"Good! Good! Good!" Shopablo bellowed with glee.

How could he not be excited? As a creation of the dungeon, his life and existence were tied to it.

Yet the damned thing had been damaged to the point of retardation, and each day its weakness grew worse and worse!

It was already a miracle that it had managed to survive this long, and Shopablo had been praying to every deity he guessed existed to save them.

Today it seemed like his prayers had finally been answered, and in the best way possible!

Darius was going to fix the Dungeon Core, thereby extending the life of Shopablo!

Even better, he was planning to take over and make sure that the dungeon would be running smoothly!

Soon enough they would welcome adventurers in, which would allow the Dungeon Core to further grow and its creatures within to experience actual growth!

It was a Christmas, Easter, Birthday, and Valentine gift all in one!

In fact, the more Shopablo looked at Darius, the lovelier the fellow started to appear. Such a saint deserved to live long and experience grueling fights!

Shopablo wasted no more time as he turned around and walked over to the empty pedestal behind him where Darius assumed the golden chest would have spawned atop.

The Lord of Darkness pressed his hand against the wall, slowly using a single finger to draw a long vertical line. To Darius and Gunner's surprise, this line wasn't imaginary but actually opened a human-sized portal that was a dark swirling mass.

Shopablo turned to them and gestured for them to follow. "Come on, puny human! This is the only way to reach the Dungeon Core which is located in another dimension."

Darius and Gunner shared a look. The master nodded with a playful smile and went inside, with the Adept bugs following next one by one.

Shopablo had already entered first and waited on the other side for everyone to come through. By the time Gunner exited the portal, Darius had already walked up to the Dungeon Core after identifying where he had been taken to.

They were in a small carved-out chamber with polished rock forming the walls. It could be due to the element of the core, but the entire room was dark, with the only source of light being the swirling darkness within the rhombus-shaped core that hovered in the center of the room.

It was a small thing, barely the size of Darius' middle finger in terms of height and only about as wide as two fingers put together in terms of width. It slowly rotated on the spot, its body releasing more and more blackish miasmic smoke with every second.

Darius unhesitatingly walked over to the Dungeon Core. After looking at it closely, Darius pointed to the floor beneath him as he cast one of his new Journeyman spells.

[Spatial Mark - Level 1 Spell

Grade: Intermediate

Cost: 10 MP

Description: Using your affinity with space, create a special brand that can be locked onto any coordinate, allowing you to track the location or teleport straight to it if it's within a certain range. The minimum range needed is 100 meters.]

Shopablo saw this but did not understand what it was since he had no affinity with the Space element. Instead, the fellow closed the portal and walked over to Darius, bellowing.

"Measly human, I have brought you here! Now fix the Dungeon Core!"

Darius turned to look at the Shadow Demon and smiled with amusement. "Good job. Well, you're not needed anymore, so you can exit stage left."

Shopablo was confused by Darius' meaning. "Puny human, what does that- ARGH!!"

The Shadow Demon was stabbed in the back by 5 of the Adept-stage bugs with their long and horrible stingers that made even Darius shiver with fear.

Judging by the screams coming from Shopablo's mouth, it was clear that the agony they brought was not a joke, even for an elemental lifeform.

Before the Shadow Demon could retaliate by smashing the bugs on his back, they quickly detached and buzzed away, leaving an opening for another five to rush in and pierce Shopablo in different areas.

The Shadow Demon shouted in pain once more, his voice carrying an undeniable tone of torment that transcended race. Darius idly wondered what kind of effect or power was imbued within those stingers, but would rather not directly find out.

These offending bugs detached themselves and allowed yet another batch to rush in and do their job. These stingers of theirs didn't leave their bodies, seeming rather like a firm tail than what insects like these should possess.

Shopablo couldn't even muster a defense as he had been caught off guard from the beginning, and the damage the bugs had dealt to him was too excruciating for him to form a conscious defense, not to mention that their attack was incessant and neverending.

Eventually, Shopablo fell to one knee. He weakly raised his head, his formerly burning eyes now dim and weak. He stared at his murderer, Darius, and tried to roar in anger, but it came out as a huff.

"Vile…human… you… why??"

Darius walked over as he rubbed his chin, staring Shopablo right in the eyes. "Only those who are my subordinates are allowed to see what happens next."

Shopablo did not understand what he meant, but Darius clearly had no inclinations to waste his time by answering a dying elemental.

Instead, he nodded to the waiting bugs as they rushed in and tore the Shadow Demon apart, feating on his essence.

With only 50 of them, 20 were able to straightaway climb to the intermediate stage of the Adept rank. Once they were done, they zoomed over to Darius and buzzed before him respectfully, waiting upon more orders.

Darius chuckled. "Nothing more for now, you guys have done a great job so far. Return to the Bag of Holding until further notice."

Despite being visibly saddened that their feast had ended for now, they obeyed his orders as they entered the Bag of Holding Darius had removed from his Inventory.