Titan King: Ascension of the Giant - Chapter 995: A clever fool

Chapter 995: A clever fool

No one cared what Freyla was thinking.

Orion led Aerin, Caesar, and Tangere toward the simple fortress he had erected. They had an invasion to plan. They needed to figure out how to reclaim the Forest of Nature and, more importantly, how to secure a foothold in this world.

Meanwhile, in the Titanion Realm, a massive caravan of dwarves and heavy-set exotic beasts rumbled through the gates of Stoneheart’s outer city, drawing curious stares from everyone they passed.

“Elder… the way the other races look at us… it’s humiliating,” a young dwarf named Tordek whispered from inside a covered wagon. He was one of the few who had accompanied Harbek on their failed diplomatic mission to the human kingdom. “I don’t even want to face them.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow. The dwarves had once been one of the five great races of the south. Now, the dwarven tribe was shattered, its people scattered across the territories of other factions, lucky to be alive. The Tribe was history, little more than a legend or, worse, a cautionary tale told in taverns. What Harbek led now wasn’t a nation; it was a branch broken from a dead tree. They had lost their king, their tribal relics, their very faith.

Harbek didn’t answer Tordek. The entire journey, his head had been bowed, his hands ceaselessly rubbing a small wooden box. Inside were the ashes of Dain, the dwarven prophet.

“Elder, we’re inside Stoneheart. What do we do now?”

The name of the city seemed to jolt Harbek from his grief-stricken stupor. Stoneheart. It was the last instruction Dain had given them.

Harbek’s mind finally started to turn. What do we do? What can a homeless people do, with nothing left but the hammers in our hands? He forced himself to recall the prophet’s final words, everything he knew about the stoneheart horde.

After what felt like an eternity of silent struggle, he looked up. His voice was a low, raspy growl. “We’re going to the inner city. We’re going to the castle to request an audience with the Giant-King.”

He met Tordek’s uncertain gaze. “We have lost our home. We have lost everything. But we still have our hammers, and we still have our craft. By those alone, we will see the dwarven race endure.”

This wasn’t a sudden revelation. The prophet had discussed this very scenario with him long ago. If the dwarven Tribe could not be restored, they had two paths: the human kingdoms or the stoneheart horde.

The former would almost certainly lead to enslavement over time, their people exploited and oppressed. The latter promised exploitation and hardship too, but in a nation of disparate races, there was at least a chance to earn status and dignity through hard work.

“Elder, shouldn’t we go to the Horde’s official quarters first?” Tordek asked, concerned. “See Elder Durin?” Durin was the Alpha-level dwarf in charge of their people in Stoneheart, a veteran of the dark beast tides. “You’re… you’re not in the best state to see the Giant-King right now. We should at least change, present ourselves with the dignity our Tribe once had.”

“No. We go straight to the castle.” Harbek’s tone was final, cutting off any argument.

If the dwarven Tribe still existed, Tordek would be right. It would be a matter of respect, of protocol. But things were different now. They were refugees. Beggars. They were here to pledge fealty.

The most important thing was to show their attitude. Arriving at the Giant-King’s territory and immediately seeking him out—that was the message he needed to send. Harbek had to show Orion that their submission was absolute, decisive, and without hesitation. Marching straight for the castle was the first step.

In the castle, within Orion’s grand hall, Lilith was already by his side, having received the intelligence reports moments before.

“Harbek of the dwarves is leading his caravan toward the inner city,” she reported, her voice smooth and analytical. “He’s heading directly for the castle. He intends to make a public spectacle of his surrender to the stoneheart horde. A clever dwarf.”

Orion sat on his throne, his expression unreadable as he stared toward the massive palace doors. “The entire city knows the dwarves have arrived. He’s trying to use our own rules, our own sense of honor, to guarantee his people’s safety.” He gave a slight, cynical smile. He’s leveraging our reputation against us. Harbek is underestimating me.

Honestly, Orion was pleased by the dwarves’ arrival. But this move… this was a grand gesture designed to force his hand, to morally corner him and the horde into accepting them on favorable terms.

“If the prophet Dain were still alive, he would have been more discreet. He never would have allowed such a reckless stunt,” Orion mused aloud. “Harbek… he’s a clever fool.”

…..

Back in the Silverwood Realm, inside the war room of The Stillness, Orion sat at the head of a round table. Aerin, Caesar, and Tangere occupied the other seats.

He produced two maps, unrolling them across the wooden surface. He tapped a red dot on the first one.

“This is The Stillness. Our current location,” he began, his voice all business. “We’re surrounded by five hundred square miles of dense, ancient forest.” His shadow army had been scouting tirelessly for the past two days, mapping the immediate area.

“This second one is a rough map of the Forest of Nature,” he continued, “sketched out by my people with assistance from Aerin and Freyla. It’s incomplete, and a lot of it is guesswork. One of our first objectives will be to create a detailed, accurate map of the entire region.” He had the calm authority of a seasoned general. “Longer term, we need to locate the enemy’s base of operations and identify any other surviving factions in the area.”

Aerin blushed slightly. “We… we had a detailed map, but it was lost during the retreat.” The map she had helped create was a chaotic mess, full of gaps that would need extensive correction. If she hadn’t served on patrol squads as a youth, she would have had nothing to offer at all.

“So, Big Boss,” Caesar cut in, sensing her discomfort. “What’s the plan? And who exactly are we fighting?”

Orion raised a hand. On cue, four Skeletal Knights marched into the room, carrying two heavy bodies between them. They dropped them on the stone floor with a pair of wet thuds.

Orion stood, gesturing for the others to join him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by AiKurou