Titan King: Ascension of the Giant-Chapter 451: Life essence

Arthas shifted his gaze away, refocusing on the slime molds’ brood mother.

On the front lines, thunder rumbled across the battlefield. Orion, gripping his trident, dropped like a bolt of lightning into the layer of slime molds spreading over the ground below.

Boom!

An explosion rocked the area, sending waves of force rippling outward. The space around Orion was cleared of the slime mold layer. Yet the Legendary-level slime mold mutant he had targeted had vanished without a trace.

"Lord Orion, that one is among the parasitic types of slime molds mutants. They can merge themselves into the slime molds layer. Anywhere the slime molds layer extends, they can come and go undetected."

"On the ground, it’s to their advantage; in the sky, it’s ours."

As Vexis’s voice echoed from above, she hovered in the air, deathly energy surging in her hands. Channeling that energy, she eroded the slime molds layer below, trying to force the two Legendary-level parasites up into the open.

Seeing his initial strike come up empty, Orion narrowed his eyes and transformed into lightning once more, appearing beside Vexis.

"So they’re hiding inside that brightly colored slime molds?"

"Yes."

"Then how do we kill them?"

"The two Legendary-level beings that emerged just now are parasitic mutants of the slime molds. They’re extra-planar creatures."

While continuing to corrode the slime molds layer with her deathly energy, Vexis explained:

"To slay them, you first need to draw them out of the slime molds layer. Either that, or extract or destroy the life essence within them. That’s the only way to kill them for good.

"The life essence is something akin to a Lord’s Stone, extremely pure. It can be taken directly to enhance one’s own power or aid in breakthroughs. Lord Orion, you should know that in Valkorath Realm’s current crisis, the greatest opportunity lies in obtaining this life essence."

Orion nodded silently. He had already heard of life essence from the Kraken. Hearing Vexis’s explanation again filled him with keen interest.

His power was close to the peak of Legendary level, and taking in more life essence would definitely help him reach new heights. Then he could be better equipped to protect himself and prepare for a future attempt at arch lord status.

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"They won’t be so foolish as to leave the slime molds of their own accord, will they?" Orion asked. Vexis nodded, acknowledging his concern.

"Exactly. That’s why our defensive perimeter keeps getting pushed back instead of advancing outward."

As though a new thought had just come to her, Vexis continued, "To kill these slime molds mutants, you need transcendent power that’s different from their own attributes. Against the same transcendent power they wield, they have exceptionally strong resistance."

From Vexis’s explanation, Orion realized the situation was even trickier than he’d anticipated.

"Do ordinary slime molds mutants have this ability too?"

Vexis shook her head, then added, "Only those at Legendary level or above. For those below Legendary level, powerful individuals like us can eliminate them easily.

But the troublesome part is that 99% of slime molds mutants can fuse into the slime molds layer. Look there."

Vexis pointed at the ground. "To keep those layers in check, we turned the nearby land into deadlands. In deadlands, the slime molds layer can’t draw nutrients, so once it expends too much energy, it recedes."

Just as Vexis was about to say more, those two Legendary-level parasites reemerged from the slime molds spreading across the ground. This time, Orion saw them clearly. Both were humanoid, yet looked bizarre.

One had a head shaped like a giant axe, the blade arching from the top of its skull. Its arms and legs had become massive, gleaming axe-edges. The other was more normal in appearance, aside from the scorpion tail extending from its backside.

The scorpion’s tail typically curled upward, but on this parasite it curved downward, making it even harder to notice when buried within the slime molds.

"One for each of us!"

Orion raised his trident and rushed at the axehead mutant. Lich Vexis fixed her gaze on Orion for half a second, then descended to the ground with him.

Countless translucent ice shields suddenly appeared, swirling around Vexis to keep her safely protected.

"Death descends, withering like a flower!"

Her incantation seemed to emanate with magic. Everywhere she passed, the slime molds layer disintegrated into nothingness.

Clang!

Just then, Orion and the axeheaded mutant collided. The screech of metal echoed with the whoosh of air, both sides releasing torrents of transcendent power, each trying to overpower the other through sheer force.

"Orion, you can’t afford a battle of attrition with them!" Vexis called out anxiously. "Down here on the ground, slime molds mutants can draw strength from the layer—transcendent power included."

Her words sent a chill through Orion. Meanwhile, the tailed mutant darted toward Vexis.

Fighting on the ground gave the parasites no reason to retreat; even as Vexis’s presence caused swaths of slime molds to crumble, new patches spread from the distance, faster than she could destroy them.

Crack!

The parasite’s tail lashed out from within the slime molds, catching Vexis at an odd angle. One of the ice shields circling her shattered beneath the impact. Hidden by the slime molds, that tail seemed to extend indefinitely, making it diabolically hard to defend against.

Hearing the tail’s whip-crack, Orion glanced toward Vexis, noting she was fully on the defensive.

"This not good!"

"They have nearly limitless supplies of energy in that layer. We can’t keep this up."

Realizing the need to act fast, Orion made a quick decision. He forced some space between himself and the axeheaded mutant, then charged forward again.

The axehead roared and flung itself at Orion in return. Yet halfway through its charge, Orion abruptly vanished from its sight.

Simultaneously, the tailed parasite had its tail trained on Vexis, ready for another strike. But in the next instant, a trident punched straight through its heart.

Stunned, the parasite glanced down instinctively and tried to merge back into the slime molds layer to escape. It failed.