Chapter 65: Titans and Celestials

The land of the Titans was vast and lush, yet few beings stirred. As Muria followed Heylois, they had encountered scarcely anyone, so the sound of battle piqued his immense curiosity.

When Muria and Heylois arrived at the source of the commotion, Muria saw two figures engaged in combat. As he expected, one was a Titan, swirling with tempests and thunder, and the other was a Celestial Descendant, not the one who had serenaded with music outside Heylois's courtyard, but another, stronger one, shrouded in a blaze of incandescent flames. Muria could only make out a six-winged silhouette wielding a sword through the flames.

"Soul Intent level," Muria observed with a grave expression as he watched the two combatants. Rings of soul intent appeared around their movements in varying numbers.

"Watch closely, this is a Soul Intent level fight," Heylois instructed Muria as they watched from a distance. "This is different from those Soul Intent level beings on your island."

In the distance, the Titan waved his long spear, and with every movement, nine cyan-golden rings of soul intent appeared around his arms, enhancing his attack speed. Muria could barely see the spear itself due to its speed.

The Celestial opponent, whose size had grown to match the Titan's, faced the spear strike with intensifying flames, slashing out with his sword while Muria struggled to count the rings of soul intent that appeared beneath him.

The Celestial, engulfed in brilliant white flames, parried the Titan's descending spear with his sword. The collision sent a violent shockwave sprawling across the vicinity.

"Whoa!" The ferocious wind ruffled Muria's hair, stiffening his expression as he realized neither the Titan's spear nor the Celestial's sword were something he could intercept.

"How can they be so strong?" Muria's face grew tense as he watched the Celestial dodge a sweep of the Titan's spear, only for the blade of wind and thunder to strike the earth.

"Boom!" Muria felt the ground shake under his feet in disbelief as the spear's impact carved a trench hundreds of meters long and dozens deep into the earth.

"Slash!" A searing blade of light from the Celestial split a hundred-meter-tall hill in two, cleaving a deep chasm through it.

"Cough, Heylois." Muria's throat felt dry as he realized he was weak in comparison; even spectating seemed risky here. "They fight like this, and no one intervenes?"

"They're just sparring, why would anyone intervene?" Heylois looked at Muria with confusion.

"This is sparring?" Muria gestured to the devastated land before them, incredulous at the sight of dozens of trenches crisscrossing the landscape, each at least a hundred meters long. He now understood the origin of these features he'd noticed upon his arrival.

"They're only showing part of their soul intent rings, of course, it's sparring."

"…So, they're not even using their full strength?" Muria quietly observed a nearby mountain, half of which had been obliterated by the Titan's spear, and pondered silently.

"Heylois, can we stand further back?" Muria's mouth twitched as he watched another wayward strike from the sword carve a new trench within a kilometer of them, the sword energy causing a stinging sensation on his face.

"It's fine." Heylois, engrossed in the battle, her fists clenched with excitement, reassured him, "I'll protect you. Just stay here and keep watching."

"Okay." Muria glanced at Heylois's stature, compared her with the young Titan battling in the distance, and although he guessed Heylois wasn't yet ready to join such a fight, she could likely handle the battle's residual effects.

"We're not the only spectators." Muria looked around and realized several other Titans were watching the fight, though all appeared to be young as none resembled the legendary Titan Ansor from his memories.

"How come there are so many other beings here?" Not only did Muria see other Titans, but he also noticed several unique creatures nearby. A "big cat" with ribs for wings and snow-white fur sat attentively nearby. Further away, a majestic azure-scaled roc perched on an ancient tree was equally engrossed in the battle.

Three wolves with flowing silver-white fur chatted amongst themselves, a purple leopard flickered in and out of visibility in the air, and a giant elephant with four curved tusks like scimitars... Muria even spotted an unusual giant turtle whose shell was covered in thorn-like spikes that resembled miniature mountains, adding an intriguing touch to the scene.

