Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 127: Have I... really been wrong this whole time?

The soldiers and heroes under Grand Duke Theodore’s command were momentarily stunned.

They had no idea what to do.

On one side was one of their own. On the other, a noble Count of the Light Alliance. Who were they supposed to support?

Or maybe... they should just stay out of it and see how things played out?

"This is..."

"Gideon, what should we do? Should we stop them?" Ignatius, an 8th-Tier Blazing Griffin Knight, hesitated.

"I don’t think we can..." Gideon, an 8th-Tier Holy Crusader, let out a wry chuckle. "If we try to stop them, I’m afraid Helena will end up fighting us too."

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

Because they all knew—given Helena’s personality—that was a very real possibility.

"We might be used to Helena’s temper, but that doesn’t mean Count Valkarion will tolerate it..." Liora, a 6th-Tier Vestal, shook her head. "And honestly, considering his status, Helena really did go too far earlier."

"So what do we do? Should I go inform the Grand Duke?" Griffith, a 6th-Tier Royal Griffin Knight, asked helplessly.

"Let’s wait and see." Liora’s eyes flickered as she shook her head. "Count Valkarion isn’t reckless. He must have his own plans."

"Agreed..."

Gideon nodded, glancing at Helena’s back with a sigh. "The Grand Duke has spoiled Helena too much. Steel that’s too rigid snaps easily. If Count Valkarion can teach her a lesson, it might not be a bad thing." freewёbnoνel.com

"True. Let’s just watch for now."

"Honestly, Helena shouldn’t have been sent on this mission in the first place. Even Seymour, a 9th-Tier Radiant Spirit, died in battle. That alone proves how dangerous the enemy is! Charging in recklessly like this is no different from throwing her life away."

"She’s still young. Once she matures a little, she’ll probably change."

"I just hope we survive long enough for that to happen."

"Yeah... let’s just see how this plays out..."

...

While they whispered among themselves, Ethan and Paladin Helena had already stepped into the open battlefield.

"You despicable ambusher! I’ll show you the power of a Paladin!"

Boom!

A radiant glow erupted from Helena’s body as she summoned the massive Greatsword of Judgment into her hands. The blade gleamed with dazzling light, almost blinding.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Ethan chuckled, unfazed. His voice was calm, almost indifferent. "Then you’d better be careful..."

Before his words even fully landed, Ethan’s Holy Armament flared to life, forming luminous wings of light. With a single powerful beat, he shot forward like a storm, his entire body cutting through the air like a sword aimed straight at Helena!

His speed was terrifyingly fast!

Helena’s expression shifted slightly. Without hesitation, she swung her Greatsword of Judgment forward to meet him head-on.

Clang!

The sharp clash of metal rang out, piercing the air!

A shockwave of divine energy exploded outward, sending waves of force in all directions. The sheer power of their clash whipped their hair and clothes wildly in the wind, as if the battlefield itself trembled beneath their strength!

Ethan’s sword, forged from roaring Celestial Fire, pressed down unyieldingly against Helena’s Greatsword of Judgment.

She gritted her teeth, gripping her weapon with both hands, but her arms trembled under the sheer force. Slowly, she was being pushed downward.

"Not bad," Ethan mused, his lips curling into a half-smile. "But still not as strong as me, right?"

"Tch!"

Helena let out a sharp scoff, abruptly leaping backward to create space. Without missing a beat, she swung her Greatsword of Judgment in a vicious arc, aiming straight for Ethan!

Ethan met her strike head-on, his Celestial Fire sword clashing against her blade in a brutal collision—

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted, blasting outward for hundreds of feet. The very ground trembled beneath the force of their clash, cracks spiderwebbing across the battlefield.

"Keep going!"

Ethan’s voice rang out as he struck again, sending Helena flying backward.

He didn’t stop. Pressing the attack, he forced her into retreat, blow after relentless blow!

At this rate, the outcome of the battle was already clear.

To be fair, Helena did have one advantage—her swordsmanship.

As a Paladin, she had trained with a greatsword since childhood, honing her technique to near perfection. Her mastery of the blade allowed her to outmaneuver opponents of equal strength, even gaining the upper hand in a fair fight.

But that was the problem.

Her skill only mattered if the fight was fair.

Against overwhelming raw power, technique alone wasn’t enough.

And Ethan? He wasn’t exactly unskilled either.

Back at Emerald Castle, he had spent hours every day training under Elynn’s strict combat drills. Not to mention the countless times Seraphina had beaten him into the ground.

After getting his ass kicked so many times, he had picked up a thing or two.

BANG!

Moments later, Helena was sent crashing into the ground once more, the impact shaking the earth with a deafening roar. The sheer force of the blow sent tremors rippling through the battlefield, making it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to even stand upright.

Ethan stood tall, bathed in radiant light, the divine energy swirling around him like a living force. The brilliance of the Holy Element illuminated the battlefield, turning his surroundings as bright as midday.

"Still want to keep going?"

He tilted his head slightly, his voice calm but firm.

"You don’t seem like much of a match for me."

