Titan King: Ascension of the Giant - Chapter 565

Chapter 565: I believe she can
“From now on, if you want any resources, you’ll need to exchange them using your battle achievements.

Earn more battle achievements and strive to get the resources you need from me to advance to Legendary level.

Show everyone else in the horde that our Lorelia has truly grown up!”

Orion reached out and placed a hand on Lorelia’s head when she leaned in for an intimate moment. She ended up pouting, her head pinned in place.

Transitioning from being nurtured to giving back to the horde brought Lorelia a sense of unfamiliar but genuine joy.

“Master, don’t worry. I’ll definitely gather more resources for you.”

Orion nodded and gave her a reminder.

“Alright, off you go. And don’t get distracted when commanding the battle.”

Lorelia froze for a moment, looking a bit reluctant, then returned to the front lines.

“Lord Orion, are you sure your pet can really reach the Legendary level?”

Ascending to Legendary is notoriously difficult in any world. The fact that Orion could so casually offer Legendary-level resources to Lorelia left Gandalf in disbelief.

“Others might not make it, but I believe she can.”

Orion took out a spiritual crystal from his Bagbird pouches, fused it into his trident, and spoke with absolute conviction.

In the early stages, most of Orion’s accumulated resources had been poured into Lorelia. This cave spider broodmother’s potential and talents had grown substantially without anyone noticing. Others might not have paid much attention, but Orion, as her master, was fully aware of it.

Lorelia’s strength wasn’t weak at all. She was already at Alpha rank, poised to break through to Alpha peak any moment, then charge straight for the Legendary level. This was one of the main reasons Orion had brought her out to gain experience—he wanted Lorelia to develop more combat expertise and broaden her horizons, fueling her desire to keep improving her strength.

In this way, Lorelia would have a far better chance of hitting Legendary level and increasing her odds of success. Unlike the other Alpha-level members of the Stoneheart Horde, Lorelia had been lavishly fed with resources since she was young. Her potential far surpassed Rendall’s or Onyx’s.

Moreover, Lorelia was the broodmother raised by the Stoneheart Horde from the very beginning. Her deep bond and loyalty to the horde ran even deeper than Soraya’s. Also, the horde elders—Lilith, Delilah, Rendall, Onyx, and the others—definitely trusted Lorelia more than Soraya.

Lorelia had always guarded the underground fissure. She might have seemed lazy and carefree, but in reality, she had been carrying out Orion’s orders all along. This was a big reason Orion, Lilith, Rendall, and Onyx favored her so much.

Now that Stoneheart Horde’s territory was expanding rapidly, Orion desperately needed a Legendary-level being he could personally groom, someone to guard Stoneheart City.

Yes, guard Stoneheart City.

Ever since last winter, there had been no Legendary-level being stationed at Stoneheart City in the south. It was fine for a short while, but eventually, the lack of a powerful presence would draw unwanted attention from other races.

Moreover, the horde couldn’t afford to leave the void passage in the southern territory unguarded year after year.

Lastly, Orion wanted to keep mounting cross-realm invasions in the long term. That meant someone needed to free him from everyday responsibilities while also holding the territory. Valkorath Realm had Soraya; Blackstone City had Lumi. Meanwhile, for Stoneheart City, Orion was placing his hopes on Lorelia.

As for Gustalon and the abyssal dragon, the former was unusually gifted and extremely powerful—Orion needed his assistance in otherworldly campaigns. Orion could summon the abyssal dragon at will, and it provided a critical edge in certain environments.

Collecting his thoughts, Orion shot Gandalf a quick glance and spoke in a calm tone.

“Legendary level might be the pinnacle of existence here on the Radiant Continent, but in other worlds, there are plenty of Legendary fighters.”

He left it at that, offering Gandalf only a subtle hint. In truth, Gandalf had already been extraordinarily lucky to be scouted by the Deputy Commander.

“How far are we from the central region?”

“At our current marching speed, we can get there in no more than a month!”

A month still felt a bit slow. Orion frowned, pondering the matter seriously.

…

Stoneheart City, mysterious tavern.

Delilah sat alone by a window on the third floor, watching a nearby store under renovation across the street. In truth, “renovation” might be too strong a word: Nico and Kadir were simply carving a sign in Common Tongue outside the store.

The shop Nico and Kadir ended up buying turned out to be just a short distance from Delilah’s mysterious tavern. For the past few days, Delilah had personally watched Fatty’s General Store be built from scratch.

“Compared to those horde members who only know how to fight, these two are surprisingly cunning and capable!”

Delilah murmured to herself. She reached out, picked up a glass, and took a sip of the orange-red liquor inside. Both the glassware and the drink came from human merchant caravans—Delilah, as Stoneheart City’s de facto ruler, had been gifted several sets.

“People, goods, trade, food, slaves… So this is what civilization feels like?”

Delilah ran her fingers along the goblet. Observing the day-to-day life of Stoneheart City, she was delving deeply into what defines a faction and its civilization.

But at that moment, a figure appeared in the shadows, interrupting her thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty, we’ve received news from Soaring Bird City.”

“Speak.”

“Some lizardfolk have been spotted wandering near the ogre territory and human kingdom lands. A merchant caravan apparently captured a few of them. These lizardfolk have arrived in Soaring Bird City and are being taken deeper into human kingdom territory.”

The mention of lizardfolk made Delilah think of that powerful ogre lord. He had spent several days eating and drinking on the tavern’s third floor before returning to the ogre territory. Now that lizardfolk had shown up in the borderlands between humans and ogres, the implications were numerous.

“A very clever move, indeed. They opened up the trade route and diverted the lizardfolk’s wrath onto the human kingdom, easing the ogres’ burden for now.

That two-headed ogre lord is truly shrewd, not at all like those brainless, violent ogres.”

Delilah shook her head, realizing how shallow her previous assumptions had been.

In the north, she had met a wise giant who had overpowered her with strength and also conquered her in bed.

In the south, she saw a ferocious-looking ogre who was actually brilliant.

“You really can’t judge anything by its appearance, can you?”

After a long pause, Delilah sighed, reminding herself to always look deeper into the essence of things.

“Is there more?”