Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1643 Roots of the World Tree

"See? That's the difference between self-made wealth and trust-fund brats!"

"You all need to hurry up and produce some talented heirs. While your Bro is still young and far from slumber, I can impart some wisdom."

"My hands are itching. The heart of a teacher is stirring. I'm in the mood to take on an apprentice."

Leonidas cast a teasing look at Isabella. He laughed heartily only when a hint of embarrassment finally crept onto her face, smoothing over the tension.

"Bro, are you serious?"

Makareth never missed an opening. He refilled Leonidas's glass, carefully probing. "Because I actually have an heir."

"How's his talent?" Leonidas downed his drink, gesturing for another pour.

"I'm no demigod yet, so his bloodline can't compare to Orion's boy. But my son was born of an Arch Lord Trueborn Demon. He was born a Trueborn Demon himself."

Despite his humble tone, Makareth reeked of smugness. This Trueborn Demon was his heir, guaranteed to be the next Arch Lord of his domain. Reaching the demigod realm was another matter; that depended entirely on whether Makareth could achieve the breakthrough first.

"Heh... A Trueborn Demon heir. Makareth, you're getting arrogant!" Leonidas set his glass down, a flash of pleasant surprise in his eyes. A Stoneheart Titan and a Trueborn Demon for apprentices—he could hardly wait. "Bring the boy here. I'll train him myself!"

Perhaps his recent surge in power had put Leonidas in a generous mood, making him eager to cultivate the younger generation of their inner circle.

"Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to hear!"

...

Meanwhile, the battle at the World Tree raged on.

As Orion, The Lifeless Dreadgod, Moriphara, and the three Archbishops of the Cult of Four unleashed their might, the oppressive aura of the Divine Idols upon The Headsman's Block visibly weakened.

Weakening, however, did not equal victory.

"Sever... Sever... Sever..."

Orion kept hearing a phantom whisper, as if some ancient entity were striking at them from an infinite distance. It wasn't a hallucination. Massive guillotines materialized above The Headsman's Block, plummeting to decapitate anything in their path.

"Sons of bitches! First the beheadings, now this Severing. When does it end?" The Lifeless Dreadgod cursed. His vulgarity was justified; the Four Gods' methods were utterly suffocating.

Both the beheadings and the Severing directly sapped their strength. If the Divine Idols had a combat power of a thousand, Orion and his allies hovered around five hundred. Ganging up offered a glimmer of hope. But the first beheading had slashed their power to four hundred. Now, the Severing knocked them down to three hundred.

The mounting helplessness made Orion feel like he was trying to shatter a mountain with his bare hands.

"You're the pillars of the Cult of Four. Don't you have a counter to these Divine Idols?" Frustrated by his inability to harm the idols, The Lifeless Dreadgod vented his anger on the three Archbishops.

"I have a method, but I dare not use it!" Maximilien replied. "I hold a fraction of The Headsman's Block's Authority. If I unleash it, it might counter the Divine Idols, but more likely, it will just empower them. Are you sure you want us to intervene?"

Maximilien remained indifferent to the Dreadgod's mockery, wearing a deadpan expression.

"Useless! Absolute trash!"

No one paid attention to The Lifeless Dreadgod's rants. None of them wanted to face the Four Gods' lingering traps, but since they all wanted a piece of the Titanion Realm, they had to cooperate.

"We need to strike at the root of the problem," Orion declared. He had expended too much divine power and refused to drain his hard-earned reserves here.

"What are you proposing?"

It was a grotesque sight. The Lifeless Dreadgod's severed head, resting on The Headsman's Block, stared wide-eyed at Orion's equally decapitated head nearby.

"We need to strike at the root of the problem."

Four severed heads spoke in perfect unison. To the others, Orion looked just as bizarre.

"Our goal is to elevate the Titanion Realm's World Essence by helping the World Tree's roots devour these three worlds. Why are we throwing ourselves at the Four Gods' Divine Idols?"

The severed heads turned to Orion in silence, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Do any of you possess a secret art or artifact that can empower the World Tree? Something to accelerate its consumption and help it break free from the Divine Idols' bindings. What's easier: breaking these bindings ourselves, or aiding the World Tree to break them? Even combined, can we match the will of the World Tree?"

Orion's voice was eerily calm. Ever since merging with the Titanion Realm, he had become increasingly rational, his emotions seemingly stripped away.

"You brainless giant! Why didn't you say that earlier?!" The Lifeless Dreadgod snapped—both from the severed head on the ground and his main body seated upon a World Tree branch throne.

On the throne, The Lifeless Dreadgod pulled a dull gray crystal from his robes. He gripped it reluctantly for a second before hurling it at the World Tree's roots.

The roots absorbed the crystal on contact. Before their astonished eyes, the roots doubled in size, radiating a primordial aura. They began to thrash violently, causing the entire world to shudder and crack.

"What was that?" Maximilien demanded. He acted as the spokesman for the Cult of Four, while the other two Archbishops remained silent, deferring to his lead.

"A world-class artifact: the Myriad Crystal!" The Lifeless Dreadgod sneered. "You ignorant peasants."

As the oldest among them, his knowledge and foundations vastly eclipsed the rest.

"I have to admit, Senior, you just carried us all." Orion wasn't merely kissing up; flattery was a tool to extract more ancient secrets from the Dreadgod. "Do you have any more artifacts of that caliber? I'm willing to trade, equal value guaranteed."

Even while ramming his physical will into the Divine Idols, Orion multitasked, fishing for an advantage.

"Heh..." Seated on his throne, The Lifeless Dreadgod flashed a mocking grin, revealing rows of jagged, pitch-black demonic fangs. "Arming a potential enemy? Orion, do I look like a fool to you?"

Orion shrugged. There was no harm in asking.

"It's not enough!" The phantom of Moriphara spoke from The Headsman's Block. He had been watching the roots closely and realized that even with the Myriad Crystal, the World Tree still couldn't break the Divine Idols' bindings.