Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Just like that—

Seraphina, Cicero, Feylora, Namyanna, and the rest of the Emerald Castle's Hero Units sprang into action, following Ethan's lead without hesitation. They surged across the battlefield, targeting the weakened Dungeon Hero Units with ruthless precision.

And the battlefield—once already a storm of chaos—erupted into full-blown war again.

BOOOOOOM!

The ground split. The sky roared.

And the slaughter began.

But the real shock came almost immediately.

Elira and Andona—fighting side by side—took down a 16-Tier SS-Class Dungeon Hero in a single coordinated strike. The moment he fell, they didn't waste a second. They absorbed his Primordial Force completely, devouring every last drop.

BOOM!

A surge of power exploded from Elira's body.

Her aura flared, her strength skyrocketing—she hit the absolute peak of 16-Tier S-Class, just a breath away from breaking into SS-Class herself.

And that was just the beginning.

The two of them—Elira and Andona—went full rampage mode.

They tore through the battlefield like twin storms of divine fury. The weakened Dungeon Heroes, drained dry by the Holy Fox Sovereign, couldn't even put up a fight. Their strength had been bled out, their bodies hollowed.

They were nothing but fuel now.

And Elira and Andona were burning through them.

With every kill, their power grew.

With every soul devoured, they climbed higher.

And then—after the tenth, maybe the twelfth kill—after absorbing the Primordial Force of multiple 16-Tier enemies…

It happened.

She appeared.

The first to break through.

Andona.

BOOOOOOM!

A blinding pillar of light erupted from her body, shaking the entire battlefield. The Gate of Heaven opened behind her, radiant and divine, as her form ascended.

She had evolved.

16-Tier SS-Class.

Her angelic wings multiplied—six pairs, twelve wings in total—unfurling behind her like a divine storm. Her aura exploded outward, majestic and terrifying, her combat power surging to a whole new level.

"She did it!" Ethan shouted, eyes wide with exhilaration. "Andona—go! Help Ataneya, now!"

She was still one tier below the Holy Fox Sovereign, but that didn't matter. Right now, they needed every ounce of power they could get. Andona's Angelic bloodline wasn't just powerful—it was unique.

Especially her race's signature ability:

Unconditional resurrection.

If anyone could turn the tide, it was her.

BOOM!

Without a word, Andona launched herself into the sky, wings blazing with holy fire. She streaked across the battlefield like a comet, heading straight for the heart of the storm.

And not a moment too soon.

Ataneya was on the brink.

She was barely holding on, her body battered, her aura flickering. The Holy Fox Sovereign had her pinned, pressing harder with every strike, every pulse of that cursed crystal core in his chest.

But then—

FLASH!

Andona appeared at her side.

Her Angelic Sword ignited with divine light, and with a single, fluid motion, she slashed downward—her blade crashing into the Sovereign's shoulder.

BOOOOOOM!

The impact sent him stumbling back, caught completely off guard.

He hadn't expected this.

Another threat?

So soon?

His eyes narrowed, fury boiling over.

"You pests… you miserable little insects!" he roared, his voice shaking the heavens. "I'll kill you all!"

His tails lashed through the air, glowing with dark energy. A strange, invisible force began to ripple out from him—connecting his body, his tails, and his core in a terrifying feedback loop.

And then—

BOOM!

A shockwave exploded from his body.

A wave of pure destruction.

ROOOOOAAAARRRR!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The sky cracked. The earth split.

Ataneya and Andona were blasted backward, sent flying like ragdolls through the air. Even Ethan and the others—far from the center of the fight—felt the impact.

They staggered, some collapsing to their knees, blood trickling from their noses and ears.

The pressure was unbearable.

"Damn it!"

Ethan's face darkened, a cold sweat breaking out across his back. His scalp tingled, and for a moment, he felt completely overwhelmed.

He'd thought that cutting off the Dungeon Hero Units—the Sovereign's power source—would weaken him, maybe even cripple him. That once the supply was gone, the Sovereign would start to burn out.

But it wasn't working.

The bastard wasn't weakening at all.

If anything, he was getting stronger.

"What the hell is going on…? Is his power infinite? That's impossible!"

"My Lord!"

Elira's voice suddenly cut through the chaos, sharp and uncertain. "There's something strange… I can feel a familiar energy coming from the rift behind him."

"What?" Ethan blinked, then snapped his head up.

He focused on the space behind the Holy Fox Sovereign—and sure enough, there it was.

A faint, shimmering rift in the void. Almost invisible unless you were looking for it. But now that he saw it, he couldn't unsee it.

And worse—

It was pulsing.

Feeding energy directly into the Sovereign.

A constant stream of power.

"That's it!" Ethan's eyes lit up. "That's why he hasn't run out of juice! He's not just feeding off the Hero Units—he's being powered from somewhere else entirely!"

"Elira, what do you want to do?"

"There's something inside that rift," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos. "Something I recognize. I don't know what it is, but if I can get in there… I might be able to shut it down."

"And if you can't?"

"Then I die," she said simply. "But Andona can resurrect me. And if not her, then the Hero Altar back at Emerald Castle can."

Before Ethan could respond, Elira was already moving.

She didn't hesitate.

Her body blurred into a streak of radiant light—and she hurled herself straight into the rift.

"Elira!"

"NO—!"

Ethan's heart stopped.

Even the Holy Fox Sovereign's eyes widened in shock. "You reckless little insect—!"

BOOOOOOM!

The Sovereign roared, trying to break away from Ataneya and Andona, lunging toward the rift to stop her.

But they were ready.

"Not so fast!" Ataneya snarled, slamming into him with a burst of raw force.

"Back off!" Andona followed up, her Angelic Sword glowing with divine fury as she struck from the other side.

CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—

The Sovereign staggered, forced to defend himself as the two women unleashed everything they had to hold him back.

Meanwhile—

The rift began to tear open wider.

Shards of space fractured outward like broken glass, floating in the air like glowing mirror fragments. They shimmered like stars, spinning and scattering across the battlefield.

And then—

Something massive began to emerge from the rift.

A corpse.

A monstrous, grotesque corpse.

Its wings were torn and tattered, but still impossibly vast. Its body was covered in black chitin, its eyes long since dimmed—but its presence was unmistakable.

Ethan's breath caught in his throat.

"That's… the Skytear Demon Moth?"

...