04 corpses everywhere
Joaquim's smile widened when he saw the reward given by the system. Since the day he awakened as a zero hunter, he used an artificial method to climb to a star, however, his real power remains that of a star.
It was a one-time event and if he missed it, there would be no other opportunity.
Alex was aware of the opportunity that was in front of him, as an awakened without a star there was practically not much difference between him and an ordinary person and if he could obtain the two stars he would have the power not only to free himself from prison, but also to try to discover something about parallel realities.
The other prisoners were also secretly drooling over the rewards their chances of escaping their fate were right before their eyes, they just had to enter the place and when they left their freedoms would be guaranteed.
Blinded by greed, none of the 9 present considered the risk and difficulty at hand, at Joaquim's command, everyone clicked yes, with a creak the door was opened and the moment everyone entered apprehensively, the large door closed behind them with a dull thud.
The majestic temple before them was lit with several torches embedded in the walls, in the center was a giant stone altar, on the other side of the altar was a stone minotaur holding two rock slabs with strange manuscripts.
Surrounding the majestic temple were several blue-colored rock statues of various minotaur warriors wearing heavy armor and wielding large axes.
There were lines drawn on the ground in different colors throughout the temple, the smallest statue in the place was about 2.5 meters tall, all of them exuded overwhelming auras as if they were alive
Suddenly the eyes of the minotaur priest on the altar shone with a crimson light, chilling the nine hunters in the room. Alex swallowed hard.
The stone slab in the priest's right hand began a countdown, as the glow in his eyes intensified, with a mechanical creaking sound, one of the statues came to life and began moving towards the hunters.
"Get ready"
With Joaquim's warning, except Alex who couldn't, everyone held their weapons preparing for battle.
With the order given by Joaquim, Cardoso fired several arrows in succession towards the minotaur, however nothing happened the arrows had no effect the speed only increased in just a second before them the minotaur struck a blow.
Augusto was thrown away when he stepped forward to tank the blow, in the second moment, Joaquim advanced and used his wind authority to strike a blow, to his surprise his sword was defended without infringing any data on the monster.
As the minotaur prepared to deliver a violent blow to the hunters, the count on the Stone Slab reached zero, and the previously living minotaur returned to its starting point, appearing where it left off and turning back into a stone statue.
Before everyone could even let out a sigh, the right-hand Slab began a countdown.
"What are we going to do?"
Ivana asked the agent who was looking around for some clue, everyone was scared and Joaquim was no different, the aura exuded by the statues was quite frightening.
"Can anyone here read that?"
Trying to maintain his composure, Joaquim looked at everyone for an answer, to his disappointment , no one had any idea what was written in the temple, the language was unknown and now, where would they get the clues from?
"What if we destroy the statues since they are immobile?"
Alex suggested in a questioning tone, everyone looked at each other, not finding the idea bad.
"Augustus uses his axe to try to destroy the stone statue"
Joaquim ordered in a commanding tone, he was apprehensive and didn't want to take any risks, but the idea still seemed viable, so it would be preferable if someone could take the risky place.
Seeing the agent's sword pointed in his direction, Augusto swallowed hard and reluctantly decided to obey, and when he left the area with the orange floor, entering the red area near the minotaur statue, something sinister happened.
The minotaur priest gave a sinister and malevolent smile, his crimson eyes fired a beam of lightning that instantly passed through the hunter's head, exploding, causing his brain matter to spread everywhere and dye the ground red at the same time that a smell of burnt flesh permeated the temple.
Everyone is terrified by the bloody and brutal death of their fellow hunter, in particular his brother was in despair Alex vomited on the spot.
"Brother, No!" he screamed, tears streaming down his face, washing the blood from his cheeks. Cardoso let out a cry of despair as he saw his brother being killed.
Before they could properly process the situation, the count on the right Slab reached zero, starting the count on the left Slab, but once the statue of the minotaur warrior came to life, running frantically towards the hunters, again everyone raised their weapons.
Cardoso launched several arrows radiating a yellow glow, the minotaur simply swung his axe to deflect the attacks while preparing a counterattack.
With a loud thud, the minotaur's axe hit the ground, creating a crater in the temple. As a result, everyone was knocked down, except for Joaquim, who dodged it in time.
Seeing the minotaur charging towards her, Ivana raised her staff and tried to cast some magic to defend herself while running in another direction, with just a swing of the minotaur's axe, everyone saw the beautiful girl's head being separated from her body.
The girl's innocent eyes were still open as her head rolled on the floor, she blinked twice, not realizing she was dead.
Not content with just one kill, the minotaur attacked again, this time his target was Alex, the axe descended like a hot knife through butter, at the same time the left Lage's count reached zero, but fortunately for the minotaur he delivered one last blow before disappearing.
Alex let out a cry of anguish as he saw his left arm fall to the ground, he covered the wound as tears and snot mixed with the dust left by the previous blow.
"I am too young to die"
Visibly shaking as urine spilled onto his pants, Alfredo abandoned his gun and ran toward the door that led to the exit.
"Let me out, I'm too young to die, I'd rather go back to jail"
With despair in his eyes, Alfredo knocked with his sacred fist on the temple door that showed no sign of being opened.
The minotaur priest's smile widened, the crimson beam of lightning shot out, seeing death arrive before the eyes that reflected his own death, Alfredo's body was divided into two bloody pieces, causing his internal organs to scatter all over the door.
Everyone was in panic, three of them had been killed in a very unpleasant way right before their eyes.
The survivors looked to Joaquim for some possible solution, after all he was the authority on site and also the strongest person, by this time despite the fear that covered his discernment, everyone could already distinguish a pattern.
"When the right Slab starts counting, the minotaur warriors come to life and attack anyone in their field of vision, and when the left Slab starts counting, the minotaur priest kills anyone outside the orange area.
Mimi shared her observation, although she was the one who said it, the others had also already reached the same conclusion.
"What should we do, time is about to end and the warrior strikes again"
Monica held her sword tightly as her authority over focus covered her blade
"You there; your name is Pedro, isn't it?"
Joaquim asked with a macabre smile.
"Yes, is that me?" Peter replied with a trembling voice.
"Go to the gray zone" Joaquim's sword was over Paulo's neck if the latter disobeyed, the agent would have no qualms about cutting off his legs and throwing him into the designated area
None of the other prisoners showed any sympathy and tried to help, they were all relieved that it wasn't them instead, tying part of his orange uniform where his arm used to be, Alex looked at the prisoner with pity, but deep down he also wanted to know the outcome.
As he moved on trembling legs, the countdown reached zero and a new countdown began, giving life again to the stone minotaur warrior, he raised his axe again and began his attack.
"Prepare for battle, you move faster"
Joaquim warned the others while growling for Paulo to appreciate himself.
Alex didn't know what to do now, without an arm, his death was getting closer and closer, so he was sure he would die right there.
Monica and Joaquim combined their forces while Mimi took care of the support with her light magic, even combining their forces the two were being pushed back it seemed that the minotaur was getting more and more ferocious.