Ethan paused for a second, then answered without hesitation. "Seraphina, Cicero, Kyros, you... and the entire Gold Dragon army! Plus the Archangel legion we borrowed from the Castle faction! That should be enough, right?!"
"That’s definitely enough..." Auremax nodded, though his expression still held a trace of concern. "But, my Lord, I’m a little worried. If we all leave, what happens to Erald Castle’s defenses? What if the Infernal Legions get ideas and decide to strike while we’re gone? Will the remaining forces be enough to hold them off?"
Ethan’s brows furrowed slightly at that.
Troop strength...
Defensive forces...
Balthazar had already taken the Behemoth clan and Lilith to the Dungeon.
Kyros, Elyra, and Seran were currently stationed with their people along the coastal regions of Crimsonstar Kingdom and Stellamaris Kingdom.
Which ant that of the four Mythic-tier (Tier 14) unit types Erald Castle possessed—Sacred Kirin, Ancient Behemoth, Gold Dragon, and Storm Dragon—half were already deployed elsewhere.
And if he pulled Seraphina, Cicero, Auremax, and the entire Gold Dragon army for this mission...
Then what would be left to defend Erald Castle? Not much, honestly.
Only Vaelric’s Storm Dragon clan would remain...
Sure, Erald Castle still had a decent number of Tier 13 Legendary Units.
Even excluding the Kirin, Behemoth, and Gem Dragons, there were still hundreds of Green Dragons, Ancient War Trees, and Arcane Colossi.
But could they really stand up to an Inferno Arch Devil? Or a Black Dragon?
That didn’t seem wise—or realistic.
In the world of Glory Lords X, the only real counter to a Tier 14 Mythic Unit... was another Tier 14 Mythic Unit. That was practically a law of nature.
But if he left Auremax and the Gold Dragon army behind...
Wouldn’t that be underestimating Maelthorak?
Sure, Seraphina had a point earlier—Maelthorak was half-crippled now. But even a dying dragon is still a dragon. A powerhouse of that level could never be taken lightly.
They had to go all in.
But that left him stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Just then, Orryn suddenly stepped forward and spoke. "My Lord, leave the defense of Erald Castle to us! Let lead the Green Dragon army to temporarily take over the Gold Dragons’ duties. We’ll guard the outer periter!"
Ethan blinked, then turned to look at Orryn, eyes sharp. "You sure about that?"
"Absolutely!" Orryn nodded without hesitation, eyes blazing with resolve and a hint of bloodlust. "Even if an Inferno Arch Devil shows up in person, I’ll make them pay dearly. No one invades, defiles, or destroys Erald Castle’s lands. Any enemy that dares try—I’ll tear them apart with everything I’ve got!"
"Good."
"In that case, I’ll trust you, Orryn."
Ethan gave a firm nod, then turned to Elynn. "Elynn, I’m counting on you all for what cos next. Also... if the opportunity arises, get Oakenmaw and the Ancient War Tree clan involved too. I know he’s not quite ready for a war of this scale, but it’s a necessary step."
"As the Crimson Ultimate Hero, he needs to grow stronger—fast. Erald Castle needs him."
"I understand, my Lord. Leave it to us," Elynn replied with a nod.
"Oh, right... What’s our current gold and basic resource stockpile looking like?" Ethan asked.
At that, Seraphina’s eyes lit up, and she imdiately turned to look at Elynn.
Clearly, this was sothing she cared about.
But Elynn just gave a wry smile. "My Lord, Erald Castle currently has around six billion gold coins in reserve. But a huge chunk of that will be used to resurrect fallen regular troops after the next battle. So realistically, we’ll probably be left with only two to three billion. As for the six core resources... it’s about the sa situation."
She glanced at Seraphina. "In short, we’re running a serious deficit. Princess Seraphina, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit longer."
Seraphina sighed, a little disappointed, but she still shook her head. "It’s fine. I can wait. Besides, I grabbed a decent haul from the Dungeon this ti... we’ll take it slow."
"Oh?" Ethan perked up, clearly intrigued. "How much did you snag from the Dungeon, Seraphina?"
"About... 8 billion gold, give or take," she estimated casually.
"Eight billion?!" Ethan froze, eyes wide. "Are you serious?!"
"Hehe..."
Seraphina gave a sheepish little grin, looking all innocent.
Then, in a tone that was way too humble for what she was about to say, she added, "It’s really nothing, honestly. Just hit a few Castles and the gold started piling up. Didn’t feel that hard! And it wasn’t just gold—we grabbed a ton of other resources too."
She paused, then added casually, "Think it was a few hundred thousand units or so? I kinda lost track. Didn’t really bother counting."
"My Lord," Orryn suddenly chid in, clearly unable to hold it in anymore. "On this Dungeon run, Princess Seraphina led us in raiding seven or eight Castles from different factions! If you hadn’t called us back, we probably would’ve broken the 10-billion mark in loot by now!"
He looked downright thrilled, practically buzzing with excitent.
"Wait, the factions in the Dungeon are that loaded?" Ethan’s eyes lit up, practically glowing red with greed.
Seraphina hadn’t even been in the Dungeon that long—what, maybe a month tops? And she’d already looted over 8 billion gold?
What the hell kind of treasure trove was that place?
Was the Dungeon just... paved with gold or sothing?!
"Master, once we take down Maelthorak, let head back to the Dungeon for a while, okay?" Seraphina said eagerly, her eyes sparkling. "You have no idea—those Castle faction Hero Units down there? Total pushovers!"
"And I haven’t seen a single Crimson Ultimate Hero among them. I could probably take them all on by myself! If I keep this up, I should be able to hit 50 billion gold and five million units of the six core resources in no ti!"
Ever since she got hit with that insane training fee at the Divine Colosseum...
Seraphina had been laser-focused on one thing: making money.
And now that she’d found a goldmine, she wasn’t about to let it go.
That Divine Colosseum training? She was going to get it—no matter what.
"..."
Ethan paused for a mont, then said in a low, almost dreamy voice, "Screw it. I’m going with you next ti."
This was basically free money. You’d have to be an idiot not to go.
"Really?!"
"That’s aweso!"
Seraphina lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, grinning from ear to ear.
"There really aren’t any Crimson Ultimate Heroes down there?" Ethan asked again, just to be sure.
"None!" Seraphina nodded confidently. "The only one even close is Isaryne, and she’s super weak right now... totally not a threat."
"You’re just too strong now," Ethan said, shaking his head with a chuckle. That’s when he noticed—Seraphina was already level 62.
So yeah, she’d been looting gold... but clearly, she’d been racking up XP like crazy too.
"Alright then. No point wasting ti. Let’s move out." Ethan stood up, his voice calm but firm. "Auremax, go rally the Gold Dragon army. We leave in thirty minutes."
"Orryn, Elynn—Erald Castle is in your hands. Keep it safe. And don’t do anything reckless."
"Whatever happens, wait for us to return before making any big moves."
"Yes, my Lord!"
"Understood, Master!"
...
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