Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 858: The War Machine Has Started to Move

The central plaza of Emerald Castle was packed—steel and light filling every inch of space.

Rows of troops stood in perfect formation, stretching all the way to the far edge of the square.

Every single one of them wore a suit of Powered Combat Armor.

Energy patterns pulsed across the armor surfaces in a spectrum of colors—some glowing with searing crimson, others shimmering in icy blue, and a few flickering with arcs of lightning or veils of shadow.

This was the result of the lab's second wave of upgrades, made possible after acquiring a new batch of advanced metals.

Not only had they achieved true mass production—

Even the original twenty prototype suits had been overhauled, rebuilt with denser alloys and reinforced energy matrices. Their performance had taken a clear leap forward.

They were no longer "experimental units."

They were—

Fully operational war gear, ready for the front lines.

At the center of the plaza, Ethan stood silently.

The Powered Combat Armor on his body shifted continuously, cycling through structural modes.

Shoulder plates expanded, then retracted.

Forearm guards reconfigured.

The propulsion modules flared briefly, then powered down.

With the upgraded materials and energy systems, the armor now supported multi-form adaptability—able to reconfigure on the fly based on combat needs.

What surprised Ethan most—

The lab hadn't just copied a single template.

Instead, they'd customized elemental variants tailored to each individual's abilities.

Fire-channeling enhancements.

Lightning-conductive cores.

Shadow cloaking.

Mental amplification modules…

Almost everyone had found a configuration that matched their fighting style perfectly.

Even the massive goblin battalions had been fully outfitted with base-model production suits.

While those versions leaned heavily toward defense and survivability, they were more than enough to keep the goblins from being mere cannon fodder.

In just a few short days—

Emerald Castle's entire combat system had undergone a complete transformation.

From scattered individual elites—

To a scalable, coordinated military force.

In simulated combat drills, they could now hold their own even against enemies ten times their number and strength.

The war machine had started to move.

In the days that followed—

The lab ran at full capacity.

Mechanoid production lines expanded.

Powered Combat Armor continued to iterate and improve.

The entire castle had shifted into a wartime state, becoming a fortress of steel and fire.

The air buzzed with a taut, electric tension—equal parts urgency and anticipation.

Everyone knew—

The real war could begin at any moment.

And then, it did.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

A series of thunderous impacts rocked the outer defense zone.

High above, countless energy spheres rained down like a meteor shower, slamming into the defensive barrier with brutal force.

The layered energy shields flared violently.

Dozens of defense layers shattered in rapid succession.

Alarms blared across Emerald Castle—

Screaming the same message:

They were under attack.

"They're here."

Ethan looked up.

His gaze was calm—sharp as a blade.

No hesitation.

He launched into the air, leading the charge to seize the high-altitude battlefront.

As the final layer of the defensive barrier began to collapse, he raised his hand and gave the order.

"All units—advance!"

The defense line opened on command.

Emerald Castle's forces surged outward, charging straight through the breach.

They weren't here for a drawn-out slugfest.

Their goal was simple—

Crush the enemy before they could fully deploy.

The Powered Combat Armor's mobility and burst power gave them a narrow window.

And they were going to use it.

On the other side—

Within the Narlost vanguard formation, Arkhadon stood at the front.

The memory of his last defeat still burned in his mind.

The rage hadn't cooled.

This time, he would erase that shame with his own hands.

But just as he finished locking in the formation—

The sky ahead exploded with light and motion.

Emerald Castle's army came pouring in like a dam had burst.

No probing.

No hesitation.

Every soldier charged forward with a speed that bordered on suicidal resolve.

In that instant—

Arkhadon's pupils contracted.

This wasn't a normal army.

This was—

Combat will, compressed to its absolute limit.

For the first time, he realized—

They never intended to give him time to set up.

But retreat wasn't an option.

Not with Aurelkar watching from high above, his gaze cold and unblinking.

This was a war they could not afford to lose.

Arkhadon suddenly raised his hand.

The destructive energy inside him compressed in an instant, forming a massive energy sphere high above.

This wasn't just an attack.

It was a battlefield-level annihilation node—

Capable of wiping out an entire frontline.

"Fall."

His voice was low and sharp.

The energy sphere dropped like a meteor, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, aimed straight at the oncoming vanguard.

But—

At that exact moment—

One figure at the front suddenly accelerated.

The propulsion module on his Powered Combat Armor flared violently, leaving behind a streak of afterimage too fast to track.

The energy sphere missed him by inches, slamming into the ground behind and detonating in a massive shockwave.

Air blasted outward in a roaring wave—

But it didn't even graze the edge of that figure's silhouette.

And in the next instant—

He was already in front of Arkhadon.

Distance: less than thirty feet.

"What?!"

Arkhadon's eyes went wide.

Before he could even raise a defense—

The punch landed.

THUD!

The impact sounded like it struck the air itself.

A brutal shockwave exploded outward.

Arkhadon was sent flying, his body hurled backward like a ragdoll. He tumbled dozens of feet before barely managing to stabilize himself.

No visible wounds.

But inside—

His blood surged, his energy flow disrupted for a split second.

A dangerous sign.

"This… this isn't possible…"

He stared at the rapidly advancing figures, disbelief etched across his face.

"What did you do? How could you have powered up this much in such a short time?!"

Anger and unease twisted in his chest.

With a snarl, Arkhadon drew the weapon at his waist.

A massive battle axe—its structure intricate, its blade and haft embedded with multiple energy gems.

Each gem lit up at once, resonating in perfect sync.

In the next breath—

He swung.

The axe tore through the sky, ripping open a pitch-black rift.

Space itself fractured, revealing a chaotic, unstable layer beneath.

But—

The rift lasted less than a second.

A heavier, more stable spatial force surged in and crushed it shut.

The tear sealed.

As if it had never existed.