Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 208: Bit of a letdown…

In the very next moment, chaos erupted among Darek and Seyric’s forces!

Especially those unit heroes who had already charged into the battlefield, leading their squads in brutal combat—they were now both shocked and furious! Eyes wide with rage, they glared daggers at Ethan and Cicero, looking like they wanted to tear them apart on the spot.

Meanwhile, up on the walls of Coral Fortress, the people of the Stellamaris Kingdom were completely stunned.

Mouths agape, they stood frozen in disbelief.

It was like their brains had just short-circuited.

"W-What the hell is that...?" the Queen of Stellamaris muttered under her breath, her voice trembling with a mix of awe and confusion as she stared at Ethan in the distance. Her heart was a whirlwind of excitement and uncertainty.

From her perspective, having someone from the enemy side suddenly switch sides mid-battle was obviously a huge win.

But the problem was—Ethan’s power was terrifying. And with no way to guess what he was really thinking, this wasn’t a pleasant surprise—it was a terrifying one.

Fear had a way of swallowing everything else.

"Come on out!"

At that moment, Ethan raised his hand and summoned the full force of his army.

Over a hundred Tier-10 Thunderbirds burst into the sky, followed by nearly forty mixed units of Tier-11 and Tier-12—War Unicorns, Psychic Elementals, Magic Elementals, Wyvern Monarchs, and more...

And then, two colossal Tier-13 Legendary Units—Kirin!

"Cicero, Auremax—this battle’s yours now. Go all in," Ethan said, his voice low and commanding. "If you can, don’t let a single one of them get away."

"Understood!"

"At your service, my lord!"

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

Cicero and Auremax nodded without hesitation, unleashing deafening roars as they spread their wings and launched into the sky. In a flash, they dove into the battlefield, tearing into Darek and Seyric’s pirate army and the Inferno Devils like a pair of divine reapers.

Compared to earlier, Darek and Seyric’s forces had already lost at least a quarter of their troops.

And with Darek, Seyric, and the Tideborn Spirit Sevrin having "exited early," their overall strength had taken a massive hit.

The balance of power had shifted—no, it had been completely overturned. The outcome of the battle was now all but certain. And don’t forget—Ethan still had Draven’s forces at his command.

Three Tier-13 Kirin, twenty Tier-12 Naga Swordmasters, fifty Tier-11 Naga Swordsmen...

All placed under Cicero’s command, benefiting from massive all-stat boosts.

Add that to the enemy’s losses, and the result was a one-sided slaughter. They were steamrolling what was left of the pirate army.

Back on the walls of Coral Fortress, the Stellamaris Kingdom’s soldiers were in total shock.

Their faces were blank, their minds reeling. It was like they couldn’t even process what they were seeing.

"Your Majesty, should we... do something?"

"...Let’s just wait and see."

Even now, the Queen of Stellamaris didn’t dare make a move.

She quietly ordered her troops to pull back and stay out of it, choosing to observe in silence.

She was playing it safe—waiting to see how things unfolded.

Meanwhile, the tide of battle had been completely taken over.

In just a short span of time, Darek and Seyric’s pirate army was cut down like wheat before a scythe, falling beneath the claws and fury of Cicero and Auremax.

It was a massacre.

Almost total annihilation.

The only downside? The Legendary Inferno Devils and the Mythic Inferno Arch Devils, sensing the tide turning, had bolted the moment things went south.

Slippery as eels, they slipped through the chaos and vanished before anyone could catch them.

In the end, Cicero and Auremax only managed to take down four Legendary Inferno Devils and one Mythic Inferno Arch Devil.

The rest got away.

Just then, a system notification rang in Ethan’s ears.

Ding!

"Congratulations, player Valkarion..."

"You have completed the first stage of the S+ hidden chain quest: ’Awakening of the Kirin’ — Objective: Repel the Pirates. Calculating mission completion..."

Ding! Calculation complete!

"Congratulations, player Valkarion. You achieved a 96% completion rate for the objective ’Repel the Pirates.’ Completion rating: SS Rank! You have earned the following rewards:"

"50 million gold coins. 500 units of each of the six core resources. One random Level 3 Strategic Artifact. Four random Tier-13 Legendary Units, or three specified Tier-13 Legendary Units."

"Would you like to select your rewards now?"

...

"Legendary Units as a reward?" Ethan blinked in surprise, then immediately responded without hesitation. "I’ll take it! I want to specify—Tier-13 Legendary Unit: Kirin!"

Sure, choosing a specific unit meant getting one less than the random option.

But honestly? It was still a win.

Right now, what he lacked most was naval power—units that could dominate the seas.

And the Tier-13 Legendary Unit Kirin? Without a doubt, it was the most cost-effective, well-rounded, and powerful ocean-based Legendary Unit he knew of—aside from a few ultra-rare epic or mythical sea monsters.

More importantly, once you hit a certain number of Legendary Units or higher, their combined strength didn’t just add up—it transformed.

Two Kirin and five Kirin? Totally different beasts.

If you were to measure them by wild unit standards, two Kirin could probably hold their own against three Legendary Angels, Black Dragons, or Inferno Devils.

But five Kirin? Out at sea, they could go toe-to-toe with eight Legendary Angels or Black Dragons—and maybe even come out on top.

That’s the power of scaling—quantity turning into quality.

Ding!

"Player Valkarion has selected the specified unit reward: Tier-13 Legendary Unit Kirin x3. Please wait... Beep—selection complete!"

"Player Valkarion has received: Legendary Unit – Kirin x3. Please check your inventory."

Ding!

"Player Valkarion has used a random Level 3 Strategic Artifact draw... Beep—randomization complete!"

"Congratulations! Player Valkarion has obtained a Level 3 Strategic Artifact: Falconblade!"

Falconblade—Level 3 Strategic Artifact. Grants +60 Attack Points.

"Just a standard Level 3 artifact, huh? Bit of a letdown..."

Ethan shook his head, a little disappointed.

Strategic Artifacts came in tiers too. At the top were the combo artifacts—powerful sets that offered massive, well-rounded boosts. Then came the rare or unique pieces, or components of those combo sets.

And finally...

Artifacts like the Falconblade—"plain, decent, nothing special." Basically, he’d pulled one of the most average items from the pool.

Still, even so—

Having one was better than having none. A Level 3 Strategic Artifact was still a solid win.

Emerald Castle was still seriously lacking in Strategic Artifacts. Aside from Cicero, Seraphina, and himself, most of his heroes had empty gear slots—or were stuck using Level 1 or 2 artifacts just to fill the space.

And those barely made a dent in their stats.

But Level 3? That was a different story.

Level 3 Strategic Artifacts gave stat boosts ranging from 50 to 80 points. That’s huge. Unless you were a Crimson Ultimate hero or a top-tier orange Legendary, you couldn’t just shrug off that kind of power-up.

No one could ignore that kind of boost.

Just then, a voice called out cautiously.

"Honored guest, Her Majesty the Queen of Stellamaris Kingdom extends an invitation for you to visit Coral Fortress."

A purple-ranked Epic hero from Stellamaris Kingdom approached Ethan slowly, keeping a respectful distance.

He stopped well before getting too close, then bowed deeply, clearly trying not to come off as a threat—or worse, get mistaken for one.

...