The World Cataclysm

"Arthur, you're in no way to continue like this. You can return to the underground basement before everyone. Anyone, who wants to return, may join Arthur." Dave said as he looked at Arthur who was leaning on Mary and Evelyn's shoulders.

"En!" Mary nodded firmly, already planning to remain with Arthur. She wasn't a fan of such bloody scenes, so she thought it was the best she could do. Not like she was any useful for others, so she could just return to the underground basement.

"Wait a bit! You can't return without doing anything at all. Stay still and ready your weapon." Dave suddenly called for her as she already heading towards the door while supporting Arthur as well. Stopping in her steps, confusion surfaced in her pupils as she glanced from her club to Dave's back.

Heading towards a place of zombies' corpses, Dave searched for something for several seconds, and spotting what he wanted, he dragged one of the corpses by its only leg towards Mary. Dave had cut its limbs and had prepared this zombie for Mary.

"Wait...Why do you need a corpse?" Mary exclaimed in surprise...and horror as she backed a step away from it. However, when she noticed that it was still moving and growling weakly, the colour drained from her face.

"Not me but you. If you want to help Arthur and Evelyn in the future, you need to be at least able to kill a zombie. For now, let's just deal with your fear. Don't worry, this zombie can't harm you." Dave explained it to her.

At his words, Mary calmed down a bit as she glared at the hideous zombie lying right before her. It kept thrashing on the floor, wiggling and twisting its body. For a moment, Mary couldn't even believe that it was human before.

"Don't force yourself if you can't," Evelyn said gently to Mary as she at the same time send an angry glance towards Dave. Catching it, he just shrugged with his shoulders.

Biting her lower lip, Mary glared at a zombie and gripped her club tightly. "No need. I'll do it myself. I don't want to look from sideways when both of you're fighting." Evelyn was caught off her guard as Mary seemed more determined than she had expected.

Hesitating for a moment, she made small steps towards a zombie as she held her club with two hands since it was too heavy for her in another way. Making a breath in, she seemed to resolve herself to kill it.

...

A short while later, Mary stood before the zombie's corpse which had a smashed head. Leaning on the shelf, she kept vomiting as she saw the most disgusting scene in her life. Everyone, except for Dave, looked at her with sympathy. Evelyn and Arthur were sympathetic to their friend, while Rebecca and Rachel felt a kinship to her since both of them had also passed through it.

"Alright, anyone who wants to return to the underground basement can do so. Evelyn, stay behind, you still have a chest to open," Dave said as he glanced at the white Treasure Chest which had been dropped by a killed Hunter.

Evelyn seemed to notice it only now when Dave had reminded her. Glaring at it, she said to Mary, "Mary, you can return to the underground basement first. I'll be quick and come later."

"En! Just stay safe, okay?" Mary nodded her head as she said concernedly. Supporting injured Arthur, she headed towards the door downstairs, glancing backwards time after time.

After Mary and Arthur had left them, Evelyn shifted her eyes to the white Treasure Chest. She quietly picked it up and opened it. As far as she had killed zombies, it was her first Treasure Chest to open. Previously, she only heard about it from Arthur.

Emitting strong light, it disappeared into thin air as a vial with red liquid had appeared in her hands. Reading the information about the item, her excitement was replaced with happiness.

'Not bad! She got the same Strength Potion as Brian,' Dave thought as he recalled that it will permanently increase her strength stat by two points. He was quite surprised by the drop chance of Treasure Chests since it was abnormal relative to his time. Perhaps, it was because it was only the beginning of the 2nd stage, like a newbie buff in the tutorial as in the games he had played.

"I'm intending to clean the second floor. Anyone who wants to leave can leave now." Dave said, waiting till Evelyn had finished drinking her potion. As he glanced at everyone one by one, he didn't find anyone who intended to return to the underground basement. Even Rachel, who was usually fearful of them, had stayed.

"I thought you're going after Mary?" Rebecca asked Evelyn puzzledly.

"Arthur and Mary can wait a bit. I already raised a level, and I don't want to leave all three of you alone. You could just leave shortly after helping us, but you decided to help us to kill all zombies. I can't sit idly down there, while you're dealing with that mess." Evelyn explained herself.

"Let's go upstairs then." Saying it, Dave led his group to the second floor. They had already dealt with zombies on the first floor with that big group of zombies being the last batch.

Silently moving to the second floor, Dave decided to use his Mana Sensing to scout the location of zombies on the second floor. He didn't want to be spotted by one and attract the attention of everyone.

Scanning the second floor, he found out that there were slightly fewer zombies on the second floor. Perhaps, part of them had gone downstairs when a commotion broke out on the first floor.

Reaching the entry point of the second floor, Dave decided to use the same strategy from before, killing zombies stealthily without attracting any unwanted attention. Tracking the movements of zombies, he led others to the backs of zombies and observed how they killed zombies one by one.

After 15 minutes, Dave was able to lead others to kill most of the zombies on the second floor. Dealing with small fries, he finally shifted his Mana Sensing towards another group slightly lower in numbers than the previous one.

'Interesting. Is it already a time for mid-rank 1 zombies? I met a mid-rank 1 Giant in the storage room, and now I have mid-rank 1 Hunter on the second floor. Or, is it just my luck?' Dave thought as he scanned the group. He had spotted two Hunters in there: one was low-rank 1 and another was mid-rank 1.

"Rachel and Evelyn, concentrate on killing ordinary zombies. Rebecca, summon Star and take down one Hunter. I'll take the second one which is slightly further from us," Dave whispered to girls behind him.

Evelyn didn't look as surprised as before since she had already picked up clues that Dave could detect zombies from distance. However, she didn't know how: was it some kind of skill or what?

All three of them nodded as they understood their respective roles. Having obtained a Treasure Chest from the previous Hunter, Evelyn also wanted to kill one but decided to keep desires at bay. Rebecca and Rachel were fine with that, especially Rachel hadn't even wished to fight against evolved zombies.

Following his command, Rebecca summoned her elemental spirit and condensed a blade from light particles, sending it to the closest Hunter. Light Blade slashed at its neck, severing its head from the body. Falling on the floor, it made a thud sound as its head rolled over the floor.

Immediately, all zombies were attracted to the sound of the head falling on the floor as they growled and grew crazy. Turning their heads, they spotted Dave and three girls were already running towards them.

Several seconds later, both sides had clashed with each other. Sprinting forward and leaving girls behind him, Dave quickly barged into the ranks of zombies as he killed the ones blocking his way. Killing another zombie, he finally saw it dashing in the middle of other zombies.

After several moments, it was already rushing towards the closest human to it...to Dave! Running and growling madly, it already appeared before Dave. It lifted its claws and slashed at him.

Ding!

However, just when its claws were right before his face, they stopped suddenly, hitting a blue barrier that had momentarily appeared before him. He had already activated Mana Enhancement and Reinforced Breathing, enhancing his body stats, and due to the battle, Battle Focus had activated automatically.

Even though he was slower than mid-rank 1 Hunter, due to Battle Focus, he was still able to follow after its movement. However, he couldn't move as quickly as a Hunter, so he already decided to rely on his Mana Barrier to block its attack.

Even then, he was slightly late to put a Mana Barrier. If he was even a moment late, he would have been already dead. Realizing it fully, an involuntary smile had crept on his face, forming into a smirk of satisfaction. Just like that, with a smile on his face, Dave slashed at Hunter with his Steel Sword.