Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 193: The Vanguard

In truth, the pressure Marquis Lucan was facing right now? That was just the appetizer.

The real nightmare—the full force of the Dungeon army—hadn’t even made its move yet.

Once that endless horde came pouring out of the Dungeons and joined forces with the Inferno faction, that’s when the real horror would begin. Death, destruction, chaos... the whole world would be swallowed in darkness.

Chances are, the higher-ups in the Light Alliance already knew what was coming.

Marquis Lucan? He just didn’t have the clearance to be in the loop.

Ethan didn’t bother with small talk. He got straight to the point. "Marquis Lucan, I’ll be blunt. I’m here because I need to borrow a ship. One that can sail out to sea."

After a lot of careful research, they’d finally pinpointed the locations hinted at in the two orange-tier tomes he had. Both were somewhere in the Five Sea Kingdoms, located in the Second Sea Region.

In the world of Glory Lords X, there were seven major sea regions in total.

And the seas? They were massive—about five times the size of the land territories.

Three of those sea regions were considered forbidden zones.

They were filled with apocalyptic threats—natural disasters, mysterious forces, and endless waves of wild sea units. No exaggeration: even Mythic Units risked death just stepping into those waters.

At the very least, you’d need a Crimson Ultimate Hero—someone who’d undergone a second awakening—to escort you the whole way just to have a shot at surviving.

And just to be clear, we’re talking about fully awakened Crimson Ultimate Heroes. If they hadn’t hit that second awakening? Even they’d be in serious danger in those forbidden seas.

That’s why those three sea regions were infamous across the main world of Glory Lords X—no man’s land, completely off the map. Nobody in their right mind would go there unless they had a death wish.

Thankfully, the Second Sea Region wasn’t one of those forbidden zones.

If it had been, Ethan’s whole seafaring plan would’ve been delayed for who knows how long.

The Second Sea Region, also known as the Greenwave Sea, was the domain of a maritime superpower—the Greenwave Empire.

The Greenwave Empire controlled a little over three-fifths of the Greenwave Sea.

Another fifth belonged to a rival sea power.

And the remaining slice—less than a fifth—was home to the Five Sea Kingdoms.

Those five kingdoms were Storm, Gemspire, Thundervale, Umagral, and Blazeblade.

They were considered standard nations, but still way stronger than the Unicorn Duchy. Each one was probably on par with three, maybe even four of the Sylvanwood Kingdoms of the Elementals.

For comparison, the Unicorn Duchy’s overall strength was about equal to two or three of those elemental kingdoms.

Generally speaking, land-based nations just couldn’t compete with their oceanic counterparts in terms of raw power.

Why?

Because developing on the sea was way harder than on land.

The ocean was vast—easily covering seventy to eighty percent of the world. That made both offense and defense a logistical nightmare.

It was a built-in disadvantage.

And the sea? It was full of danger.

Monsters. Mutated deep-sea beasts. Ghost Ships formed from the souls of fallen warriors. Cataclysmic natural disasters. You name it.

All of it spelled one thing: terror.

For a sea kingdom to survive, it had to be strong—stronger than any land nation of the same size.

That’s why, pound for pound, sea nations always outclassed their land-based counterparts.

But the ocean isn’t without its perks.

In fact, its advantages are so tempting, so irresistible, that people have been throwing themselves at it for generations.

The sea holds resources—tons of them. At least ten times more than what you’d find on land.

Especially in the treacherous depths of the deep sea, where Major Gold Mines, the six core resource nodes, and even rare special resource points are practically everywhere.

No exaggeration—any one of the seven sea regions, aside from the forbidden zones, has enough marine resources to fuel the military growth of two, maybe even three superpower nations.

And the forbidden zones? Their resources are even more insane.

"Borrow a ship?" Marquis Lucan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke. "Count Valkarion, you’re heading out to sea? Where to?"

Borrowing a ship wasn’t a casual request.

Ships generally fell into two categories: civilian vessels and warships.

If Ethan were just asking for a civilian ship, that’d be one thing. But a noble of the Light Alliance, a count no less, coming in person to ask for a ship? Yeah, this wasn’t about some fishing boat.

And if he was talking about a warship...

Then things got complicated.

Even the lowest-tier warship—a Tier 1—was worth as much as a Legendary Unit. And the Lucan family? The best they had were Tier 2 warships. Nothing higher.

"I’m planning to head to the Second Sea Region," Ethan said plainly. "To the Storm Kingdom in the Greenwave Sea."

"One of the Five Sea Kingdoms?" Lucan blinked, then shook his head. "Sorry, Count Valkarion. I can’t help you with that."

"Why not?" Ethan frowned, caught off guard.

"To reach the Greenwave Sea from here, you’d have to sail southeast, crossing two of the Five Sea Kingdoms and two secondary sea regions just to get there."

"And at the speed of a Tier 1 warship, that trip would take at least a year."

Lucan looked at Ethan, his eyes gleaming with a hint of concern.

"And frankly, a Tier 1 warship can’t handle a voyage that long. It just doesn’t have the endurance."

"What about a Tier 2 warship?" Ethan asked, frowning.

