Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 163: Rescue the survivors!

"A whole swarm of Tier 12 Venomspike Manticores and Tier 11 Manticores?!"

Balthazar’s pupils contracted sharply as he battled Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor. His expression darkened instantly.

"Vorrak, what the hell are you doing?!"

"What am I doing? Heh, isn’t it obvious?" Vorrak, the Venomspike Manticore, bared his fangs in a twisted grin and shouted, "Balthazar, your Behemoth clan can go ahead and prepare to die!"

"Everyone—attack!"

"Kill them all!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!

In an instant, hundreds of Tier 11 Manticores and Tier 12 Venomspike Manticores surged into the battlefield!

Sure, they weren’t individually strong—each Tier 13 Behemoth could only be taken down by twenty to thirty Tier 11 Manticores, or six to seven Tier 12 Venomspike Manticores working together.

Any fewer than that?

Sorry, they’d probably just get torn apart by a rampaging Behemoth in a brutal counterattack.

But the problem was—there were just too damn many of them!

Vorrak had brought nearly two hundred Tier 11 Manticores and close to seventy Tier 12 Venomspike Manticores.

In other words, just his forces alone were enough to go toe-to-toe with over twenty Tier 13 Legendary Units—Behemoths!

And that’s not even counting Vorrak himself.

Or the Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor and the rest of the Nine-Headed Hydra bloodline he commanded.

Together, their combined power was more than enough to tip the scales of battle completely.

BOOOOM!

Sure enough, the moment Vorrak’s army joined the fray, the Behemoth clan—who had been dominating just moments ago—was suddenly forced onto the defensive, their formation shrinking rapidly under the pressure.

And even then, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide back in their favor.

As the battle dragged on, the Behemoth numbers began to dwindle.

Even the mighty Tier 14 Mythic Units—the Ancient Behemoths—had started to fall, one after another.

Whoosh!

Seeing this, one of the older-looking Ancient Behemoths—a grizzled, battle-worn warrior—rushed up to Balthazar, his voice tight with urgency.

"Chieftain! We can’t keep going like this!"

"We have to break out! If we don’t, we’re all going to die here!"

Balthazar’s face tensed, but he still held firm. "The Behemoth clan does not fear death!"

"But is dying here, for nothing, really what you want? Don’t you want to avenge our fallen brothers and sisters?"

The old Ancient Behemoth’s voice cracked with grief and desperation. "Chieftain, listen to me—go! I’ll hold them off. There’s still time. But if you wait any longer, no one’s getting out of here alive!"

"But..." Balthazar hesitated.

The Behemoths didn’t fear death. They welcomed it.

That was their pride.

Their creed.

And now, his people were asking him to abandon that creed—to retreat from battle?

Honestly...

He wasn’t sure he could do it.

"Chieftain, you have to go. Us old-timers, we’re already living on borrowed time. But you... you’re different. You’re the future of our clan. You’re the hope for vengeance. The blood of our kin can’t be spilled for nothing. Their deaths have to mean something. You must live to avenge them!"

"Go!" another raspy voice called out.

Balthazar turned his head and saw a badly wounded Tier 13 elder Behemoth, barely standing.

His eyes instantly reddened. His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his whole body trembling.

He quickly scanned the battlefield—

And what he saw made his heart twist in agony and rage.

Under the combined assault of Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor and Venomspike Manticore Vorrak’s forces, less than half of their clan remained...

If this kept up—

They were staring extinction in the face.

Balthazar’s whole body shook. He gritted his teeth so hard it felt like they might crack. "All young warriors, rally to me! We’re breaking out! As for the elders..."

"Chieftain, say no more! You go—we’ll hold them off!"

"Hahaha! These old bones have seen enough! Go, little ones! Get stronger! Avenge us!"

"If I take one down with me, it’s worth it! If I take two, that’s a damn bargain! Let’s go! Kill them all!"

One by one, the elder Behemoths and Ancient Behemoths burst into wild laughter, their eyes glowing blood-red with fury.

Without hesitation, they charged headlong into the enemy ranks—mad, fearless, and ready to die.

At the same time, the younger Behemoths were overwhelmed with emotion, their eyes brimming with tears, unwilling to leave.

But Balthazar didn’t give them a choice.

He barked the order to break out—no arguments allowed.

If the young blood of the Behemoth clan didn’t make it out alive,

Then the elders’ sacrifice would’ve been for nothing.

They couldn’t let that happen.

They had to survive—

To carry the fire of vengeance forward.

"Break through!" Balthazar roared, leading the last of the young warriors in a desperate charge to escape the encirclement.

Meanwhile, the elder Behemoths threw themselves into the fray, using their massive bodies to build a wall of blood and flesh—a final, unbreakable line of defense to hold back the Hydra and Venomspike Manticore armies.

"Damn it! A bunch of dying fools clinging to life!" Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor snarled, his monstrous face twisted with fury. He lunged forward, ready to chase down the fleeing Behemoths himself—

But Vorrak stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Vorrak, what the hell are you doing?!" Thal’Zor growled, his voice low and dangerous.

"I’ve already sent scouts to tail them. Don’t worry—they won’t get far," Vorrak said coldly, his face splattered with blood. "Right now, we finish off the ones still standing. Leave no survivors. No loose ends."

Thal’Zor’s eighteen eyes flared with icy light, murderous intent flashing in every one of them.

But in the end, he didn’t argue.

