Lorelia’s incantation was a whisper, so faint it was practically imperceptible.

As the Grand Warden of the Stoneheart Horde, she viewed Blackstone City as her true home. How could she possibly turn a blind eye to the apocalyptic war raging on her doorstep?

Thus, with the enemy’s Archlords successfully tied down, she began to weave her dreamscape.

It was a vision of a sky raining ethereal quicksand and drifting willow catkins. The moment the phantom sand and drifting fluff settled upon the teeming insectoids, the beasts instinctively closed their eyes, basking in a lethargic euphoria before collapsing into a deep, unbreakable slumber.

Far below, across the bloody expanse of the city walls, a bizarre phenomenon unfolded.

The bloodline warriors manning the ramparts watched in stunned silence as wave after wave of the relentless swarm simply collapsed where they stood. They piled up at the base of the walls, completely hypnotized and dead to the world.

"Kill them! Drag all the prey into the subterranean rifts!"

"Slaughter them! Lady Lorelia, the Grand Warden, has made her move!"

"..."

The roaring commands of Rendall and Onyx shattered the brief, stunned silence gripping the defenders. The momentary lull evaporated, and the brutal slaughter resumed with renewed, merciless efficiency.

...

Minor Hell. The Ashenheart Domain.

"Bro, you’re finally awake!"

Leonidas’s boisterous voice echoed through the cavern of the Ever-Burning Volcano. The sudden greeting left the newly awakened Orion slightly disoriented, unsure of what to say for a moment.

The entity waking up was Orion’s Demigod phantom—the very same avatar that had fallen into a deep slumber after clashing with a Third-Stage Demigod. Having absorbed the massive influx of faith energy provided by his brothers, the phantom had finally re-condensed into a tangible, potent form.

"Is everything stable on your end?"

Having been dormant, Orion’s phantom was completely out of the loop regarding the geopolitical landscape of Minor Hell.

"Quiet as a grave. Ever since you beat back that Third-Stage bastard, all the rats hiding in the dark scurried back to their holes," Leonidas replied, his tone laced with a manic, eager excitement. With Orion awake, he finally had his favorite partner-in-crime back.

"What is the situation on your end?" Arthas cut in, interrupting Leonidas before he could ramble further. "Do you require immediate deployment?"

Orion fell silent for a moment. He quickly synchronized the memories and intelligence transmitted from his main body before giving a measured response.

"The board is... not optimistic."

"The swarm boasts twelve Demigods. Right now, they are the largest overt threat on the field. Furthermore, several completely unfamiliar Demigod auras have breached the Titanion Realm. I’d wager my life they aren’t here to play savior."

This was the raw intelligence Orion had gathered. Though his true body had effortlessly slipped the seal the swarm had laid for him, he had no intention of stepping back into the light just yet. He planned to remain perfectly hidden in the shadows, observing how the board developed. Moreover, the terrifying level of strategic intellect the swarm had displayed forced Orion to tread with extreme caution.

"What about Clown?" Arthas pivoted the topic. For Orion to say the situation was "not optimistic" essentially meant he had it handled. To Arthas, there was no cause for genuine alarm.

"I haven’t sensed his aura yet," Orion replied. "As far as the void is concerned, I am currently ’sealed’ by the swarm. Clown has definitely intercepted that intel. The question is, will he take the bait and crawl out of the woodwork to exploit it?"

Orion couldn’t say for sure. He didn’t understand the inner workings of Clown’s mind deeply enough to perfectly predict his operational style.

"Hehehe... That filthy-minded puppet absolutely won’t jump out right now," Leonidas chimed in, his tone brimming with absolute certainty. "Clown knows you have the Champions Alliance backing you. Even if you were legitimately sealed, he knows it’s a completely reversible setback. Until the board is one hundred percent clear, Clown won’t step onto the main stage. Though... considering he now has the Cult of Four propping him up, he might just act a bit more brazenly than usual."

Leonidas loathed the man, but he understood Clown’s cowardly, calculating nature perfectly.