"Don't get distracted, Muria," Heylois scolded as she noticed his wandering attention. "These are all descendants of creatures tamed by the Titans. They live here in our land. What's so strange about that?"

...As Muria watched the battle above, he felt bewildered. Both the spear-wielding Titan and the sword-wielding Celestial displayed rings of soul intent that appeared only during their attacks.

This was nothing like the Soul Intent level storm giants on Tai Chi Island, where the rings were continuously visible during combat, appearing only at their feet and not nearly as versatile.

Arms, back, chest, ankles… The Celestial and the Titan in combat could manifest soul intent rings at any part of their body, seemingly at will.

Seeing this, Muria understood that this was the proper use of soul intent rings. The giants on his island probably didn't even grasp the basic method, using the rings instinctively and inefficiently.

"So powerful!" Muria whispered in awe as he watched the sky, his heart no longer filled with pride but with a surge of motivation from witnessing the exquisite martial skills of the Titan and Celestial.

"Clang!" Another clash of spear and sword separated the wind- and thunder-enveloped Titan and the flame-wrapped Celestial.

"Let's call it a day, Atrean," the sword-wielding Celestial suggested, initiating a ceasefire. His incandescent flames gradually faded, revealing his armored, lean figure and a stunningly handsome face framed by six wings flickering with faint flames.

"You're always so boring, Ilves," the spear-wielding Titan complained upon hearing his opponent's reluctance to continue. "Every time I get into it, you suddenly want to stop. Can't you just fight properly with me for once?"

"Cut it out, Atrean. I sparred with you for three days and two nights last time, and you're still not satisfied," Celestial Ilves replied with a sour face. "I'm only here today because we're friends."

"Heh heh." Titan Atrean chuckled dryly, "Ilves, can't you stay a bit longer?"

"Not interested," Ilves said, and his large form rapidly shrank. He had enlarged himself with magic to match the Titan during their fight, but his true form was much smaller.

"Ah!" Atrean sighed as he watched Ilves return to his ten-meter-tall form, knowing his friend truly had no more interest in continuing today.

"If you're still not satisfied, go to the Abyss training ground and fight some demons," Ilves waved dismissively, then flapped his six wings

, turning into a white comet that vanished before the onlookers.

"Fighting demons is even less satisfying," Atrean muttered, scanning the crowd, then his eyes landed on the most conspicuous pair, Heylois and Muria.

"Yo, Heylois," Atrean called out. Standing together, Muria and Heylois naturally stood out among the spectators, and indeed, what truly drew Atrean's attention was Muria.

"Who is this?" The muscular, towering Atrean approached Muria at a speed beyond his perception, crouching down with curiosity to get a better look at him.

He recognized every Titan in the tribe but had never seen Muria, who clearly looked like a Titan. This was intriguing.

"Eh! An unfamiliar Titan."

"I haven't seen him; has anyone else?"

"I haven't either."

"Heylois, who is he?"

...With a stature of over sixty meters, every move Atrean made drew the attention of many onlookers. When he approached Muria, the formidable creatures and Titans who had been watching naturally noticed Muria too.

The beings of the Titan land were rare, and even fewer were the Titans, so naturally, Muria's unfamiliar face piqued their curiosity.

"Let me introduce you all. This is Muria, son of Lord Ansor," Heylois announced to the gathering crowd of Titans and exotic creatures.

"Lord Ansor's son? Isn't that the grandson of that lord?" Atrean brightened at Heylois's introduction but deflated somewhat after sizing up Muria: "You're only at the third tier of gold? Too weak."

Hearing such a remark, Muria could only offer a polite, awkward smile. What else could he say? Compared to the being before him, capable of splitting mountains, he was indeed weak.

"By the way, I heard that Lord Ansor's partner isn't a Titan but a golden dragon," a Titan girl with a ponytail spoke up shyly, her golden eyes curiously examining Muria.