Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 854: The World Chose
But Ethan's gaze gradually calmed.
"Impressive pressure," he murmured.
"But the way it channels power… way too crude."
He didn't rush to attack.
Instead, he slowly reached one hand into the golden liquid beside him.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The rhythm echoed like a heartbeat, syncing with the energy pulsing through the fluid.
Then—
Vmmm!
A surge of violent yet precisely controlled power rushed up his arm, compressed and restructured within his meridians.
A dense energy sphere formed in his palm.
Ethan flicked it casually.
BOOM—!
The creature was slammed straight into the cavern wall, the entire chamber shaking from the impact.
"What?!"
The insect let out a stunned, guttural roar.
From what it could sense, Ethan's total energy reserves were clearly far below its own.
Even with the golden liquid's boost—
There was no way he should be able to dominate like this.
"How can you possibly—"
Ethan didn't answer.
In fact, he hadn't even activated the Powered Combat Armor.
But the energy pathways, compression methods, and feedback rhythms from the armor—
He'd memorized them all.
Now, he was replicating that system.
Using his own body as the conduit.
"RAAARGH—!"
The creature snapped, fully enraged.
Energy surged wildly around it, condensing into a massive battle axe in its hands.
Dragging its heavy body, it charged straight at him.
Ethan—
Just smiled.
Vmmm!
An Energy Greatsword formed in his grip.
The two clashed head-on.
A shrill, metallic screech tore through the air.
The next instant—
The creature's body jolted violently.
Its battle axe shattered on contact, and Ethan's greatsword didn't even slow down—it carved straight into the creature's shoulder.
Then the full force detonated.
The monster was cleaved clean in two.
Even then—
It didn't die right away.
Its mangled body writhed, eyes locked on Ethan with venomous hatred.
"You thieves…" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
"You rely on this place's power… but one day, it'll devour you too…"
Ethan didn't bother listening.
The Energy Greatsword came down again.
And ended it.
Silence returned to the cavern.
Ethan turned back toward the golden sea.
He was still weighing the possibility—could he take this entire world with him?
But then—
The surface of the liquid began to ripple.
Blup.
Blup.
A soft, pure light rose slowly from the depths of the golden ocean.
It was a translucent, radiant orb.
The moment it appeared—
Idra emerged from within Ethan's body, almost instinctively.
"Master!"
Her voice trembled with excitement as she gently cradled the orb in her hands.
"This… this is pure Dragon God essence."
"May I… have it?"
Ethan looked at her and nodded without hesitation.
"You can."
"But absorb it here."
"Taking it outside would be too dangerous."
Idra nodded obediently.
She closed her eyes and began channeling the power within the orb.
The next moment—
The golden liquid around them seemed to respond to an unseen call, surging toward her in a frenzy.
Vmmm—
Vmmm—
Vmmm—
The aura of the Dragon God erupted outward.
Blinding golden light swallowed the entire cavern.
Idra's small frame began to shift within the glow—growing, reshaping.
Her presence surged.
Bloodline resonance kicked in.
Her racial traits began breaking through their limits—again and again.
Once.
Twice.
More than ten times.
Evolution—
Still ongoing.
"…She's evolving?"
Ethan forgot to breathe for a moment.
He stared at Idra, eyes wide with disbelief.
In his understanding, the Dragon God form was already the pinnacle of dragonkind.
A being that stood at the apex of countless worlds.
But now—
That ceiling was being shattered.
Just then, another familiar figure slowly emerged from within him.
Auri.
She hovered in midair, brow slightly furrowed as she gazed at the churning golden sea.
"This power… doesn't fully resonate with me," she said softly.
But in the next breath, her eyes sharpened.
"Still, it's too pure."
"For a Fairy God, it's rare nourishment."
Without another word, she flashed forward and dove straight into the golden liquid.
Vmmm—
Two completely different, yet strangely harmonious auras spread through the cavern.
The majesty of the Dragon God.
The grace of the Fairy God.
Power surged like a rising tide.
Idra and Auri's energy climbed at a pace visible to the naked eye.
No hesitation.
No resistance.
As if they'd been waiting for this moment all along.
It didn't take long—
Before both of their auras reached the very edge of Tier 29's peak.
And then—
Ethan's body jolted.
He felt it clearly—an unfamiliar yet deeply familiar force awakening inside him.
It wasn't external energy.
It was—
Resonance.
Over time, his power had become deeply intertwined with Idra's and Auri's.
Their bloodlines, their souls—bound together in a rare, closed-loop cycle.
So when the two girls broke through their limits—
The shockwave didn't stop with them.
It surged back into Ethan without restraint.
His aura began to rise—fast and uncontrollably.
"This is…"
Even Feylora was stunned.
She started to step forward, but Ethan raised a hand sharply to stop her.
"Don't come closer."
His voice was low and urgent.
"Return to Emerald Castle. Now."
"Mobilize the army. Get them here as fast as possible."
Feylora instantly understood the gravity of the situation. She didn't hesitate—she turned and shot out of the cavern.
Meanwhile—
The golden liquid had completely lost its former calm.
It had found a new outlet.
Like a tidal wave, it surged toward Ethan, pouring into him without pause.
Power stacked.
His level pushed toward the threshold.
In mere moments, Ethan had stabilized at mid-stage Tier 29.
And he was still climbing.
Before he could even begin to process the transformation—
Crack.
A sharp, crystalline sound echoed through the cavern.
Like an invisible shackle snapping apart.
BOOM—!!
Two distinct, terrifying auras exploded at once.
Idra and Auri—
Broke through together.
Early-stage Tier 30.
Ethan's pupils contracted sharply.
He'd never imagined—
This moment would come so soon.
What Emerald Castle lacked most… was exactly this level of power.
And now—
Two of them had emerged at once.
If the three of them fused their strength again…
Ethan didn't even dare finish the thought.
RUMBLE—
RUMBLE—
Three forces collided and overlapped within the cavern.
The resonance between their bloodlines surged to an all-time high.
But this time—
There was no forced breakthrough.
Auri and Idra's auras stabilized cleanly at early-stage Tier 30.
Ethan, meanwhile, was pushed right to the peak of Tier 29.
Everything settled into place—perfectly balanced.
Not long after—
The ground outside the cavern began to tremble again.
The Emerald Castle army had arrived.
As they stepped into the space and felt the lingering pressure still hanging in the air, every soldier instinctively held their breath.
No one had expected—
That in such an unremarkable place, a source of power this pure—and this dangerous—had been hidden all along.
