Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 944: Only One Gets to Become the Guardian

Ethan didn't linger.

He quickly gathered the spoils—starting with the gemstone the old man had handed over, plus a huge stash of energy ore they'd found down in the tribe's cellar.

The ore itself wasn't a big deal to him, not compared to what he'd seen lately. But it was more than enough to hand out as resources to his troops and push their combat power up another notch.

Once everything was packed, Ethan led the Emerald Castle squad out of the ruined village and headed straight for the Guardian land.

These natives weren't that strong, sure. But as one of this world's "core" pieces, they controlled a massive amount of energy resources. If Ethan didn't deal with them early, new Guardians would probably start popping up again soon.

And once a new Guardian rose…

The fallout would be impossible to stomach.

After a long, grinding march, the Emerald Castle army finally arrived at the Guardian land.

A magnificent fortress loomed ahead, radiating a terrifying presence. It felt like the entire sky and earth had been claimed by that power—like the world itself was making room for it.

Above the fortress, a towering figure hovered in midair.

Core energy streamed in from all directions, gathering around him nonstop, building into a dense, overwhelming field. The whole scene looked like every scrap of strength in this place was being forced into that one silhouette.

It hit like a warning you couldn't ignore.

A flicker of shock crossed Ethan's eyes. He hadn't expected them to start forging the next Guardian this quickly.

Before he could fully process it, more questions surged up.

Where the hell was all that core energy coming from?

He opened the system and ran a quick scan. On the screen, an extremely strange web of energy threads appeared, their connections pointing toward a patch of nearby void.

The spatial energy there was abnormally thick—but he couldn't lock onto the true source. It was like an invisible barrier had draped over the area, masking everything behind it.

Looks like we take this place… or we get nothing, Ethan decided. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes hard with resolve.

"Master!" Feylora stood at his side, practically vibrating with excitement. "When do we move? I can't wait."

Ethan's own blood started to heat up with her words.

Right now, he understood it clearly: only by taking complete control of this place could he truly take control of this world—and seize the Primordial Core power of the entire realm, becoming its real ruler.

But the enemies in front of them were the Guardian Tribes.

The world's guardian race.

Every one of them was frighteningly strong, able to manipulate the energy between heaven and earth like it was an extra set of limbs. If Ethan wanted to smoothly rip out the core power here…

It was going to be a brutal fight.

Up in the sky, that hovering figure kept drawing in the world's core power, like he was in the middle of some ritual.

If he kept going, it wouldn't be long before he became the new World Guardian.

And if he succeeded, the consequences would be unthinkable—he might even end up stronger than the last one.

Ethan inhaled deeply, forcing down the tightness in his chest.

At this point, hesitation was suicide.

Power exploded from him, his aura flooding the area in an instant.

In the air, he condensed a massive sphere of energy—heavy with world-shaking force—and hurled it straight at the guy floating above the crowd.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Each impact came with a thunderous roar. The energy between heaven and earth went berserk, shaking like the whole world was answering Ethan's eruption.

Even the surrounding space seemed to get dragged along. Streams of energy were pulled in, gathering toward that energy sphere in a rushing tide.

The man who'd been absorbing power snapped his eyes wide, shocked by the sudden attack. He clearly hadn't expected anyone to dare provoke him at a moment like this.

"You people have got some nerve!" he roared, his voice full of displeasure and threat. "Do you even know where you are? And you dare attack!"

But he didn't counter immediately.

Instead, he lifted a hand and summoned the others inside the fortress. One after another, figures rose into the air.

They lined up in a row, each of them radiating a force that made your scalp tighten. Their energy felt like a surging flood—poised to break loose at any second.

The aura and power pouring off them was almost purely built from the world core's refined energy—clean, brutal, overwhelmingly strong.

Even Ethan could feel the pressure of it.

Like the moment they truly moved, the entire battle would flip on its head.

Ethan's breathing turned ragged.

He understood it with brutal clarity—at his current strength, he couldn't beat them. He couldn't even properly contend with that kind of power.

Anxiety and helplessness surged up his spine, cold and fast. But he forced himself to calm down. This wasn't the time to panic. He needed an answer, now.

Backed into a corner, he opened the system without hesitation and ran a rapid scan on the enemy. In an instant, their stats populated in front of him—power composition, level, Tier—everything laid bare.

And the most eye-catching of all was the one in the sky.

He'd already broken through to Tier 32.

The energy he was putting out was violently overwhelming, almost past the point of imagination.

Ethan drew a deep breath and quickly steadied his rhythm. He knew one thing: if he wanted to flip this situation in a single move, he had to raise his own combat power—immediately.

He activated the Powered Combat Armor's weapon systems and pushed them to the limit. Heat and pressure gathered around him, his aura turning sharp, scorching, and heavy.

In midair, he rapidly condensed a massive Energy Greatsword. The blade blazed with fierce light, radiating a threat no one could ignore.

Ethan didn't waste a second striking at the others.

He locked everything onto the floating enemy.

Because he understood just as clearly—only by taking that guy down first could he sever this place's connection to the core energy and seize control of the whole battlefield.

But just as he surged forward—

A terrifying power erupted.

A thick energy barrier formed across the sky, sealing the space like a lid slamming shut. Ethan's forward momentum was forced down hard; his speed dropped sharply, and it felt like his power was being blocked and pushed away.

Ethan's pupils contracted.

He hadn't expected that while the enemy's Tier rose, a defensive barrier like this would form automatically.

And what shocked him even more—

This barrier wasn't just physical.

It carried an intense psychic assault. Every time Ethan tried to close the distance, that violent mental pulse slammed into him, making his vision swim. His head rang. Focus became slippery, like trying to grab smoke with wet hands.

"Master, I'll help you!" Feylora's voice rang out from behind him, steady and sure.

The moment she spoke, her power detonated.

A massive spatial vortex unfolded in the air, forming in the blink of an eye. Her force moved like a roaring wave, dragging surrounding energy into itself and swallowing anything that tried to block her.

The barrier didn't hold.

In less than a moment, the energy within it was completely absorbed by Feylora.

Then the energy between heaven and earth surged as if it had finally found its rightful ruler, pouring toward her in an endless stream.

Even the enemy on the verge of becoming the new World Guardian—

The power inside his body was yanked out in one ruthless sweep.