A few days later, when Thunderhawk Rayden appeared in the skies above Blackstone City, Onyx, Delilah, and Lilith—who were all busy working around the city—looked up and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Without a doubt, Orion was the backbone of the Stoneheart Horde. Everyone in the horde revolved around him.
Once Orion returned to the horde, everyone's spirits were lifted.
"Quit staring and keep working!"
"Open up the passages on both sides of the Hall, and move all the rubble outside the city."
It was a rare sight to see Onyx shouting like this, driving the tribe mbers to hurry construction. Clearly, Orion's return had energized him.
Two months passed, and the main structure of the Horde Hall was already complete, with only a few finishing touches left.
Inside the largest tent, Orion was making love to Lilith. They hadn't seen each other for so ti, and both were eager to lose themselves in each other's bodies.
…
Early the next morning, Orion led four guards to the Horde Hall. The Hall before them already looked like a fully ford castle. The towering walls, the arrow towers standing like bolts on both sides, and the heavy stone gate all proclaid the fortress's grandeur.
"My lord, allow
to show you around!"
Onyx volunteered, stepping forward. He used all his strength to push open the heavy stone gate.
"Wait here," Orion said to his guards, then followed Onyx inside the Horde Hall.
Right now, no one except Orion and Onyx was allowed to enter the Hall.
Boom...
After Orion stepped in, Onyx struggled again to close the gate behind them. Orion looked up at the stone ceiling. Even with his and Onyx's tall stature, they seed tiny beneath its height.
"My lord," Onyx said respectfully, "this stone gate still needs a magical formation and so enchantnts to block strong physical assaults."
Orion nodded. At this point, the castle was still just a big pile of rock. It needed the final step to unleash its supernatural potential.
"Take
to the forbidden area in the inner fortress, Prophet."
Onyx gave the stone gate a quick push to check that it was fully sealed before guiding Orion toward the restricted area inside the fortress.
"My lord, next to the outer fortress wall, we built a warehouse. During warti, the warehouse can be turned into temporary lodgings or used for strategic reserves."
"We also reinforced the warehouse's roof so it can serve as a landing pad for flying beasts."
Onyx walked toward the inner fortress as he pointed to the enormous warehouse by the wall and the winding corridor leading up to its rooftop. This was sothing Orion had suggested before construction even began.
"My lord, as this road extends to the left and right, just like you asked, we built two tower towers."
Following Onyx's direction, Orion saw the towers as well as the walls that sealed off the inner fortress. The front of the Horde Hall faced Blackstone City.
Besides the arrow tower by the main gate, there were arrow towers placed at the eastern and western corners of the Hall. In short, from the front, the Horde Hall looked like a massive battle fortress.
Beyond the Hall stood Moonshadow Valley—Stoneheart Horde's military base. If that area were ever breached, Blackstone City would have already fallen.
Next, they ca upon a vast plaza paved with countless giant stone slabs. At a glance, the plaza was boundless. Crossing it, Onyx led Orion into the inner fortress.
When they reached the entrance to the inner fortress, Onyx stopped. This area would beco Orion's private space, off-limits without specific permission. Even now, Onyx knew to halt at the threshold.
"My lord, these are the tribal relics of our Obsidian Golem tribe. Rockwell is in the underground fissure rotation, and he asked
to give you these tribal relics personally."
Orion stayed silent and took the item Onyx handed over. It was a piece of pitch-black crystal. According to Onyx, this stone was very unusual, passed down through countless generations, a symbol of each chieftain's authority.
"Stay here. If anything strange happens, don't panic."
Expressionless, Orion left these words and walked into the inner fortress. Part of the inner fortress was Orion's future living quarters, while the other part was a forbidden zone for the horde.
Once inside, he activated a hidden passage, navigated a series of twists and turns, locked so chanisms behind him, and finally arrived at the restricted area.
Even the Obsidian Golems had avoided building this place; it had been constructed entirely by small spiders. After the work was done, Lorelia had slaughtered all those spiders. In other words, Orion was the only one who knew the details of this area's layout.
At the center of the forbidden zone stood an altar made of special crystal; Orion had acquired these materials bit by bit at the Survivor's Platform. Approaching the altar, he took a deep breath.
Next, a crystal shining with starlight appeared in Orion's hand. This was the Lord's Stone he had traded for from Arthas.
Orion placed the Lord's Stone on the altar, and in the next instant, sparks of electricity danced across his brow as he communed with the transcendent power inside the stone.
Monts later, the Lord's Stone dissolved into a mass of dense, blood-red, mist-like transcendent power. That mist split into two parts—one rged into Orion's body, the other lingered on the altar, continuing to take shape.
Half an hour later, Orion opened his eyes, bloodlight flashing within them. He barely had ti to savor the blood-based transcendent power he had just learned. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the altar. Enjoy more content from empire
A blood cocoon had ford there, hovering silently above the altar. Clearly, the other half of the Lord's Stone had finished transforming into the territory core.
Orion stared at the territory core for a mont, then pulled a few items from his storage ring. The first was a banner from the top of the tent—a tribal relic of the Giants. The mysterious symbol on that banner depicted a giant's silhouette, though ti had weathered it so much that the design was blurred.
However, Orion sensed the figure looked sowhat like his father, and he felt the banner contained considerable faith energy.
Without hesitation, he placed the banner on top of the territory core. In the blink of an eye, the banner turned to ash, as though it had been utterly destroyed.
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