Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

After Ethan sealed the pact with Sycaron, the Celestial Dragons behind him all dropped to their knees in perfect unison. From this moment on, they were officially under Ethan's command.

"Sycaron, I'm glad to have you and your people on my side," Ethan said with a grin. "Sure, I might not be strong enough to take on the Sky Citadel just yet, but give it time—we'll all grow stronger together. And when that day comes, we'll bring that place down. Together."

Sycaron's eyes lit up with excitement the moment he heard that.

His grudge against the Sky Citadel Fiend-Dragons ran deep—so deep it was past the point of no return.

Over the years, they'd fought countless battles. The number of fallen soldiers on both sides could've formed a mountain of corpses. Now, finally, he had a real shot at revenge.

"Don't worry, my Lord," Sycaron said, his voice full of fire. "When the time comes, I'll be leading the charge."

Ethan didn't say much more. With a wave of his hand, he led the entire group in a grand teleportation back to Emerald Castle.

The power within the Draconic Ascension Pool had already been completely drained—there was nothing left of value there. And without a doubt, Ethan had been the biggest winner this time around. Not only had he leveled up and fused with new power, but he'd also gained a Dragon God—one with the supreme bloodline of the Primordial Celestial Dragons.

But the most important part? The bond between Ethan and Idra.

It was deep—so deep that whenever Ethan activated his power, the Dragon God energy within Idra could flow into him without limit.

In other words, Ethan wasn't just wielding the power of a Dragon God—he was the Dragon God. Idra, in a way, had become a conduit, or maybe even the source of that divine power.

After all the preparation and buildup, Emerald Castle had finally assembled a massive army—one strong enough to crush anything in its path.

But there was still a problem: they didn't know much about the Sky Citadel's true strength.

Charging in blindly could lead to disaster. Luckily, Sycaron had been fighting them for years and had some intel to share.

Unfortunately, most of his battles had been against the Sky Citadel Fiend-Dragons, so his knowledge was limited. All he really knew was that the bottom three levels of the Sky Citadel were crawling with Fiend-Dragons and Skyfiends.

Ethan didn't care. The system had already issued the mission: the Sky Citadel had to be destroyed.

If they didn't know what they were up against, then they'd just start from the bottom and wipe out the first three levels.

After a quick round of preparations, Ethan led the Emerald Castle army straight toward the Sky Citadel. Among them, no one was more fired up than Sycaron and his Celestial Dragons.

He'd thought Ethan was just talking big before…

But now? Now it was really happening.

When they finally reached the Sky Citadel, Sycaron didn't hesitate for a second. He charged in at the head of his Celestial Dragon army, launching the assault without waiting for orders.

The battle had begun.

And right then, Ethan realized something—

The Sky Citadel wasn't what he'd imagined at all.

He'd expected a massive palace floating in the sky. But what he saw instead looked more like an entire self-contained world.

The only things actually floating in the air were a few towering pillars and some scattered stone structures—crude, ancient-looking buildings that seemed more like gateways than a fortress.

But the army stationed there? They were no joke.

Alongside the familiar Fiend-Dragons, there were other creatures—Skyfiends—radiating a strange, unsettling energy.

The power rolling off them was terrifying. Ethan had never encountered anything like it.

It wasn't just death and decay—they carried the forces of rage and destruction too. Sure, plenty of warriors in Emerald Castle had mastered one or two of those elements…

But the Skyfiends? Their bodies housed a complex energy structure that fused all those forces together in a way that was far more potent than just stacking them.

Sycaron's Celestial Dragon army unleashed a fearsome wave of power—but the moment they clashed with the enemy, it was clear they were at a disadvantage.

The Fiend-Dragons weren't the problem—Sycaron had fought them for years and knew their weaknesses inside and out.

But the Skyfiends? They were something else entirely.

It was like they already knew everything about the Celestial Dragons—how they fought, where they were vulnerable.

And right from the start, they hit hard—dealing heavy casualties to Sycaron's forces.

Ethan stood silently, watching the chaos unfold in front of him. Despite the brutal clash between his forces and the Skyfiends, he made no move to send reinforcements. Not yet. He needed to understand the structure of the strange energy radiating from these creatures.

Then, something caught his eye.

A small, slender female Skyfiend stepped out from a pile of rubble. The violent energy pulsing off her was eerily similar to Elira's.

That raw, chaotic power… it wasn't just familiar—it was nearly identical.

Just then, the system's voice echoed in his mind.

Ding!

"Unknown species detected: Skyfiends. Origin analysis: Shares a common primordial bloodline with the Skytear Demon Moth. Both evolved from the same twisted energy source. Skyfiends diverged as a new branch due to prolonged exposure to skyborne environments."

"So that's it," Ethan muttered, the pieces clicking into place.

Skyfiends weren't a completely separate species—they were a divergent evolution of the same bloodline as the Skytear Demon Moth. That meant they shared a core origin with Elira.

And that gave Ethan an idea.

He turned to Elira and motioned her over.

"Elira, these Skyfiends? Their bloodline's almost the same as yours. If you wipe them out, there's a good chance you'll level up."

"Yes, my Lord!" Elira nodded sharply, her eyes already glowing with anticipation. In a flash, she launched herself into the fray, her aura exploding outward in a storm of raw, unfiltered power.

The moment Sycaron saw her arrive, his morale surged. With a roar, he grabbed a Sky Citadel Fiend-Dragon by the throat and hurled it like a ragdoll. Then, with a thunderous shout, he unleashed a Cataclysmic Storm—a devastating fusion of lightning, wind, and fire. The blast hit the Fiend-Dragon dead-on, vaporizing it in an instant.

Meanwhile, Elira hovered in midair like a dark queen, her gaze cold and commanding as she stared down the Skyfiends. And then—she unleashed hell.

The power erupting from her was apocalyptic.

Elira had evolved far beyond what she once was. Her strength now dwarfed that of the Skyfiends. But more importantly, it was a matter of bloodline.

And in a battle of bloodlines, dominance mattered.

The moment her energy surged, the Skyfiends' power faltered. In her presence, they were like lesser creatures—overwhelmed, suppressed. The weaker ones didn't even try to fight back. They dropped to their knees, trembling, completely unable to resist.

"Perfect," Ethan said, a grin spreading across his face.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before they completely took over the lowest level of the Sky Citadel.

Whoosh!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Just as Ethan was planning his next move, the sky above them split open with a deafening crack.

A massive figure descended from the clouds, slamming into the battlefield like a meteor.

The aura it gave off was… strange. Twisted.

It carried the elemental force of nature, the ancient might of dragons, and the dark corruption of the Skyfiends—all fused into one.

Ethan's eyes narrowed as he scanned the creature. The system immediately pulled up its data.

Tier: 16. Classification: SS-Rank.

In other words…

This thing was a monster.

...