Charging toward the last monster dog, Malachi noticed that it hesitated before deciding to charge as well.
This moment of hesitation gave Malachi a head start to gather speed.
By the time they met, a flying kick with full force and incredible speed was already on its way toward the monster dog's head.
The kick connected with a loud thud, sending the monster dog's entire body flying once again, just like the previous one.
Unlike the previous monster dog that showed no further movement, this one's body kept twitching but didn't get back up. The twitching gradually weakened, and after a few seconds of no movement, Malachi shifted his attention away from it and turned to check on David's situation.
To his surprise, in front of a heavily breathing David were three incomplete corpses.
An audible gasp escaped from Malachi, and he was stunned.
After confirming that David was not in danger, Malachi quickly went back to deal with the last remaining monster dog. He saw that the monster dog was still alive, but he swiftly put an end to its life with a forceful punch to the head.
Following this, Malachi didn't immediately leave the area but used his unique vision to examine the monster's body. When he noticed the familiar red light in the dead monster dog's chest, a determined expression formed on his face.
Malachi shaped his right hand like a knife and drove it into the monster's chest, retrieving a crystal heart.
After harvesting the monster's heart, he repeated the process with the other two dead monster dogs.
Once Malachi had finished, he made his way back to David.
David, on the other hand, had also thought about helping his father, but when he turned to look at his father's location, he was surprised to find that Malachi had already completed his part.
This left David astonished, as he wondered how his father had managed to handle his side so quickly, possibly even faster than he did.
This realisation was somewhat humbling for David. His unique and destructive power had made him subconsciously see himself as more powerful than his father. However, he had not seen his father's ability in action and didn't even know what it was.
Seeing his father's efficiency in handling the situation started to temper the superiority David felt due to his power.
Both father and son, though, were unaware of the uniqueness of Malachi's power at the moment.
After the battle with the monsters, David had expected they would regroup and leave the area.
The fight had created a lot of noise and might have attracted nearby zombies or even other monsters.
Fighting more wouldn't help when their main goal was to gather supplies, which wasn't going well at the moment.
However, when David saw his father rush to one of the still-moving monsters, indicating it was not yet dead, he realised that his father likely had other plans.
What David didn't anticipate was that, after delivering a brutal punch to finish off the monster, his father would reach into the creature's guts and pull out a bloody heart.
David was on the verge of vomiting, but he managed to hold it back.
However, when Malachi repeated the gruesome action with two more of the monster dogs, David's control over his nausea began to wane.
When he couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited, that was when Malachi approached him and performed the same action he had just completed with the three monsters to harvest their hearts.
Malachi sensed that David was uncomfortable witnessing his actions, but he remained resolute. He had a necessary task to accomplish, and these hearts were crucial for their survival.
By the time Malachi finished with the last creature, David had recovered a bit from his vomiting episode.
Malachi wanted to attend to his son, but he knew time was running short, and this location was not ideal for an extended stay, given the disturbance their battles had caused. The hearts were essential to acquire, and they couldn't delay much longer.
Malachi placed the six smaller crystal hearts on the ground, and he tore his shirt to clean the hearts and his bloody arm before discarding the bloodied fabric.
He didn't want to be a traceable target with that much blood on his body.
Malachi wasn't sure if zombies had a keen sense of smell, but he figured the mutated monsters like the ones they had just killed could potentially track them.
After cleaning up, Malachi turned to David and spoke.
"Your jacket."
David quickly complied and gave his father his black jacket.
Malachi used the jacket to wrap the smaller crystal hearts and carried them like a bag.
Malachi then stood up and urged David.
"Let's move." He said.
They hurriedly left their current location and navigated through the city's streets.
As they cautiously moved between buildings, David couldn't contain his curiosity and asked his father a question.
"Are the monsters' hearts that important?"
Malachi turned to look at his son and calmly replied with a slightly solemn tone.
"Yes, they are. They are our key to getting stronger, David. We need to become stronger for ourselves and for our family."
Malachi had decided to stop overthinking things.
The red gas produced by the crystal hearts was beneficial and made them more powerful, and that's what mattered most.
Whether this energy would lead to problems in the future was a concern for their future selves.
Right now, their primary focus was on getting stronger to survive in this unforgiving apocalypse where it seems like they could die anytime.