Chapter 687: Greed Can Make You Do Stupid Things
With the half incubus's death, the entire Dungeon seemed to rumble before light started to gather in the centre of the room, a clear sign of the Dungeon being cleared.
Several of the Dungeoneers immediately crowded around the light, clearly intent on claiming the clear reward.
I frowned and went towards them, "What are you guys doing?"
One of them looked at me weirdly, "Claiming the rewards of course?"
"Claiming the Dungeon completion reward… For a Dungeon that you didn't complete?"
That made them freeze up as they realised what I was trying to imply.
Most of them stepped away from the chest but it seems like there's still a few who thought they deserved it and remained where they were.
"Hey, we helped you distract him, didn't we? We deserve some of this reward too!"
"We got tortured, you know?! We deserve something!"
"Yeah! The clear reward will be given to all who fought the final boss! We participated in it didn't we?!"
Someone from the crowd turned to the last guy, "Err… We actually did not."
"Shush you!"
I huffed at the group of them, "You actually unironically think that you deserve the treasure and have a stake in it more than we do?"
That made a few more separate away from the group and shuffle back to merge into the crowd, trying their best not to look guilty.
One of them raised a hand, "Could we… At least get something? We lost everything…"
They even gestured to themselves to bring attention to the fact that they were in a state of undress.
I raised an eyebrow, "You were one of those that were chained up earlier, weren't you? I'll consider it if you let me tie you up again and then you manage to escape without any help."
He was about to say something but the chest then popped into existence and the Dungeoneers all popped out of existence at the exact same time.
…
Oh… He did say that once he died the Dungeoneers would also be teleported outside. Guess I should have just shut my mouth and let it happen instead of arguing with them.
Oh well, too late to regret I guess?
I made my way towards the chest and pushed open the lid before stepping back.
I thought that they might not count my Shadow Summons as participants but apparently they were.
Balls of light flew out from the chest and floated to each of us, including me as well even though I don't think I even did anything to Tyler though?
Oh wait… Does making the deal with him count as me participating in the fight?
Maybe they saw that as me finding out his weakness so I did some kind of support for my party?
Or was it me sticking the pole in his ass?
…
Yeah, it definitely was the pole.
The light floated in front of me before forming into the shape of a ring and dropping onto my palm.
When the light subsided, I was left staring at a ring with a black coloured gemstone set as its centre stone. I noted that the gemstone itself has seven sides instead of the usual round ones like the other rings I was wearing.
[Ring of Shared Thoughts - One of seven rings that allows the wearer to hear the thoughts of the other bearers and communicate telepathically to them. The ring is indestructible and will return to the wearer's finger within an hour if taken off against their will.]
A set of seven?
I looked at the others in my party and I realised they had all received the same ring as I did.
Huh… This is pretty cool. Maybe the Dungeon saw me working together with my Shadow Guards and decided that this was the best reward for us?
Ironic that my Shadow Guards did not need something like this but it would certainly help with Katsuki and the others, meaning I would not need to verbalise my orders as well.
I could say that this was a great reward.
As I slipped the ring onto my index finger and pocketed the other six, a teleportation circle appeared at where the chest had been and I looked back at where Tyler's body still remained.
I wondered if I should carve him up and decided that since I killed him, I might as well not leave his parts to waste right?
Especially when he has transformed himself into a half demon too, so maybe…
I cut open his chest and woah, there it was! A Demonic Core~
I'll be taking that, thank you very much~
Too bad I didn't get the one from that Lust Succubus. That would have been a big one for sure.
I packed that Demonic Core into my Pack of Folding as well before I stepped onto the teleportation circle, officially completing the Dungeon with half a day to spare.
Not bad, even if I do say so myself.
Light shone and my vision went white before I found myself standing at the entrance of the Dungeon, which was what I expected to happen.
What I did not expect was a mob standing in front of me, a few of them I recognised to be the ones I had butted heads over the treasure chest situation before they got teleported out.
They immediately pointed at me, "There they are! They're the ones responsible!"
Gah… I should have known they would do something like this…
I looked to the side and the others who were teleported out seemed to be keeping as far away from this group as possible, as though trying their best to show that they had nothing to do with them.
There were a lot more people there than earlier so I guess that most of them must have been the other Dungeoneers that were still trapped on the succubus floor and were released after Tyler got killed.
Aside from looking confused, they don't seem to be in bad shape.
I turned my attention back to the few Dungeoneers that were clad in rags standing against us alongside a large group of heavily armed Dungeoneers.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
One of the rescued Dungeoneers stepped forward, "Are you still trying to act dumb?! All of us fought together to defeat the final boss and free everyone! Yet you took the rewards for yourself! How could you do something so selfish?!"
Oh woooooow. Greed can really drive you to do some really stupid shit can't it?
One of the armed Dungeoneers also stepped forward and pointed his greataxe at me, "You there. I'm not someone who is unreasonable and I am also aware that the Dungeons are a place where people like us risk our lives to get the best rewards. But stabbing the people who have helped you achieve your rewards in the back is something that is definitely unacceptable.
You should share the rewards you have gained from completing the Dungeon with everyone!"
I can't tell if this guy actually got finessed by those liars into believing that this actually happened or he also knows the truth and was just acting out his part of the skit for the others to see.
Hmm… How should I do this?
I turned to the others that were keeping their distance, "Any one of you guys want to come forward and tell the truth?"
All of them gave me a look and shook their heads collectively.
Huh… Why would they not want to? Could they also be aiming for the treasure I received? No… I think these people that were spouting nonsense might hold some kind of authority that might affect their daily lives if they were to speak out against them.
I guess that might also explain why their attitudes are so shitty because they never had someone tell them to fuck off before.
In that case, time for plan B.
I turned back to face the group of armed Dungeoneers, "Could I ask if you actually believe that our party of seven managed to somehow force an entire group of more than a few dozen other Dungeoneers out of the Dungeon before claiming the treasure for myself? And that's sending them out here all at the same time?"
"He said that you used an artefact."
"An artefact that can transport everyone in the Dungeon, no matter what floor they're on, outside of the Dungeon against their will, all at the exact same time?"
"Yes," He replied without a hint of hesitation.
"Wow… Then you are more dumb than I thought… Or you're actually aware of the absurdity and you're aiding him for some reason."
He scoffed, "I have seen artefacts and magic that can raise people from the dead, allow one to speak to Gods and even create continents that float in the sky. Why would an artefact that forcibly teleports everyone else out of a Dungeon suddenly seem ridiculous?"
…
No, no, I guess he does have a point… I'll give him that at least.
I thought for a moment, "What if I said that they were the liars and the Dungeon teleported them out because my party defeated the final boss of the Dungeon and completed it?"
"I will say it's complete bullshit. Now hand over the Dungeon clear rewards or be forced to do so!"
Damn… Do I really need to beat them up then?