Everyone's hearts almost lept out when they felt like they heard some nasty growls coming from the four statues and their frightening grey eyes staring at them with killing intent.
If anyone knew the ancient language that was inscribed on the stone tablet on the side, they wouldn't have dared to step a single foot forwards.
"Fuck!" All of them quickly stepped back while the mercenaries took out their guns.
*CRACK*
The cracks quickly spread along the surface of the wolf statues, and within just two seconds, pieces of stone crumbled away, revealing black-furred wolves with bloodshot eyes, as if they were highly enraged at seeing these human intruders and rushed towards them at the same time.
But if one cared to notice, they would be able to see that these wolves looked too old and weary and obviously were nowhere near their prime. It seemed as if they could die any moment, and it was pretty impressive that they still could exude such intense pressure and vigor.
*GROWLLL!!!*
"SHIT! FIRE!!!" Brock cried out as he held his long rifle and aimed at those four wolves who magically came to life.
No one had the luxury to think what was happening or how these giant wolves, who still looked over two meters tall on all its four legs, came to life. They were frantically retreating while taking out their guns.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Gunshots echoed in the large hall, but the four raging wolves didn't seem to be bothered by these bullets and continued their onslaught. They were too quick and were able to dodge the bullets at an amazing speed despite their large bodies.
The mercenaries only had manual guns and were only able to fire a bullet one by one. Apparently, semi-automatic guns were too costly and rarer, and automatic firearms cost a fortune.
But at this point, they felt that they should have sold their entire fortune to get the most basic automatic gun to fire at these nimble yet terrifying wolves.
"AAARGHHHH!! HELP!!!"
"NOOO!!"
"AHHHHH!"
"FUCK!!!"
Four mercenaries who were standing closer to the wolves got pounced upon by these wolves, and their shouts stifled when the wolves ripped apart their head with their large and powerful jaws from their bodies as if tearing paper.
The other eight mercenaries seized this window of opportunity and fired another round of bullets at the wolves.
*Rowfff!* The wolves grunted when they got hit by the bullets, but other than that, they showed no other visible discomfort. It was as if they got hit by pellets.
The others gulped when they saw that their bullets didn't even pierce their thick skin and simply left a red mark on their powerful bodies.
Still, their fear kept telling them to continue firing, and they readied another round to fire with trembling hands.
Brad and Dina quickly retreated behind a large stone with their revolvers out. They were profusely sweating while trying their best to calm down their racing hearts.
The last thing they expected was to get attacked by four large wolves who were just lifeless statues before. They couldn't understand what was happening at all, and their minds were still reeling from the shock and fear.
Rick and Coby were equally terrified as well and quickly moved behind the mercenaries while firing their bullets at the wolves, hoping to kill them as fast as possible.
Brad and Dina weren't firing since they felt that they would only attract the aggression of the wolves towards them.
"I-I think as long as we maintain a distance from that coffin, those wolves shouldn't attack us. We...must have triggered a trap," Dina said in an anxious voice as she peeked at the frightening situation happening ahead.
The mercenaries were dying pitifully one by one while their bullets barely seemed to scratch their skin.
But suddenly something happened which completely made everyone's jaw drop. The four wolves suddenly turned to dust and disappeared into thin air, leaving the surviving four mercenaries and everyone else with a dumbfounded expression.
Only just a second before, they saw their fellow mates dying one by one in a gruesome way and were about to give in to despair when those four monsters suddenly turned to dust.
"What the fuck is going on…" Coby mumbled as he slowly walked forward along with Rick.
Even though they were in a very puzzled state of mind, they all couldn't help but feel as if their hearts got lighter, feeling extremely relieved seeing those scary wolves disappear.
Dina and Brad were also feeling the same, but they still did not dare to move out of their cover since they were still pretty shaken up with what happened. They had never before seen such a gruesome and bloody sight of people being killed and torn apart.
Even now, those mutilated bodies laid on the cold ground with their blood slowly spreading out.
"A-Are they really gone…" One of the remaining mercenaries somehow voiced out his words in disbelief after taking in a deep breath.
"They should be...there were only four of them, right?" Brock asked with a shaky smile. He had experienced close shaves with death before but what just happened was something that almost shattered his will.
He still looked around, surveying his surroundings to see if any monstrous wolves were hiding anywhere.
Six people...that's the number of people that died like sheep in just seconds to those large wolves. Their bullets were utterly useless, and they wondered what kind of wolves these were to be so bulletproof. The wolves they knew would easily succumb with just one shot to their vital points.
Now only Brock and his subordinate were left of the original eight members of the mercenary group, while the other four were Rick, Coby, and the couple.
What was originally a party of twelve now easily dwindled to just six.
None of them still dared to let down their guards, thinking that there might be more of such terrifying surprises.
But…
*SHINNNNNNNN*
The sound of the coffin being slid open echoed in the hall, making everyone move their gazes away from the bloodied corpses and towards the mysterious silver coffin.
The coffin seemed to open itself, with cold smoke coming out of it and dispersing in the air.
As the frosty air began to clear up slowly, everyone kept on staring ahead with trembling eyes while their sweaty hands were already on their guns, ready to shoot at any time.
However, as the air cleared up, everyone had an incredulous expression on their face while openly staring at what was ahead.