To the outside world, the Asta Alliance was known simply as the Asta Dungeon, located in the southern neighboring country of the Yanor Kingdom. Its total area was several dozen times larger than Sein.
"The Hive Nest Dungeon, ruled by Dungeon Lord Ganago—his outer race is Chimeric Insect, while his inner race is Demon. You could say he's a hybrid both inside and out."
"The main monsters within the dungeon are Chimeric Insects. Their defining trait is devouring and evolving—by consuming their enemies, they trigger mutations, allowing each individual to develop unique abilities."
"Also, while their evolution appears random, their growth tends to follow certain patterns. For instance—"
"Beware of their fungal mats. When fighting on those, the Chimeric Insects' regeneration and aggression increase severalfold. Never give them the chance to spread it."
"Their weaknesses are patched up with each evolution, but one element still deals significant damage—Lightning."
Upon reading that, Wade couldn't help but laugh.
Of all weaknesses, it had to be lightning—and he had plenty of subordinates who specialized in that element.
After finishing the letter from the Asta Alliance, he had a general grasp of the Hive Nest Dungeon.
In short—it was a bug nest.
And in any war between dungeon lords, fighting bugs was practically a rite of passage.
"If it's bugs we're up against, large-scale area damage is the way to go," he muttered, flipping through the list of Available Monsters. Several unopened letters lay scattered around the altar behind him.
A dungeon's altar wasn't just a throne for its lord.
From what Wade had learned, it also served as a communication hub—a link between dungeons. When a lord opened and replied to a letter from another dungeon, a formal connection would be established between the two.
Once linked, they could exchange resources, share information, and even visit one another's domains.
However—Wade had absolutely no intention of using that feature for now.
So far, the only dungeon he had responded to was the so-called Asta Alliance.
Still, one thing puzzled him—why call themselves an "alliance" if they were just a single dungeon?
He shook his head, unable to understand their twisted naming logic. Dungeon lords never seemed entirely sane to him.
Except himself, of course—he was perfectly normal (probably).
Only after forming a link could two dungeons properly interact, including engaging in battles.
However, that rule didn't apply to Death Matches—those could be initiated simply by being visible on the world map.
There were two types of dungeon battles: Duels and Death Matches.
Duels were friendly sparring sessions, with rewards or penalties determined by mutual agreement.
Death Matches, on the other hand, were fights to the death. The loser would forfeit all their resources and become the victor's slave. Even if their consciousness remained intact, everything else—treasures, monsters, dungeon core—would belong to the winner.
Normally, both types of battles could be refused—except—
This was Wade's first challenge. He couldn't refuse it. Avoiding battle by force would trigger a temporary mental penalty.
He might've accepted that for his own safety, but there was another issue.
The lord of the Hive Nest Dungeon was also launching their first challenge. In that case, the defender couldn't refuse either. The same rule would apply if Wade were the one initiating it.
It was hard to believe that the barely coherent, rage-filled creature on the other side had never challenged another dungeon before.
Running into that kind of "good luck" left him speechless.
Left with no choice, he turned to the seemingly reliable Asta Alliance to exchange information.
As everyone knew, the more extreme an ideology, the safer it was to just nod along—so long as you didn't cross their red lines, agreeing and pretending to share their views was usually enough to stay alive.
Of course, that only worked if you weren't part of the group they hated.
Otherwise, you'd end up starring on LoverTV.
Though he was undead, once Wade revealed that he was human on the inside, the Asta Alliance readily accepted him—and even gifted him Mana equivalent to a hundred ordinary humans as a welcoming gift.
It made him feel like he'd just befriended a rich benefactor.
As for what he was supposed to do after joining the alliance, they didn't elaborate. They simply told him to survive the upcoming Death Match first—then they'd consider letting him in deeper.
Pragmatic folks, really.
The Hive Nest Dungeon had sent its Death Match declaration in late September. It was now early October, giving him more than twenty days before the war began.
He needed to prepare carefully.
Once a Death Match began, the challenger had to lead their army to the defender's dungeon—it was always an away game.
"Well then," Wade mused, "what better time to prepare a proper welcoming ceremony?"
[Aldwin / Wade]
[Tier 3 Dungeon Authority]
[New Feature Unlocked: Power Balance – Within designated zones, monster strength will scale according to the challenger's level, but never drop below the lord's preset threshold.]
On the day of the siege, Wade had chosen to upgrade his authority, unlocking the ability to summon B-rank monsters.
And he quickly discovered something—B-ranks were no joke.
Dragonslayer Armour, Draconic Tree Sentinel, Champion Gundyr, Farron Abyss Watchers, Furious Rajang...
Each of these legendary beings came with one major limitation—only one could be summoned at a time.
And their Mana costs? Always in the five digits.
Expensive, yes—but—
"Damn, they're cool."
Whenever he had free time, he'd replay the footage of the Storm Dragon and Dragonslayer Armour assaulting the fortress.
Who would've thought that monsters that once seemed so dull and mechanical in the game could appear so awe-inspiring in this world?
It was enough to make anyone euphoric.
Beyond the stronger monsters, his available equipment had also seen massive upgrades.
Just tossing a few of those items out would be enough to lure countless adventurers.
However, a new issue arose—
Where should he place them?
The current dungeon's three-layer structure required explorers to clear the upper floors to reach the deeper ones. Many adventurers hit their limits at the middle or even upper floors—how could they earn more rewards that way?
Even now, less than half of the treasures he'd placed had been discovered.
"I need to change the dungeon's structure... but if I modify it again now, won't people get discouraged just when they were getting used to it?"
No. If the changes were good, it'd attract even more people.
He scrolled through the Available Structures list and stopped at one he'd been wanting to add for a long time—
[Firelink Shrine]
Yes—the Firelink Shrine from Dark Souls.
If he used it as a central hub and expanded the upper, middle, and lower layers outward into a more open map, exploration would become far easier.
Casual workers could still head to low-difficulty zones like the swamp or the Gourmet areas. The stronger ones could go straight to forests or mines to unearth rare treasures. The Firelink Shrine could even serve as a resting point.
He could add shortcuts between zones, solidifying the title of The Interconnected Firelink Hub.
Those brilliant map designs would surely amaze the locals of this world.
"There's still one more thing to consider…" he murmured.
The story experience attached to the dungeon.
Truth be told, the bonfires' ability to project images had been a complete accident—but from that, Wade saw an opportunity.
Since most of this world's history had been lost, who was to say he couldn't just make some up? People might even believe it.
"Ancient history, or maybe a forgotten age before the current one... sounds like a great hook."
He decided to enrich the dungeon with lore-heavy storytelling.
First step—
"Turn the swamp zone into the real Farron Keep."