Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Ethan was just about to lead everyone out and head back up to rearrange the next steps when a low, rumbling boom suddenly rolled from the mottled, cracked wall not far away.

Everyone paused for a beat.

In the next instant, the wall caved inward. Stone and dust blasted outward, and a long, pitch-black figure stepped out from behind it.

Its silhouette looked like a crow standing upright—narrow shoulders, a razor-edged back. Between its arms and its wing-feathers, there was a natural, built-in aggression, like its body had been shaped for killing.

Its eyes were dark to the point of terror. The moment it appeared, the energy in the air began to ring with tiny vibrations.

"Damn you outsiders," the voice was sharp and deep, like stone scraping metal. "Again and again you defile our sacred altar. We Ravenkin have had enough of you. Today, we will tear you into pieces."

The words had barely fallen when violent power detonated out of it.

It didn't spread outward gradually—space itself was shoved upward all at once, as if the entire room had been forced to lift under its pressure.

It lifted its arms slightly. Black-and-dark-red energy twisted together and surged upward, condensing into a massive sphere in midair.

The moment that sphere took shape, loose stones on the floor lifted under the pressure. Even the runes that had just stabilized trembled.

Everyone could tell—if that thing came down, this hall would collapse on the spot.

But right as the energy sphere was about to truly press downward, Feylora stepped forward.

She walked slowly.

So slow it was almost leisurely.

As if the terrifying strike forming above her head wasn't even worth quickening her pace.

She didn't stop until she stood at the very front. Then she raised her palm.

That hand was pale, slender—nothing threatening about it at all. Yet the instant her palm lifted, every rune force in the entire hall shuddered together.

In the next second, the Ravenkin's body went rigid.

Not a pause.

A full lock—pinned in place by an invisible force.

The cruelty in its eyes hadn't even had time to turn into fear when dense, crisp cracking sounds burst from inside its body.

Then—

BOOM!

Its entire body exploded.

Flesh, feathers, and shattered energy sprayed outward. Even the massive sphere that hadn't yet fallen was torn apart with it, collapsing into a chaotic aftershock that broke into countless fine streams of light in midair.

For a moment, the hall was so quiet that even breathing felt out of place.

Everyone's eyes were wide.

They already knew Feylora had changed after absorbing those ancient runes—but nobody had imagined the change would be this outrageous.

That Ravenkin's power hadn't been weak. It had been strong enough to make plenty of people tense on instinct. Yet Feylora had only lifted a hand, and the thing was gone.

But the real change came after.

While everyone was still stunned, more shadows appeared—one after another—from the cracked walls, the half-collapsed arches, and deep inside the dark passages.

Not one or two.

They surfaced in patches.

Black figures stood along wall edges, behind broken pillars, and in higher shadows overhead. Pairs of eyes lit up together, coldly locking onto the group below.

All Ravenkin.

And every single one of them carried a strong aura. In almost the same moment, they pushed the hall's pressure up to a new height.

But this time, they didn't attack immediately.

Those sharp, hostile stares lingered on Feylora for a moment—

Then changed, little by little.

Suspicion. Verification. Confirmation.

The Ravenkin at the front dropped to one knee almost together. Then more figures lowered their bodies, kneeling until one whole side of the hall was filled with them.

"Never thought," one Ravenkin bowed its head, reverence heavy in its voice, "that an outsider could wield our supreme runes. From this moment on, you are our master… and we are your servants."

Feylora clearly froze.

She obviously hadn't expected these guys—who'd been dripping with killing intent a second ago—to drop to their knees and surrender after a single exchange. She instinctively turned back to look at Ethan, her eyes still fogged with a kind of "did that just happen?" confusion.

And Ethan was frozen too.

But his stunned focus was completely different from Feylora's.

He stared at the Ravenkin kneeling in a mass, and heat flared in his chest almost instantly.

Because he could see it more clearly than anyone—these Ravenkin weren't just numerous. Every single one of them carried serious strength.

If he gathered them, this wouldn't be a handful of scattered fighters.

It would be an army.

And right now, what Emerald Castle lacked most was exactly this: a local, immediately usable force that could fill the expedition's combat gap.

They were fighting in the depths of Elysion. Even with a foothold and a passage established, the amount of real manpower they could throw against the native armies was still limited.

If a Ravenkin army joined them directly, the boost would be immediate.

But just as that surge of excitement rose in Ethan's mind, the ground beneath them gave a deeper, stranger sound.

Not the rumble of collapsing walls.

It was like something unimaginably heavy was slowly lifting from far below.

Then the floor split.

A massive fissure tore open between the crowd with a thunderous crack. Dust and rubble rolled aside. In the next instant, a figure—many times taller than a normal person—rose slowly from within.

A Stone Golem.

Its size was absurd. Its shoulders were as wide as walls, its arms and chest built from enormous slabs of rock fitted together.

And what you couldn't ignore were the energy gemstones embedded all over it. Some were deep red, some a rich blue, others carried a heavy metallic sheen.

They pulsed with its breath—bright, dim—turning that gigantic body into something like a war fortress that was actively running.

The moment it surfaced, the entire hall went quiet.

The pressure rolling off it was too violent—violent enough that instinct said it could flip the whole hall with a casual swing.

Even the Ravenkin kneeling to the side fell silent, every gaze snapping to it.

"Who is it?" the Stone Golem's voice was so deep it sounded like the underground itself was speaking. "Who has taken control of the runes here? Could it be… the legendary High Lord has appeared?"

Dead silence.

No one answered right away.

Ethan had already started lifting his power in secret, ready for the Stone Golem to attack at any moment.

With that level of pressure, if it truly moved, nobody on Emerald Castle's side would be able to block it easily.

But Feylora didn't retreat at all.

She didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the Stone Golem's massive arm.

Compared to that stone limb, her hand was so small it was almost nothing.

Yet the instant her palm touched it, every energy gemstone on the Stone Golem that had been faintly vibrating… went still.

Feylora lifted her head, voice clear and steady.

"The runes here are only under my temporary custody," she said softly. "That one… is my master. And the true Overlord of this world."

As she said it, her gaze turned to Ethan.

Almost the moment her words fell, the Stone Golem and the Ravenkin moved together.

They didn't merely bow their heads.

They stepped forward as one, then dropped with a heavy thud, prostrating before Ethan. Foreheads and bodies pressed low, and they began to kowtow—again and again.

The atmosphere in the hall turned instantly, sharply strange.