Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 924: Judgment Wasn’t the End

A guttural, near-hopeless roar tore from Malreth’s throat.

He could feel it—see it. The golden energy inside him was being stripped away.

This wasn’t an attack.

It was judgment.

The Dragon God power he’d stolen—those ancient fragments he’d ripped from their rightful owners—were now being reclaimed, one strand at a time, by the will of their original bearers.

His aura crumbled, vanishing layer by layer.

32 Tier Peak—

→ 32 Tier Base—

→ 31 Tier Early Stage.

And Idra?

She was rising. Fast.

32 Tier Base—

→ Mid Stage.

The golden longsword in her hands surged in response, swelling in size and pressure. Its blade no longer looked like forged steel—it felt alive, like it was carved from the soul of the mountain itself.

"I warned you," Idra said flatly, her voice devoid of warmth, sharp enough to freeze in the air.

"You never deserved Dragon God power."

"Now die."

She brought the sword down.

No elaborate form. No flourish. Just raw, pure execution.

BOOM—!!

A golden arc tore straight through the summit.

Malreth’s body was cleaved in half—clean, instant.

His strength, his bloodline, everything collapsed. No scream, no resistance.

He was completely erased beneath the overwhelming pressure of the Dragon God’s will.

Ethan stood nearby, frozen.

He hadn’t seen it coming—all of this.

Dragonspire Range wasn’t a training ground. It was a graveyard.

And now, everything made sense.

Why Idra had reacted so intensely. Why her instincts had kicked in the moment they arrived.

This place... had always been hers.

Snap.

Ethan snapped out of it.

He stepped forward quickly and grabbed Idra out of the air, pulling her down from where she hovered like a blade ready to fall again.

"That’s enough," he said.

"If we keep going, the entire mountain’s power could destabilize."

As he spoke, he pulled out a spatial storage orb—purely for high-density energy containment.

But the moment he activated it, he knew: one orb wouldn’t be anywhere near enough.

The raw force contained in this mountain range blew past the capacity of a standard containment field.

"I’ll help," Idra said, then nodded once.

She extended her hand and began infusing the orb with controlled bursts of Dragon God energy, stabilizing the flow so nothing leaked or resisted.

Together—

One orb.

Two.

Three...

Only after they’d filled eight containment spheres—each one on the edge of rupture—did the last gash of golden light seal itself away.

As the final tether of Dragonspire Range folded into the last orb, the world around them finally went still.

Silent.

But peace didn’t last.

BOOM.

A heavy, dragging thud echoed from the edge of the forest.

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM.

The ground shook.

Then the treetops burst open—obliterated in a shower of splinters—and something massive crashed into the clearing.

Like a rolling siege engine out of control, it bulldozed through whatever was in its path.

When the thing finally lurched into full view—

What emerged stunned them all.

A gargantuan beast, its body covered in jagged, armor-like quills. It was shaped like a monstrous porcupine, but its size rivaled that of a fortress wall. Strange, crimson runes churned across its entire body—old and unnatural, pulsing with a quiet malice.

Its eyes locked straight onto Ethan and his group.

And it started to charge.

Ethan’s instincts kicked in instantly.

Power surged through his core, snapping into overdrive. In a flash, a high-density energy orb formed in his palm—compressed to its absolute limit.

He hurled it without hesitation.

BOOM—!!

The sphere hit the massive porcupine head-on.

But what happened next made Ethan’s scalp go numb.

The creature didn’t slow down.

Not even a little.

Its jagged, armor-plated quills slammed directly into the exploding orb, triggering a deep, echoing blast—

THUD!

Ethan’s pupils shrank.

That hit should’ve been enough to cripple any mid-to-high Tier opponent.

But the beast—

It just tanked it.

The impact staggered it back a step, that was all.

Ethan exhaled hard and shifted his stance in a heartbeat. His other fist lashed out, slamming directly into the porcupine’s advancing form. Power detonated at point-blank range, finally forcing the monster to skid backward, tearing up the ground and kicking up a storm of dust.

But even now—

The beast didn’t fall.

It steadied itself slowly. Thick breaths heaved from its chest, eyes blood-red, glowing with a feral madness.

This wasn’t hatred.

It was something primal.

Like its instincts had been pushed far beyond their limit, triggering a frenzy that refused to be reasoned with.

And then—

A low snarl rattled its throat, and it charged again.

But before it could reach them—

FWIP!

A golden arrow split the air, screaming in from the treeline.

It pierced clean through the porcupine’s neck.

The impact snapped across the clearing like a whipcrack.

The beast’s charging body stiffened mid-sprint—then crashed to the earth in a thunderous heap, dirt exploding in all directions.

Ethan tensed again.

Footsteps.

A dozen figures burst from the woods, uniforms ragged, faces flushed from running. At their head was a middle-aged man with tangled gray-streaked hair, sweat running down his cheek as he skidded to a stop.

He spotted Ethan and immediately held up both hands.

"Deepest apologies!" he said in a rush, panting. "We were out hunting nearby and accidentally stirred up the porcupine herd—that one slipped away from us..."

His breathing slowed as he scanned the group.

"You’re not hurt, right?"

Ethan didn’t lower his guard.

His gaze swept over the new arrivals.

Leather armor—worn and patched.

Crude bows.

Game strapped over their shoulders—mostly deer, some scaled creatures unfamiliar to him.

They looked exactly like what they claimed to be: jungle hunters.

No threatening auras. Barely any structured energy signature at all.

Ethan nodded slightly but didn’t answer. No need to start explaining.

He turned, giving a light hand gesture to Idra and Auri. Time to go. They’d packed away the entire Dragonspire Range—a beacon like that would draw attention fast. Staying too long was asking for problems.

But just as they moved—

One young man broke from the group, stepping into Ethan’s path.

"Wait!"

His tone wasn’t aggressive—more hopeful than anything.

"There’s a bonfire celebration in our village tonight."

"You’re... the first guests we’ve seen since we left the deep forest."

He offered a small, genuine smile.

"Please. Join us? Even just for one meal."

Ethan’s brow tightened.

Objectively, the smart move was to decline. Clean break, back on the road.

But then—

He felt it.

That hollowness in his gut.

Oh right. He hadn’t eaten anything that day. Or the day before. Or maybe longer...

Now that he thought about it, they’d been running across this world nonstop. No rest. No food. No real shelter. Just one battle after another.

He didn’t even have to look at the girls.

Idra and Auri were already clutching their stomachs, eyes watery, faces scrunched with hungry misery.

They didn’t say a word—but their eyes might as well have screamed:

"We’re starviiiing...!"