The tip of Garrick's boot slammed hard into Belida's ribs.
A dull cracking sound echoed through the dimly lit stone room. Belida didn't even scream. The giant knight just coughed weakly, spitting a glob of black blood onto the dirt floor.
"Stop coughing, old knight," Garrick grumbled. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "You are making the weight plate shift."
Garrick stood with his hands on his hips, panting heavily. This room was the second secret corridor after the main treasure room was destroyed. The door wasn't meant to be pushed, but operated using an ancient weight plate mechanism.
There had to be a weight of over a hundred kilos pressing down on the stone floor in front of the door, just so the iron grate wouldn't close automatically. Since there were no rocks that big around here, Garrick used whatever was left.
He used Belida's body.
The gray haired man's condition was literally like a living corpse. The armor on his left chest was completely destroyed from the Goliath boss's bite. Half of his body was covered in blood that had started to dry.
The only thing keeping Belida from dying was the passive effect of his Heavy Shield desperately holding back the fatal bleeding.
A broken stone pillar had been intentionally rolled over by Garrick, pinning Belida's legs so the giant man couldn't crawl anywhere.
"Absolute pain in the ass," Garrick muttered to himself. He turned around, walking back behind the iron grate door.
Inside, piles of pure metal ores and gold coins were scattered everywhere. Garrick picked up two crystal chunks the size of human heads, then threw them into his large burlap sack.
"I wasted one expensive bomb just to kill three grunts out there," Garrick continued from inside the room. His voice echoed. "I thought they carried good loot. Turns out it was just rusty arrows and hard bread."
Garrick came out again, dragging his increasingly heavy sack. He walked past Belida's body lying helplessly on top of the weight plate.
Garrick crouched next to Belida's head. He grabbed the knight's hair and pulled it until Belida was forced to look up.
"Do you know what the funniest part of today is, Belida?" Garrick smiled. The warm and friendly smile he always used to deceive all his victims.
Belida just stared at Garrick with his dim blue eyes. There was no fear in them. Just an overwhelming sense of disgust.
"The funniest part is how incredibly stupid you are," Garrick whispered. He patted Belida's scarred cheek.
"You sacrificed your life to hold back that boss monster's jaws. For what? To save that crippled drawing boy?" Garrick chuckled softly. His laugh sounded dry and condescending.
"Kanos is trash, Belida. Level three. No guild. Plus I already put a hole through his hand."
Garrick let go of Belida's hair, letting the knight's head drop back onto the floor.
"He definitely died crying at the bottom of that abyss. Either his body got smashed against the rocks, or he is being slowly digested inside a hyena pack's stomach right now."
Belida took a painfully labored breath. His chest rose and fell erratically.
With whatever strength he had left, Belida spat. The blood mixed saliva landed right on the tip of Garrick's leather boot.
Garrick went dead silent. His eyes slowly narrowed. The friendly smile on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by the look of a cold blooded killer.
"I thought you would be more fun to talk to in your remaining time," Garrick said coldly.
He drew his short blade from the sheath on his waist. The exact same serrated blade he used to pierce Kanos's hand.
"But it looks like your role as a doorstop is about done. My sack is full."
Garrick twirled his blade casually. He got ready to slash Belida's neck and run as fast as possible before the iron grate closed.
But right as he raised his blade, something changed.
Garrick stopped his movement. He frowned. This underground room always felt hot and stuffy because of the sulfur fumes.
But suddenly, the air around them plummeted to freezing point.
Garrick exhaled. White mist came out of his mouth. Frost started creeping quickly across the stone floor surface, spreading from the dark corridor behind Garrick.
Three torches attached to the walls suddenly dimmed. The flames turned pale purple, then died completely in a matter of seconds.
The only light source now was just the faint reflection from the red crystals on the ceiling.
"What the hell is this," Garrick muttered quietly. He instantly took a step back, moving away from Belida. He gripped the blade in his right hand tightly.
His survival instincts as a veteran instantly flared up. A drastic temperature drop for no reason inside a dungeon usually only meant one thing.
An anomaly floor boss.
From the end of the pitch black corridor, the sound of footsteps echoed.
Very slow. Very casual. The sound of claws scraping against the stone floor had a rhythm, echoing off the walls of the narrow corridor.
Then, a pair of eyes glowed in the darkness.
Sharp and savage neon purple eyes. The height was way too tall for a normal wolf.
The creature stepped out of the shadows. Pitch black smoke billowed from its entire body, absorbing whatever light was left in the room. Its jaws opened, revealing shadow fangs ready to tear through steel.
Garrick swallowed hard. Cold sweat instantly poured down his back.
The monster's level wasn't visible. But the mana pressure radiating from the beast's body felt incredibly suffocating. This wasn't a floor six monster. This was something far, far more deadly.
"Dammit," Garrick cursed under his breath. He got ready to reach for the bomb pouch on his belt. "Where did a mutant monster like this..."
Garrick's words were cut short.
A hand emerged from the darkness next to the monster. A dirty, scarred hand, with a horrific tear mark right in the middle of the palm.
That hand landed on top of the giant wolf's head. Patting it gently.
And the savage, cold bringing monster instantly lowered its head in submission. Just like a tame pet dog.
Garrick froze in place. His eyes went wide, staring in disbelief at the figure who had just stepped out of the darkness.
His hair was a dusty mess. His clothes were ragged and covered in monster blood.
But the pair of eyes staring at Garrick right now was incredibly calm. So calm, it felt way more terrifying than the glare of any monster in Yomalvara.
It was Kanos.
On the floor, Belida, who had been half conscious, slowly opened his eyes. The corner of the heavily wounded giant knight's lips pulled upward, forming a faint smirk.
Kanos stopped his tracks exactly ten meters from Garrick. His left hand hung casually by his thigh, his fingertips dripping leftover shadow ink onto the stone floor.
Garrick subconsciously took a step back. His lips trembled. "You... impossible..."
Kanos tilted his head slightly. He didn't yell. He didn't rage.
His voice came out flat, dry, and pierced straight to the gut.
"I already sketched a coffin for you, Garrick," Kanos said. His left hand slowly rose, his index finger pointing right at the fake guide's face. "Now, I just need the corpse."