Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 53: Screaming Eagles

Even if she wasn’t the most experienced, Isabella still understood that a massive deal involving 70 to 100 Tier 8 units per year had to come with a lot of strings attached.

Normally, only the top ten guilds—those true giants—would even qualify to take on something of this scale.

Deals this big required serious financial backing, and any faction with that kind of power wouldn’t even glance at a mid-tier guild like Nocturnal Crescent.

And yet, somehow, this deal had landed right in their laps.

There was no doubt about it—this was Ethan’s doing.

She knew he was trying to help her, trying to support Carter Group, but she couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy. Would making such a bold decision on his own cause any problems? Would there be consequences?

"Relax..." Ethan wrapped an arm around Isabella, flashing a confident smile. His voice was calm, completely at ease. "They only care about money. As long as we pay up, it doesn’t matter who’s buying. So why let someone else take the deal?"

Hearing that, Isabella finally let out a breath of relief. Her expression softened, and her eyes filled with gratitude as she looked at him. "Ethan, thank you so much for this—"

Smack!

Before she could finish, Ethan gave her a firm slap on the backside.

She nearly yelped in surprise.

"What was that for?!" Isabella gasped, her face instantly turning red.

"Remember this—I’m your boyfriend. I’m also the man you can rely on. If you keep treating me like an outsider, I’m going to be upset." Ethan’s tone was unusually serious.

Isabella froze for a second, then her cheeks flushed even deeper. Without another word, she slipped her arms around his and rested her head on his shoulder. Her voice was soft as she murmured, "I understand..."

A short distance away, William glanced at the young couple, watching their affectionate exchange. He couldn’t deny that it left him feeling a little conflicted, but in the end, he just chuckled and pretended not to notice.

He hadn’t spent much time around Ethan, but between this and the incident from years ago—the kidnapping—he had seen enough to know that Ethan was someone he could trust.

Besides, this was his daughter’s choice.

Everyone had their own path to walk.

—

Not long after, Ethan said his goodbyes to Isabella, William, and the others. Then, mounting his Pegasus, he took off toward Sylvanwood.

He had been away longer than expected, but at least the gold problem was solved.

Now, as long as everything went smoothly with the assault on Unicorn Glade, the Tier 11 Unicorns would soon be his for the taking!

At the same time, as Ethan made his way back to Sylvanwood and returned to Emerald Castle, the internet was in absolute chaos.

Cicero’s massacre had sent shockwaves through the gaming community, and the forums were exploding with discussions...

"No way... Is that... a dragon?! What kind of wild unit is this? Could it be Tier 11? Or even Tier 12?!"

"I heard it’s actually a Tier 13 Legendary Unit..."

"Tier 13 Legendary Unit?! Are you insane?! That’s impossible!"

"It might not be. The battle footage is already circulating online. I analyzed it closely and found something absolutely terrifying—Inferno Dragons’ Tier 7 units couldn’t even scratch it!"

"Wait... they couldn’t break through its defense?! Are you saying... Tier suppression?!"

"Exactly! Tier suppression! The difference is six minor Tiers—three major Tiers! No matter how high their stats or damage were, they couldn’t even leave a mark! The only thing that could cause that level of suppression is a Legendary Unit—a Tier 13 wild unit!"

"Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. I got some inside info from Lich’s Covenant—they heard about it from King’s City in Unicorn Duchy. That dragon? It’s a Tier 13 Legendary Unit from the Forest faction—Green Dragon! It’s just one step below the mythical Tier 14 units!"

"A Tier 13 wild unit... That’s insane. No wonder Inferno Dragons got completely wrecked. Over a hundred thousand players, and nearly 90% of them got sent back to respawn! That’s a brutal loss."

"What could they do? Forget Inferno Dragons—even if one of the top ten guilds ran into something like this, they’d have no choice but to take the L. A Tier 13 wild unit is basically invincible to players. There’s no way to beat it..."

"But here’s the real question—why did it just happen to show up in Icelight City and target Inferno Dragons? You think this has anything to do with Nocturnal Crescent?"

"Nocturnal Crescent? Are you out of your mind? Do you even understand what a Tier 13 Legendary Unit is? If a player could control something like that, they’d already be ruling the game. There’s no way they’d still be struggling against Inferno Dragons. Sure, Inferno Dragons is strong, but in the grand scheme of things, they’re small-time. There are plenty of guilds stronger than them across North America. And let’s not forget—the top ten guilds are still out there, towering over everyone else."

"Exactly. If someone actually had control over a Tier 13 Legendary Unit, they wouldn’t need to hide it. They’d already be dominating the entire game." freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Yeah, when you put it that way, Inferno Dragons really got screwed over!"

"I heard they lost at least a third of their top-tier units this time! That’s brutal..."