"D-Damn it..."

Paladin Helena was in a terrible state—her body covered in blood, her once-radiant holy armor now tattered and dull.

Just as Ethan had predicted, even though Helena was an orange-tier Legendary hero, she was only a low-tier Legendary—and her level was way too low.

That was a fatal weakness.

If they had been at the same level, Ethan wasn’t sure he would have won. But he also wouldn’t have lost.

Most likely, the fight would have ended in a draw.

But reality didn’t care about what ifs.

With a level gap of over ten, there was no way Helena could be his match.

Honestly, if Ethan hadn’t started holding back toward the end, showing her some mercy, she’d be in an even worse state right now.

"Holy crap, this is insane..."

Emily, who had been watching the battle unfold, murmured in disbelief, her face full of shock.

Wings of light carried Ethan through the air. With a mere gesture, he summoned Celestial Fire, forging it into a divine sword. When he swung it down, the ground for thousands of feet around split apart, mountains crumbling in its wake. Chaos reigned.

If this had happened in the real world, it would’ve been on par with a small nuclear explosion.

The laws of the world in Glory Lords X were different from those of Earth. The strength of the two worlds wasn’t even comparable.

A level 20 blue-tier Rare hero could easily demolish a skyscraper in the real world. But in Glory Lords X, that same hero would struggle to break a ten-foot boulder.

That was the difference in world strength.

Meanwhile, Helena, still unwilling to accept defeat, gritted her teeth. "If we were at the same level, I would have beaten you!"

"That’s true."

Ethan nodded, his tone calm. "If we were at the same level, I wouldn’t have won so easily... But do you really think the Inferno heroes you’ll face will always be at your level?"

Helena froze, her expression stiffening.

"Hating evil is a good thing. In that sense, you’re an excellent Paladin."

Then Ethan’s tone shifted, turning sharp and merciless. "But from another perspective, don’t you think you’re just a brainless pawn?"

"You charge in recklessly without knowing anything. What if there had been an Infernal Lord waiting for you? Or worse, an Infernal Overlord or even a Demon King? What’s the difference between that and suicide?"

Helena’s face darkened, but she still refused to back down. "You should know what it means to be a Paladin! Even if it’s an Infernal Lord, an Overlord, or a Demon King, I would never back down!"

"I know." Ethan shrugged. "You can throw your life away if you want. That’s your choice. But what about me? What about them? We’re not Paladins."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Or is that what being a Paladin means? Dragging innocent people to die with you?"

"No, I never forced you to throw your lives away..." Paladin Helena’s face changed drastically as she shook her head in a panic.

"But you are their leader."

Ethan gestured toward Gideon and the others standing at the edge of the battlefield. His tone was calm but firm. "As a leader, your bare minimum responsibility is to keep your people alive—not to drag them into reckless fights just because you don’t think things through. The stronger you are, the higher your status, the greater your responsibility. Do you understand?"

Helena opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Ethan’s words were blunt—harsh, even—but they hit her like a hammer, forcing her to confront the flaw in her thinking.

"The stronger you are, the higher your status, the greater your responsibility..." she murmured, lowering her head slightly. After a brief pause, she whispered, "I’m sorry."

"Not bad. At least you’re not completely hopeless."

Ethan shrugged, dismissing his Holy Armament form before turning to walk off the battlefield.

Helena stood up and followed behind him, noticeably more subdued.

Watching this unfold, Emily couldn’t help but give Ethan a big thumbs-up. "Damn, big bro, that was badass!"

"Of course." Ethan chuckled, then turned his gaze toward Gideon and the others, who were now looking at him with gratitude. "Sorry for the delay, everyone. Let’s get back to business. Tracking down the Inferno Devil that’s been gathering Legendary Units won’t be easy—this mission is going to be a tough one."

At his words, Gideon and the others immediately straightened, their expressions turning serious.

"Count Valkarion, you’re absolutely right! Inferno Devils rarely appear in our main world. If one has shown up, it must be for a reason!"

"And more importantly, Legendary Units almost never follow anyone below orange-tier Legendary. In other words, if an Inferno Devil is involved, does that mean there’s an orange-tier Legendary Inferno hero behind this?"

"I think that’s highly likely. Otherwise, there’s no way a Tier 9 Radiant Spirit hero like Seymour would’ve died so easily! He wasn’t a combat specialist, sure, but his power wasn’t far off from ours."

"If we are dealing with an orange-tier Legendary Inferno hero, then this is serious. And we still don’t know why they’ve come to the main world. That’s the most critical part!"

...

The discussion quickly gained momentum.

They had never bothered sharing their thoughts with Helena before—because there was no point.

She never listened.

But Ethan was different. Whether it was his status as a Light Alliance Count or the way he had just put Helena in her place, he had already proven his intelligence and leadership.

They wanted to talk to him. They wanted to share their insights and ideas.

Watching this unfold, Helena seemed shaken.

Her eyes flickered with uncertainty as she stood there, lost in thought.

"Have I... really been wrong this whole time?"

...