Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Chapter 1209: The Infant Behind Him

Mournvale Abyss was saturated with corrosive power. The environment itself rejected anything stable, anything tough and unyielding. Adamant Essence had no business existing here—much less being hidden inside this guy’s barrier.

And yet, the truth was right in front of Ethan.

At the core of that shield, there really was a force so hard it was almost stubborn, propping up the entire defensive structure.

The transparent lightning slammed into it.

A roar drowned out the canyon’s low howl as rings of electric patterns burst across the barrier’s surface. Thunderlight crawled over it, but it didn’t punch through right away. The man behind the shield stood there, chest rising and falling—then a cold smile crept back onto his face.

"You’re one of the few I’ve ever met who can fight me to a draw!"

His voice carried through the barrier, arrogant in that way people got when they’d managed to steady their nerves. His energy kept pouring into the shield, layering over itself, quickly filling in the dents Ethan’s lightning had carved out.

"But this barrier of mine is fused from multiple elemental powers. You can’t break it. If you hand over that transparent lightning you’re carrying... maybe I’ll spare your life."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

No arguing. No hesitation.

Everything in his body surged at once. Transparent lightning erupted from his shoulders, arms, and palms together, spinning wildly around a single point in front of him. The air was dragged into a collapsing inward current. Pebbles rose from the ground—then were shredded into dust by snapping arcs.

A massive energy sphere formed in front of him.

Ethan stepped forward and drove both hands out hard. The sphere, wrapped in transparent thunderlight, shot across the canyon and slammed straight into Corvath’s barrier. The path of the attack was clean and tyrannical, cutting across the whole battlefield. Every stray wisp of energy it passed was swept up and dragged along, like the thunder tide was hauling everything it could find into one decisive crash.

The instant the sphere made contact—

Corvath’s smile froze.

Crack.

The first fissure appeared at the dead center of the barrier.

Then the second. The third. The fourth.

They spread out from the impact point in a rapid web. The defense supported by Adamant Essence didn’t collapse immediately—but it couldn’t fully withstand the transparent lightning forcing its way in. Every time an arc detonated, the barrier caved another fraction, and the fractures expanded another ring.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Repeated impacts thundered through the canyon like a sledgehammer striking the same slab of metal over and over. The cracks multiplied until they nearly blanketed the entire shield. Behind it, Corvath’s expression changed sharply. The force shoved him backward several steps, his feet skidding as the stone beneath him was plowed into two deep grooves.

He finally stopped acting like he was untouchable.

Corvath retreated in a panic and pulled out a red gemstone. The moment it hit his palm, thick crimson light churned inside it. Then he clenched his fingers—

—and crushed it.

Blood-red energy erupted from the shattered gem and rapidly spread into a new barrier between him and Ethan. This one was heavier than the last, its color so dark it looked like congealed blood. When Ethan’s transparent lightning smashed into it, it was forcibly stopped. The exploding arcs skated sideways along the surface, unable to push closer to Corvath’s body.

Ethan’s pupils tightened slightly.

So he still had cards to play.

He adjusted his breathing fast, flipped his hand, and took out an energy core. The instant it appeared, the air around it seemed to sink. Even through its shell, the power inside trembled violently, like it was trying to break free.

Ethan didn’t give Corvath a second to regain his footing.

He hurled the core.

It cut through the air and slammed straight into the blood-red barrier.

At the moment of impact, the compressed force inside the core fully erupted. A shockwave blasted outward from the collision point. The blood-red wall bowed inward first—then a storm of shattered patterns spread over its surface. The red energy tried to seal itself back together, but the core’s explosion had already torn the structure apart at the seams.

Boom!

The blood-red barrier blew into countless fragments. The scattered red light flew outward like broken glass—then was wiped out in seconds by the lingering lightning backlash.

Corvath broke.

He stumbled back again and again, trying to pull out of the battlefield, the energy in his shoulders and arms briefly spiraling out of control.

But Ethan was already moving.

Stone exploded under Ethan’s feet. He cut through the yet-unfaded crimson shards and closed the distance in a blink, forcing himself right into Corvath’s face.

This time, Ethan didn’t give him even a breath to form another barrier.

His palm was wrapped in transparent thunder. Fine arcs danced along the edges of his fingers as he drove his hand down onto Corvath’s shoulder.

The instant he made contact, Thunder power punched into Corvath’s body, ripping along his scapula and meridians, forcibly tearing open what little defense he had left.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Corvath’s body convulsed under the impacts, each dull blast coming from inside him. Transparent arcs drilled deep into flesh, shredding shoulder, bone, and the very channels his energy flowed through. Ethan’s Thunder was the kind of force that let him kill across tiers.

Against a target whose defenses were already cracked open?

It didn’t leave much room for survival.

Soon, half of Corvath’s shoulder was ground to pieces.

Flesh and shattered energy exploded together. Corvath let out a strangled, suppressed howl, his body tipping sideways, nearly unable to stay upright. Excitement flared in Ethan’s eyes. Power continued to surge out of him, transparent lightning swelling along his arm as it pressed Corvath’s body toward collapse.

At this rate, Ethan was going to tear Corvath into scraps.

Then—right as Ethan stepped in again—

A shockingly strange energy burst out of Corvath.

It didn’t explode from his hands. It didn’t pour from his wounds.

It bulged outward from his back.

Corvath’s body went rigid. Blood still streamed from his ruined shoulder, but his spine twisted in an unnatural way, the shape of his back warping like something inside was trying to claw its way out.

And then a figure—shaped like an infant—pushed its way out from Corvath’s back.

The moment it appeared, the sky split with countless fine cracks.

Not fractures in the earth—space itself. The air overhead was crushed open by raw pressure, thin black lines crisscrossing like a shattered pane. Mournvale Abyss’s energy turned chaotic. Corrosive aura and dark power were shoved aside, forced outward, as if the abyss itself was making room for this new existence.

Ethan’s breathing grew heavy.

That infant-like figure hovered behind Corvath. But its voice was cold, arrogant—nothing like its fragile-looking body.

"Corvath, you useless trash. You couldn’t even handle some outsider?"

Its tone sharpened with cruel excitement.

"Looks like I have to do it myself. I’ll show you the true power of Mournvale Abyss."

The moment the words fell—

Its aura detonated.

Corvath didn’t even get a chance to resist. His already-ruined body exploded from the inside out, chunks of flesh blasting in every direction—only to be shredded into powder by the surging energy around them.

The infant-like figure tore free from the wreckage and floated into the air.

In its hand, it pinched a fire-red gemstone.