Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory
Chapter 429: One gold coin

Chapter 429: One gold coin

"So... so terrifying..." Fiesto stared blankly at the scene before him, his whole body frozen.

He could feel the blood in his veins slow to a crawl.

It was suffocating.

"Such overwhelming power..." Cyclops King Doregar muttered, his eyes gleaming as he watched everything unfold. Deep down, he felt a powerful urge—to persuade Grand Duke Fiesto to surrender.

As a Hero Unit born from the Stronghold faction’s elite 12-Tier Royal Units, Doregar believed in one thing above all:

Power.

They revered strength. They followed might.

And right now, the sheer force Ethan was displaying... it was enough to make even him want to kneel.

"Grand Duke Fiesto," Ethan said, turning his gaze toward him with a calm smile, "have you made your decision?"

That smile—so casual, so effortless—hit Fiesto like a mountain crashing down on his chest. The pressure was immense, almost unbearable.

"I..." Fiesto opened his mouth, hesitated, then clenched his jaw and asked, "One last question. If I choose to submit, what do I get in return? Will I be treated the same as Astharel?"

"I’m afraid not," Ethan replied, shaking his head. His tone was cool, matter-of-fact. "Astharel was the first to pledge loyalty. Unless you accomplish something truly extraordinary, there’s no way you’ll be on equal footing with him. As for what you’ll get..."

He paused, then added, "Let’s be honest. Right now? Probably not much."

"Once I deal with Maelthorak, my next move is to take the Five Sea Kingdoms. When that happens, Astharel will be appointed as the new ruler of that region. As for you... chances are, you’ll be working under him."

Fiesto didn’t react with anger.

Instead, he pressed further. "And after that?"

"After that..." Ethan chuckled, then looked him straight in the eye, his smile calm and confident. "Tell me—if I go to war with the Greenwave Empire, who do you think would win?"

Fiesto blinked, then answered without hesitation, "They might be able to hold out for a while right now, but in the long run? No chance. Emerald Castle has three Crimson Ultimate heroes. That’s a nightmare they can’t deal with."

"Exactly," Ethan nodded, grinning. "Emerald Castle’s next target is the Greenwave Empire. And if you prove yourself, I never shortchange my own people. Just like Astharel. Territory, power—those things go to the strong. The stronger you are, the more you can take. Emerald Castle won’t be lacking in land or opportunity. But if you want a piece of it, you’ll have to earn it. Show me your worth. You get what I’m saying?"

"I understand." Fiesto nodded slowly, then glanced over at Cyclops King Doregar. When he saw Doregar give him a subtle nod in return, he took a deep breath...

And dropped to one knee before Ethan.

"I, Grand Duke Fiesto of the Blazeblade Kingdom, hereby pledge the loyalty of all my soldiers and citizens to Emerald Castle. From this moment on, we are yours. I, Fiesto, greet you, my lord."

At the same time, Cyclops King Doregar followed suit, kneeling beside him and speaking in his deep, rumbling voice.

"Cyclops King Doregar of the Blazeblade Kingdom, at your service, my lord."

Ding!

"Congratulations, player Valkarion. You have received the allegiance of Grand Duke Fiesto and Cyclops King Doregar of the Blazeblade Kingdom. Do you wish to accept? Would you like to sign a contract?"

"Accept."

"Initiating Mercenary Contract..."

Ding!

"Congratulations, player Valkarion. You have successfully secured the loyalty of Grand Duke Fiesto and Cyclops King Doregar. Contract signing in progress... Ding! Contract complete. You are required to pay 1 gold coin to each of them on the first day of every calendar year. The contract is automatically generated. Any breach will result in automatic termination."

"One gold coin?"

Ethan paused for a second, then let out a soft chuckle. "Alright, get up."

He reached out and helped both Fiesto and Doregar to their feet. Then, with a calm expression, he said, "Fiesto, Doregar—I’m glad you made the right choice. On behalf of Emerald Castle, welcome aboard."

"It’s our honor, my lord!" Fiesto responded without hesitation.

Now that he’d chosen to submit, he knew exactly where he stood—and he showed Ethan the utmost respect.

"How many troops does the Blazeblade Kingdom currently have?" Ethan asked next. "I mean your core forces—the kind that can actually go toe-to-toe with Maelthorak."

"My lord, our core strength lies in our 12-Tier Royal Units—the Cyclops Kings!" Fiesto answered quickly. "Right now, we have 3,700 units of Cyclops Kings in total."

"What about 13-Tier Legendary Units? Or 14-Tier Mythic Units?"

"Well... to be honest, we don’t have any at the moment."

"You don’t?" Ethan blinked, clearly surprised.

"No, we don’t," Fiesto said with an awkward smile, then quickly explained, "My lord, truth is, there are no Creature Dwellings for Legendary Units anywhere within Blazeblade Kingdom’s territory. So I don’t have access to any 13-Tier Legendary Units, let alone 14-Tier Mythic Units."

"But..." Ethan frowned slightly, puzzled. "Then how come the other Five Sea Kingdoms have them? Are you the only one without Legendary Unit dwellings?"

"No, it’s not like that," Fiesto shook his head, his eyes glinting. "Actually, none of us in the Five Sea Kingdoms—whether it’s Blazeblade, Storm, or Umagral—have any Legendary Unit dwellings."

"Then where are they getting their 13-Tier Legendary Units from?"

"They’re all coming from the Greenwave Empire," Fiesto said flatly.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "Greenwave Empire?"

"That’s right," Fiesto nodded. "The Greenwave Empire ’rents’ out their Legendary and Mythic Units to us. But let’s be real—it’s not renting. It’s exploitation. They drain our resources under the guise of cooperation, using us to feed their own war machine. I refused to play along."

Ethan’s gaze sharpened, and he gave a small nod of approval.

In the world of Glory Lords X, whether you were a new lord or a major faction, your troop capacity wasn’t unlimited. It was tied to your Castle Heart level, your resource production, upkeep costs, and a dozen other factors.

So, in that kind of system, the big factions had come up with a nasty, underhanded—but undeniably effective—strategy:

Conquer and absorb smaller factions, then "rent out" their surplus 13-Tier Legendary Units or even 14-Tier Mythic Units to those new vassals. The vassals would use their own resources to maintain those elite troops—essentially funding the overlord’s army.

It was resource plundering, plain and simple. A monopoly.

Because in the end, what really determined whether a unit would obey you wasn’t just ownership—it was soul binding.

Without that soul bond, even the most powerful Mythic or Legendary Units were just empty shells. Impressive on paper, but useless in a real fight.

So yeah, Ethan could totally understand Fiesto’s decision.

Sure, it meant giving up access to the top-tier units... but honestly? It wasn’t a bad call.

After all, real power is the kind you control yourself.

And let’s not forget—

Those 3,700 Cyclops Kings? That was no joke.

Especially considering Fiesto had a Cyclops King Hero Unit under his command.

Ethan turned to glance at Doregar again. And right then, Doregar’s full stat panel popped up in front of him, crystal clear.