Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

The first floor had looked like a total wreck—falling apart, grimy, barely worth a glance. But this level? It was the complete opposite. Lavish. Blindingly ornate. Like stepping into a golden palace straight out of a fantasy epic.

Ethan scanned the area. Not a single soul in sight. Even Tormyrr, who'd just raced up ahead, had vanished without a trace.

His brow furrowed.

The quieter a place is, the more dangerous it tends to be. And this silence? It was deafening.

Worse, the air here was thick with a terrifying energy. Just a sliver of it slipping into his body was enough to make his blood boil—literally.

In response, the immense power of the Dragon God surged from within him, rippling outward in waves, forming a protective barrier that pushed the oppressive force back.

BOOM.

Suddenly, a figure dropped from above like a meteor. It was roughly human-sized, its body etched with glowing runes, but behind it stretched a massive pair of dragon wings.

"You've got some serious nerve, human," the creature growled, voice laced with disdain. "Do you have any idea where you are? This is sacred ground—Sky Citadel's holy domain."

Ethan narrowed his eyes, glancing around again. "Wait… isn't this the second level of Sky Citadel?"

The winged figure blinked, caught off guard.

"The second level? There's a direct path up from the first. How the hell did you end up here?"

Ethan's breath caught. Shit. He wasn't where he thought he was.

He immediately pulled up his system interface and scanned the creature's data. Nothing. The system couldn't analyze it at all.

What really threw him, though, were the sharp dragon horns jutting from the guy's head—pulsing with raw, violent energy.

Thump.

Thump.

Ethan inhaled deeply, trying to sense the flow of energy around him, searching for a way out. But the moment his power reached out, it was like it got sucked into quicksand—no feedback, no connection. Dead silence.

The dragon-winged man clearly felt the pulse of Ethan's energy.

And he understood exactly what Ethan was trying to do.

He charged.

"You made it this far, and now you think you can just walk away? Leave that Dragon God power of yours behind."

His voice echoed through the space, thunderous and commanding.

And then his own power exploded outward—an overwhelming force that made the air itself tremble.

What hit Ethan hardest, though, was the realization:

This guy had Dragon God power too.

…

A cold glint flashed in Ethan's eyes. No hesitation.

In the blink of an eye, the Dragon God energy inside him erupted, surging into his palm and forming a massive, radiant greatsword.

Dragon runes shimmered faintly along the blade, divine energy intertwining with his elemental power, forging a weapon that radiated pure, destructive might.

This wasn't just a sword anymore.

It was every ounce of his strength made manifest.

BOOM!

CRACK-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—

With a single swing, the air exploded. The sheer force of it tore through the space around him, ripping open jagged cracks in the fabric of reality.

But the dragon-winged man didn't flinch. He shifted his stance slightly, then unleashed a tidal wave of power that surged toward Ethan like a tsunami, swallowing everything in its path.

The moment their energies collided, the shockwave was cataclysmic.

SZZZZZZZZZZ—

The space around them fractured like glass, spiderweb cracks spreading in every direction.

A massive vortex erupted nearby, swirling with chaotic energy.

THUMP.

"Shit! What the hell is this guy?!" Ethan's eyes widened. He could feel it—there was a path through that vortex. A way out.

But the power coming off this guy… it was insane.

Even with the Dragon God's strength flowing through him, Ethan was barely holding on.

He had to escape. Now.

He adjusted his energy flow, and in an instant, his body was cloaked in crackling lightning, boosting his speed to the max. His form blurred, flickering like a storm in motion.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

As his power and level grew, so did his speed—faster, sharper, more precise.

In no time, he was right in front of the vortex.

But just as he was about to dive in—

CRACK!

The vortex shattered.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

"You made it all the way here and think you can just leave without paying the price?" the dragon-winged man roared. "The world doesn't work like that. You're not going anywhere!"

"ROAR!"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—

A terrifying wave of energy burst from his body, sealing the entire space. Every crack, every vortex—gone in an instant. The exit was gone.

Ethan's brow tightened.

He hadn't expected this guy's power to be so overwhelming—brutal, even.

Still, he didn't back down. He kept channeling his energy, trying to probe the space around them for any possible exit.

At the same time, his own Dragon God power surged outward—

Fsssh! Fsssh!

—and clashed head-on with the winged man's.

Both of them were radiating Dragon God energy, and at first, they were evenly matched. Neither could overpower the other.

But it didn't last.

Ethan quickly realized the other guy's energy was growing more and more violent, like a storm spiraling out of control. The pressure was mounting fast, and Ethan was starting to get pushed back—hard.

He gritted his teeth.

If he didn't find a way out soon, he was going to die here. No question.

As he frantically used the system to scan for an escape route, something unexpected happened.

The small creature perched on his shoulder—Idra—suddenly flared with a power unlike anything he'd ever felt from her before. Her body began to grow, pulsing with radiant energy.

BOOM!

WMMM!

WMMM!

WMMM!

The Dragon God energy in the air reacted instantly—like it had just sensed its true master.

It surged toward them in waves, pouring into Idra like a river breaking through a dam.

Her form expanded rapidly, shifting and reshaping until she hovered in midair—no longer a tiny companion, but a stunning young woman with a graceful, almost ethereal figure.

Her eyes glowed with a piercing golden light, and the divine aura radiating from her body was so intense, it made Ethan's heart skip a beat.

It was the kind of presence that made you want to kneel without even thinking.

The dragon-winged man froze the moment he saw her. The wild, chaotic energy pouring off him vanished in an instant. His body trembled.

"N-No way… That's… That's a Dragon God with pure Primordial Celestial Dragon blood? That bloodline was supposed to be extinct—wiped out ages ago! How is this even possible?!"

Idra didn't even look at him.

She didn't say a word.

She simply raised one delicate finger and tapped the air around them.

BOOM.

The space rippled violently, and a shockwave of divine energy erupted from her body, sweeping across the entire area like a tidal wave of light and power…