Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory
Chapter 412: Old blood feud

Chapter 412: Old blood feud

"And besides what?" Ethan asked instinctively.

Astharel’s tone dropped a notch, his voice calm but heavy with implication. "Besides that, the defeat in the faction war must’ve taken a serious toll on Sea King Maelthorak’s forces—especially his Sacred Kirin and the rest of his Kirin legions. If it really comes down to a fight... we might be shocked at how few troops he actually has left."

"Shockingly few, huh..." Ethan murmured, eyes narrowing. That... actually made a lot of sense.

In a large-scale war, winning is one thing—but losing? That’s when everything collapses. Troop numbers plummet, morale tanks. Even if some units can be revived... those high-tier Mythic Units—14th Tier Sacred Kirins and the like—those kinds of Creature Dwellings probably aren’t even under Maelthorak’s control. They’re likely managed by the Tidesworn faction itself.

Which meant...

Yeah, it was entirely possible.

Maelthorak might be down to just a handful of Sacred Kirins—if that.

"What else?" Ethan asked again.

Astharel furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. He hesitated, then finally said, "I think we might be able to use this chance to drive a wedge between them—or even pull Grand Duke Zurei of Thundervale Kingdom to our side."

"Why him?" Ethan asked. "Why not Regnar XI?"

"First of all..." Astharel looked at Ethan, his gaze sharp. "You’ve got beef with Regnar XI, don’t you?"

Ethan blinked, caught off guard. "You know about that? He’s the one who leaked Kyros’s location."

"There you go." Astharel nodded, eyes glinting. "I tested the waters with Regnar XI before. He seemed terrified of you. Didn’t even want to be the one to represent his kingdom in talks with Emerald Castle. So I figured there had to be some history there."

"But even without that, he’s not the right choice."

"Regnar XI is petty. He’s the kind of guy who’s terrified of missing out, so once he makes a decision—right or wrong—he’ll stick to it no matter what. Zurei, on the other hand... yeah, he comes off like a brute, but he’s got his own way of thinking."

"And more importantly—he’s probably the only one among us who genuinely hates the Greenwave Empire. His kingdom’s been through hell under their thumb."

"So what you’re saying is... even if everything goes according to plan, once the fighting starts, we’ll be up against Maelthorak, Grand Duke Opriston of Umagral Kingdom, and Regnar XI of Storm Kingdom?" Ethan counted them off on his fingers, then sighed. "Still a lot of enemies. And a lot of risk."

"Exactly," Astharel said with a nod. "That’s why I hesitated earlier. The risk is real."

"Because we can’t exactly reveal Emerald Castle’s full strength to Grand Duke Zurei... but if we don’t, he might think we don’t stand a chance—and back out."

But just then, Cicero suddenly spoke up, his voice calm but firm. "Actually... I think we should try to win over Blazeblade Kingdom."

The moment Cicero said it, both Ethan and Astharel froze.

"Recruit Blazeblade Kingdom?" Ethan stared at him, stunned. "You really think that’s possible?"

"Greenwave Empire backed Blazeblade to keep the other four kingdoms in check," Cicero said, his eyes lighting up as the idea took shape in his mind. "But now, with everything that’s happening, no matter who wins, the balance of power is going to shift—completely. If Umagral Kingdom wins, they’ll swallow up the other four kingdoms. And once that happens, Greenwave won’t need Blazeblade anymore. Their whole reason for propping them up disappears. They’ll be discarded."

"Exactly!" Astharel clapped his hands, visibly excited. "If Umagral Kingdom rises, there’s no way they’ll leave Blazeblade alone. That clash is inevitable. And Blazeblade? They’ll lose. No question. Especially if Greenwave Empire really does cut them off... their strength will nosedive—by at least two-thirds. Maybe more."

It wasn’t hard to understand.

Blazeblade Kingdom was powerful, sure—but a huge chunk of that power came directly from Greenwave’s support.

And what did that support look like?

Resources. Special Resources. Troop reinforcements.

And most importantly—14th Tier Mythic Units.

That’s right.

Blazeblade’s Sacred Kirins and other top-tier Mythic Units? Almost all of them came from Greenwave Empire.

So if Greenwave pulled the plug, the first thing to go would be their ability to recruit or revive those Sacred Kirins.

That alone would be a death sentence.

And it wasn’t just the 14th Tier units. Even their 13th Tier Legendary Units were heavily reliant on Greenwave’s supply chain. The numbers weren’t as insane, sure—but the loss would still be real. Tangible. Devastating.

Astharel didn’t believe for a second that Fiesto wasn’t aware of that.

Which meant...

Astharel’s eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly. "My Lord, I think Prince Cicero’s idea might actually work! But there’s one problem... if we go after Blazeblade Kingdom, we might lose our shot with Thundervale Kingdom."

"Old blood feud," he added with a grimace. "That kind of hatred doesn’t just vanish overnight."

But Ethan... had a different take.

"It’s tricky, yeah... but maybe not as tricky as we think," Ethan murmured, then turned to Astharel, his voice steady. "Alright. Here’s what we’ll do—go back and tell them we’ll head to Umagral Kingdom in a month and a half."

"A month and a half?" Astharel blinked, surprised.

"Relax. They’ll understand," Ethan said coolly. "If we rushed in right away, it’d be too obvious. Even an idiot would realize something’s off between us. A little delay makes it look more natural."

Astharel paused, then gave a sheepish chuckle. "Fair point..."

Ethan thought for a moment, then added, "Also, Astharel—credit where it’s due. You’ve done a hell of a job with this. So here’s the deal: if this all works out, I’ll leave the Five Sea Kingdoms in your hands. You’ll run them. How’s that sound?"

Astharel froze for a second.

Then his face lit up with pure, unfiltered excitement.

Thud!

He dropped to one knee, eyes blazing with emotion. "Thank you, My Lord! I won’t let you down!"

"Alright, alright, get up," Ethan said, waving him off with a faint smile. "Save the celebration for when we actually pull this off. It’s still too early to be popping champagne. No time to waste—get moving."

"Yes, My Lord... Oh, right—what about Grand Duke Zurei and Grand Duke Fiesto?" Astharel asked quickly, as if just remembering.

"You don’t need to worry about them for now," Ethan said, shaking his head. "I’ll handle it. I’ll let you know when the time comes."

"Understood, My Lord... Then I’ll take my leave!" Astharel nodded, still riding the high of Ethan’s promise, and turned to go—his steps light, his heart pounding with anticipation.

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