Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory
Chapter 486: Firebird Creature Dwellings

Chapter 486: Firebird Creature Dwellings

As everyone knows, in the world of Glory Lords X, the type and specialization of a Hero Unit determine how they’re used and where they shine. In other words, different Hero Units are built for different kinds of battles.

Take defense scenarios, for example—like holding a fortress or guarding a key location. In those cases, a defensive-type Hero Unit or even a regular defensive troop can bring way more value than any other type of Hero.

Normally, in a siege or defensive battle, if both sides are the same Tier and power level, it takes at least a 3-to-1 troop advantage for a warrior-type Hero Unit to even have a shot at breaking through a defensive Hero Unit’s castle.

Same goes for trying to defeat—or kill—a defensive Hero Unit. If they’re on equal footing in terms of Tier and strength, you’d need at least three warrior-type Hero Units just to stand a chance. And that’s the bare minimum.

That’s why, in the world of Glory Lords X, there’s a saying:

"Anyone can conquer new lands,

But only the gods can hold them."

And those "gods"? They’re the defensive Hero Units.

Though, to be honest, Ethan never fully bought into that idea.

To him, whether a Hero Unit is powerful or not depends on two things: their own abilities, and how well their lord knows how to use them.

The right tool in the right hands can change the course of a war.

Still, he couldn’t deny one thing—defensive Hero Units were rare. Really rare.

So far, how many Crimson Ultimate Heroes had he gathered?

Seraphina, Cicero, Kyros, Oakenmaw, Kaiin, Orryn... and himself.

That made seven in total.

But out of all of them, only Kaiin could truly be called a pure defensive Hero Unit.

As for Oakenmaw, the Ancient War Tree... he was more of a hybrid. Half offense, half defense.

Even so, Ethan had already felt the insane level of defense Oakenmaw brought to the table—way beyond what Kyros, Seraphina, or Orryn, all top-tier warrior-type Crimson Ultimates, could offer.

At the same Tier, Oakenmaw’s "turtle shell" of defense was damn near unbreakable.

And it wasn’t just him—his presence boosted the entire Ancient Treant and Ancient War Tree factions under his command, making them tankier too.

And that’s not even a full-on defensive Hero Unit.

Which is why Ethan was seriously curious—and excited—to see what Kaiin would become once he fully matured.

If the legends were true, and Kaiin really did become that unbreakable fortress of a Hero, then yeah—he could hold down an entire region solo, no problem.

But for now...

It was still too early to tell.

...

Another day passed.

Seraphina and Orryn’s "joint sweep-and-clear expedition" finally returned.

At the same time, Lilith’s preparations seemed to be making real progress too.

"Master," Seraphina reported, "we’ve scouted the entire surrounding area top to bottom. Nothing too noteworthy. Mostly just weak Dungeon factions, a few abandoned teleport gates, and the usual resource points."

"What about Creature Dwellings?" Ethan asked. "Any 14-Tier ones?"

At his level, basic resource points didn’t even register on his radar anymore.

The only things that still mattered to him were 14-Tier Creature Dwellings.

Those weren’t just valuable—they were foundational. Core assets.

A castle, a kingdom, even an entire faction’s strength could be measured by two things: how many Crimson Ultimate Heroes they had, and how many 14-Tier Creature Dwellings they controlled.

Because when it came down to it...

Those were the things that decided who won and who lost.

"No 14-Tier Creature Dwellings, unfortunately," Seraphina replied. "We did find a few 13-Tier ones, though. But most of them belong to those filthy Red Dragons from the Dungeon faction. So far, we’ve located five in total. Master, should we take them over?"

"Red Dragon Creature Dwellings?" Ethan paused for a second, then let out a sigh, clearly annoyed.

Seriously?

Look but don’t touch?

Pleasure wrapped in pain?

It was like dangling a feast in front of a starving man and telling him he couldn’t have a bite.

The thing was, within the Emerald Castle’s troop system, he could field Green Dragons and Gold Dragons from the Forest faction, Behemoths from the Beast tribes, Arcane Colossi from the Tower’s magical tech line—even Ebonite Colossi, Ancient War Trees, and Storm Dragons were fair game.

But there was one glaring exception.

Troops from the Dark Alliance’s three major factions? Off-limits.

Unless he was willing to betray the Light Alliance and defect to the Dark side—or disappear into some remote Plane World, far from the eyes of the major factions, and quietly build his forces in secret—this was a hard, non-negotiable no.

Touching those units was a death sentence.

Literally.

So, yeah. No thanks.

With that in mind, he didn’t even hesitate. "Destroy them all. See if we can at least get a couple Seeds of Creature Dwellings out of it."

Compared to a fully functional, recruitable Creature Dwelling, the value of a Seed was maybe... what? A tenth? If that.

But what choice did he have? Red Dragon Dwellings were a no-go.

And even if he could take them...

What was he gonna do? Raise a Red Dragon Hero Unit? Or worse, a Black Dragon?

Not only was that completely unrealistic, it was also a massive waste of time—and a huge risk.

No, better to just let it go.

Seeds were still something. Not much, but better than nothing.

"Understood, Master," Seraphina nodded. Then she added, "Oh, and one more thing... aside from those Red Dragon Dwellings, we also found two Firebird Creature Dwellings."

"Firebird Creature Dwellings?" Ethan blinked, then asked, "And?"

Seraphina gave a helpless shrug. "And then Isaryne claimed them. Said it was her reward for helping out this time..."

She glanced at Ethan, waiting for his reaction. "Master, want me to go get them back?"

Ethan waved it off with a chuckle. "Nah, let her have them. We don’t really have much use for Firebird Dwellings anyway. And come on—we all know each other. Doesn’t really matter who holds them."

Now, if it had been someone else trying to snatch up a pair of 14-Tier Legendary Unit Dwellings? No way in hell he’d let that slide.

Sure, maybe he didn’t need them—but that didn’t mean he’d just let someone else walk off with the prize. That’d be like tossing a steak to the wolves just because you’re not hungry.

But if it was Isaryne?

That was different.

Given how things stood between them right now, it was basically the same as him keeping them anyway. No real difference.

"Yes, Master," Seraphina said with a smile, clearly relieved.

Truth be told, she hadn’t wanted to start drama with Isaryne over a couple of Firebird Dwellings either. Sure, they bickered all the time, but deep down, their relationship was solid. Close, even.

So when Isaryne swooped in and claimed those Firebird Dwellings, Seraphina hadn’t really minded.

Besides, it’s not like Emerald Castle had any use for them right now anyway.

...