Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Everyone froze for a second—

Then chaos erupted.

That terrifyingly massive Skytear Demon Moth… was just a corpse?

The sheer size and aura of it, even in death, made it clear how insanely powerful it must've been when it was alive. No doubt, it had to be at least on par with the Holy Fox Sovereign.

"You've got a death wish?! Get the hell out of my way!" the Holy Fox Sovereign roared, launching a frenzied assault.

But Ataneya and Andona held her back with everything they had, refusing to let her through.

At the same time, Elira didn't waste a second. She darted straight toward the Skytear Demon Moth's corpse, thrusting her hand forward and channeling her power into it.

Vmmm!

Vmmm!

VMMM!

BOOOOM!

A blinding pillar of light shot down from the sky, engulfing both Elira and the moth's corpse in a storm of raw, evolving energy.

And then—

Wave after wave of terrifying power surged into Elira's body like a floodgate had burst open.

Ding!

Meanwhile, inside Ethan's mind, system notifications started going off like crazy—

Elira's Tier was skyrocketing.

"RRAAAHHH!" The Holy Fox Sovereign's eyes widened in horror as she watched it unfold. Her face twisted with rage, her expression darkening to a sickly shade of gray. She looked like she was about to explode—but deep down, a flicker of fear crept in.

She was starting to hesitate.

But it was already too late.

The tide had turned.

Even if she wanted to run now, she couldn't. Ataneya and Andona together were more than enough to keep her pinned down.

Moments later, the evolution reached its climax. The pillar of light exploded outward in a shockwave, and when the dust cleared—

Elira stood there, reborn.

Her aura was overwhelming. Her Tier had broken through to SS-rank, Tier 16—

Even stronger than Andona now.

"Holy Fox Sovereign," Elira said with a cold smirk, "your time's up."

In a flash, she vanished—

And reappeared right in front of the Sovereign, who looked like she'd just swallowed poison.

Now it was three-on-one.

For Emerald Castle, victory was practically guaranteed.

The Holy Fox Sovereign's biggest advantage—her energy supply—was gone.

Which meant…

It was only a matter of time before she fell.

"No!"

"I won't accept this!"

The Sovereign's scream cracked with desperation. Her face contorted, her voice trembling with fury and disbelief.

She knew it. She could barely handle Ataneya and Andona on her own—

And now Elira had joined the fight.

The combined force of the three of them had already surpassed her.

Her chances of winning?

Gone. Completely crushed.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The battlefield still raged with chaos, but by now, the outcome was crystal clear.

With every passing second, the Holy Fox Sovereign's disadvantage became more and more obvious—

There was no coming back from this.

"It's over…" Ethan muttered, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Seraphina, Cicero, Feylora, and Namyanna had wrapped up their own massacre.

Despite the enemy boasting a terrifying number of Tier 15 and Tier 16 elites, they'd wiped them all out.

Not only that—

Every single one of them had now reached Tier 16. Emerald Castle's overall power had just skyrocketed.

But just as the dust seemed to settle—

Something shifted.

Suddenly, deep within the rift in the void, a violent tremor rippled through space.

And then, out of nowhere, a glowing figure emerged—

A Radiant Elemental, its entire body shimmering with light, floating above them, looking down.

"What the hell is that?" someone muttered.

Its Tier didn't seem high.

The energy it gave off was faint—barely a flicker compared to the monsters they'd just fought.

By all appearances, it was weak. Pathetically weak.

But the moment it appeared, Ethan's expression changed. He froze for a second, even startled.

Because the elemental energy radiating from this thing—

It was a type he'd never seen before.

Which meant…

It wasn't from this dungeon.

"What the hell is this thing?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

He immediately scanned it.

The result?

It was from a place called the Sky Citadel.

"Sky Citadel…?" Ethan repeated under his breath, suspicion creeping into his voice.

His gut told him—this wasn't just some random spawn.

Could it be… a new dungeon? A new world?

"Didn't expect to drop in and see this mess," the Radiant Elemental said with a mocking laugh. "The mighty Holy Fox Sovereign, getting her ass handed to her like this? Pathetic! Hahaha…"

It turned, as if to get a better look at Ethan and the others—

But before it could even finish turning its head, Ethan moved.

No hesitation. No warning.

He struck.

SNAP!

In a flash, he had the Radiant Elemental locked down.

"RAAAGH! Are you insane?! Do you even know who I am?! I'm an envoy of the Sky Citadel! Let me go right now, or you'll face divine punishment—retribution you can't even begin to comprehend!"

"Sky Citadel?" Ethan sneered. "Yeah, I heard you the first time."

He raised his hand—

And in the next instant, he blasted the elemental's body apart, punching straight through its glowing form.

Then he began absorbing it.

That strange, unfamiliar light-element energy—he devoured it.

VMMM!

VMMM!

VMMM!

BOOOOOOM!

Ding!

"Player Valkarion, alert: You have discovered a new category of magical energy. Proceed with caution."

"Just as I thought…" Ethan's eyes narrowed, a glint of excitement flashing in them.

"W-What are you doing?! I'm warning you—!" the Radiant Elemental tried to shout, but it was too late.

Ethan didn't even blink.

He raised his hand again—

And obliterated it.

THOOM!

A condensed energy sphere slammed into the elemental's core.

BOOOOM!

A violent explosion of light and fire tore through the air, shredding the Radiant Elemental into glowing fragments.

Its pure, radiant energy surged into Ethan's body, instantly replenishing his drained reserves.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power course through him.

"What a fascinating kind of energy…" he murmured, eyes gleaming.

...

Looks like the magical energy from this so-called Sky Citadel...

Yeah, it's definitely on a whole different level—

Stronger than anything from their world, maybe even more potent than the energy inside the Dungeon itself.

And the craziest part?

That Radiant Elemental was just a small fry. A nobody.

Yet even absorbing that weakling was enough to noticeably restore the power Ethan had lost earlier.

So then…

What if it had been one of the real powerhouses from the Sky Citadel?

The thought alone was staggering.

The kind of energy they'd be carrying—

It was almost too much to imagine.

...