"Do you even need us? You can destroy an entire floor by yourself."
Harriet smirked at Dreidus' comment. "We have just been lucky for now. If they have special traps that deal with single targets, I might be in trouble. Besides, I also need to conserve my mana. It drains very quickly when you use powerful skills like [Eye of the Storm]."
The Undead army stepped on the eleventh floor, led by Harriet. As the harpy expected, all the Boss Monsters had gathered together to protect the core. The Dungeon Core was not in sight, but she could tell it was not very far.
"Intruders! You shall not take over Bugtopia as long as I am alive!" A black figure stepped out of the group, aiming his spear at Harriet.
The harpy queen maintained a straight face. She did not even react as the black figure transformed into its battle form. It was a Black Beetle Knight; the Boss Monster of the Black Beetles. It originally looked like a larger black beetle. After its transformation, it now had a transparent pair of wings deployed behind its back. Its legs became longer and had a double hook near the end. Likewise, its nose became longer and sharper.
Behind the Black Beetle Knight, the Termite King and the Mother Spider both went through their own transformation as they activated their battle form. The Ant Queen was also present but she was the only Boss Monster who had absolutely no fighting abilities. Her only purpose was to lay eggs.
Aside from the Boss Monsters, twenty Flame Scarabs ranging from level 25 to 30 also prepared themselves for the final battle. They were only regular monsters and could not transform; only a faint red glow emerged from the gaps of their shell.
"Not bad. The dungeon has quite a few level 30 monsters. I suppose the strongest monster of this dungeon should be the Boss of the Flame Scarabs. Dreidus, I'll take care of the Boss Monsters. You deal with the rest. Don't use your battle form. We still have another dungeon to raid afterward." Harriet deployed her wings and flew toward the Black Beetle Knight.
[Dead Mind] was instantly used. The Defacers disappeared from the insects' field of view. Defacers excelled at sneak attacks. They reappeared behind the Flame Scarabs and started attacking.
The Bonemares roared as they charged toward the Flame Scarab. The liches raised their hand, causing a ghastly green flame to surround their arms. Under the Dreidus’s lead, a massacre begun.
"Who is your master? How could you take advantage of Ishan's absence to attack Bugtopia!" exclaimed the Black Beetle Knight. Even in his battle form, he could tell Harriet was much stronger than him.
"Just surrender and allow me to take the Dungeon Core. If you do, you might live and serve my master," said Harriet. She slowly drifted forward as a wild air current started blowing around her.
"Over my dead body! You are just cowards who do not even dare to face the strongest monster of Bugtopia! Eyala. Attack!"
Eyala, the Mother Spider spat out her Spider String at Harriet but as it got closer to the harpy queen, all the string was blown away by the air current.
"This is your last chance. No matter what you do, you won't be able to change today's outcome. Open the way to the dungeon core and you might still live. If you don't, after your death, there is a chance for you to disappear completely."
"Don't listen to her. She is just trying to sway us! If she really did not mind, then why would she try to convince us?" The Black Beetle Knight shouted as he saw the seeds of hesitation being sowed in his friends.
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"Hmmmp!" Harriet dodged the Black Beetle Knight's spear and repositioned herself behind his back.
[Zephyr Strike]
The Black Beetle Knight coughed blood as its body crashed onto the ground. Its HP dropped down to 20% despite its battle form. "You..." Its body trembled as it attempted to stand up.
"Very commendable. My master would have like to have someone like you under his command. It's a pity you chose to serve someone weaker." Harriet briefly glanced at the defeated Black Beetle Knight before raising her finger.
[Compressed Air Bullet]
The Black Beetle Knight's head exploded, covering its surrounding with a greenish viscous fluid. The other Boss Monsters trembled. They did not dare to make a move. The Termite King was utterly useless against Harriet as it did not have any ranged attacks.
Harriet raised her hand, channeling the wind into transparent blades. She then waved her hand, sending waves of wind blades. The Termite King was sliced into pieces in an instant.
The Mother Spider took a step back. "I surrender. Please don't kill me."
Harriet's piercing gaze stared at the Mother Spider but she did not attack. She paused for a moment and flew past her. The Mother Spider let out a sigh of relief but did not move her retracted legs yet.
