Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Eldran stood motionless at the center of the holy light.

Was he truly unable to move, or did he simply not want to?

The answer came soon enough.

Eldran bent his knees and leaped against the crushing force from above. Bloodred threads rapidly intertwined in his hand, forming a spear. The eyes beneath his armor were already empty, but there was no hesitation in his movements.

He thrust the spear upward, meeting the descending holy light head-on.

Golden and bloodred power collided in midair. The impact shredded every thread stair nearby, and Eldran vanished completely inside the column of light.

Yet heavy impacts continued to come from deep within the beam.

Thud.

Thud.

Each one marked another collision between the bloodred spear and the holy light. Then came the crazed laughter, leaving no doubt among those below that Eldran was still fighting back.

Deep within the cloud of yellow sand, a sudden chill ran down Ethan’s back as he dove.

The danger was behind him.

Without even turning his head, he detonated the energy sphere in his arms. White energy erupted inside the dust cloud, throwing up even more sand and propelling him forward.

A golden figure tore through the aftermath of the blast and appeared behind him.

Valric.

He stared coldly at Ethan from close range, holding the sword covered in fleshy growths. Its blade was already raised, poised to stab into Ethan’s back.

Alarm flashed through Ethan’s eyes.

Valric had clearly been below him just moments ago.

But there was no time to figure out how he had gotten behind him. Ethan immediately formed an energy sphere in his hand, intending to drive it into his own body, but the sword was already too close. He couldn’t complete his transformation into black particles in time.

All he could do was hold the energy sphere against his chest.

Instead of stabbing Ethan directly, Valric threw his sword toward a nearby strand. The thread wrapped around the hilt and pulled the blade into a different angle. At the same time, Valric pressed his free hand downward, sending golden power crashing through the curtain of sand.

Ethan’s body touched the energy sphere against his chest.

Black particles spread from the point of contact. He completed the transformation just before the attack landed, vanishing from Valric’s sight. The sword and the force of Valric’s palm passed through the space where he had been, scattering only a patch of falling black particles.

Valric paused.

He looked down at the empty sand, then raised a hand and recalled his sword. Without the slightest hesitation, he swept the blade through his own arm, severing the limb Ethan had controlled.

The arm fell toward the ground.

A mass of bloodred threads erupted from the wound and shot in every direction. The air cracked repeatedly in their wake, and the shockwaves swiftly cleared the dust covering the battlefield.

Once visibility returned, Ethan was still nowhere to be seen.

Valric waited for a moment, then turned and headed toward Eldran.

Ethan didn’t immediately emerge from his dispersed state.

He kept his body scattered and rested a safe distance from Valric while replaying what had just happened.

Valric had been knocked toward the ground, yet somehow attacked him from behind.

It wasn’t Valric’s body that had escaped his control.

The sword was what had changed position.

Only then did Ethan remember that he had forgotten about Valric’s sword in the middle of his relentless assault. The energy-severing weapon had remained suspended near the battlefield, and Valric had clearly used it and his threads to counterattack.

He’d gotten too caught up in the fight.

Ethan straightened, only to feel the emptiness inside him. Maintaining his Domain, particle form, and energy control in rapid succession had consumed most of his power.

He shook his head helplessly, re-formed his body, and emerged from the black particles.

The battle above the Bingling Mine was still raging.

Eldran had already broken free of the holy light. Large scorch marks covered his armor, but his body remained intact. The bloodred spear in his hand unraveled into threads, spiraled around him several times, then assembled itself once more.

The spearhead slowly lowered toward the people on the ground.

Valric arrived at that moment.

He stopped before Eldran, his floating sword resting beside his shoulder. Then Valric dropped to one knee. A low voice emerged from inside his armor, carrying a force that struck directly at the mind. Even those below stopped breathing for a beat.

"My king, they entered our land without permission. Shall they die?"

Eldran looked down at the kneeling Valric.

Bloodred light flickered in his eyes.

