Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 930: You Have Returned

The nine-headed drake clearly hadn't expected Ethan to move that fast—

Let alone that he could maintain the bell's power while simultaneously conjuring something as devastating as that radiant sword.

Pain and fury exploded together.

It snapped.

Unleashing every ounce of power in its vast, monstrous body.

The air turned heavy. The world shook.

High above, a colossal phantom of the drake formed in the sky—its body etched in writhing shadow.

But this wasn't just elemental force.

Woven into it was something older. Stranger. A corrupt, ancient rune energy that pulsed through the projection like a curse.

It clashed with the golden rune hovering near Ethan.

And the moment their powers collided—

BOOM—!!

The blast was deafening. Space writhed and tore open, cracks webbing outward like shattered glass.

The shockwave hurled both of them backward.

Ethan was forced back through the air, but his expression stayed icy sharp.

No hesitation.

Even as he skidded through the sky, he raised one arm—and flung an Energy Disc straight at the recovering beast.

The drake's eyes flew wide.

It hadn't expected that—not after a collision of that scale. Not from someone who should've been struggling just to stay in the air.

Because for the drake... that last exchange had already burned through everything.

Its reserves were empty. It had nothing left to block with.

No choice.

It braced its massive body.

WHAM!

CRACK!

TEAR!

The disc slammed into its abdomen, tearing open a jagged wound across its scaly gut.

Its inner energy gushed out in chaotic waves, totally out of control.

Ethan was already closing the gap.

He didn't pause. Didn't speak.

A second holy sword, forged of pure golden light, bloomed in his grip.

He struck.

The second head dropped.

Thud.

For the first time, the drake's voice trembled with something too raw to hide.

"…Impossible…"

There was fear now. And disbelief.

"That rune's power—it's ancient! Left behind from the First Age…"

"No one—no one—can fully control it!"

Its remaining eyes locked on Ethan like they could rip answers straight from his soul.

"What did you do?! How are you using it?"

Ethan didn't answer.

He just raised the sword.

Swung again.

The holy light arced downward. But this time, the drake flinched away—jerking back just in time to avoid the strike.

Barely.

The movement drained the last drops of power from its shredded form. It floated, haphazard and weak, chest heaving under the pressure of keeping itself aloft.

It was finished. And it knew it.

When it backed into open air, too far to retreat further, Ethan was already there.

No grand move. No technique.

Just a clean, relentless swing.

Then another.

And another.

By the time the final blow fell—

Only one of the beast's nine heads remained.

The once-majestic titan was torn nearly to the bone. Its entire body covered in gashes leaking dark, foreign energy, now unraveling like it was being rejected by the world itself.

It panted in short, panicked bursts—what breath it still had.

And where there had once been snarling fury in those many eyes, there was only fear.

And pleading.

"Please… let me go…"

The last head lowered, voice trembling. Small.

"I held the ancient dark rune… all I wanted was to steal the light, that's all…"

Words tripped over themselves, desperate.

"You've mastered it. It's yours now. I won't challenge you again. I swear—if you'll just spare me… I'll give you the dark rune too."

"Everything. You can have it all.

Just don't kill me.

Please…"

Ethan's eyes held no emotion.

Flat. Cold.

A silent tide of power rolled out from within him—slow, steady, massive. Like the weight of a hidden ocean, it surged outward, wrapping the nine-headed drake in invisible pressure.

"If I kill you," Ethan said quietly, "everything you have becomes mine anyway."

And with those calm words,

All of his power erupted at once.

Blinding light swallowed the last of the drake's colossal body.

Within that intense explosion of energy, its form unraveled in seconds—bones, flesh, even soul—shredded and dissolved into nothing.

Not a trace left behind.

Then…

Silence.

A heavy stillness settled over the skies.

But only for a breath.

Almost immediately, a massive black rune began to manifest in the air. It drifted downward, slow and precise, its aura the dark inverse of the golden rune—but no less ancient. No less powerful.

Ethan steadied his breathing and stepped forward.

He lifted his hand.

Fingertips brushed against the rune—and it trembled slightly in response.

In the next instant, that dark power surged into him like it had been waiting.

No resistance.

It fused directly with the golden rune's energy already inside him.

Two opposing forces, light and shadow, twining through his body—but instead of conflict, there was balance.

Unlikely. Unreal.

But stable.

Ethan felt his strength skyrocket.

His body brimmed with deeper reserves. His perception sharpened to clarity beyond clarity.

He was brushing the edge of something—an unseen line. One more step, and he'd break through again.

But before he could think further—

The ground below went utterly still.

From every direction, the tribespeople who'd been waiting near the outskirts had dropped to their knees.

Foreheads pressed to earth.

Bodies trembling in worship.

Even the wild clans from the jungle had spilled out and knelt beneath the cliff, their chants rising up as one.

"Oh Great One!"

Their voices were raw with awe, edged with feverish devotion.

"You have not abandoned us! You have returned to this world!"

"The runes we've guarded—our lives, our strength—everything is ready for you!"

Ethan froze, startled.

This... was not what he expected.

Then came the offerings.

Armfuls of energy-infused mineral ore were brought forward—laid one by one in perfect rows before him.

Each stone pulsed with intense power, its surface etched in strange runes that flickered as if alive.

Vmm…

Rumble—

He could feel the density of the energy inside them. Dangerous levels.

But the runes held it all sealed. Quiet.

Ethan didn't hesitate.

He stepped forward, lifting one hand, rising into the air.

And with nothing more than a thought,

The stones began to rise in unison, drawn toward him like leaves in a current.

One by one, the pattern-sealed runes flared, dimmed, and cracked apart.

Then: energy.

Pure, undiluted force—liquid light—streamed directly into Ethan's body.

There was no resistance. No instability.

It settled into place like a missing puzzle piece.

Like this was where it belonged.

Like he was where it belonged.

Below him, the warriors of Emerald Castle could only watch, stunned.

They had followed Ethan into the wild, but nothing could have prepared them for this.

Ferocious tribal clans—all of them—bowed like zealots at prayer.

And Ethan, floating above the earth…

He looked less like a person now, and more like a natural law given form. A king the world itself accepted without question.

Then—

From the distant horizon, a sound like a blade tearing silk rolled across the sky.

Shhhrrip—

A thin fracture opened in midair, like reality itself had been cut.

And out of that crack—

Runes poured forth.

Glowing sigils flooded through the breach, drifting down around Ethan in a shimmering cascade.

A rain of stars.

And every single one hovered near him.

Awaiting.

Responding.