Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory
Chapter 403: Bad news

Chapter 403: Bad news

Even though he was a lord, Ethan had always had a clear sense of his role. He never felt a desperate need to become insanely powerful overnight. But now, with this sudden, massive leap in strength? Hell yeah—it was a damn good thing!

And it’s not like he was gonna turn it down.

He had to admit, though—

This SSS-rank Divine Twin Dragonblood was just straight-up ridiculous. In the best way.

Technically, it was just a fusion of innate abilities. That’s it. But the result?

He’d jumped from a D-rank Crimson Ultimate Hero (75%)...

All the way up to a C-rank Crimson Ultimate Hero (13%)!

That kind of leap? That kind of gap? It said everything about how insanely overpowered Divine Twin Dragonblood really was.

This was a jackpot. No question.

Still riding the high of that power boost, Ethan turned his attention to the Crimson Codex—<Blueprint of Destruction Magic>.

<Blueprint of Destruction Magic>.

It was a mysterious map said to contain the secrets of a long-lost, legendary Tier 5 spell.

Just a few lines of text—

But they hit Ethan like a punch to the gut.

"A map to a Tier 5 spell?!" he blurted out, eyes wide.

"Cicero, hold up a sec. Take a look at this. Can you read the map and the writing on it?" he asked, waving Cicero down and pulling out the codex.

Cicero paused mid-step, tilting his head as he glanced at the parchment in Ethan’s hands. His expression shifted almost immediately, eyes narrowing with a flicker of recognition.

"Master... I think this is written in Infernal Script."

"Infernal Script? You mean, like, from the Inferno faction? The Devil race?"

"Yeah..." Cicero nodded, then took the Crimson Codex—<Blueprint of Destruction Magic>—and studied it more closely. After a long moment, his eyes lit up and he looked up at Ethan, practically buzzing with excitement.

"Master, I’ve got it!"

"This map shows the location of a lost Tier 5 spell from the ancient world—Infernal Cataclysm!"

"Infernal Cataclysm?"

"Yeah. According to this, it’s a small-area, multi-target fire spell. Tier 5. And the creator? A demon god of the Inferno Devil race. But the location marked on the map..."

Cicero suddenly frowned, his brows knitting together.

"Problem?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah..." Cicero nodded slowly, then gave Ethan a weird look. "Master, the map points to somewhere inside the world of the Inferno Devils."

"..."

Ethan was speechless.

Somewhere in the Inferno Devils’ world? Yeah, no thanks. Hard pass.

"Alright, forget it. Let’s keep moving," he said, shaking his head and tucking the Crimson Codex—<Blueprint of Destruction Magic>—back into his pack without a second thought.

They hit the road again.

No hesitation. No second glance.

It wasn’t that he was so rich or powerful that he didn’t care about a Tier 5 spell.

It was that he wasn’t suicidal.

The world of the Inferno Devils—what kind of place was that?

It was the heart of the entire Inferno faction. The stronghold. The breeding ground of countless Inferno Devils. A place as deadly and off-limits as the Angels’ Heaven in the Castle faction, or the thirty-third floor of the Dungeon’s Darkreach. Absolute death zones. No sane person would even think about going there.

It was basically a suicide mission.

A cruel joke, really.

Ethan let out a dry, helpless chuckle. But then he just shrugged it off. If he couldn’t go, then so be it. It wasn’t like he was desperate for that reward. Besides, he’d already scored big—massively, even.

He’d taken over an entire Plane World.

A world packed with countless resource points.

A Creature Dwelling that produced 13-Tier Legendary Units.

A hero born from those Legendary Units.

And on top of that, he’d fused his bloodline and innate abilities, boosting his Hero Tier to a C-rank Crimson Ultimate Hero.

Not to mention the mountain of system rewards he’d raked in.

He was swimming in gains.

So yeah, skipping out on a trip to the Inferno Devils’ hellhole to chase after the <Blueprint of Destruction Magic>? No big deal. Not even a loss.

Thinking that, Ethan chuckled and shook his head, then casually asked, "By the way, Cicero, do you know anything about Thunderforged Godstone?"

"Thunderforged Godstone?" Cicero paused, thinking for a moment. "That’s an extremely rare Level 5 Special Resource."

"It’s used to craft powerful Thunder Magic-based arcane weapons. It can also enhance regular units or Hero Units that wield Thunder Magic. Gives them a decent boost."

"Is it useful to us?" Ethan asked.

"Well..." Cicero hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "Unless we can find blueprints for Thunder Magic weapons, it’s not really useful to us right now. Oh—though the Storm Dragons might be interested. They’re naturally attuned to Thunder Magic."

"Alright, let’s let them know later then..."

Hearing that, Ethan immediately lost interest in the Thunderforged Godstone. He waved it off casually. "So, you got your hands on some?" Cicero asked.

"Yeah, about a hundred units or so..."

...

Not long after, they made it back to Emerald Castle. And the moment Ethan and Cicero returned, Elynn was already there to greet them.

"Master, you’re back."

"Yeah... Elynn, that Dragonblade Knight hero from the Castle faction—where is he?" Ethan nodded, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point.

"I’ve temporarily stationed them outside the castle," Elynn replied, a hint of guilt in her voice. "But... I’m sorry, Master. It seems they’ve already discovered Oakenmaw’s presence..."

She lowered her head slightly, clearly blaming herself.

"That’s not your fault," Ethan said, shaking his head with a calm smile.

"Even I didn’t expect them to show up. How could you have known? And even if Oakenmaw’s been exposed, it’s not the end of the world. It just means we’ve revealed one of our cards a little early. But Emerald Castle has more than one ace up its sleeve."

"Still, Master, I swear—I won’t make the same mistake again," Elynn said firmly.

But then her expression darkened, and she lowered her voice. "There’s something else. The Jewel King, Astharel... he’s here too."

"The Jewel King Astharel?"

Ethan blinked, surprised. "What’s he doing here?"

"It’s bad news," Elynn said grimly. "And it’s connected to Sea King Maelthorak."

"Maelthorak? That guy’s still alive? Damn, he’s hard to kill..." Ethan muttered, shaking his head. "Whatever. We’ll deal with him later. Let’s finish handling the Castle faction first."

"Elynn, take me to them."

"Yes, Master!"

...

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