Two of them were brandished with guns, while the others wielded swords and various arms. "Down! Everyone, on your knees," one of the gunmen barked, and the group complied, including Gunther.
Their weapons were tossed to the side but it wasn't too far from where they knelt. Among the two gunmen, one had stood close to Gunther, suspecting that he might be the leader of the group.
While the other gunman who was the leader of the masked men, started walking around, looking at the faces of each member.
"Tell me, where is the mother crystal?" The leader spitefully demanded, hoping for an answer.
Yet no one said a thing, causing the masked gunman to get furious. He then approached a member of the group closest to him.
"You, where is the mother crystal?" He snarled, referring to Chris who had spoken about the mother crystal's disappearance.
"What mother crystal?" Chris asked. "We don't have it." His voice was strong and firm, and what he had said was the truth as well.
"Do you think I'm a fool? I saw you standing by the crater where the crystal is supposed to be, which means you must have taken it. So, where did you hide it?" The man sneered, his anger about to give in.
Chris repeated, "I already told you, we don't have any crystal. When we got here it has already been taken. So why don't you go somewhere else and find who took it."
Enraged, the man struck Chris across the face with his gun. "If you won't tell me, then I'll just force it out of you, starting from the weakest member in your group."
He scanned the group, seeking the weakest link. His gaze landed on Simbi, the only female in the group. He sneered, assuming she would be the easiest to break. And had started approaching her.
Gunther was watching the group of masked men carefully, he was waiting for the right moment to strike. If he could at least deal with the two masked men with guns, the others would be easily taken care of by the rest.
He signalled to the members of his group by grunting slightly. They instantly recognised the sound, and they all made eye contacts with him.
A secret conversation was shared between them, and they all nodded in acknowledgment. This was done without letting any of the masked men to sight them.
As the masked man approached Simbi, Dave had instantly received a notification from the system.
[New Quest]
[Save the girl from being molested by the masked man]
Even before the system stated that, he was going to save her anyway.
[Reward: Gain Simbi's trust and affection]
Seeing this, Dave was more inclined to complete the quest than ever. 'Alright, what can I do? Which of my skills should I use?'
[Warning! A group of beasts approaching]
'Beasts? How many are they?'
[Thirty in number, sir]
'Alright, I'll use that to my advantage.' Dave said in his mind, before his mind wandered backwards to process a certain message from the system. 'Wait, did you just answer me now?'
[Yes, sir. I can now give answers to any questions you ask, as long as it's something I can answer]
Dave didn't have the time to think about this as the gunman was now in front of Simbi with his gun raised. "You, get up… slowly."
'I thought you said there are beasts coming?' Dave said to the system.
[Yes sir, they are already here]
At that moment, a loud, growling sound echoed through the air, sending a chill down everyone's spines. The group soon realized that the menacing sound was not coming from just one beast, but from multiple predators.
A total of thirty snarling creatures had emerged from the surroundings, their piercing black eyes fixed intently on every member of the group.
'About time.' Dave said within himself, a grin had appeared on his face.
The sudden appearance of the beasts caught the masked men off guard, and their attention shifted from their hostages to the new, more pressing threat.
Their gazes locked onto the approaching pack, their fingers instinctively tightening around their weapons as they prepared to face the unexpected danger.
Seizing this opportunity, a certain instinct had kicked inside Dave as he grabbed Simbi's sword closest to him. When she dropped her weapon, it had ended up right behind him, so it was easy and quick for him to grab.
With swift and decisive action, he grabbed the sword and struck, severing the masked man's arms, rendering him helpless.
The man's cries of agony echoed through the air, then Gunther and the rest of the group had followed Dave's lead, overpowering and disarming the remaining masked men.
[Quest completed!]
[You have saved Simbi from being molested by the masked man]
Dave's gaze had drifted to the armless masked man laying on the ground, blood could be seen spilling out of his severed arms, and the life seems to be drawing out of him.
"God, did I just do that?" Dave said, not believing that he had just cut off a person's arm.
"Yeah, and you'll need to do more than just that." Simbi said, glaring at the group of approaching beasts.
To survive, they need to be ruthless, to not just beasts but also to other humans, this was the state of the world now. Dave had came to realise this in just a few minutes that he woke up.
His grip on the sword tightened, 'Well, at least I'll get to complete one of my daily quests.' He said as he stared at the second Daily Quest which required him to kill twenty beasts in a day.
Gunther, with his impressive strength, had taken down two masked men, including the one with gun, with ease, while Chris and the others quickly subdued the rest of the masked men. The sudden turn of events had left the masked men reeling, unable to counterattack.
For a moment, everyone's gaze had fell onto Dave and the man he slayed in front of him. But they instantly looked away to face the upcoming threat.
The beasts, now mere feet away, continued their relentless approach, their growls growing louder and more menacing.
"Alright guys, it's not over." Gunther said. "Let's deal with those monsters as fast as possible."
At that moment, the beasts had started charging in towards the group and the members of Gunther's group had started dealing with them.
Simbi took the gun belonging to the armless man, from the floor, then nodding towards Gunther who now had the second gun in his hands, the two had started firing off against the multiple beasts coming their way. This had helped the group subdue the beasts quickly.
Within a few minutes, all thirty beasts had been dealt with, thanks to the two new guns retrieved from the masked men. All of the masked men had been rounded off to a number of two. Their hands were tied to the back to prevent them from escaping.
"That was a close one." One of the group members said, heaving a sigh of relief, that was until another group of beasts, bigger in number to the previous ones, had emerged in front of the group. There were about sixty of them this time.