Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 795: Our Last Chance

Chapter 795: Our Last Chance

“There is one more thing,” Harold said, his voice steady. “The Saint has confirmed that Orion maintains an avatar within the Stoneheart Horde’s territory. Who, then, is the most suitable emissary for our kingdom to send with congratulations?”

He paused, letting the question hang in the air before answering it himself. “It is my thought that Prince Theodore should go. And he should take Kronos with him.”

The images of the two Grand Dukes in the mirror fell silent. Sending Prince Theodore, who was of sufficient rank and already familiar with the Horde, was a logical choice. But to send the boy, Kronos… that was a gamble of a different order.

For years, Princess Ava had lived in her comfortable seclusion at Rose Manor, but her movements, and especially those of her son, were always under the watchful eye of the empire’s highest echelons.

For the boy to leave the human kingdom was a thing that, in the past, would have been utterly unthinkable. Even if Orion himself had come to take him by force, it would have resulted in a bloody, two-sided war.

But now… now things were different. To hold the son of an Archlord hostage? That was a responsibility not even King Harold could bear. More importantly, if Kronos went to the Horde and did not return, they would lose a giant prince who held a very real possibility of kinship with humanity. The potential loss was far greater than the gain.

“Kronos is a prince of the giants,” Harold stated, breaking the silence. “We cannot deny this fact. And in the future, we will not be able to stop him from leaving our kingdom to acknowledge his father and his kin. That being the case, is it not better that we release him willingly? Let this be a demonstration of our goodwill to Orion.”

To not confine, to not control Kronos—this was the baseline for any future relationship. To do otherwise would inevitably lead to war. Harold spoke with grave deliberation, his tone exceptionally serious.

“We need the leadership of the Stoneheart Horde to meet Kronos, to know he exists. We need them all to see that he, too, is a prince of the giants, and that his own bloodline has awakened with prodigious talent.”

This, of course, would need no announcement from the human kingdom. The moment Kronos set foot in their territory, the potent giant blood in his veins would be recognized by all.

“Furthermore,” Harold added, a flicker of cunning confidence in his eyes, “a child who has tired of playing will always return to his mother’s side. And who would dare stand in the way of a child seeking his own mother?”

To have allowed Ava to give birth to Kronos, to have given the boy a good life here… this, Harold knew, was one of his finest acts as king.

“With Orion’s new power, his new status, his new perspective… he would never prevent such a thing. In fact, he would likely wish for Kronos to experience more of the world, to grow into an even greater power in the future.”

Harold spoke from his own experience as a father who pushed his favored son, Theodore, into the crucible of war, hoping the trials would forge him into something stronger.

“But the most important point,” Harold said, leaning forward slightly, “is this: there are factions within the Stoneheart Horde who will not want Kronos to remain there.”

This was the crux of his plan, his greatest hope and his most conflicted thought. On the one hand, the political bloc represented by the succubi would surely not welcome a rival to Pallas, the official heir. That internal opposition, Harold wagered, would eventually ensure Kronos’s return to the human kingdom. On the other hand, Harold genuinely hoped Kronos would gain recognition and acceptance among the Horde, as it would benefit the boy’s future.

Only if Kronos held real power would the bond between the two great factions be truly sealed. Blood ties between the leaders of great powers were the surest defense against war, and the easiest path to a true alliance. And with the Stoneheart Horde as an ally, the dragons to the south would no longer be a dagger at the throat of humanity.

The king’s vision was vast, his plans laid out across decades to come.

Hearing his final point, the eyes of the two Grand Dukes lit up with understanding.

“Your Majesty,” Richard said, a new respect in his voice. “I have no objections to your plan.”

“Nor do I,” William affirmed.

And so it was decided. The three greatest leaders of the human kingdom, on the matter of Kronos, had reached a consensus.

The South, the Starfall Sea.

In the deepest parts of the ocean, the water is black. On the surface, the waves churned, rising and falling in great, layered mountains, a majestic and terrible abyss.

Suddenly, the black water roiled, and a great dragon broke through the waves, its tail sending a spray of dark water high into the air. It looked toward the continent, toward the distant lands of the Stoneheart Horde.

That Orion would ascend to the rank of Archlord is no surprise to me, the white dragon, Frostsire, thought. But that he would do it so quickly… he must have foundations in other worlds. This is… unfortunate. The situation grows ever more unfavorable for the dragon race.

With Orion’s ascension, the political calculus of the continent had shifted. The Waveborn Seadragons of the Trident Sea Region, who bordered the Stoneheart Horde, would certainly change their attitude. Barring some great, unquenchable hatred, no faction would willingly provoke a war with an Archlord. Frostsire could already predict their next move.

The seadragons of the Trident Sea will now send their fleets to reinforce the Starfall Sea, he concluded. This, now, is our last chance. Our offensive must be intensified.

Frostsire withdrew his gaze and sent a mental command to the Glacial Dragon, Jorik—a warrior at the peak of the Legendary tier, and an old acquaintance of Orion’s. He was the most suitable emissary to send to the Horde.

Then, with a thunderous crack of his tail that momentarily calmed the raging waves, the great white dragon plunged back into the black abyss.

In the depths of the Trident Sea, the seadragons, too, had sensed the aura of the new Archlord. But their king was away from Azurecrown Royal Harbor, and for now, they made no move.

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