"Tier 2 warships are the backbone of our Unicorn Duchy’s military," Marquis Lucan replied seriously. "There are only three in the entire nation..."

He paused, then turned to Ethan with an apologetic look. "Count Valkarion, you know as well as I do—the sea has always been our weak spot. Right now, we’re barely holding the line with just those three Tier 2 ships. Without them, we’d be in serious trouble. So I hope you understand... a Tier 2 warship is just not possible. I’m sorry."

"Not even a little wiggle room?" Ethan pressed, his brow furrowed deeper.

"Unless you can get Grand Duke Theodore himself to sign off on it... there’s really nothing I can do," Lucan said, spreading his hands helplessly.

Ethan fell silent.

He wasn’t stupid. The way Lucan was putting it, this was clearly a dead end.

"Damn... am I really gonna have to fly the whole way?" Ethan muttered under his breath with a sigh.

He’d wanted a ship mainly to make the journey a bit more comfortable. Sure, flying the whole way was doable—but it’d be exhausting.

Flying was tiring. Sitting on a ship was tiring too, but at least it was a different kind of tired.

"Count Valkarion, if you’re dead set on going to the Storm Kingdom, I can at least give you a Tier 1 warship," Lucan offered. "Head southeast—you’ll cross into the territory of the Flame Star Kingdom."

"Once you’re there, you can buy another Tier 1 ship. That should be enough to get you across to the Greenwave Sea." He paused, then added, "Over in Greenwave, ships are way more accessible than here. As long as you’re not looking for anything above Tier 3, you should be able to get your hands on either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 warship through the right channels."

"And if you manage to snag a Tier 2 ship over there, your return trip will be a hell of a lot easier."

"Looks like that’s my only option," Ethan said with a resigned smile. "Marquis Lucan, how much for the Tier 1 ship? I’ll buy it."

"No need—" Lucan started to say.

But Ethan cut him off with a shake of his head. "Marquis Lucan, you’ve already done more than enough by being this upfront with me. Fair is fair. If I’m taking the ship, I’m paying for it."

"...Alright then," Lucan nodded slowly. "I’ll give it to you at cost—ten million credits."

"Ten million..." Ethan’s expression didn’t change, but inside, he was a little stunned.

So that’s how expensive these ships were—even at cost?

If that was the base price, then the market price must be on par with, or even higher than, Legendary Units.

No wonder Lucan shut down the Tier 2 request without even blinking.

Once something reaches a certain level of value, money alone isn’t enough to buy it.

Like these warships—they weren’t just assets. They were national military resources. Not for sale.

Honestly, if he weren’t carrying the title of Count under the Light Alliance, he had a feeling Lucan wouldn’t even be willing to part with a Tier 1 ship.

"Alright, sounds good..." Ethan nodded.

"Count Valkarion, let me take you to have a look first," Marquis Lucan said as he stood up. "Besides the Tier 1 warship that’s currently out at sea, we’ve got seven or eight more docked in the shipyard. Take your pick—whichever one you like, it’s yours. I can even let you test it out."

"Thanks," Ethan replied, fully aware that Lucan was rolling out the red carpet for him.

No regular buyer would ever get this kind of treatment—browsing warships like they were shopping for shoes? Not a chance.

"Oh, don’t mention it," Lucan said with a smile. "The shipyard’s on the eastern coast. It’ll take most of the day to get there. Do you want to head out now, or rest up and go tomorrow?"

"Let’s go now," Ethan said. He didn’t want to waste any more time.

"Alright then." Lucan nodded and stepped outside.

Moments later, two Angels—Legendary Units, Tier 13—descended from the sky and landed gracefully in front of them, bowing slightly to Lucan.

"Count Valkarion, let’s have the Angels take us," Lucan said, turning to Ethan. "They’re a bit faster than the War Unicorns."

"Sure," Ethan nodded, then glanced back at Cicero and Auremax, giving them a subtle signal.

With that, he recalled them into his system space.

Truth be told, if it came down to speed, both Cicero and Auremax could leave these Tier 13 Angels in the dust without breaking a sweat.

But Lucan meant well, and there was no need to embarrass him. Everyone was being polite—no point in flexing. frёeωebɳovel.com

A slower ride was fine.

...

Southeastern waters of the Unicorn Duchy.

A sleek warship with a metallic sheen floated silently on the sea.

At the bow of the ship, two figures stood side by side.

It was Ethan and Marquis Lucan.

"So, what do you think, Count Valkarion? Satisfied with The Vanguard?" Lucan asked with a grin. "To be honest, out of the dozen or so Tier 1 warships I have, this one’s hands down the best."

"It’s definitely impressive," Ethan said, nodding.

Ships generally fell into a few categories—civilian sailboats, various types of magical or metal warships, and then the epic-class sea fortresses, which were basically floating monsters.

Warships themselves were ranked from Tier 1 to Tier 5—Tier 1 being the lowest, Tier 5 the highest. The Vanguard might only be a Tier 1, but it was worlds apart from any civilian vessel.

It was loaded with magical systems, armed to the teeth with naval weaponry... Honestly, out at sea, a Tier 1 warship like this could easily rival the power of several Legendary Units combined.

Thinking that, Ethan pulled up The Vanguard’s detailed specs for another look.