Ethan had to admit it—after seeing the raw power those 13-Tier Behemoths and the 14-Tier Ancient Behemoth unleashed in this dungeon, he was seriously impressed.
No exaggeration, either.
Based on what he knew about the Gold Dragon clan or even the Storm Dragons, it didn’t matter who you threw into this dungeon—none of them could match the Ancient Behemoth’s performance in actual combat here.
This had to be what people meant by an "adaptive combat environment."
Inside the dungeon, there was no sky. The ceiling was low, the paths were winding, and the corridors were tight. All of that created a very specific kind of terrain—basically, a massive underground cave system.
And in this kind of place?
None of that was an advantage. In fact, it was a liability.
There’s no room to take off, let alone maneuver.
With all these narrow, twisting paths, one wrong move and you’re toast.
The cramped, unstable environment makes it hard to cast anything big. The stronger the spell, the more likely it is to backfire—or worse, hit your own team.
So in a place , the ones who really shine are the Ancient Behemoths and Black Dragons—tough as hell, built like tanks, and absolute monsters in close combat.
Sure, in other environments, the Ancient Behemoth might only rank as upper-mid among 14-Tier Mythic Units.
They were top-tier. Right up there with Black Dragons, Archangels, and Inferno Arch Devils.
With that in mind, Ethan didn’t hesitate.
"System, I choose the Ancient Behemoth!"
"You have selected the 14-Tier Mythic Unit: Ancient Behemoth. Please wait... Ding! Selection confirmed. Congratulations, player Valkarion, you have received 50 units of the 14-Tier Mythic Unit: Ancient Behemoth!"
With that, Ethan’s army lineup now looked :
13-Tier Units:Green Dragon – 750Ancient War Tree – 300Arcane Colossus – 200Behemoth – 300Ebonite Colossus – 180Kirin – 500Gem Dragon – 300
14-Tier Units:Gold Dragon – 200Ancient Behemoth – 120Sacred Kirin – 100Storm Dragon – 340
A system notification chimed in his ear.
"Attention, player Valkarion. Your Hero Units—Green Dragon Seraphina and Dragonblood Elf Lilith—have successfully destroyed the Castle Heart of Dreadwitch Castle! However, a lingering magical force is still protecting the last thread of its life force. Do you wish to completely destroy it?" Chapters first released on n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
"Warning! Danger alert. This is the main stronghold of a Dungeon King-level entity. Furthermore, the Castle Heart is linked to a powerful being deep within the Dungeon. If you destroy it, your presence will be marked and remembered by this entity. Do you wish to proceed with total destruction?"
Three back-to-back alerts.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of excitement in them.
A powerful being... deep within the Dungeon?
"Could it be the Dungeon Overlord?" he muttered with a smirk, shaking his head. Then, without a second thought, he made his choice.
"I choose to destroy it completely!"
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You have successfully destroyed the Dungeon King Malenthia’s capital—Dreadwitch Castle! You’ve crushed Malenthia’s forces and emerged victorious. This is a monumental triumph!"
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You have won the war against Dungeon King Malenthia and earned the following rewards:
Dungeon Reputation: +100,000
Basic Resources (all six types): +2 million each
13-Tier Legendary Units: 300 (choose specific or random)"
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You’ve successfully breached the Dungeon. Your name is spreading across the Dungeon Faction. A new Chapter of war has begun. Regional Dominion Quest unlocked: Rise as the Dungeon Overlord!"
"Congratulations, player Valkarion! You’ve unlocked the Regional Dominion Quest: Rise as the Dungeon Overlord! Every lord who sets foot in the Dungeon dreams of becoming its Overlord!
Here, mountains of gold and rivers of treasure await.
Here, the ground is littered with riches that drive people mad.
Here, countless Special Resources lie buried, along with priceless artifacts beyond imagination!"
"In this place, every goal you set becomes a battlefield. Crush your enemies, seize their resources, expand your territory, and rise to dominance! The system will evaluate your performance based on your quest completion rate..."
Completion below 60%: Failure
Completion above 65%: Grade C
Completion above 70%: Grade B
Completion above 75%: Grade A
Completion above 80%: Grade S
Completion above 90%: Grade SSS
"But before all that, your first step is to claim a territory of your own within the Dungeon!
If you fail to secure a base within three days, the quest will be marked as failed."
The barrage of system notifications hit Ethan like a ton of bricks.
He stood there, stunned, silent for a long moment.
"Regional Dominion Quest?" he muttered. "Rise as the Dungeon Overlord?"
His expression twisted into something between disbelief and amusement. "So all this time... the real treasure trove of the Dungeon was hiding here?"
He’d never doubted how generous the system could be with rewards.
And honestly? If he could pull this off with a high enough completion rate—if he nailed it with precision and perfection—then the rewards would be so insane, even Overlord-tier powerhouses from the major factions would be drooling over them.
As for this so-called "Regional Dominion Quest"? One look and Ethan could already tell—this was a big one. Probably on the same level as that old "Conquer Sylvanwood" quest.
A total pain in the ass.
But if he pulled it off?
The payoff would be absolutely ridiculous. The kind of reward that could make someone’s entire career. The kind of reward that made your heart race just thinking about it.
"Well then," Ethan said with a grin, "looks like we’ve got our next objective."
Their original plan had already been to focus on developing the Dungeon—exploring it, conquering it, unlocking its secrets.
It was like the universe had handed him a pillow the moment he felt sleepy.
As for the system’s requirement to claim a new base? That was the easiest part.
Sure, the Castle Heart of Dreadwitch Castle had been shattered—but the location was still there. Malenthia had poured everything into building that place up. No doubt it was a prime spot.
All Ethan had to do now was rebuild from the ground up.
If there was one thing he wasn’t short on, it was Sub-Castle Hearts.
He had plenty of those to spare.