Unfortunately for Hades, due to his long slumber, the Necromancer Council was no longer the same organization he had originally founded. When he attempted to intervene and correct its direction peacefully, he faced enormous resistance. It became clear to him that the Council had slipped from his control, and he had been reduced to a mere symbolic figurehead.
Naturally, the King of the Dead could not accept such a result. So, he decisively took action, using force to bring the Council back under his original vision.
Muria didn't know the outcome of the battle, nor when it started or ended. He only learned that after the conflict, Hades ascended to godhood.
It wasn't until Hades' ascension that Muria realized something of such monumental significance had taken place without his knowledge. Hades' apotheosis had caused such a massive upheaval that the entire world seemed to tremble. When Hades took his seat on the divine throne, Muria saw a vision of the world's rules projected into his mind.
It was the image of a majestic figure seated on a black skeletal throne, clad in regal and ornate purple-black armor, with a bloodstained spear beside him. In one hand, he held a sword covered in nicks and chips, and his face was shrouded in darkness. Muria couldn't discern any features, only an overwhelming sense of loneliness.
After this fleeting vision, the image vanished from Muria's mind, and he understood that the world now had a new powerful god—one less free-spirited King of the Dead.
Following this upheaval, Muria immediately contacted a traitor known for selling out his own kind to gain resources: the undead pirate captain, Barbossa.
However, much to Muria's disappointment, even Barbossa knew very little. The pirate only knew that in the battle, some epic figures had fallen, but Hades—no, the Lord of the Underworld—still controlled the Necromancer Council.
"Too proud!" Muria sighed. While he didn't know the exact details, he could infer the general course of events.
Hades had wanted to reclaim his rightful power within the Council, but its vast growth had taken it out of his hands. His attempt to intervene had angered most of the Council's epic-level members. Rather than negotiate, Hades chose to fight them. However, during the battle, he must have realized his strength was insufficient to defeat all the epics, leading him to ascend to godhood.
The world of Erathia quickly responded by granting Hades divine authority, splitting off parts of other death gods' domains and merging them into a new, fully compatible godhood aligned with Hades' nature. This caused Hades' power to surge, doubling instantly, allowing him to eliminate all dissenters. However, as a price, he was forever bound to the world of Erathia and could no longer roam free.
This was all Muria's conjecture. Although he didn't know the precise events, it was clear that something had happened which forced the King of the Dead to seek greater power at the cost of his freedom.
"He could have asked for help!" Muria mused, lamenting the situation. He truly felt it was a shame. Hades had been a being whose strength nearly rivaled the Ten Archons and the Lord of the Abyss. Yet, he had cut off his own path to becoming an epic by his own fierce pride.
"If he had just asked, the Titan race would have definitely helped!" Muria sighed again.
...
The sound of crackling energy echoed around Muria, who now sat within a vast pool of concentrated elemental power. This pool was composed entirely of highly condensed lightning, fire, and wind elements, so potent they had liquefied into a shimmering substance.
The source of this power came from twenty-eight legendary beings who shared similar elemental affinities with Muria. They had been sealed, their power extracted, filtered, and funneled into this elemental pool.
These twenty-eight legends were little more than organic machines to Muria, used to extract, refine, and compress power. After filtering their energy, Muria would absorb it, completing the final stage of assimilation with ease, saving a significant amount of time.
"Time is running out. It's time to break through to Legendary Tier Seven. Once I've fully conquered the Shadow Wasteland, I can move on to the next stage of my plans," Muria thought. Standing in his full Titan-dragon form, he towered at 180 meters, his massive body submerged in the pool of condensed elemental energy.
Boom! As Muria released the restraints on his body, the pool's elemental energy surged toward him, swirling into a vortex.
Muria rarely revealed his true form. The larger his body, the more energy it consumed, so he generally stayed in his smaller dragon-human form to conserve power. He had learned this from observing other Dragon Kings and even some epic Titans.
Crack! Muria's consciousness registered the sound of a shackle breaking. Immediately, the energy in the pool began to flow into his body more rapidly, his aura rising like a volcanic eruption.
As his body's capacity expanded beyond its previous limits, the remaining energy in the pool rushed into him, swelling his already massive form.
This breakthrough did not trigger any celestial phenomena. Muria had prepared meticulously and didn't need to draw any power from external sources. As a result, only a few people realized that Muria had ascended to Legendary Tier Seven.
"Terrance, summon the legions. Prepare for war," Muria ordered the legendary storm giant standing by his side as he stepped out of the elemental pool.
"Yes, Your Highness!" Terrance responded immediately.
...
In the Shadow Wasteland, before the Iron Wall.
Muria stood before the towering Iron Wall that stretched from the ground to the sky, a look of admiration on his face. Despite being a scholar for the past two hundred years, with all his accumulated knowledge, he still wasn't confident he could replicate his mother's feat of using the world's geography to build a wall that split the entire continent in two.
However, while he couldn't create it, Muria also couldn't destroy the wall by peaceful means. The only method he knew of was to destroy the magic nodes that powered it, but that would throw the continent's elemental balance into chaos.
So, Muria sought out his mother, the golden dragon Atlatis. "Mother, it's time to take down the Iron Wall."
"You could have waited a few more years. The barrier could have lasted longer," the golden dragon remarked wistfully as she gazed at the colossal structure. This was the most advanced and largest formation she had ever created.
"My legion is ready, Mother," Muria said, turning to look at the ranks of giants standing behind him. There were more than a hundred formations of giants, each with thousands of soldiers.
Most of them were Shadow Wasteland giants, handpicked by Muria over two centuries. These giants had been trained, armed with custom-forged weapons and armor, transforming them into a force to be reckoned with.
However, even with the resources provided by the Seraphim—who had given him access to twenty resource worlds—Muria had only managed to raise a giant army of about a million. The resources required to outfit each giant with a full suit of armor were simply too vast.
This time, Muria had brought his entire giant army with him. Not to fight their kin, but to showcase their power and the benefits of serving him, the future ruler of the Shadow Wasteland.
"Alright." Seeing Muria's gathered legion, the golden dragon sighed, then took out her staff and waved it gently.
Without any loud commotion, a web of cracks spread across the surface of the Iron Wall. Within ten breaths, the entire section of the wall collapsed.
"Follow me. We will conquer this world!" Muria shouted, brandishing a massive war spear over 300 meters long. He charged through the breach in the wall, his legion following close behind.
Boom! A legendary battle quickly erupted as the collapse of the Iron Wall drew the attention of the legendary giants guarding the other side.
The battle was swift. Muria, towering over the opposing legendary giants, brought his spear down on a legendary giant's chest, leaving a gaping wound.
"Surrender to me!" Muria commanded, his voice filled with authority. This conquest was meant to be as bloodless as possible. He aimed to dominate the leadership without unnecessary slaughter, as all losses would ultimately be his own.
"Are you the Titan?" The wounded giant gazed up at Muria, then looked at the disciplined giant army marching through the breach. His expression grew complicated.
"Of course!"
"I am willing to submit to you."
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