Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 667 - 667: The end of all hope Part 2

The task entrusted to Bella was neither dangerous nor too difficult, yet from what it seemed it was of the utmost importance. She took it as a chance to improve her standing with her new companions and prove her worth, yet it was precisely the task being so boring and easy what was getting to her.

"What if I fail? What If I let go for one second and I end up causing someone's death? They'll never forgive me, especially that Bast... boss! I meant to say boss!" She immediately corrected herself when she though she heard someone thinking it was Uriel coming back after a job well done, but after looking around it turned out to be just her imagination.

For some reason, the usually mild weather of the second world started shifting and albeit barely noticeable, the artificial light on the ceiling of the dungeon was getting dimmer every minute. Keeping a small stone in place for so long had made her arms feel numb and she had to shift the hand she used from time to time while also taking the chance to contemplate her situation.

She was alone and vulnerable in a strange place where thousands of people were supposed to live in, her own family included, yet the only ones present in the entire city had been that old man and the group of hunters that held Luna and Medusa captive for a brief period.

The chilly wind crossing through the floating islands didn't affect her at all thanks to her natural wind barrier, but the whistling sounds it caused when the powerful air current clashed against the golden city of Cibola were an entirely different matter.

She knew some of the secrets of her family, but she never cared much about learning them, let alone anything related to the society.

The only reason she agreed to join them had been because after her brother Tate disowned himself from the family she had become the sole heir of the Eurus legacy, but despite possessing the strength and the perfect trait she knew herself to be incapable of filling that role.

She had spent most of her life dodging any responsibility, escaping from those who wanted to teach her believing her parents would forever be with her. But after her parents demise, the entirety of the Eurus family looked up to her for answers most of which she couldn't answer.

"What was it? A god... elemental god... hmm...

I think there was something about them in the story my mom told me." Bella racked up her brain trying to make connections between how little she knew about the air element legacy and Mason's rants about the so called elemental god, but her thoughts derailed when a thundering roar was heard at a distance and the stone embedded on the wall started applying more pressure to the point where not even with all her might could she possibly stop its movement.

Unhindered by Bella's grasp, the stone took speed to the point where holding it still became impossible without risking losing a finger, but Bella was confident in the wind barrier protecting her.

Only this time it wasn't enough and as soon as her fingers made contact with the spinning stone the tips of her fingers were shred into a bloody pulp causing the huntress to fall on the ground with the shrill sound of her agony.

Despite the mechanism being made of seemingly normal stone, putting her hand in there was akin to a regular person putting their hand on a blender. The entire device had been crafted with the sole purpose of resisting all the elements and air was no exception. Eventually, the stone stopped its violent motion on its own, but it was already too late.

The first seal was broken.

Medusa didn't fare much better in the next floating island castle, though after losing the grip on the stone she immediately realized it was dangerous and probably pointless to attempt to stop it.

She didn't know that every drop of life essence infused with the unholy chant weakened Crockett's legacy, but as an engineer, she knew the force transmitted by the gears was far too powerful even for a heavenly rank hunter to deal with.

She also knew that the cause of the kinetic force reaching her end had to be related to something happening in the central island and after confirming there was nothing else to do, she ran off towards the source.

The second seal was broken.

On her side, Nika was somehow able to keep the grip on the stone even after the unholy creature was partially released.

She lacked Bella's wind barrier or Medusa's raw strength, but she compensated her shortcomings by wearing the shadows around her like an armor and even using them as tools to keep the stone in place, but the moment the creature ate Atsa the mechanism conveyed far more kinetic energy than Nika could muster.

Besides, with to the two seals already broken the force discharged was multiplied by a factor of two and became too much to bear even for Nika until eventually she faltered under the powerful mechanism.

The third seal was broken, and when that happened the wretched creature was able to emerge even more from its damaged jail up to its waist revealing a humanoid figure, though where there should have been a belly button, a pristine flux orb was displayed instead.

Uriel wasn't much fond of jewelry and was unable to appreciate it unless it had cultural or monetary value, but he was taken aback by the beauty of the flux orb that contrasted so heavily with the foul creature bearing it.

Thanks to her trait, Nika was able to return to Uriel immediately after failing her task and found him still dazed under the spell of the magnificent orb that almost made him froth at the mouth, though the effect it had on her was entirely different.

A sudden migraine attacked her and she covered her face in utter horror as the sight of the creature brought back the trauma she suffered after the encounter with the nameless horrors. She didn't know if the creature in front of her resembled them or if they were made to resemble that creature, but the likeness was undeniable.

It was only when Medusa also reached the throne chamber that Uriel snapped out of his reverie and turned to prevent Nika from crawling her own eyes out like many of the cultists did before her.

Due to both of them being of the same rank their strength should have been comparable, but Uriel had the added benefit of the bonus stats he accumulated and was able to restrict an already exhausted Nika with ease.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Nika cried more than asked.

"I have my theories, but that's a question only Luna can answer. By the way, where is she?" Uriel turned around to see if he could spot the tiny huntress.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but are you guys blind? I can't see that thing myself, but I know It's not here to make new friends." Medusa said as she noticed the stench of blood, the cries of agony and above all, the powerful energy signature that made her feel sick to her stomach.

"And I can't believe I'm saying this, but now I'm envious of you," Nika grumbled when she noticed Medusa wasn't affected by the creature's horrifying visage. "Uriel, you're a combatant, you should go first."

"You're messing with me? There's no way we can defeat that thing. A better man already tried and..." Uriel pointed the mess of blood and flesh beneath the creature, but it wasn't until Nika saw the bloodied buckskin that she understood what happened.

"No way! That poor old man!" She covered her mouth as she couldn't keep her eyes from crying.

"You... you can't leave. You need to stop this." Bella said amidst pants as though she was tired from running, though in reality it was the pain she was enduring what made her short of breath.

"Why should we? This is somebody else's mess, let someone else fix it." Uriel replied completely unfazed by Bella's pitiful appearance, gruesome injuries and pleading tone.

"Because even if you weren't the one who started this, you're the only one who can stop it." Bella insisted, her blond hair waving around like always though now instead of majestic it looked as though she was drowning in water.

"I don't know who do you take me for, but I'm not putting my neck on the line for..."

"The Eurus legacy... in fact, all of the four families legacies is right there and it will be all yours. All you have to do is take it."

While this conversation was taking place the horrid creature didn't remain idle as it continued to eat what was left of Atsa with the insatiable hunger of a beast trapped for eons. When it finished with Atsa's remains it turned to the corpses of the cultists grabbing them with stony limbs that appeared out of thin air.

The foul hole in its mouth was soon filled with entrails and flesh that just a few minutes ago had been people with names, memories and dreams they thought they were near to achieve.

After finishing with the corpses, the creature turned its attention to those alive trapping them in water, searing them with fire or pulling them close with the air element using each time the same element of its victim. With every second that passed the creature seemed to be closer to release itself, with every human it consumed its power grew stronger.