"Seriously. And a ton of their members got killed by that dragon and lost a level. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I bet all their rival guilds are already gearing up to take advantage of this!"

"No doubt! Inferno Dragons have been throwing their weight around for years, making enemies left and right. Now karma’s finally catching up to them! Anyone with half a brain would jump at the chance to kick them while they’re down!"

"That’s just how it is—survival of the fittest. When Inferno Dragons were on top, they never showed mercy to anyone..."

"If you ask me, the luckiest ones in all this are Nocturnal Crescent. They were on the verge of getting wiped out of Icelight City, but now? With everything that just happened, no one’s gonna have the time to deal with them. This gives them a huge window to regroup."

"Yeah, it’s like Lady Luck just handed them a golden ticket. I’ve got a feeling Nocturnal Crescent is gonna rise up real soon. Sometimes, luck is just unbeatable!"

"For real, luck can be absolutely unstoppable!"

...

While the internet was ablaze with discussions about the incident, the shockwaves spread far beyond just the player base.

The top ten guilds, and even the military, were all caught up in the storm.

In Unicorn Duchy, King’s City, inside the headquarters of the Screaming Eagles—one of the most formidable guilds in North America—an elderly man with silver-streaked hair but a straight, imposing posture watched the battle footage of Inferno Dragons with a deep frown. His voice was calm but carried undeniable authority as he asked:

"Forest faction, Tier 13 wild unit—Green Dragon. Are we certain it was a wild spawn and not player-controlled?"

Screaming Eagles was one of the five military-backed guilds in the game.

Their strength was on par with Lich’s Covenant, and they could easily suppress even top-tier guilds like Holy Concord.

They were, without a doubt, one of the most terrifying powerhouses in the North American region.

"General, we’ve confirmed that this was an unexpected incident. Tier 13 units, also known as Legendary Units, are among the most powerful forces in Glory Lords X, second only to Mythic Units! Forget about players—even the major in-game factions barely have access to troops of this caliber. At this stage, it’s absolutely impossible for any player to own something like this."

The man speaking was a middle-aged officer with a commanding presence. He shook his head without hesitation before continuing, his sharp gaze unwavering.

"To put it bluntly, anyone who did manage to obtain a unit of this level would instantly gain the power to dominate everything. Right now, across the entire game world, no faction or individual could possibly stand against a Tier 13 Legendary Unit. If someone actually had one, there’d be no reason to hide it—let alone keep it tucked away in some backwater like Icelight City."

His words were logical and well-structured, leaving little room for doubt.

The elderly general fell into deep thought for a moment before finally dismissing the absurd notion from his mind. Shaking his head, he turned to the middle-aged officer with a commanding gaze.

"Hawk, you need to pick up the pace on the A-rank mission."

"Xavian Serpentis from Holy Concord has been working on his A-rank mission for a long time now, while we still don’t have a single lead. That’s unacceptable. No matter what, the most advanced power must remain in our hands. Do you understand?"

Hawk’s expression turned serious as he nodded. "Understood, General. You have my word—I’ll do everything I can to make progress on the A-rank mission."

At the same time, similar discussions were unfolding within other top-tier guilds...

Meanwhile, Ethan and Cicero had once again crossed Sylvanwood, making their way back to Emerald Castle.

"Honored Master, Your Highness Cicero, welcome back!"

The moment Cicero landed in Emerald Castle, Elynn, mounted on her silver-winged pegasus, flew over and greeted them with a respectful knight’s salute.

"Elynn, I’ve told you—no need to be so formal. We’re all on the same side."

Ethan chuckled as he dismounted from Cicero’s back. Then, after a brief pause, he asked, "How’s the situation? Any movement from the Swamp Forest?"

"Nothing so far," Elynn replied, shaking her head.

"Good." Ethan nodded before asking, "What about Seraphina? She should be level 14 by now, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness Seraphina reached level 14 a couple of days ago. But... her progress seems to have slowed down significantly. She’s still a bit short of adulthood."

Ethan immediately understood.

When Elynn said her progress has slowed down significantly, she meant that the experience required to level up from 14 to 15 was exponentially higher than before.

Take Cicero, for example—his experience bar from level 14 to 15 was at least ten times longer than the one from 13 to 14.

Seraphina was likely facing the same challenge.

After all, this was the final threshold before adulthood. It made sense that the experience requirement would spike.

At that moment, Elynn added, "Seraphina is still out hunting wild units on her own. I’m not sure exactly where she is right now."

"I see. In that case, let’s leave her be for now."

Ethan nodded before pulling out the blueprint for the Cathedral of Light, a recruitment building for Tier 6 Vestals. He handed it to Elynn.

"Elynn, take a look at this."

...