He extended his spear over Valric’s shoulder and pointed it at the people below.

"Kill them!"

The instant the order was given, Valric looked up.

The viciousness in his eyes was now fully exposed. The sword beside him shot toward the ground first, its edge tearing through the air as bloodred threads trailed behind it. Valric followed close behind, spreading his wings and accelerating into a dive.

With the situation on the main battlefield deteriorating, Andona and Seraphina had already returned to Emerald Castle’s forces. They were now commanding the soldiers against the transformed Immortal Kingdom army.

The others here had been waiting impatiently for their turn.

Ataneya was the first to meet Valric.

All twenty-four fox tails spread behind her, their tips sweeping over the ground and raising a massive wave of sand. Then every tail lifted at once and lunged at the descending Valric from a different direction.

Each carried tremendous force, leaving visible ripples in the air. The tails sealed off every direction around him, leaving no path of escape.

Valric didn’t slow down.

He caught the returning sword and slashed with all his strength at the fox tail coming straight at him.

The instant the blade struck the first tail, Valric’s arm bent backward. Before he could exert his strength again, a second tail struck him from the side and sent him flying.

The rest followed.

Several wrapped around Valric’s arms and legs, while others bound his waist, torso, and wings. Ataneya drove her arm downward, and all twenty-four tails tightened at once, smashing Valric out of the air and into the ground.

Boom!

Yellow sand erupted outward as a massive crater collapsed around the point of impact.

Ataneya didn’t relax after landing the blow.

Infernal energy had already gathered in her palm, its blazing light turning her fingers dark red. She raised her hand and sent the fireball into the air. The Infernal Fireball had started no larger than a fist, but it swelled rapidly as it rose, soon covering a vast stretch of sky above the crater.

Flames churned as the air distorted around them.

Then the enormous Infernal Fireball came crashing down toward Valric at the bottom of the crater.

Even with all twenty-four fox tails binding him, Valric showed no sign of panic. There was even contempt in his eyes.

He made no attempt to break free.

His fingers released the sword one by one, letting it fall from his hand. Before it had dropped even two feet, bloodred threads extended from the hilt, supporting it and changing its trajectory toward the descending Infernal Fireball.

At the same time, more threads poured from inside Valric’s armor and raced along the fox tails binding him. Their tips pulled taut like needles and repeatedly stabbed into the soft fur.

Ataneya’s body trembled.

Stabbing pain shot through every tail as the threads continued sawing through the flesh around each wound. Instinct urged her to pull them back, but when she saw the Infernal Fireball closing in on Valric, her fingers tightened again.

She chose to trust her attack.

Valric’s sword flew directly beneath the fireball and stopped with its point aimed upward.

The entire sword split lengthwise.

Countless sharp fragments arranged themselves into a straight line in the air. Bloodred threads wove between them, connecting every piece into a single formation.

The blade formation slashed upward.

A narrow streak of sword light split the sky. The impact swept the nearby clouds apart, leaving a vast cloudless strip overhead. The outer layer of the Infernal Fireball was also cleaved through the center, its churning flames separating along the cut and spilling to either side.

There was no explosion.

As the fireball’s outer layer dispersed, the core hidden inside was revealed.

It was a mass of highly compressed Infernal energy, far smaller than the outer fireball but much darker in color. The surrounding flames contracted toward it, and the intense heat distorted the air along its path.

The core had been completely unaffected by the blade formation. It continued hurtling toward Valric at high speed.

The fragmented sword stopped to one side and made no further attempt to block it.

Still restrained by the tails, Valric looked up at the core, and his smile deepened. Before the Infernal Fireball even made contact, his outer armor began to glow red. The flesh on his shoulders and face gradually melted under the heat.

Simply getting close had already caused this much damage.

There was no telling how much force the core would unleash if it struck him directly.

But while everyone’s attention was fixed on Valric and the Infernal Fireball, someone else was approaching the battlefield.