Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 989: The Flame That Devours

Ataneya didn't answer.

She just tilted her head a little and gave him a smile with a faint, wicked edge.

The next second, her hand closed around the ant leader's arm.

The motion looked almost gentle.

But the instant she made contact, a terrifying suction force erupted from inside her.

The ant leader's body jolted.

Red energy burst out of him like a dam breaking.

In only a few seconds, his aura started dropping fast.

For the first time, real fear appeared in his compound eyes.

"No…"

He struggled like crazy.

"What you're taking isn't energy—" His voice went hoarse. "That's my life!"

The red power kept draining.

His body visibly weakened.

"Please…"

His voice nearly collapsed.

"Spare me!"

"I can be your slave!"

"Give it back… please… give my energy back…"

Ataneya didn't react to his begging at all.

Her gaze didn't even ripple.

That slender hand stayed locked around his arm, while the power that had just awakened inside her spun up like a mad engine.

Deep-crimson flame energy crawled along her arm, like thin little fire-serpents boring into the ant leader's body.

This wasn't normal energy absorption.

It was closer to outright devouring.

The ant leader's red energy was ripped out continuously, spiraling into rotating streams in the air before rushing into Ataneya.

As that power poured in, the fox tails behind her whipped violently. The two tails that had already turned deep red ignited into real flame.

The ant leader's body shriveled rapidly.

At first it was just his energy being drained—but soon, even his vitality began to vanish.

In less than a minute, his once-massive frame had become nothing but a dried-out shell.

Ataneya finally let go.

The empty body hung in midair for a brief instant. Then she flicked her hand, casual as brushing off dust.

The next second—

That withered husk was crushed into powder, turning into ash that scattered through the air.

The battlefield went deathly silent.

The remaining ant legion froze in place.

They stared at the drifting dust, almost unable to understand what they'd just witnessed.

Their leader—

A Tier 33 existence—

Had been drained dry just like that.

Ataneya floated even higher into the sky.

She closed her eyes as the power she'd just absorbed began to fuse rapidly inside her. Deep-red energy flowed through her like a tide, slowly knitting together with what she already had.

The air began to heat up.

Then—

BOOM!

A terrifying surge erupted from within her.

It wasn't a simple release.

It was a true breakthrough.

Ataneya's aura crossed the threshold completely in that instant.

Tier 33.

And the power kept stabilizing, growing firmer by the second.

When she opened her eyes again, a faint dark-red glow had appeared deep within her pupils.

Only then did the remaining ant legion snap out of their shock.

There was nothing left in their compound eyes but fear.

But Ataneya was already drifting down.

She landed in the middle of the ant ranks.

The next second, her energy exploded again.

Deep-crimson flames spread from beneath her feet, forming a massive swirling vortex of power. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The vortex looked like a living abyss.

Every ant that got close was seized by that force, locked in place.

They fought desperately, but their bodies wouldn't move at all.

Ataneya's power spread like an invisible net, trapping them all.

Then—

The devouring began.

Countless streams of red energy were ripped out of the ant legion's bodies, thin rivers of flame flowing straight into Ataneya. The ants withered fast.

One. Two. Ten…

In just a few minutes, more than half the ant legion had turned into piles of ash.

When the last wisp of energy was absorbed, Ataneya slowly drew her power back in.

Her aura was completely stable now.

Early Tier 33.

Ethan stood in the distance, watching it all in silence.

Then he opened the system.

A blue screen unfolded in front of his eyes.

The system began scanning Ataneya's stats.

Information flashed up.

Ethan's brow lifted slightly.

The energy inside Ataneya was changing.

It wasn't ordinary power anymore.

It was strength from The Infernal Abyss—

A kind of low-level infernal energy.

That force had a certain resemblance to the Heavenly Demon Lightning inside Ethan.

Both belonged to a higher-tier power system.

But their attributes were completely different.

His leaned toward thunder.

Ataneya's leaned toward flame.

Ethan's eyes gradually brightened as a thought took shape.

If this kind of power could spread…

If Emerald Castle's core fighters could all master elemental forces drawn from The Infernal Abyss…

Then the entire army's combat strength would undergo a true qualitative leap.

The idea left Ethan visibly energized.

But right then—

The far horizon started to shake.

Rumble—rumble—!

A low sound rolled in from the distance.

It was like countless giant beasts sprinting at once, pounding the ground until it trembled. Even the city walls began to sway slightly.

Ethan looked up immediately, his expression snapping into alert focus.

On the horizon, a huge number of figures appeared.

Dense black shadows were rushing closer.

Heavenly Demon Lightning flared inside Ethan on instinct.

White arcs began to crawl around his body.

He was already ready to fight again.

And then, out of nowhere, something dropped from the sky.

It hit outside the wall like a meteor.

The ground exploded on impact.

As the dust cleared, a massive figure rose slowly to its feet.

It looked like a mantis.

Long and bladed, with two enormous scythe-like forelimbs flashing with cold light. The strangest part was the air around it—freezing continuously.

A pure, icy aura spread outward from its body.

The temperature plunged.

Frost crawled across the ground.

Yet mixed into that cold was the same intensely dense Infernal Essence.

Seeing it, Ethan actually showed a flicker of regret.

"If Queen Elowen and Namyanna were here…"

"They'd probably love this kind of energy."

He was about to move when a red afterimage shot out from the side.

Ataneya.

She'd just broken into Tier 33, and her power was at its most ferocious peak.

Deep-crimson flames ignited across her body.

In the next instant, she was already in front of the mantis-man.

Boom!

Her fist slammed down hard.

The force that erupted was far beyond what she'd shown a moment ago.

The mantis-man hadn't even fully steadied itself—its whole body was blasted back.

A terrifying shockwave tore through the air.

It crashed through several buildings before it finally stopped.

Shock filled its compound eyes.

Because it could clearly sense it—

The power inside Ataneya.

It was from The Infernal Abyss.

And that power should've belonged only to Nexaris's Dark Abyss.

It didn't even have time to think about why.

Ataneya was already there again.

She was faster than before.

Deep-crimson flame trailed behind her in a long streak.

The next second—

She was right up on the mantis-man's face.

Violent infernal fire erupted instantly, swallowing its body whole.