Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 304: Last hope

Ethan chuckled softly as he took a seat, his eyes sweeping across everyone in the room before he finally spoke in a low voice.

"So, who’s gonna fill me in on the situation?"

"I’ll do it."

Elynn stood up, her tone calm but heavy. "Right now, of the original four major powers in Sylvanwood, only us—Emerald Castle—and the northern Archmage Eldrin remain. Thalor’s Kingdom of the Elementals was completely wiped out by the Dungeon army. Vaelion abandoned our alliance and fled Sylvanwood not long ago. The Kingdom of the Night Elves? Disbanded on the spot..."

She paused, then looked at Ethan with a worried expression.

"As for Archmage Eldrin up north... things aren’t looking good for them either."

Elynn’s voice dropped slightly, her concern deepening.

"Master, at the beginning, the Dungeon army was just a chaotic mess. They didn’t care about strategy, conquest, or even war itself. It was pure destruction. Pure madness..."

"The dozen or so Dungeon heroes were all doing their own thing, fighting separately. Honestly, we could still hold our ground back then..."

"But everything changed when the Dungeon King showed up a while ago."

"Once he arrived, the Dungeon forces suddenly got organized. They started launching coordinated attacks, capturing territory, laying siege to cities. That’s what led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Elementals. If it weren’t for that, with their strength—and our support—they might’ve lasted a while longer..."

But before she could finish, Ethan suddenly cut in.

"Wait—did you say a dozen Dungeon heroes?"

"Yeah..." Elynn nodded, giving a bitter smile. "They’re all said to be under the Dungeon King’s command. And most of them are probably at Dungeon Lord level."

Ethan’s mind went blank for a second.

Dungeon Lord level?

That’s Legendary-tier. Level 60 to 70.

And there are more than ten of them?!

His mouth twitched involuntarily. What the hell...? People had told him before that the wars between the surface factions were brutal, devastating. He hadn’t really grasped what that meant.

Now he did.

Just in Sylvanwood alone, there were over ten Legendary-tier Dungeon Lords? And on top of that, a Dungeon King?

What about the rest of the Sacred Continent?

Wouldn’t that mean there are easily over a thousand Legendary-tier heroes involved in this war? Maybe even several thousand?

"Seraphina," Ethan turned to her, rubbing his temples as a dull ache started to build, "how strong are these Dungeon heroes, exactly? Can you give me a comparison?"

"Comparison?" Seraphina hesitated for a moment. "Would that Naga Swordmaster from Crimsonstar Kingdom count? If we use him as a benchmark, I’d say about two-thirds of the Dungeon heroes are weaker than him. Hmm... maybe half of them are way weaker. But there are three who are seriously dangerous. If I see them, I run. No point in fighting. If I stick around too long, I’ll get surrounded and killed."

Ethan fell silent, deep in thought.

The Naga Swordmaster from Crimsonstar... Thalric, right?

If he remembered correctly, that guy was level 71.

So, out of the dozen or so Dungeon heroes...

Three were stronger than level 71.

About eight were below that.

And if some of them were "way weaker," that probably meant around level 60. So overall, there were maybe four or five heroes around level 60, three to four between 65 and 71, and three above 71.

Ethan let out a dry laugh.

A bitter one.

How the hell were they supposed to fight that?

...

"Regular troops?" Ethan asked again, his voice low but tense.

Elynn nodded, her expression grim. "The weaker Dungeon heroes usually carry around 20 to 30 units of Tier-14 Black Dragons, and anywhere from 50 to 80 units of Tier-13 Red Dragons or Shadow Dragons."

She took a breath, then continued, "They also bring 200 to 500 units of Tier-11 Manticores or Tier-12 Venomspike Manticores. Some have Cave Hydras, Dark Hydras, Shadow Witches, or Shadow Matriarchs—those last ones are Tier-12 as well."

"And the top three Dungeon heroes?" She gave a bitter smile. "They carry double that."

Ethan’s face darkened as she went on.

"Based on what we’ve seen, we estimate the Dungeon army has around 500 Tier-14 Mythic Units, about 2,000 Tier-13 Legendary Units, and close to 10,000 Tier-11 and Tier-12 Royal Units."

She didn’t even bother mentioning anything below Tier-11.

But Ethan knew—if the high-tier numbers were that insane, the lower-tier troops had to be flooding the battlefield like a damn tidal wave.

He stared at her, stunned, his mouth opening slightly—then closing again with a long, heavy sigh.

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At that, Elynn shook her head gently. "Master, to be honest, things are bad. Of the four original powers, Emerald Castle is the strongest left standing. But that’s exactly why I think the Dungeon army is saving us for last."

She paused, then added, "Several of their Hero Units have already been spotted near the Tower faction’s northern border. That means it won’t be long before they launch a full assault."

"Master, as long as Archmage Eldrin and his forces are still holding the line, they’re our shield. But if they fall... we’ll be completely alone. No reinforcements. No allies. Just us, forced to either make a last stand—or abandon Sylvanwood altogether."

Ethan’s brow furrowed. "Can they hold the line?"

Elynn didn’t answer.

Instead, Auremax let out a dry, humorless laugh. "My Lord, the Tower faction’s defenses are impressive, no doubt. But expecting them to hold off the Dungeon army? That’s just not realistic. The power gap is too wide."

Ethan gave a strained smile. "Then... can we send troops to support them?"

Auremax shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "That’s nearly impossible. There are at least three Dungeon heroes stationed outside Emerald Castle right now. If we mobilize in force, they’ll know immediately. And honestly, just those three are enough to stop us cold."

Ethan’s expression turned stormy. "So what—you’re saying we’ve got no shot at all?"

"We’ve gone over every option," Auremax said with a sigh. "But... yeah. Right now, we’ve got nothing. We’re stuck."

Ethan clenched his fists. "What about the Emerald Dragon King? Deep in Sylvanwood?"

Auremax hesitated, then shook his head. "She can’t leave her domain. And to be honest, even if she could, she wouldn’t act lightly. There’s a balance in place. The Dungeon side has a Dungeon King too. The two of them have some kind of unspoken agreement—not to interfere directly. If we break that balance... we’d be the ones crushed. No way we could stand against a Dungeon King’s wrath."

Ethan opened his mouth, but no words came out.

This was a dead end.

They couldn’t win.

They couldn’t reinforce.

All they could do was wait to be picked off, one by one.

And once that happened, Emerald Castle would fall.

"Master... there might be one last hope," Seraphina said suddenly, her voice cutting through the gloom like a blade.

Ethan’s eyes snapped to her, a flicker of desperate hope lighting up his face. "Seraphina—what hope? Tell me!"