In that critical moment, Ishy made his choice. He decided to fight the Tomb's Guardian alongside the Hunter's companion — not because he wanted to, but because he had no other option.
He growled under his breath and took a cautious step forward, carefully analyzing the creature for any opening while keeping an eye on the struggling Hunters and the prisoners. Kael had already led the others toward the exit.
Damn it… this bastard is blocking the way, he thought bitterly. But at least the others managed to escape. These Hunters don't stand a chance. The beast attacked them before they even realized what was coming.
He winced and hissed sharply as the Whistle of Death's curse took its toll again. A fresh wave of pain surged through his head.
Tsk…! This curse is really getting on my nerves!
Forcing himself to endure the agony, Ishy dashed toward the creature's side and found an opening. With a burst of desperate strength, he leaped onto the Tomb's Guardian's thick neck.
The massive beast immediately began shaking its head violently from side to side, trying to throw him off. Ishy clung on tightly, his body jerking like a ragdoll.
His sudden action caught the Hunter's companion completely off guard. The man stared with widened eyes and a slack jaw — he had expected Ishy to run away and abandon them.
Ishy quickly wrapped the long iron chain that was still cuffed to his wrist around the creature's upper jaw. He pulled back with all his strength, forcing the beast's mouth open while it let out a furious, grimace-filled growl.
"What are you looking at?!" Ishy shouted at the Hunter's companion. "Shoot this bastard, you wench! Aim for the inside!"
The shout snapped the man out of his shock. He raised his gun, took careful aim at the soft interior of the creature's open mouth, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew straight into the upper jaw and pierced the beast's brain. Its outer scales were as hard as obsidian, but the inside was surprisingly vulnerable.
The Tomb's Guardian let out a deafening howl of pain that echoed through the collapsing tomb. Its body convulsed violently before it finally went limp. With a loud, earth-shaking thud, the massive creature collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.
Both Ishy and the Hunter's companion stood frozen, stunned and shocked by the horrifying sight of the Guardian's enormous, motionless body.
While both Ishy and the Hunter's companion were still frozen in shock from the beast's death, the [STATUS] menu suddenly appeared before Ishy's eyes, congratulating him on his victory.
[Congratulations, Ishmael.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Beast: The Tomb's Guardian.]
[You have been rewarded with Tier 2 Hunter's Gift: Cloak of a Wyrm.]
Ishy panted heavily and whispered under his breath, "A cloak… of a wyrm? Was this creature actually a wyrm?"
The reward shocked him for a moment, but he quickly brushed it off, assuming it was another useless item. He glanced at the gift's description anyway.
[Hunter's Gift Description: A cloak made from the skin of the Tomb's Guardian. Grants the wearer resistance to any elemental attribute. Even bullets cannot pierce it. However, in return, the wearer will feel its immense weight, as the skin of the Tomb's Guardian is made of obsidian.]
'DAMN! This cloak is bulletproof?!'
His lips curled into a brief, excited smile. The cloak offered bullet resistance and strong elemental protection. But that joy quickly faded when he read the last line. His smile disappeared completely.
He let out a sharp, frustrated exhale.
'Damn it… of course you had to make it heavy! Why don't you just make me lift weights or something, you bastard?!'
The [STATUS] menu then asked:
[Alert: Do you want to wear this cloak or keep it?]
The answer was obvious for most people — they would wear it immediately. But not Ishy. He chose to keep it in his inventory. He knew the heavy cloak would only drag him down right now, just like the burning chain on his ankle. He could use it later when the time was right.
The cloak vanished into his inventory.
Ishy jumped down from the lifeless body of the Tomb's Guardian and headed straight for the exit. But a tired voice called out from behind him.
"Oi! Come here…"
It was the Hunter's companion, walking toward him with exhaustion written all over his face.
Ishy wasn't surprised. After horrifying events like this, people usually approached him for one of two reasons: gratitude… or hidden motives.
With his face painted with exhaustion and pain, Ishy asked curtly, "What do you want? I have no time to spare with you."
