Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1646 The Gluttonous Prince

"Your Highness, we need to move!" Dirtclaw urged. "The curses have corrupted most of The Mycelial Swarm ahead. The enemy is closing in. If we stay, you'll walk right into another trap. You've earned enough glory. Your life is worth more than these bastards."

As Orion's most devoted follower, the Grand Warden of the Stoneheart Horde, and a respected elder, Dirtclaw would die before letting the Horde's Hope—their legendary prince—fall into danger. Ever since the last assassination attempt, the warden had shadowed Caelus. The prince rarely left his sight.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing," Caelus replied. He sensed the enemy rapidly approaching. Shifting into his true form—four heads and eight arms—he tapped one of his skulls. "I'm not full yet. Why leave so soon? Besides, I still need gifts for my mothers and brothers before heading back to the Horde."

To Dirtclaw, Caelus was a monster of insatiable gluttony. Four of the prince's eyes were already blind, each serving as a fleshy prison for at least five Arch Lord experts. Caelus planned to blind all his eyes, sealing an enemy in every socket.

He intended to devour them, refining the Arch Lord captives into fuel for his inner realm. As a bonus, he wanted to capture a few more for his brothers. The sheer madness of it made Dirtclaw's skin crawl. They had pulled this stunt three times already, dancing on the razor's edge of death each time.

"Take this." Caelus handed Dirtclaw a strange magic scroll. "I'll keep the ones holding the Demonic Pillars busy. I won't have time to hunt down that hidden abyssal succubus. The second she reveals herself, tear this scroll. She's my gift to my mother. Don't let her escape."

Dirtclaw nodded grimly. Bloodshed was unavoidable.

"Sever, Flay—stay hidden," Caelus ordered. "Wait for the opening, then kill. I'll give you your shot."

He cracked his neck and stomped the ground, reaching out to a Matriarchal Symbiote hidden within the fungal network. Moments later, a specialized Matriarchal Symbiote crawled from the undergrowth and latched onto Caelus. It formed a living suit of armor radiating peak Arch Lord power. The fusion doubled his combat strength.

"Are you ready?" Caelus muttered to himself. "Meditating to restore mana takes too long. Just use the World Essence."

"Fool," his own mouth answered, though the tone was sharply different. "Meditation after battle doesn't just restore mana; it expands your limits. Do you think World Essence is cheap? Refining an Arch Lord barely yields any. Stop wasting it."

It was a bizarre exchange. Perhaps due to his recent meditation, Caelus's second personality had surfaced. Its eerie calm made Dirtclaw deeply uneasy.

In the distance, the enemy advanced. Demonic Pillars slammed into the earth one after another, churning up a thick, gloomy fog. Over a dozen silhouettes lurked within the mist, marching forward in a deliberate formation.

"I don't know where they found these Mycelial freaks," a voice complained from the fog. "They blanketed the entire battlefield the moment they appeared. They're nearly impossible to kill, and they build resistance to our magic fast. Helgrim, I heard a new breed can even copy our attacks. Is it true?"

The speaker was the succubus Circe, a servant of the demigod Melisande, descended from the Abyss. The moment she entered the war, she had converted the succubi fighting for the Stoneheart Horde, causing massive defections. Because of her, all succubus combatants had retreated behind The Bastion Wall, refusing to take the field.

"They don't just copy attacks. Ancient beasts and abyssal species have appeared among them," answered Helgrim. The dread knight rode a hydra-headed dragon through the shadows. As the Lord of this vanguard, he held the highest authority. "Reports from other sectors claim that experts wielding high-tier Demonic Pillars were infected and converted into new Mycelial strains. Even the demonic monsters sealed within their pillars turned against us."

"We cannot let that giant prince escape this time," Helgrim growled. "The Demon King has placed a massive bounty on him. Capture him, and we might earn the chance to ascend to demigod status."

Despite his bravado, Helgrim feared Caelus. He knew the prince's strength firsthand; Caelus had captured and sealed several of his Arch Lord subordinates. To ensure the prince's downfall, Helgrim had brought Syborg. The vile dragon he rode possessed the bloodline of a demon god.

Syborg was the spawn of The Lifeless Dreadgod and a demigod dragon. Born mindless, the beast made up for its lack of intellect with raw, devastating power. Crucially, Syborg possessed an innate immunity to sealing magic. This immunity was potent enough to bypass seals an entire tier above its own level. Standard demigod seals couldn't even scratch it. Since Caelus favored capturing and sealing his enemies, Syborg was the perfect trap.

"Stop worrying about your own skin, Circe. The witch doctor Elvan is with us," Helgrim sneered. "Elvan has linked us. Our life forces and souls are shared. Caelus cannot kill you, nor can he capture you."

In truth, Circe was terrified of Caelus. During their last encounter, the prince had publicly vowed to capture her and feed her to one of his own succubi. He had nearly succeeded. If the demigod Melisande's phantom will hadn't intervened, Circe would already be a prisoner.

"Our real concern should be whatever crawls out of that Mycelial overgrowth next," Helgrim warned, gripping his reins. "Those new strains are the real wildcards."

...

The Sixth Layer of the Abyss. Foundry Citadel.

Orion had claimed this territory during his early abyssal expeditions—a stronghold that halted his descent into the deeper layers. The Stoneheart Horde only managed to lay down roots here because a Calamity Lord and a Virtue Knight had annihilated each other, leaving the region ripe for the taking.

...

High in the tower, upon the throne.

The moment Orion's Death-Soul Fiend avatar materialized, every high-ranking commander in the territory sensed it. From deep slumber and intense meditation, they rallied to Foundry Citadel. The Scourge Wardens arrived first, rising from the volcanic magma beneath the fortress. Eparus led the vanguard, followed by Holrivus, Thronlis, and Cameron.