Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

"My Lord, let me take him down!" Ataneya's eyes lit up with excitement, and she was already halfway into a charge before Ethan raised a hand to stop her.

"Hold up, Ataneya," Ethan said calmly, his eyes locked on the towering figure that had just landed. "Let me handle this one. I'm actually pretty curious about what this guy's made of. He's mine."

As he spoke, the energy around Ethan began to surge—wild, volatile, and growing stronger by the second. Then, in a blur of motion, he launched himself into the air, heading straight for the enemy.

"I am Dravoskar… and your end begins now," the creature growled, its voice cold and guttural as it announced itself.

"Oh yeah?" Ethan smirked. "Then come and try."

He didn't wait for a response. With a roar, he threw a punch straight at Dravoskar.

BOOM!

RUMMMMMMBLE—

The impact was cataclysmic.

The raw force of Ethan's Dragon God power, laced with layers of magical energy, exploded outward in a shockwave that cracked the sky and shook the battlefield. The sheer magnitude of it was enough to level mountains.

Dravoskar's eyes widened in shock. He barely had time to react before he was forced to meet Ethan's strike head-on, hastily channeling his own power to brace for the collision.

CRACK!

The two forces slammed into each other, and the resulting shockwave rippled out in all directions. Buildings nearby groaned and buckled under the pressure, some already beginning to collapse.

And then the real fight began.

They clashed again and again, trading blows at lightning speed. At first, they were evenly matched—hundreds of strikes, no clear winner. But as the battle dragged on, the tide began to turn.

Dravoskar was slowing down.

His attacks were losing their edge, his movements growing sluggish. And Ethan could feel it—Dravoskar's power was leaking, flowing into him.

"What… what the hell are you doing?!" Dravoskar shouted, panic creeping into his voice. "How are you absorbing my power?!"

His eyes were wide with fear now, practically bulging out of his skull.

On his forehead, a glowing ice-blue gem flickered weakly. It was one of his power cores—clearly a major source of his strength. But now, its light was fading fast.

Ethan didn't answer. He just stared at Dravoskar with cold, calculating eyes.

He'd already figured it out.

Dravoskar wasn't a natural being. He was a fusion—part dragon, part Skyfiend, and part elemental construct, likely created using the unique energies of the Sky Citadel.

That explained his overwhelming power.

But it also revealed his weakness.

Ethan had spotted three gemstones embedded in Dravoskar's body—one on his forehead (blue), one over his heart (red), and one in his abdomen (a translucent gold). These gems weren't just for show—they were power nodes, constantly feeding energy into his body.

And that was the flaw.

The three gems formed a delicate energy circuit. Ethan could feel how unstable it was. All he had to do was disrupt the balance, and the whole system would collapse—reversing the energy flow and pulling Dravoskar's power into himself.

And that's exactly what was happening.

Dravoskar's aura was fading fast. His strength was draining away, and his body was starting to falter. Finally, with a strangled roar, he plummeted from the sky and crashed into the ground.

Ethan landed a moment later, standing over him.

"Guess you weren't all that after all," he said with a cold smirk.

Then he raised his hand—and unleashed hell.

A wave of devastating energy surged downward, engulfing Dravoskar completely. The ground cracked and scorched beneath the force of it.

"You've got some impressively pure energy in you," Ethan muttered as he stepped forward. "But from now on… it's mine."

Without hesitation, he reached down and ripped the three gemstones from Dravoskar's body—one by one.

As the last gem came free, Dravoskar's body began to wither, his flesh shriveling and turning to ash before Ethan's eyes.

Within seconds, he was dead.

And the moment he fell, the battlefield went still.

All around them, the Skyfiends and Sky Citadel Fiend-Dragons froze in place. Their bodies locked up, their eyes vacant. It was as if their life force had been tethered to Dravoskar—and with him gone, they were nothing more than empty shells.

Ethan didn't waste a second.

"This is it. Full assault—now!" he commanded.

His voice rang out across the battlefield, and the Emerald Castle army surged forward.

With their enemies paralyzed and leaderless, the slaughter was swift and absolute.

It didn't take long.

The first level of the Sky Citadel was completely wiped out.

"Vmmm—"

Just as Ethan and his forces secured the first level of the Sky Citadel, the air around them began to ripple with a strange, unnatural vibration.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

A suffocating aura came crashing down from above.

Hovering in the sky was a massive figure—wings spread wide, casting a shadow over the battlefield like a looming omen of death.

The moment this thing appeared, Ethan's body tensed instinctively. His senses screamed danger, and then—

Ding!

"Xymorg detected. Overlord-class Skyfiend. Warning: Subject possesses highly concentrated demonic energy."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

Especially those wings—etched with ancient, malevolent runes that pulsed with dark energy. Just a flicker of that power was enough to reduce two Celestial Dragons to shredded meat in an instant.

Ethan's breath caught in his throat.

"An Overlord of the Skyfiends…"

"Well, shit. We've got a real monster on our hands."

He knew damn well—this guy wasn't supposed to be here. Xymorg should've been stationed on the third level of the Sky Citadel, not the first.

And judging by the sheer force radiating off him, he was easily on par with the Holy Fox Sovereign from the Dungeon. Maybe even stronger.

This wasn't just a tough opponent—this was a full-blown nightmare.

"Where the hell did you insects crawl out from?" Xymorg's voice thundered across the battlefield, laced with fury. "Who gave you the guts to invade the Sky Citadel?!"

As he roared, a massive black axe materialized in his hand, humming with dark energy.

VMMM!

BOOOOM!

The power radiating from the weapon was razor-sharp, so intense that even Ethan instinctively stepped back to avoid the edge of its aura.

"You're dead!" Elira didn't hesitate. Her power flared violently as she shot forward like a comet, a streak of destruction aimed straight at Xymorg.

He actually laughed.

He hadn't expected anyone to be bold—or stupid—enough to charge him head-on.

But the moment their powers collided, his expression twisted.

"What?!"

"Who the hell are you?! How is this possible?!"

He stared at Elira in disbelief. She looked so small, so delicate—yet the destructive force she unleashed was monstrous. The runes glowing on her Demon Moth wings clashed with his own, and for the first time in a long while, Xymorg felt pressure.

Real pressure.

But there was no time to think. The battle had already begun.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

They clashed again and again, their fight escalating into a brutal, high-speed brawl in the sky. Neither side held back. The air cracked with every blow, the sky itself trembling under the weight of their power.

After what felt like hundreds of exchanges, they finally broke apart, both hovering in midair, panting hard.

Xymorg's face was twisted in disbelief. He hadn't expected this. Not from her.

He floated there, glowing with fiendish runes, his breath ragged. Elira, though equally winded, stared him down with cold, unflinching eyes.

They were evenly matched—for now.

But Xymorg had the home-field advantage. The Sky Citadel's energy was feeding him, and his Fiendish Power was surging. Elira couldn't gain the upper hand.

That's when Ethan stepped forward.

His eyes locked on Xymorg, and without a word, he let his power rise.

...