Instead, he turned and dove back into the slaughter, tearing into the remaining Behemoths with savage fury.

Blood sprayed.

The massacre raged on.

Cold. Brutal. Unrelenting.

...

At that same moment, Ethan and his team finally arrived at the outskirts of the Behemoth Lair in the heart of the Fury Wasteland.

[Mission Alert: S+ Special Operation – The Fall of Behemoth Lair. The final battle has begun! Immediate support required. Eliminate designated enemy units. Failure to meet the kill quota or exceed the time limit will result in mission failure.]

[Enemy Unit: Tier-13 Hydra – Quantity: 31. Minimum kills required: 10. Time limit: 3 hours.]

[Enemy Unit: Tier-14 Chaos Hydra – Quantity: 7. Minimum kills required: 2. Time limit: 3 hours.]

[Enemy Unit: Tier-11 Manticore – Quantity: 112. Minimum kills required: 20. Time limit: 3 hours.]

[Enemy Unit: Tier-12 Venomspike Manticore – Quantity: 41. Minimum kills required: 10. Time limit: 3 hours.]

[Mission timer started. Remaining time: 2 hours 59 minutes.]

The barrage of mission prompts hit all at once.

Ethan froze for a second—then his expression darkened.

Seven Tier-14 Mythic units. Over thirty Tier-13 Legendary units. More than forty Tier-12 Royal units. And over a hundred Tier-11 Royal units. No exaggeration—just hearing those numbers was enough to make his chest tighten.

The pressure was crushing.

Thankfully, the mission didn’t require wiping them all out—just hitting the minimum kill counts.

That made it a little more manageable.

But only three hours?

Was that really enough time?

"What the hell is that?" Seraphina’s voice suddenly cut in, sharp and tense. Her pupils contracted as she stared ahead. "Balthazar?!"

"Seraphina?" came a voice, hoarse and shocked.

A thunderous crash followed.

A massive platinum beast, drenched in blood, staggered into view before Ethan and the others.

It was Balthazar—the Chieftain of the Behemoths.

And he wasn’t alone. Behind him were just over ten Tier-13 Legendary Behemoths, and two Tier-14 Mythic-class Ancient Behemoths.

But they were in terrible shape.

Wounded all over, blood soaking their fur and armor, their condition was nothing short of horrifying.

"Lord of Emerald Castle," Balthazar rasped, forcing a grim smile through the pain, "you need to get out of here. Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor and Venomspike Manticore Vorrak joined forces and overran our lair. If they catch up to us, we’re all dead."

"The Behemoth Lair... has fallen?" Balthazar’s words hit like a hammer.

Seraphina and Cicero both stiffened, their faces turning grim.

"You want to go back?" Ethan suddenly asked, his voice calm but intense.

"What... what did you say?" Balthazar stared at him, stunned.

"I said—do you want to go back? Save your people. Avenge them."

Ethan stepped past Balthazar, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the battered remnants of the Behemoth clan, surrounded and on the brink of annihilation.

"There’s still time. Eighty percent of Emerald Castle’s forces are already here. If we move now—we can win."

"Y-You’re serious?!" Balthazar’s voice trembled.

Then, with a sharp breath, he clenched his jaw and nodded hard. "Lord of Emerald Castle... I’m counting on you."

"I... I want to go back. I want to save them. I want revenge!"

"Everyone, listen to my command!" Ethan’s voice rang out, sharp and resolute.

"Yes, sir!"

"Awaiting your orders, Master!"

"At your service, my Lord!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, Cicero, Seraphina, Lilith, Elyra, and Elynn—Emerald Castle’s five elite unit heroes—stepped forward in unison, their eyes blazing with determination. They were ready for war.

"All forces of Emerald Castle," Ethan declared, "are now under Seraphina’s command!"

"And just like before, Elynn is the overall commander for this battle. Everyone follows her lead. Understood?"

"Yes!"

"Understood, Master!"

Cicero, Seraphina, and the others nodded without hesitation.

"Then let’s move out," Ethan said with a firm nod.

"We’re on it, Master!" Seraphina growled, barely able to contain herself. Her dragon breath was already seething between her teeth, and the Draconic Force within her surged wildly, on the verge of erupting.

"What’s the plan, Elynn?" she asked, her voice tight with anticipation.

"First priority—rescue the survivors!" Elynn replied without missing a beat. Her mind was already racing through tactical options.

"Chieftain Balthazar, you take Chaos Hydra Thal’Zor. Lilith, you’re on Venomspike Manticore Vorrak."

"Everyone else, engage freely. Hit hard, hit fast—break their lines and minimize our casualties. Princess Elyra, hold back for now. Once the Behemoth survivors are safe, then you go all in."

Truth be told, their side had a massive advantage in raw power.

Not just a little stronger—a lot stronger.

The only real constraint was the need to rescue the Behemoth survivors first.

So there was no need for fancy tactics or drawn-out maneuvers.

Rescue first. Then crush them head-on.

"Understood!" Balthazar nodded immediately, his bloodied form straightening with renewed purpose.

The Behemoths behind him nodded too, their eyes burning with resolve. They knew exactly what needed to be done.

At the same time, Ethan turned to look at Seraphina and the others, his voice calm but commanding.

"Go, my heroes. And my army—bring me victory."

"As you wish, great Master!"

"Rest assured, my Lord—victory will be ours!"

...