Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 81: Power was everything

"Whoa..."

Emily had barely glanced at the stats before her eyes widened in shock, sucking in a sharp breath. "This... this... this is insane! Elyra’s attribute panel is completely overpowered! Ethan, is it too late for me to regret my choices now?"

"Obviously." Ethan rolled his eyes, unsurprised. "I mean, we’re talking about the first-ever Tier 11 unit hero in the entire game. Having stats like this isn’t exactly shocking. But honestly, I didn’t expect it to be a mage hero..."

As he spoke, Ethan looked down at the adorable unicorn in his arms, grinning. "No surprises there, though. Elyra, you’re amazing! I can’t wait to see what kind of power you’ll unleash once you’re fully grown."

"Gulu gulu! Gulu gulu! Gulu gulu!"

The little unicorn seemed to understand his words, immediately perking up and shaking its tiny head excitedly, pride written all over its face.

Meanwhile, Emily took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. The shock of seeing Elyra’s stats as a B-rank Legendary hero was still there, but after witnessing Cicero—a Crimson Ultimate hero and a Tier 13 unit—she had already braced herself for this kind of absurdity.

It made it easier to accept.

After a brief pause, she couldn’t help but ask, "Ethan, what’s your plan for the Scarlet Legion guild?"

This time, there was no trace of the earlier worry or hesitation in her voice.

If she hadn’t known about Ethan’s trump cards, she might have been concerned.

But now that she did? What was there to be afraid of?

Forget the unicorn hero or the Green Dragon hero—those were practically invincible. Even just the sheer power of an army of Tier 11 unicorns was enough to wipe out Scarlet Legion... hell, maybe even all of the top ten guilds combined!

In other words, she might have just gained the power to destroy the top ten guilds herself.

So really, the ones who should be worried were Scarlet Legion, not them.

Without realizing it, Emily’s entire mindset had shifted. Her tone, her words—everything carried a newfound confidence. The fear and reverence she once held for Scarlet Legion as one of the top guilds had faded, replaced by a sense of detachment, even indifference.

Status and power shaped one’s perspective.

Strength determined who had the right to speak, who held the reins.

And sometimes, everything could change in an instant.

That said, despite her newfound confidence, she still had some attachment to Scarlet Legion—or more specifically, to the Sixth Legion within it.

If Ethan suddenly decided to wipe out Scarlet Legion on a whim, she wouldn’t argue with him. But deep down, she knew she wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable with it either.

Noticing her hesitation, Ethan raised an eyebrow. "What, thinking of pleading for them?"

"Not exactly."

Emily shook her head and got straight to the point. "Since I joined Scarlet Legion, everyone’s been really good to me—especially Selene. She’s helped me a lot. Even if Whitestone and his crew pissed you off, the rest of the guild had nothing to do with it. They don’t deserve to get caught up in this."

"Sounds like Scarlet Legion has a pretty decent atmosphere. You haven’t even been with them that long, and you’re already attached."

Ethan chuckled before reassuring her. "Don’t worry. I’m only interested in taking down Sterling Group. As long as the others don’t come looking for trouble, I won’t bother with them."

"That’s a relief." Emily let out a small smile.

Beep beep, beep beep beep...

Suddenly, Emily’s communicator chimed, the familiar beeping sound catching her attention. She blinked in surprise and glanced at the flashing notification.

"Selene?"

Without hesitation, she answered the call. After exchanging a few words, she turned to Ethan with a smile. "Ethan, Scarlet Queen wants to meet with you tonight."

"Alright." Ethan nodded casually.

...

Night fell. Whether in Glory Lords X or in the real world, the evening had arrived.

Ethan might not care about Scarlet Legion or Scarlet Queen, but Nocturnal Crescent and William didn’t have that luxury. So, at Scarlet Queen’s subtle suggestion, William had arranged a grand banquet at Nocturnal Crescent’s headquarters. Lavish tables were set, and the atmosphere was extravagant.

By the time Ethan and Emily arrived at Nocturnal Crescent’s headquarters, the place was already bustling with people. The crowd was massive.

The upper echelons of Nocturnal Crescent, the leadership of Scarlet Legion... even representatives from Sterling Group and the various legion commanders of Scarlet Legion had all arrived early, waiting in silence for Ethan’s appearance.

To outsiders, these were some of the most powerful figures in North America’s gaming scene. But here, in this moment, they all understood one thing—tonight, they were just background characters. Nothing more than extras.

They held no real weight.

After what felt like an eternity, Ethan and Emily finally appeared at the entrance of the banquet hall.

William, who had been waiting by the door, immediately perked up. His eyes lit up as he stepped forward quickly, greeting them with a respectful tone. "Mr. Ethan, Miss Emily, please come in. Scarlet Queen is already waiting inside."

"Mr. Carter, good evening." Emily greeted him politely.

"Mr. Carter." Ethan gave him a slight nod.

