The Eight Servants

Chapter #2 dedicated to Ghostnight for his kind triple Powerstone donation. Happy holidays!

The System…it's unleashing something even Yin who I've poured my time and energy into power leveling, can't see through. This is too sick! It really wants to kill us all!

"Hold the line! We can do this together!" Mr. Sung has too much faith in his men. The trash can lid in his hand looks like a frisbee next to the thing in front of him. A thick black hand stretches out of the darkness, with four fingers. It seizes Mr. Sung's makeshift shield, and I watch as the gargantuan fingers clench down with overwhelming strength and crush the thin metal into nothing. "AHHHH!"

"Mr Sung!" His men rush into the darkness as Mr. Sung is pulled in along with his shield. Yin trembles as I reach her side. Behind me, I can feel Penelope struggling to keep up. She's only Lvl. 3.

"Oh my…god…" Yin's eyes are fixed on the darkness. Terrifying sounds come out though it's hard to see what��s going on in be-tween the two apartments.

*Crunch*

"AHHHHH-"

*Slap*

"NUUUUUU!"

*Crack!*

Things fall silent in an instant. All that can be heard is moaning and this horrible dripping.

*Plop*

Then there's another gargantuan footstep and the ground shakes. The moaning stops. Of the dozen men in the group, nine of them went in to help Mr. Sung. Two of them remain, just outside the range of the darkness, frozen in fear. Slightly behind them, I already know what we need to do. Grabbing Yin by the arm, I whirl around.

"Go! GO!" I roar. Penelope stares over my shoulder, not understanding what has happened, but I'm sure if any of them had the sense to check their party system, they'd know their friends are already dead. "If you of you want to live get the hell out of here!"

"W-What happened? Mr. Sung? Are you in there?" One of the shell-shocked two men still outside the shadows stammers. His words only anger the beast inside. It steps out into the light and draws up to its full height. Looking like the devil himself, the Daemonic Minotaur raises its shiny silver axe to the sky. And cleaves downwards. Credit to the man, he tries to raise his rubber bin lid and shield the blow. But it makes no distance. The lid is crushed within a split second. Along with the man's arm. His whole body is smashed down into the pavement.

*Crack*

"Heh…" The minotaur smiles, as steam appears in its nostrils. Huffing, it stomps on the ground sending a small earthquake through the surrounding area and turns on the other man. This one's smarter. Seeing the fate of his friend, he twists around and runs!

"We have to help him!" Penelope cries. Even Yin is ready to flee, but this dumb woman doesn't understand what we're dealing with here. "Run, Sam! Get out!"

"You want to add to the death count? Once it's done with him, it's coming after us!" I don't have time to argue with this stupid girl. Tugging Yin along, I grab Penelope and drag her away. "Come on!"

"B-But?" She gasps before giving up. Behind us, we can hear the last man, Sam, screaming for help. If he has a brain, he'll duck into a side alley, try to find somewhere the minotaur can't fit.

*Thud Thud Thud*

The heavy footsteps of the beast rumble from behind and I don't turn back to look. Smacking Penelope who's sneaking glances over her shoulder, I shout in her ear!

"Don't look! Just run idiot!"

Then the three of us take off like bloody rabbits running from a fox.

*Thud*

*Thud..*

*Thud…*

The footstep behind us get quieter for a few seconds. I sneak a glance over my shoulder. The Daemonic Minotaur has turned away.

That idiot finally decided to split off? Good, he'll buy us time!

Suddenly, I realize there is someone ahead of us. An icon has been blinking in the corner of my vision. But I haven't had a chance to read it while running.

"Yo!" The middle-aged priest man in white robes holds out his mace. Behind him, the small woman with her club from the entrance stands with a shortsword in hand. She's gotten rid of her club at some point. "It's you guys!"

"Get out of the way! It's going to find us!" Yin hisses, but the man who looks like a priest just chuckles. Behind him, three dozen people appear. I recognize some of the faces from the entrance but many of them are new.

"Wha?" Penelope gasps as she sees so many Hunters come out of nowhere. I stop in front of Yin and the priest while she catches up.

"How about it? I saw you guys were afraid, but don't you want to hunt the Mini Boss together?" The priest says something strange.

Mini Boss?

Suddenly, I realize that something strange is going on here. Quickly, I open up the System Notification that has been pulsing for a while.

System Notification:

Hunters Have Discovered The Eight Servants Of Demon Lord Belziarde.

Sidequest: Blood Of The Weak Fertilizes The Crop Of God-

Destroy The Eight Servants Of Demon Lord Belziarde For System Rewards!

A vein throbs in my forehead as my heart stutters.

System Rewards…right now that would mean either weapons or System Skills!

"You guys see it right? On the map, it says the Eighth Servant is coming this way!" This dude's voice is really starting to piss me off. "I've gathered as many people as I can. Why don't we fight it together? Whoever kills it gets the reward but at least everyone can share the experience!"

"Lin that thing's too strong. Tell him." Yin moves to deny him, but for once, I'm not inclined to flee. The words of the System are still flashing before my eyes.

"It's strong. Very strong. Not a true undead, but some of creature created by the System. Its flesh will be very tough. Do not engage it head on." I advise before grabbing Yin and Penelope. "We'll take a rest, first." After I pull them away, Yin turns to me as the three dozen men get in formation. The biggest guys go in front. Some people with axes, swords, and clubs go in back. It seems like they've found some of the most heavily armed people from our entrance. However, the thuds coming from the way we came are proof that it's not going to be easy to kill a servant of Demon Lord Belziarde. Once we pull a little bit away, Yin pounces on me.

"You can't seriously be considering fighting that thing!" She hisses, fire in her eyes. "Or are you planning to us them as distractions! Even you wouldn't sink that low, right? Why aren't we running?"

The business woman beside us, Penelope, watches fearfully as we bicker.

"No…well not exactly. I'm not going to leave them!" I lower my voice, drawing closer so only Yin can hear. "You saw the System Notification. The reward for killing this servant is from the System. Whatever it is, it will be crucial in surviving this dungeon. Without it, we'll fall behind. No matter what, you need to get it!"

"There's three dozen people here! Even if I'm a slightly higher level, I still have no confidence in killing that thing! Hell you were the one telling us to run!" Yin shouts in surprise a little bit too loudly. I quickly pull her closer and hug her.

"Don't speak so loud. Look, if you want to save these people, then the best thing to do would be to kill this thing as fast as possible, right?" My words cause her to calm down a bit. She nods as Penelope leans in trying to hear what we're saying. "Okay, and I'm the only one who knows how to properly utilize whatever the reward will be. So you need to be the one to get it."

"Fine. But I'm going to party with them. I won't steal the kill from them." Yin declares fiercely. I nod, patting her on the shoulder.

"Of course, that's fine. Much as I hate it, if that's how you feel it's not necessarily a bad thing. Just remember, this is for the sake of the System Reward! Don't get too attached to them. Also, keep an eye on your surroundings at all times. There are only eight of these Servants and it seems they're visible on the map once encountered. A LOT of Hunters are going to start coming this way! You must not let anyone else get the killing blow!"

*Thud*

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