The dungeon core was curious. This party of adventurers wasn’t like the usual ones that came through its dungeon. For one thing, they were much more powerful. They were destroying its defenders with ease and having no problems spotting and disarming all of its traps.

What was really interesting, though, was that they weren’t collecting loot from most of the defeated creatures. They ignored everything that was out of the way, only bothering to loot the bodies that were within reach as they pushed on deeper into the dungeon.

From conversations it had overheard, and the memories of fallen adventurers it had absorbed, it knew that loot was one of the two main reasons people risked their lives in dungeons. The other reason being the chance to grow stronger and level up by defeating the creatures in dungeons.

This party definitely wasn’t here to level up. They were already much more powerful than the defenders, which meant they wouldn’t get much experience from killing them. And it was clear they weren’t here for loot either. So why were they here?

The core watched as the party continued clearing all the rooms until they reached the final room. Its most powerful defender waited for them, but based on the power of the group’s spells and physical attacks so far, it wouldn’t stand a chance. As expected, the dungeon’s final and most formidable creature quickly fell to the overpowered adventurers.

Instead of leaving like the dungeon core expected, they stood around. One of them, a mage judging by the spells he had used and the robes he was wearing, pulled an orb out. It was quite big, filling both of his hands, and it was covered in intricate runes. It was obviously valuable by the careful way the man handled it.

A section of the orb lit up as the mage channeled some mana into it. He turned slowly, holding the orb out, until suddenly a beam of white light shot out from the lit-up section and shone brightly on the wall.

A smile spread across the mage’s face. “It actually works! I had my doubts, but their new invention has done as they promised. It has locked on to the source of energy powering the dungeon.”

Impossible! The dungeon core was more than a little shocked. The light was shining on the wall directly in front of where it was situated. How was this possible?! As far as it knew, nobody even realized that dungeon cores existed. They just assumed that dungeons were a natural part of the world and controlled by the World Spirit.

It wasn’t too worried though. There was nothing that could break through its walls. They were reinforced with large amounts of mana and enhanced for strength and durability. If not, adventurers would easily bypass any challenges and create their own path. So even if they now knew where it was, they wouldn’t be able to reach it.

“Hurry up and get it out of there. If anyone catches us messing with a dungeon, it will be our heads,” another member of the party said, starting to fidget nervously.

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“Relax,” the mage said, walking closer to the wall hiding the dungeon core. “My scrying spell showed there was no one within a day of here. We’ll grab whatever is in there and be long gone before anyone gets close. Then we’ll hand it over to complete the contract and be wealthy enough to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.”

The mage held the orb up against the wall where the light was shining. Channeling more mana, the entire globe lit up as all the runes activated. The core could feel a strange pressure on the wall. Turning its attention to that spot, it could see the light from the orb slowly making its way through the rock and heading towards it.

Now the core was beginning to panic. This should not be possible. Nothing could penetrate a dungeon’s walls! The core directed its mana into the wall in front of it, strengthening it further and stopping the progress of the white beam of light. It wasn’t sure what the light’s purpose was, and it didn’t want to find out.

The mage frowned. “There’s some resistance. I think the dungeon might be fighting back. Come here and add your mana to the orb.”

The other party members moved closer and touched the orb where they could. The glow from it grew brighter, and the beam of light again started progressing through the wall.

The core was running low on mana, so it directed some of the mana from other parts of the dungeon into the wall to reinforce it. It could only move a little, otherwise the dungeon’s integrity would be compromised. The light’s progress was slowed, but it continued its forward movement.

Left with no other choice, the core pulled even more mana from its dungeon until pieces of the roof began to fall down into the rooms. The amount of mana remaining in the dungeon structure was insufficient to the task of resisting the pressure of the earth above.

One member of the party held her hand up and created a magical barrier above their party, shielding them from the falling rock. “We have to stop! The teleport spell isn’t meant to handle this much mana. We could all die!” She was unaware the falling stone was due to the core’s actions, and not what they were doing. Although, one was because of the other, so in a way she was right.

“We are not leaving here without our prize.” The mage grimaced and then the glow grew so bright they all had to shut their eyes. The light sped up and grew closer to breaking through into the small room where the core was situated.

The core made a quick decision. It pulled all the remaining mana from its dungeon to the one wall separating it from the adventurers, causing the entire underground complex to begin to cave in. It would remove the threat by burying the adventurers beneath tons of earth.

It would mean having to rebuild its dungeon from scratch, which would take a lot of mana and a long time. That was better than whatever fate awaited it if the adventurers got their hands on it, though.

Unfortunately, its last-ditch attempt to stop the adventurers wasn’t enough. The beam of light punched through the rest of the wall and hit the dungeon core.

Instead of being teleported to the party outside its hidden room as seemed to be the intended function, there was a flash of blinding light. It was followed by the appearance of a strange looking dark hole in the air above the core. It was sucked up into the hole, leaving its collapsing dungeon behind. The last it saw of the adventurers before its senses went dark was them crouching under their barrier as the falling earth crashed down.