Shopablo quickly realized that he was likely going to be killed and devoured at this rate, a fate which began to fill him with endless fear. As such, he called out to Darius imposingly.
"Vile human, take back your bugs and fight me face to face using your own power!"
Darius chuckled as he stood there, gazing at Shopablo with a soft smile. "I've nurtured and raised them, so they are a part of my power, just as much as swinging that khopesh or using the Darkness element is part of yours."
Shopablo understood the logic behind his statement, but just because of some sophistry he couldn't allow himself to become food for these bugs.
"Evil human, what do you want? There is nothing in this accursed dungeon worthy of taking, no grand reward for conquering all floors! The Dungeon Core is damaged and cannot even take care of itself!"
This was something Darius already knew about dungeons.
Whoever manages to reach the bottom floor and kill the last boss, would receive a grand prize in the form of a golden chest which could contain anything of the highest quality that was related to the dungeon's element.
If a dungeon had more than 3 floors, one would receive a small prize at every checkpoint until they got the grand prize on the final floor.
So for example, an Intermediate Dungeon with 5 floors would have a small prize on the 3rd floor and the grand prize on the 5th floor. An Advanced Dungeon with 7 floors would have a small prize on the 3rd and 5th floor, and the grand prize on the 7th.
As such, Shopablo revealing that there was no grand prize would put off any adventurer as there was no point in exhausting themselves, risking injury just to kill him if there was nothing to be gained.
However, Darius hadn't come here for any grand prize obviously, and he made that known. "Lead me to the Dungeon Core, then I will call off my soldiers."
Shopablo froze for a split second in shock, an opportunity that the bugs gladly took to deal heavy damage to him before he snapped out of it.
"Forget it! I will never allow you to go near the Dungeon Core!!"
Darius shrugged and stopped bothering, Gunner too was standing idly by as they both watched Shopablo get butchered slowly by the insects. It had to be said, this race was truly terrifying.
At first, they had been fighting on instinct and relying on their hivemind teamwork to cover for each other's poor technique. Yet the longer the battle went on, the more fluid their skill became as they worked together and individually.
If that was it, then the Insect race would not be so terrible. Every species had different periods of adaption, and bugs could not compare to humanoids races in this regard.
However, it was the existence of the hivemind that shattered this and made it a problem. It acted like an intranet for the insect race, yes, but it also acted as a live database.
That was right, the skills and experience these bugs were accumulating were being stored on the bugcloud. Any new bug that was born and reached the Adept stage would not be as clumsy as their predecessor had been, instantly gaining all their skills and experience with a simple bugclick to bugdownload it.
Shopablo began to keenly notice that his skills and techniques were being easily evaded or countered by the bugs, and their ferocity, as well as efficiency, was greatly improving.
The demon realized that being hard-headed now would only lead to his downfall. In a faulty dungeon like this, he wasn't even sure if his consciousness could be retrieved by the Dungeon Core after he died.
This was of course, impossible. No matter what, his consciousness would not be retrieved because he was only a projection of the consciousness of Shopablo in a single instance.
However, he did not know this because the damaged Dungeon Core was unable to furnish its creations with the necessary information upon instance creation.
Everything was left as the default and unmanaged, which was why the shadow creatures had attacked so foolishly up until now. He was the only being was some semblance of sentience because he was a peak level Adept demon.
Shopablo quickly roared. "Why do you want the Dungeon Core?! What do you plan to do?!"
Seeing as the Shadow Demon was practically consenting to his demand to see the core, Darius smiled. "I plan to repair it."
The fellow froze in shock once more, but this time the bugs didn't attack him. Darius had commanded them to remain stationary while he dealt with this fellow.
Shopablo turned to Darius with an incredulous look in his blazing eyes. "Really…? You intend to…? But why…?"
Darius opened his hands in a casual gesture. "I plan to claim ownership of the dungeon externally, allowing adventurers to come in to try their luck and benefit from their demise as a Dungeon Lord. However, I can't do that with a faulty core, now can I?"
Shopablo looked as if he had been hit by a truck. He roared with anger and excitement in his voice, making a queer combination that was quite amusing.
"Silly human, why not say so earlier? Would I have needed to fight you if that was the case?!"
Darius chuckled. The demon would have surely rushed over to cleave off his head claiming that the human was trying to deceive it. After all, these negotiations were only possible because Darius had the deterrent force in form of his Adept bugs.
Without them, it would be a miracle if Shopablo, with his temper, would even choose to listen to Darius speak.
Whatever the case, Darius was happy with how things turned out. With a guide, there was no need for them to waste time searching for the Dungeon Core.
He folded his arms behind his back and walked with Gunner to the center of the cavern, showing no fear as he approached the Shadow Demon.
This action made Shopablo extremely wary, as he sensed that Darius and Gunner were not much weaker than him. With his insects and his own power, Shopablo had no confidence in coming out alive!
As such, the Shadow Demon put away thoughts of being hostile as it questioned Darius.
"You really have a way to repair the Dungeon Core?!"
Darius nodded as he smiled softly. "I do."
