Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 828: Weapons Don’t Choose Sides

Balric’s throat bobbed.

He knew exactly what would happen if they caught him.

There was only one outcome—

He’d be torn apart.

So really, he didn’t have a choice.

But before he could even open his mouth—

A cold, venom-laced voice rang out from the Nightveil ranks.

"Filthy Daybound."

The lead Nightveil male sneered.

"You’ve got some nerve, stepping onto our land."

"Today, we’re not leaving until we rip your heart out."

Before the last word even finished echoing, he drew a wide-bladed sword from his waist and began advancing.

But the moment he took his third step—

Ethan raised his hand.

No chant.

No charge-up.

Just a casual flick of the wrist.

And then—

A crushing force slammed down from above.

The air itself collapsed like it had been struck by an invisible hammer.

The Nightveil man didn’t even have time to scream.

His body was crushed on the spot.

BOOM.

Flesh and bone exploded midair, then were instantly erased by the shockwave.

Silence fell.

The remaining Nightveil froze in place, every one of them stiff with fear.

It was written all over their faces.

But Ethan didn’t even look at them.

His gaze had turned heavier, more focused.

Something was off.

He was sure of one thing—

Neither the Daybound nor the Nightveil were skeletal.

They had flesh. They had living energy.

But the first enemy he’d encountered in Bonehell—

Had been a true skeleton.

And Feylora’s scouting report had been clear:

The dominant species in this world was supposed to be the skeleton race.

Which meant—

There was something else in Bonehell.

Something separate from the four known factions.

A hidden force.

"You."

Ethan finally turned back to the remaining Nightveil.

"Who are you really fighting for?"

One of them gripped his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He tried to hold his ground, but his voice trembled.

"W-Who are you people?"

"Why are you interfering in our war?"

Ethan didn’t answer.

He just raised his hand and flicked it forward.

A wave of raw power surged out like a tidal flood.

The Nightveil were instantly locked in place, unable to move a muscle.

It wasn’t an attack.

It was total suppression.

"I’m giving you one chance to live."

Ethan’s voice was calm—

But utterly devoid of warmth.

"Tell me."

"Is there a skeleton race in Bonehell?"

"What are they?"

The fear finally cracked their resistance.

One of the Nightveil stumbled forward and dropped to his knees, hands shaking as he pulled a folded map from inside his cloak.

"Y-Yes!"

His voice cracked.

"They’re called—Noctilume Skeletons!"

The moment the name left his lips, the air around them seemed to grow colder.

"They’re not bound by day or night."

"Daylight, darkness... it doesn’t matter to them."

"They don’t tire. They don’t weaken."

He swallowed hard.

"That’s why..."

"All four of our races tried to recruit them."

"As soldiers."

"As weapons—"

"Weapons that never stop fighting."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t jump to conclusions.

Instead, he lifted his hand and pulled up the system interface, eyes scanning the stream of data flashing across the display.

A few seconds later, confirmation came.

The Nightveil hadn’t lied.

According to the system’s structural analysis—

The Noctilume Skeletons were, in fact, the true dominant species of this world.

In both population and territorial spread, they far outnumbered the Daybound, Sunborn, Starborn, and Nightveil combined.

But—

Very few of them possessed full sentience.

The vast majority were nothing more than manufactured weapons of war.

Recycled. Deployed. Burned through like disposable parts.

The map the Nightveil soldier had handed over clearly marked a central zone.

Primordial Lake.

The system’s note on it was brief, but loaded with meaning:

[Primary summoning source of the Noctilume Skeletons.]

Ethan’s eyes lit up slightly.

Now he understood.

Why this world had been dragged into an endless war of attrition.

"Lead the way," he said.

No hesitation.

Before they left, he casually raised his hand.

A few muffled, heavy thuds later—

The remaining Nightveil were silent forever.

Necessary cleanup.

Then Balric took the lead, and the group quickly departed the ruined village, heading toward the location marked on the map.

...

It didn’t take long.

The terrain ahead suddenly opened up.

A massive lake stretched across the gray horizon, still and silent.

The water wasn’t clear.

Instead, it shimmered with a strange hue—somewhere between silver-white and shadowy black.

But the color wasn’t what made it terrifying.

It was the power rippling off the surface.

The energy was so pure it bordered on absurd.

Just standing near it, Ethan could feel it—

His blood was reacting, surging, resonating without his control.

Like something deep inside the lake was calling to him.

He took a deep breath and instinctively stepped forward.

Already, he was considering whether he could collect some of the water to study later.

But just then—

Balric threw out an arm, blocking him. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Don’t!"

His voice was tight with alarm.

"You can’t just walk in like that."

Ethan turned to look at him.

Balric swallowed hard, speaking faster now.

"The lake’s energy is insanely pure, yeah."

"In the short term, it can even force a normal person to break through their limits."

"But the problem is—"

He pointed toward the center of the lake.

"The real danger is down there."

"Deep beneath the surface, there’s a core energy source—violent and overwhelming."

"That power isn’t meant to be absorbed."

"If you try to draw it into your body, it’ll backfire. Best case, your power collapses. Worst case... you lose control on the spot."

Ethan didn’t argue.

He just nodded and stepped back.

Then his gaze shifted to the forest surrounding the lake.

And in that moment, his brow furrowed again.

Something was off.

Too clean.

The trees... the energy they gave off was just as unnaturally pure.

And nestled between the branches, he could make out strange, oddly shaped nests.

They weren’t randomly built.

They were—

Integrated into the trees themselves.

Ethan pulled up another system scan.

The results came quickly.

These nests were structurally identical to the Creature Dwellings he’d seen in other worlds.

With one key difference—

They were fully autonomous.

No external energy input required.

They drew power directly from the Primordial Lake.

And used it—

To summon Noctilume Skeletons.