Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 87 - 1335...

"Nope!"

Seraphina shook her head and explained, "Ever since those two Hell Gates opened, every six hours, a huge wave of Inferno troops pours out. And they’re getting stronger each time—starting from those weak Tier 1 Imps, now we’re already facing Tier 5 Hell Hounds."

"If things keep going like this, the next wave will probably be Tier 6 Three-Headed Hellhounds," Elynn added from the side.

"Wait, is this some kind of tower defense mission?" Ethan muttered, looking slightly bewildered.

A tower defense mission was basically about fighting wave after wave of increasingly powerful monsters until you cleared them all and completed the quest. Honestly, this "Infernal Outpost Battle" quest felt exactly like that.

"Master, what’s a tower defense mission?" Seraphina asked curiously.

"Ah, it’s nothing..." Ethan shook his head, quickly changing the subject. "Seraphina, are these Inferno troops giving you any trouble?"

"Trouble? Nah, not at all!" Seraphina confidently shook her head without hesitation. "They’re just numerous, that’s all. But what’s the point of numbers when they’re just weak little bugs? I can squash them easily with a swipe of my claws."

"In that case, Seraphina, I’ve got a special task for you," Ethan said mysteriously, smiling.

"What kind of task?" Seraphina asked, intrigued.

"Take your new teammate out to grind some monsters and level up." Ethan waved his hand, summoning the little unicorn Elyra. Immediately, Seraphina and Elynn’s eyes locked onto the newcomer.

"Master, who’s this?" Elynn asked curiously, her eyes sparkling as she studied Elyra. "A unicorn hero?"

"Yep," Ethan nodded, smiling. "I got her back when we conquered the Unicorn Glade in Wishing Valley. But I only hatched her a few days ago. Oh, and her name is Elyra."

Pausing briefly, Ethan turned to the little unicorn and encouraged gently, "Come on, Elyra, say hi to everyone."

"Gururu! Gururu! Gururu..." Elyra wasn’t shy at all, happily chirping and greeting everyone enthusiastically.

"Hello, Princess Elyra! I’m Elynn. It’s great to meet you," Elynn, the Silver Pegasus Knight, warmly greeted her.

"Chigu! Chigu! Chigu..." Cicero also growled playfully, running over to interact and play with Elyra. Only Seraphina opened her mouth slightly, then suddenly fell quiet, looking oddly unhappy.

She didn’t say anything, just stood there pouting slightly, staring at Elyra with a hint of displeasure.

"Gururu..." Elyra’s cheerful demeanor faltered, shrinking back timidly under Seraphina’s gaze, looking pitiful and nervous.

"Seraphina, what’s wrong?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing at all..." Seraphina shook her head quickly.

Despite her denial, she continued to pout, clearly still unhappy about something.

Ethan stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Oh man, Seraphina, are you seriously getting jealous over one of our own?"

Seraphina froze, turning her head away quickly, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Hey, don’t turn away! Come here!" Ethan gently pulled the embarrassed Seraphina back to face him, speaking earnestly. "Listen, Seraphina, you’re my family—my most important family. Cicero, Elynn, Elyra, all of you are. We’re all in this together, so we need to support each other and get along. If you guys start fighting or feeling unhappy, it’ll put me in a tough spot too, you know?"

"I’m sorry, Master, I—I didn’t mean to..." Seraphina said guiltily.

Before she could finish, Ethan interrupted her gently. "You don’t need to apologize to me. Elyra, come say hi to Seraphina."

Though Elyra was still a bit intimidated by Seraphina, she obediently trotted over, gently nudging Seraphina’s hand affectionately with her head.

"Gururu... Gururu..." Elyra cooed softly, clearly trying to show her friendliness.

Seeing this, Seraphina felt even more embarrassed. After a brief hesitation, she reached out and scooped Elyra into her arms, smiling shyly. "Um, hi there. I’m Seraphina. Let’s get along well from now on, okay?"

"Gururu! Gururu!" Elyra immediately perked up, happily snuggling into Seraphina’s embrace, clearly delighted by her newfound acceptance.

Feeling Elyra’s warmth and sincerity, Seraphina’s jealousy and awkwardness melted away completely. Hugging Elyra gently, she relaxed and smiled warmly. "Elyra, let’s go level up together later, okay?"

"Finally sorted that out..." Ethan sighed in relief, then turned to Cicero. "Cicero, hold tight for now. Higher-tier Inferno troops will probably show up soon. I’ll need you to step in when that happens."

"Roar! Roar!" Cicero let out a lazy growl, clearly indicating he had no objections.

Compared to Seraphina’s competitive and eager-to-prove-herself personality, Cicero was the textbook definition of laid-back—an absolute slacker. If given the chance, he’d happily lounge around doing nothing all day. Without Ethan constantly pushing him, Cicero would probably sleep his life away.

"You lazy bum..." Ethan sighed helplessly, giving Cicero a playful tap on the head. Then he turned to Elynn. "Elynn, any unusual movements from Fury Wasteland or Gleaming Forest?"

"Nothing yet," Elynn shook her head, then paused thoughtfully. "But the recruitment of those two Treant heroes from the Gathering Encampment isn’t going smoothly."

She hesitated briefly, then continued, "Actually, Master, they mentioned they’d like to meet you personally first."

"Meet me?" Ethan blinked in surprise, then nodded decisively. "Alright, I understand. Once we’ve dealt with the Hell Gate situation, I’ll go meet them myself."

BOOM!

At that exact moment, a loud rumble echoed through the air.

