"Eliminate the Sealed Entities that escape from dungeons?"
Wade repeated the phrase, already understanding the implications behind it.
"You should already know this as well — many dungeons nowadays have entered a dormant state. Outsiders may call it 'collapse.'"
As Red Fang spoke, one desolate, ancient dungeon after another appeared before Wade like slides in a projection.
Some dormant dungeons had been completely abandoned.
Others, however, bustled with life — intelligent races had actually transformed them into settlements.
What exactly was happening there?
"When a dungeon enters a normal dormant state, its portal closes. Under ordinary circumstances, there is basically no way to enter it."
"But if a Sealed Entity escapes, that means the dungeon has failed its duty. At that point, some dungeons close permanently, while others become open dungeon-cities connected to the outside world. Regardless of what form it takes, it means the dungeon is dead," Red Fang explained.
"Wait."
Wade suddenly raised a question.
He remembered that when he helped Val Dungeon resist the demon race, the entire incident had begun because the demons somehow managed to reopen the portal to the dormant Val Dungeon and enter it.
He told Red Fang about the phenomenon.
The red dragon fell silent for a moment.
Don't tell me… you don't know either?
"The worst-case scenario has appeared." Red Fang's voice became heavy. "Someone has mastered a method of entering dormant dungeons. That means they may also possess the ability to destroy altar seals and release the Sealed Entities."
Wade tried to comfort him.
"Maybe that method requires extremely specific conditions. Otherwise, it would be far too overpowered."
"That is true. All things follow the supreme principle of balance," Red Fang replied. "But eventually, those conditions may be fulfilled. We must determine what technique the demon race used so we can prepare countermeasures."
Wade quietly listened to Red Fang's analysis before suddenly remembering something.
Why hadn't news about Sealed Entities spread among the dungeon lords?
Back when he had asked other dungeon lords about them, they had clearly been hearing the term for the first time.
Red Fang immediately saw through his confusion.
"Because the more people know about this sort of thing, the more troublesome it becomes. It's better not to mention it from the beginning."
That made sense.
No one wanted to spend every day knowing they were sitting atop a ticking time bomb — even if that bomb might never explode during their entire lifetime.
Sometimes, knowing too much was not a good thing.
"Back to what we were discussing." Red Fang exhaled scorching breath.
"When Sealed Entities are sealed into dungeons, all information related to them is erased from the surface world. Only dungeon lords remember them."
"And when they escape from a dungeon, all information about them disappears from the minds of dungeon lords as well. It is as though everything connected to them returns to nothingness. At present, we have no way of knowing what kind of Sealed Entities have escaped."
That made eliminating them vastly more difficult.
And besides, how were dungeons supposed to eliminate Sealed Entities that had already escaped into the outside world?
"As long as a dungeon lord is willing to take over, even dead dungeons can be revived. Those Sealed Entities have already formed deep connections with the dungeon itself. Once the dungeon reopens, it will subconsciously attract them. At least once in their lifetime, they will return — and that is the precious opportunity to destroy them."
"But there are many complications. Sealed Entities can disguise themselves as adventurers. They may remain inside safe zones until the lingering influence of the dungeon's seal fades from their minds. They can also…"
The conditions were unquestionably harsh.
This was an extremely difficult task.
"Anyone who enters a dungeon from which a Sealed Entity escaped will also form an invisible attraction toward that Entity. The stronger the individual, the stronger the attraction. Battles may occur because of that."
"A dungeon can also spend enormous amounts of power to forcibly drag large numbers of Sealed Entities inside for extermination. But aside from the tremendous mana cost and lengthy cooldown period, the unknown abilities of the Sealed Entities are an enormous problem. And if the attempt fails, the resulting losses — along with the retaliation from the Sealed Entities — would be unacceptable."
Red Fang seemed lost in thought.
"To this day, only three dungeons have successfully eliminated Sealed Entities through this method. Even I do not dare casually take over dead dungeons."
Wade understood why.
A dead dungeon essentially meant a complete loss of mana — even its seals could no longer be maintained.
And for a dungeon to lose all power, countless disastrous conditions must have piled up.
The starting difficulty would absolutely be hell mode.
Red Fang saw through Wade's thoughts.
"I'm only telling you this now to give you a general understanding. Taking over dead dungeons is still far too early for you. At the very least, wait another decade before considering it."
"But I have a feeling… the uniqueness you've displayed may truly change the deadlock that has persisted for thousands of years."
"Among this generation of new dungeon lords, you are the one I value most."
"Your future… lies beyond what even I can foresee."
The pressure from hearing that was enormous…
Wade was still thinking of a humble response when Red Fang had already changed the subject.
[You have received a Dungeon Lord Authority Transfer Request from Red Fang for Eagle Dungeon.]
This red dragon truly handled things decisively.
Wade calmly accepted the gift.
He finally possessed a dungeon far outside Bedford City's sphere of influence.
That also meant Sein's influence would spread even farther.
"Thank you for your generosity," Wade said politely.
"Now tell me what kind of authority you desire. With my capabilities, finding a similar authority and negotiating for it is not difficult."
Red Fang displayed the bearing of a true senior.
Though in front of Wade — who appeared to be some sort of ancient monster elder himself — the act of behaving like a senior felt slightly strange.
"Hm… do you have an authority that lets me instantly kill adventurers with a single click?"
"…No."
"Then how about an authority that allows monsters to freely leave the dungeon at any time?"
"That's impossible as well."
"Then what exactly do you have?"
