Ning and the rest appeared outside the dungeon.
The german director looked at them with confused eyes and opened his mouth to ask something, but then he saw something else instead that made it stuck open as he looked in shock.
Ning felt the change as well and saw what was happening behind him.
The entire white swirl of energy that was the dungeon gate suddenly shook and then collapsed, disappearing in wisps of energy that almost made it look like it was an illusion.
However, many had gone in beforehand and thus they knew that the dungeon was real. This was to say that their seeing the current dungeon meant that the dungeon had truly disappeared.
The director was shocked, but not for the reason Ning believed it was. The director had always known that the moment the dungeon was cleared, it would collapse.
The thing that had surprised him the most had been the speed at which it was cleared.
Ning looked to the sky to see where the sun was and then down towards the people that were still standing around. Ely and the rest noticed it too and couldn't help but be surprised.
Even the stoic Night showed a bit of emotion at this moment as he hadn't expected this to happen.
After all, from what they had learned from Ning, the opposite was supposed to have happened.
"How long were we in?" Ning asked the director.
"5, Maybe 10 seconds," the director said, trying to hide his shock. "Did you really clear it in just 10 seconds?"
"No, it took some time," Ning said. "We spent nearly half a day inside, and it seemed that translated to nothing out here. The last dungeon I was in was the opposite, so it seems not all dungeons follow the same flow of time."
Ning would have to remember that the next time, or... he could just ask the system to tell him. He should probably do that starting now.
"So it is really gone?" the director asked. "No chance of the dungeon appearing again?"
"Yes, it is gone," Ning said. "Also, I have a small bad news."
"Wh-what bad news?" the director got ready to be disappointed.
"Let's talk elsewhere, away from prying eyes," Ning said while looking at the few people that were gathered around.
"Oh, yes. Please, come with me," the director said, taking Ning and Ely to a large SUV. With a few other important figures, the SUV was quickly full, making Night, Blue, and Sorlus have to move to another vehicle.
However, before they could go in, Ning's voice stopped them. "You guys go have fun. You don't have to come with us," he said. "After this, we'll be going to France for a while so make use of your free time to see the city."
The three beasts accepted and with Saphandra at the lead, they left the dungeon area on foot. They could have flown away, but Ning told them to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
The director wasn't happy with this after he was notified in the SUV since letting people so valuable alone was not what he wanted, but he respected Ning's choice and let the three be.
What else could he even do? Deny the person who just cleared an SS-ranked dungeon by himself? He might have been heavily stressed the past 2 months, but that hadn't made him go senile.
"So, what is this bad news?" the director asked.
Ning told him about the dungeon. The director was surprised that a dungeon with plant monsters had turned into one with a Death lich and skeletons inside. He could swear that he had heard about it being able to change somewhere before, but it wasn't in the forefront of his thoughts, so he hadn't thought of it.
"Was it strong?" the director asked.
"Relative to who you sent before, very. I doubt anyone could have survived it," he said. "I even suspect that they were turned into skeletons to fight for the lich."
"I see," the director said. He had half hoped for the people to still be alive, but they had all but confirmed those people's death. Now that the dungeon was gone, their funerals would have to be held.
"Well, time moved fast in there, so it must have been years since they entered. They would've died due to the lack of food even if they hadn't had to fight the lich itself," the director said.
"Yes," Ning said. "And here is the worst part. Since it was a lich, its summons were monsters without any mana, as such we weren't able to harvest any mana stone, aside from the lich's itself."
Ning pulled out the mana core he had acquired from the lich. "This is what I got, only this," he said. "What should we do in this case?"
The director hesitated a bit. Ning hadn't truly broken the deal, but it still felt bad for the director to give him what he had asked for without getting the same worth in return.
Besides, he was suspecting that Ning was lying as well. It wasn't impossible to have a dungeon where only the boss had a mana stone, but they were incredibly rare. He had to keep that in mind too.
"How about this," Ning said instead. "Since I couldn't bring you anything but get rid of the dungeon, pay me what you think is a fair price. How does that sound?"
"Are you sure? It was on us for not thinking of the possibility," the director said.
"I know, but I feel bad for you guys not getting anything. I wish to give you some leeway so we can keep the relationship good. Please decide what you wish to do on your own," Ning said. "For now, I have some things to do in France, so I will have to get moving."
"In France?" the director asked curiously. "Would you like us to book you a private jet?"
Ning smiled. "No need," he said. He grabbed Ely's hand and said, "Goodbye."
Suddenly, he and Ely disappeared from the van, surprising the director and everyone else in it.