Ethan froze, startled.

Elynn immediately looked up, her eyes narrowing sharply. "Master, that noise came from the Doom Mountains. It seems the Hell Gate’s dimensional portal has opened again!"

"Alright, let’s go check it out."

Ethan nodded and glanced toward Seraphina. She immediately understood, swiftly transforming into her massive dragon form. With everyone safely aboard, she soared toward the Hell Gates atop the Doom Mountains.

The Doom Mountains were enormous!

Everywhere you looked, there were active volcanoes, rivers of molten lava, and choking sulfur fumes—exactly the kind of environment Inferno faction creatures thrived in. This harsh landscape was subtly shaped by the immense power radiating from the Hell Gates themselves.

On a relatively flat plateau within the Doom Mountains stood two towering Hell Gates!

Each gate was constructed entirely from bones, intricately carved with lifelike demon sculptures that seemed almost alive at first glance.

Immense demonic and spatial energies continuously surged from the gates, distorting the space within. From these twisted portals, massive Inferno faction creatures poured forth endlessly, swarming out like locusts!

Spatial manipulation was the Inferno demons’ specialty. Their unmatched mastery over space was precisely why they could wage relentless wars and invade countless realms.

"Two Hell Gates activated simultaneously, huh?" Ethan muttered, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

At that exact moment, a system notification chimed clearly in his ears:

"Player Valkarion’s S-Class storyline quest ’Infernal Outpost Battle’ has entered the sixth wave of invasion! Repel and eliminate enemy units promptly. Failure to meet the kill quota or exceeding the time limit will result in mission failure!"

"Enemy Unit: Tier 6 Three-Headed Hellhound. Enemy Count: 2000. Required Kill Count: 200. Time Limit: 3 hours."

"Mission timer started. Remaining time: 2 hours, 59 minutes!"

"Two thousand Three-Headed Hellhounds?!" Ethan froze momentarily, then sighed heavily. "Damn, that’s an S-Class faction quest for you. Brutal."

When enemy numbers reached a certain threshold, the difficulty spiked exponentially.

Two thousand Three-Headed Hellhounds clearly surpassed that threshold!

Even scarier, this was just one stage of the quest—not even the final battle!

In other words, by the time they reached the final stage, the Infernal Legions’ forces would probably be even more terrifying. But for Seraphina, this was still nothing she couldn’t handle.

"Seraphina, you’re up," Ethan said confidently, turning toward her.

At the same time, he gently took little Elyra back into his arms.

Although he’d said Seraphina would help Elyra level up, in reality, Elyra just needed to stand by and watch.

Due to the unique mechanics of the "Glory Lords X" system, experience points from monster hunting were distributed based on contribution. However, there was a built-in "minimum guarantee"—even if you didn’t actively participate, you’d still receive at least 3% of the experience.

Three percent might sound tiny at first glance, but when you’re dealing with massive hordes of monsters, that small percentage could quickly add up to a huge chunk of experience!

"I’m going in, Master!"

Seraphina could barely hold herself back anymore. She was naturally aggressive and battle-hungry—if Ethan hadn’t been there, she’d have already charged ahead, wreaking havoc and tearing through the enemy ranks!

"Gururu! Gururu!" Elyra bounced excitedly, cheering Seraphina on with adorable enthusiasm.

"Alright, go get ’em, Seraphina! We’ll be waiting for your good news," Ethan said with a grin.

"As you command!"

The moment Seraphina finished speaking—

BOOM!

With a powerful flap of her dragon wings, Seraphina unleashed a massive surge of Draconic Force, rocketing into the sky and hurtling toward the two Hell Gates atop the Doom Mountains at lightning speed!

Whoosh!

Her terrifying Draconic Force whipped up a storm, gathering around her massive form and even drawing upon the natural elements themselves. Like a tidal wave, it crashed down upon the hordes of Three-Headed Hellhounds below!

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

The Three-Headed Hellhounds’ eyes glowed blood-red as they charged fearlessly toward Seraphina. They had no fear, only a savage, relentless bloodlust!

Their crimson eyes locked onto Seraphina, filled with insane killing intent.

This was exactly what made Inferno faction creatures so terrifying—

They knew no fear, only brutality and slaughter!

Even if their strength was suppressed by a higher-tier opponent, their violent nature could never be subdued. In other words, once the battle began, Inferno creatures would never panic or break ranks. They would always fight at full strength—sometimes even beyond their limits!

Unfortunately for them, their opponent was Seraphina!

"ROOOOAAARRR!"

Seraphina let out a mighty dragon roar, her body radiating dazzling Draconic Force. The energy rapidly gathered in her mouth, forming a devastating emerald-green beam of energy that blasted straight into the mass of Three-Headed Hellhounds below!

This was the Green Dragon clan’s innate skill—Venomous Dragon Breath!

Sssssssssss!

"ARRRGHHHH!"

"GRRRRAAAHHH!"

The Three-Headed Hellhounds shrieked in agony as their massive bodies rapidly decayed, flesh melting away to reveal gruesome wounds and stark white bones. They collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot!

At the same moment, Ethan heard the system notification ringing clearly in his ears:

"Congratulations! Your hero unit Seraphina has successfully completed the sixth wave of the S-Class storyline quest ’Infernal Outpost Battle’! Enemy units eliminated: Tier 6 Three-Headed Hellhounds—1335 out of 2000!"

"What the—?!"

Ethan’s jaw dropped, completely stunned by what he’d just witnessed.

"Holy crap... She wiped out over a thousand of them with just one breath?!"