The explosion pushed Niki back, almost making him fall toward the crashing waves. He held into the chains lest he falls until the explosion passed.


    After that, he climbed up and walked toward the machinery. It has broken into pieces after the self-destruction: a brutal mechanism to imnt.


    This machinery’s creator didn’t want any of his works to fall into the hands of others. Niki walked toward the machine as a system notification rang.


    [The machine dropped a reward. Do you want to keep it in your pocket dimension?]


    [Mysterious Cog: this is a piece of unknown machinery. It appears to be a part of arger set. Gathering the materials might prove fruitful.]


    ‘A cog?’ Niki frowned. ‘This dungeon’s rewards are rather peculiar.’


    Dungeons usually reward crystals with the same drop rate as the outside but without the usual stat-relevance. It was a randomized reward based on the dungeon you’re exploring.


    However, there were no stats crystals for this one. As Niki looked at the palm-sized cog, he can feel the same spiritual presence that possessed the dwarf.


    ‘The dwarf must have been in this dungeon.’ Niki put away the cog into his pocket dimension, where the darkness prevented it from trying to possess him.


    He looked at the infinite tforms surrounding the tower, wondering how he can reach the giant structure. There was no other choice but to go forward and look on a different tform.


    Niki ran on top of the chains. He could see that the metallic tforms were floating, so there was indeed no hope for him if he fell.


    He jumped from the chains andnded on the tform. Rumbling noises of cogs turning appeared as soon as Niki arrived. A door on the ground slid to reveal the head of a giant machine.


    The machine rose in front of Niki, and it was twice his size. He looked at it with interest as his darkness exploded from beneath his feet like mes.


    “Is this a stage-arrangement dungeon?”


    This kind of dungeons was easier for solo-adventurers, as mobs won’t surround them. However, the monsters were usually stronger individually.


    “Can you win against what you can’t see?” Niki grinned, baring his sharp teeth at the machine. “Can you win against the darkness?”


    He waved his hand, and a wave of darkness rose in the air, rushing toward the giant machine. Its eyes lit up as it detected Niki’s mana.


    “Unknown Element detected. Warning…”


    Before it could finish its report, the darkness crashed into it. Niki’s dark mana seeped through every gap of the machine, clinging to its core and mana-cords, destroying every element in its path.


    “Self-destruction protocol has begun.” The machine dered as Niki waved his darkness again, surrounding its core. The explosion urred, but his dark mana ate away the mes before it could destroy the machine.


    “Ho…” Sweat rolled down his face as the machine fell to the ground. The battle might have been short, but it was because Niki wanted to preserve the parts. “As if I’d let you.”


    He walked toward the machine as a te of metal appeared. It was another reward, and his system notified him again.


    [The machine dropped a reward. Do you want to keep it in your pocket dimension?]


    [Mysterious te: this is a piece of unknown machinery. It appears to be a part of arger set. Gathering the materials might prove fruitful.]


    ‘Another part of machinery?’ Niki grumbled as he looked at the piece of golden metal. It floated above the machinery after he defeated it. Just like before, it had traces of spiritual powers.


    “This fucker is persistent.” Niki scowled as he ced the machinery into his darkness, isting it again. “Let’s see you possess people now.”


    Niki began studying the machinery. It was a giant humanoid machine coated in gray armor. As he looked around the parts, he was sure that it was a part of the ancient civilization.


    “The Omphalos Saturation is low, so this dungeon shouldn’t have been here for a long time.” Niki’s stomach turned at this. With a wave of his hand, he kept the machine inside his pocket dimension. “I should get to the bottom of this.”


    Niki raced on top of the chains andnded on the next tform, prompting another machine to appear. There was no dy before he disappeared from the world.


    As if fighting an invisible foe, the machine began retreating as dents appeared on its armor. When the attacks pierced the armor to create a hole, they focused on the spot until the core appeared.


    Niki didn’t stop running, and his dagger appeared in his hand. He infused the darkness into it and jumped tond on the machine’s body, stabbing its core with all of his strength.


    If it were before his stats doubled, he would have never been able to pierce the core. However, now, he had the strength to do so. The bright core was dyed ck as his mana exploded inside.


    [The machine dropped a reward. Do you want to keep it in your pocket dimension?]


    “Yes,” Niki rushed forward without stopping to look at the reward. He was sure it was another piece of machinery. Two machines appeared when he reached the next tform.


    ***


    Lined side by side on Alias’s deck, the parts varied in every shape and form. There were gears, tes of different shapes, screws, sses, chords, and frames.


    “What do I do with these?” Niki exasperatedly sighed as he sat between ten destroyed machines with a pale face. He had to fight against ten of these machines at once, making him run around like a madman.


    He had almost twenty parts now, and they looked as if they fight together. However, he had no idea how to assemble them, nor did he know whether there were missing materials.


    “The entity behind this dungeon deserves a beating.” Niki grimaced. “I had to run around without receiving any crystals.” If it weren’t for the fate points, Niki would have left the dungeon long ago.


    “Wait, where is the Return Stone?” Niki halted his steps as he realized that he was here for hours, but no Return Stone dropped. “How do I leave this ce?”