Once more, the accusations flew across the screen. And once more, Cane ignored them all. The more he denied the accusations, the wilder they would get.
It was just better to pretend he knew nothing and move on.
"So, how do I summon the guardian?"
Cane asked the old man NPC, and the man paused to give the boulder Cane had been attacking a look.
Then, he turned to Cane once more and took out an incense burner.
"Our guardian is a fickle one. Because you have been attacking his home for some time, he might even be angry. This incense should pacify him. As for you… please place your hand on the boulder and get ready. I will recite the prayer to send you to him."
Cane did as he was told to. He could not be more prepared for this fight than he already was.
The world around him swirled, and he felt his insides turn to mush. It hurt, and when he appeared on the other side, he almost collapsed.
'Ouch-! Shit-! Fuck-! Why does it hurt even more this time…? Ugh, I need to take a deep breath.'
Cane steadied himself back on his feet slowly as he looked around. The guardian was sitting just outside his range of attack, but the guardian was likely not going to attack him outright.
Usually, fights with guardians were triggered after talking to them.
But once Cane stepped into range, he would have no time to talk to his chat, so he decided to address them beforehand.
"So, as you all can see, this is a new area. You all are welcome to try it later yourself… if you can trigger it. Does anyone have any questions?"
Cane asked, and someone immediately donated to ask him questions.
[ClashLord: What was that golden ball? And where did you get it?]
"That… was a quest reward. I accidentally triggered that quest. You can try to find it yourself."
[WinWinWin: Not fair. This is so not fair. How is this fair?]
There were too many complaints about Cane "gatekeeping," but he was not actually gatekeeping.
He was sure that he had only triggered the quest because of his NPC class. So he decided to throw the audience another bone.
"Fine, since you are all complaining so much, I will tell you more. You can find this quest in the beginning village… but only if you have not started the main quest yet. Due to my 'special class,' I cannot do the main quest anyway. But if you want to risk it, go ahead."
[HaremKingXXX: What do you mean you cannot do the main quest? Just what the heck is your class?]
People had more questions than answers, but he no longer wanted to talk about it.
"Sorry, we are running out of time. Let's continue questioning me next time. For now, I have a guardian to fight."
Cane subtly told the audience he was done talking. Most of them got the hint that they wouldn't get any more answers from him, but others kept trying.
Many people even threw their money at him in the form of Superchat to try and get him to notice them. And Cane did notice them.
He just did not care enough to address those people properly.
The guardian woke up as soon as Cane stepped near him. The red, pupil-less eyes looked back at him, and Cane gave a small bow toward the deity.
"Hello. I am a challenger who came here to receive guidance from you. Please, allow me to bask in your glow."
He repeated the standard words that the system showed him in order to trigger this fight, and the guardian grunted.
"You are the stranger who was banging my guardian rock. You have come here to face me now? You sure are daring."
The guardian roared, and it caused pressure to press Cane down. His legs felt weak as he resisted the force and looked at the guardian in front of him.
Cane looked at the system to get more information on the guardian.
[Guardian information: Guardian of Nothingness - Nill (Current level 35. Actual level 305)
You can challenge the boss again every 30 levels to try and get a reward.]
The system omitted any additional information or lore about this person and gave Cane the combat details. He wanted to know the lore as well, but that could come later.
For now, he needed to prove himself.
"You have challenged me, outsider, and I accept your challenge. Come, show me what you've got."
The guardian told Cane before attacking first.
The guardian was higher level than Cane and had higher speed as well. Cane was extremely lucky he had some range that allowed him to dodge the attack.
But the guardian was not done with him and came after him again.
Cane took out his guns from his inventory and aimed at the place where the guardian was going to step. Otherwise, it was going to be too late for him to attack.
Some bullets hit the guardian, but he was able to stagger the damage and keep moving forward.
Ranged attacks were not working, so Cane had only one option left—to attack from close range and get the guardian that way.
So he allowed the guardian to come close to him while dodging most attacks.
Once the guardian was close enough, Cane moved forward and took the last hit. Pain bloomed inside him, and he almost lost consciousness.
Despite that, he kept moving and aimed his gun directly at the guardian's skull.
"Sorry, but this is my win."
He told the guardian before he fired. The guardian was pushed back and lost a good chunk of his health.
Cane's recovery worked, and he was able to shoot at the guardian even more. His shoulder throbbed, but he kept going until the guardian's HP dropped to 10.
[You have defeated the guardian. You can stop shooting now.]
The message startled Cane because he had never seen it before. But he stopped as soon as he was asked to, and the guardian stopped moving for a whole minute before he started to recover.