"Could you perhaps ask for something that isn't ridiculously overpowered?" Red Fang's eye twitched.
Wade felt deeply disappointed.
After thinking for a while and asking several more questions, none of the available abilities truly satisfied him.
Only then did he say:
"Then do you have an authority that lets me freely build and modify the dungeon whenever I want?"
The restriction preventing him from constructing anything while adventurers were still inside had long since become irritating.
"That one might actually be possible."
Red Fang muttered to himself before closing his eyes as though searching through information.
A moment later, he spoke again.
"Found one. There's a dungeon lord with a similar authority who is willing to transfer it."
"What exactly does it do?" Wade asked.
"It's called Absolute Dominion. It allows you to freely adjust the maximum number of adventurers permitted inside the dungeon at any time. If you set the limit to zero, all adventurers will be forcibly expelled."
"And if you can instantly kick everyone out, then naturally you can begin construction afterward."
That actually sounded pretty good.
It was practically equivalent to obtaining an advanced dungeon lord authority ahead of schedule.
"Then I'll take that one."
There wasn't much room for further selection anyway.
The truly absurd abilities Wade had suggested either didn't exist — or their owners refused to part with them.
This was already the best option available.
Still, he was curious.
How exactly were authorities transferred?
At that moment, a notification appeared.
[Emerald Peak Dungeon has challenged you to a duel.]
[Duel Reward: Authority — Absolute Dominion]
[Accept?]
Damn it, this is literally match-fixing.
The moment Wade accepted, he casually selected some random duel reward on his side, and the battle immediately began.
The efficiency was absurdly fast.
The monster sent out by Emerald Peak Dungeon was…
Half of an orc.
Just half.
If left alone, it probably would have died on its own.
So even in another world, match-fixing still exists…
Wade complained internally while casually sending out a monster to collect the kill, successfully obtaining the authority: Absolute Dominion.
As for the price required for the authority transfer—
Naturally, it was paid by Red Fang Dungeon, the absurdly wealthy sponsor.
No, calling him a rich tycoon didn't feel quite right.
He should be called a generous grand benefactor.
"Additionally, several other dungeon lords wish to meet you as well. My advice is that maintaining good relations with them would be beneficial."
Red Fang displayed tremendous enthusiasm, causing Wade's opinion of him to rise considerably.
Now that everything had been explained, it was finally time to part ways.
But this time, Wade would not be the one leaving.
Since Eagle Dungeon now belonged to him, the one departing was Red Fang.
As the massive red dragon spirit gradually dispersed, Wade teleported into Eagle Dungeon itself and carefully observed the scenery that had just been ravaged by flames.
After all, if he didn't take a good look now, he would soon remodel the entire place beyond recognition.
"This feels pretty surreal. I haven't even been a dungeon lord for half a year, and I already own three dungeons."
Sein and Val were both operating perfectly smoothly at the moment, forming fully self-sustaining cycles.
Even if Wade were suddenly transported back home right now, those dungeons would probably continue operating on their own for another hundred years.
Which meant he now had spare time to design an entirely new dungeon.
And Eagle Dungeon possessed an excellent location.
It was close to the royal capital and another great noble's territory. The flow of people here far exceeded that of Bedford, meaning the profits would likely be much higher as well.
Perfect timing.
He already had an entire completed area design prepared but not yet implemented.
Now he could finally use it here.
Catacombs of Carthus.
And as part of the connected map progression, the following areas could also be scheduled alongside the Catacombs:
Cathedral of the Deep.
Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.
Anor Londo.
Sein Dungeon had already revealed the First Flame and the concept of Linking the Fire to the world.
Through the outstanding performances of the Undead Legion and Artorias, it had raised the curtain on the story.
Now, Sein's narrative was entering Phase Two.
It was time to guide people deeper into the truth behind Linking the Fire.
"If I were using MMO terminology, this would basically mean Sein is entering Version 2.0."
And what did a new version require?
Of course—
An incredibly cool cinematic trailer.
From this point onward, he needed to carefully plan how the new cinematic would be presented.
It had to connect tightly to the upcoming story while radiating maximum style and delivering legendary roll-call introductions.
So where should the cinematic play?
At the first bonfire lit after entering Carthus?
As he pondered, Wade continued reviewing the gains from Eagle Dungeon.
When someone became a dungeon lord, they inherited the monsters and buildings available to the original dungeon lord.
That prevented newly appointed dungeon lords — those with no monsters in their minds — from falling into the awkward situation of having nothing to summon.
Val Dungeon had also provided Wade with new monsters and buildings.
But most of them had been useless to him, so he had never bothered using them.
In his opinion, Eagle Dungeon's monsters weren't particularly special either.
However, while checking the rewards, he suddenly frowned.
"What's this?"
There was actually a gold-quality item among them.
And not just any item.
[Ancient Eagle Kingdom Sealing Orb]
[Sacrifice tens of thousands of lives, and the ancient kingdom shall reappear upon the earth.]
[Only those chosen by the ancient kingdom may use it.]
"This thing is way too cursed."
There was no way Wade would ever release something this sinister as a reward.
"I wonder what kind of utterly insane, power-hungry maniac would even use this."
He sealed the orb away before continuing to browse through the remaining items.
Meanwhile, inside his mind, the concept for the new cinematic had already begun taking shape.
"The tyrannical conqueror king… the usurper of gods… the devourer of divinity…"
"Yeah, dramatic title roll-calls really do hit the hardest."
The wisdom of the ancestors must never be changed.