"For the Stoneheart Horde, this isn't the end. This is our opportunity. This is our ascension."

Orion's voice thundered across every city in his domain. He wasn't some low-level mob boss anymore; after the events in the Emerald Dream Realm and forging his own creation myth, he understood the stakes. The collision of worlds wasn't a disaster—it was a server merge, and he intended to be the admin.

As his final words echoed into silence, the golden projections of the Titan vanished from the skies above the Horde's settlements.

The miracle was over, but the aftershocks remained. In the streets, the citizens of the Stoneheart Horde remained on their knees, prayer and adrenaline mixing in their veins.

High above Stoneheart City, Orion felt it—a massive, intoxicating rush. Pure, high-grade faith energy flooded into him, filling his personal reservoir to the brim. It was a heady sensation. For a split second, he felt like he could reach out and crush a star in his fist, or rewrite the laws of physics with a snap of his fingers.

Easy, he told himself.

He shook his head, dispelling the delusion of omnipotence. That was the "God Complex" talking—the side effect of absorbing too much belief too quickly.

With a thought, he transformed into a streak of brilliant light, shooting straight up, piercing the atmosphere and entering the void beyond.

Down below, the lingering image of his departure burned into the retinas of his people.

"The board has changed. I'll be back."

The whisper was meant for one person. It drifted on the wind, finding Lilith's ear.

In the governor's mansion, the tension drained from Lilith's shoulders. She knew the game. Any threat facing the Stoneheart Horde had just been rendered irrelevant.

"A Demigod..." Lilith exhaled slowly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "You actually pulled it off, Orion."

Her gaze drifted to the window. For her, for their child, for their people... the safety net was finally in place.

In the velvet blackness of the void, Seraphina, Kairon, and Evander waited.

They hadn't reacted with hostility to the new arrival. The energy signature was unmistakably native to the Titanion Realm. This wasn't an invader; it was a neighbor moving up in the world.

"Who is he?" asked Kairon. As the Demigod, he spent his centuries hibernating in the crushing depths of the Kygard Expanse, far removed from the politics of the Utessar continent or the Trident Sea.

"That's Orion Stoneheart," Evander replied, eyeing the approaching light. "The Giant King. I knew he was climbing the ladder, but I didn't expect him to hit the level cap this fast."

Evander, the Human Demigod, glanced at Seraphina. She remained silent, her expression unreadable. Evander had been the one to leak intel on Orion to the Saint of the human kingdom, knowing full well Orion was a rising star. But this? This speed was unprecedented.

A new Demigod meant a new balance of power. The triumvirate was now a quadrumvirate. Who loses influence? Who gains territory?

The questions hung in the silence until Orion materialized on their plane of existence.

He didn't stop at a polite distance. He walked straight toward them, the golden aura of his divinity still settling around him like a cloak.

"Gentlemen," Orion said, nodding to Evander and Kairon. "Lady Seraphina."

He moved directly to Seraphina's side.

"You really did it," Seraphina said. Her eyes, usually cold and imperious, danced with a spectrum of colors. She looked at him with a mix of familiarity and genuine curiosity.

"I wouldn't dare stand next to you if I hadn't."

Then, to the absolute shock of the other two gods, Orion stepped in close. He wrapped a heavy arm around Seraphina's waist, pulling her flush against him. It wasn't a tentative touch; it was a possessive squeeze.

"You..." Evander started, his jaw dropping.

"You!" Kairon choked out, the word identical but the tone vastly different. Evander sounded surprised; Kairon sounded like he was about to vomit blood.

"Seraphina... you and him...?" Kairon stammered, pointing a trembling finger between the Mermaid and the Giant.

"We've been an item for a while now," Seraphina said, a lazy, contented smile spreading across her face.

She rested her head on Orion's shoulder, her posture shifting from 'Warrior Queen' to 'Smitten Partner' in an instant.

"You might want to watch your tone, Kairon," she purred, her voice dripping with honey and ice. "My man gets jealous easily. I'd hate for him to start trouble."

Orion glanced down at her, tightening his grip on her waist—a silent warning that she was laying it on a bit thick.

"Alright, alright, easy with the grip," she murmured, looking up at him through her lashes. "I'm delicate."

Kairon and Evander stared. This wasn't the Seraphina they knew. For eons, she had been an iceberg—aloof, untouchable, lethal. Seeing her play the role of the doting girlfriend broke their brains.

They didn't know that beneath the frost, Seraphina had always harbored a secret desire for someone strong enough to match her.

"This is bullshit!"

Kairon snapped. The Dreadfin Demigod roared, his composure shattering.

He wasn't mad at Orion's politics; he was mad at Orion's hand placement.

"Seraphina! You know how I feel! I've loved you for centuries!" Kairon shouted, his voice vibrating through the void. "Why him? Why this... this newbie? Where does he beat me? I was here first!"

It was the eternal cry of the 'Nice Guy' pushed to the edge.

Orion looked at Kairon calmly, then down at Seraphina. He didn't need to speak.

Seraphina straightened up. The playfulness vanished, replaced instantly by her signature chill.

"Kairon, do you have amnesia?" she asked, her voice flat. "I rejected you the first time you asked. I rejected you the thousandth time. Did I stutter, or are you just refusing to process the data?"

The cold rejection hit Kairon harder than a physical blow. He froze, the reality of her disinterest finally piercing his delusion. He was a Demigod, not a hormonal teenager; he couldn't just throw a tantrum.

He took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing into slits as he shifted his focus to Orion.

"Fine," Kairon growled. "You think you belong here, rookie? Prove it."

He summoned his weapon, the water around him boiling with rage.

"I challenge you. A duel. And when you lose, you get the hell away from her."

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