Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 896: The Moment Everything Moved

Drake's breath hitched—just for a moment.

The energy flowing from that black crystal resonated with a depth and clarity he'd never felt before. Inside him, the chaotic, conflicting forces that had long resisted fusion suddenly began to stir in harmony.

For years, he'd been stuck at the edge of evolution. His mixed bloodlines and clashing energy sources had always repelled each other, preventing him from achieving a true, unified transformation.

But now—for the first time—he saw a path forward.

"Master…" Drake forced down the surge of excitement in his chest and looked up. "How many troops did you bring this time? Emerald Castle's defenses are far stronger than we anticipated. I've already sent two legions… not a single one returned."

The man closed his eyes briefly, as if adjusting his internal resonance with this world's energy. After a moment, he raised his hand.

In his palm, a perfectly stable energy sphere appeared.

Its surface shimmered with intricate spatial patterns—like a miniature world folded in on itself.

"I didn't bring a conventional army," the man said calmly. "But I brought this."

With a subtle shift of his will, the sphere's interior flickered—revealing countless tiny points of light, like a galaxy frozen in amber. But this wasn't just raw energy. It was a compressed spatial construct—an entire army sealed within.

Drake's pupils shrank.

He realized instantly what he was looking at: a mechanized force of staggering scale.

Hundreds of thousands of units, folded and locked in stasis by spatial compression. Once released, they could deploy across a battlefield in seconds.

This wasn't just reinforcements.

This was a dimensional strike—an overwhelming force designed to flip the board in one move.

A long-dormant thrill surged through Drake's chest. Greed. Anticipation. He could already see it—Emerald Castle crushed beneath a tide of steel. Even Phoenix Queen Ignara's fate was starting to take shape in his mind.

"Master…" His voice trembled slightly. "Give me ten days. I'll flatten Emerald Castle completely."

The man didn't answer his fervor. He simply gave Drake a long, unreadable look.

Drake didn't dare linger.

He accepted the energy sphere with reverence, then turned and left the space without another word.

The gears of war had begun to turn.

…

At the same time, Emerald Castle was shifting into high gear.

Every core sector buzzed with movement. The summoning arrays glowed day and night without pause. New units were being awakened, grouped, and trained in waves—nonstop.

The entire city had become a war machine running at full throttle.

Feylora was leading an exploration squad, moving constantly between multiple Plane Worlds in search of new energy sources—anything that could provide Emerald Castle with a long-term, stable supply.

Meanwhile, Ethan had sealed himself inside the main city's Creature Dwellings, tirelessly optimizing summoning structures and mass-producing higher-Tier, more stable goblin combat units.

When he finally paused for a short break, his eyes drifted toward the hall's entrance—and froze.

Phoenix Queen Ignara was standing there.

She wore no crown, no armor. Her long hair hung loose, her face pale and still. In that moment, she didn't look like a queen who once ruled an empire—she looked like a wanderer, a woman who had lost her home.

She'd clearly been standing there for a while.

Even as she watched Ethan working, she hadn't said a word.

"Your injuries haven't fully healed," Ethan said, walking over with a frown. "You shouldn't be moving around."

He pulled a refined energy crystal from his storage space and offered it to her, hoping to ease her weakened state.

But Ignara raised her hand—and slapped the crystal from his palm.

The sharp crack of it shattering echoed through the empty hall.

"You know what I need," she said, lifting her head. Her gaze was calm, but absolute. "Not crystals."

"I need an army."

Her voice dropped, low and steady.

"If you can give me the power to end Drake with my own hands—then from this moment on, everything tied to the Phoenix Empire belongs to Emerald Castle."

She paused. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

And before Ethan could respond, she dropped to one knee.

"No," Ignara said, her voice unnervingly composed. "The Phoenix Empire no longer exists."

"Everything I command… is now yours."

Ethan stood frozen.

He hadn't expected this. The former queen, once untouchable, now kneeling before him—offering everything.

But after a brief moment of shock, he understood. This wasn't desperation. It was a calculated, irreversible gamble.

Drake had become an unavoidable threat.

One way or another, war was coming.

"Stand up," Ethan finally said. "I accept."

Ignara rose slowly, her expression unchanged.

There was no joy on her face.

Maybe, from the moment she was betrayed, she'd buried all traces of a queen's pride and warmth.

All that remained was vengeance—and resolve.

Their words had barely faded—

When a deep, resonant hum rolled across the sky.

It wasn't thunder. It sounded more like the vibration of some massive machine operating high above. The air began to tremble. Clouds were forcibly parted as a colossal shadow slowly spread over Emerald Castle.

Then, it appeared.

A massive mechanoid descended from the clouds.

Its body was forged from dark alloy, covered in intricate, cold mechanical etchings. Dozens of floating propulsion units rotated behind it, keeping it perfectly suspended in the air. Elemental modules were embedded across its armor—faint traces of lightning, frost, and flame flickering along its surface.

But none of that was the real threat.

At its core, a tightly compressed energy source pulsed steadily—cold, dense, and alien. The pressure it emitted felt like it came from a dimension completely divorced from reality. Even the air around it warped and thinned under its influence.

Ethan's instincts kicked in instantly.

This thing hadn't shown up on any of Emerald Castle's defense scans.

No hesitation.

He launched into the sky, rising to meet the mechanoid head-on.

But before he could even speak—

BOOM—!

The mechanoid's core flared to life. Its massive arm swung down with a shriek that tore through the air, slamming toward Ethan's position with terrifying force.

The sky compressed and split. Space itself cracked at the edges, unable to withstand the sheer impact.