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As the guardian spoke out his wishes—The room soon turned quiet as the group helplessly stared dumbstruck at the broken statue who stood there lifelessly. After a while, the party began to whisper among themselves.

"...end him?" Frey uttered out in a confusing tone as she processed the words of Hukhta. "Like... Turning him into ashes?"

"Weren't we going to do that anyway?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "I mean, why else are we here but to defeat this guy."

"Right..." Kon muttered out as he turned to the slimes by the front. "What do those guys have to say about it?"

"To defeat and to end are two separate things, isn't it?" Rustly questioned.

"Hmm, yes," Reru nodded his head. "By defeating him... He'll be revived either way through our efforts of the Slera's power. But, by ending him..."

"—It means for a permanent rest, right?" Shinto continued his sentence as he glanced at the equipment of the knight. Noting that he had donned a set of armour that has been worn out throughout the years. Its cracks and rust were prevalent, but he could see the scars of battle from long ago.

On the floor, the blade was no less than the armour. In fact, this could no longer be called a sword. Its fuller was separated from the hilt, and the edges were not sharp. It seems that it had remained that way for a long time.

"That's how it is," Reru sighed. "For the Guardian to act this regretful... I guess it is understandable."

"What are we going to do then?" Rustly asked.

"It does not change our goal," Reru stated. "We were going to defeat him either way in order to get to Sanke. But in this case, since he is not going to be putting up a fight, it'll make our lives much easier."

"So... We're going to defeat him and revive him later is what I'm getting at here?" Shinto tilted his head.

"No. In his wishes, we'll be ending him."

"Huh? Are we seriously going to end him?!" Rustly cried out. "Even if he failed his tasks... That still is no reason to wish for death. We can only ever live once after all..."

"It is his wishes," Reru stepped forward as he took out his sword from his body. "There is no point reviving someone who wishes to rest in peace."

"B-But..."

"..." Listening in on the conversation between Reru and Rustly, Shinto sighed as he turned away from them. In the next moment, his eyes turned to the statue as he stepped in front of the slime. "...hey, guardian. How do you want your final death to be like?"

Whether it was to defeat and revive the broken knights, or to end them—both of these cases still required the factor of raising one's blade to deal the final blow. In Reru's words, for the latter option, if the statues were to have lost the will of duty, then there would be no point in forcing them into an endless loop of revival.

"...how I want...to die?" Hukhta mumbled to himself. "...I would like a peaceful death. Like my previous master..."

Upon hearing the reply from the Guardian, a sudden quest prompt soon popped up in front of the group.

[ Serenity of The Guardian ]

Difficulty: B (-Catacombs of the Deserted Sanke Quest Line)

To the end of time, the Guardian of the Catacombs has longed for a final rest. With his duties, all failed and his will, gone—his only desire left is for a final peace together with his old master.

Help the Guardian, Hukhta by bringing him peace.

Quest Clear Condition: The permanent death of Hukhta.

Quest Clear Reward: Broken Axe of Humatar, Skill "Hukhta's Shield", Skill "Humatar's Roar".

Quest Failure: By failing to end or defeat the guardian, Hukhta will be forced into a state of madness due to the curse of Sanke.

*However, in the case of reviving Hukhta post-defeat, the rewards will be withdrawn.

[ Do you accept this quest? ]

...

"...a quest?" Shinto's attention soon turned to the description of 'Serenity of the Guardian'. Despite being in the instance dungeon for the past few days, he hadn't received a single quest. This was the first.

"...So, humans...are you able to fulfil my wishes?" Hukhta inquired. "We have little time until Sanke's magic comes back into this room...and I do not wish you harm."

"Well..." Shinto took a deep breath. "If there is no other choice... Then we'll-" As he was about to give out an answer, Frey hurriedly interrupted him.

"Hey, hey! Master... Are we really going to be doing this?" Frey muttered out in a sad tone. "Killing him permanently... Sounds a bit too much..."

"Why do you care?" Ethaniel scoffed. "The only option is to fight him anyways. If we wait too long, we'll probably be the ones wishing for a peaceful death."

"I don't know... Maybe we can just defeat him and then... Give him a new purpose after?" she sighed. "We don't necessarily have to give him permanent death... And how are we going to be doing that anyway?"

"We can't have any matter of word to this," Shinto shook his head helplessly as his eyes glanced to the slimes. "We're not the one's to be reviving the statue, now are we?"

Even if they wished for the statue to live on with a new purpose, the final decision was on the slimes who would use their own power to revive the broken-down statues.

"It is futile, humans..." Reru clicked his tongue. "Just make thing's easier and just defeat him. The matter of reviving comes later."

"Without the voice and opinion of the statue himself?" With the direct translation from Shinto, Frey cried out. "It's better to just convince him now than to go through the troubles later..."

"His voice and opinion is that he wants to not be revived. You're the one interfering with it," he scoffed. "Convincing can't work in this situation as we're tight on time."

"Frey... It's hopeless," Shinto solemnly raised his staff. "We'll just have to follow what the quest says."

"Whatever he said." Following Shinto's words, Ethaniel raised his sword as he prepared to initiate an attack. "Let's just get this over with."

"..." Frey bit her lips as she clenched onto her fist. Of course, her wishes couldn't be fulfilled. "...there's really no option?"

"Frey..." Kon whimpered. "I wish there was another way too..."

"Human...I understand your sentiments...however," Hukhta shook his head in a tired manner. "My wish still remains the same. Please...grant it."

"...we accept the quest," Shinto nodded his head.

[ The quest has been accepted. ]

With one breath, the group along with the slimes, leapt forward as they activated their skills. Shinto who was by the front quickly marked the guardian with a shadow in order for his team to deal extra damage against him.

Soon after, following behind, Reru and Ethaniel crossed their attacks onto the chest of the guardian, whilst Frey hesitantly hit the bottom areas of the knight. Meanwhile, Kon and Rustly shot out their ranged attacks.

How were they going to peacefully bring about the death of the statue? In a normal event, against one who has a large pool of health, the time taken to kill would take ages, especially when accounting for the current firepower of the group.

However, this was not the case. With the worn-down knight and his unwillingness to fight back, the group along with the hesitant Frey unanimously decided to put all their attacks into one burst, destroying him in one shot.

With that, the damage was enough to break him down into pieces.

"Thank...you," With one last word uttered out, the knight fell down into pieces as he entered into permanent sleep.

...

[ The Lone Guardian of 'Farchu', Hukhta has been defeated! ]

[ You have levelled up to level 34! ]

[ Kon has levelled up to level 27! ]

[ The Key of the Guardian's Tomb has been obtained. ]

[ Broken Blade of Hukhta has been obtained. ]

[ Broken Crest of the Guardian has been obtained. ]

[ The quest 'Serenity for the Guardian' has been completed. ]

[ Rewards will be distributed among the party members. ]

[ You may decide among yourselves for who gets the skill "Hukhta's Shield" and "Humatar's Roar", otherwise you may leave it up to the system to decide. ]

[ The defeat of the 'The Guardian' has clouded the air, the doors of the dungeon has temporarily been opened for two days! ]

[ Due to the previous term that has yet expired, the term has been extended to four days. ]

[ You may leave, however, after the term of four days—You will have to immediately return to the dungeon, otherwise, a penalty will befall on you. ]

Watching the fallen pieces that were once a guardian fall onto the grounds of the lone room, the group could do nothing but only solemnly glance at it.

"..."

[ With the defeat of the Guardian and Warrior of the catacombs, the doors of the curse that leads to Sanke has been opened! ]