"Stop!!!" shouted two different voices. Roy froze upon hearing Five. He realized the meaning behind that but since he was the one forcing Five into a corner, would he not take the entire blame of the situation?

As such, he instantly shouted while taking a step back. At the same time, the Lion Man also panicked and let out a shout.

The thorns stopped moving as the dryad displayed a pensive expression. The monsters quickly stopped moving and took a few steps back to show that they had no intention of attacking.

When he heard the shout, Five internally smiled. The torch briefly stopped a few centimeters from the powder before quickly moving back. The flame was literally about to lick the wick, but it did not. In fact, at the speed he was moving, there was no way for Five to retract the torch in time upon hearing the shout. It was a predetermined action; he was not even going to light up the gunpowder.

To Five, it was clearly a huge gamble. There were so many factors he was not aware of. He did not know how the monsters would react. He did not even know if the gunpowder would deal enough damage to be a threat to the core. In the end, he only had a relatively small recipient in which the powder was compressed. To add to the lethality, he added some pieces of metals that would fly across the room if the gunpowder detonated. Even then, there was no guarantee that it would represent a significant threat.

However, his gamble paid off. The monsters instinctively panicked and decided to retreat! The Aegis was an unexpected factor but, in the end, it did not matter. It was the lifeline of the dungeon! If it was lost, the dungeon core would be at risk and Kroff would naturally not let the matter go! More importantly, that would mean wasting years of hard work!

"Don't be too hasty, Five! There is no reason for you to do that," said Roy while taking a step back. At the same time, two other lizards appeared behind him.

All the monsters were looking at Five with both angered and terrified expressions. They did not know what the weapon of Five was, but their gut feeling was warning them. Not only did they risk harming themselves, if Five was too impulsive, they would also have to shoulder the blame for the loss of the Aegis.

As for Five, he simply smiled, he knew he had the upper hand! Despite that, he did not relax and kept the torch 20cm from the gunpowder; this way, he would be able to react before any monsters would reach him.

"What are you talking about? At this point, I have nothing to lose... I might as well end it all here!" said Five.

For the first time, the dryad stepped forward and spoke, her voice was very charming, to the point that Five's focus wavered for a moment, "Five, there is no need to be impulsive! Look, we won't attack! Let's discuss this out!"

"Oh? But I don't want to talk to you! And you should remove your thorns! I am very scared of plants. I might accidentally let go of the torch!" threatened Five. His back was drenched with sweat. The dryad was definitely dangerous, if he continued to talk to her, he might lose focus.

“She probably has some skills related to her voice! There is no way I’ll be attracted to a child!”

Dryads were powerful monsters that sometimes used their charms to attract clueless adventurers. As the adventurers would lower their guards, the dryads would devourer their bodies and use these nutrients for their own growth. As such, Five was very careful when dealing with the dryad. It was a very dangerous situation and he did not want to lose focus.

"You… We are only talking... why are you so aggressive?"

"Enough! From now on, the lion guy will be the one talking. If anyone else does anything, then I can already say farewell to you all!" interrupted Five.

The monsters were all naturally very anxious and although the dryad was not pleased with the outcome, her thorns quickly retracted back to her. The Dryad and Roy frowned upon hearing Five's request; they clearly knew that the Lion Man was a blockhead who only knew how to fight. How was he suitable to negotiate with Five? However, in this situation, they could only allow it.

"What is it that you want?" politely asked the Lion Man. He was still crouching on the floor, ready to jump.

"You all became extremely polite all of a sudden?" commented Five. He slightly relaxed upon seeing the outcome of the situation. It was not exactly what he planned but it was better than he expected. "So this is why kamikazes are so fearsome..." said Five to himself. Although he wanted to deal a heavy blow to Kroff, Five knew that if he did that then he would also perish but in the end, at least, he would make Kroff pay for being so unfair!

Five did not want his journey to end there. He still had people he needed to deal with in the outside world. But with the way it was going, he would either end up bound to the Cyclone Association or heavily indebted to Kroff. Five easily realized that Kroff wanted to get him severely in debt with the arrangement. This way, it would further delay his own growth since he would need to repay back!

If he silently accepted that, then he would never be able to succeed and accomplish his goals. All the other dungeon masters would already have a good foundation by the time he would start his own! There was no way he would accept this and so, he decided to risk everything.

He never expected to play the game to begin with. Even if he died, it would not be a big loss. However, if his planned succeeded, things would be completely different. He now held the initiative!

The Lion Man was dumbly looking at him, not knowing what to say but at that moment, the Throne room's door wildly opened and Kroff rushed in.

It was not just the monsters that had an ominous feeling when Five took out the recipient of gunpowder; as the owner, Kroff naturally had a connection with the dungeon core and felt it when it was in danger.

He immediately left the room he was in to rush back here. Kroff was previously in a conference meeting with the Duke and the other members of the Cyclone Alliance. But when he felt that his core was in danger, he left everything without even giving an excuse. The decorum did not matter since his own life was at risk.

As soon as he entered, Kroff anxiously looked at his dungeon core and saw Five standing in front of it with a cold smile.

"What is happening here? Five! What are you doing? Do you even know what it implies!?" angrily shouted Kroff as he took large strides forward.

"Master! You are finally here!" said the three monsters as one. They quickly allowed Kroff to pass through.

"Hey, old man! Stop right there if you don't want me to accidentally let go of this torch!"

"Old man? How dare you? I am your teacher! Did you already forget everything I taught you?" angrily said Kroff. Nevertheless, he stopped moving towards the dungeon core and kept a respectable distance.

"What did you teach me? All you did was repeat what I already knew. And most of it were self-explanatory. I do not need a teacher to tell me that," said Five with a grin.

"In that case, you should have just said it! There was no need to do such an impulsive act. Quickly step down, let's talk this through."

"Are you stupid? I don't stand any chance against any of the monsters! Won't they instantly kill me if I move just a little bit away from the dungeon core?" Five.

Kroff angrily looked at Five and the other monsters. How could such a situation happen? He gnashed his teeth but did not dare move forward. He knew that if Five was to act, then the Aegis would be activated. That spell would only act at the very last second and was his lifeline!

Kroff knew very well the value of this spell. If it was to be activated for such a matter, then it would be a terrible loss! Billions of DP could go down the drain if he took the wrong decision.

As both Kroff and Five were looking at each other, Mehlroth, the frogman and the World Scavenger quickly arrived at the entrance of the throne room and stared at the scene. As soon as they felt that the dungeon core was in danger, they all rushed there as soon as possible. As for possessing the general's son, they already forgot about that insignificant figure. The fate of the whole dungeon was more important!

"It looks like you planned everything from the start, right?" asked Kroff. Although his tone was polite, anyone could detect the hidden anger in it.

"If you were a good teacher and honestly helped me grow, I would never have done this, but you forced me to. I am not stupid to the point that I do not notice things. Me dying from the goblins was something you planned, right?"

"You are smarter than you look but yes, you are right! If you accepted to join the Cyclone Alliance, none of that would have happened..."

Five smiled, "But that is not something I want to."

"Sigh... Then since you planned all of this, speak... What is it that you want?"