Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

"You cowardly ambusher! You can't escape!" the Sea Fiend's body of faith shrieked, lunging for Orion's head.

On the other side of the battlefield, Leonidas was having just as rough a time. After the sea of faith descended, the immense pressure had slowly ground his Behemoth Whirlwind to a halt. And as the Sea Fiend's allies, the Temple Guardian, the Solarfin, and the Abyssal Stalker were completely unaffected by the suppressive field.

It was fair to say that Leonidas was enduring three times the agony Orion was.

Thankfully, the Behemoth's natural defense and horrific regenerative abilities were keeping him in the fight. With every wound he took, he only seemed to fight harder. But Leonidas knew this was just a facade. A body as tough as the Behemoth's still had its limits, and against three opponents of the same level, he was approaching that limit fast. When he finally reached it, the beatdown would be just as epic as his grand entrance had been.

For fuck's sake, Leonidas thought, desperately holding on. Don't tell me I have to self-destruct another avatar. These things don't grow on trees…

"Bro, it's time to go all out!" he transmitted to Orion. It was a reminder. He believed Orion still had an ace up his sleeve.

Orion, of course, heard the call. He wasn't entirely surprised by the appearance of the faith-body, but this was his first time fighting one, and he was short on experience.

"Thunderclap Apocalypse!"

Orion thrust his trident, Flame of Will, forward, simultaneously unleashing the forbidden spell stored in his Lightning Cloak. The cloak's ultimate spell hadn't naturally recharged after the duel in the Crucible of the Gods, but for this mission, Orion had specifically asked the Deputy Commander's storm avatar to channel his power into it, filling it to the brim.

Lightning was the ultimate expression of raw power. It was an energy of punishment and judgment, capable of easily erasing any unholy spirit. And existences like faith energy and a body of faith were, to some extent, vulnerable to various types of supernatural power. Lightning was chief among them.

In seconds, a thundercloud materialized in the void above, and a storm of lightning descended. The bolts raged everywhere, striking all targets without discrimination. The faith energy, the Lunarfin, the temple architecture, the very seawater—everything was vaporized under the forbidden spell's bombardment, erased into nothingness.

"No… no… don't…!"

The Sea Fiend's body of faith, caught at the very center of the storm, became the prime target. Under the blitz of lightning, its form began to collapse, shrinking rapidly. A shield of pure faith energy flared up around it as the Sea Fiend tried desperately to flee.

"Trying to run? Not a chance!"

Orion's combat instincts were razor-sharp. He used Instant Impact to block the Sea Fiend's path, his trident flaring with intense fire.

With the appearance of the Thunderclap Apocalypse, the oppressive sea of faith was instantly dispelled. Orion and Leonidas were free.

"Hahaha! After taking a beating for so long, it's your daddy Leonidas's turn!" the Behemoth roared. "I'm gonna run you all over!"

This time, Leonidas had learned his lesson. He didn't bother charging the Abyssal Stalker; ramming a puddle of sentient sludge was pointless, and it might just force out another body of faith.

Instead, he charged the Temple Guardian. Both the Guardian and the Solarfin were just dragon souls inhabiting constructs. If he destroyed their bodies, they'd be knocked back to square one, as helpless as ants.

"Adamantine Hide!"

"Savage Roar!"

"Behemoth's Great Rend!"

The Behemoth activated three skills at once, locked onto the Temple Guardian, and charged with kill-or-be-killed ferocity.

Deep within the Temple, The Plaza of Light.

The Dragon God Phantom pressed its attack, its greatsword relentlessly hacking at the Deathly Soul-Reaper. Black tendrils writhed from the Reaper's body, attempting to repair the damage, but holy fire clung to every wound.

The speed of the tendrils' regeneration versus the speed of the holy fire's consumption became a desperate tug-of-war. To keep regenerating, more and more tendrils were needed, which in turn became more fuel for the fire.

Orion was getting frantic. He knew that if this kept up, the flames would soon outpace his regeneration. When that happened, his Deathly Soul-Reaper avatar would be burned to nothing.

So he fought with a wild, desperate abandon. The death-scythe became a blur in his hands, the entire Plaza of Light filling with its phantoms. At any given moment, the Dragon God Phantom was being assaulted by dozens of blades at once.

KILL!

It was the only thought in Orion's mind. He was in a war of attrition with the phantom, in a race against death itself. The battle raged, a high-speed competition between cutting and burning.

The Deathly Soul-Reaper's form flickered, constantly weaving around the Dragon God Phantom. The clash of sword and scythe, of holy fire and dark decay, painted a tragic, beautiful picture of a duel between wills.

Outer Temple.

The battle raged on.

"Hahaha! Just die! DIE!" Leonidas was like a mad bull, ramming the Temple Guardian again and again, pushing it deeper into the temple complex. Behind him, the Solarfin and the Abyssal Stalker rained down attacks on the Behemoth's body. Ignoring his own grievous wounds, the Behemoth just kept charging, determined to ram the Temple Guardian to death. The hatred and determination in Leonidas's eyes were cold and crazed; he would utterly destroy the enemy who had humiliated him.

Not far away, Orion's expression was impassive. He channeled his power through his trident and into the Sea Fiend's body of faith. Pinned by the trident, it had nowhere to run. Lightning and fire raged within its faith-body, and with a final, violent sizzle, the Sea Fiend finally fell into despair.

"Spare me! I surrender! I submit!"

The only answer it received was Orion's icy gaze and an even more violent surge of supernatural power.

CRACKLE… POP!

Finally, the Sea Fiend's consciousness, and its body of faith, were annihilated into nothingness.

Orion withdrew his power and looked up toward Leonidas's battle.

"Death is your destiny!" a voice roared. "And remember, it is a gift from Leonidas!"

Leonidas emerged from a pile of rubble, hair wild, looking like a demon. He glared at the approaching Solarfin and Abyssal Stalker, his eyes burning with murderous rage. Just moments ago, those two had been torturing him. If he'd been in his old fire dragon or void dragon avatars, he would have been toast long ago.