyssal succubus asked, clearly just as intrigued by the boy.

"Lord Melisande, the Giant King has many women," Vaelian said, his tone accommodating. As an ally brought into the fold by The Lifeless Dreadgod, he dared not offend the Abyssal succubus. "This Giant Prince wasn't born of your kind. From what I've gathered, the offspring of your people is named Pallas, the Third Giant Prince of the Stoneheart Horde. Pallas perfectly inherited the Giant King's bloodline. If the opportunity arises to capture him, I will deliver him to you immediately."

"Pallas?" Melisande mused. If The Infernal Matriarch's voice was cool and crisp, Melisande's was a seductive purr, pulling at the soul like a barbed hook. Every smile, every subtle shift of her brow, commanded the heartbeats of those around her. "A name that makes the blood run hot. A pity he doesn't carry the surname of our Succubus Race."

"Once we crush the Giant King, every handsome man on the Titan Continent can bear your Race's surname, Lord Melisande," Vaelian offered.

In the Abyss, bestowing a surname upon a male was absolute subjugation. To carry a succubus's name meant ownership; the men became slaves and living currency traded among the succubus elites.

Melisande giggled. "You make it sound so simple, Lord Vaelian. I'm just terrified the Giant King will snap his chains and hunt me all the way to the Abyss!"

She spoke half in jest, but she didn't underestimate Orion. Anyone who could survive the machinations of The Lifeless Dreadgod and stand as his equal possessed terrifying power and iron will. It was an unspoken rule in the Abyssal World: a succubus would never bear a child for an outsider unless that outsider was unfathomably strong.

"Heh... With the Master here, he won't get the chance!" Vaelian sneered.

Their shared laughter echoed in the void.

World Tree, The Astral Tide.

Orion stood in his true physical form. Opposite him hovered the phantom projection of The Lifeless Dreadgod. The contrast was stark. Anchored by his Divine Vessel, Orion existed on a fundamentally higher plane of reality, a fact that bred deep-seated envy in the Dreadgod.

"Hehehe... I assumed The Infernal Matriarch's arrival would catch you off guard, perhaps cost you a few pawns," The Lifeless Dreadgod rasped. His voice carried a bone-chilling coldness, laced with a morbid arrogance and the unmistakable stench of rot. To Orion's heightened senses, the Dreadgod literally smelled like a decaying corpse.

"Your existence is ancient—so ancient you are standing at the edge of the grave," Orion replied, looking up. He had just observed the Demigod Heaven and the battlefield beyond The Bastion Wall through The Astral Tide. The initial clash between The Lifeless Expanse and the Titan Continent was underway, and Caelus's flawless performance filled him with pride. "Even cloaked in supreme divine power, I can smell the stench of an old man rotting through time."

Orion locked eyes with the phantom. "You went all-in, crashing into the Titanion Realm solely to claim Moriphara's body, didn't you? Moriphara smells much better than you. The scent of vibrant youth."

Since the Titanion Realm ascended to an Ascendant Plane, Orion was constantly bathed in origin energy and fundamental laws. His power and perception were skyrocketing. Before the realms merged, he wouldn't have been able to detect the Dreadgod's terminal decay.

Surprisingly, being exposed didn't enrage The Lifeless Dreadgod. Instead, a twisted sense of relief washed over him. "I truly envy you all. Reaching my heights at such a young age... your circumstances are maddeningly perfect!"

The Dreadgod bared his teeth in a wicked grin. "Initially, Moriphara was my target. You were an insignificant speck. But the Cult of Four changed my mind. Hehe... Now, you are the prize. Moriphara is merely a backup."

Staring at the Dreadgod's blurred visage, Orion could feel the entity's desperate thirst for youth and immortality. It was hard to fathom how many eons the Dreadgod had lived to stretch a demigod's near-infinite lifespan to its absolute breaking point.

"Of course," The Lifeless Dreadgod offered casually, "if you help me secure the first Divine Mantle condensed by the Titanion Realm, I might cross you off my list. I could even help you claim the second."

Orion's eyes burned like torches. A faint smirk touched his lips. "In your dreams."

Whoever claimed the first Divine Mantle would likely become the master of the Titanion Realm. Orion would never surrender that right. He wouldn't even entertain the thought with a fake promise. It was a matter of sheer will. Furthermore, the Saint Gran Council and Commander Thresh would never allow such a concession.

"Hahaha... Orion, this is only the beginning. Let time be the judge!" The Lifeless Dreadgod's sinister laughter echoed as his phantom form melted like water into the sea of laws, vanishing completely.

"Treacherous old bastard," Orion muttered.

He brought his hands together. His body rippled like the surface of a lake, violently expelling a venomous law forged from pure malice. The dark energy shattered into law fragments and dissolved into The Astral Tide.

During their conversation, The Lifeless Dreadgod had subtly infected him with a poison of laws—a fragmented law designed to twist Orion's consciousness. By forcing the fragment out and letting it merge with the Titanion Realm, Orion inadvertently nourished the world's foundation. Whether Orion fell for the trap or not, the Dreadgod's actions ended up fortifying the realm.

"What kind of law inflicts such a crushing, withering sensation?" Orion pondered. "Extracting the laws of an entire world... what kind of sorcery is that?"

Facing an ancient monster like The Lifeless Dreadgod made Orion both cautious and deeply curious. The enemy's bottomless arsenal of techniques forcibly broadened Orion's understanding of The Weave of Reality.

"It seems the road ahead is long," Orion thought, "with plenty of bitter and sweet left to taste."