He ignored the man and continued walking toward the exit. The Hunter's companion called after him again, then broke into a run to catch up.
"Wait up! I have something to talk about!" He reached Ishy and grabbed his shoulder.
From that point, Ishy erupted.
He launched a sudden punch straight at the man's face. The Hunter's companion had no time to react or evade. The fist connected hard.
The iron chains on Ishy's wrists clanked loudly against each other, and the sharp edges of the cuffs dug painfully into his skin.
The punch sent the man stumbling backward. He fell hard onto the ground, landing on his rear. He immediately covered his nose with both hands, only to feel warm blood flowing freely from it.
The man grunted in pain and cursed loudly while clutching his bleeding nose.
"OW!! Curse you! What the hell is wrong with you?! I just wanted to have a word or two with you, you bastard!!"
Ishy remained silent as the man shouted at him. His expression twisted into a disgusted snarl.
"A word or two? With me?" Ishy said coldly. "How quaint… I don't want to talk to you, or to any of your friends, you fool."
He continued, his voice dripping with contempt,
"After all, I know you have bad intentions behind that foul mouth of yours."
The man's frustration grew. He had been about to ask why Ishy had helped him defeat the monster in the first place.
"Foul mouth, you say…?" the man snarled. He pulled out a handkerchief from his Hunter's jacket and wiped the blood from his nose
The man paused, carefully observing the iron chain still digging into Ishy's wrist and the cold mask Ishy was trying to hide behind. Despite the effort, the man could clearly read the exhaustion and pain hidden beneath that frosty expression.
He sighed and slowly got up from the floor.
"Why did you help me kill that bastard?" he asked, pointing at the lifeless body of the Tomb's Guardian.
Ishy let out a long, exhausted sigh before answering.
"I didn't help you kill that beast because I wanted to save your damn life," he said flatly. "I did it to stop it from chasing after me if I had chosen to run. I didn't have the strength to kill it by myself. It would've been stupid to leave something like that alive behind me, wouldn't it?"
The lengthy explanation clearly impressed the man. His tone softened, losing its earlier hostility.
"Well… that was pretty smart of you, kid. Especially for someone with such a skinny frame. You didn't run from the fight."
He stepped closer, reached into his pouch, and pulled out a small key. Without a word, he took Ishy's hands and unlocked the iron cuff from his wrist.
The heavy steel dropped to the ground with a loud clank.
"You know… since you helped me take that thing down, you deserve this," the man said, his lips curling into a slight smile. "You're free to go."
Ishy rubbed the raw, painful spot on his wrist where the cuff had dug in. He looked at the man with a flicker of genuine gratitude, but the coldness quickly returned to his eyes.
"Thanks," he said curtly.
Before Ishy could take another step toward the exit, the man spoke again.
"So tell me… why did you help those prisoners? Their lives aren't worth the effort you put in."
The question stopped Ishy cold. He stood frozen in place, silent, as he searched for an answer in his own mind.
***
While the man waited for Ishy to answer his question, he reached into his Hunter's jacket and pulled out another handkerchief, offering it to him.
"It seems you need this too… You're bleeding quite a bit."
Ishy took the handkerchief and wiped the blood from his nose. The effect from the Whistle of Death was still active — the blood continued to drip steadily — but it wasn't severe enough to make him lose consciousness. It seemed the curse was slowly wearing off now that the immediate danger had passed.
Ishy replied in a cold but less hostile tone.
"It's just high blood pressure from the fight against that beast. It's pretty normal for people who've been through something like this."
The man let out a short laugh, clearly impressed by how nonchalant Ishy was acting despite the obvious pain. Ishy simply shrugged it off.
"You seem pretty confident about these kinds of wounds," the man said. "You just shrugged it off like it was nothing."
Ishy didn't laugh along. He simply shrugged again.
The man's laughter gradually faded when he realized Ishy wasn't going to join in. He then repeated the question that had been lingering.
"You still haven't answered me… Why did you help those prisoners escape?"