Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 942: The Guardian’s Fall

Ethan's expression tightened instantly. A new presence was approaching—stronger, heavier, like the air itself thickened under its weight.

Then, from above, a massive figure descended slowly out of the sky.

The man's entire body radiated a presence hard as stone, ancient and crushing, like he'd stepped straight out of some primeval legend. The moment he landed, the surrounding world shuddered with him. Blood-red lightning forked wildly across the sky, crackling like the heavens themselves were welcoming him.

Ethan's eyes flickered with shock. He hadn't expected anything near this level of power.

That gut-deep feeling of danger surged. In an instant, he fired his energy forward—a massive disc of raw power screaming through the air. The Energy Disc tore ahead like a hurricane, ripping at the ground with enough force to pulverize steel.

Across from him, the man didn't flinch. Instead, for a heartbeat, he actually looked stunned—like he hadn't expected Ethan to act so quickly or go straight for the kill shot.

"You really don't know your place," the man growled, his voice low and heavy with malice. "If it's death you want, I'll tear you apart myself."

Even as the words left his mouth, a strange staff materialized in his hand. Ancient runes pulsed along its shaft, and the air around it rippled with pressure. It felt like the whole world was being forced to bow.

Then, the man swung it.

A torrent of energy surged upward like a flood, crashing into Ethan's Energy Disc with a deafening blast. The collision erupted into a shockwave that split the air and cracked the sky.

Booming sounds didn't just echo—they rolled, one after another, as if the battle itself was shaking the fabric of reality. Space tore open around them. Jagged cracks slithered through the air, and the entire battlefield pulsed with unchecked power.

But the longer the clash dragged on, the clearer it became—the staff was winning. Its rune-etched power grew stronger, while Ethan's Energy Disc started losing ground.

That man wasn't just wielding his own energy—he was drawing from everything around him, bending the surrounding world to fuel his attacks. Every motion of the staff felt like it reshaped the heavens by sheer will.

Ethan's heart sank. The tension in his chest tightened, edged toward panic. If this kept up, he wasn't just going to lose—he might not walk away at all.

Then something cracked wide open inside him.

A searing white force erupted from deep within, burning through his veins like wildfire.

"I take a nap, and you go and piss off the Guardian of the World?" a voice shot through his mind—Lily's voice, startled, sharp.

Ethan jolted. "Wait—Guardian of the World? You mean... he's that strong?" His voice trembled with disbelief.

Lily didn't answer. She didn't need to. She took over.

Power flared. Pure, overwhelming.

Sudden and absolute, a tide of energy surged out of him. Ethan's body buckled under it, like trying to hold back a tidal wave.

He possessed the Primordial Force of the Infernal Domain—one of the most dominant energies on the planet—but his version had always been fractured, impure. He couldn't control it completely.

Lily could.

Her command of the Infernal Force was terrifyingly precise. She didn't just wield it—she bent it to her will. Her Infernal Primordial Power thundered through his body: unstoppable, ruthless.

It didn't belong to the world—it sat like a god above it. And it carried power to match.

The moment Lily activated it, massive energy rippled outward, rising straight into the sky, then launching at the man like a meteor strike.

He froze.

Completely.

It wasn't just surprise this time—it was paralysis. His body locked up, his eyes wide with horror.

"W-What... What are you?" His voice cracked, thick with terror. "How can you possibly possess this kind of power?!"

He was shaking now—violently. The panic in his eyes wasn't the fear of death.

It was the fear of facing something that shouldn't exist.

Lily's face stayed icy cold—calm, merciless. Her hands moved in sharp, deliberate arcs, gathering immense power between her fingers. Every blow she unleashed landed like a sledgehammer against the man's body. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The second that power touched him, it burrowed straight into his flesh. It tore through him from the inside out, like thousands of blades slicing through muscle and bone with surgical viciousness.

He screamed—raw and unfiltered agony—thrashing as those invisible knives shredded through him. His eyes were wide with disbelief, pain, and complete shock.

"Who are you?!" His voice broke, barely holding together. "How can you control such pure Infernal Primordial Power?!"

But the question was swallowed up, fading fast.

His body couldn't hold together anymore. Deep, gaping wounds cleaved through flesh and muscle, all the way to the bone. Blood poured freely, painting him in horror. His once-powerful form had been reduced to a mutilated wreck—barely recognizable, barely alive.

Then his legs gave out. The last of his strength collapsed. His power scattered like dust in the wind.

Whatever was left of it—all the energy he once controlled—was pulled not into the air, but into Ethan. Or more precisely, into Lily within Ethan.

Her voice came cold, flat, cutting straight through the tension like a scalpel.

"The power of a World Guardian... I'll admit, that was tough. Almost didn't finish the job."

A short pause. Then a final, emotionless sentence:

"Looks like I'll need to sleep again for a while. Unless it's something critical, don't wake me."

She didn't wait for a reply. Her presence faded from Ethan's body, slipping into silence. The energy she'd wielded still lingered inside him—coiled and potent—but Lily herself was gone. Quiet, dormant.

Though she'd vanished, she'd left him with a parting gift—a portion of her power, carefully transferred before she retreated.

The moment the Guardian died, the oppressive force hanging over this world lifted.

For the first time, everything seemed still again.

All the energy once tethered to that man lost its anchor and went wild—scattering, unraveling. The world itself started to shift, space bending and shrinking unnaturally. The signs of collapse were already there, spreading underfoot.

Ethan exhaled slowly, grounding himself.

Without hesitation, he expanded his own energy outward, letting it bleed into the unstable world around him. He poured it into the ambient field, trying to stitch everything back together—at least long enough to buy time.

"Master!" Feylora's voice cut in as she raced up beside him, urgency written all over her face. Her tone was tight with concern. "This world… it's not as simple as we thought. We just detected another race—something we've never seen before. And they're not part of the Guardian's forces."

Ethan's expression hardened. That wasn't good news.

He'd thought taking out the World Guardian meant full control. But this? A hidden race, completely off the radar?

It changed everything.

"Take me there," he said without hesitation.

They moved fast, heading for the southernmost stretch of the world.

Up ahead lay what looked like an ancient village—quiet, unassuming. From a distance, it seemed primitive, with rough-hewn buildings and a raw, undeveloped look.

But as Ethan stepped closer, he noticed the details.

These structures weren't just simple—they were deliberate. Built into the land, half-buried beneath layers of soil and foliage, with only minimal portions exposed above the surface. The village blended with the terrain so naturally it was almost invisible.

Even through its crude outer shell, he could feel it—thick energy pooled in every corner of the place, quiet and old. Whatever lived here, it wasn't ordinary.