"I am bogged down here. I cannot mobilize my true body," Arthas stated flatly, offering his stance and his reasoning in one breath. "However, Soraya and Titania have successfully ascended to the Archlord rank. I will deploy them to the Valkorath Realm. You can retrieve and command them from there."

Though he couldn’t personally reinforce Orion, Arthas handed over two freshly minted Undead Archlords without a second thought.

"Brother, the arrival of Soraya and Titania is an absolute godsend." Orion’s eyes lit up. Having two Archlord-tier necromancers enter the fray would drastically slash the casualty rates of the Stoneheart Horde’s bloodline warriors.

The Undead Scourge violently clashing against the Insectoid Swarm—that was going to be a breathtakingly brutal spectacle.

"My Asura Avatar has already descended into your realm."

Just as Orion was celebrating the timely reinforcements, Alexander’s voice echoed through the dark, handing him yet another massive reassurance.

"However, to prevent Clown from detecting my presence, I’ve placed the avatar into a deep slumber. If you need me to take the field, you’ll have to manually awaken me."

There was a fully operational branch of the Blade Hall within the Titanion Realm, sitting squarely within Orion’s sphere of influence. Orion had no idea exactly where Alexander had buried himself, but the fact that his brother entrusted him with this knowledge was a profound testament to their bond.

"Hahaha! No need to rush, brother!" Orion laughed. "Looking at the current board, the insectoids definitely know they were used as a weapon. The reason they haven’t launched a synchronized, all-out offensive is because they’re guarding against third-party vultures swooping in on the chaos. Until the enemies hiding in the shadows show their hand, my war with the swarm is nothing but a series of probing skirmishes."

This was Orion’s ultimate read on the geopolitical landscape. Though the insectoids had launched targeted decapitation strikes against the native Demigods of the Titanion Realm, they weren’t committing their full apocalyptic might. At the very least, the ultimate apex predator—Insect Queen Moriphara—had yet to step onto the active battlefield.

"Sometimes, I genuinely wonder if the swarm has already deduced that I’m hiding," Orion murmured, his voice dropping low as if speaking to himself. "Perhaps they’re just playing along, using the stalemate to bait out the other entities lurking in the dark."

The brothers heard his musings clearly, but none offered an opinion. They weren’t physically on the board; without a microscopic grasp of the local nuances, they wouldn’t offer blind tactical advice.

"The Platinum Authority is about to descend upon the Verdant Cloud Realm. Do you have the bandwidth for it?" the Deputy Commander’s voice finally rang out from the dark. He made no mention of sending reinforcements to Orion. In truth, his apprentice, Elara, had already requisitioned a massive sum of manpower and resources from him. Supporting Elara was functionally identical to supporting Orion. "If your hands are tied, you don’t need to project your phantom will."

"I have the time, and the energy," Orion assured him. "Laying low in the shadows gives me the perfect window to handle the Platinum Authority’s operation."

The Platinum Authority’s crusade was a massive endeavor for the entire Champions Alliance. The more blood and effort he poured in now, the greater his dividends and exclusive privileges would be down the line.

"Pace yourself." It was a subtle, uncharacteristic warning from the Deputy Commander.

Orion simply nodded, offering no elaborate explanations.

With his divine vessel, his Divine Kingdom, and the Mirror of Theras fragments serving as his trump cards, the current crisis facing the Stoneheart Horde couldn’t even scratch his true foundation. Furthermore, even if the absolute worst came to pass and the Titanion Realm burned to ash, Orion had countless avenues of retreat. He had already expanded his domain into the Valkorath Realm, the Emerald Dream Realm, the Silverwood Realm, and three Godforsaken Lands. Losing his territories in the Titanion Realm would be a brutally painful blow, but it would be far from fatal.

"Heh. Once we wrap up this Verdant Cloud Realm business, I’m going to drop my World Dragon avatar into your sandbox for a little fun!" Leonidas declared.

"It’s a date," Orion grinned.