{ "Answer me! How could a tiny mortal possibly know about our guidelines?! Were you bluffing?! Do you think I'd fall for your provocations?!" }

It most certainly seemed like they were falling for his provocations. But, the dangerously red face that appeared too close to KiRA's face did not seem harmless in the slightest.

The pressure in this place was abnormal. KiRA did not feel all that well with the strange movements of internal organs in this place.

The walls of the 'insides' seemed to be covered in maggots, there were all kinds of fluids secreting from the walls of organs, and the octopus head that was hovering before his face did not seem friendly.

KiRA knew this one had a few screws loose. He needed to approach this situation carefully or else there was going to be a complicated outcome to this situation.

"I was talking about the dungeon guidelines… isn't it a rule that dungeons disappear when all the stages are cleared." Lying before a dungeon cultivator was not advised. Most of them possessed a skill or power that allowed them to look through the lies.

But, KiRA played with words here, and spoke in the famous ambiguous speech that had helped him get past many of such dangerous situations.

{ "You were talking about the dungeon's guidelines? Where did you hear something like that?" }

KiRA chose his words carefully, "I went to a dungeon with a strange theme once. There, it was written in some strange language that the dungeons around the world follow certain kinds of rules.

It was written that all the dungeons one enters will have something like a reward-enhancement method.

How you clear the dungeon matters, how well you clear the dungeon also plays an important role in the final reward.

I think it was written that there are themes to the dungeons? I don't think I can remember it clearly but it was something like that.

It was also mentioned that the dungeon would close after the three stages are cleared… so, what is this place?"

KiRA showed signs of visible exhaustion and panic. He acted as if he was putting up a tough act so that the creature before him doesn't get suspicious, and to his surprise, much of this acting was effective against this cosmic horror.

{ "Nonsense. There are all kinds of dungeons! The theme part might be true for some but a dungeon doesn't have to have a theme! Hahahaha, as you experienced this time, the dungeons without such limitations like themes are much better!" }

The way that octopus head laughed gave Unity creeps. She didn't get cringed at many things but this octopus and the voice that it was producing just didn't go well with her.

KiRA was enduring the presence of the creature well, but then again, he did not want to deal with it for too long.

{ "You dumb mortals and your dumb things, huh! It must be some arrogant dumbass who left those texts in the dungeon." }

The dungeon cultivator, one who was much higher in hierarchy compared to the white crow or the blue Naga, smirked widely after that eerie laugh, and glared back at the two of them with its completely dark, almost void-like eyes.

{ "Hmmm… but you must be pretty smart to have deciphered whatever language that was. Figuring out that last stage must not be a fluke then." }

KiRA wanted to confirm that it was a fluke but he did not do so. For the time being, he left the creature to its own wild imagination.

{ "Kekeke, I see. It just means I will have to put in more work in this place. Huh, there's no point in killing you if you did not get past this dungeon with just some dumb luck." }

It seemed like the creature would kill KiRA if he mentioned anything about being lucky. The dungeon managers actually had the right to do anything they want inside their own dungeons.

Harming the challengers of the dungeons came with heavy consequences but there were countless dumb cultivators who would pay an absurd price just to get rid of a challenger that was sore to their eyes.

'Handling these bastards has always been tough. The ones that are ugly in human eyes are especially dangerous ones.'

Anyone seeing this thing would jump up and down and scream their hearts out. This thing was simply too scary for normal people, but KiRA was handling the situation well.

"Ummm… Can we go now? It says there will be a bonus stage now." KiRA was not trying to anger the creature but after the observations, he had somewhat figured out a few things about the creature.

{ "Oho? You think there's something else left in this dungeon? Sorry to break it to you, tiny mortal, the dungeon's already done." }

The octopus head came right before his face once again and smirked ear to ear, though it did not have ears on that head.

The spine that its body was connected to, something that seemed like an intestine, stretched back as the head started hovering over the rest of the body composed of countless strange organs.

