Tangere's intuition was razor-sharp.
The natural disasters plaguing the World of Eldoria were the planet's desperate distress signal. The world was subconsciously mobilizing its own immune system, wielding the elents in a frantic attempt to purge the foreign pathogen invading its core.
The reaction was even more violent out at sea.
Hurricanes coalesced over the open ocean, rging wind and rain into a hamr that pounded the globe. Wherever the storms passed, tsunamis followed, towering walls of water that swallowed horizons. Beneath the surface, the tectonic plates ground against each other with such violence that even the deep-sea leviathans were forced to flee.
The Kraken, massive and ancient, broke the surface, bobbing amidst the wreckage of the waves.
"Chief, what in the hell is Orion doing? Is he trying to crack the world in half?"
The Kraken stared at the receding hurricane, its massive intellect unable to comprehend how Orion had managed to throw the entire planetary ecosystem into such turmoil.
"Hah! And if he destroys it, so what?"
Leonidas drifted nearby, utterly unbothered. unlike the Kraken, he was floating on his back, hands behind his head, legs crossed at the ankles. He was treating the apocalyptic swells as his personal jacuzzi.
"Squiddy, this is the good life. Just let the storm wash over you."
"Chief, whatever Orion is cooking up... is there a cut of the profits for ?"
The Kraken drifted closer to Leonidas, extending two massive tentacles to knead the giant's shoulders. The display of sycophancy was so practiced, so natural, that it didn't look out of place even for a monster of his size.
"Relax. When the ti cos, you'll get yours."
Despite his dismissive tone, Leonidas felt a pang of sympathy for the beast. It was a sha the Kraken hadn't been there when they carved up the World Dragon egg. If he had, he might have been able to grasp the nuances of Orion's current invasion of The Void.
"Chief... did I miss sothing big?"
The Kraken knew Leonidas well—they were as close as master and apprentice, practically brothers. He knew when the old warrior was holding back.
"Chief... did I miss sothing big?"
The Kraken knew Leonidas well—they were as close as master and apprentice, practically brothers. He knew when the old warrior was holding back.
Leonidas remained silent for a mont, watching the lightning arc across the sky. Finally, he offered a crumb of wisdom.
"You see this form of mine? This World Dragon avatar?" Leonidas patted his chest. "If you ever get the chance, get yourself one. Or at least, get a vessel capable of gestating an internal world."
The Kraken understood instantly. Orion's current cataclysm involved an Internal World—a realm of power usually reserved for Demigods.
"Understood."
The Divine Kingdom, Abyssal World.
Compared to the apocalyptic convulsions of the World of Eldoria, Orion's domain was experiencing a very different kind of transformation.
The ground here trembled, but it was a vibration of growth, not destruction.
Lumi, the Warden of Winter, stood atop a snow-capped peak in the north. She watched as the thick white mist at the edge of the world rolled back, revealing vast stretches of new earth.
Orion's Divine Kingdom was expanding before her eyes.
"The laws of the world are strengthening. The elental density is rising," she whispered, feeling the shift in the air. "The Source Power of the Kingdom is surging."
What had happened? Had Orion ascended again?
As the Warden of Winter, Lumi was intrinsically one with this world. As the land expanded, the burden of her office grew physically heavier. The Staff of Authority in her hand pulsed with new weight—new power.
"This new land needs to slumber beneath the frost. It must store energy now so that life may bloom co spring."
She raised her staff. "Wind, rise. Snow, fall."
Lumi dissolved into the air, becoming a blizzard personified. Wherever the mist receded, the storm followed, blanketing the virgin territories in a thick layer of pristine white snow, locking in the nutrients and magical elents for the cycles to co.
World of Eldoria, Temple of Terminus.
Orion remained on the throne, his body bathed in a divine luminescence.
His Abyssal Dreadfin avatar was the primary beneficiary of this cosmic theft. Being the conduit for the World Tree's root, it was the first to drink from the flood of Source Power being siphoned from the host world.
Orion felt a thrill of anticipation. At this rate, simply by sitting on this throne and maintaining the connection, this avatar could ascend to beco a Demigod.
It would take ti—a long accumulation of power—but ti was a resource Orion had in abundance.
Furthermore, this position allowed him to reinforce the seal, monitor the condition of The Void, and keep a watchful eye on the Zeythan Dreadfin race.
"To think I'd find it here, after searching for so long."
He sighed with satisfaction. His other avatars were indisposed—the Death-Soul vessel was lost in the forbidden lands of the Death-Soul Race, its fate unknown. He had been stuck regarding the Abyssal Dreadfin path, but now, the door to Demigodhood had been kicked wide open.
There was a world of difference between projecting a Demigod's phantom and actually being a Demigod avatar. The power output, the pressure exerted on enemies—it was incomparable. More importantly, once this avatar ascended, Orion could use its durability to take much bigger risks.
"And now... a new objective."
If the World Tree could invade other realms through the spatial nodes of The Void, Orion wasn't about to stop with just one.
Hunting for planes similar to the World of Eldoria was now the fastest track to absolute power.
"I never thought I'd walk the path of the World-Eater," he mused, a dark amusent in his voice. "The path of the Evil God."
Back when he invaded the Godforsaken Land with Arthas and Leonidas, he had viewed such entities with disgust. Before successfully parasitizing the World of Eldoria, he had believed that conquering and ruling a world was wiser than draining it dry.
But now? The math had changed.
This thod—direct, violent, rapid extraction of power—was far more efficient than spending centuries cultivating a territory.
Strength was the only priority. Only with absolute strength could he build a truly sustainable Divine Kingdom. He finally understood the logic that drove the cosmic horrors he used to fight.
"It seems I need to make a trip to the Abyss."
The success with the World of Eldoria turned his thoughts toward the foundation of his own power. His Divine Kingdom was built upon the Heart of the Abyss. If his World Tree could feast on Eldoria, there was a high probability it could also parasitize the true Abyss itself.
Before, it was just a theory. Now, Orion had the confidence to make it a reality.
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