Chapter 466: Shattered Illusions

The entire arena fell silent.

Completely unaware that he had just skirted the gates of hell, Yinglong now felt his mind in utter chaos.

What a terrifying NPC! And such overwhelming power!

After that beam of light crashed down, even laying all his cards on the table might have cost him his life…

Still reeling from fear, he cast a deep, wary look at Li Dafu.

But mostly, he was lost in confusion.

“Commander, is it over already?!”

“Did we complete our mission or not?!”

With his face ghostly pale from the final sword strike, Zhang Yuan, like Yinglong, was utterly baffled by what had just happened.

But one thing was clear: none of them had heard the system alert!

After all the hard work — losing ten Third-Stage mid-level fighters and wasting so much time…

In the end, once the final boss was instant-killed by a mysterious NPC, it seemed they were no longer part of the story.

Astonishing as it was, what about the rewards?!

Intimidated by Li Dafu’s imposing aura, he dared not question this NPC.

That Otherworldly Ghost Monarch, pierced by the light beam and slain in a single stroke, still exuded sizzling smoke from its body! If that angered their enemy, it would be a death sentence.

Swallowing hard, Yinglong, coming back to his senses from the shock, couldn’t help but offer a respectful salute to Li Dafu.

“Sir…!”

“Is the Otherworldly Ghost Monarch dead? Our…”

“Our…”

At a loss for words, Yinglong felt the sting of frustration as he realized he couldn’t express what he wanted to say.

What about my equipment?!

What about my rewards?!

Could it be that dungeon rewards are only handed out after the clear? There’s no way this NPC’s move erased everything!

Impossible… it just can’t be!

There’s no way something this absurd could happen!

“Of course that beast is dead. Are you blind?!”

Heh heh heh…

“Under my hand, any ‘monarch’ or ‘king’ is nothing more than an ant!”

He exuded raw dominance.

Li Dafu smirked proudly, twirling his mustache as he looked down on everyone with disdain.

As if struck by inspiration, he didn’t give Yinglong a chance to speak. In the next moment, he stretched out his thin arm and began to curse:

“What are you still standing there for?!”

“I saved your life and helped you take down that beast!”

“Aren’t you going to show some gratitude?”

His words left everyone momentarily stunned.

Yinglong stared blankly at Li Dafu’s outstretched hand, his expression one of utter astonishment.

What does that even mean?

After snatching the kill credit, he still had the nerve to ask for favors?!

What kind of NPC exists in this world?!

Instinctively, anger flared up as he felt like nothing more than a clown being duped.

Yet, recalling that terrifying sword strike, he dared not reveal his anger.

This NPC… is just too powerful!

If that guy even swung another sword, even if he survived, he’d be skinned alive!

“May I ask, Sir… what is it that you want?”

“So… does this mean our mission is complete?”

Suppressing his fury, Yinglong took a deep breath, glancing at Li Dafu with a nearly desperate expression.

For now, he could only hope that the missing system alert meant the settlement hadn’t been finalized yet.

Otherwise, if an NPC had snatched away the dungeon rewards, he’d literally be spitting blood!

“Completed? Of course it’s complete!”

“Look at your pathetic state — humans of your caliber surely have nothing valuable to offer anyway.”

“How about this: Hand over one hundred high-grade Spiritual Energy Fruits, and I’ll take them back for a feast!”

“If it puts me in a better mood, I might even throw in a little bonus.”

Muttering nonsense, a greedy glint flickered in Li Dafu’s eyes as he struggled to hide his excitement.

Of course, these were words he dared not normally speak.

Though he was tempted to extort this top-tier fighter using that sword strike, without Yenir backing him up, he wouldn’t dare.

“One hundred high-grade Spiritual Energy Fruits?!”

His expression shifted rapidly with disbelief!

Listening to Li Dafu’s terms, Yinglong felt as though his old blood might burst out.

He did have Spiritual Energy Fruits, but high-grade ones? No one ever sold those! Even the Capital Military probably had just a few in reserve!

One hundred fruits that boost Third-Stage attributes? Their value rivals that of a Legendary Suit! Even if he sold his behind, he couldn’t scrape together that many!

This was nothing short of extortion!

So, what now? Fight or not? What exactly is this NPC?!

Suppressing his anger and anxiety, Yinglong took a deep breath as his face darkened with every second.

For him, the only good news was that his mission was complete.

“Sir… I just can’t come up with that many… Could we settle for a lower amount?”

Overly cautious and lost in thought, Yinglong dared not offend this NPC. Even Zhang Yuan, standing beside him, suddenly interjected with earnest advice:

“Commander!”

“I suspect our Legendary Suit reward will be granted during dungeon settlement!”

“But most likely, we have to meet this NPC’s demands first!”

“Maybe we didn’t perform well enough, and the system deemed us unworthy of the Legendary Suit reward, or came up short by a bit!”

“So this NPC’s request for a favor is just to make up for the missing part in our mission progress!”

Listening to Zhang Yuan’s convincing analysis, a spark of understanding flickered in Yinglong’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Blood Nightingale, who had been standing a short distance away, paid no heed to their speculations.

While Yinglong and the others spun wild theories, Blood Nightingale clearly grasped what was really going on.

“This is absurd… totally fake…”

“I can’t believe Yinglong actually fell for it…”

“They stole his materials, grabbed his kill credit, and then swindled him out of more supplies…”

“Damn it… how can someone devise such disgusting schemes…”

“……………..”

“Run! Hurry up and run!”

They hurtled away at full speed.

Ignoring the risk of attracting attacks from Otherworldly Ghosts, Yenir’s heart pounded as he dashed back to the 6th Floor of the Dungeon.

He had no intention of exploring any further.

He just planned to get out immediately and return to reality!

Under the persuasion of both him and Li Dafu, he told Yinglong that to fully complete the mission, they needed to hunt down one hundred Otherworldly Ghosts.

Hearing that condition, Yinglong actually believed it, thinking it was the standard difficulty!

Thus, after duping Yinglong into staying behind, Li Dafu planned to exit the dungeon as quickly as possible! If Yinglong came to his senses and realized he’d been fooled, it would be a huge problem…

“Master! So many high-grade materials! And this gem! We’re gonna get rich!”

Ignoring the forceful admonishments from Li Dafu toward Yinglong, Yenir’s mind was dominated by the system prompts announcing the instant kill of the Otherworldly Ghost Monarch.

The gem mentioned by Li Dafu seemed to be part of Yinglong’s personal stash.

Once set in equipment, it could boost Will by 7 points! But compared to his actual gains, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Looking at the flood of system reward notifications, no matter how calm Yenir tried to remain, he couldn’t help but feel this dungeon run was absolutely epic!

“Ding: Slay the Otherworldly Ghost Monarch – gain 65% dungeon completion and an extra level in system evaluation.”

“Ding: Slay the final dungeon boss – acquire Set Component: [Mind Shatter].”

“Ding: Slay the final dungeon boss – acquire Set Component: [Mind Light].”

“Ding: Acquire epic equipment: Healing Scepter.”

“Ding: Acquire epic material: Otherworldly Ghost Monarch’s Heart, Sealing Chains.”

“Ding: Gain 300 reputation points.”

“Ding: Acquire the exclusive title: Monarch Slayer.”

“Ding: Acquire A+ Level Skill: Mind Shift.”

“Ding: Slay the Otherworldly Ghost Monarch – gain Spirit Energy experience…”

“….”