At that moment, Isabella emerged from behind William, her expression tinged with concern. "Ethan, Scarlet Legion brought a lot of people. Even Scarlet Queen herself showed up... Are they really here to apologize?"

"Have some confidence, don’t be scared."

Ethan didn’t have time to explain anything to Isabella right now.

As he spoke, he quickly shot a look at Emily, who immediately caught on. Without hesitation, she reached out and pulled Isabella into a reassuring hug.

"Isabella, forget about him. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. Don’t worry, it’s fine. Even if you don’t trust him, you trust me, right?" Emily said with a bright smile, completely at ease, as if there was nothing to be concerned about.

"Really?"

Isabella hesitated for a moment. If it were just Ethan trying to reassure her, she might have still overthought things.

But now, even Emily was saying the same thing...

Could it be that...

All these high-ranking members of the Scarlet Legion at the banquet, including their guild leader, Scarlet Queen—

Were they really here to apologize?!

"Come on, let’s head inside." Ethan smiled and walked toward the banquet hall entrance.

At the same time, William immediately raised his voice and announced, "Mr. Ethan and Miss Emily have arrived!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the once lively banquet hall fell into complete silence.

Not a single sound.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, countless eyes filled with curiosity, fear, shock, and disbelief turned toward Ethan. Some carried an emotion that was hard to describe.

Before today, no one had even heard of Ethan’s name.

But after Whitestone was forcibly PKed and dropped in level, and after Scarlet Queen’s series of tests, now—within the upper ranks of the Scarlet Legion—there was hardly anyone who didn’t know about this rising powerhouse.

"That’s him? Ethan from the mysterious organization Draconic Pact? Damn... he’s way too young."

"He’s the one who forced Whitestone to drop levels?"

"I heard his strength might even surpass Scarlet Queen’s! Even her 10-Tier Thunderbird couldn’t instantly take down Whitestone’s 9-Tier Genie!"

"No way... Are you serious? Scarlet Queen is in the Monarch Leaderboard Top 10! If he’s stronger than her, are you telling me he’s on the same level as Caesar from Lich’s Covenant?!"

"Who knows... But I’m guessing that instant kill wasn’t just about raw attack and defense stats. It was because of..."

"Because of what?!"

"Strategic Artifact..."

"Wait... He—he has a Strategic Artifact?!"

...

All eyes were locked onto Ethan.

But deep within nearly every gaze, there was a mix of disbelief, fear, and even a hint of submission.

That was just how this world worked—power was everything.

And if their suspicions were correct—if Ethan’s strength truly rivaled or even surpassed Scarlet Queen’s—then they weren’t even qualified to look him in the eye.

In all of North America, there were only a handful of people with that kind of power. You could count them on one hand.

At that moment, as Ethan stepped into the banquet hall, the first thing he saw was Scarlet Queen approaching him.

She was dressed in a flowing crimson robe, her beauty cold and untouchable, exuding an overwhelming presence and authority. But to Ethan, that pressure meant nothing.

And then—

Under the stunned, disbelieving gazes of the crowd—

He openly, unabashedly let his eyes roam over Scarlet Queen’s face, then down to her perfectly sculpted figure, his gaze bold and invasive.

As if he didn’t care in the slightest how she might feel about it.

Gulp.

Many people couldn’t help but swallow hard before quickly lowering their heads.

At the same time, the awe and fear on their faces deepened.

"This guy... He’s the real deal. A true monster."

Scarlet Queen’s brows furrowed as she stared at Ethan. But in the end, she didn’t lash out. Instead, she simply spoke in a calm, measured tone.

"First time meeting. I’m Scarlet, leader of the Scarlet Legion."

Her in-game ID was just one word—Scarlet.

The title Scarlet Queen was something others had given her out of respect.

She paused for a moment, her gaze flickering slightly before she asked, "You’re Ethan, from Draconic Pact?"

"That’s me," Ethan replied indifferently.

Scarlet Queen studied him for a moment before speaking again.

"I don’t know why you did what you did, but with your level of strength, there’s no way you’d go out of your way to target Whitestone over something trivial. So there must have been some kind of misunderstanding..."

Her eyes lingered on Ethan for a second longer—

And then, to everyone’s shock, she lowered her head slightly and said,

"If it was a misunderstanding, then I apologize. There’s no need for things to escalate any further. Let’s both take a step back and put this behind us. What do you say?"

Hiss—

A collective gasp swept through the room.

Scarlet Queen—a Monarch Leaderboard Top 10 player! The leader of the Scarlet Legion!

And she was apologizing—in public!

This was unbelievable.

But even so—

Ethan’s expression remained completely neutral. He didn’t say a word.

He didn’t even look like he was considering responding.

The moment people realized this, their pupils shrank, their expressions shifting once again.

"What the hell...? He’s not even accepting Scarlet Queen’s apology?" someone muttered in disbelief, as if they were dreaming.

Their entire understanding of reality was starting to crack.

...