Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 834: The Price of Overconfidence

Ethan didn't stop.

He kept strapping Powered Combat Armors onto the mechanical lifeform, detonating each one in rapid succession.

Boom.

Another deafening explosion tore through the sky, sending shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. The blasts pushed the machine's systems to their absolute limit. With every detonation, its power surged—then drained. Each burst of strength came at the cost of its core energy, burning through its reserves like dry tinder in a wildfire.

Darian's eyes flickered with unease. His chest tightened.

This campaign had been his idea. After Tiberon's two failed invasions—and his death—Darian had taken it personally. He'd volunteered to lead the next assault, swearing to the Narlost Emperor, Aurelkar, that he would succeed where others had failed.

But now, standing here, watching his trump card being pushed to the brink, he realized just how wrong he'd been.

He'd thought Emerald Castle would be an easy conquest.

Instead, he was being cornered.

The mechanical lifeform wasn't down yet, but his army was losing ground fast. The goblins had them surrounded, and the tide of battle had turned.

Panic crept in.

He made a snap decision—retreat. He spun around and activated a spatial portal, ready to pull his forces out before it was too late.

But the moment the portal opened, a blinding beam of divine light shot down from the sky like a blade of judgment.

Crack!

The portal shattered instantly, torn apart by the holy energy.

A thunderous hum followed, shaking the air itself.

Andona descended like a divine executioner, her Angelic Sword in hand, eyes locked coldly on Darian. As she unleashed the full might of her Angel God-Emperor bloodline, the sky dimmed, as if the heavens themselves bowed to her presence.

Darian staggered.

He had angelic blood too—enough to tap into some of their power—but compared to Andona's overwhelming divinity, his own lineage felt like a flickering candle in a storm.

He couldn't move.

The pressure was suffocating. His limbs refused to respond. His power—gone, crushed under the weight of her presence.

Before he could react, Andona's holy light surged forward like a tidal wave, engulfing him.

It pierced his skin, seared into his flesh. Every beam of light burned through him from the inside out, like divine fire unraveling his very being.

Then Elira struck.

She seized the moment, condensing the Divine Sovereign Moth's projection into a massive golden energy sphere and hurled it straight at him.

The golden light crashed down like a flood.

Darian couldn't stop it.

He was caught between two overwhelming forces—Andona's divine wrath and Elira's golden fury. His defenses shattered. His body buckled.

A scream tore from his throat, raw and agonized, echoing across the battlefield.

He was done.

His once-mighty army was pinned down by goblins, unable to move. The mechanical lifeform was nearing its limit. And now, he was being crushed by two of Emerald Castle's strongest.

No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free.

Then came the final blow.

With a thunderous crack, the mechanical lifeform's energy core finally gave out. Its systems shut down, its glow faded.

Ethan didn't waste a second.

He dashed forward and caught the massive machine before it hit the ground, bracing its weight with a grunt. He didn't linger. No speeches. No victory pose.

He turned and carried it straight back to Emerald Castle.

The battle was over.

Darian's life force flickered—then vanished. His body collapsed, lifeless, crushed under the weight of his own ambition.

With his fall, the battlefield finally quieted.

Emerald Castle's outer defenses stood untouched, and for the first time in hours, the air was still.

But inside the castle, things were anything but calm.

The moment Ethan returned, the research division exploded into motion. Scientists and engineers swarmed the mechanical lifeform like vultures, eyes gleaming with obsession.

They tore it apart piece by piece, cataloging every component, every circuit.

At the center of it all sat the compressed energy core—still pulsing faintly, still radiating power.

It was placed on the main research table, surrounded by layers of containment fields.

And it became the focus of every mind in the room.

Because whatever secrets it held… they were about to change everything.

Ethan stood in front of the research team—formerly under Kormaldor's command—his hands slowly rubbing together, eyes locked on the technician hunched over a console, deep in work.

"How long until you've fully broken down this thing's components?" His voice was low, urgent, the gleam in his eyes sharp with impatience.

The researcher winced, already nursing a headache. His mind was a mess of tangled schematics and half-decoded data streams.

The tech inside the mechanical lifeform was absurdly complex—layers upon layers of systems that defied conventional logic. Fully dismantling and analyzing it would take time. A lot of it. But with Ethan's tone leaving no room for argument, he didn't dare push back.

"Master, rest assured," the researcher said, voice weary but professional. "We'll extract and decode all the data as quickly as possible."

Ethan gave a small nod, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

He wasn't here to breathe down their necks. He trusted them to do their jobs—and do them well. As long as they cracked the tech in the end, he didn't care how long they had to grind for it.

Over the next few days, Ethan stayed busy, focused on strengthening Emerald Castle's overall power. He knew the Narlost Empire wouldn't stay quiet for long. Another wave could hit at any moment.

He was ready for it.

Still, he couldn't help but scoff at their tactics.

"Do they seriously not understand the value of coordinated force?" he muttered to himself, amused. "Sending one commander with a small squad each time… they're practically asking to get wiped."

Narlost's strategy was reckless—fragmented, overconfident. It made their elite units vulnerable to total annihilation.

For an empire that powerful, Ethan expected better.

Each of their lord-tier operatives was terrifying in their own right—especially when paired with high-tier mechanical lifeforms. That was their edge. But if they kept throwing them into battles like this, without proper support or fallback plans, it was only a matter of time before they ran into another "exception" like Emerald Castle.

And when that happened, they'd fall—hard.

…

Ethan stood atop Emerald Castle's outer wall, eyes scanning the distant sky, a strange mix of pride and disbelief rising in his chest.

He hadn't expected the castle to grow this fast.

Its strength now… it had already surpassed what he once thought possible.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Emerald Castle stood as the most powerful force in the world.

He exhaled slowly, adjusting his breath, feeling the energy surging through his body. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and released it.

Power burst into the air, condensing into a massive energy sphere that detonated high above with a thunderous boom. The sky lit up with a brilliant explosion, like a firework tearing through the clouds.

He watched it with a satisfied smirk—until the sky shimmered.

A spatial rift flickered open.

Feylora stepped through, followed by a squad of scouts. They looked rough—tired, bruised, a few of them bleeding. Whatever mission they'd been on, it hadn't gone well.

Ethan's smile faded. He moved quickly to meet them, eyes scanning each of them for injuries.

"What happened?" he asked, voice tight. "You ran into trouble?"

Feylora gave a small, frustrated pout and nodded. "Master… we found a strange frozen world. We were hoping to negotiate with the creatures there, maybe get access to some of their ice-based energy for research."

She sighed, her expression darkening.

"But they were… hostile. Brutal. They killed the envoy we sent and nearly wiped us out."