"Deterrence?" Kaiin blinked again, still looking lost.
"That’s right—deterrence," Ethan said with a grin, his eyes gleaming as he began to explain.
"Kaiin, think about it. Stationing a Crimson Ultimate-tier hero here just to guard this place? That’s a dumb move—no matter who you are. Even the major factions wouldn’t do something that wasteful. It’s a terrible use of resources. So instead of playing defense like sitting ducks, we flip the script—we go on the offensive."
"Flip the script?" Kaiin muttered, still not quite getting it.
Ethan sighed and shook his head. "Listen. Our biggest advantage right now at Emerald Castle is that we’ve got a bunch of insanely powerful Crimson Ultimate heroes. If we keep them together and strike as one, we’re a force to be reckoned with. Hell, we could probably go toe-to-toe with even the King-tier elites from the major factions. That’s our strength. But..."
He paused, his tone shifting.
"That’s also our biggest weakness."
"Our numbers are thin, Kaiin. If we start splitting up our forces—stationing heroes here and there—we’re just magnifying that weakness. Every split weakens us. Every outpost becomes a vulnerable point."
"So yeah, posting a Crimson Ultimate hero here just to babysit a portal? That’s a dumb move."
"I get that... but Master, what does that have to do with deterrence?" Kaiin scratched his big head, giving a sheepish grin. Follow current novᴇls on novel·fiɾe·net
Before Ethan could answer, Isaryne suddenly cut in.
"Let me put it this way—if someone held a knife to your throat 24/7, wouldn’t you be scared?"
"Of course I’d be scared!" Kaiin blurted out without hesitation.
"Exactly," Ethan said with a chuckle. "That’s deterrence. If someone comes to attack this place, even if they manage to take it, they’re left with two options: one, like Malenthia, they leave a heavy garrison to hold it. Or two, like us, they hit it and leave—no troops left behind. If it’s the second option... then so what if they win?"
He gestured toward the ruins.
"We destroy the castle, and all that’s left is the portal. What, are they gonna destroy the portal too? Good luck with that. And if they do take it? Fine. We just come back and take it again. We can afford to play the long game. As long as we don’t split our forces, we’ll always have overwhelming power ready to deploy. That’s our real advantage."
Kaiin nodded slowly, starting to get it. "But what if they go with the first option? Leave a big garrison here?"
"Even better," Ethan said with a smirk. "If they do that, they’re weakening themselves. They’re spreading their forces thin. Meanwhile, we’ve got our full strength intact. We can hit them whenever we want. You think they can afford to keep their whole army tied up here forever?"
"I get it now..." Kaiin’s eyes lit up. "Only an idiot would waste all their troops guarding a place ."
"Exactly. That’s the essence of deterrence—it’s a symbol of power," Ethan said, his gaze sharpening. "Take the major factions, for example. You think they’ve got troops stationed at every portal in the dungeon? Hell no. They don’t need to. Just the fact that it’s their territory is enough. No one dares mess with them."
"In fact, I’d bet they actually want people to attack them—gives them an excuse to retaliate."
To the big factions, the first layer of the dungeon wasn’t even that important. Its only real value was as a starting point—a gateway to the deeper, richer layers of the dungeon.
That’s why their presence here was minimal.
But minimal didn’t mean weak.
Everyone knew better than to poke the bear.
Even if their routes weren’t heavily guarded, no small faction would be dumb enough to pick a fight. They’d keep their distance, stay out of the way.
Because that’s what deterrence really meant.
Power. Presence. Reputation.
No one wants to die for nothing.
And as for why the big factions didn’t just monopolize every route through the dungeon? Two reasons.
First—there’s no need. Trying to control everything just breeds suspicion, fear, and resistance. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.
Second—and more importantly—this dungeon, especially the Lurelands region, was technically the territory of the Dungeon faction. It was a chaotic mess of all kinds of people and powers, sure, but it still belonged to the Dungeon faction. If the other factions tried to dominate it outright, they’d just be asking for trouble.
So they didn’t bother.
All they needed was a few secure routes into the deeper layers.
In fact, they probably encouraged smaller factions to come in and stir things up—help clear out the Dungeon faction’s trash mobs. Not because they couldn’t do it themselves—they could—but why waste the effort?
Let the small fry do the dirty work.
That way, the big players could focus on what really mattered—fighting for territory and resources in the deeper layers of the dungeon, where the rewards were dozens, even hundreds of times greater than anything on the surface.
The ground shook violently.
And just like that, under the combined might of Ethan’s Hero Units and regular troops, the once-mighty, towering Blackrock Castle was reduced to nothing but rubble. A crumbling ruin where a fortress once stood.
"Alert: Player Valkarion, your Hero Units and troops have destroyed the Castle Heart of Blackrock Castle!"
"Alert: Player Valkarion, please note—"
Three system notifications in a row.
Ethan’s eyes gleamed as he muttered to himself, "That should’ve gotten Malenthia’s attention by now."
As a lord, your Castle Heart is soul-bound to you. The moment it’s destroyed, you feel it—like a piece of your own life being torn away. There was no way Malenthia hadn’t noticed.
And that was exactly what Ethan wanted.
Enemies only make mistakes when they’re pissed off. And losing a Castle Heart—especially one this significant—combined with the surprise assault? That had to sting. If it could spark even a flicker of rage in Malenthia, then Ethan’s plan was already working.
All he needed was a crack.
"Let’s move. We’ve still got a war waiting for us in the second layer of the dungeon."
With a sweep of his arm, Ethan turned, leading the Emerald Castle army straight into the portal. One by one, his forces surged forward, vanishing into the swirling vortex of light—headed for the next battlefield.
And at that very moment...
Far below, in the depths of the third layer of the dungeon—
Inside the heart of Dreadwitch Castle, the seat of power of Dungeon King Malenthia—