"I surrender too," exclaimed the Ant Queen. She knew she did not stand a chance against Harriet. The moment she became the target of the Harpy Queen, the Ant Queen did not hesitate and surrendered.
"Mmm. You will lead me to the dungeon core after we finish cleaning up the Flame Scarabs."
Half of the Flame Scarabs were already dead but a Defacer had also fallen during the assault. Dreidus could not be blamed for this. He only had eight Defacers and five Liches to deal with twenty Flame Scarabs.
Bugtopia was by no means a weak dungeon. The fact that it housed twenty Flame Scarab was an iron-clad proof of its strength but they were missing a key element. Their Boss Monster was missing. He accompanied the dungeon master to the auction, leaving a flaw in the dungeon's defense. Without Harriet, it would have been much harder to conquer the dungeon.
With the Harpy Queen's help, it did not take long before the rest of the Flame Scarabs joined their comrades in their after-life.
"You left these two alive?" asked Dreidus. He walked to the Harpy Queen and observed the two insects.
"Yes. Once we bring the dungeon core out of the dungeon, it would be considered defeated. They will then have to serve whoever absorbs the dungeon core. In other words, they will become Five's monsters after he uses his own dungeon core to absorb this one." The harpy queen explained.
"Let's not lose any more time. There should not be any threat left. I will lead the Undead Army out while you take everything necessary from the dungeon. This way, we might save a bit of time."
...
After his breakfast, Five made his way to the auction room once again. Angela was quietly nibbling a muffin as she followed her master.
When they arrived at the reception, Five noticed a crowd of players loudly shouting in a corner. To his surprise, the players seemed to be surrounding the imps who were selling talismans yesterday.
'Looks like the situation reversed completely.'
Five quickly determined that it had something to do with the talismans. They were definitely not ordinary items. He approached the crowd but was pushed back by a player. He was wearing the clown mask and the red coat, hiding his appearance but these two items could not hide his tall stature.
"Go away! We, the Hurricane Alliance has important business transactions to do!"
Five frowned but did not leave. He ignored the threats, knowing all well that it was impossible for him to be harmed by other players while he was here. Furthermore, he could see other players surrounding other imps across the reception.
"Dear customer. Please be patient. Our stock has just arrived. We can now start the sales. Unfortunately, we did not expect such a high demand and I only brought fifty thousand talismans for sale.
"Quick, sell them to me!" exclaimed a player.
"Hey! Stop pushing. We all form part of the Hurricane Alliance. Let's get rid of the outsiders first. As long as the talismans remain within the alliance, we will all benefit from it."
Five felt the stares of the players but remained firm. The talismans disappeared quickly as the players purchased them in bulk. Five was stunned as he saw the transactions taking place. A player even asked for ten thousand talismans.
'Just what are the effects of these talismans?' The players pushed each other to reach the imp first. Similar scenes were taking place around the other imps. Soon, the imp declared, "Thank you very much, dear customers. Unfortunately, we have just run out of stock. Please come back next time."
"What? It's already over?" said one of the players who managed to push his way to the front.
"Fine. Let's disperse then. We have already gained a lot from this. Let's go grab our seats now."
Five was confused. He saw the crowd of players swiftly leave toward the auction hall.
"May I ask, what are the effects of the talismans? Why did all the players suddenly ask for them when no one was interested in them yesterday?" asked Five to the imp. The latter was drooling as it cleaned up its now empty bag.
"They are identification talismans. When used in the auction hall, they reveal all the information about the items for sales. It is very useful for low-level dungeon masters."
Five froze. 'No wonder they all rushed here to buy the talismans. If only I bought one yesterday... I could have discovered their effect then.'
By using the Prisoner's Bracelet, they could also identify the items but each use would cost 2000 DP. On the other hand, each talisman would effectively cost 500 DP. It was four times cheaper to use the talismans!
Five felt dejected at the missed opportunity to save some DP.
Five brought Angela to his new seat. As all the NPC dungeon masters were gone, the hall was now half empty. He obtained a seat closer to the platform, allowing him to have a better view of the items.
Five briefly examined his neighbors. The one on the right brought a Dwarf while the one on the left brought a Living Armor.
Soon, Amour once again stepped onto the platform. With his slick tongue, he greeted the entire crowd and built up the hype for the first item. However, as soon as the first item was brought up, notifications rang in Five's ears but there was one in particular that attracted Five's attention.