Kevin's death meant little to Ethan.
Upon returning to the Dungeon, he first took the time to heal his injured minions.
The strength of Wolf Fang was impressive, prompting him to reassess his prior underestimation.
He had thought his Bipedal Wyvern army could sweep through the Sunset Empire, but it seemed he had been too naive.
After all, in a world where unpredictable Heroes exist, the NPC regime would soon be supplanted as the Heroes leveled up and became the dominant force.
The signs were already there with Wolf Fang boasting over ten B-rank Heroes.
"If the Sunset Empire rallies its forces and launches a full-scale attack on me now, the outcome would be uncertain…" Ethan pondered, studying the map closely.
He finally locked his attention on East Sea, located downstream of Riverside.
"In order to withstand the Empire's attack, I need a stable base. If the Empire were to send troops now and East Sea aids them, I'd be attacked from both sides. Even if I managed to break through, I would suffer great losses."
"But I can't appear too strong either."
Ethan found himself in a dilemma.
If he took over East Sea forcefully now, he would surely attract the Empire's attention and raise their alert level.
With a unified target, he would face constant attacks from the Hero faction, essentially becoming a shield for others.
He certainly didn't want to be in such an unrewarding position.
"I just need to bide my time until the Heroes surpass the Sunset Empire. When they become restless, that will be my chance to bare my fangs."
Ethan carefully calculated his moves.
Currently, he was just one of the many Dark Lords threatening the Empire's territory.
He might be among the stronger few, but he neither occupied the main city nor initiated a large-scale war against the Empire.
With the Empire's bloated system, it would take them ages to decide on sending troops to attack him, giving him enough time to grow stronger.
"For now, I should fan the flames between the Heroes and the Sunset Empire…"
If the Sunset Empire and the Heroes remained a united front, Ethan wouldn't stand a chance.
He needed some internal chaos. That was the style Ethan preferred.
His focus eventually shifted to Riverside.
"Rose's personal reputation and influence have peaked, and the number of Heroes in the Black Rose Guild is swelling like never before. This presents a good opportunity…"
"If Riverside initiates an attack on East Sea, the Empire should soon fall into chaos. Both within the Heroes and within the Sunset Empire, they will attack each other. Only in muddy waters can one fish freely. That will be the perfect time for me to strike."
Once he had determined his course of action, Ethan began to formulate his battle plan.
He called Zachary over and gave him a task.
"Zachary, I need you to lead your Heroes, pretending to be from East Sea, and attack the Hero teams from Riverside. We need to sow discord."
"Give my command to Rose. Have her intensify the tension between Riverside and East Sea. I need a bigger war."
"Yes, Lord Ethan," Zachary quickly complied and departed.
Ethan opened the world channel and increased the price he was willing to pay for food in gold coins in the marketplace.
If Riverside did start a conflict with East Sea, the resulting split among the Heroes would soon spread throughout the Sunset Empire.
War consumes a lot of food, and he might not be able to buy food even if he had the money.
After raising the price of purchasing food, the effects were immediate, with a large number of Dark Lords beginning to sell their food supplies.
After replenishing the depleted troops, Ethan began to lie low, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
...
Once Zachary left the Temple Dungeon, he made a detour to the East Sea.
There, he registered a new guild and transformed into a Hero of the East Sea.
Donning attire characteristic of the East Sea, Zachary, with the help of Ethan's intelligence network, began to provoke Heroes from Riverside.
Riverside and East Sea Heroes generally had little intersection, as there were numerous Dark Lords who had claimed territories between the two cities.
However, the Giant Dragon Alliance, formed by the Giant Dragon Dark Lord, collapsed in an instant, leaving a power vacuum in the territories between the main cities.
This in-fighting amongst the Dark Lord faction presented an opportunity that the Heroes would not miss.
Heroes from both cities began to launch frequent attacks on the Dark Lords, leading to increased interactions.
Acting on the information he had acquired, Zachary, with his Heroes, lurked around a place known as Tauren Hill.
Here, a Tauren Dark Lord had consecutively annexed several surrounding Dark Lords' territories, rapidly increasing his power.
According to information from Rose, his Rose Guild led several smaller guilds in an offensive against the Tauren Dark Lord.
As dusk descended and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves, the illuminated monster camp within a distant forest valley was patrolled by robust Taurens.
The Tauren Dark Lord, as big as three adults combined, was both surprised and delighted at the current situation.
When the Giant Dragon Dark Lord had invited him to join the alliance, he had been hesitant.
Tauren troops were more expensive than those of other Dark Lords, and joining the Giant Dragon Alliance seemed to bring more disadvantages than benefits.
This hesitation, however, cost him the first wave of profits as surrounding Dark Lords joined the Giant Dragon Alliance, earning considerable positions and wealth from frequent raids on neighboring towns.
His Tauren Hill was suddenly surrounded by Dark Lords from the Giant Dragon Alliance.
Recognizing the current trends, he promptly chose to join the alliance, but the benefits were almost all gone, and he was given only difficult tasks as cannon fodder.
The turning point came when the Giant Dragon Dark Lord fell and the strongest Dark Lords in the alliance disappeared as if evaporated.
Despite not knowing how they had died, the Tauren wouldn't miss this golden opportunity.
Coincidentally, the territories of the disappeared Dark Lords were all close to his. The Tauren Dark Lord immediately launched an attack, plundering his companions' territories.
The massive resources he gained made him suddenly rich.
His power increased to B+, and he acquired a large Tauren army.
Aware that the nail that sticks out gets hammered, the Tauren Dark Lord subsequently kept a low profile.
After all, he had gained enough food from this round of attacks, and there was no need for further aggression.
After all, even the Giant Dragon Alliance was inexplicably wiped out, and he didn't want history to repeat itself.
Facing the attacks from the Hero faction and surrounding Dark Lords, he chose to yield at first.
Unable to defend the newly acquired territories, he quickly ceded lands while retreating, choosing to defend his Tauren lair.
What he didn't realize, however, was that his conciliatory attitude was seen as a sign of weakness by others.
A group of Heroes regarded him as an easy pushover and formulated a detailed battle plan against him.
Hidden amongst the dense forest outside of Tauren Hill, an elite squad of Heroes quietly began to assemble.
The leader of the Heroes, Ryan Lee, hailed from the Black Rose Guild.
He had joined the guild after the Battle of Riverside, utterly charmed by Rose's allure.
As a stalwart supporter of Rose, he would unconditionally carry out any order coming from her.
"Maybe if this mission is successful, I'll get a chance to invite Miss Rose out for dinner..." Ryan licked his lips. The image of Rose's graceful figure surfaced in his mind, igniting a fiery passion within him.
"Time's almost up. It's about time to move," came the voices of the leaders from the other guilds.
It was now nightfall, and the vision of the Taurens would be severely impaired.
Considering their habits of being active at night, this was the perfect time to strike.
"Alright," Ryan nodded, starting to gather the Heroes.
In no time, a formidable team of Heroes assembled in the forest.
Ryan took a quick headcount: five hundred in total, most of whom were C-rank Heroes or above, including five B-rank Heroes with himself included.
In the past, this would have been considered a terrifyingly powerful team.
But given the current surge in the Heroes' strength, this team could only be considered average at best.
"According to the intel from the Heroes from the Imperial City, our C-rank and B-rank Heroes are now overpowering the NPCs of the Empire. The number of A-rank Heroes we have is more or less equal to theirs..."
"The biggest gap lies in the S-rank powerhouses. We currently don't have a single S-rank Hero, whereas the Empire has three."
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