Dungeon Raider System

Holy rank hunters were considered as the pinnacle of power by those who knew about their existence. Their power was so vast it was believed they were capable of wiping out an entire city by themselves in a single day. It seemed like the kind of exaggeration people loved to spread around, but after taking a quick look at his surroundings Uriel had no doubts it was the truth.

"So the rumors are true," Medusa let out. "Holy rank hunters can wipe out a city or rather, they can become a holy rank hunter by destroying a city. Now it makes sense why so many people reach heavenly rank, but no further."

"If you really think about it, human sacrifice was an important part of most ancient civilizations." Uriel added after his emotions settled.

"Indeed..." Luna nodded.

"Does this mean that uncle Jon did also... You know... Do you think he...?" Medusa wanted to ask the questions, but words refused to escape her mouth. Her throat dried just by thinking on the possibility of her beloved uncle killing so many innocent people.

"If you're asking if he wiped out a city, it's a possibility." Luna nodded.

"I hate to clear that jerk's name, but I don't think he did. He mentioned that many people lost their lives during his expedition on Atlantis, perhaps that's what allowed him to break through the heavenly rank barrier. Do you remember what I told you about the wild girl I encountered on the lost city to the east?"

"Of course I do! You're always bragging about meeting other women!" Medusa scoffed.

"This girl... She was a holy rank hunter. At the time I didn't think much of it, but now I remember that her whole city was destroyed during the arrival."

"That may be so, but she didn't have a dungeon or any of the structures this thing claims are needed to channel flux energy." Medusa shook her head, then Luna butted in.

"You're all making a lot of assumptions. We can't rule out any possibility, maybe some people are just naturally predisposed to channeling flux energy. It won't change anything..."

"What do you propose?" Uriel asked.

"Cut our loses, grab the test subject and scatter."

"Do you really think I'll go with you!?" The horror rank cryptid exhaled out of her nose.

"Uhm... Be a good test subject and remain silent, or else..." Luna's eyes glimmered in such a faint but terrifying way the cryptid had no choice but to remain silent.

"Luna, you already know we can't keep it." Uriel glared at Luna who lowered her gaze.

"But... Uhm... I promise I'll feed it and clean after it..."

"Luna! That thing eats humans, I think there's been enough human sacrifices." Medusa scolded.

"You guys are mean, you have so many trinkets and Uriel has so many lovers and yet, I don't get to keep any test subject."

"I don't have many lovers, but that's besides the point. I think we should mess with Sam's plan, just because we can."

"Didn't you hear me? He has everything he wanted, he was invincible before, but now he's even worse!" The cryptid hissed, but Uriel ignored it.

"First, let's grab Nika and then we'll contact that idiot uncle of yours." Uriel said as he turned to leave, followed closely by Medusa and a very disappointed Luna who didn't get to keep her sample.

The range of emotions a skinwalker could actually feel while not impersonating someone was limited, but among all the possible emotions the one it never expected to experience was shock. But there it was, completely flabbergasted after three hunters discussed about it like it was a stray puppy instead of a murderous cryptid.

"Wait!" The cryptid shouted.

"Do you want to come with?" Asked Luna while patting her lap. There it was, another emotion the ancient cryptid did not expect, absolute humiliation.

"I didn't want to fight you because it's pointless and we're in a rush, but you leave me no choice." Said Uriel after cracking his knuckles and summoning a handful of trites.

"I don't want to fight! There's something you must know. We can only retain the memories of our skinsuits as long as we wear them and I already spent all of your friend's skin..."

"Then stop wasting our time." Medusa snorted, but Luna had her notepad at the ready jotting down everything the cryptid said to the letter.

"I don't know if this will be helpful, but he never stopped speaking about his brother who is a saint."

"Sam doesn't have any brothers..." Uriel muttered.

"Do you think he was referring to you?" Medusa asked Uriel.

"Unlikely..." Luna said in a low voice.

"He was desperate to find him and said the last time he was seen was in Europe... Do with that what you will, I just wanted to let you know in case it helps you bring him down."

"Good boy." Luna said in her usual monotone.

"Luna," Medusa shook her head. "Can't you see it's a girl?"

"I'm not the one wearing a blindfold, but I have yet to see its reproductive apparatus. Take off your clothes..." Luna commanded, but Uriel picked her from her hoodie like he was picking up a cat.

"I can't make anything of it for now, but thank you." Uriel said and then turned to leave.

"I have no love for that thing or its kind, but I'm proud of you for letting it go." Medusa whispered once they were out of the cryptid's ear.

"Proud?" Uriel echoed and Medusa tightened the grip on his hand.

"There was a horror rank flux orb ripe for the picking in front of you and you didn't take it because, cryptid or not, that thing saved our lives." Medusa added as they walked into the darkness.

****

Finding a holy rank hunter in a battlefield was surprisingly easy. As soon as they stepped outside the city they were able to see both Jon Hunter and Mister Scofield fighting against hordes of revenants that looked like a tide of swamp water in the distance.

But finding Jon and reaching him were two entirely different matters. The flux pressure emitted by both holy rank hunters amounted to that of the titan level cryptid was just too powerful for anyone to bear and they quickly ruled out the possibility of reaching Jon in any way.

They already secured Nika's statue and were ready to cut their loses and evacuate what was left of the city, but there were a few mysteries that could only be clear once Jon came back. For starters, Uriel wanted to know why did Sam go through all the trouble of getting the two holy rank hunters in the city, only to send them outside the gates.

More importantly and in spites of how embarrassed he was by it, Uriel needed Jon's knowledge to make the dungeon a safe place for the surviving citizens at the dungeon of the Alamo.

If it was just a matter of strength, he could have asked Mister Scofield, but Uriel knew that raw strength would get them nowhere if they needed to face the statues that guarded the dungeon or the many traps hidden within its boundaries.

However, the party could not take more than a few steps away from the wall without fainting, not even Uriel who among them was the most accustomed to such intense pressure. The only thing they could do was to witness the battle and cross their fingers so the titan decided it had enough and retreated on its own volition.

"This is just too much..." Uriel let out after realizing the sound he assumed was made by thunders, was actually caused by the shockwaves of the holy rank hunters attacks. Light shimmered at the distance, probably by the revenants fighting tooth and nail against those who wanted to harm the titan, but it allowed Luna to catch a glimpse of he titan itself.

"Six legs, uhm... Insectoid, maybe... Tentacles too? Could it be a cephalopod?" She fumbled some words as she took notes in a sloppy handwriting. "I think I know what we're dealing with..." Luna finally said, but then remained silent.

"What is it Luna?"

"Sea..."

"See what?" Uriel asked mistakingly.

"Crustaceans also have six legs so it's the sea, they're fighting the sea itself. It's Oceanus... Or maybe Tethys... It depends on wether its a female or a male and I can't be sure about its gender because..."

"Good graces Luna, You're not going to ask that thing to show you its reproductive apparatus!" Medusa shouted.

In the meantime, Jon Hunter and Mister Scofield had gained a huge portion of terrain by wiping out more revenants than the titan could spawn out of the fog. It seemed as though they finally had the upper hand, until a golden pillar of light erupted from behind the holy rank hunters piercing through them and the titan alike.

A human-like figure with feathered wings appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of the battlefield and then muttered a single word with a reverberating voice that somehow could be heard as far as the flux energy from the battlefield touched.

"Smite."