They were inside something or perhaps this whole place was the body. KiRA did not want to pair logic with this creature right now, but the innocent question he asked earlier was certainly something that made the creature happier.

{ "You're a good one. The moves until now were impressive as well… hmm, there's no reason to eliminate you right now." }

The creature's head, which resembled an octopus, connected with the rest of the body, or at least that is what KiRA saw.

Then, dark eyes opened up behind this pile of organs, eyes so big that KiRA felt like they were the sky itself.

{ "I'll be in trouble if someone with so many spectators dies. Dealing with that would be a hassle." }

The eyes that had opened up behind the maggot covered wall were so dark and so big they actually seemed like the night sky. There were even dots of light resembling stars, but there were no pupils to these eyes.

{ "You may continue. If it really was just luck, then you'll die sooner or later anyway." }

The eyes blinked, literally.

The pressure that KiRA felt when they appeared was immense. He had not felt like this when he faced the Goddess of light either.

This creature was much stronger than anything he had come across until now. Even his Authority was not working against it, meaning the creature possessed more authority than what KiRA could access.

But that was fine, at the end of the day, Unity and he survived the encounter with the cosmic horror.

[Ding!]

[You have cleared the bonus stage.]

[You have cleared the dungeon: Temple of Tatar's Lord.]

[Reward calculation for the dungeon will now begin.]

The two of them were now transferred to a place that resembled the first and third zone, a place where there was a dome above and various murals all around them.

The space was spacious this time, but unlike the dungeon, there was no eerie energy around them. Also, as soon as the two of them appeared here, KiRA could feel strange eyes looking at him, a sensation that contradicted the warm feeling that he could feel.

"Finally it's over… haaaa." KiRA fell to the ground and took a deep breath first.

He checked up on Unity and looked at her body to check if there were any physical injuries. Then he used their connection bond to see whether she was fine or not.

[{ I'm alright… master. }]

He ignored her words and until he was satisfactory with his check-up, he did not put her down.

"Right. Everything looks alright." KiRA was always afraid when it came to these higher ranked dungeon cultivators.

They weren't simple beings. They did not care about humans like them and creatures like Unity were always their most sought after trophies.

There have been times when they tried to kidnap her or harm her, but thankfully, nothing bad happened this time.

"Haaaa…" KiRA sighed and looked around himself.

He was certain that they were really inside the ruins this time.

His Holy power was reacting with everything around him and everything in the surrounding was reacting with his darkness skill.

The skill was something that belonged to a demon, and it was in fact something that only the demons had, but the fact that KiRA had this skill, as well as one of the prominent skills of light made his existence ambiguous.

He could feel the strangeness that this place was giving him, but then again, he did not have to worry about getting killed right away.

[Ding!]

[You challenged the Group dungeon by yourself. Data will be considered.]

'Huh? It was supposed to be a group dungeon?'

[You cleared the (Stage-1) faster than the set record time. Data will be considered.]

[You cleared the (Stage-1) with a new method that has been judged <Superior> to the prescribed clearance method. Data will be considered.]

[You cleared the (Stage-2) of the dungeon with a record time. Data will be considered.]

[The clearance method for (Stage-2) has been judged to be <Honorable>. Data will be considered.]

[The (Stage-3) was cleared within the time limit. Data will be considered.]

[You were able to figure out the key configuration of the (Stage-3) to clear it. Data will be considered.]

[You were able to clear the bonus stage and earn the approval of the unknown entity. Rewards earned will be enhanced.]

[You have earned multiple additional achievements. All data will be cumulatively considered.]

[Ding!]

[Final Dungeon Clearance Rank: <SsS>.]

[As a reward for clearing the dungeon, final rewards will be presented.]

The process was unexpected for both of them, but despite the hardships, the outcome wasn't all that bad…

The rewards that appeared before them certainly didn't disappoint them.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.